How NOT To Leave Blog Comments

I just started to follow you on twitter and this is actually my first time visiting your blog. I really liked this post. You make great points. Comments are pretty much everything, blog writters feed off of what people have to say so leave a good comment and hopefully get a link to your own blog as well!!!!

Good idea I will follw these advices!!!

OK, just kidding. I think you hit the nail on the head here — there are too many folks out there writing blogs about how easy it is to make money online by posting a handful of crap posts, sticking AdSense around it, and promoting yourself by commenting all over the place. Blogging, a.k.a. “writing”, is actually hard work — especially if you don’t have anything to say. And leaving comments, as off-the-cuff as it might be, is still writing. You could have let all those comments go through and they *still* wouldn’t have done the writer any good — nobody wants to read something by a writer with nothing to say.

Even worse, there are godawful programs that find new posts and drive you there in order to drop off your thoughtless, content-free commment. Yuk.

Sometimes I find it all a little dispiriting. We’ve all heard the basics so many times. Be a person, contribute to the conversation, add some value, think of others before yourself. All of that is actually easier a lot of the time than the ridiculous and ineffective gaming people try to do.

Gaaaaah. :-)

Sonia Simone’s last blog post..Relationship Marketing or Social Media?

This is another post about a subject matter that you can read about on a 100 different blogs. Wow, how to write good comments.

All you do is rehash what has been written a 1000 times before. I suggest not posting at all for a day is better than rahashing what you can find elsewhere.

“A good chunk of” what?
My favourate comment spam though is

“me to” (not even spelt correctly - me too)
and
“what he said”

Which may even be on topic and genuine, but not so valuable ;-)

AYK comment spam comes about from porgrams like Comment Kahuna and people like Peter Drew who try to “automate” this sort of thing.

The problem is that they sell these things on the basis of backlinks meaning higher SERP.

What most people forget is that search engine ranking is not the entire picture by a long way.

AYK we can get lots more quality traffic from things like stumbleupon (social bookmarking) and better yet word of mouth (and in that I include Twitter).

I don’t think we will ever eradicate comment spam, because lazy IM marketeers will always pick the low hanging fruit of search engine strays, over doing what you have done, to build high quality followers.

The furony.com is that many of the Internet marketeers you discuss/review/know still continue to extol the virtues of lazy man backlinking.

First it was comment backlinks. And now it is social bookmark backlink spam.

There are so many systems now that try to “cheat” at getting robots to rank them.
Unfortunately it is people who will be disappointed when they get there.

I’ve tended to turn comments totally off on my blogs as a result. But the flip side, is that comments also boost your own blogs ratings, as even i it is in Elvish it counts to bots as fresh content.

I haven’t added up the stats on to how important blog comment traffic is, and am thinking of allowing a comment drivel fest on a single post to find out.

But either way I’m not sure it is the correct thing to do.
It’s a bit like ads. Do you want to reward your human readers and encourage them to stay, or try to please the bots to pick up the one time stray.

Past 10 comments, I think very few comment threads are actually read.
Perhaps the practical answer is to vet the first ten and then and let the lazy commenters think they are achieving something.

But only on selected posts that aren’t your hard core readers content.

WDYT?

How many comments down do you think people normally read?
How much more traffic have you noticed on posts with comments to those without?

Nice chunk of what?

Peter

Peter’s last blog post..Mind Control lobe 8

I am very guilty of the “that’s great!” method of trying to get linked. Back in the early days of my blogging, I even had the nerve to say “hey can you add me to your blogroll” or “visit my site!”. I’ve learned since then. I’ve learned that time is too precious to comment on articles I just DON’T CARE about. I’ve also learned that content (and honestly, niche blogging) is king. Your suggestions are great for novice bloggers who wish to promote their website(s).

pinayhekmi’s last blog post..I’ll Pass on the Belly Shots

I thought this was a very poor post. I think you need to re-write the introduction and first heading (currently “Here are 19 CRAP comments”.) as it feels slightly confusing/misleading post.

Your post is about people trying to abuse your comments system by increasing their post count and increasing the number of links back to their website. Sounds like you have systems in place to capture this, and that is working reasonably well.

However, I think if you would describe someone who genuinely took the time to say something positive, however short, as leaving a CRAP comment then you are misguided and not being particularly supportive of your readers, or encouraging others to get involved. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t be pleased and grateful when someone has taken their time to leave you some positive (albeit succinct) feedback. Naively I would like a comments section to be less about link generation, content recycling, etc. etc. I suppose these kind of sites don’t want or encourage that as it doesn’t add to the linkathon that increases search rankings and potential affiliate link clicks.

Just my views,

Dave.

PS - Could You Please Stop Capitalising Every Word In Your Headings It Is Annoying And Poor Grammar (Only Nouns Or First Words In The Sentence Should Be Capitalised) Whatever The “Expert” How To Write A Good Blog Headline Article Writers Say.

Dave,
I agree wholeheartedly with you. I just wrote an in-depth, profound comment on the topic but I forgot to put my name in first and WordPress deleted it.

So for now, I will clog up the comment box with “spam” by saying, “Good comment, Dave. I agree.” LOL ;)

In short, to say a positive, short comment does “nothing” is incorrect. It can brighten someone’s day and make them feel good about their work.

I agree with the author’s point, of course, that it won’t necessarily help with your own networking of your blog… although it may. I tend to check out the blogs of people who are kind enough to leave me positive comments.

And sometimes, honestly, there is nothing more to say than “I agree,” or “great post.”

What’s wrong with paying a compliment for the sake of paying a compliment?

Dawn Allcot’s last blog post..Writing and Researching for Life

I think this post is very direspectful to people who take the time to comment on your post. There is nothing wrong with short comments. You should be grateful for every single comment you recieve.

I sorta agree with you - well certainly in the case of your multi poster who, as you say, was obviously after the top spot and any kudos that may earn them.

However, criticising (which is how I read it) anyone who happnes to write ‘good post’ or similar or even not publishing their comments says two things to me.

