The death of backlinks from Blog Commenting...

34 replies
  • SEO
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Recently, I've come across several articles that say Blog Commenting is no longer effective, regardless of whether or not the blogs are dofollow. Apparently, they are starting to become useless in the eyes of search engines...

Has anyone else heard about this? And if so, how true do you evaluate it to be?
#backlinks #blog #commenting #death
  • Profile picture of the author RGallowitz
    That's crap in my opinion. If you spam blogs then sure...they will only cause you trouble.


    But blog commenting DOES work. Not only for backlinks, but for traffic as well.
    You'll be surprised how much traffic you can pick up if you actually make a GOOD comment on a blog.


    Cheers
    Reinhardt
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  • Profile picture of the author Sparhawke
    I have had one of the biggest blog writers and a good friend in my old niche comment about my blog once and she sent thousands of views my way, it may be getting flooded out but if you are actually any good at what you do and don't simply spam you will benefit greatly from it as will they.
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  • Profile picture of the author Spiritjoy
    Blog comments absolutely does work very very well. But the internet user is smarter than in the pass and they know the "Ads" comments as compared to "real"comments. You can't just fool people anymore, the internet marking games is getting serious
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  • Profile picture of the author Zeus66
    I actually think some blog comment links might be among the few remaining high value links. Think about it from Google's perspective. If it's a blog that moderates blog comments and you post comments only on blogs related to your site's content, it's as though the blog owner voted for your site by approving your comment. And it's a vote from someone else in your field. See what I mean?

    Really, who knows? Google isn't likely to let on which types of links they really value and which they discount. Never listen to what a Google talking head says. Only watch what they do.

    John
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    • Profile picture of the author Sparhawke
      Originally Posted by Zeus66 View Post

      I actually think some blog comment links might be among the few remaining high value links. Think about it from Google's perspective. If it's a blog that moderates blog comments and you post comments only on blogs related to your site's content, it's as though the blog owner voted for your site by approving your comment. And it's a vote from someone else in your field. See what I mean?

      Really, who knows? Google isn't likely to let on which types of links they really value and which they discount. Never listen to what a Google talking head says. Only watch what they do.

      John
      I agree, if you get a recommendation from their blog, actually in their commentary it weighs far more heavily than some random comment you made on cheesy spaghetti when the topic is about quantum computers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Colin Theriot
    If you're talking strictly about looking at blog commenting as a backlink building strategy, yeah. Those days of getting easy benefit are probably past.

    If you're talking about blog commenting as a way to build a relationship with other thought leaders in your niche, about building incoming relevant traffic channels, and providing value for actual readers of actual material...

    Then no, commenting is a very effective traffic building exercise. Just make sure you have an opt-in box on your own site, and your own content for them to read when they get there.

    Note: Yes, I know I don't follow my own advice. I will start an email list of my own one day, lol. For now, I'll just keep working on others.
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  • Profile picture of the author yommys01
    I am particularly happy about that. It will help me reduce the number of " I like this post, will you be writing more" comments I get on my blogs.
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    • Profile picture of the author jamawebinc
      It's like anything else...

      When you rely on tricks, the tactic fails. (maybe it works for a short while, but eventually it stops working)

      If you try to just make useless comments with the goal of getting backlinks, of course it won't work.

      If you contribute something of value. If you contribute something that gets noticed, that's what works.

      This is basic direct response marketing 101. It always comes back to the principles of direct response marketing.

      Instead of trying to fool the blog author, the search engines, etc. How about trying to give them what they want?
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      • Profile picture of the author Sparhawke
        Originally Posted by jamawebinc View Post

        It's like anything else...

        When you rely on tricks, the tactic fails. (maybe it works for a short while, but eventually it stops working)

        If you try to just make useless comments with the goal of getting backlinks, of course it won't work.

        If you contribute something of value. If you contribute something that gets noticed, that's what works.

        This is basic direct response marketing 101. It always comes back to the principles of direct response marketing.

        Instead of trying to fool the blog author, the search engines, etc. How about trying to give them what they want?
        Agreed, if someone is blogging about cheesy spaghetti and was mentioning a new way of cooking a brilliant response would be to give up a new recipe they may never have heard of but you would need a cooking site to link back to, no one will care for your toffee hammer for sweaty socks blog if you put that in comments instead.

        You have to comment on bllogs in your own niche or what could be related to drive targeted traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author pavionjsl
    I have a different point of view yes comments may do somethings short term but they are not in my view point the long term answer. And many use tools to do the commenting and it is getting worse in the amount of crap comments. At some point all the bad "noise" using these tools will overwhelm the system and I could see a point where they are useless. Spending the same time and energy on better long term links make more sense if your in it for the long haul.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Pawlett
    Hi

    Blog commenting works well, very well in terms of traffic and backlinks, it always has and always will do.

    On the other hand, blog comment spamming doesn't work very well any more.

    Like Jamawebinc said "give them what they want" and you won't go wrong.

