Okay, so last week I wrote the article “Why You Should Stop Leaving Dumb Comments” and the internet hasn’t been the same since then.  I promised to follow up with a more positive, constructive post that would detail a better strategy for leaving comments, so here it is.  This probably won’t be anything new for the more seasoned bloggers, because this is more of a continuation from the previous point I was trying to make.  However, you may be fairly new to the blogging world, and you may not quite “get it” yet.  Hopefully, this article will change that.

Don’t Spam

I’ll start with the most painfully obvious one.  Comment spamming is wrong, it’s annoying, and it will do very little to further your cause.  Even though generating backlinks will help you to get your brand name out there, it will eventually do more harm to it than good.  And what’s more, you’ll probably piss off a lot of people who would have been more than happy to help you out.  It’s plain and simple, DON’T DO IT.  Build up an army of backlinks by networking honestly with people and leaving insightful, helpful comments instead of taking the stupid, lazy, immoral way out.

Make sure that you have read the ENTIRE article before writing your comment.

This should also go without saying, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t read the entirety of the article that they are commenting on.  This is something that we’re all guilty of from time to time, which is why I put it as one of the first tips.  I’m aware that we all lead busy lives and such, and some bloggers tend to ramble on and on, but when you choose to comment on something that you haven’t completely read, you run the risk of looking silly.

Speaking of which, nothing will make you look as silly as when you are in such a hurry to leave a comment that you miss the entire point of the article.  Several months back, I wrote an article that started out tongue in cheek, but wasn’t immediately obvious at first.  It was only until the things that I was writing were becoming more and more ridiculous that by the end of the article, I had basically admitted that I was being facetious, and I could tell who had actually read the entire article based on the comments that they had left.

Of course, you’re not going to run across many articles like that, but it is a good example of why you should read the entire thing before you offer your opinion.  This may be an extreme example, but you always run the risk of missing the point if you don’t read the whole thing.  Not to mention that the person who wrote the article put a lot of time and effort into what they wrote, so you can at least take the minute or two to actually READ what they wrote before you add to the discussion.

Make sure that you have something relevant to say.

Remember what the main reason is for bloggers to have comments in the first place.  They are inviting discussion on the topic so that the discussion can grow and evolve, possibly inspiring future blog articles.  The comment section is not there for you to plug your website.  However, so many people seem to think that’s what comment sections are for, and do very little except leave a short comment so that their name and URL appears on there.

Of course, a lot of prominent bloggers get very little besides mindless praise in their comment sections.  Personally, this annoys me, but if the other bloggers don’t mind this, then who I am to judge?  Of course I DO like positive feedback from my articles, but I’m of the opinion that the feedback is insincere if the comment is one or two sentences.  I mean, think about it, if the article was as “excellent” as you claim, or if it “was exactly what you needed to hear today”, then you can share some insight into why it was such a big deal to you, right?  So use the comment form to share SPECIFIC reasons for why you liked the article, and not just leave a quick little note trying to kiss up to the author.

It also doesn’t hurt to read the other comments before you write one either.

I admit, I don’t always do this, but I should.  Sometimes when you read an awesome article, and you’re eager to comment on it, and then you notice that the article already has something like a hundred or so comments.  You start to wonder if your comment will even get read, and then you go ahead and leave your comment, but you skip over all of the comments that have already been left.  I know this is something we’ve ALL done.  Let me explain why you should reconsider doing this.

First of all, you might be missing out on a discussion that has taken place and has dramatically altered the course of the topic.  If an article has a large number of comments, then that must mean that a lot of people had an opinion about it, and decided to share it.  Maybe you decide to debate the points that the author brought up, and you are so eager to get your point across that you completely fail to realize that the author has changed their mind, due to some of the comments left.  Or maybe the discussion has evolved into something much more interesting, and by skipping the comments, you have missed out on half of the discussion.

Secondly, when you engage the other readers of the site in discussion, as opposed to just the author, you are, in essence, networking with more people at once.  It’s always possible that your comment will be overlooked by the author, but it’s also possible that by responding to a discussion taking place in the comments, you could impress the other readers with your insight, and gain new readers to your own blog, all in the comments of another blog!

Spend less time commenting on the larger blogs.

Okay, so you REALLY want to gain the attention of the Leo Babauta’s, The Darren Rowse’s and the Steve Pavlina’s.  That’s understandable.  After all, that seems to be the dream of 99% of bloggers, to have a powerful friend in the field.  By all means, don’t let me discourage you from trying to network with the big dogs.  After all, it sometimes work.

However, is it better to spend a lot of time trying to network with one large blogger, or to spend the same amount of time trying to network with several smaller bloggers who will be more likely to remember you and have the time to read your articles and give you feedback?  I would say that it’s better to connect with smaller bloggers than large bloggers.  Of course, there’s nothing quite like some link love from highly trafficed blog, but that just doesn’t happen very often.  I say that you’re better off making friends with people closer to your level, so that you can send readers back and forth and grow together.

Try to frequent fewer blogs as opposed to visiting more blogs.

On the same line of though, don’t spread yourself too thin.  A lot of newbie bloggers, (I was one of them) will have the strategy of visiting as many blogs as they can and leaving comments on all of them, in an attempt to get visitors from whatever source they can happen to stumble upon.  Eventually, most people find out that this strategy may work on paper, but just doesn’t seem to work in real life.

In recent months, I have discovered that I get better feedback when I try to become a regular reader and commentator on a few blogs, as opposed to just reading it every once in a while.  I do this by making a special section in my bookmark folder that I devote to the blogs that I ENJOY reading, and that I want to read all of their material and develop a rapport with the author.

When you get to know the people who are writing the articles, they will, in turn, get to know you.  Then they will start to make it a point to keep up with your blog, and to offer constructive criticism.  Often, they will be willing to link to your blog, and to direct their readers to check it out.  In summary, it just flat out makes more sense to develop BETTER relationships with fewer bloggers, than to develop a casual relationship with more of them.

Always try to return the favor when someone comments on your article.

Lastly, when another person takes time out of their day to read what you had to write and to offer their opinion on the matter, it’s only courteous to return the favor.  In fact, a lot of other bloggers take this principle quite seriously, with my writing colleague, Sire, being a notable example.  It’s only polite, and it will go a long way towards developing relationships with other bloggers and thus increasing traffic to your blog.

I hope that everyone who reads this article takes something away from it.  There have been hundreds of articles written about how to get more visitors and comments to your blog, but I have not come across very many that tackles the subject of how you should approach the way you leave comments.  And the few of them that I HAVE read went into very little detail.  Also, if you have anything to add to the list, feel free to mention it in the comments below.