If you read my blog, there is a good chance that you have a blog yourself, or that you’ll have one someday soon. As you know, blogging is a lot more work than you might initially think. One of these factors is the amount of time spent on commenting: approving comments, responding to comments, and commenting on other blogs. What if they aren’t commenting on your blog, though? Here are some reasons that might shed some light on the subject:
1 – You’re boring. Ok, maybe boring is a strong word, but if you are just putting something very general, late (we know who won the Superbowl by now, thanks), or beaten to death, don’t expect people to jump on board.
2 – You have no call to action. Consider adding the WWSGD plugin or ask people a question to leave in the comments.
3 – You’re greedy. Virtually any chance you get to link to others, you instead link either to yourself or worse yet, Wikipedia. Linking to someone is not only generous but extremely relevant at the right time. Not only that, but the blogger will get a pingback and quickly come back to your site, hopefully also to thank you 🙂
4 – You’re haphazard. People like rhythm. When people expect you to post 5 times a week, once a week, whatever – at least they know what’s coming. If you fall off with this momentum, loss of commenters is often to follow.
5 – People don’t comment anymore, anyway. The blog reading community has fallen off in my opinion in terms of leaving quality comments, but I wouldn’t put all the blame on their shoulders. There are so many blogs out there, sometimes it is just easier to just retweet if you like a post rather than say something dumb like “great job!” Still, there is room for commenters – you just have to give the post your best shot (or at least the best that time will allow, please don’t stop blogging for 3 months to write your master thesis blog post :)) and see the commenters come in.
6 – You’re slow in responding. Even if you do respond to comments, you’re doing it days and weeks later.
7 – Worse yet, you don’t respond. For shame. People spend time to give you their 2 cents. The least you can do is thank them.
8 – You aren’t making it easy enough. If you don’t do so already, make sure that you are giving people an option to subscribe to comments. Don’t bother people with unnecessary logins and captchas.
9 – You don’t comment on people’s blogs. Social media has a bit of an emotional bank account. People will remember when you comment and comment some more. Please understand that I am not asking you to do this in a self-serving manner (though some do this), I’m asking you to consider spending time outside your blog and really getting involved in other sites. You may work in social media, but when did it stop being fun? If you even hesitate in answering this question, start commenting more and rediscover yourself.
10 – You haven’t found your following…yet. If you are a new blog, it is very likely it will take you at least some time to build a brand for yourself. While the case can be made that people still do comment on popular blogs, many of the comments that you see on “normal” blogs are spam-like, or to put it nicely, people that are trying to get a link out of the deal. Eventually, people will start talking about you and your blog – if it is of interest.
Also, if you’ve never read Liz Strauss before, she has a classic post that’s still relevant from 2006 on the subject on why readers don’t leave comments, which by the way has 422 comments 🙂
Great posting! That “yet” in your last point is really important, IMO–I think we’re all getting a lot better about “waiting and seeing” which blogs really have legs, and we’re hesitant to invest time if it appears one doesn’t. So persistence is definitely important and, if you care about your subject as you should (because who’d want to read it otherwise?), you’ll persist anyway.
In any case, great advice–thanks.
@Will: thanks for stopping in – and glad that you like the “yet” point. The interesting thing about blogging is that sometimes someone will just have a super awesome post and everyone will come to the yard – and then leave. So it is the repeat success and community building that everyone is waiting for. The good thing is that we all have each other to help (think Google Reader shared items and other social sharing) as well as some neat tools like Postrank.
#7 really, really bothers me. One of my favorite things about blog commenting is a chance to engage the blog’s author. Sure, inane or brief comments normally don’t warrant a response, but longer, thoughtful comments or questions back to the author should be responded to, in my opinion.
@Mark: indeed, it really sucks when people don’t give themselves the time budget for responding at all. I mean, what’s the deal here? If I wanted to just put up my thoughts, I’d either just make a static html page or leave comments off 🙂
Thanks so much for your comments. I thought they were really relevant and I appreciate them. I have been asking myself this question so now food for thought!
Carla
@Carla: You’re welcome, and thanks for dropping in! Posts that make you think are the ones that you bookmark and share with others, and this helps bring the commenters in!
