A lot of readers of this blog would tell you that I’m pretty good with blog commenting. I was told a couple of times that I am everywhere, and that reassured me that I’m doing fine with my blog visiting and commenting. I love visiting other blogs and see what people have to say.
Visiting other blogs is a great way to get to know other fellow bloggers while you can also learn bunches from them. However, even someone like me may be tempted not to come back if your blog is not visitor friendly.
In this post I wanted to tell you about the 5 main reasons why I will stop coming and commenting on your blog.
Now, when I say “I”, you can be sure that a lot of people are feeling just the same way. So if you’re falling in the following categories, and would like more people visit your blog, comment and share your content like mad machines, you need to make your blog more visitor friendly.
Note: This is not addressed to any blog or blogs in particular, so please, don’t take offence, but what follows needed to be said.
1 – No, Are you Still Using Blogger?
Of all the things that bother me the most when I visit a blog is probably when I see that the blog is on a Blogger platform instead of WordPress. I’m not a technical person by any mean, neither an expert in blog platforms, but I don’t know any professional blogger who is still using Blogger.com as their blog platform. If you are still using such platform I would LOVE to hear your reasons down below in the comment area.
You see, when you’re using Blogger it forces the person who wants to leave a comment to do so through a Gmail account or other methods that are really not practical. At least not for everyone. For example, I have several Gmail accounts and I often end up with a comment signed with one of my pen names that I don’t even use anymore and don’t want there anyway. Yet, for some reason, that’s what Blogger decides to show on my comment. On top of that, instead of my avatar, I end up with that faceless ugly generated avatar.
So, I am asking you, who wants to leave a comment on your blog in such condition? I know I don’t, and if you see me there is more out of good will, then because I want to. Now, sometimes my good will run out, because how long will I be willing to help you if you don’t want to help yourself? This is MY question!
2 – Is your Content very Plain and Basic or even Promotional?
As much as I love to help people out and want to syndicate their content, if your content doesn’t offer anything or it’s low quality (like a selling post), I am not going to want to share such content. The main reason why is because it’s going to make ME look bad, and I would start losing my followers’ trust for sharing such low quality content. Even if I just comment on your blog without sharing it, who wants to comment on low quality posts anyway? Some promotional blogs will actually give you bad backlinks. No good blogger would want that!
It is your duty to want to go above and beyond to keep your content interesting, educational, or even entertaining. But make that content agreeable to the reader. The only way you will be able to do this is if you are dedicated to blogging. If you can’t be bothered to be dedicated enough to interest your readers with valuable content, why would they want to bother visiting your blog and leave comments?
3 – Who are you to Think that Blog Commenting and Sharing is a One-Way Street?
Blog commenting and blog sharing is not a one-way-street kind of thing. If you want more people visit your blog, well, you’re going to have to comment on their blog and share their posts as well. I know that some successful bloggers out there will feel that they are so superior that they don’t need to try to connect with the “little people”, but they are totally wrong! As a matter of fact, there are even some not so big bloggers that think that way too.
Every single little visitor to your blog is a potential buyer. So, unless you don’t care about making any more sales, you should care about building relationships with smaller bloggers. Yes, every single legitimate visitor. If you don’t, they will eventually get discouraged, stop visiting your blog, and never buy anything from you.
When was the last time you were mistreated by a big company or store just because you were only a little customer? Most likely you haven’t. You were greeted politely, treated well, and they even took back that return of yours with a smile. Yet, you were just a drop of water in the ocean of their customer database. Are you more successful than those big companies that you can afford to ignore some of your visitors? I think we all know the answer to that question. So, bottom line, you have no reason what-so-ever not to treat everyone like they deserve.
This is really important guys! To tell you the truth, there are some bloggers that I started to dislike just for this reason. There were too good to ever come to visit me, so not only did I stop visiting them, but I don’t have a very good opinion about them either. I will never buy from them and I will never refer anyone to them. That’s how much you lose for not taking other bloggers into consideration. Hard price to pay, don’t you think?
4 – Are you Ignoring Comments?
I have to say that this is not something that happened to me too often, but I’ve heard a lot of people saying that it happened to them. There are some folks out there who are not even polite and respectful enough to reply to comments even with a simple, thank you. What’s even worse is that you might see that they’ve replied to other people, but skipped YOUR comment.
Not only replying to comments is the right thing to do to acknowledge the blogger that took some of his or her time to leave a note on your blog, but it also opens the dialogue and shows other readers that there is a discussions going on. Replying to all comments keeps your blog alive and it makes every body happy.
5 – Are you Blogging very Irregularly?
I have been shocked sometimes to see how irregular some people have been with blog. Now I know things can and do happen, but at least let your readers know so they will understand what’s going on.
I’ve been visiting blogs that I found out later were just abandoned because the owner didn’t feel like blogging anymore. I’ve seen that on blogs that had a nice amount of visitors too. I don’t know about you, but I think that this is not professional and it’s not very respectful to your readers either.
