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How Simple Comments can Build High Traffic Sites

How Simple Comments can Build High Traffic Sites

by on July 13, 2010 · 103 comments

Looking for ways to get more traffic? You have already setup your keywords, you got yourself a killer domain name, and you understand and are following the steps to create killer on-page SEO (search engine optimization) for every page and article you write, you even started using social media and bookmarking sites to help drive traffic to your site, but you still are not getting that much traffic.

The question for most new bloggers is how do I get more traffic?

Benefits of Comments

All blogs need comments. When a person leaves a comment they can leave a backlink to their site. When you leave a useful comment, other visitors will read your comments and if they find it interesting or useful, they will visit your site.

Seven reasons why you want to comment,

  • adding something useful to a community
  • building your brand / name
  • making friends / networking
  • getting exposure for your site
  • building backlinks
  • getting more traffic
  • a good comment could lead to a sale or consult for your business
  • relationships between the blogger and the blogger owner

How Do I Get More Traffic?

I cannot stress enough how important commenting can be for a new site traffic is to comment. I am not just talking about on your site, but you need to be commenting on other sites related in your niche. If you are not comfortable, get comfortable! When I first started, I was VERY uncomfortable, now it’s pretty easy. Once you get started commenting, the traffic will be a slow at times, do not worry. After you start commenting regularly on different sites and other niche related sites traffic will start flowing.

How Many Comment Do I Need to Do?

How often and how many times a day do I need to comment? This is a tricky question to answer. But the easy answer is, as much as you can! If you need a number, I have done a lot of research and read a lot different views on this, but what I hear most often is twenty to fifty comments a day is ideal. In reality, at least for me, it is more like ten to twenty (closer to 10). If you can do more then, do more.

Do I Really Need to Comment that Much?

Yes, you really do. The more you comment the more traffic back to your site you get. The way I see it is, you do what you can and when you can. If you can only comment a few times days and lot more on other days, it is better than not doing it at all.

What Can I Do, I Do Not Have the Time To Comment?

In reality everyone has the same amount of time, it just time management and how busy your life is. For me, this is a big problem. I spent some time figuring out my time management and adjusted accordingly so I can have time to comment. What I found was I have about two hours a day on most week nights that I could be commenting. But I wasted too much time during the day. I figured out how my times throughout the day I was being wasting and fixed it.

I found that not having time is a myth for most people. You just have to stop doing things that waste your time. When you do that, you can find the time to comment.

Common time wasters are;

  • Television
  • Facebook and other social media games – stop playing Farmville!
  • Surfing the internet to waste time
  • Chatting or talking on the phone to much

Tip: If you find that you do some of things that are time waster, stop doing some of them for a week and replace that time with commenting and working on your blog. If you do this and stick to it you should see positive results. Then, after a few weeks, start removing more time wasters from your day until they are all gone. For me, it worked and I am currently working on freeing up more time so I can comment more.

Commenting Strategies

When commenting, I look for sites that are in my niche or sites that are places that I want to comment and be there. I spend most of my time commenting in several niches, but I do support other bloggers in other niches by commenting on their site from time to time. I believe commenting shouldn’t be a job and I comment because want to and not because I have to.

Tip: If you must look for places to comment and it becomes more a job, look for new articles to comment on, look for ones that are current. Try and be the first few visitors to comment. I found that if you comment on high traffic sites, most readers will only the first few comments. They are more likely to see your comment if it close to the end of the article and not at the bottom of the page. This is even more important if the site has multiple comment pages and has fifty or more comments per article. When I comment on an article and there are already a ton of comments, I find that I have less traffic back to my site where as if I would have commented earlier when there were fewer comments, I would have more traffic.

Types of Comments

I believe that if an author of an article does a great job, spent a lot time compiling a long list of resources, or helps me figure something out I believe they deserve a comment. I have no problem leaving a short comment such as “great job,” “thanks for help me figure this out” or “excellent write up.” But, when you make comments like this, make sure the site allows these types of comments first.

On those that do require more than just a short comment, I find that it’s better to leave a two to three sentences. These sentences should thank the writer and a give brief reason why that write up help you or why you enjoyed it so much. I find that this type of comment does get you traffic and if it’s a high traffic site you can get a good number of new visitors that might stick around and read so more of your work.

As for other types of comments, I would always stick to a minimum of three sentences unless you are asking a question that only requires a question. When commenting, depending on the post, you should be able to ask a question, agree / disagree and share your example, help answer the writer’s questions, correcting the author (do this smartly and be nice about it), helping out a visitor with their questions, and give a life example.