Thanks, Brian–great point.It’s a long process.
Also, Mark, I’m with you. When someone takes the time to contribute something of value and the writer can’t seem to be troubled…that silence just rings.
Great topic. Hope it will be read by more folks!
@Will: nobody said it would be easy. That’s why they call it a blog 🙂
@Mark: it pains me to see when bloggers come up with great stuff that gets unnoticed. Oftentimes, they just give up right before they break out on the scene.
We’re starting up a blog and this piece was just what we needed, esp. #10. We have to find our following first and then hopefully numbers 1 thru 9 will fall into place. Great info for us novices.
Great post, Brian. What I think is worse than a blog with no comments is one that deletes critical ones. I just found myself watching an article on a blog that was somewhat controversial. Instead of engaging a conversation with the people who were critical, this guy just deleted all the critiques.
With that in mind, I’d say your points #6, 7 & 9 are probably the most important ones.
Finally, I make it a practice to comment on almost all blog articles that I read. It took a few minutes to read the thing . . . why not spend an extra one or two to leave your feedback, right?
Thanks for listening . . .
@Mary: thanks for stopping in from Facebook! Glad the post was helpful to you, and looking forward to seeing your blog!
@Joshua: many thanks. Agree with you that a blog with no comments is better than one with deleted comments. Folks like Seth Godin often keep comments closed. Teasing people by making it like they can comment and then deleting it is cowardly, at best. though. By the way – the fact that you comment on nearly all blog articles you read is incredible. I wish more people out there had that way of thinking – keep it up! 🙂
Thanks Brian. I agree completely. There’s a big difference between doing what Seth does and letting people comment, only to delete them later. No bueno.
@Joshua: totally. Let me also say that there are definitely cases in which I myself have deleted comments. These were troll comments though. Sometimes it helps to have a comment policy, though not necessary.
Damn, I’m guilty of #4. At least of course.
few of the points are case with me 🙂
thx for great summary, I’m forwarding it to my colleagues.
Hello Brain,
Its very good article and i am agree with 6 th point in the rare time …
@Tad: you’re good enough that people don’t mind waiting 🙂 Thanks for stopping in.
@Johny: glad you liked it – hope it is useful to your colleagues as well.
@Anil: point #6 is what people often slack on. It makes a huge difference – if you wait a week to respond, chances are you’ve lost the interest of the commenter.
Hey Brian –
I don’t think there is anything wrong with deleting troll posts. That said, in this case, the author must feel that anyone with a differing opinion is a troll. What can you do? I look forward to chatting again soon…..
@Joshua: deleting troll posts is tricky. In my opinion, you shouldn’t delete a comment just because someone sees something from a different point of view than you. My rule of thumb: I delete troll comments when people start to excessively try to attack myself or other commenters.
Our comment policy states that personal attacks won’t be permitted. If you have a difference of opinion, that’s one thing, argue your point and why you feel it is right and the other is wrong. If you attack the poster/commenter/etc., then you’re crossing the line.
Thank you, it is very useful. I got here because I had a related question and I was referred to your post from Problogger. I have a hard time getting comments, and all of your suggestions sound like I’m not doing my best to get those comments.
@Tom: You’re welcome, glad to hear the post was helpful to you. Where on Problogger were you referred from?
I’m guilty of pretty much all of the above. (sigh)
@Marjory: it isn’t too late to right some wrongs here 🙂 hope this post gave you some insight.
Correction:
I was referred from BlogMastermind, Yaro Starak’s program. I’ve been reading so many things lately that I get confused.
Yaro has a forum for members and this is where I got referred to this post.
Sorry for the confusion.
Tom
@Tom: no worries – always curious to see where people came from in the first place 🙂
Most of the comments I see on my blogs tend to be spammy SEO link comments, the name will be a search term rather than a real name, and of course the link associated with the term is a site trying to get in-links for the search term. I would say only 1 out of 10 comments posted are real people without a SEO agenda. I’ve ended up moderating comments to weed out the SEO link seekers. What’s even funnier we use no-reciprocal on all outgoing links, and they still try it.
