If you are looking to build up a presence in blogosphere, you will be keen to learn more about how to go about blog commenting. When done correctly, it is a great way to demonstrate your expertise, drive traffic, establish your credibility as an author, and to attract new readers/links to your blog and/or website.
When you contribute to other blogs by leaving comments, there is generally the option to add your website/blog address so other readers can visit your site. This will help to build up your own blogging profile in the blogging community. We have provided some helpful blog commenting guidelines below to be mindful of.
Helpful Blog Commenting Tips:
- Use your real name rather than the company name. This helps to build trust and credibility with the author and also increases the likelihood of your comments being approved to appear in the author’s comments section.
- Participate by leaving valuable comments. ‘Great post’ and ‘Helpful information’ type of comments not only look spammy, they don’t contribute value. It is really obvious if you haven’t bothered to read a post and leave a comment that makes no sense!
- Don’t use the comments field as an opportunity to directly self promote your business. This won’t help you build credible relationships with influential bloggers.
- If you are unsure how long of a comment to leave, a good general rule of thumb is to leave a comment that is longer than a short status update but shorter than a blog post. Somewhere between two to three sentences is a good place to start. This shows the author that you took time to read their blog and have something worthwhile to add to the conversation. But by all means if you have more to say don’t hold back at two to three sentences.
- Be consistent with contributions when building relationships with other bloggers. This will also help to establish your author profile with other readers who will become familiar with your name and the comments you leave. That said, it isn’t necessary to comment on every blog post published daily by an author.
- Contribute to the conversation. Voice your own opinion, answer questions or pose questions to the blogger. Just always remember to be respectful of the author and other readers when writing comments. You can still challenge a particular viewpoint or offer constructive criticism without offending people.
- Engage with other commenter’s. They are valuable influencers and connectors too.
- Remember some blog comments are submitted for moderation before they appear within the blog comments. Not all blog comments get approved so don’t be disheartened if your comment doesn’t look to have been approved.
- Some blog commenting platforms allow you to opt in to being kept up to date with other comments left. If this facility isn’t available, it is recommended you keep a list of recent blog comments you made on particular blogs so you can revisit them. The blog author may have replied to your comment with a question.
- If you are sharing the blog commenting with more than one person it is helpful to know who is commenting on which blogs. This helps to keep the messages and tone used the same.
As you will have read, or been told, there are many business benefits derived from having a blog integrated into your website.
Blog commenting is a great form of online networking, brand awareness and trust/likeability building. It is a practice that takes time and commitment, but offers great return on investment. Happy commenting!