Get More Blog Post Comments: State of the Nation
How do you feel when you’ve created and published your post only to see no blog post comments. Not a single one?
In fact you may not have even had any readers let alone any blog post comments.
Prefer to Listen Instead to My Dulcet Tones?
If you prefer to listen then here’s my podcast version BUT please dont forget to leave me your comments below – that’s the “lifebood of my business” and your feedback is always appreciated so much.
Just today I did a quick tour of my niche and of the 57 blogs I quickly scanned, only 8 had any blog comments on their last 5 or 6 published posts and of these, only 3 had more than 20 comments on any post.
In fact, 11 of these blogs had not created content for at least 6 months – they were completely dead in the water and more than likely because their posts did not attract any engagement at all.
So if you’ve done your best to create a post that attracts only crickets then it can be a bit soul destroying especially if you’ve put a lot of work into your blog post.
However, you could also be you’re worst enemy.
After all you can’t make your blog readers leave a comment. It’s completely voluntary but you certainly can encourage them in lots of ways to leave their thoughts and ideas about your content.
Get More FREE Traffic To Increase Your Blog Comments Potential
How To Increase Your Blog Post Comments?
Here are 7 ways I have used quite successfully to increase the level of engagement on my blog posts.
1. Make Your Content Compelling
Create your posts with some passion and emotion. Make them interesting and something of real relevant value to your readers. If your posts lack emotion then that will automaticaly reflect in the levels of engagement you achieve.
No one’s going to finish reading let alone leave a comment, on a totally boring blog post article.
Well hang on there a tick. I must admit that this would depend on your niche and target audience of course – bit difficult to express passion on say an engineering blog post or is it?
The key here is to create content that fully resonates with your target audience. So best make sure you know who your audience is as well as knowing with great clarity what are their pains and frustrations.
TIP: Here’s a post that gives you the all low down about Target Audiences
An Example of Terrible Blog Post Content
Today in one of the posts I scanned whilst researching for this article, I saw a post that talked about “How to Sell High Ticket offers to Anyone.”
The entire post simply looked at the potential commision earnings of a variety of high priced affiliate offers that anyone with junior high school arithmetic skills could have done for themselves.
Not only did the post not tell the reader what were the pros and cons of thhese offers, they also failed to educate the readers about how to sell these high ticket items.
And that’s not all – wait for it as this bit will be hard to believe. The post also failed to leave a single link for any readers to follow up (if they were stupid enough to want to do this).
Crazy and the blog owner is probably wondering why he’s not gettting any readers, let alone any sales.
2. Market Your Blog Post
Visit other blogs in your niche and give the best comments you can that add value to these blogs. The blog owners and their readers will follow you back to check out your blog and hopefully leave you comments
Need some really simple yet practical ways to market your blog post?
Check out this post called 15 Smart Ways to Promote Your Blog Post
3. Ask Them
Why not simply ask your readers to leave a comment but also tell them you appreciate the extra effort and time this takes – see my requests for comments at the bottom of this and every post I create. Don’t just say “Hey please comment” – use a bit of flair and really encourage folks to share their thoughts.
4. Working Blog Comment System
Make sure you have a working blog comments system that encourages comments.
This is a bit cheeky me giving you this point as on more than a few occasions I’ve had a blog comment system that simply stops working.
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Boy was I lucky to have understanding, supportive and very patient readers who on some occasions even emailed me or skyped me their blog comments that they could not add previously because of my system.
I use CommentLuv plugin and love it but the problem was some techie thing that simply stopped anyone from giving me their feedback.
And to me interacting with my blog commentators is the most important part of my blogging experience. Engaging with my readers is one of the main ways I build my reputation, my credibility and my business.
TIP: If you’re looking for a blog commenting plugin that’s different, totally free and has helped generate more than 200 commentators and 400 comments then check out this Free Plugin Post post from my dear friend Enstine Muki
5. Always Respond To Your Comments
I would normally assumed this would be the case but with that bit of research I told you about earlier, the only blogs that responded to comments were the same one who averaged more than 20 comments per post.