Types of Sites to Comment On

I do not look for where I can comment but, what can that site teach me? I look for blogs, forums and different sites to comment on by using bookmarking sites such as MMO, DesignGizer, and Blog Engage to look for more blogs to read and learn from. I look for descriptions and titles that catch my interests. Once I find that site, I start reading and if I like the article, have something valid to say, or if I disagree with the post I will comment. It’s simple as that. Stop making it harder than it has to be.

Don’t get me wrong, when looking for new sites, there are certain characteristics that I look for on a site for return visits and comments. I look for relevant content, how popular the site is, if they are a DoFollow, CommentLuv, and if they are consider a safe neighborhood site. But, if a site is not a DoFollow, or CommentLuv enabled site, I will still comment on them and will return to read and comment on them. For those sites that are not DoFollow or CommentLuv enabled, I will still comment on them. I do not care if a site is NoFollow and doesn’t use CommentLuv, if the site has high traffic, been around for a while, or I just like the site I will comment on them and return often, you can still get traffic from these sites! Remember, it’s not all about getting the backlinks, it’s about networking, building your brand, and being social…

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Article by James Johnston

spends most of his free time using social media and loves to teach others about design, web development, CSS, SEO, and social media. He is addicted to Wordpress, and social media. You can reach him website, Evolutionary Designs Blog.

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{ 97 comments… read them below or add one }

Eric Evenstad August 18, 2011 at 1:56 pm

This is a wonderful article. I have been researching how to successfully comment a lot lately and I really like how this article urges you to really get out there and comment more than you think is necessary. It amazes me that someone could regularly comment 50 times per day! While I could do that and I do see how it could have its benefits, I feel as though spending a little extra time to create 5-15 extremely high quality and valuable posts might be a better strategy. I have written up a couple tips that I have found helpful as far as commenting goes in my blog “Adding Value with Comments” I hope you will check it out and leave a comment with your thoughts :)
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DrD July 5, 2011 at 11:12 pm

I agree on the commenting, but I also get good play from some time spent on Facebook. The key on commenting is to try to figure where to place the comments and spend the time to be pertinent.

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Darlene June 16, 2011 at 5:37 am

Great to know the important things which we need to follow or not to follow during commenting..As a new commenter, i will be in ambiguity whether to post my typed matter or not or to alter matter???..Lots of thanks to all my friends how guided me through their posts..

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Anand April 12, 2011 at 4:44 am

It’s a good point – you should still comment on sites when you read a post and have something to say, despite the fact that it may or may not be dofollow, commentluv enabled, etc.

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Jason Stone December 16, 2010 at 9:09 am

Great post with some useful hints and tips there, will take this on board and get commenting more! Guess I started here :p

Thanks again.

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Joel Gray October 22, 2010 at 8:14 am

I also recognize the importance of a simple comment to increase website traffic. I recommend that comments should be done intelligently and relevant to the posts being comment on. Thanks. :)

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Dana September 23, 2010 at 12:12 am

I know this to be true by accident, actually. I was a regular reader/commenter on several high traffic blogs and after a few weeks discovered a sudden spot in my traffic and sales. After checking my referrers I found it was coming from the blogs I’d been commenting on. Value is key when it comes to commenting.

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Stacey Acevero September 21, 2010 at 3:03 pm

Excellent post—few realize the importance of commenting on articles that are in your niche and that it really is beneficial for driving traffic.

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abhishek August 22, 2010 at 9:10 am

I would like to add one more thing and that is at times leaving comments on commentluv enabled websites or which get the feed of your last blog can actually act as link bait if your comment is really interesting to read and also the blog title seems something as to read on.
I like some blogs that I regularly comment on and sometimes the comments and the websites do attract me enough that I just go on to that site and maybe even become a regular reader of it.
So what I would suggest is one should keep in mind that comments actually says a lot about that person so whenever one should comment it should be like writing something for himself.
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blue2x August 5, 2010 at 1:55 pm

Nice article, I comment on blogs but not like 10 to 20 times a day on my selected niche, I’ll try to do this method and hopefully it will help increase some traffic to my own site as well..

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element321
Twitter:
August 5, 2010 at 2:04 pm

Blue2x,
It can be hard to get that many. It takes time to comment on that many daily. Lately I haven’t done much commenting or working blog posts. Been to busy and exhausted from working to many hours to even think about commenting or using social media…
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Philip July 22, 2010 at 3:35 pm

Wow! That was the most helpful article about driving traffic I’ve ever seen. Thanks so much. Commenting on other blogs and forums, etc. is an awesome technique.

