Every blogger loves receiving comments on their content. It’s how we get feedback, engage with our readers and determine the kind of content that does and doesn’t work for us. But what if I told you that as a blogger, it’s just as important that you are leaving comments on other blogs? What if I told you that you might be missing out on huge opportunities by lurking instead of speaking up? Do I have your attention yet?
Here are the top 3 reasons you should be commenting on other blogs.
You never know who’s reading.
I commented recently on another’s blogger’s review post of an item. I was pretty excited about it and legitimately interested in it. Much to my surprise, the company came virtually knocking at my door (they tracked me down and emailed me!) and offered me a similar item to review. Companies who send out sample products do actually check up on review posts. There’s often a team of people hired specifically to figure out the opinions of the masses – including what you as a reader thought about the item. They might read your comment and offer you a little something for your valuable time!
Your Own Traffic Depends on It.
A good percentage of my blog traffic comes directly from the comment section of other blogs. A lot of bloggers use a variety of programs and helpful traffic boosters such as the Disqus commenting platform or CommentLuv post trackback. By leaving useful, well thought out comments on other blogs I have gained a great portion of my own readers. Comments give others a taste of your opinions and writing style. You never know who will find you thought provoking and interesting! Even better, Google loves a good backlink to your blog. The more, the better!
It Curates Community.
There are a small handful of blogs that I regularly read and comment on. These are blogs I almost always enjoy the content of and find reason enough to leave a little comment love. Because of my regular posting, it’s created a small community – a group of readers all regularly commenting and engaging one another to the point that we’ve found our way to each other’s blogs and even started working on neat projects together.
BONUS: It’s Free Advertisement!
No, I am definitely not saying that you should be commenting with the express intent of advertising your own blog. That is a huge NO. What I am saying is that commenting on other blogs gives you the chance to be seen and heard. It’s the ultimate is free advertisement for yourself. All it takes is some thought process and your time – Bam! People will see you and eventually take notice.
Why do you comment on other blogs? Do you feel it helps your traffic? Share your experience!
Thank you for sharing your tips Kimi. I totally agree, so many times I notice traffic to my blog coming from the comments section of blogs I left a note and it’s a great way to find other bloggers.
Yes! I think this is part of why I like Disqus’ commenting system too – because it’s so easy for me personally to see that people are finding me that way.
I often get gunshy about commenting on new (to me) blogs, but lately I’m getting my better at it! Also, I sometimes get self conscious about my comments since sometimes they can be long. But then I think, I’d rather have a longer comment with though put into it instead of just a ‘Nice post!’ comment. Those are great too, but I like writing and reading comments with a bit more!
I try to always leave something worth reading – even if it’s a little long. Sometimes, I love something but don’t have much to say or add, so I try to say at least a little something.
Woohoo! I can comment on your posts now!
I agree with all of these and have had lots of great experiences. I also just generally like the interaction that comes from commenting. Especially when you find a blogger that actually responds and likes to continue the conversation. You never know what you may find you have in common with someone.
Yay! I am so glad I was able to get that straightened out so that you could comment! I need more of your perty face around here :P
It has helped my traffic a bit, but mostly, it’s because I have something to add to the discussion. If I don’t have something to say, I usually move on, so I suppose a good way to get comments is to write something people have strong opinions about, but that could be a double-edged sword.
True, you should always have a post worth commenting on… but sometimes you do and you don’t have the traffic. I have some great, much older posts that don’t have any comments on them because at the time, I had no traffic. No one knew who I was.
Now? I get a lot of my blog traffic simply by commenting elsewhere. Yes, much more than “Nice post!” comments – I believe in commenting something useful to benefit the discussion as best I can. I’m lucky that all of my main readers are pretty good about that too :D
Exactly. When I get those “Nice Post” comments, I’m usually like, “…thanks…?” I never know if I should reply, because they obviously don’t want a discussion. :-/
Comments = Community :) I always wonder how we’ll interact or know that we’re on the right track with our blog if there isn’t communication in the comments section. I love talking with other bloggers!
Amanda
I do too! I haven’t done very well with it as of late. If I’m not actively reading and commenting, it generally means I am in a slump and need a little time away for a couple of weeks. :D
Thank you for commenting! I am so sorry for the delay in my response. Your comment seems to have gotten stuck in need of moderation. :D All fixed now.
Cngratulations on starting your blog! If you haven’t already, I hope you see the comments flooding in soon!
I love quality comments and I’ve been lucky so far that the majority of mine have been a pleasure to read – full of kind words and sincere engagement. I hope you find the same because it does feel very nice – much better than a ‘like’ like we get over social media these days. :D
Best of luck in your blogging adventure!
My problem is finding something to say. The only posts I find are old tutorials and just leaving a ‘hey thanks’ feels like spam. I usually don’t get a reply back anyway. >_> Maybe I just have bad karma with comments.
Negativity aside, I am glad you wrote this post because even if I am not a ‘commentator’ others need to do it as well. Makes the internet a little less cold that way.
Instead of “hey thanks”, try interacting with the post. What about it did you find useful? Why did you go looking for the tutorial in the first place? And besides, you interacted with this post and left a great comment! :D
Do you read any other blogs that aren’t tutorial based? Personally, I read a lot of beauty, geek and lifestyle blogs and while I don’t always comment, I make sure to comment on the posts I really loved or had something in common with.
This is my lone good comment for the next decade. Karma has blessed you. lol. With tutorials it’s usually a technical thing like how to add related posts to blogger or something. I’m a bit of a self-sufficient type so if I don’t get it the first time, I will just research and tinker like mad alone until I get it. I actually found this post since I was looking through the Female Geek Bloggers list I made on twitter.
I really only follow tech blogs and I am not really knowledgeable enough to comment there [Oh yeah, I have so much knowledge about systemmd-NOT] so I kind of quietly absorb it. Anything else I follow is on tumblr and that isn’t the sort of platform for commenting aside from reblogs so my comments there get lost in the dust.
I am trying to comment more on Google+ and with Discus since those are [allegedly] more intimate but well, summer just started so let’s see what happens.