If you decide to slow down on your posts or not post anymore for a while or for good, just be nice enough to write that post that will let your readers know what’s going on.
If you want to keep your visitors and even get more as time goes on, you need to keep a regular schedule for your blog. I am not someone who think that you need to post everyday, but once of week is plenty to keep your readers come back and comment on your post and share them.
Conclusion
If you fit in one of those 5 categories, you might want to take a look at your blog and fix the problem. If you do, your traffic will improve greatly.
So, what do you think? Are you making any of such mistakes? Let us know what you think…
Blog Commenting A Solid Way To Increase Your Traffic With Very Little Writing
Five Golden Rules To Leave Blog Comments That Will Benefit You And Your Site
Great article Sylviane. I def struggle with comments, but when I do have them I comment back. As far as going on other people’s blogs and commenting, I admit I have to do bette at that. I will def start now though.
Hi Saytue,
Thanks for being here today!
I’m glad that you are seeing for yourself where you might need to improve, not everyone does. I’m sure you’ll see an improvement in traffic when you do 🙂
Hi Sylviane, Wow, you really nailed it. Your straight-forward explanation really shows bloggers what they should do to cultivate comments at their sites. Blogger drives me nuts with its commenting system. If for some reason my log in information doesn’t register, my comment is deleted and I have to start again. Even if I bother to re-write it, I probably won’t be back.
I don’t think I’m making any of these mistakes, but I’m curious about your opinion on combining two of these items. If someone comments on your blog but their blog is overly promotional or you’re afraid it’s a problem backlink, what do you do? Do you ignore the comments, reject them or accept the comments yet don’t comment on their blogs?
Thanks, I will definitely be sharing this post!
Carolyn invites you to read..The iPad Mini: You May Not Want It…Until You Hold It
Hi Carolyn,
How glad I am to see that just about everyone so far do not like to comment on those Blogger blogs. Wow, what a relief, I’m not the only one!
I’ve seen you in one of such blogger bloga, Carol, and all I could recognize is your name because you had a blank avatar, as for me, every time I’ve tried it’s a mess. So, these illustrate the problems right there!
To answer your question, when it comes to those overly promoting blogs or sites, I may accept their comment for a while, but if there is not improvement and they keep coming back just for the link, I end up not accepting them anymore. They are easy to spot, because they usually come late in the post with a one to two line comment. There’re just here for the link and it’s not good link to us.
It’s basically on an individual case by case, but I’m sure you know what I mean.
thanks for your input, Carolyn 🙂
Syviane,
You nailed it. I also hate it when people whom i’ve never met before leave one liners like “great post”. It makes me think it’s spam. If it’s a regular poster who comments regularly than I don’t mind because not every comment can be long and provocative right?
The other thing I have found myself doing is not commenting on posts that are super long. I know this sounds bad, but if the post is so so so long than i tend to get overwhelmed and move on. If i want to read a book, i’ll do it in bed with a book.
Cheers
Annie Andre invites you to read..Create A Product: Do Your Market Research ( quarterly report #4 Nov 2012)
Hi Annie,
Yes, we usually don’t like one line comments, do we? As a matter of fact, I think there is a plugin (don’t know which one, though) that will kick out such short comments before they even post. I am going to install that on my blog as soon as I’ve figured out what type of plugin this is.
I know that my posts can be kind of long, but I know two blogging ladies that I actually really like who post longer articles than me 🙂 There’re great stuff, tough, but I know that some people would rather read short articles, and that’s understandable.
Thanks for coming, Annie 🙂
Your posts are not long at all. I’m talking about the ones that are like 3,000 to 4,000 words. Those are long. if it’s good and gets to the point I don’t mind reading it. But sometimes people tend to write long posts that they could have said in a shorter amount.
I used to do that and i’ve noticed that as i get better at writing, i am finding better ways to say more with less. It’s like a personal challenge.
ps
if you find that plugin name, let me know.
Annie Andre invites you to read..Create A Product: Do Your Market Research ( quarterly report #4 Nov 2012)
Ah, you make me feel better. My posts tend to be right around 900-1200 words and sometimes I’m afraid it’s a bit long, but you’re right there are some 3,000 and more out there, and it’s true that in a lot of cases the same thing could be said with less words.
Yes, I will let you know about that pluggin. I’ll look for it today 🙂 I’ve meant to do this and never did.
Syviane, you said some good things here. I can not stand commenting on blogger blogs or a theme that is not conducive to comments.
If you are still using a default theme, I would get rid of it immediately. I use a theme that has so many options I can not take advantage of all the options yet.
There are some free themes that are just as good as premium themes. Blog commenting is the most important thing for a blogger.
It is good to comment on many different niches because it shows that you are well rounded.
Michael Belk invites you to read..Energy drinks being blamed for deaths.
Hi Micheal,
So well said, a blog needs to be conductive to comments, not only to what you like, because after all you are blogging for others, not for you right?
