Yesterday a friend on Facebook posted a question about how do you drive more comments on your blog or get more real product reviews on your site. A bunch of people said, SEO, etc… which I sort of disagree with. The reason is that SEO brings people to your site one time, but that doesn’t mean they will come back, comment, etc… SEO is a part of it, but how can you use SEO to generate more blog comments and product reviews. Here are 5 ways that I help generate blog comments and ways to get more people to leave product reviews on your website.
1. Keyword research with your SEO
Instead of just looking for keywords that have a large search volume or that have extensions to drive sales, think about long tail keywords that drive comments. Think about phrases that are part of common questions, think about adding in modifiers like reviews, details, specs, comparison, hate, etc… into your copy and also think about what terms out there create discussions like “better than”, “liked because”, etc… When doing your research for keywords to try and rank a post for, think about the modifiers and phrases that drive conversations on your site.
2. Be engaging – This isn’t a fluff answer
Everyone says to be engaging, but what does that mean or how can you do it. Instead of just worrying about writing “good copy” and “adding value” try actually asking your readers to comment or to give their opinion. When you do this on Facebook and Twitter, people respond back. If you have loyal readers that come to your site, ask them to comment and actually engage them. If you moderate all comments, let them know about it as well so they don’t sit there and wonder where their comments are. You’d be amazed at the difference asking them to comment vs. hoping they comment can do.
3. Be critical and share your own opinion.
One thing that I do is write exactly how I feel. On one of my blogs in particular I do reviews of a specific thing and when the review isn’t positive, I always get people coming and commenting. Sometimes they agree with me and other times they don’t. Regardless of what my opinion is or if they like what I had to say about the topic I review, it generates a conversation and helps to build a readership at the same time. Don’t worry about driving sales or trying to make everyone happy, give your honest opinions and the people that disagree will usually comment which helps get the people who did agree to jump in as well.
4. Use a do follow backlink plug in like CommentLuv.
I don’t actually do this, but I know a ton of Bloggers that do. By allowing people to have a do follow link when they comment, you are more likely to get comments because they are getting something out of it as well. You may end up with a bunch of crap comments, but you can always remove those and let the real ones stay. Having these plug ins and allowing do follow links can also help you get added to lists and get referrals from friends from very authoritative sites, but at the same time can also be bad if the search engines find out. I see a lot more benefits to using a do follow plug in than risk if your goal is to increase your comments, shares and helping to get your readers more active within your site.
5. Comment on other people’s sites
Everyone says this, but you have to actually add value. Just agreeing or adding fluff like most people do won’t help. You have to add a unique comment in that makes sense, adds to the conversation and adds value to the blog. You also don’t want to write a really good response, but could also be a good fit for a ton of other posts and sites on the same topic. People can easily take your comment and then post it on a ton of other sites making it look like you are a spammer. Try to make your comment at least 50 words, make sure it is on topic and that it adds to the conversation or to the content of the post. The blog’s owner or author will appreciate it and by adding value and showing you know your stuff you can begin to build a readership on your own site. One thing you also want to avoid is saying things like “I did this post on” and then linking to your own blog. That is spammy and usually not appreciated. Instead give a summary of your post and people will check out your blog if they think you had a good point.
Many of these seem like common sense, but if you read through the posts you really loved, did you actually do these things or leave comments that added value? If you want more people to comment and become an active member of your site, you have to strike an emotion that makes them want to talk to you. Driving traffic is great, but getting their attention and loyalty takes you making your posts more engaging. You need to write something that makes the person want to leave a comment or give feedback. If you give them a reason to, or you just ask for it or let them know you want to hear what they think, chances are you can begin to build your engagement and that is the key to getting more comments and product reviews on your blog or website.
5 Ways to Generate More Comments or Reviews for Your Blog or Site
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Yesterday a friend on Facebook posted a question about how do you drive more comments on your blog or get more real product reviews on your site. A bunch of people said, SEO, etc… which I sort of disagree with. The reason is that SEO brings people to your site one time, but that doesn’t mean they will come back, comment, etc… SEO is a part of it, but how can you use SEO to generate more blog comments and product reviews. Here are 5 ways that I help generate blog comments and ways to get more people to leave product reviews on your website.
1. Keyword research with your SEO
Instead of just looking for keywords that have a large search volume or that have extensions to drive sales, think about long tail keywords that drive comments. Think about phrases that are part of common questions, think about adding in modifiers like reviews, details, specs, comparison, hate, etc… into your copy and also think about what terms out there create discussions like “better than”, “liked because”, etc… When doing your research for keywords to try and rank a post for, think about the modifiers and phrases that drive conversations on your site.
2. Be engaging – This isn’t a fluff answer
Everyone says to be engaging, but what does that mean or how can you do it. Instead of just worrying about writing “good copy” and “adding value” try actually asking your readers to comment or to give their opinion. When you do this on Facebook and Twitter, people respond back. If you have loyal readers that come to your site, ask them to comment and actually engage them. If you moderate all comments, let them know about it as well so they don’t sit there and wonder where their comments are. You’d be amazed at the difference asking them to comment vs. hoping they comment can do.
3. Be critical and share your own opinion.
One thing that I do is write exactly how I feel. On one of my blogs in particular I do reviews of a specific thing and when the review isn’t positive, I always get people coming and commenting. Sometimes they agree with me and other times they don’t. Regardless of what my opinion is or if they like what I had to say about the topic I review, it generates a conversation and helps to build a readership at the same time. Don’t worry about driving sales or trying to make everyone happy, give your honest opinions and the people that disagree will usually comment which helps get the people who did agree to jump in as well.
4. Use a do follow backlink plug in like CommentLuv.
I don’t actually do this, but I know a ton of Bloggers that do. By allowing people to have a do follow link when they comment, you are more likely to get comments because they are getting something out of it as well. You may end up with a bunch of crap comments, but you can always remove those and let the real ones stay. Having these plug ins and allowing do follow links can also help you get added to lists and get referrals from friends from very authoritative sites, but at the same time can also be bad if the search engines find out. I see a lot more benefits to using a do follow plug in than risk if your goal is to increase your comments, shares and helping to get your readers more active within your site.
5. Comment on other people’s sites
Everyone says this, but you have to actually add value. Just agreeing or adding fluff like most people do won’t help. You have to add a unique comment in that makes sense, adds to the conversation and adds value to the blog. You also don’t want to write a really good response, but could also be a good fit for a ton of other posts and sites on the same topic. People can easily take your comment and then post it on a ton of other sites making it look like you are a spammer. Try to make your comment at least 50 words, make sure it is on topic and that it adds to the conversation or to the content of the post. The blog’s owner or author will appreciate it and by adding value and showing you know your stuff you can begin to build a readership on your own site. One thing you also want to avoid is saying things like “I did this post on” and then linking to your own blog. That is spammy and usually not appreciated. Instead give a summary of your post and people will check out your blog if they think you had a good point.
Many of these seem like common sense, but if you read through the posts you really loved, did you actually do these things or leave comments that added value? If you want more people to comment and become an active member of your site, you have to strike an emotion that makes them want to talk to you. Driving traffic is great, but getting their attention and loyalty takes you making your posts more engaging. You need to write something that makes the person want to leave a comment or give feedback. If you give them a reason to, or you just ask for it or let them know you want to hear what they think, chances are you can begin to build your engagement and that is the key to getting more comments and product reviews on your blog or website.
Adam Riemer
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