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’ve only been blogging for a few months but I’ve received about a hundred ‘comments’ – of course, since installing Akismet on my site, I’ve discovered that a lot of them were actually spam (some of them were obviously spam ’cause of the way the comment was worded – it just didn’t read right).
Happily, I’ve also had some genuine ones as well and it’s been great to converse with the authors – they make it all worthwhile; to find someone has read your post and taken the time to comment is what it’s all about. If you can find someone who agrees with your point of view, well then, that’s a bonus.
Happy blogging everyone :0)
Very well said!
I checked out your site and liked the photos and posts. Hello to Scotland from Los Angles. You inspire me to take a trip there. I have a wee boy as well…16 months :)
Ya of-course that is a bonus and specially when someone comments in a way that makes you feel like someone else.
@David, I recommend “Growmap Anti Spambot” plugin which eliminates a lot of spam. Before I had 100s spam comments, but now I can see only couple per day filtered by Akismet.
Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your post seem to be runnnig off the screen in Ie. I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know. The design and style look great though! Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Cheers
As a blogger that’s still looking for that first comment, I’m gonna start following your suggestions right away. Thanks for the info.
I have long been plagued by a very low amount of comments on my sites. I have tried so many different types of plugins and strategies and had no luck so I was very excited to see this post from Problogger… Thanks for the tips!
I have been blogging for a little while and got no where, but it has all changed with Darren’s new book. I read it, divulged it and realized i was doing it all wrong. Major changes were afoot as was a new wordpress blog. Done everything right, waited and got my first member and comment, bloody spam – go figure.
John…I went to your website. I think I know why you have no comments. Please take this as constructive criticism – nothing less. The web posts are very hard to read – they frequently ramble on and sometimes make no sense at all. If English is a second language, I recommend getting a proof reader for your site. It looks that in some places an automatic thesaurus was used to change the original words to words that no longer make sense. Here’s one example “If you happen to have a career that implies sitting at a workdesk throughout the operating hours, then it is extremely endorsed for you to exercise a sports activity or perhaps go to a fitness gym at the least three or maybe 4 days each 7 days. Each individual must execute at least half an hour of activities every day.” That doesn’t pass the common sense test. There are also very few actual blog entries and if someone does want to leave a comment – they need to register? Register for what? I’m currently someone looking for information like you want to provide, but I would not go back to your site. It’s the same stuff as 1000’s of other websites and it doesn’t do anything better and it has less content. And really – you’ve only been blogging for a couple of weeks…
Comments are lovely to get – but I’m finding that as your blog gets popular you spend more time moderating comments, time that I could use to write another post!
I got quite some comments for my every posts in previous blog (I sold it), but it’s not when I start my new blog. I believe that getting comments for post would be slightly difficult when we first start a new blog, it may need some interaction and communication with other blogger, and also leave some genuine comment on their blog, then they will be happy to do the same for you as well.
It is a good feeling when you get your first comment on your blog. Bloggers should try as much as possibel to get traffic to their site.
Comments are a really important part of any successful blog.
Hi Darren,
this is really nicely put together. For a long time I’ve known about Problogger as a big established blog I should find the time to read (similar story with Copyblogger) and the problem I always have is there’s so much great content around, finding the time to do everything, read, learn etc etc etc.
Well, I just checked out your latest post (this one) and I’m sold – it’s short, well written and shows the reach & connections you have by simply & effectively linking out to some great posts. Just when I was getting tired of ‘list posts’ (mainly because they take too long to digest) but this one is awesome.
I’m clearly gonna have to dedicate some more time to reading your content – thanks for sharing,
Alan
Sometimes, asking a simple question at the end of your post generates more comments. It gives that direction for the discussions below, otherwise people will generally comment on the feedback of the post itself. We’ve found this to be the case with a few of our previous blogs! That little question at the end will spark conversations as people will always be on either side of the fence.
Every visitor leaving a comment desires their moment of attention, exactly the same as every Blogger.
It is also nice to reply to their comments. I have experience more feedback when I do this.
When I first created my blog on June 2010, I’ve 5 posts on first month than after one month I started getting spam comments because I didn’t know how to attract readers to leave comments after reading my posts, But really ProBlogger and DailyBlogTips helped me a lot. Now I get a lot original comments every time I make new post.