Blog comments good or bad?

36 replies
Okay so I've been blogging for a couple of weeks now and I am starting to get spammed with blog comments.

My question is are blog comments bad when they are spam? Does it really matter. I notice that some are completely off topic but others are general like great and informative post blah blah blah.

Is it just that these blogs are trying to get links? And on that note should I be commenting on other blogs to get links?

Thanks,
john
#bad #blog #comments #good
  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Most of those are made by software packages that run spinning software to make each comment 'fresh'. I wouldn't turn off comments but I would add plugins that filter based on a) hash b) captcha and c) minimum word count. This way, it is a win win situation.
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  • Profile picture of the author johnrone
    You can modify the comments section of your blog by adjusting the spam filter settings.
    You can also use plugins that would require visitors to subscribe before they can post comments.
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    I wouldn't publish those spam comments. By doing so you are just inviting even more spam comments your way.

    Use a plugin such as Bad Behavior to stop this and only approve the genuine comments.

    As for you posting on other blogs, yes, it's a good idea. But only if you are actually adding value and have something decent to say -- not just for the sake of getting a link back to your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Johnnykanoo View Post

    My question is are blog comments bad when they are spam? Does it really matter.
    Yes; they're very bad, and it matters.

    They alienate visitors, detract greatly from the blog's credibility if it just looks like a "spam-fest", and dilute the SEO-potential of your own internal linking-structure.

    Originally Posted by Johnnykanoo View Post

    Is it just that these blogs are trying to get links?
    Yes - the spammy ones which add no value are abusing your hospitality for attempted off-page-SEO reasons of their own.

    Originally Posted by Johnnykanoo View Post

    And on that note should I be commenting on other blogs to get links?
    Yes, as long as you do so on relevant sites to your own, and by genuinely adding value. There's more information about this here: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ommenting.html

    These threads may also help you, in this context ...

    No-Follow Blog Comments - Are They Worth Posting?
    What is a high quality blog comment worth to you?
    Commenting On Other Blogs to Build Backlinks?
    Blog commenting on auto
    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post5887078
    Struggling to find this particular type of blog comment service
    Blog commenting...?
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  • Profile picture of the author Chirdpong
    I use Akismet block all of SPAM comment, I just only allow real comment to be publish.

    Allow Spam comment publish can be devalue your website - and real people will not make a genuine comment.

    I also did not put a spam comment to other blogs. If we feel it is spam, it look like my site is spam too. Let's imagine, you make a spam comments in their blogs, people click your link go to your blogs - then they might think your blog is spam also.

    In addition, most of Spam comment can capture by Akismet plug-in. Why GOOGLE cannot capture? and Does the google will give you a credit? I don't think so.

    So, I will not do the SEO on this way.
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  • Profile picture of the author denysapu
    Always bad when it spam. I do comments to get more than links, with a targeted blog comments I hope other visitors see my link and then visit my site.
    Shortly, blog comments for links, traffic, and relationship.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bill_Z
    I take it you want to accept a few to show some small amount of activity to encourage other real activity. If you want to do this, just remove the link that the spam comment includes and change their comment to relate more to the article.
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  • Profile picture of the author Confined To Life
    Unless it's directly related to your post, it's not really useful. It won't hurt you too much by leaving it there because it looks better in the eyes of your readers if you have some comments. Do this for me

    Go to the comments in your dashboard and check the email address they're using. Are they all similar like xxxxxxx@gmail.com? I just got a bunch of those commenters on my blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Anton
    Askimet was one of the best purchases ever made . You shouldn't be wasting your time discerning what is spam and what is not. It has a nice filter built in, and then you can decide on top of that. And yes, it's bad because it eats away your time, and it's just nonsense comments that don't add value to the post / conversation
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  • Profile picture of the author kaytav
    Manually done work and on relevant niche are definitely good blog comments and will help your site get a decent ranking. Do not use automated softwares as it will cause more harm than good.
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  • Profile picture of the author sirtiman
    Delete all the spam comment. Don't waste your time. I recommended you are using facebook dev for comment. More viral I think and reduce the spam.
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  • Profile picture of the author vikashmunda
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Johnnykanoo View Post

    My question is are blog comments bad when they are spam? Does it really matter. I notice that some are completely off topic but others are general like great and informative post blah blah blah.

    Thanks,
    john
    Off topic comments can hurt relevancy of your article like you are writing about dog care and some guy is posting about chemical compound so search engine may get confused what chemical compound related stuff is doing over dog care sites.

