Things To Keep In Mind When Promoting Your Blog Through Comments

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Things To Keep In Mind When Promoting Your Blog Through Comments

Many bloggers use to leave comments in someone else's blog to promote their blogs. That's not a bad idea. If you post a comment on some article with a link back to your blog you may have at least one visit. But between promotion and spam there's a fine line so here is a short list of things to keep in mind if you want to promote your blog using comments:

Say something relevant: I've seen lots of comments just saying "visit my blog" or even worse, some posts comments saying nothing. Most people will consider such comments as spam. If you have never seen this type of comment is because most bloggers delete them as soon as they read them. Even if those comments were not deleted, few follow a link on a stupid comment.

Be polite: You can express any idea politely, even if you disagree with the author. Politeness is a sign of intelligence. You may possess the absolute truth, but some people will not trust in someone talking rudely. So, it's better to be polite if you want to attract readers to your blog.

Use controversy sparingly: While most people enjoy a good discussion based on interesting ideas really few of them likes stupid controversy. If you create controversy where none exists you may attract some traffic but few regular readers.

Consider TrackBack: Have a long comment? post it in your own blog and notify the author with a TrackBack ping. It's like posting a comment on your own blog with a side effect, people have to visit your blog to read the comment. Most blogging tools have support for TrackBack.

Although this short list is intended for blog promotion I think it's valid for everyone posting comments out there. Do you have any comments about it?

Technorati Tags: blog, blogging, promotion, blog promotion, writing

# posted by nongeek @ 3:58 PM
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35 Comments:

1. Christian said:: I think you're absolutely right. I've received quite a lot of spam on past blogs and it's no fun. A relevent comment from anyone though is always pleasant.; posted @ 09/11/2006, 7:04 PM
2. Shaun said:: Love the comment etiquette.. now, if everyone just stuck to it!

Right? Right?

** Shaun **
My awesome blog: ohpunk.blogspot.com

-; posted @ 09/11/2006, 9:00 PM
3. ricardo said:: But you have to make a good campain. Not only interesant things. You have to sell it.; posted @ 10/11/2006, 9:37 AM
4. Wizard said:: I would suggest turning off the option to allow anonymous responses. Your GROW DETRIOT spam would go away at that point. You can also moderate you responses (it takes time and effort but from what I've seen here, you seem to spend a lot of time as this is a decent looking blog).

Wizard
linux-journey.blogspot.com; posted @ 10/11/2006, 1:04 PM
5. nongeek said:: Christian:
Good comments are allways welcome, but I'm receiving spam too

Shaun:
Right! :-)

ricardo:
You're right, but a comment posting campaign may not be the best way to promote your blog

Wizard:
I'm considering to disable it. Verification words (captchas) are not enough for stopping spammers; posted @ 10/11/2006, 2:20 PM
6. Aryavrat said:: mindless comments are bad..if u wana be heard..1st hear.

I read and liked ur blog. u are welcome to mine..

http://divinefool.blogspot.com/; posted @ 10/11/2006, 4:32 PM
7. mikoberts said:: As a real newcomer to this pass time I really appreciated your simple, easy to follow advice - thanks

BTW - was led to yr blog by blogger.com 'recently spotted blogs of interest' - so thanks to them also; posted @ 10/11/2006, 6:39 PM
8. Xi Hyperon said:: I know exactly what you're talking about, and I think that you've outlined the protocol for commenting very well.

My comment is greatly ironic, however. Not only does my blog have NOTHING to do with yours, but I'm committing the same "online etiquette" blunder that you so nicely explained for us...just below...

Visit my blog: The Threshold!

Happy blogging!

--Xi Hyperon; posted @ 10/11/2006, 7:11 PM
9. AMERICAN DESI said:: Very insightful blog. Glad someone took the time to educate some of these morons who post comments that are so insanely out of the conversation. ::checks if this is a relevant comment:: ::sighs!! yeah!!::; posted @ 10/11/2006, 8:56 PM
10. smp said:: I'm surprised that you're still getting enough spam using the captcha that you would consider disabling comments altogether.

