Blog commenting can be a very effective way to bring new people to your blog, if done correctly. For Part Time Networkers with limited time for their business, finding the best blogs on which to place comments is the first step towards effective blog commenting.
Before I show you how I search for blogs on which to comment, let's take a quick look at the multiple advantages of Blog Commenting.
Why Blog Commenting?
So why comment on blogs?
- Exposure to a New Audience – if you are making comments to a blog post related to your niche, people will check you out. This will give you exposure to a new audience that may become dedicated readers to your blog. NOTE: It's important to make intelligent comments that add to the conversation, rather than just “good job.”
- Link Juice – when creating a blog comment, you are allowed to add a link back to your site (you always should!). This creates something called a “backlink” to your blog and Google loves backlinks from credible sites (this is another reason why you want to comment on a site with a good Google Page Rank).
- Form Relationships with Other Bloggers – believe me when I tell you that bloggers notice when someone takes the time to leave several informative comments that adds to the conversation. You will find that these people will also check you out, and more often than not they will leave comments on your blog. Sometimes you can even create an arrangement for reciprocal commenting with one or more bloggers. This is a great way to increase your blog traffic and comments, lending social proof to your blog.
- Leverage Technology and Work Smart– blog commenting is a great way to leverage the Power of the Internet to drive targeted traffic back to your blog site. As Part Time Networkers, its crucial to leverage technology and work smart.
But how do you find the best blogs for commenting, the ones that will give you “the most bang for your buck?”
How To Search For Blogs In Your Niche
The first step in creating an effective blog commenting strategy is to search for popular blogs in your niche (or a related niche).
In my case, I would do a Google search for “Top 50 MLM Network Marketing blogs”.
As you can see, the very first search result is GOLD… someone actually published their top 50 MLM blogs. This is a great place to start.
What if you don't find enough blogs in your niche when you search on Google?
You can also search for most popular blogs on Technorati.com.
Another great way to search for niche blogs is to join Facebook Groups in your niche and start checking out the most active posters. They will often have great blogs on which to comment.
If your niche is large enough, there should be several blogs using these resources. If not, you may need to expand to related niches.
Now it's time to narrow the list.
How To Narrow Your List of Blogs for Commenting
Once you have your initial list, it's time to narrow it down. It's far better to comment frequently on a handful of blogs than to comment once on 50 blogs.
In the end, you'll want a list of 15-20 blogs (or more if you plan on implementing an extensive blog commenting strategy).
Here is how I narrowed this initial list of 50:
1. First, check out the blog titles and taglines (the line under the main subject line in the header). Do they seem interesting and related to your niche? Are the posts written in areas where you can make worthwhile comments. For example, if you're a novice and not tech savvy, a blog in your niche that focuses heavily on technical aspects may not be a good choice.you can eliminate those blogs that appear dormant or inactive. If someone hasn't posted in 6 months or more, move on.
2. Next, take a look at the blogs that catch your eye and check for ACTIVITY. You can eliminate those blogs that appear dormant or inactive. If someone hasn't posted in 6 months or more, move on.
3. As your list narrows, check for TRAFFIC on the site. There are several ways to do this, but my two favorite ways to check for traffic is SOCIAL MEDIA SHARING and COMMENTS.
Check out several blog posts on a blog that interests you and check for how many times they have been shared on Facebook and Twitter (you can see this if the author has the FB Share and Tweet MeMe plugins on their blog – most savvy bloggers do).
Similarly, are there several comments on most posts? This would be another indicator that this blog is getting a lot of traffic.
Curious about on which blogs we regularly comment? Here is a partial list.
What Else Should You Look For?
Now that you've found blogs that are interesting, active and seem to be popular with others, what else can you use to help you narrow your list?
What is the Google Page Rank?
This is a ranking of a website or blog given to a site by Google, with a range from 0-10. Only the most popular sites like Google.com and Facebook.com get rankings as high as 8-10. For our purposes, look for any blog with a Google Page Rank of 2 or higher. Avoid those that have a GPR of less than 2, as this means there is probably not enough traffic on this site to be worth your time.
You can check the Google Page Rank using this Google Page Rank Checker.
Are they “Do Follow” blogs?
WordPress blogs are by default “no follow” blogs. This means that Google is instructed NOT to follow the links on the blog to their source. So, if you were to leave a comment on a “no follow” blog, you will not get credited with a backlink from Google. This is important if you are looking to increase Google Page Rank for your site (and for basic SEO strategies). 
