One Knockout Comment Strategy for Your Blog

May 20, 2008
24 Comments

POW!Linking to your own previous posts to help a commentator is a powerful blog commenting strategy. It drives traffic deeper into your blog and strengthens your relationship with readers. We are often dashing off quick answers to comments and we forget something. Something very important.

Comments are content.

And, as we all know, content is king.

I first heard comments are content from Liz Strauss at SOBCon 08. Here’s how it applies to what I’m talking about:

  • If you would link to something in a blog post, do it in a comment
  • After the post has been read by most of your readers, the comments are where the action is–you still have eyes on it, so take advantage of that and extend the life of the post
  • Readers often just skip right over the “related posts” at the end of the post in order to get to the comments, so put your real related post links in there
  • Most bloggers never do this, so if you do it, you will be way ahead of other bloggers in your niche (who are all gunning your audience’s precious attention)
  • It helps build audience loyalty and trust–which is the foundation for monetization efforts or selling
  • If you’re using the DoFollow plugin, you’re creating more internal links to your content which will benefit your blog search engine optimization efforts

So… that’s it?

Yup. Just one thing: link to older posts in your comments where it will help readers, answer commentator questions, or otherwise further the conversation and extend the life of the current post.

Not a bad return on investment for a little bit of extra effort in your comments section.

I’ve done this a few times in the past, but nowhere near as much as I should have. What inspired me to write this post was noticing that Harrison McLeod from Men With Pens did it on this post about website content writing that converts.

Don’t do it if it isn’t a natural fit for the comments on a post, otherwise you will appear to be the overly aggressive salesperson and turn off everyone. Do, however, take some time once in a while to add links in to appropriate anchor text in old comments (anchor text are the words that you click on, and Google pays attention to it).

have you ever linked to your own posts in your blog comments to help others? What do you think of the idea? Is it worth the effort? Please add your comments below so I can shovel into them as many internal links as possible to my older posts. :)

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  • Hmm..interesting.

    I usually give links to my older posts on the comments only when a reader ask about it.

    Mostly I tried to revive my old posts on the post itself
  • I have been doing this from time to time, when it is faster to link to a more expansive answer to a question. Now I will do it more proactively.
    Thanks!
  • Great idea Michael, I'll certainly keep this one in mind. Love the boxing granny.

    Would it be possible to quickly explain (or do you have a post to link to? :) ) about what 'no follow' and the 'do follow' thing means? I've heard it a few times and don't quite understand it. (If it's too long for a quick answer, don't bother). Thanks!
  • I have been doing this on occasion but hadn't thought of it as a good way to build links. I will be more aware of this technique and the power it can wielded.
  • Thanx for the encouragement as I do this whenever possible (read w/out pushing the boundaries of relevance ~_^). Tis by far the best means of keeping my info threaded & sharing past posts w/new readers.

    Speaking of threading, I'm about to migrate my blog to WordPress (as was the plan all along ^_^) but hate to lose my threaded comments. Was hoping the solution was a plug-in but do I need to plan for it in my theme?! Thanx in advance for any & all advice!

    (|_|*cheers*|_|)
    “Comment is free but facts are sacred.” ~ Charles Prestwich Scott
  • @Kelly - Guys fight for sport and are expected to get into a brawl once in a great while. Massive quantities of alcohol will often help this along nicely. Of course it can become assault, bullying, and abuse.

    But a man hitting a woman is basically an instant visceral signal for abuse. Even if the person in the original photo was a man, enough people thought he looked like a woman for me to pull it. If two people said something, how many thought it but didn't say anything?

    Boxing gloves signal it's all in fun and sport. Especially boxing gloves on old ladies! :)
  • @Michael: You know, this is exactly what I was talking about later on in that comment thread about doing things that just feel right and not thinking about all the hows and whys behind it.

    I do this all the time and not just on MwP. If I have a post that's relevant, I'll stick a link in.

    I'm more apt to do it on our own blog, since I'm never really sure if doing it on someone else's blog is in poor taste or not.