@Allen: SEO spam commenting won’t be going away any time soon since not everyone is as vigilant, unfortunately. Thanks for dropping in, and good luck fighting the good spam comment fight 🙂
Hi,
Thanks for the great writeup. As mentioned in another comment most of the comments I get in my blog (www.pcfworks.com/blog/) are spam comments, you know them, those with funny looking urls. I think I am pretty good in responding back (possibly because there are very few comments) to the comments I receive. Thanks again.
@Phillip: You’re welcome and thanks for stopping in. It’s good to point out to those unfamiliar that there are 2 kinds of spam comments:
1 – a bunch of automated junk with a whole bunch of links (which should hopefully be caught by your spam filter)
2 – manual comment spam. This is usually people trying to rank for specific keywords and the use keywords instead of putting their name. Spam filters won’t always catch these, and you should approve them at your discretion.
I knew I was doing something wrong.
@Jay: You reminded me of #11: make a Youtube video to roast any trolls 🙂
@Brian Wallace:
I do enjoy a good troll roast every now and then.
@Jay: indeed sir – you’re probably due for another one sometime soon 🙂
Apart from the fact that I definitely fit in most of the examples given, I also do link too much to Wikipedia… Which is a shame as I know quite a few bloggers who write interesting and informative posts that could be linked to instead. So, it looks like I’ve found what’s my new year resolution now. Thanks 🙂
@loup_dargent: Don’t get me wrong – Wikipedia is good – it’s just that they don’t need links from every blogger to be at the top of many search results 🙂 Glad to hear that you have a good new year resolution.
Hi Brian,
Some great tips, hate to say I sometimes find myself falling foul in a few of those areas…
You could also argue that since most people (whether they admit it or not) have a drive for self-recognition, so “how will leaving a comment benefit me?” could also be a big factor. People won’t just leave comments for the sake of it, so will need to perceive some benefit (however subtle) to make it worth their time and effort.
Things which might make commenting worthwhile:
1. Desire to be ‘first’ on a repubable post which is likely to get a lot of comments – to give the impression you’re up to date, current and was first to ‘find’ the post
2. Other reputable people have commented – you want to appear next to them / positive association
3. Article is ranked highly in search engines / is likely to be ranked highly in search engines so a comment could have RageRank benefit
4. Link-drop / plug for one’s one business
I’m not saying every comment has a selfish intention, but I imagine one’s inner ego comes into play a lot more than we think.
Cheers,
Alan
Lots of great tips here. I just started a new blog and intend to implement these as much as possible.
@Alan Mitchell: nothing wrong with commenters wanting to have some benefit. They are putting a level of work into commenting back, after all. Good list of reasons for people to comment – perhaps I should do a follow-up post on it.
@Mel: good luck with the new blog!
To everyone reading this, please read all of Brian’s points — and then all of the comments.
Then, click my name and if you do it between February 15-19, 2010, you will see a specific blog post written just for you.
Thanks for the inspiration, Brian… and for the leniency to allow this comment. 😉
@Ari Herzog: glad that this post served as inspiration for you – looking forward to the blog post 🙂
Very true, I read and blogs a lot and also subscribe to feeds just to see what’s new. I usually lose my interest when the site accepts rude/spammy comments and what interest me a lot is those that really establish conversation with his/her followers, like yours.
I love the look of your blog.g It is clear and clean without looking generic. Found you through a RT on Twitter, which is new to me. Thanks for the good advice.
You’ve certainly answered a lot of my questions! I didn’t know that some of these options even existed. 🙂
Thanks for the article Brian. You’re oh so right. That’s exactly where we’re at right now—in that painful point trying to balance rhythm and consistency with quality. Found you as a cross post in Alltop off of a Guy Kawasaki post. You keep good company. 🙂
Thanks this was helpful. Now I hope I am just not boring 🙁
Brian,
I think this is excellent. You make 10 very pertinent points and I think the people that follow me would be interested in this aticle, so I will put something up abouot it on my blog. https://www.kathytemean.wordpress.com . Now that I have found you, I will visit again.
