Some people obsess about getting comments on their blogs and feel is somehow represents their success as a blogger. While it is possible that a lot of comments can indicate an active reader community the opposite is not always true.
Engaging your readers to comment is somewhat of an art. It’s not something I can say I’ve entirely mastered but I always keep in mind that one of the purposes of my blog is to have a conversation with YOU. I think it’s important for any blogger to develop the skill of talking to their readers rather than talking at them.
The mechanics of good blog comments also can factor into how many you get.
Blog Comment Plugins
Disqus
Just recently I removed the plugin ‘Disqus’ from my blog right here at Marketers Mojo. The reason is I realized that the ‘no-follow’ was enabled on all comments. What this means is that your comment doesn’t get real Google credit and it doesn’t count as an incoming link to your website. I don’t like that!
Do-Follow
I want your links to count here and so I removed Disqus and have the ‘Do-Follow’ plugin enabled. This means that Google and the other search engines will follow your link and give it credit as a backlink to your website. That’s a good thing.
Comment Love
I also have comment love enabled which should give you a link back to your most recent post. It didn’t seem to be working before but I’m hoping now that Disqus is removed it will work properly.
Another plugin I did have installed in the past was one that allowed me to respond to comments. It allows me to have a conversation with each reader who comments by responding right below their comment rather than at the bottom of all comments. This is very important for keeping the conversation going. The theme I’m using now, Rockstar from Woo Themes, actually does that anyway so there’s no need for a plugin.
How to Install Plugins
If you’re wondering how to install any of these plugins on your own wordpress blog, here’s how:
1. Log in to your wordpress dashboard.
2. Click on the drop down option under ‘Plugins’ that says ‘Add New’
3. Type in the name of the plugin you want to add.
4. Click install.
5. Then activate the plugin.
That’s it!
So there you have just a few ways I use plugins and themes to make sure my blog comments are user friendly.
I’d love to hear any suggestions you have or any ways you have made your own blogs comments more user friendly.
Leave your comments below, ok?!
p.s. If you’d rather let someone else handle your blog and blog comments setup then I’d like to invite you to check out the services we offer at BlogSiteMojo.com.
Eesh, I didn’t know that about Disqus. Thanks for letting me know. Gonna remove it from both my blogs today.
.-= Emily´s last blog ..Accepting Equals Accelerating =-.
Oh, and of course, plugin Comment Luv.
.-= Emily´s last blog ..Accepting Equals Accelerating =-.
Twitter: AngelaWills
says:
Yea I didn’t realize it either until I learned an easy way to check and that I’d try it out on my own blog. Then I realized it was no-follow even though I have the do-follow plugin enabled!
Anyway, not sure if there is a fix with Disqus, there might be but I just took it off because that was quicker.
Have you ever looked into the intensedebate plugin?
I figure I just won’t use the features I don’t want, but it probably won’t clutter anything to install it.
Hi !
Thanks for this well written article.Your advices on ” How to engage blog readers to comment ” are marvelous.For the first time I am reading these Disqus and ‘Do-Follow.I want to know more about these. Will you please tell me how to know?