Best regards

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element321
Twitter:
July 22, 2010 at 3:53 pm

Thanks phillip, I hope this helps you out and brings you more traffic and return visitors.
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Cindy
Twitter:
July 19, 2010 at 10:04 am

oh my… 20 to 50 comments… looks like I have a lot of work to do :)

I havent reached this number yet, but I’m enjoying blog hopping so far and comment on anything I find interesting. I never realized how virtually sociable I’ve become since I started blogging.

Thanks for the post… I learned a few points.
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element321
Twitter:
July 22, 2010 at 3:57 pm

Yeah 20 – 50 comments a day are a lot of work it does take time. Once you get a bunch blogs you comment on regularly, then add them to your RSS reader and you can quickly read the latest posts, and if you have something to comment on, then comment on, if not, move on to the next one. I find it takes me about an hour to 2 hours to get a reasonable number blogs read and commented on…
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Gina July 17, 2010 at 11:12 pm

Blog commenting is something I haven’t done a lot of. I’m more of a forum marketing kind of girl. It’s easier for me to just answer direct questions. I suppose I should do more blog commenting, but what exactly am I going to say? Yahoo! I agree!

If I agree, I agree.
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element321
Twitter:
July 18, 2010 at 12:25 am

Gina,

I haven’t gotten much into forums. Back when forums were a big deal I spent a lot of time using forums but I did not have any sites to market.

How well does that work for you?

As for commenting, I have seen a ton of traffic from a just a few good comments on a high traffic site. Why not try and spend some time doing both and see what gets you more traffic…
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Julius Kuhn-Regnier July 16, 2010 at 1:23 am

I like your post here James. I believe that you can use blog commenting effectively to get more traffic. Also keep in mind the that, as you have mentioned, there are different types of sites. I think especially on blogs that are solely dedicated to social media and which also get most of their traffic through social media, it’s alright to leave rather short comments. I mean what are you supposed to comment about on a blog post that lists 10 wordpress plugins?!
Good luck with the contest man ;)

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element321
Twitter:
July 17, 2010 at 9:01 pm

Thanks Julius,

Those are the sites am talking about! Social media and resource sites, there isn’t much to talk about on those sites. Those are the only sites you should be doing short comments on.

Just yesterday I did a short comment on a high traffic resource listing site and I got a ton of traffic over the last 24 hours since commenting…
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Christine July 15, 2010 at 7:39 am

So true. All of the points you made are valid and I know this, yet I get lazy… I’ve been very lazy for a while now and you know what? It’s showing in my stats. Thanks for the kick in the butt, I needed it!
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element321
Twitter:
July 15, 2010 at 1:14 pm

Christine, I get that way as well. For about 3 weeks I stopped commenting and only use bookmarking sites and Twitter to promote my sites. I saw my stats start to fall. Now, that I am commenting more, they are slowly going back up.
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Joe July 14, 2010 at 7:30 pm

Solid post! I’m happy to say I don’t do any of those time-wasters.
I can’t see doing 50 comments a day though, because I like to read the entire article before I comment. I can see how 5 per day isn’t going to build any momentum though.

Maybe I have to hire a ghost comment writer! :)
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element321
Twitter:
July 15, 2010 at 12:57 pm

Yeah 50 is a lot. I have only been able to do it a few times. I like to read all of the article and the comments before I start my comments. I consider myself a fast reader and read 20 or 30 articles a day but, not all of them I will be able to comment on…

There are companies out there that will ghost write your comments for you. If you ever decide to do that, research the companies first and make sure they are not spammer type comments but they will comment how you would comment on an article yourself.
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Joe July 15, 2010 at 5:18 pm

There’s no way I could do that though. I couldn’t stomach the idea of doing that to anyone’s post. It would be dishonorable. If I put my name (and photo) on it, it has to be legit as far as I’m concerned.

Besides, I need the practice of writing better comments so I can write better posts.
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element321
Twitter:
July 15, 2010 at 9:51 pm

I am not a big fan of ghost writers. But I am fine with people hiring an SEO specialist to start a comment strategy or hire someone as their social media director to do all of their comments and run their social media campaigns.
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Kristi Hines July 14, 2010 at 1:00 pm

It’s a good point – you should still comment on sites when you read a post and have something to say, despite the fact that it may or may not be dofollow, commentluv enabled, etc. Chances are, if your comment is valuable, you will get the attention of the blog owner or another commenter and get a visit from them to your site as well. Whether or not you created a “valuable backlink” for SEO purposes won’t be a big issue if you get new visitors and readers for your site.
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element321
Twitter:
July 15, 2010 at 12:54 pm

Kristi, that’s the way I see it. I would rather have traffic than ignore a high traffic site, just because they are nofollow….

