How To Maximize Your Impact When Leaving a Comment On a Blog

Please Comment

 

How To Maximize Your Impact When Leaving a Comment On a Blog

 

Comment on a Blog

Comment on a Blog

If you have been around blogging for long, you have heard that a good way to generate traffic is to regularly go out and comment on a blog.  Well,  there are right ways and wrong ways.  This is also disagreement about what constitutes the right ways.   I’ve done some research and have some experience so I’m giving your my best information here.  If you have a different experience or especially if you have split testing data, PLEASE comment.  We can all learn from it.  

Let me note first – you are usually commenting for two reasons – Backlinks AND developing relationships with the blog author AND some of their followers.   Keep both in mind when you comment on a blog.  Ticking the author off to please Google is a disaster in the making.

HOW TO Comment on a blog:

I’m going to start with the basics.  The obvious – that aren’t so obvious.  I know I have made some mistakes here.  Maybe you have too.

When you comment on most blogs you are given four fields to fill in.

  1. Your name
  2. Your email
  3. Your Website
  4. The comment itself.

I know I was entering the wrong thing on two out of the four.  

PLEASE NOTE:  There are different policies here and things that are okay on some blogs are forbidden on others.  You have to look either for a policy statement or more likely scan the existing comments looking for a pattern.

First – the NAME field.  When I comment on a blog,  I have entered my first name – like I would if a friend asked me my name.   This is the anchor test for the automatic backlink that is created by the  comment.  At the very least I should have entered “Hale Pringle” instead of “Hale.”   This would give more instances where my full name shows on the Internet.   I have missed dozens if not hundreds of opportunities to enhance my brand by just a little bit more.  Sometimes you can enter a keyword here, but it is usually frowned on.    One suggestion for businesses was to put your email in as the name field.  This gives readers a way to contact you if they like your comment.  If the particular blog does NOT have the WEBSITE field, I would suggest that, otherwise stick with your name.   I recommend that you use your real name or your brand name in the Name field when you comment on a blog.   I could also post as “Hale Pringle @ name-of-my-website w/o the .com” (especially if my blog name were something other than my name) and that seems be fine. However, you will never see me post a comment using a name like “Learn to Find Leads Online”.   It serves no purpose and would definitely make me look like a spammer.

Second – the EMAIL address – this one is pretty standard.  There are those who use different emails promoting different websites, but I’m cool with just one.

Third the WEBSITE field – again there are different feelings here, however as I have looked at it, it seems logical to usually enter a deep page URL instead of just your home page.  If you are commenting on a blog that is way outside your niche, I would stick with your home page.   Google ranks individual pages in your site.   Pointing all the backlinks you create back to your home page is nice, but gives no love whatsoever to the blog post your just wrote.  Often one of the reasons you are commenting is help your current post show on the first page of Google for the keywords you selected when you wrote the post.  A link to you home page does not help you with that goal.  Some recommend rotating through your main pages like Halepringle.com/about, HalePringle.com/Resources, etc.   Google likes to see links to multiple pages on the same URL.  It gives weight to the site.  After all a single page COULD be a Squeeze page with no real meat at all for searchers.  Obviously there are a couple of different thoughts here.

Fourth – the COMMENT FIELD – this is where the disagreements get intense, but I will summarize as best I can.  

  • Make your comment relevant – at the very least scan the article and find something you can agree with or disagree with. (no disagreement here!)
  • Enter more than two lines.   “Nice Post” is just ugly. (no disagreement here!)
  • Do NOT put links in your comment.   On rare occasions, you may have a link that is really relevant to the discussion.   You may get deleted or not-approved if you place a link, but one thing that will help is using the deep page URL as the anchor text.  This shows the author that you are NOT just trying for a backlink to a specific keyword.  I have seen some suggest that you can use your home website as part of your signature block, but most agree that this is a forum tactic, not something to do on blogs.   Avoid bit.ly type shortened links here.  It looks like you have something to hide.
Comment on a Blog

Comment on a Blog

16 More Tips For When You Comment On a Blog

  1. First and foremost –I mentioned this above, but it bears repeating – you must leave a relevant, thoughtful comment.  “Nice Job” does not improve your standing and in many cases will get your post deleted.  Content is still KING and spamming is something you NEVER want to be accused of
  2. There are at least TWO blog-promotion reasons to comment other’s blogs – one is backlinks for Google, Yahoo and Bing and the other is to build relationships with the authors of the posts and some of their followers.  I mentioned that before too.
  3. Commenting on blogs is NOT just for backlinks.  You are trying to build relationships.   Find blogs that are in your niche and comment there repeatedly.    One of my personal goals is “Get People in my Industry to Know me.”  Commenting regularly on someone’s  blog  is one way to get noticed.

