Should I Accept or Delete These Blog Comments?

[LarryC]

I have a blog that's been getting a bit more traffic lately, and with this comes a surge of comments. Some of these, as you'd expect, are pure spam that I just delete. A few are legitimate and thoughtful, so I accept them.

But lately I've been getting a lot of "in-between" type comments. They are relevant and do refer to the actual content, but they are usually just a sentence or two and not especially helpful or original. When I click on the URLs, they are usually sites that are on the same topic as mine (or I don't even consider accepting them), but usually sites without much authority or traffic.

As I understand it, Google likes links to authority sites. That's why, when I write posts for my blogs, I'll sometimes include a reference to a high PR site. But if I'm linking to a site with, say, a PR 0 and an Alexa ranking of 10,000,000, is this actually harmful SEO wise? Or is it just neutral? If it's the latter, I'd just accept such comments to have more content on the blog.

[MikeFriedman]

Closer to neutral than harmful. The only harm it is doing is that every external link on a page is bleeding out some of the link juice that page has. So unless, it is a worthwhile link, I don't want those links on my pages.

I would probably accept the comment, and delete the URL.

[LarryC]

That's probably a good idea. These are obviously comments that are written for the sole purpose of getting a backlink, so they don't really contribute anything to the blog.

[Dellco]

If your blog is on some Dofollow List that is being passed around the globe, you'll get this all the time.

What I do is look at the site. Is it MFA, is it an illegal site, does the comment seem to be outsourced, are they using keywords as their name, is the site being penalized by Google, is the site very new, is the comment generated by software like SENuke.....etc.

I do not follow a blanket policy, some I accept, but many I reject. Software/spun comments definitely get rejected all the time.

I would say I reject at least 90% of comments. Let's face it, 99% of comments are done to get a backlink. I, you, and them do it all the time. Sometimes it's ok to spread the love.

[yukon]

Use the 2 second rule, If you can't decide in 2 seconds or less yes/no the comment is legit, hit the delete button. Otherwise just remove the comments from your source code, & never have to think about it again.

[BenJackson]

Another way to look at it -> does it add value to the page? If not, it doesn't need to be there. I'll accept basic "great post" kinda comments if they add just a bit more to it, but I always reject confused or poorly written comments even if they're earnest. Basically, if it's obvious the commenter didn't read the article or I can't understand what they're saying -> trash.

Originally Posted by MikeFriedman

I would probably accept the comment, and delete the URL.

Can't believe I never thought of doing that.

[simonbuzz]

You can make spam comments into original comment by simply editing it...what I do with a spam comment is i delete the commenter site and then I edit the comment and post it on my site...that's it..

[BenJackson]

Originally Posted by simonbuzz

You can make spam comments into original comment by simply editing it...what I do with a spam comment is i delete the commenter site and then I edit the comment and post it on my site...that's it..

So you write and post fake comments on your site? Why

[wpexplosion]

i am using nofollow to my comment link... that reduce spam comments

[Jack Chase]

Personally I'd just reject them. Just accept the real ones - the others will add no value to your site.

[simonbuzz]

Originally Posted by BenJackson

So you write and post fake comments on your site? Why

Because most of the comments are spam that's why...and it;s your choice what you want to do with your blog..

[patrick0001]

Originally Posted by LarryC

But if I'm linking to a site with, say, a PR 0 and an Alexa ranking of 10,000,000, is this actually harmful SEO wise?

Link to a PR0 site will never harm to your site, but you need to monitor number of outbound links.

If a single page site with 10 outbound links, that will consider a lot, Google category it as link farm. If a site have 1000 pages, few thousand OBL will not harm to the site at all.

[megan12]

I would like to suggest you only accept those comments which are relevant to your posts and really true comments and delete all those comments which seems to be spammy.

[atomasini]

Originally Posted by BenJackson

So you write and post fake comments on your site? Why

To make the blog look active? People call it "seeding" the comments. Social proof and all that. Besides, it's does add more content to the page.

I'm not sure if I would do it, but many people seem to be ok with it.

[Michael D Forbes]

Originally Posted by BenJackson

So you write and post fake comments on your site? Why

I've seen some people edit the comment and make the link something that will benefit them.

[lovboa]

I usually spam all comments since all comments are usually spam on my site.

Usually, I check if the comment is one that can be placed on any subject of posts like..wow! This is really good information! I'm going to bookmark this right away!

Then I check the linking url of the commenter's name (if they added it).

[IMWinner]

You have to reject all the spam ones and accept blog comments that are written by real people. There are those comments that are mostly written for the sole purpose of getting a back link and at times are using spam messages.
We need to be careful in accepting these comments, it really needs to be scrutinize in some ways before deciding to accept or reject a comment.

[StoneWilson]

The only reason I approve comments is they are related to my article's topic. And those "in-between" comments you mentioned there, just delete it, spammers now getting more clever, they write some "all-purpose" comments and "ctrl+v".

[linda009]

When going to accept the comments then make sure that you are not accepting lots of comments because it will show your blog like spam as well people will be interested into those comments but not in your blog.

[WilderJulie]

You should feel good that people are linking to your content. It means that they see your site as an authority site.

But still, I wouldn't approve the link. Haha! Unless of course they're using their names. If they're using keywords, then it's obvious that they just want a backlink.