Actually this post is a sidebar to the blogging book I'm working on at the moment. I've calculated that in the last month I've written the equivalent of 60 or more blog posts. Which is one reason why Eggblogg has suffered a bit. Anyway, no excuses.
I just wanted to mention a couple of things about commenting, because commenting has come up a few times lately in different contexts. If you blog, and are trying to attract more readers and commenters on your own blog, one thing you need to be doing is commenting on other blogs. We all sort of know that, but let's remind ourselves about why and how.
- Commenting on other blogs means you are reading other blogs. This is important if you want to stay in touch with what's happening in the world of your readers/customers – see next bullet.
- If you are blogging on behalf of a business, read the blogs that your customers/prospects are following. You'll learn more about what interests them, which means you can blog about things that interest them. For example, if you are an accountancy firm looking to attract retail customers, read and comment on blogs to do with sales promotions, merchandising techniques, supermarket vs high street debates, local trade or tourism issues and so forth.
- Always sign in to leave a comment and use a consistent identity – your Twitter, Facebook or OpenID profile for example. Even if they don't always follow the link to your profile readers will start to recognise your name (and face, if you are showing it).
- Remember you're not a spammer, so don't leave irrelevant or one-sentence comments in the hope you'll earn some link juice. Links within comments are generally ignored by search engines, it's humans you're trying to attract.
- Set yourself a commenting schedule. Check out the blogs you're following by using a tool like Feedly, and aim to read and comment on a set number of blog posts per week. Create the time needed for this. Comments don't have to be long essays but they should add value in some way to the original post.
The last point is one I have yet to implement – I tend to write comments that are either too short or two long, mainly because I haven't scheduled any time and so feel I'm digressing from my real work. Wrong!
If you haven't already seen it, here's a great video from Darren Rowse of Problogger on the power of comments, definitely worth a watch.
And of course, feel free to leave a comment!
I know a number of people who blog who will be interested in what you are saying, so shall pass it on.
A blog is not something to start lightly, and to make it a success takes dedication and persistence.
Thank you for your hints and the tools of the trade for growing a blog reputation.
@PenParkerWrites
Hi Penelope, thanks for your comment! You’re right about persistence, I have two other (unrelated) blogs that I’m trying to keep going through the startup phase when you tend to feel you’re talking to no-one. But it just takes time to get connected to the blogosphere I think, so needs to be seen as a long term project.