1. The blog writer doesn’t care about their public - even those who only write one or two words deserve to be heard
2. The blog writer is into censoring posts just because they don’t meet certain criteria.

I’m very much a small time blogger and not in it for the kudos or even for money (both of these may change) and the only time I censor a post is where it is obviously spam and has been missed by the filter.

Censoring for any other reason than spam and perhaps for decency is just plain wrong IMO.

Good post though :)

Adding to Dave’s and Dawn’s comments… Sometimes it can be very hard to come up with something to say, but you want to let the blogger know they “did good”.

Yes, this person was probably trying to abuse the system, but can you really know? Do you really want to discourage newbies who might be reading your blog and suddenly going “oh, no, I’ve been doing it all wrong, she thinks I’m a spammer, I’ll just hide now.”?

I understand your frustration, but perhaps the message could have been clearer.

Beth Robinson’s last blog post..How Might Your Solution Become a Problem?

Boy, talk about people trying to make a good comment! I personally only comment when I have something to say. It might not be of standards to some but I really don’t care. At least I took the time to visit and comment. Yes, I would like to see more meaningful comments on my blogs sometimes but I’m grateful to have readers period. I’m just glad to know someone is reading my blog;)

Lori’s last blog post..Cleaning the Blog Clutter & Organizing

Crap comment = No click

Crap comment + CommentLuv + Good headline = Chance of a click

Hunter Nuttall’s last blog post..A Simple Productivity System

Hi Caroline,

Those 19 comments are short comments, but not necessarily crap.. (such a harsh word)

It is true that they do not contribute anything to the dialog, and do not benefit anyone. But, sometimes people that are new to blogging would make comments like this with very honest intentions.

Even though this is one person leaving the whole bunch.. can you be 100% sure that the sole purpose of this poster was to make it to the 1st place in your Top Commentators?

There is a chance this is his 2nd day blogging and he just happened to stumble on your blog and liked it, isn’t there?

Cheers,
Alex

Alex at Net-Entrepreneur.com’s last blog post..6 Must-Have Collapsible Plugins for WordPress

In the early days of my internet marketing venture (all of a few months ago :) ), I was totally mystified by this commenting lark. Now that I’ve matured somewhat, I only personally contribute (and always have done) when I feel I can make a valid point but very often I fell down at the name and url part. I used to put in anchor text for the name but soon realised that was kind of disrespectful (probably why some of my comments never got posted) to the blogger- especially if the blog was a totally different niche to the anchor text. Now I just use the name as it saves a lot of hassle. By the way, even though the blog is “nofollow”, the url added into the box still count as backlinks (even though no PR juice is passed on).

The Top Commentators plugin encourages this behavior. Take it off. It provides no value to your blog or to your blog readers. If your posts are good, people will find enough motivation to comment.

John is probably right.

A blog that receives a decent amount of meaningful comments per post (such as yours), does not have to use the Top Commentators Plugin, especially if you put it in the footer to begin with…

I don’t think those who are taking their time to comment constructively need the plugin as an incentive. On the other hand, if placed somewhere in the header… :) just kidding…

Cheers,
Alex

Alex at Net-Entrepreneur.com’s last blog post..6 Must-Have Collapsible Plugins for WordPress

I don’t think that the 19 comments were individually crap (not every comment needs to make some earth-shattering point), but combined they suggest pretty strongly an attempt to spam the system by making the top commenters list. And that’s a crappy thing to do.

John et al. might be right about Top Commentors, tho, as I think your community comments just because we like to comment and yak with one another.

Also IMO Dave is full of crap (just teasing Dave :) ) about capitalizing headlines, there’s nothing ungrammatical about it. The only time I’ve seen only nouns capitalized is in German, but perhaps it is an acceptable practice on your side of the pond? Anyway, I am among the bigger grammar dorks in the universe, but capitalization practices on blogs don’t make my radar.

Sonia Simone’s last blog post..What Is Marketing, Anyway?

A short saying often contains much wisdom - Sophocles

Guru Bob

Geez, Caroline, until I read this post I had forgotten you had the Top Commentators plugin (’cause it’s lower than I scroll).

I think you are totally right that 19 in a day are most likely an attempt to game the system, especially considering that you say some didn’t even relate to the posts. You’ve got a fine b.s. detector after all this time and traffic, and you understand the difference between naive and appreciative and, as you put it, crap.

As to headlines, I think your caps are just fine, like the titles and chapter heads in a book. Of course, I do it myself, so I would think it’s fine that you do it.

The rule I learned in writing classes was, no caps on words of three letters or fewer, except pronouns (Me, etc.), proper names (Sue…), and verbs (Is…). So for me, “to” would not be in caps in your title. Before I started the blog, I am such a geek, I checked if there were other rules for caps, and I discovered that there are several equally acceptable sets of rules, including the one I was taught, so I think it’s up to you. Plus, it’s your space. I’m just visiting!

Great post as always! :)

Regards,

Kelly

Kelly’s last blog post..Inspiration Points: Tax Tips

Hehe, was just wondering who’d be game to comment on this post.

I’ll admit that in the past I was tempted to push out some more comments on here just to get into that list of top commenters. I have to agree with Alex on the use of that plugin, though I know the temptation is strong to put just one more doodad on the site to make it look busier.

Can’t remember who now, but recently someone had an interesting rant against people packing the “name” field of the blog comments with keywords instead of, well you know, their NAME.

Another thing that alerts the spam-o-meter is when the sites left with those comments look like http://www.make-heaps-of-money-online-free-its-easy-ask-me-how.com

Amen to the interesting comment=traffic, rather than simply the quantity of comments - although I have on occasion clicked on commenters simply because of an interesting name.

Random thought - hey, how about an AJAX powered comment plugin that auto saves your comment-in-progress every 10 seconds in case your browser craps it?! Not volunteering to make it though - trying to forget I was everan IT guru (read “slave”).

@Peter: amen (also) to comments with poor spelling - they bug me too. Having said that I DO allow my grammar to slip a bit on the web (even in my business communications) to allow a bit of “me” to come through.

