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How Not to Make Blog Comments

by shipwrecked
19 replies
Hello,

I've been wondering what techniques are ideal for posting blog comments?

What do you think? What techniques do you use? What wouldn't you do?

Here's what I've found (my advice) on what not to do when posting comments containing your URL/link:
1.don't copy-paste the same text anywhere... even if just 2 times the same: it might get hung up in spam filters and some commenting systems are very stringent about this
2.don't overuse the same e-mail address for posting - again it might get hung up in spam filters and you won't see your next posts go through
3.post more on "do follow" link-creating systems than the ones that make the link "nofollow" <<< do take advantage of the "do follow" comments
4.don't post at all anything on pages that aren't related to your site unless you do it for PageRank or other solid reasons <<< if you still post on unrelated blogs, then do it very rarely or Google will punish you
5.don't post on blogs that already have tons of outbound links <<< Penguin penalties may apply
6.don't post on blogs that have various outgoing links to lots of unrelated sites (bad for your relevancy)
7.vary your anchor text, if possible use your brand name
8.make sure to create truly valuable blog posts, otherwise if the editors don't find value in them, they will simply erase them, potentially even mark them as spam!
9.consider using systems for blog posting, such as Disqus - which allow you to cross-post on multiple sites with the same account (and your site will gain awareness as you leave your mark across pages)
10.make comments with the use of your commercial Facebook fan page account: that way new fans will find your account easier
11.speak multiple languages? then do add your link to similar content/related pages in other languages that you speak...

Anything else you'd like to add?
#blog #comments #make
  • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
    All it really comes down to making legitimate comments that you'd approve on your own blogs. Also, I comment on plenty of non-niche-related blogs with success. Just follow the "would I approve this on my own blog?" rule and you'll be fine. I do throw in comments on niche-related blogs as well. But mainly for traffic reasons.
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    • Profile picture of the author guzze
      Originally Posted by JSProjects View Post

      All it really comes down to making legitimate comments that you'd approve on your own blogs. Also, I comment on plenty of non-niche-related blogs with success. Just follow the "would I approve this on my own blog?" rule and you'll be fine. I do throw in comments on niche-related blogs as well. But mainly for traffic reasons.
      Totally agree. If you won't approve a comment on your blog, you don't post such on other blogs.
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    • Profile picture of the author CollegeCEO
      Originally Posted by JSProjects View Post

      All it really comes down to making legitimate comments that you'd approve on your own blogs. Also, I comment on plenty of non-niche-related blogs with success. Just follow the "would I approve this on my own blog?" rule and you'll be fine. I do throw in comments on niche-related blogs as well. But mainly for traffic reasons.
      100% agree with this.
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      • Profile picture of the author shipwrecked
        Originally Posted by OmegaContent View Post

        100% agree with this.
        Yes, create quality blog posts and contribute to the sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by shipwrecked View Post

    don't copy-paste the same text anywhere... even if just 2 times the same: it might get hung up in spam filters
    Try telling that to many of the world's leading news and sport websites who syndicate most of their content from such agencies as Reuter's and Associated Press. It doesn't actually stand up to examination for a moment, does it?

    Originally Posted by shipwrecked View Post

    don't overuse the same e-mail address for posting - again it might get hung up in spam filters
    "Spam filters" are a problem only for people who spam others' sites.

    Originally Posted by shipwrecked View Post

    post more on "do follow" link-creating systems than the ones that make the link "nofollow" <<< do take advantage of the "do follow" comments
    It makes absolutely no difference to me whether they're no-follow. I have the Firefox one-click toy installed to check them, and I still don't bother to look, because it doesn't affect me, either way. Most search engines seem to ignore "no-follow". Many people believe that even Google doesn't discount "no-follow" nearly as much as it sometimes claims: it's ambiguous at best. People who have already decided that "no-follow" backlinks are not so good for SEO may not be interested, but others who are perhaps a little more open-minded will find many threads here explaining/discussing interesting things about no-follow links: this one might start you off, and then there's more here, here, here, here, here, and so on.

