Today your task in the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog Project is as simple as they come. In fact it’s a tip that gets included in almost every post ever written on how to grow a blog’s traffic – comment on a blog that you’ve never commented on before.
Sometimes as bloggers it is easy to get in a rut both in your writing and in your reading of others blogs.
Go on a blog hunt today to see how many new blogs you can find in your niche. Add to the conversations on these blogs as you surf by adding useful comments and add to your feed reader with their RSS feeds so you can keep following them.
While this tip is another of those tips that we might classify as pretty basic and not that spectacular – many many successful blogs have been built on the back of it.
Commenting on other people’s blogs is a great way to network with other bloggers, form long term blogging relationships and in the long run, really help your traffic.
Excellent tip. I can’t wait to go find some new blogs today.
It’s always nice to throw in something random, maybe it’ll lead to new visitors. Good tip Darren.
thanks for the tip, but where do i start looking for a blog in my niche that i’ve never commented on before?
I do this a lot. I love trying to uncover new blogs about baby boomers (that’s my blog’s topic).
I truly have to find a happy medium with this one. Perhaps I have to stick to a schedule because it’s the easiest way for me to get distracted-reading blogs for hours on end and accomplishing little on my own blog by the time I’m done. Am I the only person this happens to?
I’m with Amanda on this. If I don’t set a timer with an alarm, I could get lost in the web. I think it’s a good strategy though and one I do at least once a week.
Feel free to start at my blog!
I think it’s a time to see how well it works.
many many successful blogs have been built on the back of it.
Quite right. It’s what got OTB noticed four and a half years ago. I suspect it’s even more crucial now that the size of the blogosphere has exploded.
Hey people, I let you all use my blog to experiment this task :p
Taking mgroves suggestion to the next level… how about we all visit each other’s blogs and leave comments?
The trick is find a good and legit blog to comment on. A lot of blogs these days do nothing but regurgitate old info or simply steal content, so watch out for those things.
It is a very useful way to learn a lot in a short period of time, although it does take time out from my daily activities. It’s a tradeoff I guess.
This actually works wonders to drive new and fresh traffic to your blog. I’ve started doing this on blog that I have a genuine interest in and that I assume may have an interest in mine.
At the very least it adds a few visitors to my blog. The idea is that amongst those reading the comments, some will become regulars on my blog.
@Amanda & Brad:
I usually try to spend 60-90 minutes each morning investing in what I call my “social footprint”. This includes updating social bookmarking sites, searching for new blogs in my niche to read/bookmark/comment on, digging, Stumbling, etc. It really seems to be a productive way to make your mark and build up your own brand, identity and increase your own involvement in many different communities online.
Commenting makes up most of my promotional activity. At the moment I’m not getting much in the way of SE traffic so commenting seems to be the main way I get readers.
It’s also the main way I’ve got backlinks so it’ll be interesting to see what my PR ends up being with this coming update.
Indeed. So here’s my site that fits right into your niche:
http://CommunityHacker.com
Comments welcome!
Roy.
Darren,
I actually do set aside a brief block of time each day to find new and interesting blogs to read and on which to comment.
My own traffic hasn’t received an automatic bump, but readership has built consistently. And the quality of the conversation has grown as well.
I agree, people who left comments will check you blog as well and chances are they will visit your blog too…
I do this quite frequently, at least three or four times a week. I use Google Alerts and Technorati to find new blogs in my niches. Very handy tool!
@April
Is your template seo optimized? I’ve noticed that my blogs usually bring in a good bit more of se traffic than my regular sites because of the regular and keyword density posts. Make sure that you have a good theme, because you should get a good bit of traffic from it.
when I first started blogging I would comment on everyones blogs and make an effort to grow my feeds. As time has progressed this has dropped. Last night, I actually told myself that I need to restart this kind of effort.
Commenting is a great idea to bring traffic. I like to mix comments on both well known and no so well known blogs. Popular blogs have the potential to bring a lot of traffic through the comment, but your comment might stand out more on less popular blogs.
The less well known are also more likely to follow every comment back to the source which could be a potential source of links.
Commenting doesn’t have to take too much time. I used to read a lot of blogs. Now I’m more active when I read. When I have something to say I’ll leave a comment. You don’t need to leave a lot of comments all at once. Just a few each day starts to add up quickly.
I try to do this at least once a day. … great advice though. *=)
I completely agree that this is one of the best ways to drive legitimate traffic to your blog. Sometimes my highest traffic comes from my comments on THIS blog!!! The key is to make real comments that add something to the conversation. If you just go on, leave your URL, and say “hey check out my site/let’s exchange links!”, you are really doing yourself a disservice. Most comments allow people to link to your site using your name, so you don’t have to leave your URL. Doing so appears spammy, in my opinion. Also, if you say something worth reading, most people will want to go to your blog to see what else you are saying.
BTW, Darren, I am loving this 31 day-long tip fest!!!
This is advice that I’ve been waiting to do for a while. After reading this I’m really going try to take time to do this everyday. Starting here.