@Dave:I was thinking that myself - was a bold stance saying the comments were CRAP - they could have been from some of her biggest supporters :P I think those of us who’ve known Caroline from a while now (from this blog) understand that there’s nothing too deep to read into it.

@Sonia: I dunno, I think Dave’s probably right on the capitalising headlines thing - on the other hand screw it, I LIKE the look.

Shameless plug (of one of my lame blogs - but hey they’re not how I make a living) - look at point 4 of my blog post (below) - check out the Google link to the guy’s comments.

Ben Helps’ last relevant blog post (point 4)..Communicate Effectively - Or, Think Before You Publish

Caroline,

I’ve been following you for quite some time and you rock! This post is the absolute truth and I’ve had such a time teaching my clients that comments do not mean anything if they do not add value to their readers.

So often, we internet marketers do everything out of “strategy” instead of realizing that when we contribute to the overall community, we all benefit and ultimately the truly successful ones, like you, are only those who really contribute.

Keep up the great reads!
Maria Reyes-McDavis

Maria Reyes-McDavis’s last blog post..Article Marketing? Has the Web Success Diva gone mad?

Caroline, it is you that taught me the power of commenting. I admit that I can’t type up SUPER GREAT comments like the ones you leave for other blogs, but I am surely trying :)

-Mike

Mike Huang’s last blog post..The Secrets Of eBooks

hi, im still new here in your blog, i was just wondering if wordpress accepts paid posts (i.e. payperpost, sponsoredreviews, smorty)?

I have a free account at wordpress and I want to earn serious, just that a friend told me that blogspot is the only platform where you can blog about paid posts. It’s just that blogspot’s a little too congested right now. hehe. And I like wordpress better because of its simplicity. Hope you can help!

Ed’s last blog post..siargao part 4: magpupungko, low tide

I think it was Yaro Starak at Entrepreneur’s Journey that first turned me on to the idea that, for comments to be effective, they have to add value to the conversation, just like you’re suggesting here.

I gotta tell you, I absolutely LOVE it when James from Men With Pens stops by my blog. There’s a guy who can add value. He can get a conversation going that will last for weeks. He might be a bit on the exreme side, but here’s the thing:

I think James truly enjoys the conversation. And, at the end of the day, blogs are still all about the conversation. If you don’t want to interact with others in your niche, set up an article-based static site and call it good. If you want to really know and be known by other people, blog.

Oh, and also…

Great idea :D

;)

Bob Younce at the Writing Journey’s last blog post..How To Write the Best Damn Food Blog on the Internet

I love the way you say it like it is. I believe that the comments section is for engaging readers in a discussion and I become part of the discussion too. I learnt so much last week when problogger directed comments to my blog and I have been able to carry that conversation on on another post.

I also now understand how important it is for the blog owner to reply to comments. I picked up you idea of replying to more than one, thanks for that tip.

Re top commenters, I put it on and then decided against it after reading somewhere on the web. I also find that I really have to like a Blogger blog to leave comments, I hate that system and said this morning I might write a post why I don’t comment if I have to jump through to many hurdles. i also don’t like having to register to comment.

Keep thinking out loud

to your abundance
Suzie

Suzie Cheel’s last blog post..To Niche or Not To Niche, Focus or Follow Your Passion?

I just found this in an autoresponder sequence, believe it or not, and I love it and it’s my new motto for all grammar questions that come up on blogs:

“Beware of these people. Avoid them at all costs.

“They will suck the life out of you, your products, and your pet turtle - if you let them . . . .

“They will micro-focus to the point that they miss everything
that matters, to satisfy their need for universal conformity.

“Grammar isn’t the only weapon they’ll use. It could be their
opinions on web design standards, or file formats, or operating systems. Whatever fuels their mania. And they don’t have to know what they’re talking about to behave this way.”

No disrespect to Dave whatsoever. Also, I could go on about the rules for which words to capitalize and which not to in a header, but then I would have to shoot myself, which would be a bummer. I am, however, available for copyediting for anyone who reads this who just can’t stand the thought of making a typo. Reasonable rates, quick service.

Kidding.

Sonia Simone’s last blog post..What Is Marketing, Anyway?

what i don’t get is this:
you are starting new site or blog or just found it ,when you comment on some1 else blog, can you add that blog link in the comment body or n’t ?
as am gonna do now for site i found

I am fairly certain that some of these “comments” were actually plagiarized from fortune cookies.

Tiffany’s last blog post..Somewhere in Huntsville, Texas…

I always wonder how much time should be spent doing what and where.

Is it better to make posts on blogs, for example, or to do Yahoo Answers.

I think we need to allot a small portion of each day to 2.0 stuff but how much is too much?

excellent you win at many life!

What?!?! Wait.. Sorry. That was a junk comment. I see soo many spam comments on my blog I often wonder if anyone even cares what I have to say! :)

I don’t mind really. It only takes 2 seconds to delete them all, but there are so many people out there trying to blog for dollars that it become overwhelming. I mean, sure, maybe we are all doing that but at least we have some sense of respect for the blog owner.

Got your link from Blogging Experiment, and I love the site!

Cheers!
Scott

Scott’s last blog post..Using Point System to Increase Productivity

At the risk of seeming like a “Crap Commentor” I going to make this short and say this post made me laugh. I can’t believe someone went to that amount of trouble to try and get named your Top Commentor. In one way you should be flattered, and he should value himself enough to do soemthing more useful with his time.

Kelly

Kelly@SHE-POWER’s last blog post..How I Lost 9kg and Still Ate Chocolate Cake (3)

Be thankful you have people commenting. By marking visitors as spam you will lose your following…If you do not want comments then do not have a comment box. Traffic = money. I read a lot of negative comments about you on the web (university kid “Is The Industry’s Fastest Growing Blog The Industry’s Biggest Lie?”) http://theuniversitykid.com/is-the-industrys-fastest-growing-blog-the-industrys-biggest-lie/ and others. I ,….like a lot of commentors like leaving a one sentence or 2 sentence comments. Short and to the point. Alot of bloggers would be more successful if they did not ramble on and were short and to the point. I have taking some of your advice and have began using affiliates that you have suggested. Try not to be over zealous marking people as spammers or you will be making alot less than you did for March. If you do not want me visiting your site send an email telling me to stay away and I will. As the old saying goes “be careful what you wish for”..