    Originally Posted by shipwrecked View Post

    don't post at all anything on pages that aren't related to your site unless you do it for PageRank or other solid reasons
    Page Rank is nowhere even close to being a "solid reason". :rolleyes:

    Originally Posted by shipwrecked View Post

    don't post on blogs that already have tons of outbound links <<< Penguin penalties may apply
    "Penguin update" penalties have nothing to do with that, at all. The number of outbound links on the page reduces the value of your own site's link-juice benefit but isn't what gets you penalised. (Where do you get this stuff from?!).

    Originally Posted by shipwrecked View Post

    don't post on blogs that have various outgoing links to lots of unrelated sites (bad for your relevancy)
    This is just wrong. "Your relevancy" is determined by the relevance to your site of the site (not the page) on which the backlink appears, not by which other sites are linked to from the same site.

    Originally Posted by shipwrecked View Post

    consider using systems for blog posting, such as Disqus - which allow you to cross-post on multiple sites with the same account
    Now there's an issue over which the Penguin update is potentially relevant!

    Originally Posted by shipwrecked View Post

    Anything else you'd like to add?
    Just "comment only on sites relevant to your own, in a way that genuinely adds value". This is all that matters. There's absolutely no need to check their page ranks or whether or not they're no-follow.

    It's not nearly as complicated as you're making it sound, and I'm afraid some of your "information" is factually incorrect, too.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Once again, Alexa saved me a lot of extra typing.

      My commenting strategy is much shorter than the OP's.

      1. Read blog post.
      2. Have something to add?
      3. If yes, add comment. Else, keep moving.

      Simple, elegant, and it works for me...
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      • Profile picture of the author AmandaT
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        Once again, Alexa saved me a lot of extra typing.

        My commenting strategy is much shorter than the OP's.

        1. Read blog post.
        2. Have something to add?
        3. If yes, add comment. Else, keep moving.

        Simple, elegant, and it works for me...
        Ya, that's about how it works.
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      • Profile picture of the author sciguy40
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        Once again, Alexa saved me a lot of extra typing.

        My commenting strategy is much shorter than the OP's.

        1. Read blog post.
        2. Have something to add?
        3. If yes, add comment. Else, keep moving.

        Simple, elegant, and it works for me...
        This is exactly how it should be done IMO. When you are sincere - it somehow shines through what you do and say.

        This approach will get most of your comments approved and posted ....
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    • Profile picture of the author shipwrecked
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      Try telling that to many of the world's leading news and sport websites who syndicate most of their content from such agencies as Reuter's and Associated Press. It doesn't actually stand up to examination for a moment, does it?



      "Spam filters" are a problem only for people who spam others' sites.



      It makes absolutely no difference to me whether they're no-follow. I have the Firefox one-click toy installed to check them, and I still don't bother to look, because it doesn't affect me, either way. Most search engines seem to ignore "no-follow". Many people believe that even Google doesn't discount "no-follow" nearly as much as it sometimes claims: it's ambiguous at best. People who have already decided that "no-follow" backlinks are not so good for SEO may not be interested, but others who are perhaps a little more open-minded will find many threads here explaining/discussing interesting things about no-follow links: this one might start you off, and then there's more here, here, here, here, here, and so on.



      Page Rank is nowhere even close to being a "solid reason". :rolleyes:



      "Penguin update" penalties have nothing to do with that, at all. The number of outbound links on the page reduces the value of your own site's link-juice benefit but isn't what gets you penalised. (Where do you get this stuff from?!).



      This is just wrong. "Your relevancy" is determined by the relevance to your site of the site (not the page) on which the backlink appears, not by which other sites are linked to from the same site.



      Now there's an issue over which the Penguin update is potentially relevant!



      Just "comment only on sites relevant to your own, in a way that genuinely adds value". This is all that matters. There's absolutely no need to check their page ranks or whether or not they're no-follow.