A “Do Follow Blog is the opposiite of No Follow – Google bots are instructed to follow the comment links back to their source. Other bloggers love this!
So how do you know if blog is Do Follow? It's not always easy to tell, but some savvy bloggers tell there readers upfront (see image to the right from the blog of my friend, Mavis Nong).
[HINT: To ensure that YOUR blog is a “do follow” blog, be sure to install the Do Follow Plugin to your wordpress blog].
Anything Else?
Comment-friendly blogs offer “perks” for commenters:
- Comment-luv — this is another WordPress plugin that shows your last blog post when you make a comment. This is super-popular with blog commenters, since it puts their blog contents right in the face of other visitors.
- Top Commenters widget – this is a cool sidebar widget that many bloggers use to reward their top commenters. People who check out the list (who doesn't like the top lists of anything!) can click on your name. This adds another way that visitors can check out your blog and add to your traffic.
- Subscribe to Comments – some blogs provide you the option to subscribe to any further comments on a post. This is a great way to see if anyone replies to your comment and allows you to continue the conversation and build relationships. You no longer need to keep checking back to see if anyone posted a reply to your comment. Now you can be notified right in your email inbox.
Check out my Top Commenters list on the right sidebar!
To see what Comment-Luv and Subscribe to Comments look like, scroll to the bottom of the page and while you're there, LEAVE A COMMENT.
Tell me about yourself and what you liked (or didn't like) about this post!
38 replies to "Effective Blog Commenting for Part Time Networkers: How To Find the Best Blogs to Place Comments"
This is a fantastic post and i really want to say thanks to author as it is really helpful for readers.
Keep up the great work!. I now have to take my time step-by-step absorb all this info. you have to choose the ones you will comment on regularly because being consistent is importan. Blog commenting is a great way to get people to come back to your blog,
I had to edit your name because you just used keywords. The correct way is to put YOUR NAME@KEYWORDS…. for future reference.
I appreciate that this is one of the blogs you choose to comment on. There are so many to choose from, and we are so grateful to all our readers, but especially those that take the time to leave a comment.
thanks for sharing information.a web page should contain the information that the users are looking for – your articles.
Thanks for the post you cover a lot about commenting it can also be used if a person wants to leave an opinion on a post I like your post keep up with the good posts.
Blog commenting is indeed of the the most simple, yet effective SEO strategies. Why would anyone not consider spending an hour a day to do such a simple strategy? What’s good about this is that you’re learning at the same time. So it just makes sense to leave comments on the blogs you’re already reading.
One more benefit — you start to build a relationship with some really cool bloggers who might even become collaborators somewhere down the road.
Great points, Audrey!
Hi Bob
I am brand new at blogging and came across your site via a RT from Kim Garst. This is really good information / tips especially for someone like me. I have learnt everything I know about social networking / marketing on the internet and, with there being so much information out there, one has to sift through everything to make sure you are getting the right advice. I will definitely be referring back to your site and will be incorporating your advice as much as I can – at least its written in a way I can understand and hopefully implement. I am so excited to be part of the blogging fraternity – this is my first “comment” – that’s how new I am so THANKS!
Cynthia
Commenting to other bloggers blog can be very helpful to us. It will help you gain more SOCIAL PROOF because if you are putting good comments on the other people`s blog they will also do the same to you. It can also give you FREE traffic because if you have a good comment on someone`s blog they will click you link and they can become one of your leads.
This is a nice tip bob. Have a great day and God bless you.
– Ian Valeza
Hi Ian… I can’t tell you how many of my readers tell me they’ve come over from another blog based on a good comment I made. It happens all the time.
This is definitely a great strategy for building traffic and relationships with your readers!
Thanks for your insights, Ian!
Thanks for the great WordPress plug-in tips, definitely adding to my blog. Are you familiar with a plug in that posts your latest wordpress posts at the bottom or your e-mails?
Hi Heidi,
The plugin that places related posts at the bottom of each blog post is called Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
I don’t know of any plugin that will do this for your email. Perhaps some more tech savvy of our readers can help here.
How do you come up with ideas to blog about? I just started so many things in the past month and one of them is blogging. From reading your posts I’d have to say my focus is not there. It’s just the opposite, like taking a shotgun to target practice.
Hi Bill, I think the first step is to understand who you’re writing for.
You can’t write for everyone (i.e. all online marketers). You can and must narrow your focus so that you can speak only to those who fit your niche. Once you do this, I think finding things to blog about will become much easier.