Good point!

Regards

PS: Hope your sense of humour is still intact.

fathersez’s last blog post..Round Up for week ending 10th April 08

@Sarah, and yet here you are feeling compelled to write an insightful comment that fits my criteria for good comments perfectly.

@Peter, I don’t think I’ve ever had a “me too” comment lol. I think some people do read through the comments because I am now starting to see more and more conversation within the comments themselves between other readers. There are probably a minority of readers who participate to that degree but I would never turn off comments past a number as you suggest. Plus don’t forget the social proof aspect of having lots of comments.

@Pinayhekmi, its refreshing to see somebody admit to it!

@Dave, I am not pleased and grateful because I know this person has only taken the time to leave those comments in order to game my TC plugin - he adds nothing of benefit to my other readers. In this post, I have tried to offer advice to him (if he reads it, which I doubt) as to how he can make better use of the effort that he is prepared to put in.

@Dawn, a short positive comment as you describe it is great. Any of those comments left on their own, or even in a small batch would have gone through. The fact that he left all 19 in one go shows me that he is not trying to brighten my day all - he’s just trying to get a backlink. Its the motive that is in question here.

@Stuart, I do censor my posts more and more these days and I often delete comments such as “great post”. But perhaps not the the reasons you think. Remember that these comments are left permanently and as new readers come to the posts they like to read through the comments. These one liners take take up the time and attention of everybody that reads the comments and its a waste of time because nothing of value is gained from reading it. That is why I delete them.

@Beth, this is the first time I have actually marked such comments as spam. Usually I just see one or two and I’ll delete them for reasons mentioned in my response to Stuart. I don’t want to discourage newbies as such but I as Sarah rightly points out, this stuff is all over the blogosphere - everybody knows how to leave great comments so I don’t think being a “newbie” is really an excuse.

@Hunter, hmm interesting - I hadn’t thought of the impact of CommentLuv!

@Alex, one persons crap is another persons treasure, or something like that! No I can’t be 100% sure of the motives of the poster but I still don’t want my blog filled with comments that take up time for all my other readers to wade through yet do not benefit them in any way.

@John, I like the TC plugin because I feel that it does reward those who genuinely take an active interest in the blog so I don’t want to take it off just because it gets abused on occasion. This is the worst case I’ve seen (hence the post) and that enough is not a reson to remove the plugin. In general, the comments on this blog are very good, as you can see in this thread alone!

@Sonia, yes that is perhaps the point that I didn’t across very well. I see individual comments like these all the time and I usually let them go through but as you say, it was 19 consecutive comments. Actually that is another point - the timestamps on these comments indicated that he could not possibly have read the posts that he was commenting on which is another reason I considered them spam.

@Guru Bob, and did you see any wisdom in any one of those 19? I don’t think so!

@Kelly, yeah I’ve always used Title Case on headlines as I think it makes them easier to read. No matter what style I used, there would always be somebody who preferred a different style so it’s not something I intend to change.

@Ben, there’s nothing wrong with adding extra comments to move up the plugin as long as those comments add something. I do it myself - I even advocate it in the original blog commenting strategy! The key thing however that this poster has failed to do is actually leave a comment that is useful or interesting in some way.

Great idea for a plugin. Any takers amongst the php programmers?

@Mike Huang, well you’ll have an easier time of it now as I have hung up my commenting hat these days due to sheer lack of time!

@Ed, I should think it does though paid posts are pretty CRAP in my opinion! Sorry, I just love to use the word crap to describe something that I feel is inadequate, lacking in usefulness, sub-par etc etc :-)

@Bob, yep I got into commenting in a big way after reading Yaro’s Blog Profits Blueprint. I did everything in that report and its paid off for me.

@Suzie, I’ll always say it like it is - that’s one of my trademarks these days lol. Yes I dislike Blogger also - you cant leave a comment unless you have a Blogger account which is annoying.

@Jack, with the majority of blogging systems, when you leave a comment you can enter a name and a URL and when that comment is published it hotlinks your name to the URL. If I click on your name right now it takes me to bloggermosaic.

@Tiffany, lol that would be funny but to be fair - they did look hand written.

@Greg, set yourself a timeframe and then do what you can in that time. Always observe quality over quantity and then check yourselfs. Spend a week commenting on blogs and then a week on Yahoo Answers and compare.

@Kelly, well exactly! He obviously put in at least 10 or 15 minutes work into this which is what is so crazy! He could have used that time to leave a handful of really great comments instead.

@Homebizseo, this is the first time I have marked such comments as spam out of about 4000+ that have been left. I wouldn’t consider that over-zealous.

@fathersez, heh yours came in whilst I was replying to the others. Yes sense of humor still in place :-) I expected a few more of those!

Overall, I found this to be a good ready. I must respectfully disagree your statement regarding the purpose of blog comments. Sure, you’d like to get the attention of readers and/or the blogger, but I think the real motivation for a lot of blog commenters (myself included) is simply to contribute something to the conversation.

Pedro’s last blog post..Waltz Rumor Part of Google’s Negotiating Strategy with Digg

I think this is your best post yet. Personally I judge a post on how many comments it gets, but that’s me.

The point of a blog for me is not to get people to agree with you, it’s to provoke a a discussion, to provide a place where discourse can be held and this post and resultant comment does that.

Is everyone going to agree with you? No. Is everyone going to like you? No. But do people know your name and what you think and stand for, that’s the point.

I don’t care about the debate itself but I find the resultant “storm”, invigorating, refreshing and lubricating.

ZOMG 2 TRU!!

Caroline, you know you have a popular blog when someone works that hard to become a top commentator.