    I also have a pretty good memory, and when a commentor brings up a subject I know I've written about and needs help, I'll add a link as naturally as inserting something into a conversation.

    Guess when it comes to tooting my own horn, I'm not as forward as King James.

    Anyway, thanks for the compliments (and the links!)
  • Michael,

    I was going to come over here and give you a hard time, because I can't see how a guy getting hit is NOT a problem, but a lady getting hit IS... but, well, the new photo is cool.

    Getting hit is probably not much fun whoever you are. Being a growlin' granny, on the other hand, probably is fun.

    Old photo went only two rounds. KO to grandma.
  • OK, now it REALLY is a woman! But now she's on the business end of things. Ready to KICK SOME COMMENTATOR BUTT.
  • @Sonia - You thought it was a woman, too? Hmm. Well, then I probably don't want it up there, cuz if everyone keeps thinking that, well, that's just not cool.
  • Wow, this is such a smart idea, I am going to try it.

    I came *this* close to using that image for my "how to take a punch" post. Never occurred to me that it was a guy--I assumed it was a woman. At the end of the day, I figured I just didn't have that Fight Club kind of readership that would really dig it.
  • Why didn't I think of this?
  • @Kelly - Exactly. Making it conscious makes the difference.

    @Ruth - The HTML issue is a bit of a thorn in the side of this idea, for sure. There are commenting tools that can help (and I fully realize you don't see them here!).
  • While I wouldn't call my use of this technique a "strategy", I often use this on blogs to point readers toward info that I've written about (and likely linked to verification of my sources) in a previous posting. No sense re-inventing the wheel, as they say, and it's part of working efficiently. If what you've written previously is useful and accurate, linking also helps build your reputation as reputable source. And, yes, knowledge of basic HTML coding can be very useful...
  • By the way, the dude in that picture is definitely a dude. The brightness of the flash, the flush coloring due to large quantities of alcohol, and the high shutter speed capturing the distortions in the face in combination can make it seem as though the subject is a woman. I never saw it that way until Natasha mentioned it, though.

    I can see it now: after a few, somebody says, "dude, punch me and take a picture with your high-speed camera!" And of course everyone thinks that's a brilliant idea. Hilarity and bruises ensue. :)
  • Michael,

    I don't do it all the time, but I certainly do it whenever I think it might be helpful. I've never thought about it in quite this way, making it a more conscious strategy.

    Thanks for another great idea!

    Regards,

    Kelly
  • @Liz - Yes, they are far more relevant and receive more clicks when they're in the comments vs. an automated recent comments plugin output. I don't know if Harry thought about much when he did it at Men With Pens, but as soon as I saw that what he did, the benefits of it hit me full force and inspired me to write this post.

    @John - A big part of the difference between a so-so blogger and a rockin' blogger is that the rockin' blogger knows and is conscious of what works and why it works. And I am not saying that you are a so-so blogger, I'm speaking in general terms.

    @Natasha - Threaded comments are great. Linking internally to a specific comment is time-consuming and unless you know HTML, it's too difficult for most people. You will see threaded comments here at Remarkablogger in the next version/redesign. :)
  • This strategy makes a lot of sense and leads me to wonder if my recent related musing does, too.

    Should a blogger create "jump links"in his comment replies?

    For example, instead of...

    "@dude-with-something-to-say, that's a great tip"

    ...would it not make sense to just jump link to his actual comment? Especially if you've got an active comment section (say, over 30 comments)?

    Of course if you have a widget that threads conversations, this isn't needed. Most blogs don't, however, so any thoughts would be appreciated.

    Or perhaps I should just "Shhh" and start blogging already!

    Natasha Vincent
    P.S. To me it looks like that's a lady getting knocked out. Slightly disturbing. Just saying.
  • Like Liz it's something I just do (when appropriate) not something that was a deliberate strategy.
  • Hi Michael!
    I find that linking in a reply to a comment makes the link more relevant than putting it in the "related posts." Folks more naturally want to read it there. I'd forgotten that I even do that. :)

    Thanks for the love.
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