There’s a simple yet obvious messagec here I think.
Remember your blog is a conversation so please don’t be rude and ignore people who have taken the time to check out your content and then ask a question or leave you feedback
TIP: Always go the extra step with first-time visitors to your blog who have left you a valuable comment and create a personalised 1 minute “thank you video” (not just some crappy “great post” type comment – in fact you should delete these).
I do this and the results are awesome
6. Take a Stand
Why not try to be controversial, stir up your readers and have a good old fashioned rant.
Do whatever you can to attract attention jut as long as its relevant to your target audience. Simply expressing with some real emotion your shock, anger, disappointment or whatever will definitely generate engagment – some of it you may not like but hey, at least it shows you’re not some “bot blogger”
7. Use a Combination of Content Formats
Try including written, video and even podcast versions in your posts as people will prefer to consume your content in different ways. The video does not have to say exactly the same os your written word – in fact it’s better if it doesn’t. Just as long as you focus on the same topic then all will be fine – see my video on this page for an example of this
Blog Post Engagement Tip: Here’s a blog post I created all about Blog Post Engagement
Your Turn
I know how busy you must be so many thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts – always appreciated
IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL MY WONDERFUL READERS: I’ve just been informed that some of YOU are having an issue leaving YOUR comments on this post.
How darn ironic when this post is all about getting more comments!
Please know your comments are the absolute lifeblood of my blog business so if you have any issues at all trying to leave me a comment then reach out to me and let me know.
I respect and totally appreciate the time you spend at my place online and I really want to make sure I get your feedback EVERY time.
Here’s my email if you had any issues leaving a comment: support@peterbeckenham.net
Here’s some things I’d love your feedback on:
Do you engage in the same way with your prospects, subscribers and customers?
What’s worked best for you when it comes to encouraging blog comments?
Would you like some help with your blog comments?
Please leave me your thoughts and feedback in your comments – I always reply and engage as much as possible.
Peter Beckenham
I'm an Aussie entrepreneur who lives and runs his online sales & marketing coaching business from a remote Thai village. I help small businesses to build authority, attract quality leads and generate sales If you enjoyed your visit with me then SUBSCRIBE TO MY TRIBE where you will get lots of tips, ideas and practical, down-to-earth information about how to make the most of your online business journey.
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Hi Peter,
Am stuck with this problem as you mentioned in your post. your Guidelines are been very useful. Let me apply on my blogs and share the performance with you.
thanks for nice article.
Aravinth recently posted…Torrent Tracker List
Hi.
Just one word for you. It’s an outstanding post. I have followed almost all of your posts and it’s really one of the most informative ones. Actually I have visited so many sites which are writing about get more blog comments but never found anything like this.
Thanks for this article.
Hey Peter,
I enjoyed this time listening to the recording. Such a great way to learn and I like learning in different ways. I also like how you suggest that blog commenting is really about having a conversation. I often feel this when people visit my blog.
I liked your tips they were simple and yet it is the basis of everything-if you want something you have to go out and get it yourself. You have to put yourself out there. Boy oh boy do you do that!
I still chuckle to myself thinking-‘I’m sure that man never sleeps!’. I love your solid easy to follow advice. Looking forward to the next post-Jennifer
Hi Jennifer and welcome back,
I’m glad you liked the podcast version. Actually all I do is strip the audio from the video version and add it to the blog post.
I also upload it to itunes as part of my podcast series called the “Internet Marketing for Beginners” show
All my tips are simple – that’s me Jennifer. Anything complicated will never get implemented – well that’s my theory anyway
For me blogging is all about a conversation – communicating with my readers in a fashion that reflects who I am and what I can do to help others.
Many thanks as always for your on-going support – that’s awesome for me.
Best wishes from the remote Thai village blogger
Peter
Peter Beckenham recently posted…7 Awesome Ways To Get More Blog Post Comments
Mighty good stuff Peter!
And BTW, I really like your sites new look!
