How to Prevent the Heinous Crime of Drive By Commentary

February 25, 2011 - Last Modified: February 14, 2013 by Ryan Biddulph

I have noticed a blogging crime that disgusts me:

Comment Drive-By’s.

“Great post!!” “Nice Blog!!!” “I Like It!!!!”

Comment Drive-By’s add zero value to a post. Your blog is your cyber real-estate. A CDB is like a cyber-squatter doing their “business” on your blog.

Here’s how to prevent the act of Comment Drive-By’s.

Set An Intent Before Commentating

Why are you commentating? To get backlinks? To drive traffic to your blog? To add value to the blog post?

The proof is in the comment. Two word comments scream “this is all about me.” Meaning you want something from the blog. You want to get without giving.

It doesn’t work that way. Getting before you give is the unnatural way to live and it always backfires. How many people do you intend to attract with “Great Post!!!” comments?

Set an intent to add value to the post. Write this down on a piece of paper and place beside your computer. Be helpful. Be a co-author.

Be Mindful – Get On The Clock

After setting a pure intent to add value, chances are your mind races ahead 1000 miles a minute. You have so many things to do. The intent dies and you’re back in comment drive by mode.

Be mindful. Take a deep breath. Read the entire post and leave a thoughtful comment.

Be where you are. Don’t think about the next post you want to read. Don’t think about the next comment you want to make. Be here and now.

Time yourself. When finished reading, set aside at least 5 minutes to comment. This forces you to be mindful.

Write A Mini Guest Post

Set an intent to write a mini guest post.
Don’t be long winded but don’t pen a drive by.
I aim for 3-4 paragraphs with each comment. Decide to write something that makes readers say “Wow.” Make an impression by being impressive.
Write an introduction, body and conclusion. Don’t scrimp.
Add value and you can become valuable.

Your Turn

How do you prevent comment drive-by’s?

Photo creatidt: Diego

About Ryan Biddulph

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Ryan Biddulph is a blogger, author and world traveler who's been featured on Richard Branson's Virgin Blog, Forbes and Neil Patel Dot Com. He has written and published 126 bite-sized eBooks on Amazon. Ryan can help you retire to a life of island hopping through smart blogging at Blogging From Paradise.

{ 43 Responses }

tonygreene113 says:

I think people in generally have nothing thoughtful to say. Comments on youtube, TV programs and articles are usually short. It’s the super stars, experts, old members that leave longer comments.
S.S. Medley says:

I think people in generally have nothing thoughtful to say. Comments on youtube, TV programs and articles are usually short. It's the super stars, experts, old members that leave longer comments.
Mavis Nong says:

Hi Ryan,Well said. I love your title :)These type of comments are very common. People leaving such comments are only interested in themselves, to get backlinks and perhaps traffic to their blogs. To be honest, I wouldn't be enticed to visit a blog with a comment like that.They're time wasters, I simply delete them and engage with people who have something valuable to share.I know you're the master of commenting and you practice what you preach. Keep it up! :)All the best, Mavis
Vidya Sury, freelance writer, blogger says:

Interesting, and something we see all the time, especially in the case of personal blogs. I find that many people who read blog posts simply can't think of anything to say :-) and that's quite odd. I usually try to end a post with a question, asking people to share tips that worked for them or their own experiences, so that others can learn. There have been times when I posted an entire comment as a separate blog post, as a "part 2" to the post, because it added value. I guess its best to delete "drive by commentary". I do that on my health blog frequently, particularly when people supposedly leave a comment linking to a product and obviously advertising them.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Vidya, Great point you make in ending the post with a question. When you engage your readers most will bring value to the table. There's an inherent urge to answer in a more comprehensive manner. Thanks for sharing! RB
Bryan says:

Hey Ryan, Speaking of drive by comments. I've noticed quite a few comments that are sort of spunned comments or short comments lately on my blog. They might have passed through the GASP plugin but nothing beats the real human moderation behind it. I really can't stand comments like that so I just delete it. Some of these people are just commenting for the sake of getting some link love. Anyway, no plugin is perfect. Unless someone comes up with some form of comment moderation to weed out the 2 or 3 worded comments, the blog owner should do their best to approve the best comments for the benefit of their readers and their blog.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Bryan, This is true. No plug-in can do the job of a person. A program can help reduce spam but only human judgment can handle it completely. Thanks for sharing. RB
Alex says:

Hello Ryan, I actually read all your comments where I bumped into them, and you really do what you preach, all your comments were at least 2 paragraphs long, insightful and added value to the post. This is actually what I strive for too, whenever I decide to leave a comment, I don't want to be just a dust in the wind type of comment, I want people to read it and think that it helped them or that at least made a small impact on them. Also, this "drive by's" are encouraged by the bloggers that don't take the time to reply to their comments, or they do but don't delete them, many even reply to them. Of course, if you know the person leaving the comment you can leave it, by a first time visitor leaving such a comment will definitely not come back and it's there for ulterior motives. What would be cool is a plugin that can detect this kind of common phrases which are associated with speed comments and put them in moderation queue or something. P.S. Wow Ryan, I like it! This is a great post, and by the way you have a nice blog, although it isn't yours, but yours is cool too :).
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Alex, Thank you for leaving a thoughtful comment, well done ;) Once you have established a relationship with a reader you won't tend to mind shorter comments, but as you note the first timers are really hurting themselves by not making a positive first impression. Enjoy your day! RB
Kavya Hari says:

Yeah, i agree with your points Ryan, because it has the useful information about comment which would be helpful for the people to comment in the other web sites. Thanks a lot for sharing your ideas on here.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Kavya, The information definitely needs to be useful to spread value. Thanks for sharing! RB
Dennis Edell says:

While I agree 100% with the intent to add value, I have different approach when it comes to "mini guest posts"... Many time when I end up with 3+ paragraphs in a comment, I take it and write my own post; leaving a trackback instead...best of both worlds, eh? Sometimes I leave the 3+paragraph comment; duplicate and add to it, sometimes I just comment telling them to watch for the trackback. ;-)
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Dennis, Clever strategy here, well done ;) Thanks for sharing! RB
  - Dennis Edell says:
    
    Comments, whether my own or others, are a huge source of post ideas. ;-)
Mani Viswanathan says:

I like to comment to the point. I like your Idea of Mini Guest Posting. If you combine the "Great Post" comments into something valuable one may even end up driving loads of traffic to his blog.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Mani, Thanks for stopping by and sharing! RB
Sietse says:

That's awesome, drive-by commentary :D gotta remember that one! What you say is true, but most of those meaningless comments are usually intercepted by Akismet anyway (or at least put in the Pending box). If people would know this, they wouldn't waste their time putting bogus comments on your article. I think. I must admit I'm not much of a commenter myself, I should do it more often. Articles like these make it happen naturally though :)
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Sietse, I agree, many people aren't aware of programs like Aksimet so they don't know the time they're wasting. Thanks for sharing! RB
Darren Scott Monroe says:

DUDE Ryan this was short and to the POINT I love it LOL The thing I like to do is add my own personable style full of all that is ME. Kind of like what Alex W does but BLACKER (whatever that means) LOL
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Darren, Thanks for the kind words! Enjoy your day. RB
  - Darren Scott Monroe says:
    
    Thanks Ryan you also sir :)
Sabrina says:

I love your concept of "drive by commentary":-). I comment on many blogs each day. However, I try not to comment unless I have something relevant to say about the post. Just today I would say that I got over 20 new blog post updates in my inbox. However, I only ended up commenting on maybe 10 of them. I know that comments are a great way to build backlinks and get traffic, but I don’t want to comment just for the sake of commenting.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Sabrina, You make a valid point. Comment to add value, not simply for the sake of commenting. Thanks for sharing! RB
Juliemarg says:

I don't have an answer to your question -- I have no idea how to prevent comment drive-bys. My other blog is about to hit my 1.5millionth visitor and the amount of comment spam - drive-bys, spammers and outright creeps is enormous. But, this is how I deal with them -- I delete them. When I'm looking at my dashboard, I read for content. If the comment doesn't obviously relate to the topic, it's gone.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Julie, Thanks for stopping by and sharing :) RB
Dave Grimes II says:

I've never really encountered this problem. The comment left on my page have always been involved and relevant. HOWEVER, a friend of mine had this problem, and he had an interesting way of dealing with it. He would respond to short comments like this by pushing the commenter to elaborate. (i.e.: commenter: "Nice post!" Moderator: "What was your favorite part?") The commenter would almost never respond. If people see them not responding, then they know they have nothing of interest to offer. Thereby, rendering the purpose of their post null and void. If they did comment back and elaborate, then their comment was no longer useless and because mutually beneficial. (This outcome is win-win!)
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Dave, A super creative way to deal with drive by commentary. Thanks for sharing with us and enjoy your week. RB
TJ McDowell says:

