Blog Comments & SEO

What is a Blog Comment?

Many of you would have heard about blog commenting as a part of SEO strategies. You might also be confused about whether you should go for it or not. While some say it’s a black hat SEO technique, others say blog commenting doesn’t help with SEO any longer.
Which one is true?
If we look at the first part of the statement, blog commenting can be both a white hat SEO technique and a black-hat one. How is that possible?
If your comments are genuine and are meant to build your brand, then it is an ethical and white hat SEO strategy. But if you go on a spamming spree and leave random comments on various blogs, it would be a black hat technique.
It’s often seen in your backend where you see meaningless comments from name-less or weirdly named profiles. It’s an indicator of a blogpost.
Alright. But what exactly is blog commenting?
The act of commenting on blog posts on other websites is known as blog commenting. When you comment on a post, you will have options to use different social media accounts to comment. The primary commenting option is the one where you enter your name and the website link.
After each blog, you'll encounter the option to leave your comment, as shown below.
Your name will be hyperlinked to that website, thus creating a backlink to your site from other platforms. It is a famous link-building strategy as long as you don't misuse it.
In this blog, we’ll read in detail about blog commenting and how it impacts your website SEO.

How Blog Comments Help Your SEO?

1. Helping You to Discover New Blogs

The comment section is a great place to discover more blogs. The users/marketers hyperlink their websites in their comments.
And that means you can comment on even more blogs. But that doesn’t mean you can go on a commenting spree and write one-word comments or one-liners even.
Blog commenting is a serious and thoughtful process where you need to show your best side.
People who read your comment on a blog should immediately feel interested in checking your website and connecting with you. So, when you discover new bloggers and blogs, make it a point to identify the ones that are in some way related to your niche or, at least, ignite genuine interest in you.
Reading new blogs is an excellent way to expand your knowledge as well. It is not just an SEO strategy but also useful for improving your proficiency on the topic.

2. Networking with Others in the Niche

When you comment on a blog, you should also read the comments by other people. Check out the comment threads that attract your interest. Reply to other comments, share what you know, or agree with what they say. It will help you connect with like-minded people and build a network of bloggers in your niche.
The comment shouldn’t indicate that your sole purpose is to get a link. It should be a part of the discussion or provide your genuine thoughts about the blog.
The same goes for replying to comments on your blog. Don't merely leave a generic thank you. Add something that will make the commenter come back again. You could either complement their blog, provide an answer to their question, or ask a question (without being intrusive or rude).
The more you interact in the comments, the more chances you’ll have to expand your network and meet other bloggers. You can extend the friendship to social media platforms as well.

3. Easy Way to Learn More about a Topic

No matter how exhaustive a blog is, it is only natural for the blogger to miss out on a few points. It happens to all of us. And when we are working within the word count limitations, things can get even hard.
But the comments section would be a gold mine. People like to add the points the poster has missed or left out. Some blogs have lengthy discussions in the comments section where people discuss, debate, and argue about the blog topic.
As we are expecting a Page Experience update in Mid June 2021, the digital marketers have been on their toe edge while discussing it.
You will get to see the same topic from different perspectives and understand the merits and demerits in a much easier manner. There is so much to learn in the comments section of a blog as long as you steer clear of unwanted abuses and threats.

4. Generates Organic Backlinks ( Not in the Comments )

Now, that's a surprising headline, isn't it? You're getting a backlink but not through the comments. Is it possible? If so, how can it be done?
It’s quite simple. If you regularly contribute your views or knowledge as comments on someone else’s blog, people are sure to check out your profile and website. What do they do when they like what they see?
They will give you a shout-out on their website or mention you for being a valuable contributor and supporter.
This is how today’s one of SEO guru Marie Haynes participated in community discussions about SEO stuff. The blogger’s shoutout or mention her organically as she offers insightful
Doesn't that mean you are getting a backlink and recommendation, that too, a genuine one?
These are organic backlinks and have more weightage in SEO than the ones you generate when you comment. Blog commenting is more of a way to increase brand awareness. Don't limit it to nofollow backlinks.