Here are 2 posts that you might find useful:
http://bobandrosemary.com/understand-niche-questions/
http://bobandrosemary.com/understand-niche-questions-part-2/
Hope this helps, Bill!
Bob, great tips and strategies for blog commenting. I haven’t run across such a complete and yet to the point article on this topic and with such good tips. Great stuff!
Welcome Hans.. and thank you for the kind words.
We’re so glad you found his information useful for your business.
Great to see you here. Look forward to seeing you again!
Bob and Rosemary
Hey Bob,
Great stuff. Blog commenting has been such a powerful element in the development of my blog for all the reasons you mentioned above, and to top it off, I’ve made some good friends along the way (and continue to do so!)
One thing I’d like to mention is that in my opinion it’s not too crucial to worry about Google’s Page Rank – By all means find and comment on high ranking sites whenever possible, but don’t ignore any on the basis of page rank. It’s not necessarily an accurate reflection of traffic, rather a reflection of authority from other high PR links coming in to the site.
That said, if you know of any DoFollow blogs with high PR, I’d love to hear about them!
Thanks and all the best,
Jym
HI Jym,
I appreciate the feedback about the importance of Google Page Rank. A couple of more experienced bloggers have also placed similar comments, so I will take this to heart. I’ve learned that its also important to follow blogs that have varying Page Ranks… some high, some medium and some low. Apparently Google likes this. But it’s more than that. Inexperienced bloggers deserve to be followed if they’re delivering good information, even if they’ve just started. Even the best bloggers in the industry started out by publishing their first post, right?!
Thanks for your comment, Jym. Great to see you again!
PS If I come across DoFollow blogs with high PR, I will certainly share them with you and the rest of the readers!
Well,i’m back here,it must be good otherwise i would not have come back!
I really appreciate what you are doing,and your tips are awesome,” if we implement them”
This is rapidly becoming one of my favourite places to visit.
Thanks a million
LOL Lester, that’s awesome. I’m glad you’re finding value here!
Keep on coming back, because I’m just getting started!
I appreciate the kind words, Lester!
Bob
Bob,
This is a great and easy-to-follow road map to web commenting. It certainly helps when we comment on relevant sites but it’s always great inspiration when we visit ones which don’t share our topics.
Checking ranking and share counts also is sound advice. If you’re looking to build your network with other movers and shakers then this is sound advice for finding the right indicators.
Jon
Hi Jon,
Thanks for the comment! Although I mainly focus on blogs in my niche, it’s great to build relationships with bloggers with other interests as well, especially if they’re really good at their craft! 🙂
Building relationships is not limited to your niche! You never know when you can help someone or they can help you.
Thanks for stopping by, Jon!
Hi Bob,
Fantastic post. You’ve made some powerful points. great work, man.
I think blog commenting is very powerful way to get traffic, connect with author of a blog and build relationship. I’ve great success with it.
It was blog commenting that helped me to find your awesome blog.
Thanks for sharing this great post,. mate.. !
~Dev
Hi Dev,
I totally agree, there are really 2 great aspects to commenting. One, it drives potential traffic back to your own site. But secondly, you can create some great and potentially lucrative relationships with other bloggers. I feel that the second benefit outweighs the first in the long run.
Thanks for pointing this out. Great to see you here again, Dev!
Hi Dr. Bob,
This is a really good guide for all bloggers to understand the reasoning behind commenting on other blogs.
When I started blogging about 15 months ago, I built up some great relationships within network marketing and that was where most of my comments were coming from.
My other blog’s niche is social networking and when I started my new blog for the challenges, I was relying on those past relationships.
This is why my posts talk about the WLC events that I coordinated and the network I created but I still relate them to network marketing techniques that I use.
This is why I talk about Alexa rating and ranking for difficult keywords (just made page 8 for a word that has 33 million searches a month :))
I want to help everyone in anyway that I can.
Win-win for everyone!
Have a POWERFUL day!
Talk soon,
Tommy D.
Hi Tommy, great to see you here!
It certainly is true — if you can build relationships AND teach somebody a skill that will help them in their business, that is definitely a WIN-WIN combination!
Thanks for stopping by… appreciate the comment!
Hey Bob,
You touched upon a topic that I have got interest recently too; I am blogging about effective blog commenting strategies and I love it!