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Jakes July 14, 2010 at 9:12 am

Hi,
I really liked the way you presented the thing, especially the list of benefits of commenting. If anyone had asked me the benefits of commenting, before reading this post, perhaps I would only tell two or three points ;) .But not now, having read your post I would definitely tell seven awesome points.
I agree that one need to comment to encourage the author. It is a ‘Sign of Support’. For bloggers who don’t know anything about SEO, the only way he/she understands the blog-traffic is through the number of comments. There have been cases where some high traffic blogs owned by suchbloggers end up in blog-suicide as they don’t see any support through comments.

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element321
Twitter:
July 14, 2010 at 9:24 am

Jakes,

Thanks man.

I see it everyday. I tell my clients and friends I help with their SEO that it takes time and just because you don’t get the comments doesn’t mean you aren’t getting the traffic, if you see you are getting traffic but no comments, then a blogger needs to find a better way to encourage their readers to comment.

For me, I do not get that many comments but I get a good amount of traffic either from referring sites and lot from the search engine. I am currently looking into better ways to get more comments. I get a few good posts that get a lot of comments, but others stay blank…

When I see this on site, I get that feeling that a non SEO knowledgeable person gets that I get no traffic as well. But I always remember that I am getting traffic and its constantly going up and my bounce rate is low and they do stick around and view multiple pages. For me, as long I keep the traffic comming in and my bounce rate is low then my site is alive and kicking. I just need to working getting more comments on the articles…
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Alamin July 14, 2010 at 5:41 am

Great post man. Actually i’m very lazy type people and don’t like to work hard. So i can’t comment too much often. Now i’ll try to comment regular as you said as much as i can
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element321
Twitter:
July 14, 2010 at 9:15 am

Alamin,

I can be that way as well. Start small only do 5 or 6 a day. Maybe take the weekends off or comment only a few times on the high traffic sites. You could even schedule a time during the day to do this. Once you get use to it and are doing it daily, then add another 4 or 5 comments a day until you feel comfortable and streamline your comments.

A small amount of comment is better than none. This type of commenting, still gets traffic but the results take longer to get better. Building traffic takes patience and skill. You just have to work at it and you will get closer to your goals.

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Bryan July 14, 2010 at 5:37 am

I think you made some good points there. Building traffic through comments is definitely feasible and if done consistently, it pays. I’m beginning to see more traffic coming in through more commenting on blogs.
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element321
Twitter:
July 14, 2010 at 9:09 am

Bryan,

Thats great! How often and how much are you commenting?

Commenting will definitely bring you more traffic. The more you comment on those sites, the more detailed, the more valuable you become. People will start coming to your site every time you comment.
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Bryan July 14, 2010 at 8:00 pm

I haven’t been actually commenting a lot. I say an average of 5-10 comments/day. I do try to vary commenting on different websites on the same niche though. :)
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element321
Twitter:
July 15, 2010 at 9:57 pm

Bryan,

Thats a great start. Of course with that many comments, your traffic will build a lot slower. Vary your commenting on different is good way to get exposer. If you can bump it to around 10 – 20 and then to around 20 -30 then you will start seeing more traffic back to your sites.

Are you also you using Social Bookmarking sites to post your latest posts?
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bryan July 15, 2010 at 10:19 pm

Hmm, 20-30, got to work on that. i think consistency is the key. Thx for the advice. Yeah been posting to social networking sites too. I’m using Onlywire to post content from my blog to all the social sites I have.
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element321
Twitter:
July 15, 2010 at 10:30 pm

Sounds great..

If your not using Blogengage.com and MMOsocialnetwork.com check them out. Both those sites with a little work you can get some great traffic from them and even find some new blogs to read…
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Bryan | Work From Home July 18, 2010 at 9:20 pm

Yeah I do have an account with MMO, but i’m still waiting for my account to be approved with Blog engage. I’m currently using Sphinn now.
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element321
Twitter:
July 18, 2010 at 10:21 pm

Bryan,
How long ago was your Blog Engage request sent in? If its been a while, I can talk with the owner this week and see if we can get you invited or find out why you were not approved and get you approved…
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Alex July 14, 2010 at 5:11 am

I think comments are not only a way of getting high traffic but comments can also lend you a lot of help in Search Engine Optimization. I have seen lot of sites getting high Search Ranks and Page Ranks all because of comments

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element321
Twitter:
July 14, 2010 at 9:06 am

Alex,

I agree, if you can find sites that have a high PR and are DoFollow, that will your ratings. As for your site it helps as well. It shows both the Search and Alexa that you are a popular site and get good traffic.

