0 to 1500 Comments in 4 Months – This is What I did
Many people (especially the old folks) will just tell you to build it and they will come. You set up a blog competing with millions of other people, how do you expect to do it? The big guys do have tons of comments and they do have more and more of it every day. You the newbie find it difficult to have a single comment on your blog, you move out to other blogs just to see, 20, 30 and more comments on a single post while you are finding it difficult getting 1 on your whole blog.
Have you ever thought about writing a post overnight, just to wake up to find lots of comments on it.
My blog http://www.youngprepro.com is just 4 months old, I got about 700 comments in the first 3 months and I got over 800 comments in a single month (after implementing what I am about to tell you). You can also get that type of comment, it is not reserved for some set of people and in fact, you don’t need to be an A-list to get it.
You might not really know the advantages of having tons of comments, Here are some advantages of having lots of comments.
1. It is social proof: If someone who is not that conversant with blogging (or even anybody) visits two blogs, the fellow saw one with two comments on all posts and another with 30 comments on all posts, which do you think the fellow will resonate with or think is more popular? The one with more comments of course
2. It brings in more comments and readers: Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd, if somebody sees more comments on a post, he/she is more likely to comment on that post than on a post with no comments.
3. It helps you build a community: How do you feel if people come to turn your blog into a discussion spot? Having more people to comment makes it easy to have a community because there will be controversial comments, debates and the likes which will make others want to reply thereby increasing your chance of even making them loyal readers.
Listing all there is to it will make this post super long so lets go to the main deal.
Below are some great tips to get tons of comments on your blog
1. Comment on other blogs: I have personally discovered that commenting on other blogs can help you boost your blog comments. Many of the bloggers (except me) on whose blog you comment will want to visit your blog and show a return comment as a sign of appreciation.
2. Reply all comments: Had I learned this earlier, I will have two times the number of the comments I now have. Try to reply all comments made on your blog, this will give the commenter a feeling of importance and make him feel you care for him thereby making your blog a priority.
3. Guest Post: This might not increase your comments as you expect but you stand a chance of doubling and even trippling your traffic. Aside for helping you gain more comments, guest posting on other blogs helps you gain loyal readers who will eventually comment on almost all (if not all) of your posts.
4. Contests: Even though I have never had one on my blog, Comments contests and other types of contests can help you increase comments on your blog, you can also make it a requirement that the contestants comment on that particular post.
In case you think, there is nothing special in 1500 comments on a blog, this happened on a “4-months-old” blog with only 99 posts.
What do you think, does this post help? is it the general hype? Your feelings and opinions are welcome in the comments section!
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Onibalusi Bamidele is a young entrepreneur, Get his free ebook on how to build a better website at http://www.youngprepro.com/successebook or visit his young entrepreneur blog to get the “special stuff” he regularly gives his readers
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Onibalusi it’s good to see your post here on MBP! I know you’ve been talking about wanting to get approved here for a while so congrats!
About the comments, thanks for the insight! It’s very impressive how many comments you have, and when I first came across your blog, it was one of the first things I noticed and boosted your credibility in my eyes (before I got to know you)… which goes along with the “social proof” point you mentioned above
I also noticed you do a GREAT job responding to all your commentators which is awesome.
Keep up the great work Onibalusi!
Thanks for this post! Im going to try it! Hopefully it can bring me more traffic!
Hey Onibalusi I totally agree, commenting on blogs is a very very effective way to drive traffic. Especially if you leave good value comments, people are going to read it and think ‘he knows his stuff’ then visit your site.
Replying to readers is also a big one. I reply to every comment I get. Even sometimes I will email them and say thank you for commenting, building a community is key.
As for the contest and guest posting i havent got into that but will do in the near future.
Great post dude
How many blogs do you comment on a day? How many times?
It seems to be fine. But sucess require time…
Hi I agree, I think we all want to have content to increase conversation and the authority our blog has on the internet. It’s a lot easier said then done though. I just started to use the same woo theme as you on young pre pro on my new blog, I like it so far, still in the early stages of customizing it though. Would you happen to know how to get your tags in the footer like you have or change the blogs title without adding an image or logo like you have.
Thanks again I have three blogs in total, a how to blog, an internet marketing blog, and my newest blog about social blogging and internet opportunities, feel free to exchange links with me or any of your readers.
Rob
Those are good suggestions to get more comments:
I would add: that installing the commentluv plugin is a great way to attract more comments. This alone has doubled my comments since I installed this awesome plugin.
