Blog commenting is a funny thing. Done right, it is an extremely effective strategy for building your reputation (branding), forming relationships with blog owners, and yes, getting backlinks to your own blog.
Done wrong, your blog comments can be your worst enemy. At best you may just blend in with the other dozens of commenters on a post. At worst, you can come off looking like a backlink hoarder, with no intention of adding anything intelligent to the discussion.
And if you spam…. well, don't even get me started (more on this later).
One of the most common questions I get from people who are starting out in blog commenting is…
What makes for a really good blog comment?
Great question!
Let's try something different in answering it. Rather than coming up with a list of qualities for a great comment, I'm going to give you some actual, real life examples of great comments and pretty terrible comments, directly from my blog.
To make it fun, I've even give out awards.
Most Informative Blog Comment Award: Janet Callaway
One of the best ways to “show your stuff” and let others know that you are a true expert in your field is to leave a comment that is truly informative and adds to the post in a meaningful way.
Check out this truly informative comment by Janet Callaway, creator of The Natural Networker in response to my post on Why Most Network Marketers Fail:
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In just one comment, Janet set herself up as a true expert and leader in the Industry.
Not bad for a single comment, right?
Best Technical Blog Comment: Timo Kiander
Sometimes you can show your expertise and leadership by demonstrating your knowledge in a technical area, and provide a comment that truly helps others (including the blog owner!).
Check out this short but sweet technical comment by Timo Kiander of TimoKiander.com:
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Why was this such a great comment?
Because it taught other commenters how to do something in a better way. It helped them be more productive.
And Timo, being the smart marketer that he is, posted this comment on a blog (ours!) where a main focus is….. productivity!
Very smart, Timo! Congrats on your award!
Best Branding Blog Comment: VaNessa Duplessie
One of the most powerful aspects of blog commenting is the ability to start branding yourself as a leader.
The winner of our Best Branding Comment Award is VaNessa Duplessie of VaNessaDuplessie.com, and she is an inspirational and passionate leader.
The winner of our Best Branding Comment is so passionate in what she believes in, you can't help but be drawn to her comment.
Check out her comment on my post Network Marketing IS about Selling, So Get Over It!:
Bob! Bob! Bob! I love this post. I had that line, there is no selling involved. You have to be persuasive and genuine and have passion about your offer. That is selling but as you put it, in a different way. People will join you if you are exicted and can show them you can offer them a better way or at least the path towards a better way. Those who are slick or try to convince others are just setting themselves up for failure as the attrition will be big. And it is not genuine.
I like authenticity and working with real people who realisze there is “work” in network marketing and when you stick with it, you can do anything you set your mind to. Working with people you like and want to work with is the best. Therefore, when you’re selling yourself, also remember it is ok to turn people away We get to choose who we want to play with in our businesses. Thanks for letting me go off on a tangent. I am passionate about authenticity in business.
You can see by the passion and the authenticity in her comment how VaNessa successfully brands herself and attracts the clients she desires right to her.
The Worst Blog Comments in August
It's no coincidence that you won't see any of the comments below live on my blog…. they never made the cut and were deleted before publication.
Why?
Check them out and I think you'll understand:
Great post!
Thanks for providing this great information!
Super!
Very cool indeed!
Get the idea? These comments do nothing to promote yourself as a person who has something meaningful to say.
In fact, most blog owners see this as a blatant attempt to secure backlinks, and almost always will be deleted.
You don't want to be THAT person, right?
A Word About Spammers
I doubt that anyone reading this post can be considered a spammer. No person who places spam comments would be caught dead actually reading a blog post!
But a word of warning to those who OUTSOURCE blog commenting: Beware! You may not know it, but your reputation could be going down the tubes.
Check out these 2 spam comments left on my blog last month.
Real Acai Berry
Submitted on 2011/08/26 at 3:09 amHello there, simply turned into aware of your blog thru Google, and found that it is really informative. I?m gonna watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. A lot of other folks will be benefited from your writing. Cheers! Affiliate Marketing
Submitted on 2011/08/26 at 2:59 am
Hello there, simply turned into aware of your blog thru Google, and found that it is really informative. I?m gonna watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. A lot of other folks will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
You see the issues here? First, they're obviously not real comments.
But even worse, these 2 comments are identical, left on the same blog (mine) just 10 minutes apart.
Outsourcing blog comments – a really bad idea.
The Most Ridiculous Blog Comment Award
Excellent beat ! I would like to apprentice whilst you amend your website, how could i subscribe for a blog web site? The account helped me a acceptable deal. I were a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered vibrant clear idea.
Enough said.
Takeaway
Blog commenting done correctly can brand you as a knowledgable passionate leader who will stand out from the crowd.
Blog commenting done poorly will have the opposite effect, portraying you as a spammer who is only looking for backlinks.
You may or may not get the backlink, but you've ruined your reputation in the process.
Hardly worth the shortcut, right?
Your Turn
Tell me about the best and worst comments on your blog! What about the funniest?
Leave a comment below and join in the discussion!
17 replies to "The Best, Worst and Most Ridiculous Blog Comments in August"
I guess everybody gets those crazy ridiculous comments. I juts don’t understand why would spammers do that. I mean instead of wasting your time spamming others and knowing most of your comments are going to be deleted any way, why not take a moment, read the post and leave genuine comment. Its a win win situation.
And the most disturbing part for me is that there are real businesses that outscore commenting. I mean, come on. Why would you put your reputation and your brand/ business reputation in someones else’s hand?….
Hey Bob, the comments I like the best are comments where visitors really go into detail about how a particular segment of the post affects them, gives them an “ah-ha” moment and somehow adds value to their life. Some other cool comments I’ve gotten are from people asking if they can guest-post on my blog and even advertisers wanting to pay to post ads on my site. When you get comments like that, you know you’re doing something right.