Again, you’re so right and thanks for saying it… there are great themes that will make every one happy that are free. No need to spend money to have a comment friendly blog.
It’s true we should not read and comment only in one given niche of blogs, we should visit any type of blogs. There’s so much of good information out there!
Thanks for your visit, Micheal 🙂
Sylviane, when I see a blogger that makes it hard to comment on, I wonder if the blogger wants to be successful.
If you can not attract readers, you probably have already lost.
It may not be ethical, but I know bloggers that comment on your blog just for the link.
I can not get mad at them because if they did not take the time probably no one would.
Michal Belk invites you to read..I caught you looking; smokescreen marketing.
Hi Michael.
That’s very true. Why would you want to make it hard for people to comment on your blog? You should be making it as easy as possible.
As for the ones who comment just for the link, they are usually pretty obvious, and I see myself deleting those more and more, even the ones that I used to accept before and, therefore, don’t get through moderation. I can still go in and delete 🙂 If they want short cuts, maybe they should be doing something else, right?
Thanks for coming, Michael 🙂
Hi Sylviane,
I couldn’t have put it better myself 🙂
Some of my friends use Blogger so I will leave comments on their blogs BUT when i come to others and have to log in with different details it drives me potty. I don’t want to log in via Twitter or Google and I certainly don’t want to open a new account just to leave my views on the content…. Regardless of how good it may be.
When I leave comments on friends blogs that use Blogger I make a point of copying my comment first as I’ve had times when I’ve logged in only to find the comment gone 😯
I do write some promotional posts, but I write them as a review of the product (having taken time out to test the products first) and only when I’m happy with the product will I post a review.
I totally agree with you about bloggers that ignore our comments. Having approved them it’s rude not to reply, even if only to thank people. Although personally I reply to each aspect of the comment when and where I can. I think it’s these BIG WIGS that have made me do that as I’ve been so offended when I have a comment blanked. Worse still is when (as you described) people reply to their “pals” comments even when they’ve been left after mine.
I never ignore any comments, if they’re good enough to approve they’re good enough to reply to 🙂
As you know I’ve had some time out this year due to poor health and during this time I’ve told my readers about it and you know what happened after that…. People wrote posts for me, yourself included (thank you).
This is a great round up Sylviane 😎
Barry
PS I notice that you’ve now stopped the links to peoples blogs and twitter accounts being clickable. Why have you done that Sylviane?
Barry Wells invites you to read..What A Stupid Twitter Mistake To Make
Hi Barry,
Well, I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one annoyed by Blogger blog posts, after all. Thanks for your details about this in your comment.
When I’m talking about promotional blogs I was not even thinking about posts such as yours which are full of details about why this product might be useful. And you do it only when you have a very good reason to do so, meaning, yes, you’ve used it yourself! I was talking about those relentless and useless promotion posts which is the only kind of post that the blogger writes.
I know that you’ve been very annoyed by people not answering your questions or replying your comments, and rightfully so.
Yes, you had to abandon your blog for a while, but you let your readers know, and because you’ve got some great ones 🙂 they even filled up the blanks 🙂
So, you’re all good Barry. None of this apply to you, as you know 😉
Thanks for your great comment!
Hi Sylviane
Have just come across this via Barry Wells.
Very interesting post.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
James Hughes
James Hughes invites you to read..Day #11 Traffic Tips – Increase Web Traffic through Articles
Hi James,
I’m glad you found me through Barry’s blog. Nice meeting you here, and hope you’ll be back again 🙂
Hey Sylviane,
Well, you KNOW how I feel about all of these myself.
In my opinion if you are here to build a business then using Blogger is not the way to go. I know a lot of people start off with this platform because they are told it’s the best way to just get a blog up and going but to me, WP is so much easier. If you are here to build a business you need to spend the money to host your own blog.
I agree with everything else you shared as well. I have made a conscious effort to stop visiting the blogs that don’t provide quality content or that I can’t relate to who they are through their posts. If all they write are promotional posts then I’m outta there but I don’t mind them every once in awhile. Heck, I even write reviews on products.
I told myself when I started visiting other blogs that I’m not going to comment just to get one in return although it’s greatly appreciated. But if I’m constantly promoting someone and they don’t even thank me for it then I’ll definitely be rethinking my position on that. I think that’s just common courtesy and showing appreciation.
I don’t really pay that much attention to people who don’t respond to my comments. Heck, if they don’t have the reply me plug-in in place I never usually go back to check. I know, I’m so bad.
If someone blogs every once in awhile I won’t make a conscious effort to stop by their place. If they visit my blog then I’ll pop on over but never knowing when they’re going to post is just a waste of my time. Seriously, get on a schedule and I’ll be a regular viewer. Is that really that hard!
Great points Sylviane and this post is going to get a lot of chatter. 🙂
~Adrienne
Adrienne invites you to read..A Big Fat Lie Bloggers Like To Tell
Hi Adrienne,
Yes, I kind of know in advance now what type of post will have a lot of readers or not 😉 I kinda bet this one would.
