One of the best ways to get some inbound links (and that much needed free traffic) to your blog is by commenting on another blog. Not just any old blog though! Find a blog that is relevant to your niche market and that would have a similar target to your own and make a comment. But wait, you made a comment and it hasn’t been published! The chances are the blog owner didn’t approve it (sucks to be you doesn’t it!)
Apply blog comment etiquette!
Your main focus whilst commenting on blogs is always to get the comment approved and published. Here are some useful tips that you need to follow to get the most benefit from blog commenting. Review the list and use the tips the next time you are out and about in cyberspace blog commenting!
- Actually take the time to read the post IN FULL: This way you will be able to pick out some relevant points (or even mistakes) and make a comment to the moderator that demonstrates that you have read the post. Definitely don’t just repeat what the post said by copying phrases from the post. Don’t be afraid to disagree with the poster, just don’t go into attack mode – after all they didn’t invite you personally – you just kind of gatecrashed their blog! Remember be respectful – after all do you really want a comment full of expletives associated with you!
- Read the other comments and start a dialogue: Starting a conversation in the blog comment box with another commentator is a natural way of leaving a comment. Maybe someone asked a question that didn’t get answered and you can show your knowledge by answering it for them instead of just making a generalized comment about the blog subject.
- Be nice… but not too nice: Every blogger wants to hear nice things about their blog posts but if you just leave a blog comment saying, “Good info” or “Nice post” it doesn’t really add much to the conversation and is often likely to get mistaken for spam. If it’s a good post that has got your interest mention what aspect of it was worthwhile for you and what you may have learned from the post. In other words – be specific!
- Is there a blog comment policy? If your blogger has taken the time to write a comment policy then you should take the time to read it and follow the rules. There may be specific rules that will get your comment deleted.
- Spam, Spam and Spam: Enough said! Don’t use the comment section of someone’s blog to sell your own products or push your own deals – it’s just plain old rude! There are plugins such as Akismet that will automatically weed out most spam comments but these are usually the automated kind. If you really feel your products or deal is relevant to the blog post then re-read tip No.2. Start a dialogue and introduce your products when they have been established as useful.
- Don’t link drop: If the only useful contribution you can make to a blog is to drop your link in the comment box – think again. It will more than likely get marked as spam and get you blocked. If you have something to link to that is relevant then give an explanation of what the link is for and why it would be useful. Offer some value to the existing blog post.
- Don’t write a book: Keep your comment short and to the point (although not so short that it’s only one word!) – a couple of paragraphs should suffice. Check out the length of the other posts and comment accordingly.
- Be a name not a keyword: Unless invited to by the blogger always use your name rather than your keyword. Nobody wants to read, “Designer Underpants says…..”
- Don’t be Anonymous: Get yourself an avatar and I don’t mean the big blue creatures with pointy ears. An avatar is your blog identity – it is associated with your email address and will automatically show up on someone’s blog with your name and photo. There are various places you can go to get yourself an identity. One of the more popular ones is Gravatar. This is a great way of building trust and an ongoing relationship with the blogger – who knows you may end up working with them or being invited to be a guest blogger.
- Check it and check it again: Proofread your comment. If you know you are a bad speller or your grammar isn’t up to much then use a program like MS Word to check your blog comment before posting it. Nothing undermines your authority as much as a poorly spelled, badly written blog comment.
So if you follow all of the tips above there is a really good chance you will get your comment published and get that much-loved link back to your own blog. If it still doesn’t get published maybe they just don’t like you! Don’t take it personally move on – there are plenty more blogs in cyberspace!
I would love for you to comment on my post and I PROMISE if you follow all the above tips I WILL publish your blog comment. I will even hop over to your own blog and leave a blog comment or two of my own.
