Are your blog post comments scattered?

As bloggers, we try to make use of all the cross-promotional tools we can to try to drive traffic to our blog posts. Particularly with venues like Facebook and Twitter, where people can also comment on what you’ve written, it’s easy for comments about a post to end up scattered across  several different places.

So the question becomes: Is it important to try to gather all the comments into one place for the most complete discussion?

When I first noticed this occurring with some of my posts I had shared on Facebook, I worried that the comments there would not become part of the “record” of the original post.

But I soon realized that it’s beneficial to have a trail back to the original post from several different venues because it gives you more “lines in the water” for reeling in new readers.

That said, I do think you can further manage your scattered comments for the benefit of your blog. Here’s a strategy that will help bring the conversation back to the blog, but still acknowledge and promote the responses on other venues. It will also help you get more “mileage” out of the original post, while contributing something new.

Take a quick look back at the responses you got on Twitter, or Facebook, or wherever, and write a follow-up post about them.

• If any of them asked a particularly good question, answer it in a new post inter-linked back to the original.
• If they were all just “nice post”-type comments, think of something you personally can add to the post and lead into it by saying, “My post on (x) received some very positive feedback over on Twitter, so I wanted to follow up with (xx).”
• Be sure to include your user ID on the other relevant service(s) within your post so blog readers can find/follow you there.

Use this strategy to showcase all the conversations taking place around your blog post.

photo from the Flickr stream of Jungle_boy

Increasing reader comments on your blog

Q. How do I get more comments on my blog?

A. Good for you! You’ve decided that comments should be welcome on your blog, to build community and encourage reader participation. That’s one of the things that makes a blog a blog, in my view. Here are some ways you can encourage readers to comment often:

1. Make sure you aren’t putting up barriers such as arduous log-in/registration requirements. While it provides a bit of commenter accountability to ask for the minimum name, email address and optional website URL, requiring readers to solve CAPTCHA riddles or even pass through moderation can be seen as significant barriers. Of course, these tools also help ensure that commenters on your site are human and not automated link-depositing “bots,” so do try them if you feel they are warranted, and see what works.

2. Comment on and link out frequently to other blogs – authors and readers there are likely to come check you out and leave their own comments.

3. Take a risk and be more controversial – or at least opinionated. Strong opinions generate responses. Even disagreement is healthy if it’s constructive, and can push your blog into the limelight.

4. Promote a controversial or opinionated post using Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Or StumbleUpon.  Don’t post your masterpiece and then sit back, waiting for traffic to find it. Get out there and actively promote it using other social media sites and tools.

5. Email people who have commented on your blog in the past and invite them to comment on a particularly high-quality post. Sometimes people are shy about being the first to comment. Your proven commenters can help you get the conversation rolling.

6. End a post with a question. If someone’s going to answer, I’ve noticed they’re just as  likely to answer a yes or no question as they are an open-ended one.

Michelle Rafter has more thoughts about getting more comments on her WordCount blog. Which of the above seems most do-able to you? Any other ideas to add to the mix?

The good and bad of blog comments

Many new bloggers are not entirely new to blogging – they’ve read a lot of blogs, and maybe noticed that sometimes, commenters get nasty, negative, or disagreeable. It’s important to remember: being able to become part of the conversation is what sets blogs apart from, among other things, printed newspapers and static websites.

While I make an exception here for journal blogs (where the author is blogging for their own personal satisfaction and not for the purpose of audience-building), I find that a niche blog is almost useless unless it offers readers the ability to comment, even negatively, on what the author’s presenting.

Why? Your goal with a niche blog should not just be to become the recognized expert on a given topic. It should also be to become a true resource to your readers – and that means offering them opinions other than your own.

Indeed, readers expect the opportunity to leave comments and be part of the conversation when they visit a blog (even, to a degree, journal blogs). Make it as easy as possible for people to comment, and you will help create a thriving community around your blog with high return readership.

You can always set up your blog to moderate comments if you are afraid of unchecked negativity. (Here’s one example of someone who attempted to deal with an overwhelming number of negative comments. And, here’s  another example of a blog that I know personally was inundated from day one with negative comments, yet the blogger perseveres with a helpful, professional attitude to this day.) You can also look for plug-ins to fight “comment spam” on your blog.