    Sidebar – When you comment on a popular blogger’s post you see your name (and face) in a long list of comments.   You are sure to feel “Lost in the crowd.”  The feeling of “who would every see me in this crowd?” will cross your mind.  I know it crossed mine!   However, the authors usually reply to the comments from their Blog Dashboard.  In WordPress Blogs your name and image will appear along with how many comments you have had approved.   When that number is 20 or 30 (or more)  the author will take notice.   I’ll give you a case in point.  The first time I met Ray Higdon in person (1,000,000 visits per month), as I held our my hand and said “Hi, I’m Hale…”, he interrupted and said “Pringle … I thought I saw you over there.”   I’ll admit that this impressed the heck out of me!  It was quite a while before I realized that he hadn’t just “seen my face/name” repeatedly under his posts.  He had seen my face/name AND a growing number of comments.  That “number of posts” is undoubtedly what  he took note of.    You can do that too with people who are important in your field.  (He will be reading this due to the link.  Hi Ray!)

  4. When you mention someone (like I did in the previous bullet point) who blogs in your post, link back to their site.   They will get a traceback (Email notification and a notification in their blog comments section).  Often they will comment back  which gives you validation and another link.  Normally we do NOT to give our readers a reason and a link to leave our blog and go elsewhere.  I would rate this case as and exception.   I haven’t been doing it as often as I should, but that has changed as of today.
  5. Be SURE to go to http://Gravatar .com and enter your email and a photo.  Now when you comment on a WordPress blog, you image will appear.   You need to be sure to use the email address you gave Gravatar.   Some people remember names and others remember faces.  The combination is better than either alone.
  6. You can go to http://blogsearch.google.com to search for blogs in your niche.   These blogs are the best to comment on since their readers are most likely to be interested in your blog.
  7. You will get the most out of blogs that are dofollow.  To find “dofollow” blogs you can try these sites:  http://www.dofollowblogs.com
     http://www.inlineseo.com/dofollowdiver used to give this service and discontinued it due to spamming.  You can also try Google with a search like this KEYWORD(S) “post a comment” +dofollow or the negative KEYWORD(s) “post a comment” -nofollow. 
  8. You want to post on some “nofollow” blogs.   If you are naturally commenting on blogs in your niche to build a following and to associate with the community, you will be on some “nofollow” blogs.   Google knows that.  If you ONLY comment on “dofollow” blogs, Google will ding you.
  9. Some blogs have a plugin called “Top Commenters.”  Commenting on these blogs often enough to get in the top list, will give your extra credit with Google.
  10. Some blogs use a plugin called CommentLuv.   This plugin will show one blog post you have  written recently.  You get to choose from your last 10 posts.

    Sidebar Note:   I talked about leaving a deep page link in the WEBSITE field above.  If you use more than your base URL when you leave a comment on a blog with CommentLuv, they immediately take away your option to choose from your last 10 posts.   The way around this is to 1) put just your home website URL in the WEBSITE field, 2) fill in the comment,  3) choose from the 10 provided posts   4) go back to the WEBSITE field and change it to a deep page link and 5) press SUBMIT (Do not touch anything else before you click the SUBMIT button). 

