32 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
32 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

does commenting on non relevant blogs hurt your ranking?

by thedog
27 replies
so.... if i'm commenting on blogs that have nothing to do with my niche... say a .edu or .gov.... will this help or hinder my seo efforts?
#blogs #commenting #hurt #ranking #relevant
  • Profile picture of the author RAMarketing
    It will help it as long as the comment is actually beneficial, otherwise it won't get posted.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4960076].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Originally Posted by RAMarketing View Post

      It will help it as long as the comment is actually beneficial, otherwise it won't get posted.
      well, i just happend by high pr auto approved do follow, .edu blogs... thing is, they're from peru... and in spanish... my commets, are pretty jiberish... yes, i admit it, but hey... i'm just looking for some link juice here...
      Signature

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4960085].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
        Originally Posted by thedog View Post

        well, i just happend by high pr auto approved do follow, .edu blogs... thing is, they're from peru... and in spanish... my commets, are pretty jiberish... yes, i admit it, but hey... i'm just looking for some link juice here...
        I don't know what Google's specific policy is on links from auto-approve sites full if spam comments. By the sound of it, non of the previous posters do either.

        However, I can't imagine that it will be long before Google does catch up with comments left on these spam link farms.

        If your linking policy is to leave, by your own admission, gibberish comments on irrelevant blogs two things are likely to happen:

        1) sooner or later you will leave links on blogs that have Akismet installed. Your comments and ip address will be consigned to Akismet (and all other anti-spam plug-ins) hell and your will no longer be able to comment effectively, anywhere. Especially on relevant, useful sites.

        2) A Google update could send your site plummeting down the rankings as spam backlinks are discounted or, worse still, penalised.

        Large parts of China are banned from all my sites. Don't join them.

        Be an effective backlinker, not a spammer.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4960301].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author barbling
    I would agree that so long as your comments were pertinent and non-spammy, it shouldn't hurt.

    Google wants quality, as you know...
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4960097].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Originally Posted by barbling View Post

      I would agree that so long as your comments were pertinent and non-spammy, it shouldn't hurt.

      Google wants quality, as you know...
      but this doesn't relate to your actual comments now does it?
      Signature

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4960108].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author minisite
    Obtaining DoFollow blog comments backlinks that is in the same niche as your website will greatly benefit your ranking. DoFollow blogs will also help your website ranking even if its not related to your website's niche.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4960103].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Rich Struck
    I can't wait for the day Google bans the domains of blog spammers.
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4960109].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author hsvdm
      To go around the fear of getting banned your money site you can create some feeder sites with squidoo or blogger. Just point your non authority links to these blogs. This way the link juice passes to your main site.

      You can put relevant content on these feeder sites so this is even better for your money site. I usually put my main keyword in google and have a look at the related searches to build content for my feeder site. That works very well.

      Cheers
      Mirko
      Signature
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4960193].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author jeffreys
    Hi,

    For seo or getting backlinks, it will not hurt your site. Be sure don't spam the blog with multiple links. Just write a short kind of comment which is relevant to the post.

    Hope this helps.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4960203].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Nathan2525
    Originally Posted by thedog View Post

    so.... if i'm commenting on blogs that have nothing to do with my niche... say a .edu or .gov.... will this help or hinder my seo efforts?
    It's not going to hurt your rankings but I would add...

    Why spend time doing that when you can comment on
    relevant blogs?

    It's not an effective use of your time.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4960408].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Rick88
      I believe Google is all about relevance these days. Even so, an edu or gov site can still have link juice because they are considered an authority site and there can be a variety of reasons why a seemingly non-relevant link can exist on such an authority site. Look at wikipedia and news sites.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4960426].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        The public line from Google has been the same for years on links. If a competitor could screw you by placing links to your site, they will not penalize you for those links. They will simply ignore them.

        That said, your spammy comment links on foreign language blogs on totally unrelated subjects probably aren't doing you any good, but they probably won't hurt you, either. Unless you consider the time you wasted on placing them...
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4960939].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
      Originally Posted by Nathan2525 View Post

      It's not going to hurt your rankings but I would add...

      Why spend time doing that when you can comment on
      relevant blogs?

