Getting more comments on your blog is something that every site owner and blogger wants… after all, we’re all trying to build communities of real people, aren’t we?
Think about it like this. Remember when you published the first post on your blog and you were so excited for it to be out there… only to find out that it got barely any reads and absolutely no comments!
Of course, you do… we all went through this phase.
However, now that your blog is all big and strong and you’re creating killer blog posts with hot topics, it’s time to ramp up the comments and engagement on your site.
Follow these quick and simple steps to dramatically increase the amount of blog commenting on your site, and best of all… we have real-life examples of top blogs using these methods right now!
Show Your Blog Count on Top of Each Post
The first thing that many bloggers are going to see when they visit your site is your main page. If you currently list your most recent or active posts on your main page, then you should also be including a highlight of how many blog comments each post has as well.
This works extremely well because when someone sees a blog post with a lot of comments, they just simply want to check it out!
Take a look at how Pat Flynn is currently doing this on his Smart Passive Income blog. Not only does he have the number there, but it really pops off the page and grabs your attention as well.
Respond to Each Comment on Your Blog
A great way to double the amount of comments on your blog is to simply comment to each of the comments being left. While this might seem silly at first, it’s actually doing a lot more than just increasing your comment count.
How many times have you left a comment on a blog and came back to see that the site owner took the time to reply to your comment? It makes you feel good right? That’s the same feeling your audience will get when you do the same thing. In addition to making people happy, you will also be providing more content and a better experience for your readers.
This is something that Neil Patel of QuickSprout has been doing for a while now. You will notice that his blog posts always have at least 50+ comments, while some have well over 200+!
End Each Post with a Call to Action or Ask for Comments
What might seem like the most boing and basic way to get more comments on your blog, is actually one of the most effective — which is to simply ask!
However, you don’t want to leave a line of text at the end of your blog post that says “Please leave a comment”, instead you have to make it interesting and engaging.
Here’s a great example from Derek Halpern at Social Triggers. Not only is he asking his audience for a comment, he is also increasing the value of the conversation by getting their feedback and recommendations as well.
Rewards Commenters with Backlinks to their Sites
Everyone loves to gain backlinks and exposure to their sites and social networking profiles. A great way to reward your blog commenters is by doing exactly that.
Through the use of a WordPress plugin called CommentLuv, you can automatically have the latest post published on the commenter’s blog to appear at the bottom of their comment.
You can see a live example of this over at WeBuildYourBlog. Not only do they offer the most recent blog post link, but also the ability to link to your Twitter profile as well.
Make It Easy for Readers to Leave Comments
Not all blogs are created the same. While the majority of them are hosted on WordPress, when it comes to the commenting section you are going to see a lot of options. Everything from the most basic comment forms such that come with WordPress, built in CAPTCHA forms to eliminate comment spam and also advanced commenting systems like Disqus and Livefyre that allow you to leave comments through your preferred social network or platform.
You can see an example of Livefyre being used on LewisHowes.com. Once you go to leave a comment, a new window will popup and ask what social network you would like to connect to, if you aren’t already.
It’s Time to Increase Your Blog Comments
There’s no better way to learn what works than to see real-life examples of it. Now that we’ve featured four of the best ways to increase comments on your site, along with top blogs who are using these same methods nows — it’s time for you to get to work!
Implement these same principles on your blog over the next 30 days and you will definitely see a huge increase in engagement and blog comments on your site.
Speaking of comments… why don’t you leave one below and introduce yourself! 🙂