Building A Blog Audience Through Commenting

Sometimes as bloggers, we overlook some of the most basic tools of the online community. Our commenting behavior can actually make a large impact on our reputation, our traffic, and our audience building.

Make the Most of the Comments You Make

One of the best ways to get others to find your blog is by visiting theirs and leaving comments about their posts and observations. Blogs, especially the popular ones, often form small online communities and fan bases and comments play a huge role in the communicative function of blogs. People will read a comment made by Bill on Bob's blog, and in turn, start reading Bill's blog as well. Bloggers tend to check the blogs of those who have visited their favorite blogs and you can develop some regular readers simply by making comments on other blogs.

In many cases, you can leave the URL of your blog in the comments, making it easy for all of that blog's readers to find you, too. Be careful to remember how your blog comments may affect others, though - when you offer criticism to a blogger, think about how that comment will be received. Are you building a relationship or burning a bridge? Unless you are being anonymous (which is never really recommended), every time you comment, you associate your name and reputation with the comment. Are you willing to stand by that comment and have it represent you in the blogosphere for an indefinite amount of time? Even if you consider the blogger you're commenting on to be a "competitor" - it's best not to create controversy in such a way that you could tarnish your reputation. Remember that website content lasts a long, long time.

When leaving a comment on a blog, there are two things you should consider in terms of attracting traffic:

1. Length of the comment: Make sure your comment is at least two to three lines - up to a paragraph if your post is on a topic relevant to your area of expertise.

2. Quality: Make sure your comment is something like a mini-article - it must be informative, unique, and offer a perspective or insight into the topic that the blog post did not provide.

Making the Most of Comments on Your Own Blog

In most cases, as a blogger, it is important to allow comments from your readers, especially other bloggers. This inspires the sense of interactivity and community that makes blogging so attractive to the Web 2.0 world.

You may have to deal with blog comment spam as a result of your willingness to accept comments unless you configure your blog host to help you out - make sure you use the tools they offer to help you combat it. If you can do a word or code verification, it will filter out most. You can also choose to moderate your comments. This can become a time-consuming process down the line if your blog becomes super-popular down the line - it can also slow down the commenting conversation.

Try to allow as much interaction as possible on your blog - it keeps things interesting and interactive. As soon as you start getting comments, respond to them. Keep the dialog going.

Blogs are loved by many because of their interactive nature, so the more lively and interesting the comment section, the better the blog. This, of course, in turn, creates more traffic. If you don't respond to comments, you cut the the debate short, signaling that it was never a very important feature of the blog anyway. That doesn't mean that a blogger should necessarily respond to every single comment, but you should always be visible in your own blogging community.

When a person posts a comment on a blog for the first time, surprise them by acknowledging their presence with a simple "Hello". (Or, if you own a larger blog, and have noticed an influx of new traffic, greet ALL the new readers.) Let them know that they're welcome. Blog communities (and traffic) are built, after all, one person at a time. Never forget where that community was built from.