The following reader ‘quick tip’ was submitted by Shawn Blanc from Fighting to Stay Awake
Something I’ve done and still try to do if I can is to send an email to those leaving comments for the first time.
When someone comments on my site for the first time I send them a thank-you email.
I say something like:
“Thanks for the comment on such-and-such post. I don’t know if you’re new to the site or if you’ve been reading for a while and this is your first comment but either way your feedback is apprecated and always welcome.”
This helps them feel noticed and part of the community; like someone is paying attention to what they have to say.
Nice tip. Although you don’t want to sound too desperate for commenters.
I think this is probably more effective than replying to commenters. I’ll try to implement it. Thanks.
That’s actually a very good tip – the more you make your readers feel appreciated, the more they will appreciate you (and your site).
I’ve used this idea very successfully on my three blogs. I believe it helps to build a loyal readership.
I used to do this in my first few months of blogging but then it gets harder when the number of commenters on your blog increases.
[…] Shawn Blanc from Fighting to Stay Awake had got his ‘quick tip’ submitted on Problogger.net today. It’s a simple tip that I used to do in my first few months of blogging – When someone comments on your site for the first time, send them a thank-you email […]
Seems like a plugin would be in order. Why do that by hand? It is a GREAT idea, but the same thing can be said for every single commentor without having to email them manually.
If someone created a plugin to respond automatically to all commentors you could implement this strategy no sweat.
Let me know when it’s done! lol
There’s also the issue that you are requiring them to provide an email address.. yes, most comment systems do require that, and I suppose most of us are used to it, but I took that requirement off my comment system and increased commenting activity.
People don’t like to “register”, don’t like sharing personal info..
Great tip. This works best if the commenter was just a pure visitor not having his/her own site or blog. I’ve had an experience where my non-blogging friends were a bit reluctant to visit my site because they thought blogs are just for bloggers.
@ jhay – That’s exactly the circle of people that it has helped keep faithful: those without blogs of thier own.
A plugin would be great.
I have to spotlight thier name through my email folder with all the comment emails I’ve gotten from wordpress to make sure it’s not someone that already commented a while ago and has been lurking for 3 months. The plugin would also need a delayed response. If they get an e-mail 10 seconds after commenting they’re going to know something fishy and impersonal is going on.
Nice tip Shawn! Just got to lure someone in to comment first!
Great tip. I don’t have that many commenters, so it will be easy for me to drop them an e-mail. I’m just so happy when someone leaves a comment; I’ll try not to gush when I write… :)
[…] Building Faithful Readership – respond to commenters […]
Great tip.