How to Increase Blog Comments
Comments are one of the most important aspects of any blog. The whole idea of a blog is to generate opinions and discussion and comments are where the discussion takes place. Comments allow readers to exchange ideas and questions with each other and the blogger. The more comments your blog has, the more interesting it will be to run and the more “active” it will look. (No one wants to visit a dead blog with few visitors and no discussion). Here are a few ways you can increase comments to drive discussion, get repeat traffic, and increase search engine rankings.
In the beginning, few people are going to want to post comments on a blog where there is no discussion. Ways to get around this are to pay for people to make comments (not recommended) or to get friends and family to make comments. You can also exchange comments with other bloggers (you comment on their blog and they will comment on yours). Here are some more ways to increase comments and a good list of Wordpress plug-ins that encourage readers to comment.
Tips
1. Don’t Make Users Register to Comment at First
2. Don’t moderate/edit/delete comments. Let people saw what they have to say. Off course you can draw the line at comments with inappropriate themes (illegal, unethical, etc.), but look at what that did to Digg.com.
3. Give users who want it the ability to check comments via E-Mail and RSS feed. See Wordpress plug-ins below.
4. Give top commenters recognition by linking to top commenters in the sidebar or in a “Thank You Commenters” post. Also, remove “no-follow” tags from links in comments. . See Wordpress Plug-Ins below.
5. Allow users to edit comments for up to a certain time. See Wordpress Plug-Ins below.
6. Let readers respond to comments clearly with Threaded Comments. See Wordpress Plug-Ins below.
7. Display recent Comments in the Sidebar. See Wordpress Plug-Ins below.
8. Encourage readers to comment by asking for their opinion at the end of a post.
Wordpress Comment Related Plug-Ins
1. Subscribe to Comments - Allows users to select whether or not they want to receive E-Mail updates when a new comment is made on a certain post. When users are updated of new comments, they often come to respond with a comment of their own.
2. Show top Commenters - This Plug-In shows top commenters in the sidebar of the blog. It’s a great incentive for people to post.
3. Brian’s Threaded Comments - This Plug-In adds a ‘Reply to this comment’ link to every comment and nests comments so commenters can respond to comments and increase discussion.
4. Link Love- This Plug-In removes “nofollow” tags for those who have made a certain number of comments that you set (10 is the default). Its another incentive for people to post.
5. Gravatars – Allows each commenter to get an avatar displayed next to their comments.
6. Akismet – This is the best way to get rid of comment spam. It comes with Wordpress downloads, activate it. Get the code you need by creating an account at Wordpress.com.
7. WP Ajax Edit Comments – This plug-in allows users to edit comments up to a certain time after comment post that you set.
8. Recent Comments - Displays recent comments in the sidebar of a blog.