However, I do see sites that get plenty of traffic and do not have a high PR. I do not know why, but it happens…
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Tola July 14, 2010 at 4:50 am

Wow! 50 comments a day? Where would I find the time to do that? lol… I think if I did that, I ‘ll just end up saying a lot of ‘great job’, ‘nice post’ and all. Don’t get me wrong I have nothing the occasional ‘great job’ post but if I start to know you as that kind of person then it gets quite boring… I think every now and then you should make an effort and add or take away from a post.
All in all, commenting works like a charm, when I’m able to get myself always from my phone… guilty (at least its not farmville, can’t stand that thing!!)
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element321
Twitter:
July 14, 2010 at 9:04 am

Tola,

Yeah 50 is a lot, I haven’t done that In a while. Between work, freelance work, and school there isn’t much time left in my schedule. I schedule about 2 hours of blogging a day and that includes working on new articles, research, updates to the theme, and commenting/reading other blogs. I generally can get 10-20 in a night. Some weeks I can only get 5 or 6 comments a night.
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Mia July 14, 2010 at 2:27 am

I really don’t like when people leave comments such as “great job”, “thanks for sharing”…etc. If you take the time to write blog comments then write a comment, it can’t be that hard.

In my opinion 20 comments per day are OK to draw awareness, but 50 comm. may be regarded as spamming. Anyway, one should post as many quality comments as he can. One more thing, i find that reading the “about me” page helps to identify the blogs that can be related to yours, so it’s a must to read it.

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element321
Twitter:
July 14, 2010 at 8:35 am

I agree, I generally do not post comments like that. I try to post meaning comments. But some sites seem to only get that type of comments. In those case I will leave short comments, but I try and make it a larger than 3 word comment. Mostly I do that on resource list links or if I am reading one of my friends blogs and I will stop by leave a comment like that.

You are right, it isn’t that hard to create a meaningful comment even if its just a thanking them for a great job on the list.

A good about is a must. Grant it mine isn’t the best and I need to find the time to make it better. But a decent gets you noticed, a great one is even better…

Another thing that helps is having a pic on gravatar.com and link it to your email. No I am not talking about a logo, but a real picture of the commenter. I have been talking and working several different bloggers and they find you can get more clicks back to your site by having a good image of yourself. I know for myself, I rarely click on a comment if it doesn’t have a picture or logo.
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AJ July 14, 2010 at 12:07 am

Really well done article. Ever since I started commenting I have seen a huge change not only in traffic but also in recognition, people start recognizing you and your relation to your website. Building these relationships is amazing because when you start to join forces with other bloggers you can really make sh*t happen.

And getting 10-20 more comments every day isn’t that hard. I try and take about 20 minutes a day for blog commenting. For me this seems ideal. Enough to be effective but not too much to be a waste of time.
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element321
Twitter:
July 14, 2010 at 12:27 am

I agree, working together can make sh*t happen…

I try and comment that much a day as well. I generally set about 2 hours a night a side for commenting and working blog articles… Once I reach my comment goals for day, I stopping reading blogs and only comment on comments that need replies.
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joanne July 13, 2010 at 10:10 pm

Great list you have ….commenting on blogs that have a unique way of describing themselves are good to leave your comment on…if you make yourself familiar to them they look forward to reading what you have said.
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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 11:52 pm

Joanne,

Thanks, I agree with you 100%. The more you comment, the more that community gets to know you…
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Murlu
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 9:33 pm

It’s great if you can not only subscribe to many blogs in your niche but set a time for when you do actually comment. Instead of interrupting your precious time you could be writing content, set aside an hour or two just dedicated to commenting – do it all at once and you’ll fly through them instead of breaking it up throughout the day.
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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 11:51 pm

Murlu,

Thats a great idea, I try and do that myself. For me its TV time or late at night when I am finally finished with work and other household projects.

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Murlu
Twitter:
July 14, 2010 at 12:00 am

That’s an excellent time if you’re doing it while watching TV – since TV has become such a passive form of entertainment, those little downtimes during commercials allow you to knock out a post or two or even more if you get bored with a segment of the show.
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element321
Twitter:
July 14, 2010 at 12:22 am

Thats what I am doing right now…Watching stuff on the DVR and commenting…lol

I can write a blog post while the TV is on. But once its time for Keyword Research and Editing, the TV goes off and the Music Library is loaded…
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Paul Castain July 13, 2010 at 7:47 pm

Well this was certainly an eye opener for me! I always understood the importance of commenting and practice it daily but was coming in at about 5. Yikes!
Thanks for the wake up call!
Respectfully,
Paul Castain
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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 11:49 pm

Paul, for the longest time I was only doing 5 – 10 comments a day. There are times when thats all I can do. Some is better than none. If you can only do that many a day, try and comment on the high traffic sites and leave some killer comments. If you do it enough times you will get the traffic you need.