      It's not an effective use of your time.
      Not necessarily true 100% of the time.

      Would you rather:

      1. Comment on a niche-related, PR N/A post that have the comments as nofollow?

      1. Comment on a post that is unrelated to your niche, but has PR and is dofollow?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4961571].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author awddude
    I had a relatively new site that was ranking #6. I used a service that drip fed 1000 blog comments over a week, and saw my rank go up to #4 for a short period, and then it dropped to the second page. After a few weeks it slowly crawled back to #8 where it is comfortably sitting now.

    Manual blog comments don't hurt, and they help.

    But submitting too many, too fast, on spammy sites (non-relevant, sometimes over 10,000 comments / outbound links on the page etc. Sites with penis enlargement / viagra / other spammy topics) hurt my rankings and can probably hurt yours too.

    Best practice is to find relevant sites, with only a few comments.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4961094].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Tom Ryan
      Adding comments to non-relevant blogs wont hurt your rankings, but the benefit for the amount of effort might not be that great. It is probably best if you spend your time finding relevant sites.
      Signature


      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4961212].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author redfieryheart
    It will help. Just post relevant comments with quality and it can boost your rank well. As long as you sincerely give useful comments and add a very good point, Google will love you for that.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4961215].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Originally Posted by redfieryheart View Post

      It will help. Just post relevant comments with quality and it can boost your rank well. As long as you sincerely give useful comments and add a very good point, Google will love you for that.
      I never knew the quality of the actual post matters in googles eyes.

      Ye, I think leaving relevant posts is the way to go.

      On another note, my scrpebox is acting up... when I check url pagerank, they all come up as n/a....
      Signature

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4961497].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author fluffythewondercat
        I believe that commenting *only* on relevant blogs is a poor practice, because that's not what real people do.

        Real people have hobbies and interests. They read the news. Sometimes they visit social sites. Sometimes they shop. They don't peruse IM sites 24/7.

        Act like a real person, not spamming software.

        fLufF
        --
        Signature
        Fiverr is looking for freelance writers for its blog. Details here.
        Love microjobs? Work when you want and get paid in cash the same day!
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4961569].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author kenomen
          Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat View Post

          I believe that commenting *only* on relevant blogs is a poor practice, because that's not what real people do.

          Real people have hobbies and interests. They read the news. Sometimes they visit social sites. Sometimes they shop. They don't peruse IM sites 24/7.

          Act like a real person, not spamming software.

          fLufF
          --
          Agree, Google will see these as a more "natural" linking.

          In regards to SEO, comments on related blogs will have more weight for your rankings, but links from non related blogs will also help.
          Signature
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4961586].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author AlexTheKid
    In regards to the whole hurting your rankings thing and the comment saying "banning domains of blog spammers" That will never, ever. EVER happen.

    See, let's say that you are competing for rank #1 on a gold-mine of a keyword with me. While you are hard at work building quality backlinks, I've decided to take another approach, I'm just going to comment spam the hell out of every single blog I have on this here 1,000,000 do-follow blog list with the most botty comments I can think of, with YOUR link. That way, you get banned and I don't have to worry about you as competitor! It's a win-win! (not...)
    Signature
    Follow me on my blog!

    Earn $7.50 for each first level referral per month with a new program called CashTexts. Complete with a 5 level referral program, build your downline while it is still new! Join CashTexts Now!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4962081].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Originally Posted by AlexTheKid View Post

      In regards to the whole hurting your rankings thing and the comment saying "banning domains of blog spammers" That will never, ever. EVER happen.

      See, let's say that you are competing for rank #1 on a gold-mine of a keyword with me. While you are hard at work building quality backlinks, I've decided to take another approach, I'm just going to comment spam the hell out of every single blog I have on this here 1,000,000 do-follow blog list with the most botty comments I can think of, with YOUR link. That way, you get banned and I don't have to worry about you as competitor! It's a win-win! (not...)
      Interesting... that said... 3 long tail keywords I was targeting a little too hard have dropped from the serps completely.

      I was making my way up the rankings... spent a couple of days on page 1 of google... then their gone! Still on page 1 of yahoo and bing, but not google.

