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| Photo from www.johnchow.com |
I'm hardly an expert on the subject, but she's pretty persuasive, so I said I'd give it a go.
In part one of my post, I talk about lulz cat up there.
To read part one, which is on Arianne's blog, click here.
Here's a summary:
Tip 1. Turn off captcha. It's awful. Also those forms that ask for my name, my email, the URL of my blog. Do you really need to know all that?
Tip 2. Ask a question at the end of your post. You'd be surprised how effective this is!
Tip 3: Participate in memes. Yes, they can be overdone, but they are a great way to get more comments.
Tip 4: Respond to comments. Yes, it's time consuming. But if I visit a blog and see that the blogger doesn't respond to any comments, I am far less likely to leave one.
Here's part two:
Tip 5: Comment on other people's blogs.
If you want to get comments, it really helps if you make a habit of leaving comments. If you have to brave the dreaded captcha, so be it. Every day, I try to spend five minutes leaving comments on other people's blogs. And whenever I can, I try to find a new blog or two to visit.
Tip 6: Be a detective
First, look and see which of your (non-meme, non-giveaway) posts got the most comments. Or the least. To do this in Blogger, click on your Edit Posts tab and you'll see a list of all your recent posts and how many comments were made on each one. In Wordpress, go to your dashboard and click on Posts and you'll see the same stats. Then read the posts and the comments and try to figure out what the magic formula was -- or wasn't.
Leave me a comment!
Does word verification discourage you from commenting?
If you're a blog reader, what encourages/discourages you from commenting?
If you're a blogger, do you have any tips for getting more comments?
My Kick Butt Characters YA Blog Hop post goes up this afternoon!
This is the hardest thing for me to understand about my blog. According to my stats I get alot of views per day and if I am lucky maybe one or two comments. I mean I guess it doesn't matter, at least they are visiting..but HELLO, let me know what you think so I can improve things if needed LOL
ReplyDeleteIt's frustrating, isn't it!!
DeleteI think a lot of people are shy and don't like leaving comments. I was that way when I started reading blogs.
Some are just lazy lol
DeleteYeah. Sometimes the typing seems like too much work ;)
Deletehaha well those people are not so cool...
DeleteI have a new topic in mind... I notice that the book bloggers that have SO MANY followers don't bother responding to comments AT ALL... I feel like they are so impersonal and what's the point of blogging if you won't interact?
You go right ahead -- I'm not touching that one!
Deletehahahaha is it taboo or something? i sense a "im backing off, it's not the kind of topic i want to talk about and get in trouble for it" tone...
DeleteNah, I just like to focus on the positive. And since there are so many blogs out there, I choose to follow those with a friendly vibe.
DeleteIf a blogger never responds to comments or tweets, I assume that person isn't looking for new followers.
true, true :) I only follow those for their giveaways. I know that sounds lame but they don't reply to me even when I feature them in my video thanking them for the book that I've won...
DeleteI will still leave a comment with word verification; but it annoys me!
ReplyDeleteI leave lots of comments, but that's just my personality. I love to chat and talk!
Turning off captcha has made a big difference in how many comments I get. Also, I do think responding to as many comments as you can if very helpful...it makes it feel more like a social type site as opposed to just a reading site.
Same. I still leave a comment, but it ticks me off that I have to decipher those squiggly words.
DeleteI can't say it enough: TRY turning off captcha. You might be surprised at how many comments you are missing. You can always put it back on.
I went and got discouraged again about leaving a comment today. I just get so frustrated and mad that those things are there to begin with.
DeleteBy the way JuliaBabyJen, I replied to your comment on my blog :)
I like Tip #6 Jen :) Thanks again for doing the guest post. I can't wait for the interview :)
ReplyDeleteMaking a list of questions now.
DeleteI want to know how to do text boxes and pretty colors.
Thanks so much for hosting me!!
So do you want mini tutorials when I answer them or links where I got mine or straight up HTML, etc?
DeleteI try to leave comments every day too, but gosh, I wish it only took me about 5 minutes! I have been trying to comment more on discussion posts, because I know that a lot of time and effort goes into these (not that reviews don't) and it does feel a little disappointing when no one responds to your post. As for my blog, I'm still pretty new, so I try not to take it very personally when I don't get a bunch of comments (but I ALWAYS appreciate those that do and try to return the favor:)
ReplyDeleteYou're right. I shoot for 5 minutes and it's more like 45...
DeleteI try to respond to every comment but sometimes I forget coz I read the comment in my email and I thought I replied but I didn't... I go back to my dashboard and see if there is an odd number of comments and it kind of gives me an idea if I forgot to reply to someone - not that they come back and talk to me again but I like replying for sure.
