I want you to take a moment to think about why you started your blog. 

Was it to share your story?

Was it to share your business?

Was it to share your thoughts on a certain subject?

Bloggers share their thoughts, insights, and expertise on various topics while attracting readers worldwide. You are not only a blogger, you are also a consumer of blogs. As a reader, you can engage with different bloggers through blog commenting. 

Today we are going to explore the art of effective blog commenting, focusing on building relationships and driving traffic to your blog. 

4 BENEFITS OF EFFECTIVE BLOG COMMENTING

Blog commenting goes beyond being a mere spectator on a website. It allows you to actively participate in an online community, express your opinions, share your knowledge, and build connections with like-minded bloggers and blog readers. By leaving meaningful comments on blog posts, you will not only contribute to the conversation but you are also going to create opportunities for networking.

Let’s dive into some of the benefits of blog commenting now!

Benefit 1: Building relationships

There are days when blogging can feel lonely. Typically you are sitting in your office or on your bed and writing a blog post yourself. It is just you and your computer doing what it does best and that can take a toll. 

Blog commenting is going to help you build relationships with other bloggers who are in your niche and who are in your shoulder niches. BUT you don’t have to stop there. Remember to go outside of your niche and comment on blogs that are also in subjects that interest you and light a fire inside. 

By building these relationships, you begin to open doors for collaboration and guest blog posting opportunities. These will mutually benefit all of you and your audiences.

Benefit 2: Establish credibility 

We all want to have credible blogs.

We all want to showcase our expertise.

Commenting on other blogs in your niche and in your shoulder niches gives you the opportunity to establish yourself as knowledgeable and trustworthy in your niche. In order to do this, you need to make sure that you are adding relevant and insightful information in your comments. 

Benefit 3: Generate traffic

Commenting on different blog posts is not going to bring you a lot of traffic to your site and I don’t think this should be your main traffic source. However, by leaving well-crafted comments, you can pique the interest of other readers and even the owner of the blog and encourage them to visit your site. 

I do have traffic that comes from some other comments that I have made in the past but this wasn’t the reason that I made those comments. It is just a wonderful bonus feature of leaving meaningful comments.

Benefit 4: Learn more about your niche

Finding other bloggers who also cover topics related to you is a great way to learn even more about your niche. Ask questions in the blog comments and hopefully, the blog owner will respond. This is going to open a line of communication that will benefit you in the future.

8 BLOG COMMENTING STRATEGIES YOU CAN IMPLEMENT TODAY

There is strategy to everything that we do as bloggers and commenting is no different. Are you ready to learn the strategies for blog commenting that you can implement today?

Strategy 1: Read the blog post

Honestly, most people just scan blog posts but when you are trying to leave meaningful comments on that blog post, scanning just won’t do. Take the time to read the blog post. Not only will it benefit you when you go to leave a comment, but it is also going to help that blogger with their bounce rate. 

Reading the post is going to help you know what the main takeaways are for that specific post and to make sure that your comment is relevant. 

Strategy 2: Add value. Don’t just comment to comment!

We have all had those comments that say, great post. Heck, there may have been times that I have written that in my comment as well. HOWEVER, there was always more to my comment if that is what I wrote. 

You don’t want to just leave a generic comment. You aren’t contributing to a conversation if this is all you do. You want to create a dialogue and engage the writer of the post as well as other readers.  Questions are a great way to get the conversation going!

Strategy 3: Be authentic

Remember that you are adding your name to this comment. You want to write your comments in a sincere and authentic way. Share your thoughts and experiences related to the topic for all the other readers to see. It is the best way to spark a conversation!

Strategy 4: Use proper grammar and spelling

We have so many tools now at our disposal that help with this. Just like your blog posts, you don’t want to use improper grammar and spelling. Again, your name is attached to your comment. You want to show your best self when leaving these comments. Well-written comments reflect positively on you and show that you value the blog author’s work as well as your own time.

Strategy 5: Be concise with your comment

You don’t need to write a huge paragraph to grab the attention of the author. By keeping your comments concise and to the point while also adding value, you can encourage others to engage with your comment and insights.

Strategy 6: Avoid self-promotion

You aren’t there to sell yourself. You are there to add value and contribute to the discussion of that specific blog post. You can self-promote on your own blog and website. If you decide to self-promote without their approval, you will shut down the options for future collaboration with that blogger.

