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When I read about ways to reward those who comment on blogs I always enthusiastically try them out. I see comments as the life blood of a blog, providing a distribution system for so many other aspects of blogging. Their are plenty of blog posts around about the benefits of leaving comments but what of the benefits we gain by receiving them?
Benefits of receiving comments:
Communication Needs
- Comments are a concrete way of showing that your blog has readers, particularly interested in your blog, rather than just passing trade. The passing trade do comment too but you can distinguish these from your regulars. A hello and thank you to my regulars.
- Satisfaction - Stating the obvious - no one wants to run a blog that is not read by others, for whatever reason we blog. - stats may indicate visitors and readers but figures do not provide the same sort of personal satisfaction.
- Motivation - to keep writing posts and to keep going with the blog itself - many blogs are abandoned (probably too early) because of receiving few or no comments.
- Egos are stroked - a natural human need to one extent or another (not because bloggers in general need ego strokes more than anyone else)
- Social advantages/Social Networking - we get to know others, we develop contacts outside of the blog itself, we can develop friendships, contacts can lead to more contacts and more friends who also come to comment on our blogs - the Blog Loop.
- Networking - again to develop contacts but done for business, professional or money making reasons rather to satisfy strictly personal needs.
- Networking + Social Networking - those who start blogging for the above reasons often find it is the social aspects that motivate them to keep on going.
The Blog Loop and how it goes wrong
This post is not just an off the top of my head type now - it has really got me thinking and I even created an image. Do some of your blog posts develop along these lines?
Feedback
- This includes the pat on the back type comments that help with the motivational and ego stroking needs mentioned above. We know deep down that some of these type are not sincere but how many of us ignore this and choose to appreciate them anyway? This does not include the "nice post", "well done", "I am not adding saying anything else because I just want you to visit my blog" type. These are just a drag and for delete or the spam folder. I notice some of these have snuck into some of my older posts - they will be ex-comments soon.
- Learning which of our posts are popular with our readers. It does not necessarily mean posts that draw the most comments but also those which elicit the more valuable comments - what is valuable depends of course on your own particular blog and your own blogging needs. Being aware of which posts fit these criteria is an enormous help in showing us how to improve and meet the needs of our readers. By aware I mean not just knowing which posts they are but thinking about why they are popular and how to reproduce the success again. Looking at our unpopular posts can be similarly helpful.
Research and learning
- Finding other blogs in our own niche areas can advance our learning of the particular subject we cover. Blogs tend to beget contact from similar blogs. Following your comments and the comments left on their author’s blog can be a source of valuable knowledge.
- Even if you blog on a particular topic by following comments you can find wonderful blogs to interest and entertain you; to satisfy leisure and personal learning needs.
- Comments that give us information, add to the topic, or add things we may have missed are a valuable learning tool (the latter is only of positive use for perfectionist types who do not beat themselves up about missing something.). And to prove that I am not a perfectionist I am going to end here and ask you to add any other positive things you can think of - (Ok the truth - I don’t particularly like missing things but I ran out of steam and ideas and I even like getting comments that tell me what I have missed, as well as ego stroking ones.)
Benefits of Leaving Comments
Simple - just take account of the benefits you gain from receiving comments and bestow these on others - not only will you feel good about yourself you will receive backlinks, kudos, recognition for your own blog, more visitors, readers, increased page rank and all the other stuff you can read one of the many blog posts already written on the subject.
I started this post only intending to tell you some news relating commenting tools but not wanting to lose your attention I will write about these next. I have a real talent for (problem with!) getting completely sidetracked.
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Sueblimely
An interesting subject Sue and you know my saying: Blogging Connecting People and to me, comments is the glue.
My topic is about Norway; our culture, traditions and history and by sharing this I get a lot of interesting reaction, perspectives, questions etc. and from all over the world.
To me its a Givers Gain sine I get a lot of blogfriends around the globe too and learn a lot from reading their blogs.
