I’ve always been an advocate for active blog commenting playing an important role in the online marketing mix for a massive amount of reasons, even beyond SEO.
By taking the time to comment on blogs, even one or two comments per day can lead to extremely positive results such as reputation building, expert positioning, and the building of inbound links, even if said blogs use the no follow attribute in their comment fields (and if they do not, all the better).
Blog Comment Etiquette
Why not worry about No Follows? Because ALL humans ignore No Follow. If you participate in a blog comment discussion and link to your site, chances are readers of that blog will follow the link … building to your site’s traffic. The more popular the blog, the more traffic you can build.
But do not place a signature link in the comment body itself except for critical circumstances. Linking to your own site in the comment body is not only spammy in nature, but can also get your name, site, email and IP flagged by ‘social’ blog spam software like SpamKarma, and get your comments automatically deleted from dozens of blogs which use the application.
Using blatant Anchor Text instead of a handle or name in the Name field of blog comments can have the same result, so don’t do it!
Instead, just link to your site via the URL field in blog comments, this is an open invitation to link to your site.
The Value of Comment Links
If you take the time to comment on at least 3 blogs per day, with a back link back to your website, the end result will be an extra 100 incoming links per month, or 1,200 links per year – with little effort on your own part.
Even if those links are associated with a ‘no follow’, that’s ok. Why? Because they still count as backlinks in Yahoo Site Explorer. AND other search engines like Ask.com don’t even pay attention to the No Follow attribute.
The more backlinks counted by Yahoo also results in added recognition beyond SEO and can also bring monetary value to your website.
For example, Text Link Ads uses Yahoo Backlinks as a metric in determining the price of a link advertisement from your site (perfect example for publishers).
In a similar fashion, the SEOmoz PageStrength tool also counts Yahoo Backlinks into their equation, so a simple blog commenting campaign could influence your site’s PageStrength .. which you can then use as a proof of your site’s value when negotiating ad sales.
Not to mention the reputation you build for yourself by participating in comments, lending a helping hand, or just agreeing with someone. Think of blog commenting as an extension of forum participation, without the exclusivity of a forum.
So, before you go falling for one of those spammy blog commenting services like the one ripped apart by Darren Rowse of Problogger.net today, think about more efficient options in your blog commenting campaign.
- Take advantage of your staff : Your company has a staff of experts on hand. As part of their daily ritual, you should have them comment on a minimum of 3 blog posts per day. Once in the morning, once after lunch, and once before leaving. This method splits up the commenting so they are not overwhelmed and this does not interfere with their daily routine.
- Hire an Intern : One excellent way to train an intern is to have them read, process, and report on specific blogs on a daily basis. Have your intern show they understand the discussion in the blog by commenting on that blog and make sure they link back to your site in each comment.
- Have Your Linkbuilder Comment : Pay an SEO or Link Builder to build links for you? Discuss blog commenting as part of your link building package. If they are serious professionals, they will discuss the pro’s & con’s of blog commenting in your industry
- On the Mobile : If you commute to work via train, plane or carpool then you probably find yourself reading news from you industry’s niche blogs anyway. Find a way to comment from your cell phone or mobile device. If your phone or device cannot comment on blogs, the value of your commenting is well worth the purchase of a Smart Phone.
Have an idea or something to add? Then leave a comment :)
Something I try to do, several times, each and everyday.
Great idea. How exactly would I go about doing this?
I like to comment whenever I have something valuable to say for the posts content.
Like this comment for instance. lol
You can also track your comments if you comment on several blogs with the use of:
http://co.mments.com/
:)
The key is to add the comments yourself. If you need to pay somebody to build your reputation for you then you are building their reputation, not yours.
My goal is only to get my blog to the #1 result when googling my name.
Nice post, I think there is as much if not more value in posting good comments. Intelligent discussion not only builds credibility, but you’re likely to learn quite a bit from the interaction with your fellow commentators…
Great post! Since I haven’t done anything with ads on my own sites I found the part about negotiating ad sales a terrific tip for the future. =)
Try subscribing to this feed, created by Andy Beard.
http://www.bumpzee.com/no-nofollow/rss/
Great post!…I try to do this myself weekly, and it does pay off. It gets your name and site out there for more people to see it.
Thanks Hawaii SEO, that’s quite a nice tool, especially for identifying blogs which do not use the no follow attribute.
As for the no keyword in username field suggestion (taps feet)… I guess you’re an exception because it’s your ‘handle’ not just some blatant keyword phrase (or is it?).
Thanks!
There is something on that list for everyone.
I’ve been using this name for quite a while now. No one has ever complained because I try my best to leave helpful comments.
I didn’t create it as anchor text. I live in Hawaii and do SEO and I hought it was both memorable and descriptive. Also… People love Hawaii & SEO, so I hoped that those positive feelings would transfer to me by association. (It’s just personal branding)
Also… I personally know most of the bloggers like you. I might not be able to get away with it if I were just starting out in this point in time and didn’t have any friends in the industry.
for this and all the general SEO advice – thank you.
>Using blatant Anchor Text instead of a handle or name in the Name field of blog comments can have the same result, so don’t do it!