O yeah Paul, get yourself a good picture of yourself and add to Gravatar. Having a picture /face to go with your name is a good way to increase traffic to your site…

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Aaron July 13, 2010 at 6:10 pm

Thanks James.. Stop playing Farmville = so true.. I can knock out 20 comments a day within an hour or two if I am really busy. Commenting is definitely a must-do for every blogger. How do you expect to increase your readership if nobody else knows you exists.. Good points.
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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 11:45 pm

That was the conclusion I came up with. I was addicted to the Facebook games and lot of my friends I know from school and other places play those games. But its just a waste of time. If I am going to play games, then I want to play real PC games or get out the PS3 or XBO360 and play some of those games.

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Justin Germino
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 5:37 pm

Good article, commenting is an important strategy to link building but you must make sure you provide value to the site you are commenting on as well. Even if the site is not DoFollow others can see and read your comment and the higher quality the comment the more somebody might be interested in following the link back to see who you are.

One thing I don’t like about KeywordLuv is how many commenters will leave me junk comments like Bill@Mesa Divorce Lawyers, and say something barely relevant to the post. Many will try to abuse your KeywordLuv especially if you are a DoFollow blog.
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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 11:37 pm

Justin,
I agree, I do not like KeyWord that much. I get to many crap comments and have removed the plugin from my blog and I rarely even use it on other sites. I am about to remove the DoFollow banner from site, hoping that will also help slow down some of the comment spam.

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The Bad Blogger July 13, 2010 at 5:31 pm

Commenting is good, and getting comments from others are even better. But guess what? Too many comment are just one sentence and worst… 2 words or 3 words, which of course is telling you how good your post is.
Well as of now… for my blog those comment whether is count as spam or not, I usually delete them even if the person who’s blog is famous and are good…. I doesn’t care. The only comment I want was something that people can read about and also something that normal blogger would write about.
It doesn’t matter if it’s long, but at least is not boring and time wasting comment. I think I have deleted more comments then accept comments.
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element321
Twitter:
July 14, 2010 at 12:00 am

I agree with you. Some of the sites I comment on (my niche is mostly design) are short comment sites. They get a ton of them. These are large sites with a lot of traffic. For me I try and leave 2 – 3 sentences when I can. But a lot times, I end only leaving a 2 or 3 word comment. Sites like this allow those types of comments and I still get a decent amount of traffic. But, commenting is not the only reason I visit these sites, I am out to learn and gain resources and network with these people. To me, thats more important then a backlink or commenting to get traffic.

I never recommend comment to just comment. I also recommend leaving valuable comments whenever possible. If sites allow short comments then it doesn’t hurt leave a short comments. Its networking…

Sites like yours, I would recommend and I would leave a good decent comment that would adds value to the article.
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The Bad Blogger July 14, 2010 at 12:14 am

Well… you just added more then 3 sentence of reply, I mean, isn’t it looks more like we knew each other a long time ago, as to leaving a few words like as though we just met.
I like this type of conversation as it keeps me alert of what my audience way of reponds are and really this is where everything gets exciting other then just approve any type of comment.
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Kevin M.
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 4:59 pm

Great thoughts on commenting James! I have experienced many of these benefits that you have described in this post.

Finding time to comment is always my challenge but as you mention, we can make the time to do it! :)
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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 11:34 pm

Thanks Kevin,

I still find it hard to make time in my schedule and I am good at finding reasons not to comment and work on the social media side of marketing the blogs.

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ashok July 13, 2010 at 4:44 pm

I’ve pretty much been implementing your advice the last few days, to the tune of 40 comments some days. I was hoping for a traffic surge to my blog, but that hasn’t happened yet, and I don’t think it will happen.

I do know that I am getting a few visits a day from people who’ve never seen my blog before, and that over time, that’s going to add up. What I’d add is that if one is dropping 10-20 comments a day, do make sure a few of those comments are good ones on very, very high traffic blogs – something like Problogger. A good comment is an excellent introduction to your personality and blog, and fighting for keywords sometimes isn’t as important as the exposure to a considerable audience.
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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 11:33 pm

Thats great, 4o comments a day. Are you commenting on 40 different blogs are a ton on just a few blogs? I know that if you comment on just a few blogs then it will take longer to get the traffic. For me I started commenting on as many high traffic sites I could and after a few weeks I noticed my stats going up.

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ashok July 14, 2010 at 2:38 am

Yeah, I’m not perfect at implementing this yet – it’s a few blogs, somewhere around 10-15. Two of the blogs I’m regularly commenting on are insanely high traffic, so I’ll let you know how that goes. I do want to increase the number of sites I’m commenting on, that’s for sure.
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element321
Twitter:
July 22, 2010 at 4:02 pm

Ashok,
Please let us know how this is working for you. Have you seen a traffic increase from the high traffic sites? Email me or comment once you get enough data.
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ashok July 22, 2010 at 10:51 pm

Like one or two hits a day from the really high traffic sites – I won’t complain, I’m happy to have that.