A great side effect is that this sharing of knowledge and experience build down cultural, religious and other barriers and the world gets smaller. That’s why I always say: Make blogs not Wars.
RennyBAs last blog post..Networking with whisky at Dr. Jekyll’s in Oslo
I certainly agree Renny and you are a prime example of how a blogger can develop a large network of friends and contacts. We can all learn a lot from you - I have already
Sueblimelys last blog post..Advantages of Receiving Blog Comments
Great post ad thank you for sharing. We are always trying to generate more traffic on our blog and always welcome comments. They help our blog “grow,” and also help determine how many readers we do in fact have. Thanks again for sharing!
Hi Sue,
So does this mean I’m stroking your ego by commenting?
I have to say though that I see the value in getting motivated to post more.
There would be nothing worse than a blog that is deprived of comments.
Consider my ego stroked Dan
It is good to see new visitors commenting as well as regulars.
Sueblimelys last blog post..Advantages of Receiving Blog Comments
This is a great list. I’m surprised how many people refuse to accept comments because they worry about bad comments. However, I think it’s better to have bad comments on your own blog that you can respond to than bad comments on someone else’s blog about you that you know nothing about.
Some do not accept comments because they would get so many that they could not keep up. These type of blogs have moved into different territory, where their popularity means that they do not need to keep on creating contacts as they have enough already. The conversation is all one way.
I know of others who have had to cut off contact because of the sheer volume of unwarranted, unjustified bad comments. I agree though negative feedback if justified is good too - if you can learn from it.
Sueblimelys last blog post..Advantages of Receiving Blog Comments
You raise an interesting point: how do you handle a blog that generates lots of comments? Like you said, some blog owners just shut off the comments. I’ve noticed that other blog owners don’t respond to (and probably don’t read) the comments. I’m not sure which, of those two options, is the better course of action.
Minnesota Attorneys last blog post..Minnesota DWI DUI Drunk Driving Attorney
I personally love getting comments on any of my blogs. It gives you a sense of satisfaction that people are actually reading through what you have found and written about showing some interest. Sure you get a few fake and bad ones here and there but generally you get some rather interesting input on your ideas and articles. Good read thank you.
Chriss last blog post..
You can learn a lot from your comments if you take time to think about it. Which posts get the most in depth comments, which the quick “I want to publicize my own blog” ones. Which get the most comments, which the least. Which ones attract regular readers, which ones one off visitors …..
All of this can help you work out how to improve.
Sueblimelys last blog post..Advantages of Receiving Blog Comments
I never noticed myself how enjoyable it was to receive comments on my blog. Reminds me, I need to get back to it.
very true. one of the reasons i enjoy blogging so much is because i can’t wait to read the comments that my regular visitors usually leave. it doesn’t hurt that they’re quite nice, so i now find that blogging’s a great way to inject something positive into my day.
koujis last blog post..haiku poem: others (time)
It is very tempting to spend more time on blogging and visiting other blogs than doing other things you need to do. I have been busy with work lately and I have had to summon up a lot of willpower to concentrate on it.
Sueblimelys last blog post..Advantages of Receiving Blog Comments
Yes I agree, sometimes you are motivated to continue with what you’re doing if you know that someone is really reading your blogs. good point, i’m planning to build blog on my site. any advice?
Good content, regular posts, encouraging comments, responding to them, visiting the blogs of others, promotion on social networking sites (backlinks and more backlinks), a clean clear blog design (your site design is really good so using that would be great), not too many ads.
For a blog on a site like yours I would not push your products too much or too blatantly but talk of things of interest related to your business. Talking about your own techniques for selling and giving tips to others would go down well.
Sueblimelys last blog post..Advantages of Receiving Blog Comments
I totally agree. I have been guilty of making it difficult for people to leave comments in the past.
Receiving coments though gives you the motivation to keep going.
John SearchingfortheBigOnes last blog post..Congress Crashes the Markets!
Rewarding your regular commentors goes down well to. Top commentors, recent comments, commentluv, keywordluv plugins ….
