Blogs are only as successful as the people who write, read, and comment on them. So, if you want your personal or corporate blog to be a success, then it only makes sense for you to take the time to read and comment on other people’s blogs.
Participating in the community, sharing insights, experiences, and expertise are all what makes social media an energetic and innovative tool for communicating. Commenting on blogs gives people the sense that you are passionate and knowledgeable about a topic, interested in reaching beyond promoting yourself and your brand/product/company, and genuinely interested in what they have to say. It also says that you are open to criticism and conversation.
One of the problems with a strong commenting campaign is that many people don’t have the time to commit to reading and engaging with relevant blogs. It’s important (and urgent) for bloggers to make the time to both respond to comments on their own blog and also leave new comments on others’ blogs.
Challenge yourself to one or two targeted comments a day, aim for at least five per week. Mix up the blogs you’re reading, see what other people are linking to, and make sure you’re adding something valuable to the conversation. Eventually, you’ll find blogs that you really relate to and ones where you get to really know the author. Those blogs make it even easier to contribute a comment to.
Chris Brogan demonstrates the power of comments in driving content for a blog post. Consider that BusinessWeek recently crowdsourced responses in the comments section on how businesses are using Twitter.
Comments are power. Commenting is easy, and the ROI is incomparable.
Gee, those are some good links you got here Larissa! Thanks for including me in such fine company of people, I’m honored!
I’d like to add one: comment on articles that link to you, while adding value (like this tip). It’s a great way to show appreciation and get to learn new blogs and bloggers too!
Thank you Lodewijk! I agree, that is a great tip as well and easy way to promote a back and forth dialogue.
Great piece, good ideas.
In my role at Tamarack – An Institute for Community Engagement, we’re using an online community (www.igloo.org/collaboration) and blogs to encourage people from all over Canada to engage in converstaions with each other, and to talk about the work that they’re championing to improve their own community.
We’ve noticed how effective commenting can be. Blogging without response can be tiresome work. Without the “payback” that commenting gives, bloggers (including myself) feel as though no one cares or is even reading what they’ve said.
Thanks for the great post and, equally, for the great links that are encouraging me to read on.
I’m reading an informative book right now – Managing Online Forums by Patrick O’Keefe – that’s been helpful to this work.
To me, it’s really easy: there is no point to doing all this if people aren’t going to comment. So I make comments my #1 goal for engagement. What comes next is variable, but I want comments to be the reason someone points out my blog to someone else.
@ Bailey – thanks!
@ Rachel – that’s great you are noticing the results of your efforts…it really helps.
@ Chris – exactly. I think comments can also drive a lot of off-line interaction.
Thank you for linking to my post on this. Reading blogs is one thing, but only when you start commenting & actively participating in the conversations do you really start learning, questioning & engaging with the writer & other readers. I’ve met so many great people this way. Had I been passive the higher level of interaction would have never happened.
Thank you for all of the great links! (and taking the time to assemble it). It draws many of us out which is a talent that you seem to have :)
Interesting post Larissa, but I’m doubtful that this strategy is sustainable in the long term.
Let me explain:
If the majority of comments on blogs come from other bloggers is there a chance that a ‘blogger bubble’ will emerge?
For instance, how often does a person who doesn’t have a blog post a comment? Probably nowhere near as often as those that do.
If the only reason to comment on someone else’s blog is to encourage readers to take at look at your own blog, then effectively we’re all jostling for each other’s attention instead of encouraging non-bloggers to participate in the conversation.
Thanks for including my blog as a resource in this article.
Blogging is about communication…. and with 40,000 new blogs joining the blogosphere daily, I don’t think there’s a chance of any of us exhausting the possibilities.
Hey there
Thanks as well for including my effort – really appreciate it. More to come!
Really chuffed at the inclusion :)
Darragh
Thanks for an informative article