The vast majority of blog spam seems to come from bots, as far as I can tell. Then again, readership of my blogs is so small that I can pretty much tell exactly what people are reading based on my site stats :P; posted @ 10/11/2006, 11:55 PM
11. ARISTOCRAT AND THAT said:: HOW ABOUT???
CHECK OUT MY BLOG AND COME SHOP AT MY STORE !! LOLOL HEHEHEHE ... JUST JOSHIN YA.. NO REALLY THO COME CHECK OUT MY STORE !! :); posted @ 11/11/2006, 12:43 AM
12. Zubair said:: Interesting Views.. However, my blog creation is more for academic reseach (Information Systems / Enterprise Mobility) therefore it is going to be challenging to attract mainstream people. http://zgali14.blogspot.com/; posted @ 11/11/2006, 3:14 AM
13. Calvin Thomas said:: Hey check out this free source of music at lyncal.com make sure to visit the music lounge and talk to the sexy female robot. She is so funny. Your comment was so true.; posted @ 11/11/2006, 7:41 AM
14. Shelly said:: Good points. I popped in here after seeing you featured in Blogs of Note on Blogger Buzz btw. I like checking those out periodically as I've found some outstanding blogs that way. Yours looks very cool.

And I'm not commenting just to promote my blog. ;) I like giving credit where its due.; posted @ 11/11/2006, 1:46 PM
15. hetty said:: what u r saying is correct.peolpe should be kind and spam is just a waste of time.and your blog was fun to look at.; posted @ 11/11/2006, 2:04 PM
16. DJ Alley said:: Are you still getting spam when you use the Word Verification tool? It eliminated all spam on my blog.....Maybe my blog just isn't interesting enough to spam...That's sad....Thanks for the Tips though!!!

Alley
www.allisonthedramaqueen.blogspot.com; posted @ 11/11/2006, 2:53 PM
17. kojak said:: very true. All your points are legit. But then again, if that is the case, aren't all comments "promotions"? ;); posted @ 11/11/2006, 4:02 PM
18. sarlye said:: Hi: For a beginner, this was a great post for me. I am still trying to learn about blogging. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

You can find me here: htto://sarlye.blogspot.com; posted @ 11/11/2006, 7:02 PM
19. Id it is said:: Why does a blog need to be promoted? Is blogging a way to make friends, build a fraternity? Do the number of comments on a blog make it more meaningful? Your post made me think on all of the above. A thought provoking post.; posted @ 11/11/2006, 7:30 PM
20. nongeek said:: Thanks you all for your comments!

Verification word (aka captcha) is good to reduce spam, but it's intended to test if the commenter is human so it doesn't stop human spammers.

To Id it is:
Yes, blogging a way to make friends. On the other hand, if you are a blogger you may want have many readers. Some bloggers do it for money too. Promotion is a part of blogging; posted @ 11/11/2006, 9:44 PM
21. Isabella said:: I always check out the ones who write stupid comments. usually just to see if they're as stupid as I think they are, and sometimes because I have nothing else to do. But mostly I'm the one posting weird comments. ^^; posted @ 12/11/2006, 2:50 PM
22. Abnay said:: I'd never considered TrackBack. It's a nice idea. Thank you for posting this.; posted @ 12/11/2006, 5:49 PM
23. chesterocks7 said:: its really funny that i stumbled across your blog. today i started up a blog of my own for one of my college communication classes, and have been going around asking people for tips on getting a reading audience. my blog is dedicated to strange news stories and sharing opinions on them. my blog address is: http://strangenewspostings.blogspot.com/ if you would like to check it out. i would greatly appreciate any other tips you could give me on building up my reading audience. thanks!; posted @ 12/11/2006, 11:10 PM
24. Valor said:: Well,
I appreciate your views. At the same time, I feel that for people who start blogging initially, there is a real thrill with the feeling of getting the whole world interested in making oneself known and less importantly heard.
The difference lies in the fact is that too many people knowing you is not enough. Rather have people who listen to you and look forward to what one has to say.
I liked your ideas and am happy to say, that even bookmarked this page for future reading.
Cheers and keep up the insightful work.; posted @ 13/11/2006, 12:19 PM
25. Bertie Wheen said:: Nice Tips!