  11. One blogger suggested pinging your comment once it is approved to be sure that Google see it.  This was mentioned in http://conversation2sales.com/2011/blogging-101-blog-commenting/  He recommended  www.pingomatic.com.   I’m looking into that one.
  12. http://kikolani.com/blog-post-promotion-ultimate-guide  $25 ebook (not an affiliate link) Blog Promotion: the Ultimate Guide has some very good insights into promoting your blog.
  13. Occasionally leave a mega-comment on a blog that you are particularly interested in.  The author WILL notice and the readers WILL notice.
  14. In Comment Sharing Groups – follow the rules  AND find those who are closest to your niche and give them extra love each time you post in the group.   They WILL notice.  This is particularly true in sharing sites like the Ultimate Blog Challenge (UBC) The Rules are to comment on the two posts above yours in a list that grows as bloggers log their daily post.  Most of these blogs will not be in your niche.  You get some backlink love and make some new friends and followers this way.  You can boost the impact WAY up by finding and also commenting on others in or close to your niche.
  15. If the blog does NOT have a place to enter a website URL, you will not get a backlink.  Without the backlink you are only working to get noticed or to make new relationships.   Here are three  things you can try to get the backlink too:
    • Use this format in the name field  <a href=”http://HalePringle.com”>Hale Pringle or HalePringle.com</a>
    • Some older blogs and some forums use the format: [url=LINK]Your Text[/url ]
    • You can try the same formats in the body of your comment.  Some people do this in their signature block to not look spammy.  If there is already a link being created by the posts (there is a WEBSITE field), I wouldn’t recommend doing this.
    • See the note above about using your email address for your name if you are a business and want people to contact you.
  16. One of the experts I follow (Eric Walker) suggests blogging regularly on blogs where you would like to guest blog, even if they don’t have guest bloggers.  It is a good criteria for choosing blogs that are relevant to you and your niche.
  17. If you are primarily commenting on a blog for a backlinks and there are over 45 comments or so, don’t bother.  Google seems to stop at around 50 and there may be some waiting for moderation.

 

There you have my How-To Comment on a Blog.  Tips on the four fields AND 17 General Tips

 

Until next time, you have a Great Day!

Dr Hale

 

 

↓ ↓ If this post gave you some ideas – Go ahead & comment below.  ↓ ↓

 

Hale Pringle

Hale Pringle Ed. D.

 

Hale Pringle – Hale Yes!

Skype hale.pringle

Email: HaleYes@HalePringle.com

 

P.S. If you are working to move your business online and it all seems overwhelming, I can help!  Take a look at http://HalePringle.com, or sign up for the free coaching call. You can email me or give me a Skype call. I’ll give you the benefit of my years of experience and many thousands of dollars in training and searching the rabbit hole called Internet Marketing and Network Marketing. I can help you with Lead Generation, the feeling of overwhelm, blogging, and even career change. Add that to the finest mentoring on the Internet (Ann Sieg’s Team and Inner Circle) and you have a Winner!

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
About Hale Pringle

Dr. Hale is an Internet Entrepreneur and Network
Marketing expert. His greatest pleasure is
helping people and he does just that, drawing
upon the immense resources that he has gathered
over the years in his unquenchable thirst for
knowledge.

Dr. Hale lives in beautiful, sunny Florida with
his wife, two dogs and a cat. His four children
are grown and are scattered around the state.

An eternal optimist you will hear him say
regularly: “Is this a Great Day?” The answer is
always, “Hale Yes!”

If you need help with your online marketing or a
network marketing opportunity Dr. Hale is the go
to man. “Hale Yes!”

Comments

  1. Every time I click on commentluv, Internal Server Error comes up. Not sure why. You might be able to help there.
    I enjoyed your helpful observences on commenting. Let’s hope lots and lots of people see it. I’m inclined to leave long messages, but never thought it would reflect favorably on me. I just thought it would be rude to not say something after all the effort the writer must have put into their opinion on something.

    • Francene,
      CommentLuv needs to see your basic website URL in the Website field. If you are trying to put a link to a post there, it will be unhappy. If that isn’t it, Private Message me on FB and I’ll take a look>

      Authors love people who really ‘get into” their writing, so they automatically love (relevant) long comments. Your instinct that “nice job” is rude, is perfectly right!

      Thanks again,
      Dr. Hale

  2. That’s a pretty darn thorough post Hale. Instead of just sharing how to comment properly, you’ve gone over including your name, email and URL as well. I mean a lot of people don’t get that so that was great to include.

    I do think a lot of people were taught that commenting was a way to build backlinks. That’s the way I was taught and nowhere in that definitely was I told that it’s best to build relationships. I’m so glad you pointed that out there.

    Thank you again for such a wonderful thorough explanation. I think it will really help a lot of people.

    ~Adrienne

    • Thank you Adrienne,

      I’ve been told I put TOO MUCH in there, but what can I say, I’m an educator and once I go down a rabbit hole I want to shed light on as much as I can.

