Here’s a question for discussion this weekend:
Do you use your real name when leaving comments on a blog or do you use ‘keywords’?
I was moderating comments last night here on ProBlogger and noticed almost a 60/40 split between these approaches (with 60% using ‘real’ names).
My personal preference is to leave my real name – that’s partly because I feel it is more personal and also because I guess inadvertently over the years my name has become a brand of sorts – so it makes sense.
My personal preference for people leaving comments on my blog is also for ‘real names’ – although I’ve not moderated comments based upon people using keywords.
A Spectrum of Approaches
There is a spectrum of approaches that I see people using when it comes to what ‘name’ they leave on comments:
1. Key Words Only – For example some people are obviously just using words that they are attempting to rank for in Google. In my mind when you leave a comment under the name of something like ‘Bad Credit‘ or ‘Interior and Exterior Painting‘ or ‘Steel garages sheds‘ or ‘revenue‘ (all names used here on ProBlogger in the last 48 hours) you’re coming close to looking like you are spamming and doing it purely for SEO, even when your comments are on topic and genuine. I don’t honestly see the point in doing this. Most blogs (including ProBlogger) have nofollow tags in their comments so your links and the words you use have no SEO benefits what so ever. I doubt you’d get many people clicking on words like those either.
2. Brands/Site Names – Also on the spectrum but more acceptable in my mind are people who use keywords in more subtle and in ways that help brand themselves or their blogs. For example ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy‘ who is a commenter on ProBlogger. I don’t mind this type of approach because it is more personal and is tied to his brand (rather than just being an attempt to rank well for certain keywords).
3. Brands and Personal Names – The next step along the spectrum is people who use their name AND a keyword of blog name. Examples including ‘Vered – MomGrind‘ and ‘John Hoff – eVentureBiz‘ and ‘Janice (5 Minutes for Mom)‘. To me this works reasonably well as it gives a personal touch as well as some branding benefits.
4. Personal Names – The lastly there are those who leave just their name. This is my personal favorite and I find myself much more drawn to reading and interacting with these comments. I can understand that some don’t like to use their name as they want some level of anonymity – but for me a name actually makes me feel like I’m interacting with a human being.
Of course there are other approaches. Some use pseudonyms or nick names – I’m sure others will tell us about other options that they use too.
The above spectrum and ordering are based upon my own personal preferences and approaches – but I don’t have a monopoly on the truth and am interested in your personal approach.
What name do you leave comments by and why?
I always prefer using my real first name, nothing else. Using ‘keywords’ just smells like spam. I normally approve comments using keywords/website titles as the username though.
I occasionally use something after my name to give other readers an idea what I write about, but generally I go with just my name. I started blogging for reasons other than making money directly from it and one of them was to get some name recognition, so signing with my name seems to make sense.
Usually I leave comments as my real name and link to my homepage.
http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/09/13/not-all-opinions-are-equal/
In the above blog post I explain my opinions regarding the identity of a commentator and the value I attribute to the comment. I use my real name (which can be verified by a google search or by clicking on the URL I submit with the comment) and give a greater weight to comments from people who do the same.
People who write anonymous comments on my blog tend to be unsuccessful when they are trying to convince me of something (which happens often – I regularly write posts which take a stand on an issue).
Lol – well if the comments are no follow then like others have said then people will just sign off as follows:
http://www.capitaldrinks.com
If it is just key words then I always consider it spam. The only exception is if the comment is mind blowing good.
Yay, devil’s advocate!
Man there are a lot of cats here with . . . I guess what I could describe as normal kinda samey anglo sounding names just like mine and I have no clue what their blogs offer. If I saw any other music or musicians or music marketing bloggers here I’d at least click through.
I guess I’m not changing the autofill just because there’s no SEO benefit to it here specifically. This isn’t my community. I just know Darren is a respectable info source and occasionally I come by and comment. Often I comment other blogs just for the do follow link.
It’s so I can get higher ranks in Google for my keywords, and convert that into revenue, and y’know what? I’m okay with that.
I use my first name and my company name i.e. “Andreas from Xavier Media”.
/Andreas
I always use my real name, but mainly my first name only, not that I’m concerned but if I commenting on someone’s words then that’s what I’m there to do, not to promote myself so much.