Darren…
do you ever reply to any of the comments that are directed at you? nothing specific… just curious coz I see people commenting toward you and no responses that I’ve found.
I always comment on different blogs all the time. I have the gift of gab and sometimes I can’t shutup. LOL. I just need to put my mouth where my fingers are and post away on my blog. My blog sometimes is starving for a new post. I definitely have to stay on top of it this month.
Hi Darren
I always try and read other peoples blogs and comment whenever possible, bcos i have this crave to know and hear what other people in the world are thinking and doing.
Obakeng
Chief Exec BJ
Just wanted to say thanks first for all the useful tips. I have now got a new website – this time with Google Adsense.
Re posting on other blogs: I do from time to time but if it helps, then I will make it a regular action.
If anyone wants to post on mine, here is the url: http://www.euphrosenelabon.com/modules/wordpress/
Thanks again, Euphrosene
Thanks Darren for a great blogging tip. Many people think only of getting the word out about themselves. They forget the basics of blogging; leaving a comment is key.
To your success!
Kelly Wissink
You don’t necessarily have to “just find blogs”. If you plan ahead on your blog, and you know you’re going to be writing about Combustible Widgets a couple of days from now, then Google search “combustible widgets”, find some blogs that are talking about ’em, and add to the conversation. (Maybe mentioning that you’ll be talking about them in a few days on your blog).
That way you’re combining research with today’s tip!
Two birds, one stone. Nice. :)
Best,
Paul Hancox | The Smart Web Letter
I’ve been away from ProBlogger and my other favorite blogs for some time due to a variety of issues as home (computer dying, home improvement project, morning sickness), and I just came back today to find your 31 Days to Building a Better Blog. I’ll be jumping on the bandwagon to catch up from the week I’ve missed and keep up from here on out. I love this idea; thanks for doing it!
I’ve noticed commenting on a blog with no that many comments will almost ingratiate yourself with the blogger.
Not to take it too far afield, but I think good comment threads are also good fodder for new ideas and new articles on the topic you’re interested in. Maybe an interview idea or two as well.
Oh! Listen to me! I’ve become a Darrenite.
This blog had particular interest to me yet there is one area that I feel was not sufficiently promoted.
While your blog contains rss feed info etc, there seems little inclusion of the technique that stipulates how much leaving comments could improve a visitors own blog or web. Perhaps this is because you do not intend your blog to become a free for all promotion center but it is advice that should be given none the less.
I enjoy looking for new blogs but summoning the courage to comment on them can be a bit scary. I think that looking for blogs and commenting and adding to the discussions there really do help build community and readership, not only for them but for you. I’ve been improving on that front this summer and it’s definitely effective if you keep at it.
usually it is seen that people comment on blogs with sole purpose of building links. Blogs are expressive, they express our thoughts, represent our personality. They must be respected.
Even if I don’t have anything to say?
I often overlook, “add to your feed reader with their RSS feeds so you can keep following them”. Then after posting a comment on the new great blog that I found, I can no longer find it.
I try to discover new blogs all the time to comment on, if nothing else it helps other bloggers find my site.
I will take you up on this challenge and see if I can find any blognotable sites to comment on. I recieved a comment saying that making comments is a good way to build a relationship rather than building traffic. What do you think?
Can do! Long time reader, but this is my first comment on this blog.
If anyone wants to discover my blog about my adventures as a Web Entrepreneur …
I found that even if i don’t subscribe to blogger’s comments or feeds, I still get added to an email list and get updated emails from them. That is one reason why i’m not too much a comment fan unless the article sparks something inside me that makes me want to engage in the community.
Thanks.
I will start by commenting on this site for the first time.
cheers,
This is interesting because I’ve been doing this for the last three days! Finding new blogs and commenting on them and subscribing to the ones I particularly find useful. There is a lot of good stuff out there in blog world, so it’s a fun venture!
My coach told me this last week. So every day I hunt new blogs. Yours, by the way, was the example he showed me during our session-way to go!
I totally admire how blogs are changing the whole online publishing world. It’s revolutionising the way we communicate, a powerful online utility that has a unique and profound social networking impact. I just hope new laws that govern how we are allowed to disperse information, thoughts and opinions especially online are not restricted by government policies anytime soon.
Personally, though I’ve only bee into blogging for couple of months now, I’m just starting to make some serious cash and hope to build a little unique business on top of my full time salary. I really enjoy blogging in my spare time and hope to continue with my ventures into the future. I wrote a great long article on how blogging is changing the publishing phenomena on my review website. http://www.virtual-reviews.com/Blogging_Business.html
I think some of you bloggers might be interested…Let me know what you thing…Cheers!!
I’m always here to leave my comments… ;D My blog traffic do increase every day by commenting other new found blogs.
Yes totally agree. I try and comment on a new blog every day
I try to comment on blogs whenever I can, as much of the traffic to my own blog comes from these comments. It’s a great way to network and let other people know I’m “here” who otherwise wouldn’t know about my blog!
Great idea! I’m going to try it tonight!!!