    John
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  • Profile picture of the author Peter Rubel
    From a human point of view, one must ask how accessible one's blog comment is. Is it only accessible past a click or is it closely associated with the post? Is it lost in a long column of other comments or is it first (or last) in line?

    And what is the blog's traffic? Is the blog niche-specific or cookie-cutter, in a low competition niche or high? Is your comment relevant and helpful? Does it generate further comment? Is there a link to the specific post or page on your site most relevant to your comment and to the blog post to which you comment? Can you put relevant and keyword-sensitive anchor text in your comment? Is the blog and blog post of a sort likely to lead to a sale or are most viewers in a mere social or curiosity or entertainment mode? Rather like the commercial viability of keywords.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lawrh
    Yes give the blog what they want. Always be relevant to the site and make them glad you are there. Your link, on the other hand, does not have to be the exact same niche as the site you are commenting on.

    It's often surprising that in a marketing forum so many posters totally ignore the concept of demographics. The site you link to needs to appeal to the same group of people, that's what is important.

    Don't forget the FatLoss4Idiots story. It is published on Clickbanks site. 21 million in a year marketing on non weightloss sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author JonMills
    Backlinks are entry points straight and simple. If your not getting traffic from them, its because either

    A. The blog you are placing it on is crap and doesnt get visited
    B. Your comment is crap and the usual spammy, " good post "

    Add some value to the post by commenting and extending on what was said and your chances of grabbing people in through your link will be higher
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    • Profile picture of the author Hanz
      I run a superhero site and I often leave blog comments on another popular superhero site. I gain quite a bit of traffic from there just from blog comments I've left on that site. Blog commenting rocks!
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  • Profile picture of the author proaffiliate26
    Thank you guys for the wonderful discussion! You are all fantastic and very helpful!
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  • Profile picture of the author GeorgiaB
    Originally Posted by proaffiliate26 View Post

    Recently, I've come across several articles that say Blog Commenting is no longer effective, regardless of whether or not the blogs are dofollow. Apparently, they are starting to become useless in the eyes of search engines...

    Has anyone else heard about this? And if so, how true do you evaluate it to be?
    I don't think so.

    IM world is so competitive - these rumors are for newbies in order to give up.
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  • Profile picture of the author David McKee
    What gets me is how many well read blogs with high PR don't even do basic spam monitoring ala "akismet" or similar.

    When you see this, you know it: "I really appreciate your blog, I am going to add it to my regular reading list. www.Viagra.com"

    I wonder if blogs that allow those obviously spam comments are being penalized by the search engines...
    -DTM
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    • Profile picture of the author Colin Theriot
      Originally Posted by David McKee View Post

      I wonder if blogs that allow those obviously spam comments are being penalized by the search engines...
      -DTM
      I doubt it. If that were the case, one could more easily make an effort to deface the competition. The easier thing for Google to do would be to just identify the content area and ignore it completely as regards passing PR.

      If you're doing blog commenting, don't do it just for the backlinks, because they won't count. Do it for the TRAFFIC that will actually read it, because THAT works. And some of THOSE people have websites, and THEY will link to you with for real links in for real content instead of comments.

      That's what it's about. The issue has become that what used to be a good practice that gave SEO benefit as a bonus eventually became something people were doing solely for the SEO benfit. That provides no value at all and is a TAKER strategy.

      If you still comment as part of a GIVER strategy, it works. Don't worry about PR or nofollow/dofollow. Look for blogs with lots of return commenters. That's audience you can co-opt if you provide value.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      Not only backlinks from blog commenting dead, but the following things are
      also dead...just so you know to cross them off your list of things to do.

      Article Marketing
      Pay Per Click Advertising
      List Building
      Affiliate Marketing
      Video Marketing
      Social Bookmarking
      Social Networking
      SEO
      RSS Feeds
      Blogging
      JVs
      Product Creation
      Product Launches

      Hope this helps.
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      • Profile picture of the author Killer Joe
        Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

        Not only backlinks from blog commenting dead, but the following things are
        also dead...just so you know to cross them off your list of things to do.

        Article Marketing
        Pay Per Click Advertising
        List Building
        Affiliate Marketing
        Video Marketing
        Social Bookmarking
        Social Networking
        SEO
        RSS Feeds
        Blogging
        JVs
        Product Creation
        Product Launches

        Hope this helps.
        It's a good thing I didn't see email on your list. At least I still have opening those to look forward to.

        KJ
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      • Profile picture of the author David McKee
        Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

        Not only backlinks from blog commenting dead, but the following things are
        also dead...just so you know to cross them off your list of things to do.

        Article Marketing
        Pay Per Click Advertising
        List Building
        Affiliate Marketing
        Video Marketing
        Social Bookmarking
        Social Networking
        SEO
        RSS Feeds
        Blogging
        JVs
        Product Creation
        Product Launches

        Hope this helps.
        You forgot Forums

        Too funny! One day someone should write an ebook called "The death of 'The Death of Marketing'".

        -DTM
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        • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
          Fresh from one of my blogs today. Hello Akismet time...

          Thank you for the information provided. The best content I've seen in this market.

