Comments allow you to have a kind of social “record” on your blog posts that help increase search engine traffic to your website. Comment responses from visitors also give you a concrete indicator on what people really think of your content in addition to invaluable market research information.
Comments in the form of a question, for example, could help you come up with followup blog post topics, while numerous comments on a particular section of a post indicate where visitors aimed most of their interest. The best part is, if you can get a visitor to leave a positive comment on your blog, then it’s very likely you can get them to subscribe to your RSS feed as well.
So without further delay,
Here are some great ways on how to get comments on your blog posts
1. Add Some Controversy to the Fire! (But be smart about this)
Controversial topics will always generate a lot of viral attention and discussion. I think it’s safe to say that’s no real mystery. But what is important to realize is that there are so many different kinds of controversy – not all of which should ever be used on your posts. Singling people out, making outlandish claims or posting Kim Kardashian’s latest video might get you some extra traffic and comments, but the spike will be short lived and not something you’ll be able to build a reputable blog with. That is, unless calling people out and celebrity mischief is exactly what your blog is all about.
I’m talking about the kind of controversy that puts you on the spot. Not because you want to say something that’s going to get a bunch of folks worked up, but because you’ve done your research and you sincerely have a different opinion to share. Take a look at this example:
“Many marketing professionals agree that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the single best way to promote your website. In this article, however, I’ll demonstrate how social media is far more important than SEO and is the single largest contributing factor to visitor conversion.”
A quote like that definitely goes against the grain of what is generally perceived but also has the potential to be legitimately argued. Topics like these will definitely draw some strong opinions in the comments section given you’ve put some real thought into it and write a great post.
2. Have a Really Catchy Title
Adding some controversy to your content will definitely get more people talking, but having a good title is going to get more of them to see your content in the first place. The title is probably the single most important component of a blog post. A really good title will provide visitors the frame of mind for commenting. If the title is good enough, people will sometimes skip the content altogether and just leave a comment.
If you’re having some trouble brainstorming, try posing the title as a question. For example:
“Can anyone live off of a $20,000 salary?”
A title like this already begs an answer to the question. Where on the one hand a visitor might think about how the post content will answer the question, resulting in a reader. On the other they might have their own solutions, resulting in a comment.
3. Make Commenting on Your Post as Simple as Possible
If a visitor can’t find the comment button on your post within five seconds, it is very unlikely they will continue to look. It may seem trivial, however you wouldn’t imagine how many times I read through an interesting article only to find:
1. The comment section on the second page
2. A disabled comment section exists
3. The comment section exists, but no comment button
4. The comment button redirects to a completely different page
5. There is no comment section at all
Commenting on your articles should be so easy and painless that it would really make no sense not to. Try incorporating a comment button on the top of the page as well as the bottom. If you have a homepage that contains thumbnails of your blog posts, try adding a comment button next to the “read more” link. Spend some time editing and personalizing the comment section too. Adding an avatar feature and perhaps a text editor allows users to personalize their comments more, enticing them to also become regular commenters and readers.
“You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” – Scratch other people’s backs!
If you link to the same blog in two or three of your blog posts, there’s a very good chance the owner of that blog is going to eventually return the favor. If you regularly comment on someone’s blog it’s likely they’ll visit your blog and leave some feedback. There are cases where this tactic won’t work, especially with well known blogs, but it does work more of than not in my experience.
The key here is repetition. Don’t expect to link once to a site or leave one comment on a post and expect the blogger to immediately return the favor. Anybody can link to you or comment on your blog once. But by repeatedly linking or commenting on another blog you show that you actually care about the blogger. Remember though, to only target blog sites where the link would be relevant. In other words, blogs that are related to your niche or target audience.
Here’s another quick tip: Try and reply to your first 10-20 commenters as quickly as possible. New visitors will be far more likely to try and get in on the conversation if they think that the post author will respond to their comments personally.
So what makes you leave comment on a blog? Have I missed anything?