Also, which audio plugin are you using to embed your audio
podcasts? Because I definitely wish to start adding an audio element
to my blog posts as well.
And tips #’s 2 -5, are my biggest takeaways! Thanks so much for sharing some extremely practical tips, suggestions and proven strategies!
I always learn a ton of useful strategies, whenever I study your content!
Mark recently posted…How To Quickly Revive An Outrageously Expensive Failed Marketing Campaign!
Hello Mark and welcome back,
Always great to have you visit with me Mark as I appreciate your valuable feedback.
Re audio I don’t use any plugins. You can simply add audio files via the “Media” option in your wordpress dashboard.
But for me with limited band width and poor interent connections here in my little Thai village, that approach does not work all that well for me.
What I do is use software called Audello that automatically uploads my audio files to my podcast channels on iTunes and Stitcher radio. Then it gives me both the url and the embed code for each episode. I simply embed the code into the blog post and use the url’s on my social media sites. I hope I’m making sense here.
Really appreciate that you found the blog commentr tips helpful Mark – that’s great feedback for me so thank you.
Best wishes from the remote Thai village blogger
Peter
Peter Beckenham recently posted…7 Awesome Ways To Get More Blog Post Comments
Hi Peter
I can only agree with everything you said! I once had a pretty decent health niche blog that I worked really hard on, but it was going absolutely nowhere so I reluctantly trashed it. A few years on I learned about comments!! What a difference it makes when you do a blog post and you’re fairly confident that at least a few people will actually interact with you.
I wonder if you’re having the same intermittent commenting problem that I’m having. It has me totally baffled (nc0 or Javascript not enabled – when it is). If so, let’s have a pact – first to solve it does a blog post about the solution LOL!!
I seem to be attracting quite a lot of spam comments lately. I’ve tried most of the well-known anti-spam plugins, but still they get through. Never mind – it doesn’t take that long to delete them.
What worries me a little is when some of those in one of my commenting groups leaves a fairly meaningless comment, I don’t like to “spam” people I know, but equally there’s nothing relevant I can say back to them.
The other side of this coin is when I pay a reciprocal visit to someone’s blog and it’s totally outside my experience. I wonder whether it’s better just to do a social share and exit rather than leave a comment where I can’t add anything. (For instance I have an architectural site that visits me regularly)
Anyway – I’m going to cross my fingers that this comment gets through. Or, more usefully.. I will do what I try to remember to do… Ctrl-A then Ctrl-C before hitting the submit!
Joy – Blogging After Dark
Hello Joy and welcome back to my place,
Yes your comment came though OK but it’s still a bloomin’ mystery to me why sometimes people can’t leave comments. Actualy it’s more than a mystery, it’s very frustrating because like you, comments are the lifeblood of my bogging business.
By the way I’ve accepted your “pact” Joy. If I can solve this commenting issue then for sure I’ll definitely be creating a blog post about it and you will be the very first person I tell about it. We’ve both had our share of issues with this commenting business and to be honest, usually my commenting system works really well. It’s just that sometimes, for no particular reason, it stops and gives javascript errors like you’ve experienced.
Joy re the spam and meaningless comments – can I ask you a question please? When the architectural site visits and comments on your posts, are they meaningful and indicate they are interested in what you are sharing?
I am just wondering why such a site, outside your target audience, is interested in your blog content. Maybe they ae infatuated by Joy Healey and not your content! lol
Like you I would find it very difficult to add any value to blog posts that I simply don’t understand or appreciate. But I also appreciate the reciprocal approach strategy as its an integral part of our blogging success.
Best wishes as always from the remote Thai village blogger
Peter
Peter Beckenham recently posted…7 Awesome Ways To Get More Blog Post Comments
Hi Peter,
Hundred percent agree with everything you have here.
The stats you shared at the start of your post are illuminating for sure, but not a surprise. I’ve also been amazed at the high percentage of blogs that are essentially dead. Why do they bother?