    And another thing comments also contain outbound links which may lead to spammy sites which can hurt your overall seo.
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  • Profile picture of the author DerekGann
    Once there were posting a lot of spam comments to my blog then I just installed Facebook comment plugin and enabled the option "registered user can comment only"
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  • Profile picture of the author TimothyTorrents
    Don't approve comments which are obviously spam. Use a plugin like Askimet to filter the comments.
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    • Profile picture of the author Johnnykanoo
      Thank you to everyone who responded.

      A lot of great info.

      I wonder if there is a way warriors can help each other out by posting comments on fellow member's blogs. Nothing spammy just genuine interesting comments.

      Maybe I am the only one lacking readership but than again my blog is in its infancy.

      Thanks again everyone.
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      • Profile picture of the author angshuy2k
        Why not might be a very good idea. As one fellow warrior can surely help others to pick up atleast while reading, if some thing that I like then surely , I can leave a genuine comment.

        As before, other warriors have suggested to set up your spam filter in such a way that you shouldn't get a hard time just getting rid of the spam.

        Regards,
        swrajit
        Originally Posted by Johnnykanoo View Post

        Thank you to everyone who responded.

        A lot of great info.

        I wonder if there is a way warriors can help each other out by posting comments on fellow member's blogs. Nothing spammy just genuine interesting comments.

        Maybe I am the only one lacking readership but than again my blog is in its infancy.

        Thanks again everyone.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    Here's what I do.

    Edit the comments to be very complimentary of your website, thoughts, intellectual aptitude, and products.



    If you're especially clever, develop a method to automate this process.

    Food for thought.

    Life gives you lemons.. :X
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  • Profile picture of the author zaccks
    All blog comments аrе spam. Period.
    Thеу dо nоthing fоr уоur page. It juѕt
    adds boatloads оf dumb content tо a page
    thаt уоu ѕhоuld hаvе worked vеrу hаrd tо
    create аnd maintain.

    Comments dо nоthing tо attract rеаl people
    tо уоur blog. Thеу оnlу attract spammers, аnd
    уоu рrоbаblу will find уоur site оn someone's
    spam list tо bombard. Likе mаnу threads hеrе
    publish.

    If уоu hаvе adsense, уоu ѕhоuld nоt оn аnу
    circumstances put adsense оn a page thаt
    уоu аllоw comments, moderated оr not.
    Advertisers аrе paying tо put аn аd оn уоur
    content, nоt someone's content thаt iѕ
    nоt muddled bу a bunch оf junk.

    Bесаuѕе ѕо mаnу people hеrе spam blogs, аnd
    ѕау it'ѕ great, it skews thе reality оf allowing
    blog comments.

    Seriously. Thеrе iѕ nо need. Cоnѕidеr уоur blog
    a collection оf articles. Articles dо nоt
    nееd comments. Add a poll оr something. Or,
    add 3rd party scripts thаt show uр оnlу
    аѕ flash оr a line оf code.

    Bеѕt thing iѕ tо juѕt nоt аllоw them. And,
    bеѕt tо nоt gо аrоund lооking fоr blogs tо
    spam yourself.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by zaccks View Post

      All blog comments аrе spam. Period.
      An extreme perspective.

      Originally Posted by zaccks View Post

      Thеу dо nоthing fоr уоur page.
      How about all the pages like this one, where the 200+ comments following the post contain enormously informative and helpful discussion for the visitors? A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Guest Post by John Locke

      All spam?! :p

      Originally Posted by zaccks View Post

      Comments dо nоthing tо attract rеаl people tо уоur blog.
      On the contrary: I myself have referred many people to that page specifically because of the conversations in the comments, which add great value to the site.

      Originally Posted by zaccks View Post

      Thеу оnlу attract spammers
      Well, I won't go through your post sentence by sentence and dispute it all, because that's boring. I hope you'll excuse the observation that in my opinion you're rather overstating it, though, and I could easily give many counterexamples to what you're saying, here, just from my own first-hand experience.
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    • Profile picture of the author brwi
      Originally Posted by zaccks View Post


      Comments dо nоthing tо attract rеаl people
      tо уоur blog. Thеу оnlу attract spammers, аnd
      уоu рrоbаblу will find уоur site оn someone's
      spam list tо bombard. Likе mаnу threads hеrе
      publish.

      If уоu hаvе adsense, уоu ѕhоuld nоt оn аnу
      circumstances put adsense оn a page thаt
      уоu аllоw comments, moderated оr not.
      Advertisers аrе paying tо put аn аd оn уоur
      content, nоt someone's content thаt iѕ
      nоt muddled bу a bunch оf junk.
      The above is absolute crap.

