Blogging Tips : Leave Comments on Other Blogs

“Leave comments on other blogs.”

If there’s one piece of advice for building traffic to a blog that is given to new bloggers more than any other it is about leaving comments on other blogs.

Today your task in the 31 Days to Build a Better blog is to do just that - spend 10-15 minutes reading and interacting on other blogs on your topic (or surrounding topics).

The benefits of commenting on others blogs:

• You’ll be getting to know what other bloggers in your niche are doing
• You’ll hopefully read some great content that could spark ideas for your own blog
• You’ll be reaching out to another blogger in your niche (often comments are the start of fruitful relationships
• You’ll be creating a small doorway back to your own blog for the readers of that blog
• You’ll be building your own profile in your niche - it’s a chance to show your expertise, knowledge and understanding of the topic.

Warning!

It should go without saying but just having moderated the comments on my own blogs I suspect it needs to be said a day - DON’T BE A COMMENT SPAMMER!

More than that - DON’T LOOK LIKE A COMMENT SPAMMER!

I add that second warning because I come across a lot of bloggers who try to leave comments on other blogs in a way that they think is genuine - but that looks very spammy. Their comments more often than not get them on blacklists of comment spam filters.

The rule of thumb that I advise when leaving comments on other people’s blogs is simple - add value.

A comment that simply says ‘great post’ and that then has a link signature back to your own blog adds little if any value to the blog. It looks spammy. The only visitors you’ll get back to your blog are people wanting to know who the spammer is!

• Keep comments on topic
• Let your comment show that you’ve read the post
• Say what you like or don’t like about the post
• Add an example or another point that the blogger might have missed
• If you put a link back to your own blog in the comment try to make it a relevant one that adds to the post and will be useful to those who follow it.
• Ask a relevant and insightful question

Comments are Mini Resumes - Every comment you leave is like a mini resume for you and your blog (read more about that in the last point of Lorelle’s post on comments here).

Comments can Hurt Your Brand - On the flip side - every comment you write can potentially hurt your reputation and brand as a blogger. Here are 10 Ways that comments can actually do more harm than good to the brand of your blog.

Further Reading: I wrote a comment back in 2007 (which I think is still relevant today) with 11 Tips for Getting Your Comments Noticed on a Popular Blog.

Your task today is to find blogs on a similar or related topic to yours and to spend 10-15 minutes interacting on them in a genuine and useful way. Let us know how you go below (with a comment of course)!