I almost always use my real name in comment posts to avoid being spammy, but …
it has nothing to do with my blog theme, so the anchor text isn’t a good one.
That’s why comments are only part of the equation I guess. You also need strong back links with valuable anchor texts.
Would that be correct?
Even though I’m somewhat guilty of it myself… I don’t recommend using anchor text as a signature either.
If you name yourself something like “Buy Viagra” and then link that signature to an MFA website… You might have your comment deleted regardless of the quality. Personal branding is one thing. Using transaction oriented keywords as a signature on a blog comment is a big No-No.
“Buy Viagra” was my first handle, but some dope in Bangalore already had it.
Nice post Loren. The problem is bloggers need to write something compelling for me to leave a comment. I won’t go commenting on dofollow blogs or on high traffic blogs just to increase traffic, PageRank, or visibility.
Thanks Halfdeck, I’ll be sure to send a memo out to the blogosphere asking it to be more compelling :)
Seriously, I totally see your honorable point and your thoughtful comments which I’ve seen around the searchosphere have built a sense of trust and respect for you, your blog and your services.
Which is much more valuable than just backlinks!
My aim is only to get some recognition to my new blog.
DG…
It is about time someone wrote and reiterated this. I don’t know how many blogs comments I come across where there is blatant domain stuffing in the comment body and wonder and hope that that person got hit for it.
Question for you though: how extensive does a blog comment have to be? Reason I ask is because I see so many people leaving one or two words as the comment. Does this hold the same weight?
I think its good to post comments, if one is genuinely contributing to the conversation, otherwise, its just fluff.
Vinny, I think the answer is ‘it’s what you say, not how long you say it.”
From an SEO perspective, I’d say that the answer is content to link ratio. If your link is surrounded by original and relevant content, then ideally it would have more value than a link surrounded by comments like “great post” or “I luv yur blog” :)
But I like leaving “great post” comments, especially on SEJ. =) The world needs more love and I could care less whether it’s transferring anything to my site… frankly, I’d prefer no one visit as it’s crap at the moment, but the alternative is not identifying who I am. Links are your identity on the web (not just SEO ho opportunities), e.g. … Hi, I’m posting on your blog because I either hated it or loved it, btw I’m a redhead from Jacksonville who digs primates and slow walks on the beach.
My point – setting rules in stone is silly. We know a spammer when we see one, but sometimes they’re a harmless, confused soul. Or they could be someone just trying to make the web a little more human by pointing out a nice post even though they don’t have two minutes to go on and on about how amazing Loren’s timeliness, concise posts and wit make him one of the industry’s best bloggers. Not that I’m speaking from personal experience…
Fun side note – I belong to a forum that used to ban anyone that posted a solitary “LOL.”
Does it mean that if links show up in Yahoo Site Explorer that they are always counted?
Neil, it does not mean that they are counted in the Yahoo Search algorithm, as sites which link to you all have their own values and influence in terms of ranking juice. One site which links to you will have a greater or different value than the other.
Like I stated previously, the links listed in Yahoo Site Explorer do count in web metrics solutions which judge the value of a site based upon the Yahoo measured criteria.
What is amazing about such 3rd party metrics is that they are dependent upon influential factors such as building incoming links and a site’s Alexa ranking, which can both be controlled by smart marketing.
Firstly I’d just like to say this was a useful post which will encourage me to post a little more on the blog’s I frequent. I’d also like to say I agree with Rhea in that there’s nothing wrong with a ‘great post’ comment if that’s all you have to say or if you are in a particular rush and I also believe that we should show a lot more appreciation for the posts we read I must admit there has been many a time where I have refrained from posting a simple short message of appreciation for a post for fear of it being flamed for its shortness but we don’t always have the time or the words to express ourselves properly.
Wouldn’t it be cool to have a ‘twitter-esque’ section in the comments for the ‘great post’ & ‘awesome’ comments?
As a blogger, it is always encouraging to read such posts, I love them. They’re awesome!
As a blog reader, I tend to ignore such comments and sift for the meatier ones :)
(IMO) Short comments like “Great Post” are only meaningful if the blogger recognizes you as “Real Person” and can appreciate the complement because it came from a trusted source.
If a total stranger says something like “Great Post”, I would assume it’s some sort of spam.
Great post!
I like the 3 post per day schedule. And while this post is short, I tend to agree with Loren Baker that the short posts are great for the blogger but as a reader I would prefer to see useful posts.
Woe! 26 Comments so far!
Nothing gets people commenting like a post about how people should leave more comments. ;)
Blog comment links are good, but they should be mixed and matched with other types of one way links. I wonder if sites can get penalized if they have only blog comment links.
The best part of blog commenting is that you can establish yourself as an authority in the topic and this adds up to your online reputation.
We all know that offline publicity in turn affects your online publicity in a Big way.
Great post. I think just sharing your views, knowledge and opinions with others and gaining from them as well is a great motivation in itself to post blog comments. Like you said, a good way to build reputation and at the same time, people can visit your website. If you post comments regularly in several popular blogs, this can develop into an important source of traffic in the long run. At the same time provided no follow link attribute is not used, you will be building inbound links and gaining TrustRank. Blog comments can also help you build search engine reputation as well as branding your own name.
authority blogging is key to relations with customers, where else can you get the £50,000 customer feedback survey for free!!
