Want More Comments? Here are 6 Ways That will Help

Are you looking at your blog comments and the emptiness reminds you of a ghost town from a country and western movie? Are you producing post after post and still not being able to get comments despite increasing traffic?

Sometimes we might be doing things that are hindering people from commenting, here are five methods that can improve your comment count immensely.

1. Make it Easier as Possible for People to Comment

Nothing will put off a potential commentator more than being forced to jump through hoops in order to leave a comment, the most I want to do is tick a box to prove I’m human (GASP plugin), adding CAPTCHAs and forcing people to register accounts is all rather unnecessarily.

2. Ask Readers to Comment

There is nothing wrong with asking your readers to leave a comment at the end of your post, there are a number of ways to do it, you can end with a question, ask for their experiences, or just plain out ask them to leave a comment.

3. Develop Relationships with Other Blogs

I have found that if you take the time to visit other blogs in your niche, and comment on a post or two, then the owner of that blog will visit your blog and return the favour, this is important because the bloggers might also retweet your posts or even add your URL to their link list.

4. Always Reply to Comments

It is important that you reply to every legitimate comment that is left on your blog as soon as you can, if you ignore them it will discourage people from commenting in future, especially if they are asking you questions – and potential commentators looking at un-replied comments will be put off leaving their own.

5. Keep an Eye on Spam

Spam is a horrible bane that EVERY blogger must battle with, if you leave spam comments published then it makes your blog look very poor and amateurish and readers will not bother leaving legitimate comments. Two simple plugins like Akismet and GASP will help with about 95% of spam.

6. Email a Friend Button

You might want to consider installing an ‘Email a Friend’ button, readers might be inclined to forward your blog posts to their friends who might be interested in reading and then commenting on these posts.

Have you had major success with any of these methods? Or maybe you have a method I have not listed? Why not let us know by leaving a comment below?