By far the most productive thing I’ve done is network with other bloggers looking for attention and encouragement. They’re visiting, stumbling, digging and finding ways of expanding the audience.

I think another week of dropping tons of comments will do the trick, actually. I can see the audiences of the high traffic blogs clicking “like” on my comments more, etc. It takes them a while to warm up.
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element321
Twitter:
July 22, 2010 at 11:08 pm

Yeah, it takes time for regulars to start to trust others. Once you gain that trust you build influence. Once you get that influence you will see the traffic.

As for commenting a lot and then stopping, you can cut back a little, but I wouldn’t do to much. I haven’t been commenting for that long to know at what point I can slow down.. This might be a good question for some of the long time bloggers.

Stacey Cavanagh July 13, 2010 at 4:04 pm

Completely agree with this. While I don’t deny I LOVE CommentLuv, there’s more value to commenting than a backlink.

I’ve found commenting is a great way to become involved with blogging communities, which helps your blog to thrive in turn as well as the blogs within the same community or niche area.

Most niche areas have one or two really big “networks,” and I would bet my life they started with conversations in comments….
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ashok July 13, 2010 at 4:47 pm

Oh I’m a commentluv addict, but what actually happened with me recently is that I started commenting on the sites I regularly visit – sites that are nofollow, no commentluv, just one link back to the blog – that much more.

That is a good point you raise about how niche networks arise. I’m curious myself now…
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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 10:57 pm

Stacey I agree, I bet those major networked started as a small commenting community and became a network those involved in that little community build those large communities.

I also LUV ComLuv! Andy did a great job on this plugin.

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Colleen July 13, 2010 at 11:05 pm

“…commenting is a great way to become involved with blogging communities…”

I agree Stacey. Commenting involves the commenter with the community at large. ;)
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Robert July 13, 2010 at 4:03 pm

Aww man – 20 – 30 comments a day! Where am I really going to find the time for that! I don’t even know 20-30 sites suitable for me to comment on.

I guess that’s all part of being a blogger! I have to juggle school life,part time job, social life, being two editors and running two of my own blogs, all at the same time! I’m sure this is probably nothing compared to what some people have, but it’s all the journey…….i just can’t wait for the end! if there is one!

Nice post by the way thanks, got me in the mood to seek out some sites to comment on.
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ashok July 13, 2010 at 4:49 pm

If it helps, I’m commenting on a number of sites that are not suitable – I’m saving the sites that are formally suitable for posts yet to be written, but have specific keywords I want targeted.

The sites I’m looking for right now are mainly ones where people can just talk, or say something about their day, and commenting doesn’t require me to sit and think for a good 10 minutes before writing.
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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 10:31 pm

Robert,

I have the same issues with time and finding enough places where I can leave that many comments.

To find new places, I use social bookmarking sites such as Blog Engage (most diverse articles there) but there are many more places out there to find. I also use Twitter Live searches using Keywords related to my Niches.

As for making time with a busy schedule, you will need to streamline your blog reading and commenting. The easiest thing you can do is add the blogs you comment on regularly, add their feeds to Google Reader or whatever RSS reader you prefer. This will save you so much time. When I use this tool, I read articles faster and only clink the articles if I decide I want to comment on the article.

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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 10:34 pm

Opps posted to the wrong person sorry about that Ryan.

Hesham please delete this comment.

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Ryan Biddulph July 13, 2010 at 3:05 pm

These are great commenting tips element321.

Seek to add value with your comments. When adding value you become valuable. Backlinks and networking opportunities will arise when you are viewed as a giver.

I build awesome relationships from the simple practice of reading a blog post and leaving an insightful comments. It’s quick, easy and costs me nothing but my time and some creativity.

Ryan Biddulph
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ashok July 13, 2010 at 5:52 pm

I must admit, I do love giving great comments. It’s an art to say something well that complements the original post, and I agree with your emphasis on value.

I think most people are of the mindset that if you give a great comment once, you’ve got to do it again, and again, and again. They’re right – people on the Internet are strange about attention. They seem to crave it but also take it for granted; clicking onto someone else’s site seems a chore.

