How to Blog with Passion & Power: Site Sketch 101Site Sketch 101: Teaching You How to Blog With Passion and Power

Written By Matthew Lyle57 Comments

4 Ways to Encourage Comments on Your Blog

Awesome Content: Set Up For Online Success
DiggThis

This is a guest post by Matthew Lyle. If you're interested in getting yourself in front of the readers of Site Sketch 101, check out the guest posting guidelines here.

4 Ways to Encourage Comments on Your Blog

A great post was put up here on Site Sketch in July titled “How To Get More Comments on Your Blog”. It outlined four ways to encourage people to comment on your blog and had some really good tips. This is a continuation of that post showing four more quick ways you can encourage comments on your blog.

1. Ask For Them

Let your readers know you want comments by opening your blog up for discussion. Ask questions of your readers that are relevant to the topic and will make people want to share their opinion. For example, after you list your favorite widgets, ask your readers what their favorites are. People are shy; letting them know you want to hear what they have to say will help.

2. Use Third-Party Comment Software

Using third-party comment software such as Comment Luv will give other bloggers a reason to comment: a little more exposure. Intense Debate will add a whole plethora of new features to your comment section to facilitate reader engagement. Using something such as Subscribe to Comments will make it easier to get people back to your website to continue commenting. There are lots of plugins available, make use of them.

3. Display Recent Comments

Showing recent comments in a prominent place on your website will help get people into the commenting mood. Nobody wants to be the first to comment on a blog, so displaying others doing it will ease people into the idea. It transforms a blog from a writer and reader atmosphere to a discussion. An added bonus in threaded comments is that it will give more content for somebody to reply to. They won’t only see what you have to say but they’ll see what others have to say as well.

4. Display Top Commenters

Everybody likes seeing their name up in lights. Once somebody starts to crawl up this list, they’ll have reason to keep going. And as we all know, more comments make people comment more.

A Note from Nick

Nicholas Cardot: I’ve met very few bloggers who don’t want comments on their articles.  They encourage us, they educate us, and they enlighten us to the needs and desires of our readers.  I’ve said it hear on Site Sketch 101 several times that comments are the life-blood of a successful blog.

So you want comments on your site?  Take these tips from Matt and put them to work for you.  Engage your readers.  Reward their comments.  Feed their ego.

Matthew Lyle

Matt is a good-looking guy who loves to design, write, and teach. He writes about blogging, designing, and marketing on the internet over at MatthewLyle.com and can be found tweeting @mmatthewlyle. Matthew Lyle has 1 post(s) at Site Sketch 101

57 Comments

We'd love to hear yours!


  1. October 31, 2009

    Wayne from iDetectorist.com said:


    I hope you don’t mind me leaving a comment ;)

    Just curious about the “top commentors” suggestion – are there widgets available that will take care of that?
    My Latest Blog Post: Metal Detector Pinpointer Roundup

    Reply to this Comment

  2. October 31, 2009

    Dawn said:


    I really want to try some of these suggestions to encourage commenting and I really like the idea of being able to have visitors subscribe to comments with a 3rd party plug in.

    I clicked on all your suggested links for the plug in’s and they don’t seem to be linked up. I’m also curious if there is a plug in in for typepad users?

    Thank you
    My Latest Blog Post: Huge Charity Collab "Delight" Now Available.

    Reply to this Comment

  3. October 31, 2009

    Chad said:


    Great suggestions, thanks for posting. I’m new to the blogging game and still trying to figure out how to get people commenting. I had completely glossed over some of these ideas.
    I like the comment leaderboard you have.
    My Latest Blog Post: Be Prepared for Day Hikes

    Reply to this Comment

  4. October 31, 2009

    Dana @ Online Knowledge said:


    Comment is really important part of bloging. I really suggest to use subscribe to comment facility for better discussion. :D
    My Latest Blog Post: Use Comment Subscriber, Please!