I do that all the time…BAM! on all the blogs i post on…WHAM!
This was a great article and an inspiration. The creativity of thought and action on the web becomes more exciting on a daily basis.
” John Madden : I do that all the time…BAM! on all the blogs i post on…WHAM!”
You’re the kind of odd exception where you are actually trying to position your site for a person’s name, being that your site is about sports video games.
Blogging in the character of John Madden, however, pardons you from any wrongdoing!
The best part of about blog Commenting is it forces you to keep up to date with what the masses are actually thinking. This may or may not be a pleasent experience, but it is certainly an eye opening one. As a fulltime web developer I need to get to know my vistors and those whose interests my website caters to.
If you take the time to comment on at least 3 blogs per day, with a back link back to your website, the end result will be an extra 100 incoming links per month, or 1,200 links per year – with little effort on your own part.”
How did you come up with this number? I easily leave dozens of comments on various marketing blog everyday. I am not really seeing that type of back link return.
Loren,
so you whole point is to actually ignore the NOFOLLOW tag beause ASK and others (MSN? knock knock?) don’t care about the nofollow tag…
good point -I think that’s the reason why all those automated spam bots are still spraying their crappy spam comments around the web…
Good suggestions on how to get rid of having to write blog comments, I for my part actually enjoy reading and posting on my and other blogs at night when the “real work” has been done – sometime around midnight :-)
cheers
christoph
Great article, Epically the point about humans ignoring “nofollow tags”… thats something many people forget these days.
This was a great article and an inspiration. The creativity of thought and action on the web becomes more exciting on a daily basis.
I like the three comment/day suggestion. That definitely breaks it down into chewable pieces.
I think it is a good approach to use for blogging as well. One post a day will get you farther than most bloggers.
Loren,
Thanks for this article. Great tips, especially about 3 comments a day. That really works in all aspects of SEO too, to do small amounts on a daily basis, because it does build up over time.
This blog is very useful to understand tricks in link building and specially how not to spam.
The trick will be how does G determine which comments (and links) are legitimate and which ones are not. The obvious spam is very obvious, but there is still lots of gray.
One of my peers sent me this link and as per your advice, commenting on blogs add to traffic and I am taking your advice.
I am actually getting a hang of the whole SEO biz and I see it real profitable.
Thanks.
That is a well written post and it has motivated me to put some of your thoughts into action.
It is the routine of it that I think is what matters, as you so eloquently point out.
Thanks, – Ian.
Thanks for the informative non-spamming SEO tips. Will add these to our knowledge base…Thanks!
I am torn about the nofollow thing — it seems like you need to leave _some_ way for search engines to find out about legitimate sites through comments. I agree about not leaving anchors in blog comments…
Also I think some of the major search engines don’t support nofollow..
Great post and interesting comment.
3 comments a day, keeps the doctor away..
Check this:
http://courtneytuttle.com/2007/05/11/do-follow-d-list-and-no-no-follow/
Very useful:
- The D-list
- Dofollow (WordPress plugin)
- Firefox plugin to chech for nofollow
Wow 55 Comments and adding.. cool! I won’t be surprised if the comments hit 100.
Loren,
blogs were made for interaction and dialogue. Forget about nofollow. Its just pagerank after all. Big deal. There’s more to the Internet than Google rankings. And I’m in SEO.
My main concern is that you can’t guarantee every page of your website will be included in the SERPs. Considering I’m constantly adding new products to my company’s website, I need to be sure that customers can find them as soon as possible.http://www.seoptimizerz.com
“Take advantage of your staff : Your company has a staff of experts on hand. As part of their daily ritual, you should have them comment on a minimum of 3 blog posts per day.” Simple yet effective idea. Kinda of makes me want to look in the mirror and go duh !
Thank you very much for your very valuable free info, some of the comments were also good, I will be around for more, please let us have it, Thanks again, papajoe
I wanted to test out something. I just made a post with my screen name that I always use, and it was flagged as spam. Well incase this actually goes through I will repost my original opinion: I believe that “splogmenting” is horrible because it injures blogging which is already taking alot of criticism, and it offers no value to the readers, however I also believe that people whom post on blogs should be able to have thier blacks given full weight.
Another great article! I like to use blog comments on linkbuilding:)
Simple & straight to the point! great!
This was very informative. I have been publishing articles, press releases and have just begun the blog postings and commenting on others.
My question is… Is it beneficial to have a link to your own blog from your website as far as SEO goes?
Thanks,
Michael
Very good article.I do agree that it is very easy to leave comments on 5-6 blog everyday.
Nice one there. Never took blogs so seriously before but I guess they will be worth commenting to and collecting valuable backlinks and some traffic as well.
Hey, Even I won’t surprised to see comments hitting 100 soon, as this is the most interesting subject blogger loves all time.
Hi Lorren, I am still wondering how come vigrx is still survived here in the comments?
I agree Jaguarpc.com doesnt make much sense.