How to Get More Comments on Your Blog?

Comments are very important feature on a blog. Comments promote reader engagement. It helps promote loyalty and establish a community around your blog. It also adds interactivity to your site and contributes to the web page content. This can in-turn provide a boos to your search engine ranking.

Do you want more comments on your blog? Here are some great ways to get more comments on your blog.

1. Have a Clear Comment Policy

Your comment policy offers an opportunity to inform readers about the benefits of commenting on your blog e.g. some blogs offer “do-follow” links in the comment which are very valuable for SEO backlinking.  Some use plugins like Comment Luv or Top commentators offering improved visibility to those who comment.  Others reply to every comment. Highlight any such benefit of commenting on your blog so readers understand the true benefits of participating in discussions.

2. Ask Reader to Comment

A study has found that explicitly asking your website visitors to “Please ReTweet” your content generates 4 times more ReTweets than without. The same applies to comments as well. Many bloggers have reported increase in comments by simply asking readers to comment typically at the end of the post.

3. Ask a Question

Asking a question towards the end of your posts is widely used and very effective technique for encouraging comments. Asking a specific question encourages readers to answer through comments.

See example below:

4. Make it Easy

Let’s take an example. One of the most commented-on posts on Copyblogger, is a post on “38 Critical Books Every Blogger Needs to Read”. At the end of the post, the author asks people to list any books they love, and would add to the list. This worked so well because everyone has a favourite book, and simply listing the book in a comment requires no effort (as opposed to answering a question that takes more time and thought). In other words, the author made it very easy to comment.

5. Reply to Your Comments

Interacting with readers who comment is a great way to build conversation and discussion around your topic. It also contributes to the content of the page whilst allowing you to connect and engage with your readers. It also lets your readers feel appreciated and builds a sense of community.

6. Offering an Incentive

Offering a reward for commenting on your blog is another great way to encourage readers to comment. You can offer a fee e-book or resource to those who leave their first comment. Or you can feature them on the top commentators’ widget on your homepage.

See image of top commentator’s widget below.

Conclusion:

Encouraging readers to comment on your blog offers many benefits. It boosts engagement and adds interactivity to your website whilst contributing to web page content. The next part of this post tomorrow will cover 6 more ways to get more comments on your blog.