I don’t mind what name people use on my site as long as their comment is on topic and they’ve actually read the post (you can tell).
I use my “brand”/business name as the name but always sign off with Robbo.
I can’t use my first name where I am for cultural reasons so everyone I deal with uses my nickname, even up to state manager level in government departments
.
Most wouldn’t even know my real name.
Robbo
This is the first time I’ve used the name of my blog. Until now I’ve always used my first name here and my first and surname elsewhere. That’s mostly because the blogs I comment on are friendly community based sites where it’s easier to be accepted if you appear to be genuine.
However on sites like this where there are so many comments (this is 160ish) that very few people bother to read them all, it’s like p*ssing into the wind.
I’ve left two comments above under my real name and in both of those I tried to reach out to other people – without response (so far).
Darren, your site is terrific but it doesn’t exactly feel like it’s a community here in the comments (no offence intended), it feels more like people are advertising.
So why would I want to leave my real name in the clickable link? All it does is make me feel like I’m even more anonymous (amongst this huge crowd) when no one follows the link anyway.
Unless you’re very insightful, very entertaining or very annoying, people aren’t going to click through. So you might as well leave your brand for those who like to skim. No one is going to click on all 160 links so you might as well make yourself stand out from the crowd and at least have a chance. Those who wouldn’t click because it looks spammy wouldn’t click anyway. Like I said no one clicks all 160 links.
I must stress I’m not having a go at you Darren. I’m not trying to insult you or anyone else. I guess It’s just the nature of popular sites.
Cheers
Dave
Hi Darren,
In case you did not noticed, I am the “Guardian Angel” but now I am using my real name in everywhere I post (except for forums) about 3 months ago since I had my own domain.
I am supposed to use Father Blogger since it is also the name of my blog, but forum members call me father. I feel like a priest then, lol!
I also click some of the commentators’ link hoping to meet other bloggers, but I read their comments first. If I feel that their comments are useless, I do not click them even if they are using their real names. I feel that they are only promoting their blogs and that annoys me a lot.
I mostly leave my personal name with a slight changes in it ;) . Sometimes depending on the topic I post & content I post I might use my pseudo handle alternatively. Real Name or Pseudo as long as the message is conveyed I guess that would be it!I make it a point to leave personal name when I think its right :) like here !!
Hi, Darren, I use my real name since the beginning of my blogging activity…
But, as I am growing to have more than 1 blog, I want to be identify as someone from which and which blog depends on the relativity.
For example, commenting on blog like Problogger.net I will use the name as it above.
While if I comments on other blog that is related to my other blog, I’ll use the name of that blog instead behind my name and separate it with a “|”.
I don’t care if it a dofollow or nofollow.
i just want “sell” my name and the blog name that are related to the blog I am commenting…
I definitely use my name, for the most part. I feel name is my brand. However, I may put my cause/moniker in parentheses, for example: Sincere Hogan (The People’s Fit Coach).
I never thought of the SEO you mentioned. Yet, I feel the tactic is a bit dodgy. In most cases, I think if you post a comment of interest to other blog viewers, they will click on your name and visit your blog, in order to learn more about you.
My name is partially my own and a brand name…
It is funny you should mention that this is no follow site because I do tend to comment on site that I know that I am going to receive some SEO benefit from. I don’t think that is wrong – it is all just part and parcel of making sure that we all benefit each other.
I monitor all of my comments so I have officially made my blog a DoFollow site due to the fact that I see no reason to prevent people from getting a benefit from it (unless of course they link my site to a banned website). I am currently ranked at zero but that is not the point – we all start somewhere and I will not remain there long because I know the importance of making sure that I get backlinks.
My last post is actually about No_follow and DoFollow blogs.
Hi Darren,
I used to leave comments with keywords.
The reason is, sometimes I elaborate some portion of the original blog in my blog post, and I want people to come and see the elaborated version. I was thinking that by leaving comments with keywords related to the topic I elaborated, it might increase tendency for people to come and read it.
But I do agree with you that using keyword is closer to SPAM. And now I am not so sure whether to use keywords or not?
What do you think?
Thanks for making me think about being strategic with something as seemingly simple as what name you use when you leave comments.