Strategy 7: Engage with other comments

Was there another comment that caught your attention? Respond to them. Keep that conversation going. The comment section is a great way to see how others feel about that specific topic. This is also a great way to get ideas for your own content. By engaging with other commenters, you are going to help foster a sense of community.

Strategy 8: Respond to replies

Now this is going to work both ways. If you get comments on your blog, you want to take the time to respond to them. If there is a response to a comment you left, you can see if it warrants a response. Sometimes they will just say thank you and you don’t really need to respond to that but let’s say you ask a question. If they take the time to respond to your question, make sure that you respond to them. 

WAYS TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH BLOG COMMENTING

Now that you have the benefits of blog commenting and the strategies that you can use to implement effective blog commenting, it is time to talk about how you can use commenting to help build and foster relationships with other bloggers. 

Again, these are going to be practical tips that you can use starting today to help build those relationships. I don’t want you to think of a blogger in your niche as competition. I want you to think of other bloggers as collaborators and community members. You can connect, build, and help each other grow when you make the right connections. 

Collaboration is key to success. Throw the idea of competition out the window because you will not get far if that is how you go into blogging. 

So how can you build relationships through blog commenting? Let’s chat.

• Share stories. I love stories. We connect through stories and blog commenting is no different. If you have a relevant story that can be clear and concise, share it in a blog comment. This will help other readers and the blog author to see where you are coming from and the value that you have to give. 
• Ask thoughtful questions. Questions are a great way to either start or continue a conversation. Community is all about getting to know one another and questions are a great way to do just that. Make sure that when you are asking questions in blog comments they are relevant and on topic. 
• Offer a different perspective. None of us are the same in any single way. We were raised differently, we have different struggles, and we see things in different ways. All of these can benefit us when we talk about blog commenting. The best way that I can explain this is like this…

I offer a group blog coaching program. I offer a group program because I love that we can come together and offer different suggestions. We all see things in a different way and by being open to that different perspective, we can begin to connect with people on a different level. This can give us an insight into how others see our content and how they react to the content that we are creating.

• Connect with other commenters. Again, if you see a comment that intrigues you or interests you, respond to that comment. This is all about building connections and it doesn’t have to be with just the blog’s author. Take the time to see who the other commenters are and see what they have to offer.

WAYS TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE

Now to reiterate what I said earlier, driving traffic isn’t going to be your main goal when it comes to blog commenting. Yes, you can drive traffic but you won’t get hoards of people coming to your website from the comments that you leave. 

Instead, focus on leaving insights on different blogs so that you can begin to grow your blogging community. However, I do know that traffic is important to a blogger so I wanted to talk about ways that will help to drive traffic to your own website through commenting.

• Use your first and last name. I remember hearing this on a podcast and I wish I could remember which one. It was talking about blog commenting and he had said that it is important to use your first and last name when leaving comments. Remember, this is an introduction to who you are, what you do, and your comment. You introduce yourself usually by using your name so blog commenting is no different. 
• Include your link. Not every blog post that you go to leave a comment on is going to give you the option to leave a link. That is okay. If there is a spot to leave your link, then leave your link so that the author knows what your website is. 
• Leverage social media. Now if you have social media (and honestly, it is a must nowadays), there are many ways that you can do this. IG is hard as you can’t really leave a clickable link. If someone asks a question on any of your social media platforms, this is a great way to leave a relevant link if it is going to give them the information that they are seeking. You have tons of knowledge on your blog and this is a great way to showcase older blog posts that are on your website. 
• Comment on popular and relevant blog posts in your niche and shoulder niches. There are tons of bloggers out there who are doing great things in your niche. Do you have a few that you love? Then show them. Show up on their blogs and comment. Share their blog posts with your audience. If you link them in a blog post, share that blog post with them and see if they will share it with their audience. Asking isn’t going to hurt anyone!!

Effective blog commenting is an art that requires thoughtfulness, engagement, and authenticity. By following the strategies and tips that are outlined in this post, you can begin to build relationships with bloggers and other readers, establish your credibility, and drive traffic to your content. 

Remember to approach blog commenting as a way to contribute insights to a discussion and to help you foster connections within the online community. If you are looking for help with blog commenting, I now offer a new service, Spark Link. This is where I will share your blog post with different Facebook groups and engage in those groups to help you drive traffic to your website. We don’t all have time to do the engagement that we want and Spark Link can help you Ignite Engagement and Unleash Success! 

For the month of June, you can sign up for your first 30 days for ONLY $185/CAD. Let’s chat and see how I can help you boost your traffic.