I like you break down; clear cut instructions to get it done “effectively”. I do have some points that I want to add 🙂
1. Under “narrowing your list” – in general we can look for blogs with activity. Indeed I have much supported this strategy in many of my guest posts. But I recently discovered that commenting on blogs with less activity pays off a lot. It is easy to reach out to newbies and people with less comments, they easily become your friends. The benefits are more, my comment will be so long if I write them all.
2. About Google PR – it is wise to choose high pr blogs for commeting, that is good for seo and backlinks. But Google needs variety and you need to include blogs with less pr too. Especially totally “avoiding” blogs with PR<2 is indeed a bad idea.
In addition there are loads of blogs that are PR0 which have wealth of information, great readers and vibrant community. I can name a few blogs out here, but I am sure you know them.
So I will suggest a combination of all PRs or simply neglect the eye on PR when commenting; even though that would be an extreme, but I do that! and it works. You can watch the PR but don't weigh it 🙂
On the other hand, I totally agree with you on looking for do-follow blogs, blogs with commentluv and so on. Any blog that welcomes commenters is a sure place to comment.
Cheers,
Jane.
Hi Jane,
Thanks for the great feedback. I can see your point about not limiting your blog commenting based on PR. and blog activity. My point was, as someone working on a business part time, it is best to spend time on blogs that are active and well trafficked, as evidenced by lots of comments. But I see your point and will amend my strategy.
This right here is what is so great about niche blogging. Today I learned from someone (you!) who knew of information that I did not. Through the back and forth communication afforded by the blog platform we can learn so much more than if we tried to do it all by ourselves.
The ultimate in leverage, huh?
Thanks again for the great points, Jane.
Hi Dr. Bob!
I LOVE this post and have to thank you for reminding me about my subscribe to comments plugin. I’ve reactivated it again, thanks to you. 🙂
You provide such a compete list of tips. It’s a wonderful resource for any blogger, new or intermediate to implement! I would encourage everyone to take these tips and work through them like a checklist to generate traffic with blog commenting and to apply the tips to their own blogs to encourage others to get more traffic.
Way to go!
Heather
Thanks for the support and encouragement, Heather.
And thank you for all you do “behind the scenes” to make our little tribe hummmmm!
Appreciate the comment!
Hi Bob,
thanks for sharing your step-by-step advice about blog commenting. Very important because most people put content out and wait that traffic starts pouring in wonderously. That is very unlikely to happen, is it not ?
So people have to be proactive with promoting and blog commenting which is part of networking with other bloggers.
Take care
Oliver
So true, Oliver… the majority of bloggers write their post, publish and wait.. and wait.. and wait! They forget about promoting their blog other than throwing it up on Twitter or Facebook. Blog commenting is a great way to get people to come back to your blog, and to meet a whole lot of great people who write incredible blogs in the process!
Thanks for the comment. See you again soon!
Hi Bob!
I had no idea there were lists of network marketing blogs! That tip right there was worth the price of admission :).
But then, you have to choose the ones you will comment on regularly because being consistent is important. So I appreciate your advice on that, too.
Hi Jeanine,
Yes! There are blog lists for just about anything, depending on your niche. I found that great resource “The Top 50 MLM Blogs in 2010” simply by searching in Google. For my niche, it was like finding a goldmine! 🙂
Glad the information helped you!
Thanks for stopping by. See you again soon!
Hi Bob,as someone new to blogs and blog commenting,i must congratulate you for the very indepth info provided. I will certainly re-visit and recommend to my followers. Keep up the great work!. I now have to take my time step-by-step absorb all this info,tl.llhanks.
Hi Lester… welcome to our blog.
It’s true, we don’t write about things superficially, but our readers continually tell me that this is what they want… a blog with some “meat” on it. Take your time and come back often! I usually put up a new blog post 3x each week, so the material is always fresh. Speaking of this, I need to get back to writing… I have a great post coming soon.
Thanks for the comment!
Bob
Bob,
I think you’ve covered many of the ways to check which blogs to follow and why. The Do-Follow blogs are great, but I have found you still get link juice from the others, just not as good. Great list of tips that will support anyone who is getting started or a veteran blogger. Keep the ideas flowing!Val 😉
Hey Val, I agree that a blogs “do follow” status should not be the only criteria for commenting on a blog. Of course, if you truly “resonate” with a blog post, you should add to the conversation. Also, the dofollow status has no bearing on bringing visitors over to your site when they like what you’ve said in your comment.
Thanks for visiting!