Spammers going to be a persistent enemy unfortunately. It seems like no matter what sort of measures are taken, they always manage to creep through. I just get angry at some of the commentators that just post for the sake of backlinks only and show no desire to participate in part of an active discussion or a community whatsoever. And some of the spam comments are so bad that they’re almost hilarious, sadly.
I am laughing out loud in reading a few of the comments to this post, Bob. You have opened the floodgates and published whatever came in (and I know very well that you do not usually do this!) So we get the whole range, just like your post says. My favorite among the really good comments was Steve Nicholas’ note. I got a kick out of his shaking his head in wonderment at those who don’t even read what he wrote – since they manage to agree with the opposite of what he wrote. And then, lo and behold, we have the unvarnished spam comments here, too. Kind of like saying (without saying, so I’m saying it) – “See what I mean folks?!!”
As long as your comment stays on the topic, it is a great comment. Its just all about relevancy.
I think blog commenting is a very good, benign and ethical way of getting backlinks and promoting ones’ blog. The best part about this method is that it doesn’t take much of your time but gives you great long term benefit.
Very very interesting. I’m not really much of a commenter but i do comment to topics which I really find interesting. Reading and following the awardees’ stuff enlightens me. I’m inspired now. Thank you sir Bob
Spammers and some bad and worst blog commenter has always out of topic. They have this generated comment list that just simply copy and paste and put their links on it without knowing that some blog owner can or would delete their comments and or that can be a spam. Relevancy to the post or to the blog is the most important thing you need to consider in posting a comment. In that way there will be an interaction between you and the blog owner and they can see that you are aware or concern with the blog post.
We are really thankful to you because of such teaching us how to be an active member of blogging community.Commenting power depends upon the knowledge we possess. As time passes we acquire more knowledge and will sure dish up quality comments to create a learning environment.
I had a pretty funny blog comment this month. I had just gotten published in a free ebook and I was highlighting that information on my post. I guess I mentioned the word ‘free’ a little too often. One of the commenters said, “Congrats on getting published in this new ebook. I would love to get a copy. I wonder if it is free?”
It really made me chuckle. I love it when commenters put humor into their comment.
Debbie
Great post, Dr. Bob! These are truly wonderful comments, and very amusing ones. My best comments were from people who really engaged the original post. It’s very hard for me to think of only one, because there are so many great ones. However, here is a partial list of hall of fame and shame:
The one that honored me the most was when I wrote a review for a great book I had read (The Go-Giver), and one of the co-authors actually wrote a comment on my blog to thank me for writing a review of his book, and much to my surprise, it was only one hour after the original post.
Some were ones that helped me relate to someone from common interests that I didn’t realize we had. For example, as I’ve worked on my goal to run a five-minute mile, my friend Oliver Tausend explained that he, too, had a history of running, although he focused on longer distances than I am.
Probably the biggest frustration is when I write something and someone takes the exact opposite message out of what I said. I’m not saying disagreeing with me (there are things I know, but I also know that there are things that I don’t), but praising me for saying exactly the opposite of what I said. I’ve had this happen when I wrote posts critical of the prosperity gospel, supportive of social security, and questioning the logic of one of the big “build your wealth” authors. (I’ve had people say that they appreciated me being a “follower” of this particular one, when anything I’ve said about this author at length has been critical.)
Thanks Bob for this.
I get all crystal clear in mind and get perfect picture about the genuine comments. Yes I have also seen such type of comment and I personally have done so many of such type when I am newbie to this but later as I gone in more depth and learned about it and still learning.
Commenting is something really a very important and serious thing. If not taken seriously then in a second it will ruins all your builded reputation and also relations.
Bob,
Thank you very much for giving me the award!
In fact, I just applied your lessons on good blog commenting (“Are You Getting The Most Mileage Out of Your Blog Comments?”) 🙂
Commenting – it’s all about building relationships with others.
Cheers,
Timo
I agree with your science about blog commenting. But think some commentators belongs to that part of the world where English is not the first language but they want to be a part of community. On other hand some people are completely newbie and they started blog commenting as hobby.
I think a blogger is teacher that should always guide his reader to make them his consistent readers.This habit will make blogging community too much strong.
Spam comments has always been time waster. I don’t know how many of them get through and the back link works for them. But as a blogger you can always make yourself safe by using a few suitable plugin. Thanks to GASP – it eliminated auto bots completely.
You have this plugin Bob, but still got those comments? They must be human-bots, aren’t they?
Bob, aloha. Great post! Thanks for providing this great information! Super! Very cool indeed!
Bob, as a “friend” of mine once (actually twice) advised “I?m gonna watch out for brussels”
Seriously, Bob, what a great idea for a post. As it happens, I do think it’s “Very Cool Indeed” that I received the “Most Informative Blog Award.” After I hit publish on that comment, Bob, I thought
my gosh, I really got carried away talking with Bob.” As you could tell, the message in that post resonated with me because, like you, I have heard it so many times.
Both your identical comments and your Most Ridiculous Comment had me scratching my head. Definitely something was lost in the translation because I cannot figure either of them out. My hope is the they will get together and have a “vibrant clear idea” while watching out for the brussels.
Bob, I am going to come back to complete my answer over the weekend. Because you so graciously posted this on my wall, I saw it, clicked and commented. Watch for a further comment over the weekend. Until then, aloha. Janet
P.S. Bob, this is a seriously Great Post!
The Best, Worst and Most Ridiculous Blog Comments in August…
What makes for a great blog comment? Want to know the worst blog comments to make? Check out the best, worst and most ridiculous awards!…