I have never left a comment with anything other than my real name – until now.
However, that said – I will click through to someone’s site that leaves a relevant, thoughtful and thought provoking comment whether they use their name or a business name.
I always use my full name. If I am replying to a comment within my niche then I would leave the URL. Where the niche is not related to mine, then I usually don’t bother.
Well I USED to only leave my name (Laura). But since you’ve mentioned it, I think that adding what I’m about might draw more interest in what I blog about.
When I sign off Laura, they just look at my comment (which is my intention to begin with), but I guess that by doing a little innocent branding, I can get extra views from those who might be interested in homeschooling.
I agree with Julia @HOH. I don’t ever use my last name online so I use my blog name along with my first name.
bonjour darren,
i always use ‘vanae’, my real name.
when i leave a comment, it’s because i have something genuine to share and i want to have a dialogue with the blogger.
also, i’m in the process of branding my name.
thanks darren!
vanae
I use my first name and if the site has gravatars, my image has the name of my blog in it.
I actually do both. You’ll notice I have my name and then Virtual Assistant which is the most common keyword for my industry.
Tracey Tarrant, Virtual Assistant
I use my real name (First name + Last name)… Though it may not be SEO friendly, I still want to avoid admin or DollarShower (domain name), or tagline
Ajith
The majority of foolish and ignorant bloggers out there have no clue as to the value of a good comment! Who gives a rip about what name they leave. What matters is that they leave me a comment of substantial length that relates to my post and maybe even uses one or two of the keywords I was targeting.
You know what that is? FREE CONTENT!
So, to all you spammers out there: as long as you leave good free content for me, I will always approve your comment, no follow or do follow.
BTW–a link is a link folks!
Victor
I use my real name and my real name is title of my blog too :)
and sometime i use my nick name “shotazi”
I use both depending on if there are any goals that I want to accomplish by leaving the commment. Usually, I use my name, but if there is a post that I really want to promote heavily, I use the name of my blog. If I am running a contest or some type of interactive event, I use the title of that event. My varied approach has also been the result of me trying to figure out what would work best in getting some type of response either on the blog that I am commenting on OR on my blog.
Also, since my name is pretty general, I may leave the name of my blog to differentiate myself from someone else who may have commented with the same comment title. This is a rare occurence, but to me it is worth considering, especially if the comments have clashing perspectives.
Now I’m confused. I am fairly new to Blogging and in the overwhelm stage of learning, as you recently wrote about. I always used my real name when blogging until this week when I read that it helped with SEO to use key words when leaving a name. So I started using the name of my Blog which I kind of liked because it told more. But if you say that it doesn’t help with SEO then I guess it doesn’t matter. Maybe for me the best thing would be that combination of both which I’ll try here.
*laughs* I use my name, although the name I use depends on where I’m commenting. I have several blogs, one of which is personal. I use a pseudonym on the personal blog. So if I’m commenting on a blog that is more of a personal interest than professional, I use my pseudonym with the link to the personal blog. Other places, like ProBlogger, I use my real name with my professional blog address.
Especially on my professional blog, I want to tie my identity to the blog. I am Administrative Arts. The whole point of the site is to share my experience with others. So using my name, to me, is as important as using the site name. Because I am the blog.
Hi dareen,
I feel some visitors comments in different name.But You are right.We should leave comments using real name.
See my name is Surender.But some time i tried for comments iBOOZi. this is the name of my blog like http://www.iboozi.com
But i feel guilty here.Sorry next time never repeat.
I like to use my real name and my site name as what you can see here.
Good to see everyone using their own names. But be honest don’t you want a link back to you? Sure you do. But this post has made you self conscious because..of some guilt.
I think that we all should have Keyword rich anchor texts and do follow tags so we can benefit from each other. nothing wrong building a solid community.
Notice I am not putting a link. I still enjoy coming here.
I enjoyed this post and everyones responses and ideas. I’ve always used my full name or nickname and engage better with people who do the same on my blog for exactly the same reason you do, Darren, personal interaction with another living, breathing and warm being behind that keyboard.
I prefer to use my nickname rather than my “real” name. A few years ago I was a victim if identify theft and stalking so it was necessary to change some things to gain more security.
