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Replying to comments on your own blog is essential
Posted by lyndoman • 5/12/07 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blog, brand, Branding, comments, metric, traffic
I just finished a rant on my own blog about how people don't reply to comments. C'mon, how rude is that, I made the effort to read your blog post, to put down my litre sized Jolt Cola cup and make a comment regarding your blog post.
If you want to involve people in your blog, to improve your brand, to get return visits then bloody reply to my comments.
Who agrees that not replying to comments is just downright rude.
I suppose that means I have to reply to these comment, sigh.
User Comments
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Well I think there are two ways of looking at it:
Firstly, making comments and replying to comments are both very personal preferences. If there was even any unwritten rule or even understanding that comments have to be reciprocated, blogs will lose their intrinsic spontaneous nature.
Secondly, a person who makes a comment will defintely visit back at least a couple of times to read what's your point of view on his/her comment, and also to check if someone has commented on that comment. It's a personal curiosity ... perhaps you can call it something akin to looking dropping a stone into still waters and see what happens. I'll bet no one will drop that stone and walk away without stopping to check out what kind of ripples propagate.-
zakman, rules about this stuff happen orgnanically, with the crowd pushing where it wants to go. My claim is that it's useful as a branding tool to reply to your comments
Agree with the fact that commenters like to return, I know I do
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Well I am not sure it's so rude that it warrants a ranting
but I suppose it is a bit rude.. I would just let it go. At least it's better than getting a bad comment?-
I think I was exageration calling it a rant, more a thoughtful analysis of the benefits of involving your readers in conversation through comments, hehe, I aim prone to hyperbole
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Reminds me of a post I did a while back
www.yackyack.co.uk/2007/02/25/valuing-your-readership-site-wide-links-for-t...
Generally I agree, its polite to respond to your commenters. They made the effort, why shouldn't you. I usually apply a 2 strikes and you are out approach. If I comment on a blog and get ignored twice or more I say to myself, feck em and move on.
Although there are cases when comments just aren't worthy of a response, in the sense that they might just being making some affirmation of whatver. Just like in face to face convos, some statements merit little more than a knowing nod as opposed to some huge exclaimation of 'god yeah you are so right i soooo agree with what you said kinda comeback' -
I agree on the point made by zakman..
Commenting is something personal, we cannot force or urge a viewer to respond/comment on a blog..
This philosophy of commenting and responding should come in naturally.
But I do say that "commenting" on a blog is something which any blogger should try to put some effort in.
You never know, a simple comment might bring a little smile on the author's face, it can bring him new motvation in his aspirations to blog, it can help him in so many ways. So, in this regard, I would say commenting needs to be inculcated in the way of life of bloggers, viewers and all person related in one way or the other. (So far, I've seen that professional and sensible bloggers do put in a comment wherever they land)
Cheers! -
Maybe not so "rude", but at least not so clever from a publicity point of view to not respond to comments.
If you only get a few comments you can hardly afford NOT to respond to them -
lol...very funny
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Agreed
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Responding to comments made is one of the best ways to build a community. It shows that you give importance to your readers' opinions.-
Exactly. There's no point in building an audience if you don't acknowledge the fact that they are spending part of their life reading your blog!
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I try to reply to as many comments as possible, and also continue conversations on blogs where I have comments.
My Tumbleweed ratio is now 8, and hopefully that will continue to improve (ok yeah I have said that to make Rob jealous)
I think subscribe to comments helps a fair bit, and having good conversations definitely discourages junk comments. People learn by example and don't drop junk comments as often on a blog where they see real conversation.-
Im catching up Andy fast on your heels at 7
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Thanks for the reminder! I have a couple of questions to answer. -
i place comments on blogs all the time, and one problem i am coming across, is that later i cant remember which blog it was i left the comment on. some blogs have a feature that allow comment sub and some dont, im referring to the latter. -
well you can try co.mments.com, cocomment.com and a number of other services.
Most of the blogs with subscription are running Wordpress, with the subscribe-to-comments plugin. Blogs with it installed do generally get more comments and better discussion though you have to be a little careful in setting it up if you have a busy commercial blog. -
of course, you have to have comments to be able to reply to them :-(
--steve -
no comment-
Oh the irony, of course a no comment, is a comment. Or was it a no follow comment?
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www.cocomments.com is awesome. thx, andy.
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any of you have tried to let people discuss the post/topic and not reply? i love when that happens, when people discuss the topic, and i don't reply, they do all the talking. When that happens i know i wrote a great post -
A very good point... I try to leave a comment on my page but I feel silly like I am leaving the comment for myself but usually I go back to their site and leave a comment. I signed up for cocomments but it's not showing up on my homepage. am I doing something wrong?
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I try to reply to each and every comment these days. I hve the last ten comments as links at the bottom of the first page you come to at lordmatt.co.uk (and every other page too) and it acts like a to-do list of comments to read and reply to. -
hmmm...only one thing worse...and that's when someone deletes your post after you have spent 30 minutes writing a comment on their blog!!!...this has happened to me twice just recently...I'm giving them the benefit that they accidently deleted through comment moderation...but I won't visit them again!!! once burnt...twice shy is my motto.....and I DO believe in "do unto others......" -
I definitely make it a habit to respond to comments. My blog is still relatively new and I use sub to comments. I think responses brings people back and encourages them to comment again. -
If it's only one sentence ("Well done" or something like that), chances are I'm not gonna answer. If it's longer or really tied to the post's topic, I'd feel bad not to answer.
Today, for example, I woke up, looked at the comments and there was one, that was long enough to be a post itself. Nice way to begin a day, btw :-). -
I always respond to questions in comments but not always to statements. That is, unless the statement invites a question or sounds like a question in disguise.
There are some blogs that I've visited (and I visit a LOT of blogs) where the blog author never replies to anything. It's annoying when it's a well-thought out question. Heck, it's annoying when it's a simple question too. -
i always try to respond if not with a direct response to the comment, at least a comment on their blog...the few times i didn't do that i lost the reader... -
I try to follow up with everyone...but sometimes I let it go...I love all my readers though...and if you have no comments its hard to follow up... -
I love replying to people's comments. It's the entire point of having a blog, imo. -
I make the effort to respond to most of my comments. If people are going to put in the time and effort to comment, then why shouldn't I do the same?
The only exception are the short one sentence comments that don't really merit a response. Comments such as "Nice, I totally agree!"
I also like to wait for people to start short discussions in the comments section, before I step in and respond.
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