      I’ve heard about getting “backlinks” by commenting for years and still didn’t recognize that using “Hale Pringle” as the anchor text was better for my branding than just “Hale” One author talked about how he was a “John Sullivan” and in Ireland that is like “John Smith” in the U.S. His comment posts have made him the number one John Sullivan on Google in spite of the make famous John Sollivan’s in history. Sounds like a good thing to me! Oh Hale Yes.

      Thanks again,
      Dr. Hale

  3. Hale, one of the things I did differently with my website URL is I placed a link that takes you directly to my blog and not my home page. You’ll see it above. There are so many things I didn’t know about proper commenting etiquette. Now that you have listed them above, I will do my best to implement some effective comments, but to also stay true to myself. Thank you so much for sharing these. It really falls in line with what our daily assignment is in the UBC. Great job on this!
    Aletha McManama recently posted..3 Hot Tips for Marketing Your Business with PinterestMy Profile

    • Aletha,

      Now that I’ve thought about it (researching the post), I use my full name in the NAME field and today’s post in the WEBSITE field (unless they use commentluv.)
      Seems like a reasonable way to get a backlink and not be a spammer.

      Thanks for the comment,
      Dr. Hale

  4. Hi Hale
    I have never thought about putting my surname in the name field instead of just my first name… I will try that one and see what happens.
    When writing about blog commenting I think we forget to mention “filling in the fields” we think everyone will know how to do this, but you have shown that many of us do not 🙂
    You have covered this topic in great detail, it can be difficult for any newbies to get used to all there is involved when we go blog commenting, for instance you need a gravatar, or join a group, I have joined the UBC a few times and have made some good connections and extra traffic.
    Thanks for sharing, hope you have a great day.
    Pauline
    Pauline Bennett recently posted..My &#8220;Shout Out&#8221; To Some Great Blogs I Have Visited This MonthMy Profile

    • Thanks Pauline,

      I know the blog “commenting” has been one of those things that has nagged at me for a while.

      I hope I make it into one of your “shout outs” someday.

      Thanks for the comment,
      Dr. Hale

  5. It’s actually a neat plus helpful part of information. We’re happy which you discussed this beneficial info around. You should stop us well informed this way. Thank you discussing.

  6. It’s hard to find your blog in google. I found it on 11 spot, you should build quality backlinks , it will help you to increase traffic.
    I know how to help you, just type in google – k2 seo tips
    Lashonda recently posted..LashondaMy Profile

  7. I see a lot of interesting posts on your page. You have to
    spend a lot of time writing, i know how to save you a lot of work,
    there is a tool that creates unique, SEO friendly posts in couple of minutes, just search
    in google – laranita’s free content source
    Leonida recently posted..LeonidaMy Profile

  8. I read a lot of interesting posts here. Probably you spend a lot of time writing, i know how to save you a lot of
    time, there is an online tool that creates high quality, google friendly articles in minutes, just type in google – laranitas
    free content source
    Carlo recently posted..CarloMy Profile

  9. Also the food you take in to nourish the body – you may have to figure out precisely what is suitable in your human body…Some people can simply restrict calories which works for them. I have performed the counting each individual very last calorie and working out route and did not see jack – was beneath a Dr’s care, experienced a lot of assessments performed and nothing at all…when I switched WHAT I eat (no processed,sodas, only clean whole foods) and watched my Carb consumption (vs my unwanted fat intake) I started loosing botanical slimming soft gels…that’s what it will require for MY overall body…it might take a while and tinkering for you to discover what is effective for you personally.

  10. Thanks for another fantastic article. Where else
    may just anybody get that type of information in such an ideal means
    of writing? I’ve a presentation subsequent week, and
    I’m on the search for such info.
    virtual reality news recently posted..virtual reality newsMy Profile

Trackbacks

  1. […] learned some things as I researched the various topics I posted on.  One of the most important was “how to comment Effectively” on blog posts.  I learned I really needed to use my whole name in the NAME field (this is […]

  2. […] recently did some research and wrote a post on Effective Commenting on blogs.   I found that I had been missing the boat in several ways.  I think that it is […]

  3. […] blogger’s routine.  In response to some of my readers questions, I have recently written about How To Effectively Comment  on Blogs and How to Find Good Blogs to Comment […]

Speak Your Mind

*

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.