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February 8th, 2010

10 Reasons People Aren’t Commenting on Your Blog

Posted by: Brian

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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:

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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

Tagsblog comments, Liz Strauss, retweeting, social media bank account, subscribe to comments, WWSGD

About the Author

Brian Wallace is the founder of NowSourcing, Inc., a social media agency since 2005 serving everyone from startups to the Fortune 500 and everything in between. Prior to founding NowSourcing, Brian worked in a variety of technical and marketing environments being a Chief Technology Officer for a noted media company. Brian holds an MBA and MS in Information Systems and resides in Louisville, KY with his wife and children. He started the group social media blog, Collective Thoughts and appears as a guest author on Mashable and Google Tutor.
View all posts by Brian

http://will.crosscutcommunications.com Will

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.
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@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.
http://broadcasting-brain.com Mark Dykeman

#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.
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@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
http://www.ghrsonline.com carla

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
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@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!
http://will.crosscutcommunications.com Will

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!
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@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.
Mary Alford-Carman

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.
http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog Joshua Dorkin

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 . . .
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@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!
http://www.biggerpockets.com Joshua Dorkin

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.
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@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.
http://seo2.0.onreact.com Tad Chef

Damn, I’m guilty of #4. At least of course.
http://www.theldco.com Johny

few of the points are case with me

thx for great summary, I’m forwarding it to my colleagues.
http://www.anil2u.info Anil Kumar Panigrahi

Hello Brain,

Its very good article and i am agree with 6 th point in the rare time …
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@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.
http://www.biggerpockets.com Joshua Dorkin

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…..
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@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.
http://www.biggerpockets.com Joshua Dorkin

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.
http://evengrounds.com/blog Tom

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.
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@Tom: You’re welcome, glad to hear the post was helpful to you. Where on Problogger were you referred from?
http://www.scuba-diving-blog.com Marjory

I’m guilty of pretty much all of the above. (sigh)
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@Marjory: it isn’t too late to right some wrongs here hope this post gave you some insight.
http://evengrounds.com/blog Tom

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
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@Tom: no worries – always curious to see where people came from in the first place
http://smarterotti.com Allen Harkleroad

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.
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@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
http://www.pcfworks.com Phillip Flores

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.
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@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.
http://social-blend.com Jay Fowler

I knew I was doing something wrong.
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@Jay: You reminded me of #11: make a Youtube video to roast any trolls
http://social-blend.com Jay Fowler

@Brian Wallace:
I do enjoy a good troll roast every now and then.
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@Jay: indeed sir – you’re probably due for another one sometime soon
http://www.loupdargent.com loup_dargent

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
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@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.
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http://www.alanmitchell.com.au Alan Mitchell

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
http://missystini.com Mel

Lots of great tips here. I just started a new blog and intend to implement these as much as possible.
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@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!
http://ariwriter.com Ari Herzog

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.
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@Ari Herzog: glad that this post served as inspiration for you – looking forward to the blog post
http://designtorontoweb.ca/ Christina

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.
http://2kop.blogspot.com Susan @ 2KoP

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.
http://www.rochellespencer.com Rochelle Spencer

You’ve certainly answered a lot of my questions! I didn’t know that some of these options even existed.
Jason Lombard

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.
http://www.blissbookimages.com/news/ Julie Hill

Thanks this was helpful. Now I hope I am just not boring
http://www.kathytemean.com Kathy Temean

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. http://www.kathytemean.wordpress.com . Now that I have found you, I will visit again.

Thanks,

Kathy
http://www.nowsourcing.com/blog Brian Wallace

@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!
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