I just got done reading a couple of different articles about commenting effectively and pulled some really good information from them both but I have even some more advice on commenting. One thing that I have learned more recently not only about commenting but about combining commenting and social networking is that you can generate quite a bit of traffic if done right by helping the blogs and sites that you make comments on get traffic on sites like Digg and Reddit.
For example, I use Twitter and am connected pretty much all day to Twitter whether it’s on my phone or at my desk. When someone Twitters a website, my tendency is to ignore that link. I have found that if I go and read the article and I’m able to leave comments on that post, there are quite a few other people that are reading that post from Twitter and other social networks that have picked that article up. Next thing I know I’m getting traffic from all of the social traffic that the blog post has been receiving.
So not only do I gain traffic from Twitter itself, I’m able to leverage the followers that Tweet has, but I’m also able to push it on to Digg and/or Reddit and/or other networks and create more traffic for that post. It’s amazing how much traffic you can generate if you follow good quality commenting rules and promote articles that you have commented on. I read two really good articles about quality commenting.
The first article was 4 Effective Ways to Comment on Different Blogs and the second one Formula for Effective Commenting state a lot of great tips. This is the condensed list of what I gathered from them both:
- Find similar blogs so you can create relevant links and/or relevant traffic.
- Add to the conversation, don’t just say “Nice Post”.
- Only link to your blog or site when it makes sense.
- Be different or intelligent when you comment.
- Ask questions when commenting. .
- Answer questions that are asked.
- Object appropriately, remember comments are moderated.
- Join the conversation.
- Keep comments short.
- Be early in the comments.
- Respond to comments about your comments.
- Be funny.
- Be real and genuine when commenting.
- Keep commenting.
- Keep a consistent identity so that you can build a reputation and people will recognize and trust your comments.
So the key to effective commenting is to comment in conjunction with social networking.
If you leverage other peoples friends and users by commenting on the things that they share, you can also gain a tremendous amount of traffic and potentially a larger following.
My tendancy as well was to ignore most of the links that Twitterers posted, but after giving some a chance, I now realize the majority of the links are useful if not interesting. I have also changed my attitude about ads, as some of the coolest websites I have found came from clicking on an ad.
After commenting on a few interesting posts I did indeed see a small traffic spike, which I did find very interesting as I never thought of my comments as a traffic source. I have always thought of commenting on engaging in the community, that sort of thing.
As far as this comment is concerned, I am not lost on the fact I may be the first commentor on a post about how to properly comment on a post. It’s making me a little nervous! LOL!! How did I do? :)
Comment by Richard — April 9, 2009 @ 2:39 pm
I think you did great. The biggest reward as a blogger is when an article creates a conversation. The traffic is great and all and reflects how good the article is at times, but I think that if it’s really a good article people go away having learned something new and are better now having read the article.
I appreciate your comment an approve it. :)
Comment by Brandon Buttars — April 9, 2009 @ 3:16 pm
My blog is not at all similar to your but I’ll comment anyway :)
I have no plans to make any money from blogging but it is nice to have many readers. I will try out your suggestions. Thanks!
Another thing to have in mind when commenting: Many filters regard 2 links in the same comment as spam so it is a good idea to avoid that.
Comment by Peter Fendrich — April 10, 2009 @ 4:23 am
You know what I like about this? I created a twitter account this morning, read a blog by Evan Williams (CEO of Twitter) regarding blogger and how it could be improved via workflow improvements, and made my own post commenting on the possibilities of a merged/hybrid application. This ties in by proving how effective social networking is at leveraging traffic – I know because I came to this article from a tweet by a person who just decided to follow me.
Within a matter of hours of entering the world of instant social networking (as I like to call Twitter and Facebook status updates), I’ve been introduced to more interesting articles and information than I had previously sat down and researched in my own time!
Comment by Ahad L. Amdani — April 10, 2009 @ 2:36 pm
Great post! I do my fair share of Twittering and I try and post useful, relevant content and resources for my followers on a regular basis. And in fact, I was in search mode to find something useful to post for them when I found this! :)
..I love this idea of leveraging traffic and helping the posts I comment on to get more traffic. You got me thinking to apply this!
Thanks Brandon!
Comment by Matt Levenhagen — April 11, 2009 @ 9:19 am
Great Post Brandon,
I Like the List , I never thing about asking questions in my comments .
Great work !!!
Dawid Ryba
PS: Sorry for my bad english,
Comment by Dawid Ryba - Make Money Online — April 13, 2009 @ 4:34 am
Yeah I know WordPress by default marks any post with 2 links or more as spam.
Comment by Brandon Buttars — April 13, 2009 @ 8:46 pm
[...] The effect of positive comments in social media [...]
Pingback by Weekly Updates for the Week of April 06 - 12 | Rockin' SEO Blog - SEO Tools — April 14, 2009 @ 12:37 am
I just came from a discussion over at bloggeries blog forums regarding this exact topic.
I think the most annoying part about being a blogger is putting up with the senseless and non related or interested retarded comments most bloggers write.
If nothing can be gained from a comment I’m thinking its best not said.
The worst is seeing a bloggers comment on an article and have little or no interest in the topic. The comments start looking like this,
1. Hey man nice article thanks for sharing.
2. Sweet information I’ll try to remember it.
3. You’re so right I couldn’t have done it better myself.
If we have nothing beneficial to say then say nothing at all.
Now on occasion we can make exceptions. If you’re visiting a blog and it’s a funny joke of the day type of thing where all you want to post is LOO too funny thanks for sharing you made my day that’s different.
In general I always to comment with informative information or opinions. Nothing worse then het thanks for sharing lol
Nice article man!
Brian
Comment by bbrian017 — April 15, 2009 @ 6:54 am
The list you compiled really offers some good guidelines. I especially like the “be funny” in your commenting suggestion.
As a longtime MySpace member, I easily adapted to Facebook. I found Twitter to be a bit confusing at first, probably because I was making it seem harder than it really is!
I find Facebook to be my casual place for staying in touch, and Twitter the ultimate resource for feeding the info-junkie within! It’s amazing how following the right people can expand your intelligence. I am most grateful!
Now for the question… I am curious what order people would list as their top 5 social marketing sites…and why?
To your ongoing success!
~Sharon
@RainShadowVA
Comment by Sharon — April 15, 2009 @ 10:18 am
Reaching out to links in Twitter is an amazing idea. Especially if you follow someone with a tremendous amount of followers.
Comment by Nick Stamoulis — April 16, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
I read this yesterday and have had a solid response from implementing just a few of these tactics.
This actually maybe one of the most useful articles on Twitter I’ve read yet (and I read a lot).
Thanks so much!
Comment by Maureen Jann — April 21, 2009 @ 9:05 am
Thank you for the kind words. I’m glad it has helped. Twitter can be a great resource for finding good stuff.
Comment by Brandon Buttars — April 24, 2009 @ 10:43 am
I find blogs useful if not interesting. I’m glad to see comments because I can sometimes relate.
Comment by gerald | link company — December 14, 2009 @ 11:03 pm
Because of this post I’m now one of your twitter followers and I also Sphinned it!. I would recommend adding a twitter logo on the right bar.
Nice article!
Comment by Local SEO Company — April 1, 2010 @ 5:49 am
hey
just signed up and wanted to say hello while I read through the posts
hopefully this is just what im looking for looks like i have a lot to read.
Comment by jeofadiatte — April 2, 2010 @ 1:08 pm
I’m new here. How is everyone?
Comment by StooloImmerly — April 25, 2010 @ 1:01 am