Personal Things

Writing an article is a personal thing. Sometimes, coming to the end of a piece can leave the author feeling like their blood, sweat and tears have been poured into the thing (writers are dramatic, don’t ‘cha know). Some authors labor for hours over a 500 word piece while others stream 1500 well crafted words out in less than a half hour. Ah, the art of writing – she is fickle.

Now you, the author, are wearing your fingers down to the bone on cold, hard keyboards. You’ve cracked or broken nails that weren’t up to the strain of continual pounding. You put your heart and soul into every word… and then you published.

That’s it, right? You published, and that was the important part. You don’t care whether people provide feedback or not. You don’t care if people comment, share or otherwise engage with you through your content. Riiiight… let’s not fool ourselves; we crave feedback and engagement.

When I was new to blogging, I’d see posts with a huge number of comments and grumble. Here we were, pumping all this great content out with tons of helpful information, and the only ones who said “boo” were spammers. How unfair!

It was a great learning experience. I realized that the blogs I read probably had writers looking at things the same way I was. I started leaving comments on articles that made an impression, whether my comment was affirmation or disagreement. It wasn’t until I started engaging that others began to reach back…

Is Commenting On Other Blogs Important?

I believe it is, and my professional experience has backed that up on numerous occasions. Here are seven reasons why it is:

1.  Commenting is your opportunity to be heard - Whether you’re an author or just someone who likes reading blog posts, leaving a comment will give you the opportunity to be heard. Whether you agree or disagree on the point of view, offering your own thoughts on a particular subject will allow you the opportunity to express yourself.

2. Commenting directs traffic to your own site - When you leave a comment, especially one that offers additional, thoughtful insight, it increases the possibility that readers of the article may seek to visit your site as well. It’s a great way to establish thought leadership in different topics and subject matter.  Of course, I’ve heard some say, “I never follow commenters to their sites,” but then again, I’ve heard many mind-blowing things like that. With that said, let me put it this way: you can’t build traffic in a vacuum. Enough said.

3.  Commenting will allow you to receive feedback- The best way for you to get feedback is through written comments left by your readers. You, our readers, are our most valuable resources. Your feedback has:

Pick & Choose

  • helped us provide increasingly stronger content,
  • helped us provide you with more topics you want to read about, and
  • pinpointed areas we need to fill in with more information.

In fact, we wouldn’t be where we are now if it weren’t for your thoughtful comments, critiques, questions and sharing (thank you!). We make it a practice to visit the site of everyone who comments on our blog (as much as possible), and have found some great posts and sites through our readers.

Keep that in mind the next time you leave a comment on another blog. Keep offering comments that help or inspire the authors. Take the time to develop a rapport, and you’ll find that time returned to you in spades!

4.  Commenting will help you develop your own brand - When you make a comment (as mentioned in point 1) you’re able to express your own point of view. You also demonstrate your knowledge and thought leadership. By being an active commenter, you increase your online presence. Have you ever tried Googling your name? If so, what shows up on your search is a direct reflection of your online interactions.

5.  Commenting will help you create your next blog post –  One good way to get ideas for blog posts is by reading the blog comments, not just the blog posts. You will be surprised with the number of questions posted via the comments section. You will also get the chance to check out what people are interested in (and therefore gain ideas for future blog posts).

6.  Commenting will help develop relationships with other bloggers – Community building is important if you want to succeed as a blogger or writer (see point 3). If you open yourself to communicating with other bloggers in your niche or interest, you will be surprised with the relationships you can foster and the support you will gain.

7.  Commenting is a form of appreciation for a well written article – Bloggers put a lot of effort into what they write. They work very hard to achieve the most entertaining and/or informative story, and that often takes hours of research and care in choosing the best words. By leaving a thoughtful comment, you help inspire the blogger to keep on providing good content. Commenting is a great way to show your appreciation for all the hard work they put in creating their blogs.

Extra Tip: Make sure you may sharing your posts easy. Have all your share buttons easy to spot on the page and use.

For website owners, it’s good practice to make commenting easy for your readers. It is also good practice to reply to comments made on your posts. Look at it as your opportunity to engage with your readers. Growth can only be assured when you develop relationships and promote loyalty. If spam comments are a concern for you, there are a variety of plugins available designed to isolate and remove inappropriate comments.

There you go; seven reasons to comment on blog posts. Did I miss anything? Let me know by leaving a comment. What are you waiting for start building your community NOW!