I don’t know what happened, I think I’d missed your comment Adrienne.
I knew someone like you would agree with the ideas of this post. I so understand that you won’t check back for replies on blogs that don’t let you know about it. I’m the same way. Not because I don’t want to, but I’m so busy, I don’t have time to get back, but if you have that great plugin called “reply me” people will see your reply right from their mail box, as we know it.
No doubt that if you want to build a business online you should quit Blogger all together.
Thanks for your input, Adrienne 🙂
Hi Sylviane,
Very nice blog post. I like your point about blog commenting not being a one way street. There are a lot of uninformed bloggers out there. To say there’s a lot to know about blogging is an understatement. I can say for me the learning curve has been a steep one.
Thanks for sharing your experience with with us. Glad I found your blog via Adrienne Smith.
Tonya
Hi Tonya,
Nice to see you here. I kind of knew that my headline would make people click on that one, because everyone wants traffic and comments to their blog and usually also want to know about mistakes they should avoid.
I know that some people will not care for visiting you back when you leave a comment on their blog, but I really don’t get that. To me that’s called “building your customer database” and shouldn’t be neglected.
Welcome to my blog, Tonya!
Hi Sylviane
Great 5 reasons for sure.
I am right with you on # 3 and # 4. I have written what I thought was a great comment and really liked a number of posts, even shared them. Ends up they never even put up my comment, not just once but 2 or 3 times. It makes one feel that they don’t value who you are and how do they know I won’t come back someday and buy from them.
Begin to feel that what they have to say is no longer important to me and yes I have unsubscribed to one and considering doing it to a few more. Like I was telling someone, it is like if I came to your house because you invited me, but when I got there you completely ignored me. It is just plain rude, you wouldn’t do that in the physical world, why on earth would you do it in the digital world.
You can never tell who someone is by what they appear to be. I heard about this man a number of years ago, he had arrived at a GM dealer in dirty blue jeans, hair a little messed up. They didn’t want to serve him, but soon found out that he had come to buy a new Cadillac with cash! A very valuable lesson for sure.
Going out to make some comments…thanks for the post.
Mary
Mary Stephenson invites you to read..Dilemma of Unfinished Projects
Hi Mary,
Well, looks like I am in for more blog commenting this week, as many new people have come for this post.
When someone left you a comment you should really be honored and happy to post it. I know accidents do happen, though, I’ve found some legit comments lost in what I call “lala land of comment moderation” but as soon as I discovered them there I surely not only posted the comment, but appologized for the technical issue. That’s why I check there all the time there now.
I love my comment and commentors, so I busy myself with lots of commenting on a daily basis.
Thank you for coming, Mary, and see you on the other side 😉
Hi Sylviane – I agree with all your points, particularly the importance of responding to comments – and responding thoughtfully. I know it’s time-consuming, but it’s great when you read a thread of comments and there are some real conversations going on.
I think the trouble is, a lot of bloggers just want comments for the sake of it, to get links and boost their ratings, rather than genuinely engaging with their readers.
This post links very nicely with Adrienne’s latest offering – in that I think you’re both saying you’ve got to put some actual work in if you want to succeed at this game – and you’ve got to be REAL.
In my view, you need to aim to add value, not just with the content you create on your own site, but in the comments you leave – both on other people’s sites and in response to comments on your own blog.
One more thing – people might stop commenting on your blog simply because you forget to ask them to – it’s always helpful to include a question that invites a response – the more provocative, the better!
Thanks for another great post,
Sue
Sue Neal invites you to read..Get Faster at Writing Blog Posts by Tying Your Laces First
Hi Sue,
Thank you for your last point here. I know when I started blogging I’d never asked for feedbacks, but now I do all the time. I think that it does make a difference, you’re right!
I totally agree with you, creating great content is EVERY time you write. It doesn’t matter if it’s your blog post or a simple comment. I know that I always try to write interesting comments, and really it doesn’t have to be very long, but long enough to be able to say something of value or interesting in some way.
Nice to see you here again, Sue, and thanks for you always valuable comments 🙂
My blog comments have gone down so of course I clicked on your post when I saw the title to get informed and motivated to get my comments back up again.
As I suspected you hit on the main treason I believe my comments are down- I’ve had far less time & energy to comment on other blogs over the last several months. Working full time in addition to volunteering & blogging, I have chosen to give myself a pass when I can’t keep up with it all, but still I appreciate being aware that I’m making a conscious decision where to focus my energies was opposed to unintentionally driving comments away. Thanks for the informative post!
Have a great day!
Chrysta
Chrysta Bairre invites you to read..Get Inspired! Get Going! Live Your Great Life!