Check my blog:
www.bertiewheen.blogspot.com; posted @ 13/11/2006, 2:03 PM
26. getzapped said:: I appreciate your post. It's good to be reminded to be intelligent about agreeing or disagreeing as it's easy to get too vocal and forget we all have a right to our opinions.; posted @ 13/11/2006, 4:46 PM
27. Karla said:: We, Karla S. Morden and Ro-anne Salinas, 4th year
Behavioral Sciences students of the University of the
Philippines Manila, are conducting a research about
Blogs, in partial fulfillment of our course requirements
for BS200 (Thesis). We would like to know about you
as a blogger. We have posted a questionnaire- 'Blog'
on web. If your age is twenty and above, please help
us by answering the questionnaire.

The link is:
http://www.my3q.com/home2/125/karlabulalakaw/weblogs.phtml

Thank you. Please help! God bLess.; posted @ 14/11/2006, 7:54 AM
28. Sommer said:: That's very helpful. Thanks for posting that information. I never knew what Trackback was until now.; posted @ 14/11/2006, 11:58 AM
29. News_to_me said:: Wow! That's quite a lot of information coming from a nongeek. Of course, being new to the blogging world, most any information is going to be a bit over my skill level. I'm just starting my own blog and am just exploring for info on any and all aspects. Found you on Blogs of Note. I'm sure I'll be back. Thanks!; posted @ 14/11/2006, 12:37 PM
30. just4fun said:: Great writing very informative but Im new and it might as well have been greek.Hopefully I'll get the jist of it soon.That is if I dont lose my mind first.; posted @ 15/11/2006, 12:34 AM
31. drew w said:: Thank you very much for all your insight. I have not been blogging for very long and I hope to eventually have a very active political and social blog which will create much discussion. I believe your blog will help me develope along the way.; posted @ 15/11/2006, 2:46 AM
32. P.Y.D. said:: wow not bad...
http://www.kowelenzer.de/pitone-152023v2.html; posted @ 17/11/2006, 9:56 AM
33. sonique mp3 said:: Hi! i really enjoyed your site and i would liek to tell you thank you for such a great job!!!; posted @ 27/12/2006, 10:01 AM
34. BoilKerala said:: Your very right. let me add Something i noticed

More Indian Users means more comments maybe because of our Democratic Nature.

My blogs are all attracting more non Indian traffic mostly and they dont get many comments. The occasional comment I get is from Indian users Makes me proud though. (like http://boilkerala.blogspot.com)

My low volume blogs like
http://indiainteresting.blogspot.com
recived no comment at all. even though many visited. No comments means you have no idea what people think about your content and that inturn means if the content is bad it doesnt give scope of improvement.

Another thing is that am not trying to get rich with adsense or anything but still this is something i noticed
I installed adsense on my blog just for the sake of it guess what non Indian blogger actualy click on it. Having advance loggin installed on my blog i find that they are actualy using it to navigate to other similar information sources (Histats.com) But i havent got a single click from an Indian IP. Maybe we think that those are just manipulative ads(mostly arent). But true that some of the Adwords ads that i see (From india) are just manipulitive you know like make money quick and all.May be its time that google removed such ads from its network and show only legitimate ads.

Any blogger feels happy to get comments its like knowing that some body thinks bad or good something about the work you have done.; posted @ 23/05/2007, 1:16 AM
35. nongeek said:: BoilKerala: Interesting findings. However, not all hits are from people that really read your blog. Even further, not all readers leave comments. Hence the number of comments you get in a particular post is much lower than the number of hits. Despite of that, very interesting findings indeed.; posted @ 23/05/2007, 2:34 PM

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Thursday, November 09, 2006

Things To Keep In Mind When Promoting Your Blog Through Comments

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