The Ethics of Bloggers Commenting on Blogs
Reading niche related blogs and commenting on blogs is an important part of most professional 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 On.
Recently it was brought to my attention that this process could be considered as unethical if the commenter’s sole purpose is to create backlinks to their own blog. You are in essence “using the blogger’s platform solely to further your own agenda.” I’ll have to admit that the comment took me back a little until I thought it over. (I even called the commenter and we discussed the issue at some length.) She asked that I expand my point of view and since there were a number of aspects to the topic, I agreed to do so here in my blog. I’ll hasten to add front and center that MY motivation when commenting on blogs is never to solely benefit myself.
Blogger’s Code of Conduct
As an aside, I’ll mention that there has been discussion about a Code of Conduct for Blog Comments for a long time. In 2007 Tim O’Reilly wrote a Draft Blogger’s Code of Conduct
Here are his six main points.
- We take responsibility for our own words and for the comments we allow on our blog.
- We won’t say anything online that we wouldn’t say in person.
- We connect privately before we respond publicly.(This applied to conflicts)
- When we believe someone is unfairly attacking another, we take action.
- We do not allow anonymous comments.
- We ignore the trolls.
The main issue here was conflicts and nastiness. That is not what I’m talking about, but I thought it was worth mentioning to put things in context.
MY MOTIVATIONS FOR COMMENTING ON BLOGS
Note that in this sub-title the word “motivations” is plural. I always have several reasons for commenting on blogs. I’m going to list some of these here. Then I’m going to look at the topic from the point of view of a blogger who is receiving comments.
How Commenting on Blogs Benefit the Commenter.
- One of the reasons I take to time to find and comment on blogs is to generated backlinks to my own posts. This gives my blog an SEO boost. (Sidebar for the techies: I do know about “nofollow” links and my research indicates that we NEED to have some nofollow links pointing at our pages. It looks artificial from Google’s point of view if we don’t. Yes, I prefer links “dofollow” links, but all links have some value.)
- I am interested in learning from other bloggers.
- I am interested in becoming known by others in my industry. (I have a set of goals on my wall recommended by my mentor Ann Sieg. The number one goals on that list is “Get People in My Industry To Know Me.”)
- In a similar vein I want to develop relationships with others in my industry.
- I would also like to find some people who resonate with my and what I am doing. They will read my material, opt-in to my offers and become customers, Joint Venture partners and friends.
- I want to help the author.
So far at first glance that looks like a fairly selfish list, but first looks can be deceiving. I PAY FOR THE PRIVILEGE of having my comments read by others. I could accomplish the first two items on that list by saying “Nice Post”; however, that would not do anything to further the last three items.
I “pay” by striving to add value to the blog post. If I am going to spend my time learning from someone and talking to them (commenting), I want the interaction to be worthwhile for both of us. I try to find at least one point where I can expand, stretch, discuss, mildly disagree or in some other way have the author and the other readers say to themselves “I’m glad that Dr. Hale commented today.” I am certainly not going to promise that I achieve this every time, but I do work on it virtually all of the time.
Comment Benefits From the Blog Author’s Point of View.
Since I am a blogger, I can put this hat on very easily.
- I’ll mention SEO first since it was first on the other list. It isn’t the benefit I think of first, but it is there. Google gives extra SEO credit to pages that have several comments on them (and even more if the author responds to those comments.) So both the author and the commenter get an SEO benefit from the comment. This is not a one way street.
- Comments tell me that people are reading my material. I can go to the analytics and see a number but even “Nice post Hale” from someone, lets me know that a human read my material.
- Comments tell me if I am on track. When I post something and it gets 30 comments, I know that I have found a topic that resonates with my readers.
- Good comments will stretch me. They will bring up points of view or facts that I may not have considered or even known.”
- I love to talk people who have something interesting to say about my material. I build relationships with some of these people. Some of these are important relationships for my professionally and some are important because I’m dealing with nice people.
- When I am responding to comments from my WordPress Backoffice, I see a count of how many times a person has commented on my blog. When I see someone who has commented 10 or 20 times, I definitely take note. (As an aside, the first time I met Ray Higdon at a national conference, he knew my name before I could even say hello. Now Ray gets over 1,000,000 views a month on his blog, but he had noticed me, my name and my face as the comment count reached 20 or 30. Becoming known in your niche is important to a blogger. You can’t be the “go to” person if no-one knows you exist.)
- By The Way – nice comments make me feel good.
I hope that I am making the point that good comments are a two way street. The blog author and the commenter both benefit. Since it benefits both parties the question of “Is this Ethical?” never occurred to me. I hope I’ve addressed this well enough that it won’t bother you either.
Comment Sharing Sites
This short discussion would not be complete without mentioning Tribes and other forms of Comment Sharing sites. I belong ot several groups where the basic motto is “I’ll put some comments on your blog if you will put a comment on my blog.” The benefit of commenting on blogs this way is that backlinks to my site are pretty much guaranteed and comments on my posts are also pretty much guaranteed. Everyone involved feels they are in a win-win situation or they would opt out.
Encouraging Commenting on Blogs
I even encourage other bloggers to comment by giving them extra backlinks. The WordPress plugin CommentLuv gives the commenter a link to their domain and another link to a post of their choice (out of the last 10 they have written.) Again the situation is win-win.
For me the bottom line is that when I am polite and try to add value to the Author’s work then we both win by my commenting on blogs. This is ethical in every way.
Until next time, you have a Great Day!
↓ ↓ If this post gave you some ideas – Go ahead & comment below. ↓ ↓
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!
These points are right on time! I enjoy commenting on other bloggers blogs because it give me the opportunity to networking & learn something new.
And if you’re a consistent blog commenter then it will certainly give you ideas on new topics to write about or do video’s on:)
Thanks for sharing!
Toshiba Burton recently posted..5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Allow You’re Passion For Blogging To Fade Away
You are most welcome Toshiba!
Regards,
Dr. Hale
This is a great tip especially to those new to the blogosphere.
Brief but very precise info… Appreciate your sharing this one.
A must read article!
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