5. Keeps the Blog Active (keep the Conversation Going)

When you are replying to your blog comments, you prevent the blog from getting buried under a massive volume of other posts.
It leaves a negative impression on users and search engines if the blog comments are left unattended. Here’s an example where a reply is given almost half a year later, which is a bad sign.
The comments ensure that the blog keeps generated traffic - by people who read the comments and reply to them.
While overdoing it can be a black hat SEO technique and attract penalty, engaging in genuine conversations is useful in more ways than one. You will come across as someone friendly and show that people can expect a response from you when they comment on your blog.
More people will like to share the link to your blog and spread the word on your behalf. They will also personally bring more visitors to your blog by mentioning your name in real-life conversations.

6. Social Proofs the Blog

What is social proofing? It is the process of making sure that your blog attracts social attention and brings more traffic.
For example, let's consider two blogs by different people on the same topic. If one blog has five comments and another has more than 100 comments, which one would you prefer to read?
The latter, right?
A blog with more comments means there is more activity on it.
So, do not overlook keeping a tab on the comments you receive on the blogs. Monitor, approve valid comments and engage with them.
Most people adopt the same thought process on social media. They prefer to visit blogs that have a higher engagement rate. When you ensure good activity on your blog post, you are social proofing your website/ blog to attract new users. A place with more crowds is deemed a better choice (be it on social media or in real life).

7. Have Direct Interactions with Blog Poster and Others

There aren't too many places where you can directly interact with a lot of people. Well, social media is one, but you can't go around sending people private messages, isn't it? Also, it is rather challenging to find people in your niche on such vast platforms.
Blogs make it easy for you to connect with others. All you need to do is leave a sensible and valuable comment on a blog post. The poster will respond to it. The best example to show it is SEO expert Neil Patel’s blog posts.
Even others who read the blog might react if they like what you have said.
If you have any questions or doubts regarding the topic posted, you can ask in the comments. A meaningful comment is going to elicit more responses than a bland one. It is a smart way to exchange information and get new visitors.

8. Blogs are More Personal and Allow for Informal Conversation

Well, that might seem like a generalized statement, but it is true. Even technical blogs allow for informal conversations. While you still have to be polite, you don't have to be overly formal. Just like the user's conversation here with Neil.
And personal blogs are a perfect place to have a casual interaction with others. It also becomes easy to drop a link to other blogs. However, do it only if absolutely necessary.
You can mention in passing that you have had a similar experience or written about the topic of discussion. And if they ask you to share the link, you can do so with permission from the blog owner. You don't want to appear like someone who promotes themselves on others' blogs. It will affect your brand image as well.

9. Get Recognized by Other Bloggers and Business Owners

We have mentioned more than once that regularly commenting on blogs will increase brand awareness. So how does it happen? They will recognize you by your name, image, and identity as the same person who shares valuable insights. Someone who has read your comment on blog X might reply to your comment on blog Y because they recognize you as the same person.
Here’s a snippet of a blogger recognizing a user whom he knows through blog comments.
Please oblige me for this UNCLEAR pic, I spent nearly an hour for such type of comments, but I couldn’t find naturally.
But for this to happen, you need to be consistent in commenting and use the same id/ profile. An ideal way would be to create a Gravatar and use that for your picture. You can link it to your WordPress account so that the blog’s full name and the Gravatar automatically get added when you comment. Not so hard, right?

10. Get New Ideas to Write Unique Content

As a blogger, you will need to keep churning content. Do you get fresh ideas for new content? Even if you write only within your niche, you still need to find more recent topics and themes to keep your audience interested.
Visiting others’ blogs, commenting on them, and interacting with those who comment will give you a chance to identify what else the readers are looking for. People tend to ask if there is a blog about other topics they like to read or want to know more about.
It will help you create a plan for the next few blogs. You can understand the blog owner's perspective and develop a new blog that either contradicts their opinion or supports it with more references and citations.

11. Reach Out to Bloggers from Other Niches

Blogs are an effective way to read more about different topics. You are likely to get an answer to your question or at least a reference point to start learning more about it. You can ask questions in the blog comments. The blog owner and even others who comment on the post will respond to the question.
They will give you responses from different perspectives and niche-wise.
Just as you reply to questions and help others (secretly hoping to promote your brand), others do the same too. It makes it easy for you to access material that you may not find immediately.
You can establish a connection with the bloggers and expand your network into other niches as well. It gives you more opportunities to get organic backlinks and shout-outs, thus reaching a different set of target audiences.

