To be honest with you, I can’t remember much about the first comment I ever received on a blog post I’d written. It was back sometime in 2002, after all!
Image copyright sqback, used with permission
Whether the comment’s long or short, detailed or simple, it doesn’t much matter: that first real (non-spam) comment is a milestone for any blogger.
Comments are always an issue for bloggers.
When you’re waiting for that first-ever comment, you dream of the days when your blog’s swamped with thoughtful comments the way the A-list blogs are.
But experienced bloggers have other considerations to tackle—and they’re not just about finding time to sift through spam or respond to commenters. As your blog grows, and attracts more comments, you’ll probably find yourself wanting to create the right kind of culture around comments, and that’ll dictate the kinds of comments you send to trash, respond to, and maybe even highlight in posts you write.
So all of us—not just those starting out—need ideas that we can use to generate comments on our blogs, and comments of the right type (no trolls, please!). Recently, I asked some experienced bloggers if they’d share their wisdom with us in a series of posts on generating comments. I’ll be publishing their responses throughout the week, starting today, and I hope we’ll all find it useful!
Update: those tips are…
I started to get regular comments on my blog after my first year in blogging. Today after 2 years I don’t have problems in getting comments however as my posting frequency has increased to approximately5 posts per week, I find that the average comment per post has reduced. I also have posts that have no comments at any given point in time. I guess its because it takes a while for the comments to catch up to an increased post frequency.
I’m waiting for the first comment. Thanks for all of the tips. Can’t wait to implement them!
My blog does fairly fine on the comments side of things. Some of my ‘pillar articles’ that get read a lot get a good number of comments. Some posts have no comments at all (after all, I am not ProBlogger!) I do get a good deal of spam though, in spite of good spam filters, which I have to manually weed out (comments which are very generic, e.g. I really enjoyed your weblog, bookmarked it and will come back later or things of that sort) which is sometimes annoying.
My friends always say they comment, but apparently they don’t. I don’t have a certain group for my blog, it is just a bunch of random stuff. I have had one person comment, but no one did after that.
My blog is a little over a year old and I started getting comments maybe around 3 months after the intro and regularly post 3 to 4 new articles a week. I have an average of 15 to 30 comments for each article – of course occasionally there will be one with none … always seems to be an article I’m so sure is the best I’ve ever written! My niche is personal growth, but most of my comments come from other bloggers – I’m fine with that because the majority leave great comments. However a couple of months ago I started seeing an up tick of comments that were blatenly self-serving … you know, like someone promoting their ‘opportunity’ and it’s pretty obvious they haven’t even read the article, so I introduced a comments policy and started moderating all of the comments. It’s time I’d rather spend on other things, but I’m more concerned about preventing objectionable comments from popping up in front of my readers.
I got my first comment after 4 months of blogging. After almost 6 months, I’m getting a comment or two here and there, especially after I commented on other people’s blog. Most comments came from forums I participate or social media referrals. Sometimes I don’t get comments but when I do, they’re from the same group of people – kind of nice to know people are coming back for more.
I have had about the same experience as you. I got my first comment a few weeks after I started–it was only about two words, but I was so excited!
I have recieved a good amount of comments recently, depends on what I post. Mostly recieved comments from poetry sites that I may send a contribution to. Although, I do not recieved enough to say my site is interesting enough.
I’ve been blogging for about 2 months but I’ve been fortunate enough to have developed a pretty decent following, even though my visit numbers are hovering around only 60 people a day. I get about 15-20 comments per post, which I find exhilarating but tough to reply to all of them. I’ve been doing my best to network, network, network and I find Twitter to be the best place for me personally to meet new people.
Thanks for everything Darren, your posts and books have been a blogging blessing for me!
Cheers!!
I have a photography blog and mostly get comments from my mom because she thinks I’m awesome. :) I do get occasional comments from others, mostly people I know, but the rare comments from complete strangers are the ones that thrill me to death! :)
I have a comment or two every now and then. Around the 26th of December, I started getting heavily trolled randomly by some anon writer who would not stop. Every post, they had a comment about my writing, my topics, etc. Eventually when I posted a video of myself, it turned into a really nasty comment-fest that prompted me to not only delete the comments, but having to moderate them and anticipating all that ugliness in my inbox. All I wanted to do was write, and this person was destroying the experience of the few nice comments I had. Eventually I got VERY tired of having to moderate comments whenever that person stopped by. I decided to use Facebook comments in the hopes that people wouldn’t mind expressing themselves that way. It’s still at the usual 1 or two comments, but I’m just happy to be writing something and having shadow visitors e mail my recipe tips and sharing with friends. My blog is still growing and I’ve been trying to incorporate your tips into it!
It’s really hard to understand why and why not readers comment. I have days that a post is really popular but rarely comments. I think they are shy??? My big issue is most of my readers comment on the FB page under the link I posted on the wall rather than on the blog post itself.
