We all want more comments. Comments reassure us that someone is out there reading what we write; comments are what keep blogging from being a pathetic, solo experience like–well, we all love comments. But how do we get more comments? Do we have to pay one of those back-alley comment guys? (Fedoras and trench coats don’t come cheap, y’know!)
NO! I have eight helpful tips right here, and I’m sure you can employ at least one of them right now, today, to dramatically increase the number of comments you receive on your blog.
8. Beg. Plead. Whimper. And turn off spam filtering, for gosh sakes! Soon, you’ll have more comments than you could ever imagine – spammers will be happy to oblige!
7. Install a Top Commenters (or Commentators) widget. (Don’t forget to turn spam filtering back ON, first, unless all your most valued commenters are named ‘Buy Viagra Now’ and ‘Cheap Web Hosting’!) Reward your most prolific conversationalists with some link love or a special post in their honor.
6. Host a “white elephant” exchange among commenters. The nth commenter gets the “white elephant” and has to pass it along to their nth commenter, and so on. (Possible variation: AVOID getting the “white elephant” by commenting AGAIN before five other people do.)
5. Run a commenting contest. Set some ground rules, first, like “Your comment must contain at least three words and it must indicate that you have read the post on which you are commenting.” (Careful not to give the pharmaceutical spammers a loophole by writing about rare diseases, guys named ED, allergies, depression, enhancements to anything, photographic enlargements – you get the picture.)
4. Ask a burning question or run a humorous poll (for example, “Is it ‘Top Commenters’ or ‘Top Common Taters,’ or ‘Top Commentators’?”) Humor puts people at ease and discourages flamewars, thus allowing you a good night’s sleep without resorting to the purchase of online pharmaceuticals.
3. Write a controversial post that makes it impossible for readers not to comment. (But first, make sure you’re wearing your flame-retardant asbestos blogging suit and aren’t easily sucked into arguments or intimidated by bullies.) This works best for insomniacs who are just itching to rip someone a new one – but it’s not a great “community builder.”
2. Do something utterly ridiculous on a dare, like eating balut or raw tripe. Post the video and see if it goes viral.
1. Install CommentLuv, then make the rounds, leaving intriguing and relevant comments on everyone else’s blogs. Be sure to use the drop-down menu to select the most appropriate post from your last ten – let’s not always see the same links! These are the “breadcrumbs” that will help new and regular visitors find their way back to your blog. Now, go serve your guests some tasty posts to keep them there!
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