Build a Better Business Blog, One Block At a Time
NB: This is the 9th installment in The Inspired Solo’s Build a Better Business Blog in One Month series. Designed to help solo lawyers and other professionals boost their blog’s performance, the series consists of a daily lecture and task (or tasks) that focus on one “blog improvement project” at a time. Each post in the series is tagged with “[BBBB1]“. You can start the program at any time. Catch up with other BBBB1 posts here.
Day 9 Lecture
Comment Correctly On Other Blogs
Commenting on other blogs can be a powerful traffic strategy – but only if you do it right. Keep in mind that most comment traffic — i.e., the folks who visit your blog through the link you provide in the comment form — is going to be low-quality — that is, not targeted — unless you take care to choose the right blog and the right post to comment on.
From your work last week on expanding your blog community, you have a list of other bloggers who write on subjects that relate to your own blog’s focus. Narrow this down even further by considering the individual blog posts on these sites in terms of your targeted readership. Which posts would be most interesting to your primary TRs? These are the posts to comment on.
The substance of your comment should always follow three main rules:
- Be succinct.
- Add something substantive.
- Stay away from self-serving links.
Succinctness and brevity are keys to good commenting. Remember that especially with popular blogs which generate lots of comments, it’s very difficult for a reader or the blogger to read each comment thoroughly or carefully. Often, in order to save time, readers will skim over the comments. Long comments of two or more paragraphs will often get bypassed entirely. So say what you want to say, but say it quickly and efficiently. Make your point, then move on.
Always add something substantive to the conversation. Read the discussion that precedes your comment. What points are the commenters picking up on? Can you offer a different take, or additional information? What about the post itself? Is there something in the post that hasn’t been discussed, to which you can add substantively? Try to distinguish your comment from the rest of the herd by offering up something unique, be it your opinion (especially phrased differently or with different supporting arguments) or new information that hasn’t been mentioned yet.
Also consider whether you can direct readers elsewhere for more information. Perhaps you’ve read a similar post or news report recently that can add to the discussion with a new layer of analysis. By all means, serve up that link in your comment. Just make sure it’s relevant and that you can tie it in with the current post/discussion somehow.
What do I mean by “self-serving links“? Basically, this is a link back to your own site. You’ve already provided the URL in the comment form, so simply adding a comment like “I write about this stuff at my blog at http://www.myblog.com” violates rules #2 and 3 (you’re adding nothing substantive to the discussion, and you’re simply providing another self-serving link).
Comment Types To Avoid Like the Plague
What to stay away from?
- “Ditto” posts — comments that simply say “I agree” or “great point.” These are mere noise, and give nothing of value to the blog, the blogger, or the readers.
- Garbage comments — meaningless trifles that simply make a pun or comment superficially without adding anything of value.
- “Great blog” comments — comments stating only that you like the blog (compliments like this are great, just send them in email in order to connect directly with the blogger, and make sure you add specifics).
- Comments that are off-topic – go ahead and ask a question of the blogger that’s not related to the topic if you like, but again: do it in email.
Task: Comment on Another Blog
Your task for today is to select another blog that’s related to your own topic and find a good post to comment on. Practice making your comments relevant, substantive, and succinct, without self-serving links.
Extra credit — Quick Log Your Blog Work
Here’s something I started doing to keep track of where I leave comments. I installed a “quick logger” script on my Windows laptop. Anytime I leave a comment (actually, it’s a work log, so I use it any time I complete any task), I simply hit Ctrl+Alt+L and this brings up a quicklogger window where I can append one line of text to a simple text file called “WorkLog.txt.” The script automatically adds the date and time.
For comments, I copy and paste the URL of the post and add a “LC” for “left comment.” Thus, I have an automatic (or close to it) work log, that includes the sites I leave comments on. If this sounds interesting to you, you can find complete instructions on how to download and set up the logging script and text file at Lifehacker.