I’ve been blogging since 2008, starting out on Blogger, then moved to self hosted WordPress. I received my first non spam comment in 2010 when I was more devoted to writing but it wasn’t until a did a how-to video and linked from the video description to my blog that I started getting a pretty good flow of comments. I get a smattering of comments throughout the month. Still looking for the community or steady following.
I’ve had my blog for over two years; however, I just started re-building it. For the most part, I just found interesting articles and passed them along. This year, I started adding my thoughts before adding someone else’s content.
I’ve started a blog/editorial calendar and writing new content for this week. I’m an intuitive marketer and believe I have a voice for others. I’m looking forward to my first comment from my own content. I’ve learned a lot from your blog Darren; thank you for always writing encouraging posts.
I started my personal blog a little over a year ago and I occasionally get comments from family, but very few others. I got my first real comment on my niche site tool site a few weeks ago after enabling commentluv and it was definitely very exciting, but no others yet. I’m looking forward to future articles on the subject.
Well, I’m now at the point where I’ve successfully fought all the spam comments on my website – and not sure if I have actually received a real comment yet – so now I’ve decided, the next comment will be my REAL first-time comment…
Akismet is your friend.
Thanks for this nice tips for getting comments.Until now I got 422 comments in a single post.Then after I don’t approve comment on the article since the Page control is Taken by the Page Load Time.
I find it difficult to tell ‘some’ spam comments from the real deal. It’s really heart breaking when you realize that it wasn’t the genuine article. I had my first real comment I’d have to say a couple of years back before I did my website re-design. I was sad that I had to delete it to accommodate the new structure. Is it weird to hold your first ever comment like some sort of trophy?
Since then, I get sporadic genuine comments; all of which I make an effort to answer. I hadn’t considered what I would do if I couldn’t take the time to answer each one. I could hire a V.A. with standard responses, but that feels…wrong.
The first real comment was very exciting, and I still feel that excitement with every comment I get. I don’t get a lot of them yet (2-6 per post), but I do have some regulars and the comments are good quality. My goal right now is to definitely get more comments and to have actualy conversations that involve more than just myself and one other blogger.
I started my blog about a month ago and so far I’ve gotten about 6 comments. Technocally 5 since one guy posted twice :) this article os dead on: that first comment you get definitely sends you over moon and is a validating feeling.
I started my photography blog in June 2009, but my posts were few and far between. I did get comments here and there, though a lot were from friends. I’ve only now just started posting regularly (at least twice a week) and have yet to get a comment from someone I don’t know. I recently switched to Facebook comments in the hopes that people would find it more convenient, but I haven’t gotten any comments since then. I definitely get excited whenever I do receive a comment; who doesn’t? :)
Making a comment in other blog is one activity should do for making popularity. But should remembre that comment to create must be interesting comment, not a spam comment.
I do have some comments – however when and what people comment on is very sporadic. Many articles have no comments, while some have up to 15 comments.
I haven’t gotten that “important first”, but my blog is new(about a month old) and I only just started taking it seriously. So hopefully soon. ;D
I am always trying to add the first comments on the new post I found immediately after publishing on any high end blogs like problogger, which always gave me satisfaction :)
having an interesting post will guide, in most cases to interesting discussion.
it is very important to focus on post
Getting the right audience is the problem. I actually found this blog on a list of “Great Business Blogs”. Being a relative noob to blogging, how does one get the exposure to get the target audience you’re writing for?
i have been writing this blog for some months now which contains the contents like gadgets and apps that i use. Well to be honest, there aren’t any comments on my posts though my blog got good response from friends and families. Anyways, i think it’s fine with me and i am thinking of writing quality blogs from now on since i feel “comments” are valuable item for blog and is a milestone for blogger like me.
Great article!! You have written many great articles that I “stumble upon” while researching a topic.
I just launched my blog on March 6 and I was ECSTATIC to evoke a minor discussion on my first post! Since then I’ve posted 3 times with no response, but hey–it’s a work in progress–my job is to continue writing. Good luck everyone!!
My blog is about 10 months old and just a month ago, I bought a new domain, switching from blogspot to .in . I used to get a lot of comments as my blog deals with catchy and thought-provoking ideas like mental health, lifestyle etc. But due to the domain switchover, everything’s come back to square one and I have put in extra effort to get back those vintage days. However I still don’t have the full will to dispose certain comments as I don’t get a huge number of comments. Anyway, loved your updated tips, thanks for those!
Hi,
I am still waiting for my first one. The wait has not been a long one however, since my blog is new and I have only published one blog post so far.
Best regards,
Victoralexon
Getting comments on blogs is extremely tough for a site that doesn’t have a wide circulation. I wrote for a site that was getting just over 100 viewers a week and I felt like getting one comment every couple of months was a huge accomplishment.
Some of these tips are really good, others are obvious that don’t really work. Sometimes, you can post as many articles with topics that speak to people as you want and they still don
t attract comments. I feel like getting comments requires some luck as well. Just finding the right audience that wants to be involved.