Thanks,
Kathy
@Susan @ 2KoP: glad you like the look of the blog, we try to keep things interesting. Good to hear you came in through Twitter, I hope you come back around here some as well! 🙂
@Rochelle Spencer: knowledge is power. Glad to hear it opened up some possibilities for you.
@Jason Lombard: it’s all about that rhythm. Cool that you found me on Guy’s site – it’s a great resource.
@Julie Hill: there’s a simple way to find out if you’re boring: show 3 friends before you publish it. Not people that will just yes you but really give you their unvarnished opinion.
@Kathy Temean: excellent, looking forward to checking out your post on the subject. Glad to hear you’ll stop by again – I aim to please! 🙂
Hi Brian,
Helpful stuff – thanks! I am just trying to get my own blog off the ground. I have to agree, I love the last point the most: just have patience. If you are doing 1-9, then stick around, give yourself a chance, and your blog probably will, too! 🙂
YOURS is definitely doing well, no shortage of comments here 🙂
@Katia: you’re quite welcome – glad to hear that the last point rang true to you – I feel that people often are too impatient to reap the rewards from their work. If people only stuck it out a bit longer, I think that their level of success would surprise them 🙂
This is a great post. I didn’t know blog etiquette, so I’m happy that I’ve been doing a pretty good job. When I started my blog in September, I didn’t know if anyone would be interested. It took awhile for people to find, but it’s been steadily growing. I take the time to respond to each comment I get, usually within an hour or two. And I post almost every single day. Following blogs that interest me – especially other followers, has been helpful. Looking for blogs and commenting helps me be part of a community of people with similar interests. Isn’t that why most of us blog?
@Theresa – I believe that indeed is why most of us blog. We find something of interest to us and we become part of a community – thanks for stopping in! 🙂
I’m guilty of #1, “You’re Boring.” What can I say, but that real estate blogging is not very interesting. We primarily garner our business for folks searching for something like, ‘homes by chiawana high school’ or some other longtail search phrase. All of which are not particularly interesting reading material.
Thanks for the post, this is very helpful. I am a Public Relations student at Georgia Southern University, and currently enrolled in a PR writing course. One of the requirements for the class is to create and maintain a blog throughout the semester. The most difficult aspect of the assignment so far has been getting comments on my page. There are definitely some things I can do to make it a little more interesting. I also think you’re correct in your suggestion to comment more on others’ blogs. This is something relatively easy that I should get into the habit of doing. Thanks for the advice.
@Colleen: while I agree that real estate may be a bit more “fun challenged,” I would still say that just about any vertical has the ability for its practitioners to be fun and creative.
@Chris Yates: you’re welcome for the advice – good blog you have over there and good luck with your final year. What’s your plan for after college?
I like the way you exactly hit the point on why people don’t post.
But just like you said, you need to trigger people. Interesting post make you want to Hove à opionion. But some post are just share something with your follow men.
Keep up the good work.
@Robin: thanks! It’s a shame that more people don’t post.
Thanks for the advice Brian. My blog get’s launched on Friday and your blog is very helpful for me starting off on the right foot.
Here it is in “editorial” stage:
https://travelwithted.stage.mmgworldwide.com/post/2010/02/19/Social-Media-Power-Points-and-Convent-Twister-Stories-in-Chicago.aspx
Ted Sullivan
@Ted Sullivan – looks like you are off to a good start being proactive even before your blog launches! Let us know when you get it up and running.
This is a great post Brian, i think you get the point! In fact if the post don’t trigger you, you don’t have a reason to comment, hope this post help improve my posts!
#7: pleading guilty! Not that i don’t want to answer back and I really appreciate all comments, but sometimes I just get so overwhelmed by all the things I have to do, that I forget to go back and comment back. So from now on, I will make sure I reply to all of them, though sometimes there is nothing to reply. Some people only post comments like “thanks the for the laugh”, what do you respond to that?
@Prisqua – you just don’t respond 🙂
Hello Brian, that’s a nice post. I might start doing some of those tips in order to increase the number and quality of comments on my blog. Thanks for this.
Hi there Brian!