Sueblimelys last blog post..Advantages of Receiving Blog Comments
Howdy:
I love receiving comments from my read. Not because I want to gain advantage. I think comments from readers is the award of my effort.
Handbag for lifes last blog post..Gucci 2009 Men’s Bag Preview
It is also satisfying to be able to reward others and the one obvious way of doing this is via the comments system - not only having plugins that recognize regular comments but commenting on the blogs of others, adding them to your blogroll etc …
Sueblimelys last blog post..Advantages of Receiving Blog Comments
I think comments are a great way to keep motivation. Seeing my readers comment on my posts is what keeps me writing.
I also agree that commenting on other blogs is a great way to get more traffic, generate backlinks, and give back feedback to fellow bloggers.
Justin Wrights last blog post..News From the Weekend
I have been reading your blog and wish you much success in your move away from the office rat race.
Sueblimelys last blog post..Advantages of Receiving Blog Comments
Comments are great for the blog. When I receive comments on my blog, it pumps me up and keeps me writing more and better things. At least I hope my readers like them.
Curtiss last blog post..Ads and Wordpress.com
I have also heard that blog comments can help your blog with the search engines because search engines like seeing new content on a post. The new content indicates to search engines that the post is still relevant and is updated.
Awesome post!! I think comments are vital to blogging; it’s all about the conversation. People who refuse to allow comments are telling the world that there’s nothing to add to their post. Personally, I think that’s conceited. There’s always something more to say, or another viewpoint, etc.
Andrew. Estate Lawyer.s last blog post..Can You Call Your Lawyer?
Andrew, you raise an important point: a blog’s original post doesn’t always tell the full story, but comments often fill in the missing pieces. For this reason, blogs that allow comments, and have a lot of comments, are often more credible. I often review comments to a post to judge its credibility or see if anyone has added helpful points to the topic.
Minnesota Attorneys last blog post..Minnesota DWI DUI Drunk Driving Attorney
I always feel great satisfaction when I receive comments cos it means my work is paying off
Commenting is also a great way to get comments, so that’s why I do it so much
Simons last blog post..The 5 Keys To A Successful Blog
@andrew: true. when i come across a blog which doesn’t allow comments (and thankfully that rarely happens), i feel that the blog is missing something because there’s no way to start a conversation.
koujis last blog post..haiku poems: money (credit cards)
I agree that comments are very good for motivation to keep blogging and for increasing the popularity of your blog. It’s good to see that you give back to commenters. That’s a great way to keep your visitors happy and get more comments. Not to mention you can make some great friends from regular commenters.
Trents last blog post..Blogs Suck for Internet Marketing and Making Money Online
I think it’s also important to leave comment, when you glean information from another blog site. It lets the blogger know he’s doing a great job, and it’s not bad for the backlinks too!
Commenting is my favorite part of blogging. I love when good conversations happen and even heated criticism and debate.
Great post Sue! I like your mixture of different types of content
Bobby Revells last blog post..Horrified! My Weird Neighbors
Blog commenting seems to get more popular with everyday, I can understand why, it’s a really good technique as you’ve pointed out above.
Danny Coopers last blog post..Technorati - A Good Measure of Link Popularity?
Haha, Danny, you know it first hand how good it is
Simons last blog post..IronBlogger’s Holding a Huge Contest - $1,000 Of Prizes
I totally agree, and I think a blog without comment will be completely one sided and boring for visitors.
marvieponss last blog post..Drink and Smoke
Oh my Sue what a topic for me to make my first comment in ages on.
I did not forget you I was away. It is a very long story. A 1 month stay with my daughter turned into 5. And blogging was simply impossible.
But, I am back now and commenting. And this is a fantastic article.
I try as much as possible to get by and make comments.
I especially try to leave comments on blogs that have absolutely zero.
I remember when I first started and even a simple hello just thrilled me!!
I hope you have a grand week!!
Shinades last blog post..PhotoHunt