Hi Chrysta,
Well, I was on your blog recently, but you’re right, not visiting other blogs will bring your own blog down, not because people want to punish you. No, nothihng like that, but because people will “forget” about you if they don’t see you on a regular basis. I am very aware of that, and I don’t take it personally, it’s just a fact. By putting my face constantly in front of them they’ve got to remember me and if they’ve never checked me out they eventually might 🙂
I know all this is most definitely time consuming. Tell me about it!
I’m glad this post has helped you in anyway, and I will come again 🙂
Yes, and I greatly appreciated your comment! I hope to get back in the swing of things soon, including commenting on other blogs. There are so many great benefits to commenting beyond getting more comments on my blog in return. Building relationships with my blogging friends is worth far more than the comments themselves! Plus I find I stay motivated and inspired when I am actively reading and commenting. It’s simply a great thing to do!
Have a grateful day!
Chrysta
Chrysta Bairre invites you to read..How To Say No
Exactly, Chrysta! Glad you mention it. It’s not only about the commenting and syndicating. The big picture is we build relationships. That’s how I built great relationships online. I love it 🙂
Blogger doesn’t always get a good rap, but I do know people who use it for financial reasons or because it is deemed easier. When I comment on blogs like that it does require more work and logging in to leave a message. I blame Google for that stupid requirement, but if you haven’t moved over to WordPress now, what’s the hold up?
One thing I have always took pride in is replying to comments left on my blog. I know some popular blog owners pick and choose who they want to reply to, but I like to take the extra effort to reply to everyone because it’s polite, good karma and they took the time to give me some of their time. Some might argue this point, but I always go back to the beginning of my blog and remember when I had: no comments and no visits. Did we forget that because we get tons of comments now?
Sonia invites you to read..Blog Spotlight: Ben Barden, QuickBlogTips.com
Hi Sonia,
Yes, that was my question. If you’re still on Blogger, please, let me know why, and I might have more mercy on you 🙂
As far as I am concerned I am not yet so up there to be choosy with whom do I want to reply to. Oh, and by the way, I will never be like that, no matter what, because I think that’s more in the character of the blogger than because of the fact that they have so many comments. Those are just excuses. As you say, we should always remember the days when we were hoping for a spam comment with a real avatar. I know I did 🙂
Thanks for your feedbacks, Sonia!
You said it! These are all reasons I wouldn’t bother to comment on someone’s blog.
I think for me, being ignored is the worst. It would be nice if someone commented on my blog once in a while if I’m always visiting and commenting on theirs. And if someone doesn’t answer my comments, that’s worse because then I feel like why did I bother? It’s like they never read it. There’s no conversation. Oh, and sometimes when people answer they just say “thanks for the comment”. That’s not really helpful either.
One of the reasons I don’t comment on blogs is related to your #1 – whatever the platform is, sometimes it’s just so darn HARD to comment. Sometimes I have to log in or create an account and fill out a captcha. It’s nuts. If you’re that worried about spam then just send comments to moderation. Don’t make it a lot of work for me to comment. If I have to do anything but submit, then I probably won’t bother.
I like where you can also use your Twitter account to comment. However, I will make a note here and say that if a blog has Facebook comments, I do NOT comment, because I don’t want my comments on my Facebook page or in any way related to my Facebook identity.
I love all these points and completely agree. This is one place that it doesn’t take a lot of effort to do it right, but if you don’t put in some effort then it could be a big backfire.
Carol Lynn invites you to read..Marketing And Business Initiatives That Can Help Mitigate The Effects Of A Natural Disaster
Hi Carol,
I am so glad to see that so far just about every one here doesn’t like to comment when a lot of efforts are involved and that’s only fair. I’m like you, if I have to show my comment on facebook and that’s the only option you give me, then I won’t comment either. Even if you have such option, you need to let the person comment without facebook as well if that’s what they want to do.
How disappointing it is when you leave a nice long comment on a blog and what you get is “thank you”. Wow, I thought it called for more back and forth discussion here 🙂
I try to be good on both side of the fence. As ‘commentor’ and in my replies to my comments. We are humains and sometimes we might be more inspired than others, but we can always try our best.
Thanks for coming, Carol 🙂
I must say I don’t mind commenting on blogger but the free WordPress blogs drive me nuts. I’ve been using Twitter to comment on those as little as I do.(I LOVE CommentLuv the best!) I think #2 is the worst one that I see, I can’t stand promotional comments (I get them often on my retail sites and just delete). #3 and #4 have be torn at times, I think blogging is like social and it’s a two way street but must you always comment JUST BECAUSE someone commented on your blog? I believe you may have something to stay about their post, good or bad in order to leave a comment. #5 – As long as they blog at least once a week or so it doesn’t bother me but if it’s been months, yikes. Interesting topic Sylviane!
Lisa invites you to read..Social Media Meets Golden Age of TV with Second Screen Apps
Hi Lisa,
True, you don’t want to comment on a blog just to be there. It sure is better if you actually really have something to say. Well, I usually do have something to say on the blogs that I actually visit, which is a good thing, right?