It is my first time visiting and commenting here on your blog, and this particular post caught my eye. Far too often there is very little, if any interaction between the blogmaster and people commenting on his posts. Very often you have questions and queries, only to be met with frustration because the blogmaster is too busy writing his/her next piece of content to focus on getting the maximum out of what they’ve already put out there.
Engaging with your audience is a sure-fire way to build relationships, and to then further explore topics that were raised in the initial article. The sense of cameraderie and family you get on some blogs is just amazing, and it all has to do with building and maintaining personal realtionships.
I look forward to more insight and interaction from you.
Regards
Jacques
My main reason for not commenting is registration requirements. If I have to create a profile just to speak my mind screw it. That is a blog which I will not be visiting again anyways. Great post and thanks for making commenting so easy!
Brian,
Thank you for laying out some important things to remember. When I read blogs I like, I definitely like to comment to generate a little more conversation between myself, the blogger and other commenters, but sometimes I don’t have a lot of time and other times I don’t have something to add that could truly enhance the conversation. At those times, I don’t like to leave a “great post!” comment and choose to tweet about it instead. I realize that tweeting won’t necessarily allow me to “promote” my own blog, but I feel like constantly promoting myself is slightly disingenuous and it makes me uncomfortable. It’s comforting to know other (more experienced) bloggers are with me in that opinion. Thank you again for the insight.
Thanks for the tips. I just started blogging and thought I could get at least my close friends to start the commenting for me and even that has been like pulling teeth. I’ve been working on finding interesting blogs and writers to follow and to start leaving comments anytime I read something I benefited from because I know how much we bloggers would enjoy any feedback.
🙂
Thanks for the food for thought Brian. Great advice to start the week.
I have been blogging about one year. This in addition to commenting on Digg and other social networking sites. I have had comments on forums posts,but not blog posts: See here for an example: https://www.linuxforums.org/articles/to-fix-broken-windows-use-unix-_733.html
I have been successful in starting a dialogue with people in forums and on Digg, Slashdot and the myriad of other social networking services. The whole idea of getting feedback or comments on personal blogs may be outdated. There are so many opportunities to comment everywhere now (places like Digg, Nytimes etc), personal blogs aren’t very attractive places to leave comments (except for spammers)-
Building an audience for a non-famous person is very difficult and it doesn’t need to be the focus of blogging. Having a blog, even sans comments is valuable to build your credibility as a subject matter expert in your area of interest. Don’t forget the forums, Stumbleupon and other great ways of driving traffic to your blog.
I am very thankful to you for providing me such wonderful information, i was always thought about my blog commenting and you solved my whole problem, i implement whole method which you mentioned here.
Love the honesty. “You’re boring” — it’s true… if you don’t engage people you don’t start a conversation in their head. When that happens there absolutely no reason to comment, share, or do anything other than click the back button. This a great list to consider everytime you write a new post.
So true what you’re saying here. There is nothing that brings a wee tear to my eye than stumbling across a blog which to be fair, published by a dedicated and regular blogger, but not a single comment on it.
It is akin to sitting in a darkened room, staring at your own reflection whilst muttering to yourself.
I’m currently working on my new website where yes, I intend to have a blog. The trouble I have is finding new material to blog about that has not already been done to death. Got to keep it fresh.
Gavski
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Thanks for the info. I just started a blog called the drunken chatter and I was wondering why no one has commented on my post.
I like the view of this blogger: Bloggers don’t have it easy: ‘surprised nobody has commented’
https://www.cyberculturegallery.com/why-no-comments-on-my-blog/
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i have a personal blog were i talk about current events and personal experiences……. and throw rants http://www.christologic.com
Thanks for the tips! I recently had a couple of comments on my blog that were marked as spam, even when they weren’t. It’s a good idea to go through old posts and make sure this isn’t happening to you. Also, switching to Disqus really helps.
I have comments on one blog, but not so much on the other. I have a lot of Anonymous commenters. I don’t usually get comments on the posts where I really ask for feedback. Do I need to ask in a more subtle way, 😀 ?
Hey Brian, I agree with the point number 5. In fact, I’ve read that on average, only 1% of your visitors will actually comment on your content.
Awful, right?