Yea, in my opinion, 5 minutes is WAY too long to comment. I'd say for me, it's probably close to 30 seconds on average. That doesn't mean that the comment isn't good. Honestly, I wouldn't expect anyone commenting on my blog to spend 5 minutes commenting. I'd rather have them comment for 30 seconds, then read another blog post and drop another comment. I agree that the 2 word comments don't work, but there's also the other end to that extreme.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi TJ, As long as you make an impression, that's what's most important. Thanks for sharing! RB
Patricia says:

Hi Ryan I see the quality of your comments when I am on different blogs and know that what you are sharing here is what you practice yourself. When I have read a post, I like to show appreciation to the writer and hopefully add to the conversation. That builds community and hopefully trust with quality comments and frequent visits to those sites. On my own site, like Murray, I am always suspect of the "great post" type comments. And I always check out the blog of a new commenter. That keeps spammers and those from bad neighbourhoods off my blog! So you won't really see drivebys getting any space on my site lol Sometimes I am surprised when I read a quality post and then see the comments that have been approved by the blog owner. Better to have fewer comments that add something than lots that don't imho ;-) Really enjoyed the post Ryan. Thanks for sharing with us. Patricia Perth Australia
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Patricia, Excellent points you make here. Thanks for adding immense value, as always. RB
Alex Whalley says:

Hey Ryan, great post mate, and I good topic. I sawthe title and just had to read more. I get so many drive bys I am thinking of putting in a toll booth! I really like this line: Be where you are. Don’t think about the next post you want to read. Don’t think about the next comment you want to make. Be here and now. because even I find myself sometimes thinking of the nex
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Alex, Being here and now is the great secret to success. Thanks for sharing and enjoy your weekend! RB
Murray says:

I quite literally delete comments that are short and uninspired. I know this may be a bit of a disservice to people but lets face it - they are sucky comments. Not only does it show your community that you're okay with a weak discussion but even replying to them adds another little check mark in my brain that says that people are just buffering their comments, ya know? I think it's best to keep the discussion alive by having real comments - just delete the crap, more or less :D
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Yep, agreed on that Murray! RB
Lennart Heleander says:

Hi Ryan, A good article with many good comments creates better depth and a view on the subject of the article is about. But with just a bunch of Drive-By's or spam comments lead me to sometimes stop read or follow the blog. It is for the commentator job to clear and create quality instead of quantities of the comments.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Lennart, Good commenting makes all the difference in the world. It's like viewing a value packed post versus viewing spam central; poor commentating can bring a good post down quickly. Thanks! RB
Devesh says:

Hey Ryan, I love your mini guest post strategy and that's what inspire me to leave long and good comments. In the earlier days of blogging, i did commenting "Great post" or "nice post", just to get traffic. I regret of not doing it properly. Now i don't comment just to get traffic, i do it to build relationship with author of a blog and i think it is very powerful way. Anyways, Thanks for sharing this powerful post Ryan.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Dev, I appreciate it! I see you add value with comments wherever you are. Thanks for sharing and enjoy your weekend. RB
Eric D. Greene says:

Sometimes all I really have to say is just a couple of words. But then I visit lots of artist websites and I just want them to know hey I liked what you posted (which is usually a work of art). I know what you mean I just don't think it applies 100% across the board.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi Eric, It's a piece of cake to leave to leave 2 or 3 sentences. Being in the online game for 2 years now, I can say being mindful makes all the difference in the world. We all seek to make an impression and if you can put the effort forth to write at least 2 or 3 mindful sentences each time you make a comment you will drive significant traffic to your blog, just for leaving your thoughtful opinion.. Taking the time to add value separates failures from those who are successful. Thanks for sharing! RB
The Bad Blogger says:

I never leave a comment unless I have something to say... whether is bad or good, when I want to say something to someone, I comment... and as a blog owner myself... I always trash all comments that just say a few words... and now I even trash comments without a picture... I mean I love to have lots of comments, but if there is only one good comment out of 100... I will only approve that "one... " Actually... it is not much about preventing, but more about sensibility of oneself... I always believe every commentator should have a responsibility to their own comment... making it more sensible conversation, more then just drive-by conversation or you can also say "hi-bye comment (TM)"
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  
  Hi BB, I like your mention of responsibility. We have our own duty to hold to stick to in the blogosphere, to make it a better place. Thoughtful commentating is part of being a responsible blogger. Thanks! RB

How to Prevent the Heinous Crime of Drive By Commentary