      I used 3 separate link building services... and backlinked myself, mainly targeting these 3 keywords... and all 3 are gone from google.

      I'm assuming that this is because I over optimized these keywords?

      So, what's to stop me from doing this to one of my competitiors?
      Signature

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4962120].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Val Wilson
        Originally Posted by thedog View Post

        Interesting... that said... 3 long tail keywords I was targeting a little too hard have dropped from the serps completely.

        I was making my way up the rankings... spent a couple of days on page 1 of google... then their gone! Still on page 1 of yahoo and bing, but not google.

        I used 3 separate link building services... and backlinked myself, mainly targeting these 3 keywords... and all 3 are gone from google.
        This is just the 'google dance' - keep on backlinking and your site will come back to the first page. The worst thing you can do in this situation is to stop building links, as this will look totally unnatural to google.

        As for comments on non relevant blogs, the same applies. Links from ONLY relevant & do follow sites is NOT natural, having links from a variety of different sites is. So in my opinion, adding (good quality) comments on non relevant blogs can only do your ranking good.
        Signature
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4962255].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author MagicWhisper
    I'm glad that someone asked this because I was wondering about the same thing.

    The problem with commenting on blogs relevant to someone's niche is that the person who owns the blog may not approve of your comments if they see that you're also in the same niche as theirs. I think this has happened to me. I hate it, but it also makes sense. I mean, why on Earth would a blogger approve comments of a "competitor" on their blog? If they were to approve of a competitor's comment, they could lose potential customers since the blogger and the affiliate who commented on the blogger's blog are both in the same niche. I mean, the link of the competitor is there if the blogger approves their comments.

    I really do think that this is what has happened to me. And no, I didn't leave spammy comments. I leave quality comments, but they don't get approved on some blogs and I think that's why.

    So with me thinking that the reason why they didn't approve my comments is a competition thing, I was wondering if I can post on other blogs that aren't relevant to my niche.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4962354].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by MagicWhisper View Post

      I'm glad that someone asked this because I was wondering about the same thing.

      The problem with commenting on blogs relevant to someone's niche is that the person who owns the blog may not approve of your comments if they see that you're also in the same as theirs. I think this has happened to me. I hate it, but it also makes sense. I mean, why on Earth would a blogger approve comments of a "competitor" on their blog? If they were to approve of a competitor's comment, they could lose potential customers since the blogger and the affiliate who commented on the blogger's blog are both in the same niche. I mean, the link of the competitor is there if the blogger approves their comments.

      I really do think that this is what has happened to me. And no, I didn't leave spammy comments. I leave quality comments, but they don't get approved on some blogs and I think that's why.

      So with me thinking that the reason why they didn't approve my comments is a competition thing, I was wondering if I can post on other blogs that aren't relevant to my niche.
      Trying to place links on the sites of direct competitors is likely not the wisest use of your time, for the reason you gave above.

      But 'relevant' does not have to mean 'exactly the same'. Let's say that you have a product on training hunting dogs to retrieve. You find a blog on basic obedience training for puppies. Are you direct competitors? No. Are you relevant to each other? Absolutely. Would you also be relevant for a site that sold training accessories? You betcha...
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4962404].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author MagicWhisper
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        Trying to place links on the sites of direct competitors is likely not the wisest use of your time, for the reason you gave above.

        But 'relevant' does not have to mean 'exactly the same'. Let's say that you have a product on training hunting dogs to retrieve. You find a blog on basic obedience training for puppies. Are you direct competitors? No. Are you relevant to each other? Absolutely. Would you also be relevant for a site that sold training accessories? You betcha...
        Then what would be the point of blog commenting? :confused: I do it so that I can get backlinks. I don't put the links directly in my comments. I put them in the box that says "website."

        Thank you for explaining this stuff to me. "Exactly the same" is what I thought of when I was told to comment on relevant blogs.

        I appreciate it! Thank you!

        I know better now.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4962430].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Fazal Mayar
    It wont but having revelant comments is always the best thing for seo and your traffic
    Signature

    Blogger at RicherOrNot.com (Make Money online blog but also promoting ethical internet marketing)

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4962459].message }}

Trending Topics