5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Making a Comment

Posted by Justin Smith at 10 October, 2008, 3:09 pm

Commenting is pretty straight forward right? Name, email, website, comment. Rinse Repeat.

But beleive it or not, one of the most common questions I get in classes is:

“How do I know what blogs to comment on?”

Behold: 5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Making a Comment

1. Do you like the blog you’re about to comment on? - Sounds simple right? Not so fast… You wouldn’t believe how many people I talk to that treat commenting like a regimented duty. Spam commenters out there… take note. If you hate commenting, don’t do it. If you don’t enjoy what you’re reading then stop. Life’s too short to leave useless comments when there are plenty of other enjoyable activities you could be doing to market your site or blog. Commenting is not the only way to market.

2. Is this blog relevant to my industry? - Commenting CAN be a great marketing tool, but it’s really not going to help too much if you’re simply commenting on every blog in site. A big part of leaving a comment is the relationships that can be built. Not only with the author, but with other commenters as well. Commenting on a sports blog isn’t going to do you a whole lot of good if you maintain a gardening blog.

3. Do I have anything intelligent to say? - If you’re only going to leave a comment because you think it can help your own website/blog, then don’t leave a comment. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to have that mentality, but some people just don’t have anything to say except “great post man”. That’s garbage. I can safely say that 95% of those people have an ulterior motive for commenting. Write something intelligent and meaningful. And if you can’t do that, it would be better to just leave.

4. Does this blog reach my potential audience? - This doesn’t necessarily mean comment on a competitors website… but it does mean that you want to focus on your industry. The reason? Because you could potentially be reaching a customer. Especially on a popular blog with alot of people participating and commenting. You may be staring your next customer right in the face.

5. Does this blog get any traffic? - One of the best ways to see if a site has traffic… comments. Make sure people are participating regularly on the site by leaving comments. It’s pretty easy to tell if a site is popular or not through the comments section. If you find a site that regularly has 3+ comments per post, chances are it gets a decent amount of traffic. If you’re going to use commenting as a way to market your own website/blog or service, you’ll definitely want to focus on the sites that get higher traffic.

Just ask these simple questions before you make your next comment. Hopefully they can be used as a litmus test before you start commenting on unrelated blog that get not traffic. Just a thought…

Category : Blogging

Comments

Judy Peterson October 12, 2008

Justin - just curious, do you think that there are some blogs that organically generate more comments than others? Do you have the same opinion about comments on a Real Estate Blog as a determinant factor of the value of the Blog?

I notice that there are not many real estate blogs that generate comments, unless the readers are in the industry like Active Rain. It seems to me that one reason might be that the real estate process has a short interest span. Maybe 30 - 90 days max and then the interest wanes until the next time you’re in the real estate market.

Justin Smith October 12, 2008

Hey Judy,
Yes, I do. I also believe that there are blogs in certain industries that are more likely to get comments than others.

I totally agree with you. I think most local real estate blogs don’t have the potential for a large audience because of the content… but on the other hand, the community based RE blogs tend to get more comments, and it probably has alot to do with the content, and your theory about more interest coming from people that are in the market.

Sunrarahbir October 13, 2008

Good tips for newbie like me, good post Justin. You help me to understand about commenting in other blogs

Curtis Reddehase October 13, 2008

Well put Justin. I tell the people in my office that the most important thing they will get from comments is knowledge of other markets. That knowledge will help to give them perspective on our market

Paul Sothebys November 14, 2008

Me too!
Great Post!
Love the article!
I couldn’t have said it better myself!

LOL, you mean my comments above are not the type you are recommending people post?

I think even the most simple comment is nice to leave, especially on a blog with low traffic. It lets the author know that someone took the time to read the article. The only comments I hate to see on my blogs are the ones blatantly advertising spam, nudity and profanity.

Paul Sothebys November 14, 2008

If you look at most real estate blogs you will notice the majority of comments are made by people in the real estate sales industry. I rarely see potential home buyers commenting on any of the RE blogs I read. If you know of some I’d be interested in taking a look at their sites to see what they are doing. Even Active Rain is 95% agents chatting with agents. I’d rather be chatting with potential buyers!!!