DeleteI find a lot of people tweet me their comments instead of leaving them on my blog now. Sometimes a week or even a month will pass and someone will mention a review I wrote.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of my followers have said they feel like they will leave a stupid comment so they don't say anything.
That's NOT true. All comments are welcome.
I think you have to try to respond back to people who leave comments too. Maybe not every one but interaction starts friendships and leads to more comments.
And NO CAPTCHA lol
I do tweet people if I know their Twitter name. Maybe I should ask for that in comments? Not everyone has a blog, and not everyone's Twiter handle matches their blog. Like yours, Ms. TeamSheltie!!
DeleteTotally agree with "interaction starts friendships".. that's how I relate to Jen :D
DeleteI hate, hate, HATE captcha! I have the hardest time deciphering them. That being said, I will still comment with it. I just sit here and rage a bit about it before I do..lol (FB has captcha's for sharing now? wtf?!) But I try to comment on a few reviews each day.
ReplyDeleteAlso, sometimes I won't read reviews of books that I plan on reading soon. I don't want someone else's opinion going through my mind while I'm trying to form my own. And some reviews are mostly a summarization of the book and then a couple of sentences about why someone liked it (I really try not to write summaries). I just don't like ruining the story for others.
As for the question asking, I try to ask some in my reviews, but normally it is just me trying to entice people to check out the book.
This is a great topic! I'm alsways excited to get comments when I don't have giveaways going because that shows me that someone is actually reading my blog when there is nothing to gain from it ;)
I know!!! I have to do the captchas twice or three times sometimes and I just get so annoyed.
DeleteAgree with you about reading reviews if I'm about to write my own. I want to try to keep my opinions fresh. It's hard not to be influenced by what someone else has said.
And YES!!! I love love love those people who stop by just to say hi.
Like these guys: Amy, Caitlin, Amber, Marybelle, Andrea, ELin, Cristina, Ashelynn, Sam, Heather, Tressa, JuliababyJen...
I'm sure I'm forgetting someone...
More than three times and I'm going to give up and not comment..lol It's happened!
DeleteI thought I was the only one who had to do them multiple times. I just had my eyes checked and they're fine, btw. I have noticed that the captchas get easier every time you miss them. Which only ticks me off more.
DeleteYou both have way more patience than me! I follow 300+ blogs and I just don't have the time. If someone's going to be so anti-social that they're going to have comments on I just don't bother commenting. I've even unfollowed most of the blogs. I do of course try to convince people to join our side first :D (Like I did Jen lol)
DeleteYep, you were the one who told me I had word ID turned on.
DeleteI didn't even know that I did. If you're on your own blog, you don't see it and a lot of people may not realize that ON is the default.
U forgot about me Jen. hahahaha :) hi :)
DeleteI think my reviews are kind of a summary... but I try not to give spoilers... If I'm doing a blog tour for a self-pub author, I definitely will critique it good. not so much a summary but I will mention what I like and definitely what I didn't like... I still don't get comments. haha
Word verification is annoying, but it does not discourage me.
ReplyDeleteAsking a question means I am more likely to make a comment. It's an invitation & gives me a starting point.
I was just talking about you -- see my answer right above your comment!
Deletethe question asking is so genius Jen :) great way to interact...
Delete((can u tell i'm on a comment spree?))
I can -- I'm losing track. Did I forget to respond to one of yours???
Deletehaha... well, I guess u can go through the comment section and look for my picture and see if u replied. that's what I'm doing now! Haha, this is so much fun!
DeleteResponding back to my comments and posting interesting posts encourages me to comment. Word vertification annoys me but it doesn't stop me from commenting.
ReplyDeleteI always reply, like 99% of the time unless there's nothing for me to really reply on. but i still reply with "Thanks for stopping by" or "I agree and here's why" reply... but the people that comment don't come back unless I tweet them and say, "hey, I replied to ur comment."
DeleteDo I wish there wasn't "Word Verification" on blogs? Yes, but that doesn't stop me from commenting. It is very hard to read those words though! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could comment more on blogs. I follow a lot of blogs, but just don't have to time to make comments on all of them. I do try and read as many as I can and if something really interests me, I will take the time to write a comment on the blog.
I also follow so many so I base my interest on the title. If it is super long, I won't even bother opening the post. I mean, couldn't u come up with an interesting title without it being so long?
DeleteI also am a lazy reader so if I see an essay and I'm in a rush to get thru my dashboard, I would scan it and most likely won't get anything from it. That's why I write my posts short or with pictures so it is easier and more enticing to the eyes :)
I agree so much about replying to comments and commenting on other people's blogs. Reciprocity!
ReplyDeleteI've seen people asking for comments on twitter too - you know, they worked hard on a post, no one was commenting so they said - how about some comment love? I have no issue with this either, but if you are asking people to comment that way, I feel like you should either reply, or go to THEIR blog and leave a comment too.