      Moderated comments that aren't spam ARE relevant and you obviously have no idea what you are talking about. I've had $200/days with Adsense on a discussion forum where everything is a "comment." Have you ever noticed how some websites that are purely discussion forums or discussion blogs rank very highly in Google SERPS? Obviously, you haven't.

      What YOU as an advertiser may prefer doesn't mean anything to what Adsense will pay consistently.

      Bесаuѕе ѕо mаnу people hеrе spam blogs, аnd
      ѕау it'ѕ great, it skews thе reality оf allowing
      blog comments.
      Using Askimet so you don't get hit with spam is a lot different than spamming the hell out of blogs that don't.
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  • You can comment to other blogs. But don't do that kind of comments like what you are experiencing in your blog. You will be able to gain quality visits to your website if your comments posted in other blogs are related and good.
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  • Profile picture of the author KingMedia
    Spam comments are very BAD for your site. Use the Akismet plugin to weed them out.
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  • Profile picture of the author MaxNiche
    Install akismet and spam destroyer to prevent spam comments.
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  • Profile picture of the author LoneWolfMuskoka
    There are lots of different plugins available that will help you detect and deal with spam. The biggest problem is automated spam which is annoying to wade through and moderate. A good plugin that detects and trashes this is essential. GASP and Anti-Captcha are 2 that I know of that detect this type of spam. Unfortunately, Anti-Captcha just puts it in the moderate queue. A little tweak of the code can have it toss the comments instead but you need to know PHP to do that.

    Don't allow the spam on your site. The links may be to bad neighbourhoods (Google will penalize you for that). But don't disable comments either. Google looks at the comments as fresh content.

    When it comes to posting comments on other blogs, make sure that your comment adds to the discussion. Don't worry too much about whether the blog is in your own niche -- we all have multiple interests, but do make sure that you are commenting regularly on blogs that are in your niche.

    And make sure to link out from your blog posts to others in your niche who have valuable information. Make your linking go both ways.
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  • Profile picture of the author seobro
    I also use Akismet, but it does not catch all of the spam. Please do turn comment moderation on. That will send spammers a message. Most will not even bother when they realize that you are on to em. Also, turn on the 1 + 2 = 3 captcha to filter out the robots that constantly blast their spam cannons.
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  • Profile picture of the author AndrewStark
    Another vote for askimet

    Comments from real people make your blog look popular and an authority figure.

    Concentrate on writing great pillar articles and making relevant and knowledgeable comments on other blogs in your niche. This will build up traffic and show that you are someone worth listening to in the niche.
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  • Profile picture of the author bhmseoservices
    Why not just install a captcha?
    There are many free simple captcha's out there that can't be busted with programs like "Snipe Captcha"

    I've used Askimet but I didn't find it effective at all.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alex Greene
      Originally Posted by bhmseoservices View Post

      Why not just install a captcha?
      There are many free simple captcha's out there that can't be busted with programs like "Snipe Captcha"

      I've used Askimet but I didn't find it effective at all.
      Sounds very interesting to me. U didn't find Akismet effective . While this is the best available plugin for wordpress to block spam comments in a blog:confused::confused:.
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  • Profile picture of the author HKSEO Jonbones
    akismet is your best bet, it seems to work the best right now
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  • Profile picture of the author Janice Stacy
    While approving a comment, you should be aware that you are approving a comment which is thoughtful, relevant to your blog post because useful blog comments also help a blog to get good ranking in search engines.
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  • Profile picture of the author JerrickYeoh
    Never spam on blog comment because it going to bring bad effect to your side .
    If the admin banned your IP then it going to bring opposite effect and influence your site quality .
    Mostly spam comment using the same anchor text , this also will get hit by Google Panda and Penguin.
    Make quality backlink is more powerful that make bunch of poor quality backlink.
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  • Profile picture of the author James Schramko
    Make sure you set comments to manual moderation. Then only publish them if the comment mentions something specific about the post and adds value to the conversation.

    Genuine User generated content and comments can lift SEO results by adding keywords and also can increase social proof on your blog.
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    • Profile picture of the author santosantinie
      All blogs must be held for moderation and should only be published if approved by you. Those comments that you should publish must be related to the topic or post that are being discussed. You can allow some of the their anchor text if the links are related on your niche.
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      • Profile picture of the author PioneeringProfits
        Blog comments can be good as it allows interaction and can trigger further discussion. It will be a case of monitoring what gets posted.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikeac
    Do not approve comments until you have reviewed them yourself. Delete and Mark as "spam" all the comments that you know are spam. It wont do any good for your blog,and make sure you reply to all the real comments.
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