Blog Comment Link Building A Waste of Time?

[Taffle]

I manage several blogs for article/content marketing purposes for a few ecommerce clients. I've noticed a couple of my competitors posting blog comments with links that direct to their sites. The anchor text is of highly competitive keywords too.

I for one think this is a complete waste of my time, in addition to being straight-up unethical.

Does anyone seek value in this practice? If so, are your keyword targets while doing this competitive, long tail, short tail, etc?

I am just curious if this methodology delivers any lasting returns. Thank you.

[dburk]

Hi Taffle,

It really depends on how it is done, if done the right way it can be effective at generating targeted traffic. However, many do not understand the proper way to do this and do more harm than good.

It is easy to get blacklisted by posting too many comments in short period of time, even if your comments offer great value to the comment thread. Comment posting must be done slow and steady to be highly effective. You need to post to relevant pages that have significant trraffic to get the best results.

[kokopelli]

I've noticed a couple of my competitors posting blog comments with links that direct to their sites. The anchor text is of highly competitive keywords too.

Delete them!

Many blog owners - if they allow the obviously spammy comment in the first place - change those comment links automatically to no-follow links, so I think they have very limited value. Maybe, if you can find some relevant do-follow blogs to spam ...

[erskinem]

You're leaving money on the table if you think blog comments are a waste of time.

1. You have an opportunity to connect with a blog owner that have an interest in your niche.
2. You have an opportunity to connect with all of the readers of that blog.
3. A good blog comment doesn't require 500 words of content
4. Many blogs are HighPR and have DoFollow comments

Now, I'll check but if a blog is nofollow but it won't deter me from leaving a comment.

The thing to remember is that people read these comments and if you have something valuable to say, they want to know more.

I've found many great sites through comments left by their authors.

[dburk]

Originally Posted by kokopelli

Maybe, if you can find some relevant do-follow blogs to spam ...

Don't spam! Don't let your friends spam! And whatever you do... don't ever drink and spam!

[JSProjects]

erskinem pretty much nailed it.

You'd be surprised how much traffic you can drive from your comment itself. Especially on a niche related blog. Additionally, it's one of the easiest ways to obtain a high PR / dofollow backlink. Just don't go overboard and leave junk comments and spam your keywords if you want them to get approved. That said, automated comments can help index, and even strengthen existing backlinks. Most of the blogs that automatically accept comments are long abandoned anyway.

But, IMO, the best places to comment are the blogs that require approval from the owner before your comment is posted. Most high PR & DoFollow blogs are moderated. But I've found that you should expect about a 50% approval rate on moderated blogs as long as they're still active and you're leaving good comments. That 50% approval rate can lead to more than a handful of PR1+ & DoFollow backlinks. Well worth my time.