I think the problem is that most people who have a blog for their business have no idea about the real purpose of a blog. And even if they are clear about the purpose they have no idea how to effectively execute a blogging strategy that makes money for the business. One thing is clear – if the blog owner is not getting a result he/she will relegate it to the too hard basket. Another one bites the dust.
The other type of person is one who starts a blog to make money (as opposed to someone who already has a business and uses the blog as an add-on). The least said about these folk the better. Most of them are dreamin’.
Regarding your tips and strategies, all of them work. I don’t have time to use them all, but I continue to be active as a blog commenter (although I now only comment on 10 blogs a week). I also promote my posts on social media platforms and YouTube.
I also use the ‘take a stand’ technique. I call it the Provocation Technique. I’ve been using it for years in my blog posts and my emails. It works!
Finally, the foundation must always be the content. Crap content will not get shared. Quality people will protect their reputation and won’t leave a comment either. There’s a lot of rubbish content out there so our job is to work diligently at improving our writing skills.
I know I’ll never win an award for writing but when I look at my blog content from 12 months ago and compare them to my latest posts, the improvement is self-evident. That said I reckon I’ve still only reached 70-80 percent of my potential. Best advice for newbies is to model (not copy) great writers. Some of their brilliance will rub off as sure as night follows day.
Good one, Peter!
Kim
Kim Willis recently posted…14 Marketing Mistakes That Most Businesses Make
Hi Kim and welcome back to my place mate,
As always your feedback is very constructive and helpful.
Actually the point you made just in passing about people who start blogs with a focus to try and make money is probably the reason why I see so many bandoned blogs aropund the place, especially in the “internet marketing” space.
Blog content is always a bit of a challenge for me. Not the topics to write about but more the angle I should take to make sure my target audience of beginner marketers and bloggers, will find most interesting and helpful.
As a writer I’d never, ever win any awards – that’s for sure. But I hope my posts provide helpful content in an easy to understand and implement way.
Always fantastic to have such a very successful blogger and marketer like you visit with me Kim.
Best wishes from the Thai village blogger
Peter
Peter Beckenham recently posted…7 Awesome Ways To Get More Blog Post Comments
Getting more visitor and have a conversation with them could be the best to understand them better. I believe blog comments is important that will show a blog has a social proof and leads to a better result in doing everything in the future.
Hello Louis and welcome to my place,
This is your first time here on my blog I think so I hope you enjoyed your visit.
You are absolutely right – having a conversation with them, just like I’m doing with you right here, is a great way to enagage with people and to get to know them as well.
I guess the number of blog comments would be a sign of social proof – I’ve never thought about that aspect of blog commenting.
To me it’s just a natural way to communicate with visitos to my blog.
Thanks again for your visit Louis an come back again soon OK?
Best wishes from the remote Thai village blogger
Peter
Peter Beckenham recently posted…7 Awesome Ways To Get More Blog Post Comments
Hello Peter,
Along with the great content and market it well, reciprocation does work well as far as blog comments are concerned.
Content must be editorial one and not the one that looks like a sales letter. I too love to write comments on the blog post I like. Its immense please when I get comments on my blog posts too.
Thanks for writing such nice post with great advices.
Atish Ranjan recently posted…Pinterest: A Great Source of Traffic for Your Blog
Hello Atish and welcome back,
Yes I agree with you that reciprocation is part of the blog commenting process but its only a minor part.
For me the commenting has to be “giver-driven” and we must do our best to add whatever value we can to other people’s posts in our niche.
The more we give and add value the more we build our reputation and trust factors. This is essential if we ever want to monetize our blogs in some way.
Not sure about the “editorial” approach but yes if your po0sts look and sound like a sales letter then you’ll never get any engagement.
Always a real pleasure to have you visit with me Atish – thank you
Best wishes from the remote Thai village blogger
Peter
Peter Beckenham recently posted…7 Awesome Ways To Get More Blog Post Comments
Wow Wow!
Peter. No one will read this post and still not be able to get comments. Quite frankly!