    Reply to this Comment

  5. October 31, 2009

    BlogInterface.net said:


    Yes, Subscribe to Comments and CommentLuv are plugins you must use on your blog. But I see that more and more, especially new blogs, don’t use Subscribe to Comment. That is bad because the readers won’t come back if they aren’t notified about new comments. You can’t expect from readers that they remember all the blogs the commented.
    My Latest Blog Post: The Quality Of Blog Comments

    Reply to this Comment

  6. October 31, 2009

    David | ilcantone.com said:


    I’d like so much to receive more comments on my blog. I agree 100% with you Nick:comments are the life-blood of a successful blog, and let me say that you are doing a great work on this subject.

    Guess what! my comments section doesn’t have the “reply” option. It’s very frustrating for me. I don’t know, maybe there are some code wandering around the internet that could fix it. Maybe I should to add “Intense debate” or maybe I should just change the theme.

    What do you suggest me?

    By the way, great post Matthew :) .
    My Latest Blog Post: 7 HABITS THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE

    Reply to this Comment

  7. October 31, 2009

    http://twitter.com/LilyGiraud said:


    Thank you a very useful post , I am starting to learn about blogging and was thinking how to start to build my audience and promote it. Lily

    Knowledge never decreases by being shared -lilygiraud
    My Latest Blog Post: St. David’ s School Zimbabwe

    Reply to this Comment

  8. October 31, 2009

    John Samuel said:


    I am using CommentLuv for a long time and it has helped me to get a lot of comments in a period of time
    My Latest Blog Post: Do commentators Really Need a Blog? Isn’t aTwitter/Facebook profile Enough to fill the Website Column?

    Reply to this Comment

  9. October 31, 2009

    InternetHow Blog said:


    I’ve been doing most of them on my blog. And recently I added top comentator competition and it showed some effects.
    My Latest Blog Post: Why you should not avoid failure?

    Reply to this Comment

  10. October 31, 2009

    Matt said:


    Hey guys. Make sure you check into Disqus too. I just started using it and it’s pretty sweet, I’d say. It allows more ways of “signing in” and replaces subscribe to comments.
    My Latest Blog Post: picture-4

    Reply to this Comment

    • October 31, 2009

      Huzzer Magazine said:


      Hi Matt,

      Don’t you think the Disqus and Intense Debate will demotivate readers not to leave comment?

      It is because personally it make the process of leaving comments to be harder.

      I prefer the site that has simple comment section which will make the process easy and quick.

      What do you think Matt?

      Reply to this Comment

      • October 31, 2009

        Nicholas Cardot said:


        Huzzer Magazine –> It can make it harder but they don’t require a login so they still work well. If they require a login then they will definitely reduce comments.

        Reply to this Comment

      • November 1, 2009

        Matt said:


        I don’t find it harder at all. You can still post as a guest.

        And you can style it just the same as regular comments, Nick. There’s a whole lot of CSS classes in Disqus.
        My Latest Blog Post: picture-4

        Reply to this Comment

      • February 1, 2010

        Derek Jensen said:


        I personally have found that it really relates to your target audience. For me most college students see a the Disqus system to be somewhat intimidating.

        Here is a question to ask yourself. Are you providing third party commenting system because you like it or are you providing it because that is what your audience wants? Vise versa of course when using non-third part commenting systems.

        Reply to this Comment

    • October 31, 2009

      Nicholas Cardot said:


      Matt –> I’ve seen disqus work out nicely for some people, but I love being able to edit my comments capabilities and styles in the default WordPress comments.

      Reply to this Comment

  11. October 31, 2009

    Chase said:


    I like to make an effort to responding to as many comments as possible as they are coming in. This takes a few minutes out of the day yes, but I have found that it connects me to my readers more and they feel like their comments are being heard.