I know that Free WordPress platform can be the same headache as Blogger. The problem is not only with ‘Blogger’ but any platform that require you to login on whatever else accounts and so forth and so on… can’t stand it!
Thanks for your feedbacks, Lisa 🙂
So true in all your points. If you ignore comments then most people will eventually turn their back. There is no better way then to address individual comments so that commentators feels nice about leaving their comment.
Shalu Sharma invites you to read..Types of ghosts and haunted places in India
Hi Shalu,
Yes, that’s right. Every one like to feel valued, don’t we? Thus the importance of replying to comments. Engagement, engagement. It’s all about engagement!
Thanks for coming by, Shalu 🙂
One of my biggest pet peeves is that I go to someone’s blog and they don’t return the favor and comment back. It is one of the fastest ways to get people to ‘not’ come back to your blog. I’m very glad you wrote this article. Excellent to let people know. The other thing I like about this article is that I have to learn to be more consistent with my writing/blogging. Problem is, while building this business, I also work a full time job. So sometimes it’s hard. I’ve decided to do a schedule and at least get blogs out 2 or 3 times a week for now. Thanks for the reminder and the incentive push!
Regards,
Barbara
Hi Barbara,
Gosh, do I hear you. I still have a problem when I go to a blog, not once but several times for that matter, and they still won’t even making a single visit to my blog.
The cherry on the cake for me was that personal development blog where I actually asked the blogger to, please, visit my blog as I was trying to build some traffic and ranking on my own personal development blog. Guess what? The woman gave me some feedbacks about my blog post, on her own blog as a reply to my comment, but she never, ever commented on my blog, not even after the 10th times I was on hers.
Now, what the result feeling to this? Well, I even doubt her as a life coach, because I know that a life coach has got to know better than this, unless you are really, really gone in your own bubble. And I’m so disappointed in her that I quit going to her blog all together. I guess people like these don’t need anyone!
Thanks for your feedbacks, Barbara!
Wow! Amazing. But true colors come out when the time comes to show who you are. And I know there are times where our lives are busy, but I make sure I particularly go to those come to me. And now I’m practicing what you ladies talked about last week which is to visit a certain number of people everyday. But you did the right thing…you have to make a decisions when someone is not reciprocating. You always give good comments and its just good content so I don’t know why they wouldn’t visit your blog. Anyway, I’ll keep coming back for sure! 🙂 Keep it coming…keeping it coming!
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Hi Sylviane
I agree with you 100%. The same reasons for me too. I had not seen the blogger platform until recently and I guess I was fortunate in the beginning to have explained to me why I needed WordPress.
Some of those reasons are just good manners in my book. Replying to comments especially falls into that category.
I must confess for a while there I was irregular in blogging. I started out well and then sort of lost my way.
I stop commenting on blogs when I know the person never visits mine back. I will do a few comments but then I stop if it is not reciprocated.
A great post as usual Sylviane.
Sue
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Hi Sue,
I’m glad you’re back from your trip 🙂
When I started blogging I was myself very irregular as well. Frankly, back then I didn’t appreciated the fact that being regular was that important, and I didn’t have much traffic either. When you do however, if you are going to be absent, somehow, you really should let your readers know. Simple courtesy, right?
Thanks for your input, Sue 🙂
Yes Sylviane! It needed to be said. And I know full well that I don’t come by here enough, lol. I have to admit, I’ve been remiss on commenting on other people’s blogs as much as I’d like to, simply because I run out of time. But I do try. Love you for telling it straight, chica. Nothing worse than low quality content or bloggers who aren’t engaged with their audience (then, um, why have a blog at all?). Or, people who leave fluff comments that have nothing to do with the content just to try and get a back link (I send those straight to SPAM). Just wanted to let you know I am lurking about and haven’t forgotten about you. Huge hugs for you!Melody
Hi Melody,
Wow, what a surprise to see you here!
I know that you are very busy and if you’re not coming it’s not that you are thinking too much of yourself. I get that about you girl!
I also know that you always reply to comments on your blog, and pretty rapidly too. So you don’t take anyone for granted.
Thank you for coming on this one, though. Really appreciated it 🙂
I totally agree with your first point, if you are a blogger and you are still blogging on blogger platform, i advice you change your comment system to either intense debate with commentluv plugin activated or you integrate Facebook blogging platform to your blog atleast. Most readers find it very difficult leaving comments on such platforms. Thanks for the tips though.
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Hi Nwosu,
Thanks your for coming and for your input. I gather that I’m definitely not the only one who is annoyed by Blogger, so now I actually don’t even feel so bad for not liking it!
I do like WP’s comment system better because it’s nice to just fill in a form, be able to connect it to a URL, and go – I don’t like even the option to log in as something else. But Blogger does allow Anon and Name/URL comments, it’s just a feature that folks have to be aware of and enable in the settings. That way, you don’t have to log in with an identity to comment.
