If you are into blogging, then you just have to be into commenting. Leaving comments on other people’s blogs is a great way to not just grow your own readership, it is also a fine way of building relationships in your niche.
But if you are doing this for your online business, you have to take care about commenting the right way. Leaving weak comments that do not add to the conversation is not only wasting your time, but everyone else’s. While damaging your brand along the way.
Here are 5 steps towards an effective commenting strategy:
Quality, Not Quantity
Now while this is a concept that can be applied to almost anything in life, you are better off not treating commenting as a numbers game. Ten insightful comments are better than a hundred quick ones. Besides, low quality comments might even mean your comment gets stuck in a moderation queue.
Ensure that your comment is relevant to the post, is free of typos and spelling mistakes, and more importantly, does not come across as superficial.
Get In Early
Early bird catches the worm, and all that? This one is particularly true for large blogs. The first few comments will, obviously, be the ones that get read the most. Keep an eye on when new stories are posted, and get your comment in before the discussion has gone far.
Focus On A Few Blogs
While you might be inclined to follow many blogs in your niche, it is usually best to pick only a handful and focus on them for commenting. A maximum of five is a good idea, and they do not necessarily have to be the biggest blogs in your niche.
Use Your Real Name
There is no SEO advantage to use a keyword for your name when leaving comments these days. That is because almost all blogs use the “no-follow” tag on comments. Furthermore, many blogs will delete comments with name of your website or keywords related to your business.
Use your actual name whenever possible. Because if your comment is interesting or useful, readers will click it all the same to find out more about you. Mission accomplished.
Stay Relevant, Stay Interesting
Perhaps the most interesting element of a good comment. Instead of writing something general, what you post has to be relevant and interesting. It does not necessarily have to be really long, even a couple of sentences are enough, as long as they add value to the conversations.
These are just elementary tips on maximizing the impact of blog comments, and there surely are many more advanced approaches to blog commenting. What are your tips? Share your ideas in the comments section below.