          I'm trying to get your RSS feed but i'm getting an error. Please let me know when it's ready, I love the site. Thank you

          Thanks for publishing about this. There's a heap of good tech information on the internet. You've got a lot of that info here on your web site. I'm impressed - I try to keep a couple blogs somewhat on-going, but it's a struggle sometimes. You've done a great job with this one. How do you do it?

          Hello, great post, and good website you have here!
          What's this theme you use? Is it customized?
          If customized can you please give me the email of the designer who customized it for you?
          I would love to have him/her do one for me also!

          I really like your template, its simple but easy on the eyes and easy to navigate was it a paid or free template?

          I think that is an interesting point, it made me think a bit. Thanks for sparking my thinking cap. Sometimes I get so much in a rut that I just feel like a record.

          Hey! I found your website again. I've been looking for it for a while, this time I'm going to bookmark it.

          Hey hunnie, sweet website! I really appreciate this post.. I was wondering about this for a while now. This cleared a lot up for me! Do you have a rss feed that I can add?

          Sweet! Can I use an excerpt of your post on my site with a linkback to you? Thanks

          Saw your blog bookmarked on Delicious. I love your site and marketing strategy.

          Hey hun, sweet website! I genuinely treasure this blog post.. I was wondering about this for a while now. This cleared a lot up for me! Do you have a rss feed that I can add?
          I think Google's primary strategy will be to discount or not count any links from blogs that allow massive automated spamming, comment links and non-comment links alike.

          If I was them I'd setup 'honey pot' blogs that would identify the common spam comments, like those above, and collect web addresses of potential spamming sites for future manual review.
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      • Profile picture of the author cybarton
        lol Funny

        Chris

        Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

        Not only backlinks from blog commenting dead, but the following things are
        also dead...just so you know to cross them off your list of things to do.

        Article Marketing
        Pay Per Click Advertising
        List Building
        Affiliate Marketing
        Video Marketing
        Social Bookmarking
        Social Networking
        SEO
        RSS Feeds
        Blogging
        JVs
        Product Creation
        Product Launches

        Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author RebeccaL
    ^^ Those are the sorts of comments that are pointless for the commenters. But commenting on a relevant blog has to be somewhat beneficial - even if it does end up being just for traffic purposes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Spiritjoy
    From my experience commenting definately brings sales. But "commercial comments" don't. The internet user has evolved. Google as well as the buyer knows the tricks. This is actually good news why not sell a quality product to people

    Blog comments work will if you really leave a comment that helps. Speak to the aveage internet user NOT an I.M and they wil tell you they can smell a comment left for a sale a mile away
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  • Profile picture of the author redfoxseo
    Google has actually said that this year they are cracking down on blog comment spam. Now the question is how? Are they devaluing blog comments all together? Really not sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author type-m
    I think blog comments if they are high quality can bring you traffic from other people blogs. But as far as seo goes I still think that do follow blog posts have value. But I can still say that some people are wasting their time or outsourcing money with blog comments. I get spam comments all the time, they get blocked or deleted and they are no follow anyway. So these people are wasting their time. But it is their time
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  • Profile picture of the author MarkAse
    To me blog commenting has become much like forum sig's. They aren't worth much individually for SEO, but can certainly send traffic to your site.

    How many blog comments or forum sig's start to help as far as SEO goes? I have no idea if it is 100, 1000 or more....but it stands to reason that there is some type of critical mass that can be achieved.
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  • Profile picture of the author Player777
    blog commenting still works if you use relevant do follow sites and throw in .edu links as well you should get a nice boost in the serps
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  • Profile picture of the author menj
    If the blog comments are relevant to the post and are not spammy in nature, I don't see why it cannot work.
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    • Profile picture of the author workfromhomejobs
      When you hear something like that on the Net telling about something not working anymore, it is just part of marketing. It is like don't do that anymore do this instead or more like buy this.

      It is not working only to the part of marketing how it is used. Just like email marketing. Some don't work anymore some do but the fact is people still do read email.

      Red
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  • Profile picture of the author simbat
    Your Comment will assign a new Page for your link on the internet that Search Engines can See . But Bloggers become more aggressive against comments than before
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
    Originally Posted by proaffiliate26 View Post

    Recently, I've come across several articles that say Blog Commenting is no longer effective, regardless of whether or not the blogs are dofollow. Apparently, they are starting to become useless in the eyes of search engines...

    Hi Proaffiliate,

    Two quick things,

    First at the moment Blog commenting DOES still work. You can see it in the results and a good backlink checking tool.

    Second understand that people get very emotional and angry at the idea of something that works for them not working for them in the future. Very angry. Change is a part of life and a big part of Google's new caffeine was to create a better platform to make those changes. Changes ARE coming whether or not they affect commenting.

    Theres no doubt that Google wants to do something about blog commenting. They claim to have started doing it already but its obvious it hasn't worked as they say yet.

    Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Hard facts about comment spam


    Its under the gun and you should balance your link strategy going forward. Not saying anyone should abandon blog commenting but since it is under Google's radar it only makes sense to have a balanced backlinking portfolio
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