Any new blog or website could find comments thin on the ground for the first six to 12 months, and that is if they are continually adding fresh content to their point of service.
This blog is followed by many of the same people as my personal one, yet the comments over here are thin on the ground in comparison, and readers tend to make their comments on Twitter . That is because my audience do not yet trust everything I am saying over here, even though they trust me over there.
EVERY new blog needs to serve its time before it can become established, and unless you are already a big or popular brand, you will need to slog it out with the rest of us and adding SEO as you go.
There are a few no-no’s that will tend to have potential commenters / engagers running for the hills (and possibly your competitors) and these faux pas could be as simple as:
BlOGGING SOFTWARE
Blogging software is like anything else. There are positives and negatives in them all, but it is what you do to make them work for you that is the important thing. Comment systems must be easy. If your software is struggling to cope with comments, or gives your potential commenters the run around, then most will just leave and bounce out of your site.
Lots of bloggers install specialised comment systems to combat that, and the beauty of those systems is that they are free – so small businesses can up their game.
CAPTCHA CODES
Having the facility to enter a CAPTCHA code on website or blog comment sections is like having a parcel wrapped in gaffer tape and no scissors on hand to open it.
How frustrating is it to have to enter a CAPTCHA code? What about when you can’t quite make out what it says and your user experience takes a nose dive. To filter out the spammers now, the codes have to be either medium or higher in difficulty. It is not worth the potential loss of reader to have it on your blog.
Yes, I know, it is frustrating to have spam comments, but there are ways of adding security checks to your blog that mean you can remove the CAPTCHA.
CREDIT HOGGING
If you are small and not established, denying commenters a give back in the way of a link to their own blog = blog suicide unless you are already a big name.
Most blogging platforms automatically add “nofollow” to comments sections so they are not giving away page rank, but you are giving your commenter the freedom to add their own business or blog to yours. It might not give page rank, but it does still count.
Sharing the love is what makes the world go round and would certainly help yours to move up.
AUTOMESSAGING
If you are using eg, Twitter to promote a blog post – ANY link in an auto DM when you don’t already know the tweeter is going to have you looked upon in a shady fashion.
Verification sites that mean a new follower will have to follow a link from a DM to verify their humanity is going to lose you followers.
It is a myth to think that people who are interested in making trouble won’t bother to sign up. All it does is put you at serious risk losing of losing lots of potential followers who can’t be bothered to go to a new website just to follow you. If people are not following you, they cannot get your blog post promotions, read your blog posts, or give you any comments after being blinded by your genius.
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No one way of blogging is THE “right ” way, so good luck with however you decide to do it. Bearing in mind that after you have been going a while, comments tend to tail off a little in the UK as people settle into reading more than commenting back, or they read on smartphones that don’t allow commenting. I know I personally never bother to comment if the blog makes me choose an account that I don’t have.