I agree with you that these short one-line comments add nothing to the post and are simply for getting a mention. There’s nothing wrong with shorter comments but even one line can add value.

I am the sort of person who will read comments and then click through to other people’s sites - I’ve found some great blogs and articles that way. Some of these comments were quite encouraging on their own but I would never bother to find out more about the commentator.

I also think that if you are going to comment in this way - good or bad - it is worth saying what you especially liked or disliked about the post, and ask any questions you may have related to it. That shows you have actually bothered to read it and want to make a contribution to the community.

Lisa

Lisa’s last blog post..Audio Interviews: You as the Expert

Caroline, thank you. I’m an avid blog commenter - I’ve left over 2,300 comments at hundreds of blogs over the past two and a half years - and I think blog comments are, for too many people, a vastly misunderstood and misused thing.

I’ve also had the dubious job of cleaning out the comment spam for over 100 blogs every weekday for much of that time. I’ve seen all 19 trash comment types you listed above. All I can say is yuck!

Comments rarely drive traffic. From all those 2,300-plus backlinks, I have never seen more than a trickle. To me, the number one reason (by far) to leave a comment is to start or strengthen a relationship of trust with people - especially the author of the article. She is the one human being who is most likely to remember it and act upon it.

The blog comment box, for the most part, ought to be seen as an opportunity to build trust and serve others. That’s when the almost magical power of it begins to manifest itself.

Very few people will probably ever read my words here. And that’s okay. As long as Caroline Middlebrook does, I’ve succeeded. I don’t want a clickthrough and a couple of page views. I want to plant a seed of trust in the soil of your mind that someday can become a tree. If that seed’s already there, I want to sprinkle a little water over it, cast a bit of sunshine its way, remove a pebble from its path.

A blog comment is most powerful when it attempts to make a lasting difference for good, first in the blog post author’s life, second in the lives of fellow commenters, third in the lives of all other eventual readers. I know that’s idealistic. But I’ve done this long enough to know that it’s true just by looking at the forest of trees of trust I’ve cultivated in large part through making sincere comments at other blogs.

This is why people come up to someone they’ve never met in person, throw their arms around them in a big bear hug and shout to the world, “This is my first blog comment!” Or why someone chooses you instead of anyone else to call first when they have a problem.

And why I am putting these words right here instead of at my blog.

Thank you, Caroline, for sparking this conversation. I hope it changes the way many bloggers see.

Easton Ellsworth’s last blog post..The 5 Elements of Visionary Blogging - Part 4: Imagination

A very entertaining and educative post. I find increasingly that I can tell quickly that a “comment” is phony. My practice, if I am even slightly in doubt, is to click through to the website of the commenter. Invariably, with the ones I am a bit unsure about, the site is an impersonal sales page or “flycatcher”, with no clue as to the real identity of the commenter. I have no compunction in deleting, or marking as spam, such “comments” - as you say, they don’t add value. My consistent experience is that real bloggers don’t leave these idiotic or strange comments.

Des Walsh’s last blog post..Ni Hao from Oz: edited

I gotta tell you, I absolutely LOVE it when James from Men With Pens stops by my blog. There’s a guy who can add value. He can get a conversation going that will last for weeks. He might be a bit on the exreme side, but here’s the thing:

I think James truly enjoys the conversation.

Thank you - that’s very nice to hear, and you’re correct. I *enjoy* commenting because of the interaction and the discussion, first and foremost.

A long time ago, I read the “comment fast, comment first and drop your link” advice. Well, that lasted about a week with me, because I felt like a spammer out there crying, “Click me! Click me!”

Then I realized that I didn’t care. People would click through if they thought I was interesting, not because I dropped a link.

I’ve garnered the nickname “The Comment King” for a reason - because I treat commenting like an art, not a stupid online tactic to herd sheep to my pen. Discussion *is* an art in itself. Why not use our brains to the best potential and be interesting about it?

What I always avoid doing is forcing the “being interesting”. I am who I am. I take a hard stance, I speak frankly and I am myself when commenting, first and foremost. I can’t be anyone else.

The best comments are the ones that create a conversation between people - it’s a two way street. If you can’t stimulate a conversation or add something of value to what’s being said, then don’t. But there is always something to say, isn’t there? We’re all interesting people.

Or say something off the wall and goof off for a bit. Nothing wrong with that. Be real. Be yourself.

Each person in my blog community knows the value of good commenting - they don’t *think* about their comments as strategies. They think about them as people talking with other people - and it shows. That’s how I comment, that’s how I behave, and that’s how I choose to drive my traffic. As a person being real.

Because faking it… well, that just doesn’t work, now does it?

(Yes, I enjoyed writing this comment. First time on Caroline’s blog, hm, hm!)

It’s interesting that a post about “crap” comments can bring heated discussions. Personal connections and feelings of being attacked, perhaps.

Ray - I sort of agree with you about being grateful for the little comments. We’re pretty grateful for every single comment we receive, but that’s cause we’re a small blog. I imagine there’s a certain point you hit (perhaps around the 2000 RSS reader marker) where you have enough comments coming through that you don’t need the one liners to feel good about your conversations.

Is there a plugin solution or hack to save your comments if something goes wrong? I’m thinking about times when there’s an error and I get sent to that darn WordPress error message. (Sometimes it’s caused by a faulty anti-robot question plugin).

It’s frustrating when you spend the time to write a decent response… and end up back on the comment form with the fields empty.

Any solutions out there?

Caroline - are you still actively commenting out on other blogs? I thought I had read in one of your posts how your initial comment strategy has evolved lately.

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@ Easton Ellsworth comments can drive traffic to a site. I made comments (on 4 blogs) about yahoo being run like drunken monkeys working out of a basement and my traffic tripled.

Dang I never really thought of it that way. I often leave bland comments like those listed, I won’t anymore. So glad I found your link through Blog Tips Twitter feed. I am following you too now!

Jennifer Perkins’s last blog post..So Many Social Networking Sites, So Little Time.

@Pedro, contributing something to the conversation, or lack of it in this case, is precisely my reason for marking them as spam. That should *always* be the top priority.