I don’t blog in any serious extent; it’s just a hobby for me. I’ve been on Blogger since I started a couple years ago, and I’ve gotten to know the platform pretty well. I was active in the official Blogger help forum (before they moved to the Groups platform) and I answer Blogger technical questions in a blogging forum. It’s nice to never have to worry about hosting (web and photos), maintenance, or security. I pay for it by not being able to use some neat plugins (such as commentluv).
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Hi Nano, and welcome here.
Yes, I can tell that you know that Blogger platform well. I bet that not even half of the people using Blogger are aware of the settings you’re talking about. I which they did, because when I try to comment through Name/URL it just never works. Now, I get it… it’s because they don’t know how to set it up. Maybe you should write about that to teach people!
Thanks for your valuable input.
The problem with allowing anonymous comments, of course, is that you get an unbelievable amount of spam! Blogger’s spam filter is actually quite good – I’ve never had a spam comment get published. But folks who like to moderate comments, or get a email for every comment, often just turn off Anon comments so they aren’t emailed when they get spam. They really need an option to only email you for non-spam comments.
All things considered, I really do like the WordPress comment system more – both as a commenter and as a blog admin.
Nano invites you to read..October Update
Hey Sylvianne, I think the blogging on a regular basis is surely important. Content, yep another good point. I have enjoyed reading everyones blog, and I have also learned so many useful things in the process. Thanks for this post, its great!
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Hi Carol,
Thanks for coming and I’m glad you enjoyed the post!
Hi Sylviane,
Wow, this is an excellent post. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and the content is spot on. I agree with all 5 reasons why people will stop commenting on your blog.
I started with WordPress and it is obviously the industry standard. I would encourage anyone on blogger.com to make the move. I know it feels scary to do it, but in the long run it is worth it. I know there are other platforms used by professional bloggers, but I still prefer WordPress. Besides, the plugins are fun too!
As to commenting, I’ve always done my best to reply to anyone who visits my blog. I greatly appreciate it and I think I’m in the right circles because I would estimate that 90% of the blogs I visit, I get a return reply. I admit I’m late once in awhile but I return 100%. Commenting is a great way to connect with other bloggers.
Carol Lynn mentioned she doesn’t post on Facebook comments on blogs. I don’t have a problem creating a Facebook status on a blog that I found offered great value. This is something I would like to discuss at our next Mastermind meeting. Great value is meant to be shared, and Facebook, in my opinion is a great place to do it!
Lastly I want to comment on consistency. This is an area I have been working on lately to have content ready for my regular visitors. I know it is important to have something fresh at least once a week and you make a good point, “just be nice enough to write that post that will let your readers know what’s going on.” That is very simple, yet a nice gesture to keep in mind when circumstances come up.
Great value Sylviane, I shared it like crazy!
Raena Lynn
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Hi Raena,
I appreciate you detailed comment here.
I know that for someone who has been on Blogger forever and that’s all they know, it can be intimidating to make the switch to WP, but as you said, all worth it and they will be so glad they did.
I do my best in replying to all my comments, and the only time I’m a bit longer to do so is if you comment on an older post, as I am still trying to keep up with the present post, but still I’ll get to you.
Yes, being consistent with your content is a must as much as you can help it.
I do agree with Carol Lynn, I don’t necessarily want my blog comment show on my facebook profile, or at least I need to have a choice. If the ONLY choice is facebook, then, I most likely won’t comment.
Thanks for your feedbacks, Raena 🙂
Hi Sylviane,
You have hit every reason why I too won’t comment on certain blog posts. I do have so much trouble with Blogger. I cringe at the thought of commenting on that. I do have good friends that I do want to reciprocate to that have that site, but find it so confusing to comment. For me, WordPress is the best in the market. I love the layout, the plug-ins one can choose to use, especially commentluv premium which saved me the task of deleting so many spams.
Also blogging consistently is so important. When I go to a blog that has a post from a month or two ago, my first reaction is that I get bewildered. Does this person care? Will he or she answer my comment? Oh yea…that comment thing too….when I go to a blog where comments are not answered, I wonder if the person is writing that blog, or just doesn’t care enough.
You have hit many great topics and I feel the same way as you do.
Thank you my friend,
Donna
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Hi Donna,
It was nice to see you back yesterday;) I know that you’ve had lots of little hurdles lately, but I’m sure you are on the right track to have it all behind you.
I was glad to see how all the many people that have commented on this post in just a couple of days, so far, agree with the reasons why I or they wouldn’t want to comment on a blog.
Thanks for your visit and glad to have you back around.
Hi Sylviane,
Woopies… I believe this one goes with most of commenters dear 🙂 Absolutely I believe most of people comment here are following all or most of these tips. BUT sad truth is most needed people don’t try to read and understand ’em sometimes. Let’s spread it everywhere and hope someone will learn to do this right 🙂
Well, Here’s how I think about reasons you have mentioned 😉
1 – Yep, as you know I do use Blogger. Actually I prefer it than WordPress as I can code easily there 😉 But WordPress is much easy with plugins. I don’t mind commenting on Blogger platform. But I don’t like native comment system there dear. It’s not my job to say which is better for ’em. But I prefer a comment system works for most users with gravatar enabled.