Just a few days ago, I read a great post but at the end, I discovered a certain ADMIN was the one writing the post. I think that’s an error. I started the comment with “Hello…” When I scrolled to check out the name of the author, I noticed it was “Admin”. Guess what happened… I left without dropping the comment.
I have had friends who ask readers to drop comments and at the same time requiring them to login before commenting. That’s a big break.
I really don’t believe I should signup to any blog before engaging through comments. If we want comments, we should make it easy for our readers.
I think commentluv is a great plugin that encourages comments. People love the backlink and that makes them want to comment for it.
Thanks for the mention Peter. I think bloggers are beginning to really like that plugin. It helps boost engagement on any blog that uses them.
When I just created that plugin, I used to have 600 comments from 400+ commentators. I want to grow pass this limit. I have certain things I plan to do on my blog to boost this engagement wink emoticon!
I’m excited to be here once more. I hope you are having a wonderful Thursday
Enstine Muki recently posted…Get it for $0.00 – Affiliate Marketing For Bloggers Ebook!
Hello Enstine and welcome back to my place,
Firstly and I hope you don’t mind me sharing this with my readers, but you were one of the folks that I mentioned in my blog post who could not leave a comment and persisted until we could get it added manually.
This happened again on this very post! Unbelievable and how ironic when this post is all about how to get more blog comments.
Well readers – now you know. What you get here at my place is “warts and all.” The content is definitely authentic but in the real world, it’s never going to be perfect!
So please accept me just as I am. OK?
Despite my WordPress guy checking out everything 3 times re my commenting system, for some strange reason my dear supportive and extremely patient friend, Enstine Muki, still had problems trying to leave this comment. And there was one other person as well.
I know it looks very unprofessional not to be abe to solve this issue for everyone but I’ll keep working on it with everything I can. That’s just how important your feedbsack is to me.
I’ve also added a special “important note” at the bottom of this post about this issue.
Blog commnets are the absolute lifeblood of my business and everyone’s comment is vital to me.
Enstine I appreciate your very kind words re this post and I truly hope all my readers get at least 1 or 2 gems to help them with their blog comments.
Once again I draw my readers attention to your blog comments plugin and strongly recommend you check out what this master blogger has come up with.
Thanks again Enstine for your wonderful support – its very special to have highly successful bloggers helping me and my readers.
Best wishes from the remote Thai village blogger
Peter
Peter Beckenham recently posted…7 Awesome Ways To Get More Blog Post Comments
Hi Peter
I couldn’t get my comment to stick yesterday so I’ll try again today.
I really love this clear and simple post and completely agree with all seven points. I particularly related to the ‘Ask Them’ at point 3. This is something I only really learned recently – and I know you ask your tribe regularly for their feedback. To me this is the most vital part – inviting engagement – and I think skillful blogging is THE best and most personal way to go about this.
Let’s face it, people love to be asked for their opinions or to share their story. As our mutual friend Glenn Shepherd often says ‘good blogging is about inviting traffic rather than driving it…’ All my best successes so far in marketing – particularly the 4-figure sales – have all resulted from ‘relaxed and authentic posts’ where I have been very focused and observant about how I put the post together. I have been in a great place in myself and listened attentively to the questions and answered them honestly with no sales spin at all.
My only addition to this great post would be to leave the selling hat outside when you enter your blog. Hope Thai Internet gets better soon 🙂 Richard
Hi Richard and welocme back to my place,
I’m truly embarrassed and sorry for any issues you had trying to leave me a comment on this post.
How ironic when we’re actually talking about “blog comments.”
Oh well it just goes to show that what happens here is totally real.
Many thanks for your very kind and supportive words mate – blog commenting is such an effective and dynamic way to build relationships, respect and integrity online. Anyone who does not use this strategy is truly missing out on so many wonderful opportunities online.
Richard your point about authenticity is brilliant mate.
The more relaxed and real we are with our readers the more they will come to know, like and trust us.
To me its just that simple. Especially in this fast changing often hype-induced digital world we live in, people crave to find folks they can feel relaxed with and believe in. That’s my number one, two and three focus for every visitor I get here on my blog.