@Lyndon, hehe well recently I have certainly found plenty of people who don’t agree with me! And yeah I do like to see a good old debate going on in the comments too.

@Easton, wow and I thought I used to be an avid commenter! I was lucky enough to see a good deal of traffic from the comments that I left but a lot of that was from blogs with very large readerships like ProBlogger and Yaro Starak. And yes as a blog owner, I always read all of the comments and of course that gives me a good insight in the mind of the commenter. Indeed, I have struck up a great many online friendships through comments - both those I have left at other blogs and with people who have commented here.

@James, your comment is an example of the kind of writing that is so complete, that it is difficult to add to. If what you had written in this comment had been a blog post, I wouldn’t have responded to it because I woudn’t have been able to add anything. The key thing that I tried to emphasise in my original strategy, was that any comment should first and foremost add value to the conversation. But people only see “strategy” and forget that vital component.

@WebDiggin, I use the word crap a lot and here in the UK it is a fairly mild insult. Its possible that this post has stirred up a debate that is quite heated due to the use of that word having harsher impact in other parts of the world. But who knows, that is not something that can be measured.

Nope I have now largely discontinued my own commenting activities - I just don’t have time anymore. I now just read a handful of blogs and I only comment when there is something that I really want to say so its not about traffic etc anymore.

@Jennifer, well that is great to hear. I have educated just one person with regards to the importance of leaving insightful comments then I can consider this post a success!

@ Caroline - I’m confused. So my comment sucks for you? Sounded like you were shaking my hand while slapping my face LOL

*goes back to play in the sandbox*

James Chartrand - Men with Pens’s last blog post..When Encouragement Hurts: How to Praise Others Properly

Before I write this comment, I want to preface it by saying that a.) James Chartrand is one of my best friends, and b.) I’m the one who called him the comment king on my blog. Having said that…

@ James Chartrand — You moron. ;-) She wasn’t saying that at all. She’s saying you added SO much to the conversation that it was difficult to think of anything else to say other than some asinine “Nice post.” It was a compliment. Sheesh. French people are so sensitive. :-)

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Oh. Well, okay. I can be a moron sometimes. That’s why I’m half French, so I can get away with that kind of jazz. If that’s what she said (which is not at all what I read) then… okay.

And not that it really matters, because at the 40something comment, I doubt I’m going to be the one to keep up blog conversations.

I may provide the laughs, though :)

James Chartrand - Men with Pens’s last blog post..When Encouragement Hurts: How to Praise Others Properly

Caroline -

When you label him as a spammer, does it remove the link? Or at least add nofollow? (He shouldn’t get a link for spamming.)

*sigh* Now there is (almost) nowhere left in the sandbox where James Chartrand is not playing. This is not a useful comment, so to change that up, yes, Caroline was saying thanks.

BTW, Caroline, even without Monsieur Comment King ;) , you know this has always been a blog full of useful and relevant comments, where I inevitably read to the 40th and beyond because folks add so much to the original thoughts you write here. How exactly you’ve collected such great commenters (in spite of a few lulus)… maybe it all stems back to that “comment strategy” post long ago?

Until later,

Kelly

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@Homebizseo.com That’s awesome. Comments certainly can be a significant source of traffic.

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Caroline,

Did the Top Commentators (or for that matter, CommentLuv) plugin noticeably increase legitimate commenting after installing it? It just seems designed to encourage crap commenting — not just spam, but half-serious bloggers comment marketing with a priority on quanitity over quality.

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Thanks WebDiggin for acknowledging my point of view and I think you are right. I do see your point and as the owner of a small blog I am grateful for the comments I get.

I still think this post is poor and is a rare example of a blogger getting it wrong on so many levels its hard to know where to begin.

Caroline :-)

Not only did you give sadly true examples, but thanks for sharing what makes a GOOD comment. Too many bloggers take blog commenting as a marketing “task” and miss the great opportunities to actually read a post, provide valuable input and feedback, and also develop great relationships.

Thanks!
M :-)

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I think it was a little too harsh, Caroline. Though I agree that most of the 19 were crappy, but I think there are some who intented to leave good comments but have no idea what to say because they think all have been said on your post, and they only want to give some support to your article.

But of course we can’t be sure on which ones are those…
Well, just my 2c

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I agree with Louis to a certain extent. Perhaps some visitors who left comment had sincerely wanted to give praise.

However, since you mentioned that this was all from the same person, then I no longer think he was being sincere. He REALLY was after your Top Commentator Listing. But I guess even if he WAS trying to get listed on your blog, he should have taken the time to actually READ your posts, and comment intelligently. In the end, the compliments end up sounding really insincere.

At the end of the day, the function of Comments are really about talking back on the CONTENT of a post. It just seems that people are now using this for other “promotional” purposes.

I’ve just migrated my website from Typepad to Wordpress, and have just been receiving some spam comments (which I had to block). I guess I’ll have to start setting up some spam block application on my blog soon.

Cheers!

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@James, hehe no of course not. I was saying that you’re comment was so good that I couldn’t really think of anything to say to it! I used to have that problem trying to comment on DoshDosh’s blog - he’d write such good posts that all I could think of to say was “wow great post”, which of course I didn’t do so I just didn’t comment at all.

Oh, I am half French too!

@Adam, no it removes the entire comment and marks his address as potential spam which Akismet learns from so when he comments on other blogs it might to straight into the spam box. All comments on this blog are no-follow by default.

@Kelly, yeah somebody asked me recently when I started getting so many comments and although I started out with quite a few, they really rose after I posted that strategy.

@Andre, I installed the TC plugin at the same time (or within about a week) of posting my blog commenting strategy and comments jumped significantly at that point. The commenter who is the subjetc matter of this point is a rarity on this blog - 95% of comments left here are great so I have no intention of removing the plugin.

@Louis, yes I may have been harsh but the point of the post was not to call out the commenter in any way but to teach people about the RIGHT way to leave comments by showing them how NOT to do it. Every blog owner will have his / her own policy regarding comments so how I personally treat mine is irrelevant.