2 – I don’t think we can expect good from bad ones mostly. As like that promotional content writers would try promote their content on other blogs but finally end up as a spam. So I never did visit such a blog via my comment section. I’ve been to few, but never did comment though. Once I remember one blogger asked me “Why don’t you approve my comments on your blog? Else how could I promote my content and get more readers to comment?” 😀 lol…
3 – One blogger said me that he never comment/visit other blogs or engage with commenters in any way. But he gets many number of comments. I said “WOW, but you are doing it wrong.”. Once I went to his blog, most of comments are spammy ones 😉 Do I need to say more?
4 – This is a really discouraging factor dear. I had few popular and favorite blogs in my bookmark list. But never got a reply. I don’t even take my time to leave a comment or share. I feel it’s like I’m talking to someone, but he’s deaf 😉
5 – I think it’s about information and relevancy dear. The more you post, the more attention it gets. But readers could miss ’em if we do most frequently. There are some bloggers who does post once a month or per two weeks. But it has enough information and lengthy posts with full of vivid content. This Monday I was away from my computer but my post got published. I think bloggers need to use scheduling techniques in such scenarios 🙂
Cheers…
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Hi Mayura,
Yes, this post has got quite a few comments so far. We are at over 50 now.
Wow, let me tell you that I didn’t know you were using blogger and it’s because on your blog I have no problem with comments at all. What do you do? I know you’re a tech guy so you probably were able to do something with this, but I have no idea what. However I love it!
Thanks for coming, Mayura, as always!
That’s a fact, keeping the content plain and dry will not bring any comments. Keeping your content friendly will bring you traffic. I know that i’m stating the obvious but i had this argument with some guys and they were saying that keeping it more formal will bring more quality comments.
Hi Radu,
No, no way, keeping your written “formal” will bring you more traffic? Whoever said that don’t know what they’re talking about and I doubt that “they” are getting that much traffic.
What bring traffic is content that people can understand and apply. Valuable content that is easy to read.
Hi Sylviane,
Oh wow, yes, these would make me stop commenting on certain blogs as well. But the worst of all of these has to be #1. I so dislike Blogger blogs, because of the hoops they make you jump through to leave a comment. My time is precious and I just don’t have the time to comply.
Besides as you mention they are just so unprofessional. You can spot an amateur right away. Nobody who is serious about their business would ever use the Blogger platform for their blog.
Thanks for sharing these with us!
Ilka
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Hi Ilka,
I see that we feel the same about Blogger. Now that I’ve written this post, I don’t feel alone anymore 🙂 as I see so many people who feel just the same as me. Blogger needs to rethink their options for blog commenting, they are just ridiculous!
If more people would drop them, they might!
Thanks for your input 🙂
A great and informational text, and I totally agree with your point on the importance of the blogging platform. I still can see a lot of blogs using blogger, but none of them look like professional. WordPress might be the best platform for business or personal bloggers because its flexibility and simplicity.
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Hi Viki and welcome,
I agree that people still using Blogger are nor really trying to be online professionals and that’s OK too, but if they want comments on their blog, regardless, that might affect their results.
Very fine reasons Sylviane. Personally Why I stop commenting on a blog is that If I feel author is not interested in replying to my comments. I feel good when someone start discussion in commenting.
And ofcourse blogger platform’s commenting system is not so good. I love to comment on wordpress’s default commenting system. Even I don’t like disqus and other commenting systems.
Thanks for writing such a nice post.
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Hi Atish,
Thank you for coming and giving your comment on this.
I am like you I do not like this comment system called disqus it’s very confusing and a real bug to comment with sometimes. To me, I don’t even know why not everyone wouldn’t have CommentLuv by now.
Of course, no one likes to be neglected and if you comment somewhere you want to know that your comment was taken into consideration.
Blogging has now become a great avenue for many entrepreneurs. Many post comments difficult with blogger platform or disqus is really annoying and people are bot going to comment as you’ve re-itereated.
Hi Kabenlah,
Yes, that’s why it’s very important to have an easy commenting platform such as commentluv.
I love this article. There is some great information on here. I comment on every comment that comes to my site. I love getting comments. I feel like each one is a gift that I want to treat with respect and care. I will also go to the person site and comment on an article on their site. I use comment luv, it is the best. If the article that connected to the comment is not something that I am interested in, I will try to go through other post on their site so that I can leave a comment. If it is a site that I like, I will join the newsletter and go back to the site. There were a couple of sites, that I loved. One has some great information, and I did notice that the person had commented on others and did not comment on mine comment. I think it happened three times, I deleted the site and have not been back since.
Cynthia
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Thanks for bringing this unique post, i appreciate you very much.
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