Totally agree with you re leaving your “selling hat” outside when you enter your blog – lets attract people to us with our relevance, value and authenticity rather than trying to convince them with fancy words and “magic promises”
Re the Thai internet – don’t hold your breath but I’ll keep at it one way or another. However, to be totally honest, I must admit some days with no connections its a tad more than “frustrating” but I’ll say no more.
As always its a real pleasure to have your feedback Richard – totally awesome mate
Best wishes from the remote Thai village blogger
Peter
Excellent post as always Peter. I didn’t used to care about getting comments because my blog was mostly about targeting additional keywords and creating internal link to improve SEO for my product pages. It works. It’s more fun to share comments with some of the other wonderful bloggers that I have met, present company included.
Just one thought about the commenting system being functional. I think it can be forgiven every now and then if there is a technical glitch. There are so many pieces of software that have to work properly for a comment to be saved – the server that runs the blog, the database that stores it, WordPress, any plugins you use, and the whole internet infrastructure that provides the communication. It’s really a miracle that we can do this.
What I can’t understand is when people purposefully make it harder to leave a comment. Some bloggers want you to register and login so that you can leave a comment. They can do it with WordPress directly, some use the DISQUS plugin, and there are a few others that I have encountered today. I leave them all without a comment. You have to make it easy, and it is even better if you offer an incentive, like with Commentluv.
Ben recently posted…Can You Succeed in Network Marketing, or Affiliate Marketing?
Hi Ben and welcome back mate,
Truly appreciate your understanding of my comment system’s technical glitchs – many thanks for that my man.
Apologies for delay in responding – we’ve had no internet connections for 3 days!
Blog commenting is my main way of building relationships in my niche and I want to make every comment I leave something valuable and supportive if I possibly can.
It’s amazing how other blogger’s respond to your comments and it’s exciting to see the real potential of business partnerships develop over time as bloggers share and get to really know and understand each other.
Blogging is a fantastic platform for business development – hey I’ve just come up with another great blog post topic!
When people make leaving comments difficult it really does impact on the amount of engagement they get. I have no idea why you’d want to make it more difficult. Maybe it’s ignorance or a lack of appreciation of the real value of having an engaged blog
As always Ben I very much appreciate the time you take to leave such valuable feedback
Best wishes from the remote Thai village blogger
Peter
Peter Beckenham recently posted…7 Awesome Ways To Get More Blog Post Comments
Hi Peter,
Sage advice once again and I love seeing you on the video too!
When it comes to comments, you are spot on. I think I have gotten more readers from comments I left on blogs than anything else. I say it all the time and I’ll say it again; Blog comments are the backbone of your business.
And of course on the topic of comments, we need to answer the comments on our blogs. If you don’t want crickets on your blog, you do have to get out there and blog hop.
It is amazing that some bloggers don’t offer any comments. What’s the point? A blog is like our own little Google. It’s all about communication.
-Donna
Hi Donna and welcome back to my place,
Firstly sincere apologies for the dealy in replyiny but we’ve having major challenges in out Thai village with interent connections – lost connections for 3 days this week.
As you know from your huge success as a blogger, blog commenting is something very magical if you do it correctly. I mentioned to another commentator that blog commenting is my main way of creating my reputation, improving my credibility and building relationships in my niche.
That’s why it’s so important to me that every comment I leave has some real value and support if I possibly can.
When you connect with active bloggers its exciting and amazing just how quickly you can develop really exciting realtionships based on the blog comments you provide. Sure it takes some time but heck its also truly worth the time as you go about building your blog’s business potential.
Blogging truly is all about communication and engagement and I have no idea why many bloggers cannot grasp this simple yet extremely powerful strategy.
By the way I love that quote of yours – “our blog is our own little Google” – you should patent that!
As always thanks Donna for sharing your expertise and experience with my readers – very much apprecaite you.
Best wishes from the remote Thai village blogger
Peter
Peter Beckenham recently posted…7 Awesome Ways To Get More Blog Post Comments