Why Doesn't Anyone Comment on Your Blog? Maybe They're Hiding in the Honey Clusters.

By George Kittredge

This morning I read an excellent article on a website published by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). The title of the article was, "Why Doesn't Anyone Comment on Your Blog?" Although written last September and directed at non-profit organizations, the article is just as relevant today and applicable to the for-profit sector as well.

Apparently, association executives around the country are lamenting the fact that their association blogs attract very few comments. I have a feeling that a number of business executives and marketing gurus may have the same lament. Is this true of your blog? Maybe they're hiding in the honey clusters.

The authors of the ASAE article, Lindy Dreyer and Maddie Grant, focus in on this concern and offer what I think are five great tips to maximize potential blog comments. Here they are.

First of all, Dreyer and Grant correctly point out that getting a reading audience to become more "vocal" does not happen overnight. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication "to build an audience that cares enough to speak up." However, they list these five qualities that blogs with vocal audiences have in common.

1. Voice. One of the biggest mistakes organizations make with their blogs is over-editing their writing. They tend to edit out the personality. Dreyer and Grant recommend that organizations need to choose a blog author who "is not afraid to show his or her true colors."
2. Open and easy. If you want to receive blog comments, make it easy for people to comment. Sounds pretty simple doesn't it. But you'd be amazed at how some blogs create hurdles for commenters to jump over. So make things easy such as eliminating any login, make comment links easy to find, and (I love this one) eliminating the captchas. Do you know what captchas are? I didn't. They are those annoying things that make you spell out letters to prove that you are human.
3. Challenge Readers. If you want people to comment, you have to publish something that can create a urge to respond or participate in the conversation.
4. Be active. Post regularly and reach out to other bloggers as well as all of your readers.
5. Listen and reward. When someone does comment, publish their comment quickly and reply quickly. If a comment is really good, you might want to highlight it is a future post (great idea).

The bottom line is that in order to attract comments, you must make it a part of your blogging strategy. If you have a blog, take a look at it, and see how many of the above tips you are currently using.

And get rid of those captchas.

Comments

[Sybil Stershic]

What I found that works is periodically sending an e-mail with the post link to select people in my network (not all of whom are bloggers) asking for their feedback on a topic I know is of interest to them. However, I use this strategy judiciously to avoid burdening my network. Too many blogs, too little time to read, must less comment!