I can’t say enough about plugins that allow users to subscribe to comments. People are more motivated to post a question if they see they can get a notification when it is answered. Others like it because it engages them in the conversation more.
I have tried several things to get comments as well. I would agree that writing an unfinished post and asking for help or an answer to a question helps discussion. But I think what helps on my site more than anything is responding back to the commenters.
I don’t like blogging and no one responding.
I bet they don’t like responding and being ignored.
Once they comment once, they talk with me a bit, they are more comfortable about commenting again.
I have to agree with you and say that thrill of receiving an authentic comment that is not only insightful but genuinely adds to your topic makes the time and effort you’ve invested in curating a post all the more worthwhile.
I’ve just started reaching out for active participation from my readers, but I’m still in the stage of building up that all important reader base. Gotta start somewhere!
The more activity on your blog, the more reliable you seem. Once a month doesn’t cut it anymore. People want to see movement, answering of questions and the interaction factor has to be there. I don’t want to comment on a blog that won’t answer questions or reply to scrutiny if it comes. Be social and people will respond to that.
I remember getting my first comment on my very first blog. A little Blogger blog that isn’t online anymore. But now on my primary blog, I get several comments, and unfortunately don’t remember what my very first one was :(
I still love every comment like it is my first though. It makes me feel like I’ve contributed something to the world. Haha!
as useful as always !
though i dont have blog comments enabled , i am working on a new site that will allow people to post comments
your site is always of a great help
thank you :)
You are a great blogger. I will be much thankful to you if you provide some tips to improve SEO of my blog I have mentioned.
Any ways, this post is also nice.
Regards,
Ankit
At some point you have to reach out and find your audience. If you write about music, go interact with music sites. You don’t have to wait for the audience to come to you. Fans of a band in Chicago don’t go to New York for concerts, they wait for the band to come to their town. Make sense?
Great post; I think that you must give to receive. I started commenting on relevant blogs to what I was posting about and building relationships with other bloggers and then the comments started flowing!
I have only been blogging a few months but I guess I get a fair amount of comments.
I try to comment on other blogs as often as I can, not for the sake of my blog but because I want to engage in discussion with others as much as I want to engage with others about my blog.
It was frustrating when i started blogging few years ago. I wanted someone to comment, but i lacked the idea of how to attract people to my blog. But when there were real and spam comments, all were approved. Now running a news website is a different story. Comments must be selected or else you will get trouble with law.
Bookmarking posts and social media sharing really help with readership. It really gets your content out there in the open. Higher readership also translates to a potentially higher amount of comments.
Pavlina does not allow comments (or does not show them) and now he does not even have a contact form. Yeah, he had a Forum but almost 100% of his success was in the quality of his articles and his mindset.
Problogger allows comments and makes videos too, thus appearing to be more interactive with his audience. Nevertheless, I don’t think this has nothing to do with Problogger’s Success. Every Blogger who is able succeed, like Darren or Pavlina, have in common just one thing: the mindset.
It does not make any difference whatsoever if u get comments or not, as long as you believe in what u are doing. Don’t worry about comments, do what you like and do it the best way you can.
I started a new blog only 5 weeks ago. My old blog didn’t seem to grow. After 6 months writing every day on that blog I only got ONE comment and I still remember what it said: “Learn how to spell – fool!”
I was really depressed after all the work I put into writing that was how I was rewarded. I reminded myself that english is not my first language, so I think I’m doing okay after all.
My new blog has not recieved any comments either, so I have decided to write my posts without focusing on comments, but it would be nice if someone out there would comment some day :-)
Btw. I also run a blog in Danish and I only got one comment on that blog – a positive one. That blog is about 6 months old.
I got a lot of comments, I post 6 days a week on my average post receives 90+ comments per day. My question is, however I’m wondering how else I can increase my traffic.
Back when I was a frequent Problogger guest poster, I got 20-30 comments every post. Then I got sick and put my community to sleep. Now that I’m back, they’re still sleeping…so I will have to pour a cup of water on them.
Hello all! I have a brand new blog. My first one, actually. I am a web designer by trade. I wanted to start a blog where I could just rant about all the useless junk online. I am not getting any comments, very little traffic, and very few Twitter followers. I am not wanting traffic for money; just want to be heard (no monetization on site). I have several other projects that get tons of traffic. Do you think only niche sites and very popular “follow-the-sheep-herd” sites appeal to Google and the masses? I don’t feel that I should have popular and identifiable keywords or “play the SEO game” just to be noticed. BTW I Love your book! My site is http://dotcomwhatever.com. This is NOT a spam link. There is nothing to buy. I just need advice-Please! :)
The feeling of getting that first comment is definitely awesome!
Just wanted to share that I got my first 3 comments last week.
It really feels motivating considering that my blog is still new. :)