I think for me the backbone of a commenting strategy is commenting certain places regularly, and I’ve made up my mind that yeah, some places aren’t going to be worth it. But I’ll know when they’re not worth it, and move on.
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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 10:12 pm

Great points, I should have mentioned that. I comment on sites until I do not like anymore or its no longer worth to me to comment on that site. There are many reasons why I might stop commenting on site, but I do like to return to sites and comments on them regularly and comment only when I have something of value to add to their site.
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ashok July 13, 2010 at 10:16 pm

I can already tell one place that I’m leaving a bunch of comments is going to be a problem, because over a good 2-3 days I’ve had absolutely no visits from that site, and the owner – whom I know doesn’t get a lot of traffic – is spending his time talking to everyone else except me.

I mention this not to snipe, but to reinforce a point that actually came up in my graduate studies. The Greek thinker Xenophon in one of his works describes a perfectly virtuous regime, and part of perfect virtue is that ungratefulness is punishable by law. The point for us: gratitude can’t and shouldn’t be punished by law. But ingratitude is still unjust, and rubs people the wrong way fast.
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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 10:42 pm

Thats strange, I wonder why they are ignoring you. I would leave if they are not be helpful to you or site. I do not mind comment on low traffic sites, you never know these may take off some day. If I like the site, the owner and I can help the owner out by adding value then I will continue to comment on that site.
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ashok July 13, 2010 at 10:50 pm

By comparison, the owner of another site I’ve been commenting on has been really, really grateful and showing it – commenting on my blog, even stumbling a post or two. So I’ve replied in turn, building a link or two extra to him when I can, etc.

I’ll let you know how my great comment experiment goes. I definitely feel like people could reach out a bit more right now.
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ashok July 13, 2010 at 10:54 pm

btw, I’m getting a 403 error message when I click on “element321″ to see your blog.
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element321
Twitter:
July 14, 2010 at 8:41 am

Thanks for letting me . I caught I spent about an hour with my host working on the issue. Some how the read write permissions were changed. They do not know why, they just know it wasn’t a security issue…its fixed now, so there shouldn’t be a problem.
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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 10:16 pm

Ryan,

I agree, by building value you make yourself valuable. I have make some great relationships just by commenting as well…. Commenting is an easy way to help market your blog / community.

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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 10:33 pm

Robert,

I have the same issues with time and finding enough places where I can leave that many comments.

To find new places, I use social bookmarking sites such as Blog Engage (most diverse articles there) but there are many more places out there to find. I also use Twitter Live searches using Keywords related to my Niches.

As for making time with a busy schedule, you will need to streamline your blog reading and commenting. The easiest thing you can do is add the blogs you comment on regularly, add their feeds to Google Reader or whatever RSS reader you prefer. This will save you so much time. When I use this tool, I read articles faster and only clink the articles if I decide I want to comment on the article.
element321 recently posted..Guest Post: Using CommentLuv To Build TrafficMy Profile

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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 10:38 pm

Nuts, sorry I keep having issues with browser please leave the above comment to Robert
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Melinda
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 2:07 pm

I like your seven reasons for commenting. The more you comment and the more people see your face (avatar)…they are like “wow I keep seeing that person around”. Then you get that small world feeling like you keep running into the same people at the same parties which I thinks sparks a naturally curiosity to find out more about that person. This leads to a sense of community.

I don’t base whether I leave a comment on whether it is nofollow or dofollow. Like you said, it shouldn’t feel like a job.
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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 10:08 pm

Melinda,
For me, those are the reasons why I comment and explain to clients that need help building traffic to their sites. Commenting shouldn’t be a job even if its your job. I look at as I get to the surf the net and leave comments when I like an article.
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Nabeel from Create Your First Website July 13, 2010 at 1:41 pm

I agree with your points James.

You are correct about the no-follow point. I also do not give heed to whether the blog is do follow or no follow, as it is not all about backlinking. You can just build a relationship, share your thoughts, get direct traffic etc., even if it is no-follow.

Kindest,
Nabeel

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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 10:02 pm

Nabeel, Yeah you can get some great results from high traffic no-follow sites just by creating some killer comments. I do it all the time…
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Stephanie Smith July 13, 2010 at 1:39 pm

I learned about some new resources for finding good blogs to comment on in your post. Thank you for taking the time to list them.

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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 10:00 pm

Thanks for stopping by and commenting Stephanie. Hope the resources help you out.
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CJ July 13, 2010 at 1:27 pm

Great post man!
So many people fail to see the importance of commenting and a lot of them who do see the importance, fail to see the importance of building a brand and not spamming. Awesome tips man, every new blogger should check this out. It would take care of a lot of the crap out there. Haha

CJ

CJ’s last blog ..25 Hot Article Sites – List of Top Article Directories To Increase Your Site’s PageRank!

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element321
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 9:02 pm

.Thanks CJ, thats why I wrote. I get tired of comment spam and we need to help out the new bloggers and those that do not know better to make better comments and help build a better community.
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