New bloggers - how to get people to comment on your blog

There's nothing worse than spending hours on a blog only to have no one comment on it! It's like an unanswered high-five, totally embarrassing and of course it rocks your confidence.

As a blogger, I've learnt there are a few things to get comments every single time. Let me know if you've tried any of these, or if you have any more to add to the list!

Ask a question: Revolving a blog around a problem you're experiencing will almost always promote a response. It can be practical such as tips and tricks on applying for a perfect job, or any other topic of interest for you and your subscribers. Usually day

Encourage someone: Making friends online is not dissimilar to making friends in the real world (for want of a better phrase). Pointing your followers to an awesome blog and praising the writer is a nice thing to do and will get you attention from the blog owner as well as comments and thanks from your followers.

Space your posts: If you're posting too often, your readers get saturated and stop paying attention to you. Good quality thought provoking blogs once every one or two weeks is enough. Posting for the sake of it isn't effective if it's comments that you're looking for.

Mix it up: Instead of the usual text, post a video or an infographic, you'll regain people's interest, and they'll want to have a chat with you about your new format.

Ask people to comment and share their opinion: Well this might sound obvious but the internet is a crowded, noisy place so ask people outright! What do you think I should do? Please tell me your thoughts? I want to hear from you. People can still be shy online so might not know that their comments will be welcomed with open arms!

Reply to previous comments: If comments are your main motivator then make sure you've responded to previous comments left. People won't be encouraged to comment if you don't get involved in a conversation. Blog commenting is a two-way street, and if someone's made the effort to comment, then it's only right you should take the time to acknowledge them.

Invite disagreement: This is guaranteed to get your comments up, every single time! If people know that you're open to a discussion about what you've just written, they'll happily give you their opinion. Remember that you invited the discussion so if it doesn't go your way, there'll be no backing out!

Open your heart: Nothing encourages communication more than honesty and vulnerability. People love to identify with someone who's going through something similar to them, and the only way to do that is to tell them. Write about fear, failure, stress, anxiety and hopes & dreams. Watch your comments build up as people open up to you too.

If you're new to blogging, these may be useful. If you've done it for a while, I would love you to share what works for you. It's by no mean a difinitive list, it's really just a few ideas that may help you get your blog comments on the increase.