I don’t know how many of the people deploring your approach actually have to manage the comment stream. I check every comment other than the obscene and other revolting or obviously dumb comments stopped by Akismet and Bad Behavior. Invariably, the ones that are extremely short, odd or generic (”great post” etc) turn out to be linked to a sales page or “flycatcher”, not another blog. I respect my readers and do not want to assist the hustlers in their harvesting games. I do sometimes give the benefit of the doubt.

Anyone who says you should be grateful for every comment has not looked at the filth in what Akismet catches!

Des Walsh’s last blog post..Ni Hao from Oz: edited

I was going to start by writing great idea :pp, but the 59 people above me probably did this already, so I’m not going to give you any reason to unleash your fury upon me.

I’d remove the top commentators plugin. It has little value and promotes the spammers and wannabees.

You do have an awefull lot of comments on your articles. Must be great to be loved :)

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Echo Des Walsh. 90% of the short positive comments I receive are linked to spammy sites. At that point, it becomes a matter of economy for me. I can either a) go check every site, so as to avoid offending anyone whose “Great idea - thanks for sharing” comment I deleted, or b) assume that they’re spam, and even if they’re not, they don’t add value to the conversation. They don’t make my day — they don’t make me feel good.

I did appreciate reading the comments here, though, reminding that particularly new blog readers may not know any better. Gives me a little different perspective.

But the thing is, it takes like five extra seconds to add one more sentence to a “Great idea” comment to make it actually contextually relevant to the post. And what everyone is hinting at here, but no one has come out and explicitly stated, is that blog comments are a personal branding opportunity. Any time you engage in the public conversation, you’re building / reinforcing your personal brand.

It doesn’t have to be long to be thoughtful (just watch Twitter for a while as evidence of that).

Scott Allen’s last blog post..Why Your Company Needs a Blogging Policy

@Des, I had to stop checking the Akismet bucket once the spam started reaching multiple pages daily. When its all on one page I could scroll through it in a couple of seconds but now I just hit delete all and don’t look at it at all!

@Stefson, unleash my fury? Lol :-)

@Scott, yeah you have echoed the point which I made that seems to have gone largely overlooked - that this guy could have used that time to promote himself effectively rather than just spam.

As blogsite owners, deleting a non-sense comment is our sole discretion. I know of a software that automates a one-line comment and it is easy to recognize whether a comment is authentic or not.

A one-line comment may outweigh an encyclopedia of comment if that comment really hits the nail.

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Walking On Eggshells. Somewhat new to Blogging, I started this day with intentions of leaving a few comments. Revisiting Maria McD’s Blog I found her Post “ http://websuccessdiva.com/2008/04/12/savvy-saturday-online-marketing-links/ “ And it caught my eye, especially “how NOT to leave blog comments!”. Not to patronize you and take a chance of getting yanked, I have to say, “64 comments (@this writing) is evidence of a great Post!”

All the information in the comments is impressive … The Pro and The Con. The negative perspective is trying to learn as fast as I can to bring in the bucks, with not only decent copy, but now the ‘L’ Curve is growing at a phenomenal rate. (I do not know what I do not Know!) SEO … just learned what it is, now what to do with it! AdSense - how to do it! PPC, linking, RSS to name a few. And NOW to find out that there is another science to learn … Commenting! WOW!

Now from a Nubee’s point of view, (Hoping to add value.) I did read all 64 comments this time, tho, with all the other ‘L’ curves in front of me, it is not my normal practice. Since I did, here is my observation:

Controversy is a way to get a lot of traffic! I am still gun shy, yet I still need to say, Great job Caroline! ;-)

@ Easton and Jim w/pen, the long ones make me want to skip, tho I did skim them. (I need to cut this short, as it is close to a ‘Pot/Kettle’ thing!)

@ Maria McD, thanks for heads up on this one! I will be back to yours too!

@ Dave, you were pretty hard, tho Caroline did ask for it. A lesson learned for me for sure. BUT ‘title caps’ in title … I think I will still use them.

@ Beth R. Right On ‘for us newbies’ tho I spilt it wronge abave, It will take more than this to make me go hide. ;-)

@ Lori Comment on mine and I will comment on yours. ;-D House keeping! Oh No! And I thought that I was in High Cotton!
OIO Publisher? Oh No! Another ‘L’!

@ Kelly Tax Humor at this time of year and I will look some more on your site. THO Your Cap rule (Here) is not for me. I did copy it for the future. ;-)

@ the rest I have to keep this short, so I will have time to spam another 2 or 3 today! BUT all was informative whether I agreed or not!

Have a great evening, D. P. Gatten http://tinyurl.com/2d88ck for more

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@D P Gatten, really the chances of “getting yanked” as you put it, are very slim, on this blog at least. As I said to one of the other posters, out of over 4000 legit comments, this was the first time I ever marked any as spam. I do occasionaly delete them though. Thanks for the contribution.

D.P.,

Thanks! Nice to know there’s at least a pair of us reading all the comments. On a blog like Caroline’s it’s a commitment of a few minutes sometimes, but you can’t fail to have something relevant to say if you do!

Regards,

Kelly

Kelly’s last blog post..What If That’s All You Have to Say?

Here is my favorite:

“My best friend told me about this site. I thrust him, so I opened my Internet-browser and went surfing! After reading these news I was totally impressed by this article, even if it’s not true it’s written in a way that makes you believe it.”

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Guilty. I have done this before, but figured out that it is pointless. I think people (the readers of the comments) know that they, the bogus commenter, are playing the comment game. I was once the ‘top commentor’ on Shoemoney. Did it bring me fame? Did I earn more money on my blog? No and no. What it did do is leave me feeling stupid for wasting so much time leaving worthless comments.

Hi Caroline,

It’s the first time I have visted your site after I saw you got dragged into a little squabble on onemansgoal. Great site by the way.

