Implementing a Proper Standard for Writing Comments in Blogs
Blog and Forum Comments - Valuable, crap, spammy, over used, under used, misunderstood.
- These are all words that describe comments used in blogs and forums.
So just what are these comments we're speaking of? Many blogging platforms like Wordpress, Blogger and Type Pad allow comments.
A blog post will be made and interested parties can add their two cents in the form of a blog comment.
However, many people will disable the ability for people to leave comments on their blog posts.
Often because they are afraid they will get stupid, spam comments from idiots simply trying to promote their products.
So in this regard I can certainly see the blog managers point in not allowing comments so they don't have to deal with all the trash.
Unfortunately though, disabling the comment feature on blogs is really a lose-lose situation.
Do spammers lose? Of course they do.
But so do the general public and the blogger himself.
The general public loses out on the worthwhile discussion that can come from blog comments, and the blogger loses out on valuable content that can accomplish the following: Makes the blog more interesting to readers - bringing them back again and again.
Comments add to the content of the blog making it more valuable to search engines, thus giving it more exposure.
Obviously comments add new fresh content bringing the search engine spiders around more frequently, meaning more and faster indexing.
There is absolutely no denying that blog comments are an entertaining and valuable tool we can be using.
- But how exactly do we make them work not only for the commenters, but for the blog host as well? I have a good solution for this, and it involves education on the part of the blogger and the commenter.
Here is my recommendation of what should be implemented on the part of the blog host: A good blog commenting policy that is easy to find and accessible from the front of their blog.
It should contain rules similar to the following: Note: Comments on this blog will be accepted under the following guidelines:
Go to the following excellent link that contains instructions for various blog platforms.
http://andybeard.
eu/2007/02/ultimate-list-of-dofollow-plugins-banish-nofollow-from-comments-and-trackbacks.
html Items for the Blog commenter to do:Write intelligent comments - if necessary do a Google search on the topic to get some valuable additional information to leave in the comment.
This next tip applies after leaving the comment - it is highly recommended that you place several links back to the address of the page containing your comment.
Why? - The post with the comment page itself will often become obscure and perhaps not even indexed in Google.
By placing a few links to it everyone wins.
The blog master has a more valuable page on their site to generate them traffic and search engine traffic and the commenter gets a link coming back to their site that has some value to it.
Most people leave out this step - just adding a couple links to the comment page from several of the social bookmarking sites can make a huge difference.
One final note for the Blog Master.
- I would make it so that all blog comments have to be approved by the moderator, however do this in a timely manner based on the criteria above.
Upon approval of the comment I would even email the person making the comment with the URL of the page the comment is on advising it would be very beneficial for them to add several links from several of the social bookmarking sites to the blog page with the comment.
There is no reason that benefiting from a blog comment must be immediately thought of as spam, and using these tips and techniques, both the blogger and the commenter can have a mutually beneficial relationship!
- These are all words that describe comments used in blogs and forums.
So just what are these comments we're speaking of? Many blogging platforms like Wordpress, Blogger and Type Pad allow comments.
A blog post will be made and interested parties can add their two cents in the form of a blog comment.
However, many people will disable the ability for people to leave comments on their blog posts.
Often because they are afraid they will get stupid, spam comments from idiots simply trying to promote their products.
So in this regard I can certainly see the blog managers point in not allowing comments so they don't have to deal with all the trash.
Unfortunately though, disabling the comment feature on blogs is really a lose-lose situation.
Do spammers lose? Of course they do.
But so do the general public and the blogger himself.
The general public loses out on the worthwhile discussion that can come from blog comments, and the blogger loses out on valuable content that can accomplish the following: Makes the blog more interesting to readers - bringing them back again and again.
Comments add to the content of the blog making it more valuable to search engines, thus giving it more exposure.
Obviously comments add new fresh content bringing the search engine spiders around more frequently, meaning more and faster indexing.
There is absolutely no denying that blog comments are an entertaining and valuable tool we can be using.
- But how exactly do we make them work not only for the commenters, but for the blog host as well? I have a good solution for this, and it involves education on the part of the blogger and the commenter.
Here is my recommendation of what should be implemented on the part of the blog host: A good blog commenting policy that is easy to find and accessible from the front of their blog.
It should contain rules similar to the following: Note: Comments on this blog will be accepted under the following guidelines:
- The comment must be intelligent, providing valuable insight, information or discussion concerning the topic of the blog post.
- Comments unrelated or off topic to the post will be deleted.
- Any comment made with the intent of merely directing someone to another website will be deleted.
- Comments where, to finish reading, you must go to another website will be deleted.
- Any comment that is merely a small endorsement of the blog post, such as, "I really liked reading this!" will be deleted.
- Another great reason to leave a valuable and intelligent comment is that when others read your comment, they are much more likely to take note of who you are.
This is true even more so with the smartest and most successful individuals, as they're always on the lookout for others like them.
- And these are the people we're trying to attract the most. - Any other comments are encouraged and welcome.
You may place a link back to your website in your username, but to get the maximum benefit of this link, remember to use your targeted keyword in the anchor text, such as: Nick (Keyword) James. - A good tip is to make sure you vary your keyword and URL around with each comment.
It's also a good idea to give an example of a good, and a poor comment.
Go to the following excellent link that contains instructions for various blog platforms.
http://andybeard.
eu/2007/02/ultimate-list-of-dofollow-plugins-banish-nofollow-from-comments-and-trackbacks.
html Items for the Blog commenter to do:Write intelligent comments - if necessary do a Google search on the topic to get some valuable additional information to leave in the comment.
This next tip applies after leaving the comment - it is highly recommended that you place several links back to the address of the page containing your comment.
Why? - The post with the comment page itself will often become obscure and perhaps not even indexed in Google.
By placing a few links to it everyone wins.
The blog master has a more valuable page on their site to generate them traffic and search engine traffic and the commenter gets a link coming back to their site that has some value to it.
Most people leave out this step - just adding a couple links to the comment page from several of the social bookmarking sites can make a huge difference.
One final note for the Blog Master.
- I would make it so that all blog comments have to be approved by the moderator, however do this in a timely manner based on the criteria above.
Upon approval of the comment I would even email the person making the comment with the URL of the page the comment is on advising it would be very beneficial for them to add several links from several of the social bookmarking sites to the blog page with the comment.
There is no reason that benefiting from a blog comment must be immediately thought of as spam, and using these tips and techniques, both the blogger and the commenter can have a mutually beneficial relationship!
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