Well it depends on where I am leaving the comment. If I have become a regular commenter on a blog I use my name Renee, because I have associated my name with with my blog. If I rarely comment on a blog I use womanist musings because it is the name of my blog. I have learned that both names are associated with me and serve the purpose of efficient blog branding without and in your face reference or link back to my blog.
The more comfortable I feel commenting on a blog the more likely I am to use my name. Using my name means that I want to engage with the blogger in question.
This is a reply to Dan Tanner… you know you really should have put a link because I agree with what you are saying there and probably would have clicked through onto your site!
I have now specifically downloaded a plugin to make sure that my site is Do Follow directly because of reading this post. Just because people do expect to have an SEO benefit from a link does not mean that they will spam some rubbish in the comment box.
I say we should afford people the ability to gain some SEO benefit.
I use my blog nick name. I think it’s a lot more personal and doesn’t seem like I am selling something. If you wanted to you could click on my name to see my site…so I hope my comments are good enough for you to want to see more of what I do.
I always use my nick name (have had if for years) and it’s easier for me to remember than trying to put a link to my sites in each comment, wich by the way, I know doesn’t generate “link juice”.
Nate,
Scroll up Dan Tanner commented earlier and had his link in it.
Ned Carey
I used my real name about 90% of the time and chateaudumer my brand name another 10%.
As you can see, I use the combo method – Angela (Cottage Magpie). In my case, most of my comments are to fellow category bloggers–it is something I do to reciprocate/pay my dues with other bloggers in my category. So it’s important that I include my blog name for that reason. Plus, I don’t think most people would know who it was if I didn’t leave my name! :-)
~Angela :-)
I use my name, think this is a conversation and I like to be called by my real name.
:)
@ Teach My Children Well (I know you!) Wow, you’ve made an excellent point here! Seems there are a lot of factors involved here and you’ve just pointed out a big one. There are a lot of comments here and sometimes a name is just a name.
@ Dan Tanner, a couple of months ago this would have been true for me. I was a new blogger and the only way to get noticed was to leave comments. Now, I’m honestly here because I enjoy the reading and like to share the conversation. I’m not traffic hungry. I’ve got enough on my plate at the moment ;-)
I always use my name! I don’t see any reason to use “keywords” that is just lame.
I’ll concentrate on my content and not use “smoke and mirrors” to get readers.
Darren, I have often wondered about this being a relatively new blogger. I always use my real name, both first name and surname. Its partly because I actually want to build a relationship with people on the net – if I spend so much time there. I want something real and I can’t see how I can do that if I’m not being who I really am. I do sometimes wonder if there is a risk of some kind, but I usually only think that way after I’ve read someone telling me there is.
The second reason I use my real name is for the same reason you do. I want to build my brand. I want people to know who I am and to identify me, my name and my brand with quality comment.
So thanks for this post. It gives me confidence to continue the way I have started.
I use my nickname for a few reasons. The first and foremost is because I like to brand that name. It’s a name no one else have or uses, and it sound like a variation of a real name.
But I’m also real about what I said/saying.
I only use my real name under certain posts… like, guest blogs.
@ Davina (I know you too!) I might be in danger of shooting down my own argument but I saw your name earlier. I didn’t know it was you for certain (not enough detail) so I clicked through anyway. And there you were!
Well, I was known only by the handle “Anemone Flynn” online for a long time. Since starting my copywriting business I’ve moved to my real name and using the business email and website, simply for continuity’s sake.
When I’m somewhere completely unrelated with my work, or where I don’t want to spread my real name, I will comment as Anemone. But it was going to be way too confusing to keep Anemone Flynn and Punctuating Reality in the same circles. So … real name wins out for me, here and in most places now. I’m sad about the alias, sometimes, because it’s been my favorite for a while. But efforts at recognition win over fun and confusion in this case, I’m afraid.
Heidi
The question is a real issue to me. Frankly I didn’t know for sure. But upon reflecting on the different ways posted by Darren, I’m settling with posting my full name :) This is the thing that’s most consistent with my long-term objective. I started blogging only recently, and my blogs are of a personal/family nature–fatherhood. You would certainly want a real person behind those posts :)