Whilst I agree with your post, having read all the comments on this post I think that some of them are over the top. Is there a need to write an essay when a simple comment would have done? Quality is not in the length of the comment, but the relevancy to the discussion that occurs as a result of the post. Therefore…….good quality posts will bring good quality comments. Unfortunately we all have to put up with mindless spamming!

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@theaffiliatepost, quality, quantity, relevancy are all extremely subjective. The length of posts, comments etc are all a matter of style. Its so hard to find a *right* length because what is too long to one person is too short to another. At the end of the day I think we all have to simply write in our own style and others who like that style will gravitate towards us.

waht the heck!

This post ist the richest comments-Post on your Blog Caroline!

i hate people who write a one line sentence on a blog, half the time they have never even bothered to actually read the information or content available. Just by taking the time to read the page half these morons would not leave a comment, it bugs me when idiots just look at a blog as a way of getting a link. i provide seo solutions and am constantly asked by customers to help them with blogs i always tell them to stuy a blog that is relevant so they can leave an informative message that could potentially lead to them being invited back to leave another comment and obtain another link.
Live the dream people and happy blogging
RB

Oooogh! Caroline got her b*tch on….love it! I agree and was shocked to read that that was from ONE poster! However I hope you won’t penalize the little folk like me who visit occasionally just to show some love for the PERSON they’ve come to like and not specifically deep and meaningful techie exchanges. And just to wind you up a bit more…..

‘meee two! This wuz nice links’

@Lernen, hehe not quite. The original blog commenting strategy has now pulled in over 200 comments :)

@Rosie, got my b*tch on? LOL. And no of course I wouldn’t penalize somebody such as yourself.

So, by how much does this top your next highest commented upon post?

@Ben, it doesn’t. My social bookmarking post is up to about 120, one of my stats posts over 100. You can check yourself - look at my archives page, the number in brackets is the number of comments.

I really enjoyed this post because I know for a fact that a lot of people will comment on blogs solely for the purpose of building backlinks and getting noticed by other bloggers and getting a little bit of free traffic… I even used to do that myself, but it is much more rewarding when you actually have something genuine to say.

I think there are some who intented to leave good comments but have no idea what to say because they think all have been said on your post.

Fantastic discussion here! And great post. …… ;-)
Meg

No, really ….. I always learn a lot from both the posts by the author - AND the comments and discussions within! I tend to write rather long comments, - eek! But I hate leaving ‘one-liners’ as I don’t feel that they add anything - why bother? Although then again, there is also nothing wrong with providing a bit of support for a great post, if you have nothing to add!

Blog commenting is fantastic - I LOVE blogs, now that I understand them better (when I first created mine on blogger, I just signed up, without even knowing what a blog was!) - learned much since then! :-)

There is such value in getting to know Bloggers on their site, and other bloggers via their comments - true networking - not ‘just’ to get links - but to really get to know people and make new friends, support, build communities and start some interesting discussions. When I first started, I wasn’t even aware/interested in other blogs, becuase as noted, I didn’t really understand them.

Re: the the 19 one-liner comments by one person - eeh gads! - yes, certainly spam. But at this stage, I would be grateful for any comments - AHH! I am not sure why I don’t receive many comments - but I am still learning - and I guess, I haven’t really been promoting my blog, nor have I been consistent in my writings/posts due to illness (all of which is going to change - I have BIG plans ahead)
:-)

But is it true what you said Caroline? ie.

“Yes I dislike Blogger also - you cant leave a comment unless you have a Blogger account which is annoying.”

I thought ‘anonymous’ comments could be made?

Perhaps this is one reason why I’m not getting many comments, as I am still on blogger? I do have a ’shoutbox’ in the sidebar though - so if anyone wants to have a short ’shout at me’, feel free - he he!

Will be moving to my own domains and Word Press soon anyway - am looking forward to this once I get over my ‘techie’ fears in setting up the blogs.

And am learning much from your experiences here Caroline, especially in terms of what plugins to use/or not!

Great stuff everyone :-)
I really love the interaction here!
Warm Regards
Meg

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@Megan, as far as I am aware you can’t leave any kind of comment on Blogger blogs without having an account which is a real nuisance. In my experience, many comments are from first-time commenters and every month the group of regular commenters changes so it’s always new people and with Blogger its even more difficult to get those new people because of the extra barrier to leaving one.

Thanks for this advice Caroline! Certainly didn’t realise about many commenters being ‘first-time commenters’ etc. Learn something new everyday! And certainly, this is a greater incentive to move my blog (and forthcoming main blog) to wordpress on my own domain! BTW - I have allowed ‘anyone’ to comment on my selfhelp blogspot - as ‘anyomyous’ or people can leave name/url - but still didn’t realise you needed an account - so, it people do need an account to comment, you are quite correct - what a pain! I also don’t think people take ‘blogspot’ blogs quite as seriously as blogs on their own domain either, so is harder to get traffic/comments.

(btw - do you know why RSS readers/subscriber numbers change from day to day? - feedburner)?

Also - hope you are starting to feel a little better, even just a little? Still thinking of you, knowing that you will get through this, as and when you are ready - remember - just to ‘be’ and go with the ‘flow’ for now - don’t put any unneccesary pressure on yourself - and be kind with yourself!
All the best :)
Meg

Megan McCs last blog post..A Story of Great Courage

@Megan, the way that feedburner works is that it only registers a subscriber when the feed is accessed so if somebody doesn’t access their feed on a particular day it shows as an unsubscribe hence the fluctuating numbers.

And yes, feeling a little better week by week, thank you :-)

Hi Caroline,

This is my first post to your site although I have to confess I’ve been receiving your feeds for a few months now and have been inspired by your efforts with the site - thanks!

I’m pretty new to blogging myself and am getting to grips with Wordpress as I try to get a new site established for my next venture ‘Making websites work’. So I’ve been consuming a lot of information over the last few months and trying to filter through the noise to only listen to the good solid guidance - thankfully your site is full of this and in this post I learnt a lot about your commenting strategy - very useful for anybody who runs a blog!

Keep up the great work Caroline!

Rob.