      It's not nearly as complicated as you're making it sound, and some of your information is inaccurate, too.
      To answer you in a few points

      1.It's indeed not good to syndicate too much and duplicate either. Regardless whether you're Reuters or CNN or whoever else.
      2.Spam filters are a problem to anyone, not just spammers. Just check your inbox and you'll see that sometimes even e-mail gets unfairly placed into "spam". And commenting systems rapidly put certain comments into "spam" just because they're suspect for some reason.
      3."Do follow" links are more important and I didn't say I ignore "nofollow". But Matt Cutts himself tells us that "nofollow" doesn't pass PageRank. And that's quite an important factor.
      4.PageRank is a very solid reason. Most people are worried about it. Maybe not you, but then again "most people" set the trends. If it's a reason to someone, it is a reason to them, even if not to you. PageRank is important in advertising - very important.
      5.The Penguin algortihm has much to do with the links and if you participate in linkings from "linkfarms", it will filter you out. I am getting that from: experience, exchange of opinions/experience with other marketers, it's also in lots of prestigious online marketing magazines/sites.
      6.The fact that tons of outbound unrelated links are located on a page does indeed influence relevancy. It is very important to whom they are pointing, it's not just the inbound links that count.
      7.Yes, check PageRanks - because sites that have good PageRanks are a proof that Google does indeed consider them valuable. And if they are ranked, they certainly aren't penalized/blacklisted/poor sites. PageRank is a sign of legitimacy/credibility as well.

      It's always easier to criticize others, but you're entitled to your opinion.
      I wanted to underline/explain these for the sake of others. There are real facts in there and information based on experience.

      And it is indeed quite complicated, if you work in the field.
      If anyone wants to make sure they market right, they must take account of multiple factors.
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  • Profile picture of the author Demetrius
    Avoid spamming and commenting is relevant blogs is the key to success in blog commenting.
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  • Profile picture of the author pranta
    While doing blog commenting only thing I keep in mind that I am contributing and adding more value to the blog. I always make comments in my niche relative blogs.
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  • Profile picture of the author icoachu
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Sandra Martinez
      This is what works for me...

      I have a google alert in the topics of my sites.

      When I see information that is interesting, visit the sites and read what they have to offer.

      If they allow it, I leave a comment trying to expand or add to the conversation.

      If the site is very good, I register to their mailing list and become a regular.

      Very obvious and "sissy", but it brings some interesting traffic back to my sites when people wonder "who is this gal?"

      Sandra
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  • Profile picture of the author thebitbotdotcom
    Blog commenting is so simple...read the post...add a comment that adds value to the page and continues the discussion.

    You would be surprised what you will get in return.

    Additionally, pay close attention to any comment policy and look at other comments that have been approved to see what the webmaster is "down with".
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    • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
      Originally Posted by thebitbotdotcom View Post

      Blog commenting is so simple...read the post...add a comment that adds value to the page and continues the discussion.

      You would be surprised what you will get in return.

      Additionally, pay close attention to any comment policy and look at other comments that have been approved to see what the webmaster is "down with".
      Totally correct. You can't really cut corners. A lot of people try to add links to the comments themselves, make comments that add nothing to the post, etc. It's not really that hard. Again, just make comments that you'd approve on your own blogs.

      Random tip, but a great way to increase your approval rate is to ask a question. (To the blog owner, other commenters, whatever.) I'll sometimes add a question to the end of a thought-out comment and have found that it greatly increases the approval rate.
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  • Profile picture of the author SuperDJ
    I 'lol' at people who do blog commenting purely for the backlinking purposes. And I find it even funnier when people refuse to comment on a post because it's 'no-follow'
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  • Profile picture of the author january14n
    I personally don't follow any rules regarding blog commenting. I think it would be much better if you make a list of your targeted blogs to comment with and share your opinion basically with what you understand about the blog you read. For me that would be more valuable and that was just my opinion since I am not a fan of using blog comments as way of building links.
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    • Profile picture of the author connorbringas
      I didnt read your 11 or something points because there doesnt need to be that many, only one point.

      1. Read the actual blog before you comment. Pretty simple, read what the post is all about then write a comment relating to that post.
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      • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
        Originally Posted by connorbringas View Post

        I didnt read your 11 or something points because there doesnt need to be that many, only one point.

        1. Read the actual blog before you comment. Pretty simple, read what the post is all about then write a comment relating to that post.
        Winner.

        It's not too tough. Read post. Make a comment RELATED to that post. "Thanks! Great post!" isn't going to get it done.
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  • Profile picture of the author marketwarrior06
    Banned
    If you really want to build back links through blog commenting then its really important that you have to take care about the quality. If you create high quality comments then you will definitely get the back links.
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