What no one ever tells you about blogging by andyp uk
First, maybe we need to define what blog comments are. According to Susan Gunelius, comments are what make a blog “interactive and social.” The most popular blogs are those where there is a lot of interaction with a community that post their opinions often. People like to feel “involved.”
Comments are the life of a blog, and your conversation with readers will build the popularity of your blog. Comments separate a blog from a website with information but no interaction.
Successful blogs encourage readers to respond. The blogger always responds quickly to the comments, which makes the reader feel like their opinions are important and valued by the blogger.
To effectively comment on a blog, here are some tips to remember. You must remember first and foremost to be yourself. Offer your opinion, but don’t be rude about it. Most serious bloggers also do not appreciate someone who brown noses by writing sugary comments. It makes the writer come across as a “goody two shoes” and is not valued by someone who truly wants a conversation on the topic he/she has raised.
Another tip for successfully commenting is to start with a smaller blog rather than one of the most popular ones. Your comments won’t stand out in a sea of hundreds of others.
To effectively comment on a blog, you should treat your comment thread as a forum. Among other things, it can help develop blog post ideas as questions are raised and readers discuss their experiences.
For bloggers, there are ways to encourage your readers to comment. One of these is to go to the settings of your blog and allow those who have commented before to be automatically approved. It fosters a sens of belonging. You can also use the Top Commentators Widget Pluin and reward your regulars with a growing number beside their name showing the number of comments they have made on your blog( Alex Whalley).
Sonia Simone lists seven deadly sins of blogging as being:
1. Selfishness (It’s about giving, not taking) 2. Sloth (Work online beats running a bricks and mortar business…Remember that) 3. Impatience (It takes time to build an audience so hang in there) 4. Lameness (Write good content and remember that lame bloggershave skinny kids) 5. Indenticality (It’s great to be inspired by a big blogger, but in order to creat your own audience you must find your own voice) 6. Irrelevance (It’s not about you. Write about topics that naturally attract people) and 7. Boorishness (Don’t be the one who refuses to shut up).
Whether you’re a reader, a blogger or both, you are participating to get your voice out there. Following good manners and using a little common sense will go a long way to insuring your success.
I liked the Seven Deadly Sins of Blogging by Sonia Simone that you posted. I have definitely found those to be true. There are tons of blogs out there, so what will make yours stand out above the rest? Definitely creating your own voice. And just a tip for your blog- try inserting some pictures or graphics within your posts. You have nice content, yet it would be more attractive to others ☺ Good luck blogging!
Hey rmlaflam,
Thanks for commenting on the blog. I do know that I need pictures, but I’m having to do one thing at a time. My learning curve this week was to learn how to embed the address behind the name. I have added pictures before and I intend to go back and do that as soon as I get caught up with everything else! That’s a great suggestion, though. I had to do a blog for Digital Writing and I was pretty proud of it. I have pictures with almost every blog! Check back later and see if you like the improvements. I guess you could say I’m still “under construction.”
[...] Effectively Commenting on Blogs and Blogging Effectively by Cindy [...]
Dear cccromeans,
Thank you very much for commenting on my blog! The simplicity and clarity in this post is wonderful. I have not written a post for the Topic of the Week yet, but after reading your post, I have many thoughts on how to write it. From 1-5, how good of a commenter do you consider yourself, based on your post? I’m slowly improving, so I’m only about a 2.
Kyle,
You’re very welcome! As for my commenting abilities…I think I’m somewhere in the middle. I have my moments of greatness and then moments of mediocrity. I try to make my comments relative to the subject and I try not to put the usual “good post.” At least, I don’t leave it at that. If it’s worth reading, it’s worth commenting on the content. I try not to be too general.
Practice make perfect!
Cindy
[...] “Effectively Commenting on Blogs and Blogging Effectively,” Cindy Cromeans, Jan. 31, 2011 [...]
Hi thanks for sharing the information but i think If any one’s primary goal is to leave fast comments on the posts of larger blogs in your niche just to get a few clicks from the passing traffic,then you are wasting time You could get more traffic from one piece of stellar content than months of that type of comment strategy.
Bill,
It’s a college classroom assignment. I have taken my topics from assigned places. It is my last semester in college as a Communication Major. Just doing what I need to do to graduate. In doing these assignments, I have learned a lot about PR writing, which I knew absolutely nothing about until January of this year. I’m not really trying to get “clicks.” I’m just trying to do my work!
Thanks for your advice,
Cindy
I have a lot of interest in this topic lately and I think your points are well-taken. A blog without interaction from others isn’t a very good blog, even if it delivers good information. I’m trying to do more to encourage comments on my blog as that is one of my 2011 strategies. It makes me think a little differently about how I write each post – especially how I write the ending.
BTW, I looked at your other blog posts and you have some great content on your blog. However, I was surprised that you haven’t filled out your “about us” page and that you have allowed several typos in this post. Sort of rare for a PR person! No worries – just sayin…
Sally,
Thanks for your comments. I’ll be honest with you. The reason I have this blog is because it was an assignment in my PR Writing class. I wrote all of the posts that I have on here now the weekend of the Super Bowl. We had gotten a late start on creating the blogs and we had a quota of blogs and PR connections to have in that weekend. You are correct. I’m surprised that there wasn’t more typo’s than there were. I’m not really a PR person, but while I am taking this class, I am trying to function as one. I really want to write fiction and teach High School English. I’m usually very meticulous about my writing before it is published. However, I just didn’t have the time. I wrote 7 PR Connections and 5 Topics of the Week, and I also had to comment on twelve other blogs. I will go back and make corrections now that I am caught up and will only have to do one of each every week. The About Us section was not required that weekend, thus it isn’t done. I will try to do something about that soon. Check back later and hopefully you won’t find as many problems with the blog. Thanks so much for your constructive criticism!
Cindy