Blog comments aren’t dead any more than newspapers are dead. Until Twitter and Facebook became so big, blog comments were the only way to express your pleasure with a post. Now, sharing the post via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media channels is a snap.
Justin Levy weighs in. I recently read Justin’s post, Are Blog Comments Dead? It’s a post worth reading and he states that while his own commenting is way down, his sharing is up. Much of his sharing is done right in Google Reader. I’m a big fan of shared RSS feeds because when I see an article shared by two or three people I respect, I know it’s worth a look. Justin shares a great deal of good content via Twitter as well.
The conversation. Leaving blog comments extends the post by creating or adding to an existing conversation. This is fantastic because the post is now a dynamic dialog instead of a static article like we all used to read in the dead tree edition of the newspaper. The problem lies in how many people see and participate in the conversation.
The power of sharing. Those who choose to share a post via Twitter, Facebook or other social media channels are adding to the dialog as much as those who actually leave the blog comments. It’s a bit of a numbers game. I read once that 4% of blog readers will comment. That means you need 100 readers to get 4 comments. So, those who share the post and help increase your readership are helping to grow the pool of potential commenters.
Different types of posts. I write with two distinct styles here, not by design, but because that is where the blogging path has lead me. The two styles have very different results in the number of comments received.
Authoritative posts (the 101 series and “advice” type) seem to get few or no comments. I think it’s because people recognize I am simply sharing what works for me.
Human posts (essentially my stream of conciousness mind dumps) tend to get more comments. Perhaps these are the topics we all think about often and really care about.
Today, let’s try something different. Use the comments to share links to great posts you’ve come across in the last few days. I promise to read them all and share the ones I like as well.
All of the above.
From a SEO perspective, sharing via comments and social media networking websites all add value to your authority through search engines. There are correct manners in which to get the best value out of the sharing “long tail” approach but it is always best to give your readers a buffet of sharing mechanisms to choose.
One thought comes to mind: Sharing is caring. 🙂 And, since you asked, here are three of my favorites from last week:
http://www.ideasonideas.com/2010/08/dark-forces…
http://www.marcandangel.com/2010/07/19/44-price…
http://www.dumblittleman.com/2010/08/7-must-rea…
Enjoy!
Ha. We were going to sit down last week and talk about this very topic. There are studies that prove adding a Facebook 'like' and 'share' can sky rocket your readership numbers.
I like the 4% note you had. I didn't know that. My comment count per article has grown recently with anywhere from 2-10 in the last 5 articles each. Makes me feel all warm inside 🙂
Jim, I think you'll also find that list posts like Chris Brogan's 50 Power Twitter Tips are also good for getting both comments and Link Love or link traffic. In fact Darren Rowse (@problogger) lists several different post types in his book 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, each designed to elicit a different type of response from the reader. And the goal of the list post is to get reblogs, comments, retweets and deep linking.
Now this doesn't mean every post should be a list post, but maybe 1 in 10 or 1 in 20 whatever works for you. So what's on your top 10 list? 10 Color Myths debunked? 10 LinkedIn Tips for better business to business communication? 10 ways to improve your companies marketing with better printing? the possibilities are endless.
Shannon, Thanks for the reminder that sharing of others stuff and your stuff by others has SEO implications that are deep and far reaching. We shall have to discuss this “long tail” idea at lab hours sometime soon 🙂
Debbie,
Nice links: my thoughts.
1. Asks lots of good questions but seems to provide no suggested solutions or courses of action to improve the situation. (not my cup of tea but a good read nonetheless)
2. Love these guys to death and had already read it 🙂 (great minds and all that)
3. see #2 (I think you got me reading both these blogs)
Also, thank you for following directions 🙂
So, are you suggesting I add a “like” button giving my bi-polar female friend Facebook further access to my life via my personal blog? Of course I will, I will just resist as long as I can 🙂
Thank you for the reminder that I have not done a list post in a while. I'm not much of a method writer but that's sure a good method I have gotten away from. Here's one of my favorite lists from the archives.
https://jimraffel.com/2009/11/14/my-top-10-perso…
Also, thanks for the topic idea. I suspect some variation of one or more of those will show up here as a post sometime soon.
Interesting. We've struggled with comments on the FitMilwaukee blog, probably because many of our posts are more 'authoritative', passing along information that we've found relative. Interestingly, one of our posts that had more comments was something was shot off in a few minutes, just asking people what they thought of running skirts. In my own personal blog when I write about emotions (the human side) the comments pour in. I think you're on to something here. As usual.
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