    Reply to this Comment

  12. October 31, 2009

    Tycoon Blogger said:


    Good tips, I use them all and they work. Comment luv is great, keyword luv is better!
    My Latest Blog Post: godaddy promo code .com domain names

    Reply to this Comment

  13. October 31, 2009

    Blake @ props blog ideas said:


    Another thing you can do it to have dofollow comments. A lot of blogs nofollow their comments to prevent people from using up their page rank.
    Little do they know, nofollow is just wasted link juice.
    I know that I am way more likely to comment on a dofollow blog multiple times than a nofollow blog.
    I am certain others are the same way

    Reply to this Comment

  14. October 31, 2009

    Jay Medina said:


    Comments are very important in blogs. What i do is put anchor text that has a link that is worth it. But somehow some moderators don’t accept my blog comments even though it is so relevant to the topic the they posted..
    My Latest Blog Post: Cause a Stampede of Prospects With Three Magic Words, Part 3

    Reply to this Comment

  15. November 1, 2009

    ZXT said:


    Wow a comment article with lots of comments.

    Commenting is the first thing I’ve learned to promote your blog. Aside from the backlinks you’ll be getting, you’ll also get a visit from the blog owner itself and from its visitors.
    My Latest Blog Post: My blog is 2 months old!

    Reply to this Comment

  16. November 1, 2009

    Roschelle said:


    Really great tips. A few other great ways are making commenting easier by removing those dreadful moderation obstacles. I know because of spam they are a necessary evil. But if at all possible try to get rid of them.

    Commenting on blogs of those who’ve commented on yours is another courteous gesture that will boost your comments :)
    My Latest Blog Post: Create Awesome Slideshow Videos Easily

    Reply to this Comment
  17. Trackback
    November 1, 2009

    “Sunday’s Best” Top Blog Posts – week ending 11/1/2009 | Tycoon Blogger said:


    [...] 4 ways to encourage comments on your blog – Site Sketch 101 – Good tips from Nicholas. [...]

    Reply to this Comment

  18. November 1, 2009

    Teen Blogger said:


    Great Post.

    I agree that installing the top commentator plugin will increase comments as everyone will want to get in the lsit.

    Another way to get more comments is by making your blog do follow.

    Reply to this Comment

  19. November 2, 2009

    Web Hosting Sites said:


    Top Commentators is a great way to acknowledge your readers and let everyone know who is involved with the dialogue on your site.
    All in all it is very important to have participation in your blog. It is how you get people to come back to it :) .
    My Latest Blog Post: Web Address – Non-Latin Domain Names Approved

    Reply to this Comment

  20. November 2, 2009

    Ron Boracay said:


    Actually, there are so many ways to encourage comments in your blog, but, I must say that the above tips are the greatest thing to promote comments.
    My Latest Blog Post: Two Seasons Boracay

    Reply to this Comment

  21. November 3, 2009

    Adrianne said:


    Great article explaining how to accomplish more comments. I certainly have had some trouble as a new blog in trying to get comments.

    You mentioned third party software from CommentLuv. I tried finding the site but couldn’t. Would you have the link for the software?

    Thanks for your insight,
    Author of: Web Designs by APW: Resource for Bloggers
    My Latest Blog Post: Add a Social Bookmarking widget to your Blogger

    Reply to this Comment

  22. November 3, 2009

    A.D.K. said:


    This are surely very useful tips. Thanks for sharing this ideas.

    Reply to this Comment

  23. November 4, 2009

    chandan said:


    Yes all are some nice tips for encourage people to comment on blog. I have also installed disqus commentator form on my blog and also top commentator widget on my blog.
    My Latest Blog Post: Link exchange with my blog

    Reply to this Comment

  24. November 4, 2009

    Extreme John said:


    Somehow your blog fell out of my feed reader and thanks to Tycoon Blogger I found it and re-added it again.

    Four very simple tips for increasing comments and very well put, it amazes me how many people never even consider #1.
    My Latest Blog Post: Halloween Costume Contest Pictures and Voting

    Reply to this Comment



Leave a Reply


Here's your chance to speak.

  1. Name (required)

    Mail (required)

    Website

    Twitter Username

    Your Comment

Site Sketch 101 proudly uses Blue Host