Great post, and tips.. but just using comment luv will get you more comments whether you do any of your tips or not.
Comment luv attracts people who just want a backlink.. so not the same as getting 800 comments on a blog WITHOUT com luv.
But regardless, congrats on the new blog.
Nothing new here
these are all basic tips others have taught before, I was hoping to learn something new.
Thanks for sharing!
These are great tips that I have mostly already started implementing. I haven’t been replying to all comments though, and I plan to start doing this. I have to agree with the above two comments that comment luv is a must as well.
Thanks for the great tips.
What you give is what you get. That is how this technique working.
Thanks for the tips =)
Just what every other blogger needs.
great tips.. seing people commenting on your blog is a huge achievement. Aside from spammers, it is also a good indication that your blog is growing in terms of readership.. thanks a lot for the tip:)
This is a really interesting information. I will try to follow your updates constantly. Too bad that I almost did not write in English and forced to use Google Translator
Thanks for the tips!
Great tips! but what is the effect of adding captcha for verification?? I think it is good for reducing Spam but it may also effect on number of valid comments(although it depends on the difficulty level of captcha too).
CONGRATULATIONS, Nice to know this story
Loved this story – thanks for sharing!
I agree with your suggestions.
But interestingly, the hint that gives more results, is the competition.
Questionable and somewhat artificial …
Lauro Faria
http://www.bdibbs.com.br
I’m simply blown away – impressive for a 16 year old. Congrats
wow! that’s great for a 16 years old. I’m also 16 but i can’t do it.
that tips is great. Thanks!
That was a great read, I totally agree … I guess I need to go back to my blog and reply to some comments
Thanks for the tip. I totally agree with you.
Nice story dude! Great tips! Congrats
Nice tips…congrats!!! commenting does helps some blogs to generate some visitors that turns into a great traffic.
Great tips.
I have been getting some comments but could always do with more. I’ll see if your tips help.
Congrats bro, but I’ve got more 1700 comments in 4 months
Great post and achievement by a 16 year old entrepreneur. Your blog looks impressive, too.
Another tip to increase traffic to your blog is embedding short videos via Youtube. These can be more serious or fun videos, like this one.
Apparently, Google loves videos.
Keep it up!
Max
Congrats with the success.
)
It’s makes sence to reply to all that is possible (some just write congrat and great post
I found also to leave the topis “open”. Don’t close the topic with a firm statement…
BizDoktor is absolutely correct.
Unless you provide some sort of *call to action* most people will not even think to post comments. The typical message would be:
“I’d love to know your thoughts on this. Go ahead and post your comments in the space provided below.”
This is also necessary to encourage people to share and syndicate your posts as well:
“If you found value in what you just read, go ahead and share this via Facebook and Twitter.” (Or StumbleUpon, Digg, MySpace, etc.)
You can see what I’m talking about by taking a look at posts I’ve written here: http://heathertaskovics.net
Hope this helps. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and success with the world.
Heather
@Jonathan, Thanks a lot for the nice comment.
@Glenn, I hope it helps
@Aaron, I rarely comment on blogs, I average 4-5 blog comments a day.
@Artur, Exactly!
@Social Blogging, you are absolutely right.
@Tycoon Blogger, You are absolutely right.
@John Paul, you are absolutely right.
@Kimberly, I hope it works for you.
@Manila, You are absolutely right.
@Sonam, I will never use captcha, I will rather use Akismet. Readers hate captchas a lot.
@Ayodeji, Thanks a lot for the nice comment.
@Ahmad, I believe you can do it, Just give it a trial
@Vitaly, That will be great
@Latief, thanks a lot for the comment.
@Max, you are absolutely right.
@BizDoktor, You are absolutely right.
@Heather,, You are totally right.
Thanks everybody for the comment, I really appreciate it and I am very sorry for not replying to you personally.
-Onibalusi
Onibalusi, great post congrates on being published on MBP! I really enjoyed this read and have personally implemented most of these strategies but there was a bunch of goodies in here that I will start to implement. After reading this post it sounds “obvious” but we all missed it ;D thanks.
Vincent
You always give the best idea in blogging..love all the tips you give and it sure helps me a lot and thanks a lot for the free guidance!
@Vincent, Exactly!
@Zaid, Thanks.
Great but it takes time.
A very interesting post indeed.
One of the tips that is extremely useful is replying to the comments. Blogs owners who do not reply to comments in a way turn away their commentators because of the fact that they show an unwillingness to interact by not replying to comments.
It is extremely important to remain in touch with your readers and replying to the comments in one way of doing it.