12. Exchange Information - Give and Take to Build Your Reputation

You write blogs to share your knowledge and build your reputation, isn't it?
For the same reason, even Brian Dean of Backlinko spends months together to put forth a single blog.
It is also a source of income as your readership grows. The same can be applied to blog comments. It is a bit trickier to get the same level of readership and revenue from blog comments. But with persistence and constant effort, you can achieve what you want.
We have explained in the previous points how readers and regular visitors will start to recognize you by your name and image. When people notice your knowledge, they will be eager to check out your blog. You would share more details on your blog rather than in the comments of another website, right? It will take time.
But blog commenting is a smart way to increase your brand reputation among readers.

13. Becomes Easy to Leave Your Contact Id - Use a Valid Email Address

It is essential to leave an impression (preferably a good one) on others to increase traffic to your blog. Your comments help you achieve that. But how can other bloggers or readers contact you?
Just as with the profile name and image, it is essential to use a valid email id.
Ensure that your contact, website, and picture details are latest and accurate.
You will get notifications that can be annoying, but that's how you can keep track of things. People who want to contact you will send you an email.
Always remember that you need to leave a simple and straightforward path from your comment to your blog. It will make it easy for people to reach out to you. If readers fail to find enough information about you, they wouldn't be willing to contact you, right?
They might even get suspicious of you.

14. Promote Your Brand without Being Aggressive

The vital point to remember when commenting on blogs is not to be aggressive in promoting your brand. Don't keep asking people to visit your blog for more information. It not only annoys the admin but also targets his/her ego, resulting in rejection or removal of your comments.
You can and should hint at it. But explaining a concept in half and asking others to read your blog the rest of the information will be annoying.
As long as you focus on recognition and building your brand reputation, you can promote your blog without being too in the face. Do you know about an interesting promotional tactic?
Capturing the first comment spot will highlight your comment and bring more traffic to your website. You can easily do that by signing up for notifications when others post their blogs. The instant you get a notification, go read and comment.

Tools to Moderate Your Blog Comments

1. Akismet Plug-in

Moderating your blog comments is super essential if you want to avoid getting penalized for others' black hat SEO practices. Also, you would like to keep the blog spam-free.
It’s easy to detect spammy comments if you have few blogs but it becomes a daunting task with hundreds or thousands of blogs on your website.
Akismet is a free plug-in by WordPress that detects spam comments. You can't find the free option easily anymore. So, you will have to choose the basic version and drag the price range to $0 to get the Akismet key and activate the plug-in on your website. Since spammers use software to generate automatic comments, you should also rely on one to get rid of them.

2. Disqus

Disqus is one of the most trusted comment plug-ins in the industry. It allows you to manage and moderate the comments on your blog and remove spam and suspicious comments. It is free to use (a basic version with all features) and can be used with other platforms.
Disqus works well on mobile and desktop versions with equal ease. Also, you can change the color schemes to suit the theme of your blog. You just need to embed Disqus to your website to start using it.

3. Livefyre

Livefyre is no longer available for WordPress users. The company focuses on enterprises and offers many features to sort, moderate, and keep your comments section spam-free.
The comment-moderation can be automated once you choose your settings. You can create a ban list to keep regular spammers from messing up with your blog.
People who comment have the option to revise their comments and add backlinks to their site. The customization feature is one of the highlights of Livefyre. However, not all bloggers prefer this comment moderation tool.

4. IntenseDebate

As the name suggests, this tool is designed to help you keep the conversation alive in the comments.
It offers you many options to check and uncheck to choose the users who can comment on your blog posts.
You can moderate comments by setting up filters with keywords, profile names, and IP addresses. It will reduce spam and allow you to focus on genuine comments.
You can create comment threads and send a reply via email (if you want to keep the reply private). It also allows readers to vote on comments they like and thereby help other bloggers as well. You can connect IntenseDebate with Twitter, Facebook, and RSS Readers.

5. Comment Timeout

Comment Timeout is a WordPress plug-in that lets you close comments on older posts after a set time. One standard method spammers use is to comment on older posts.
If you have left the comment section without any moderation, you might not even know about what's happening. You can still approve genuine comments on older posts and allow new comments in case readers want to discuss the topic. You have control over the comments that go live so that you can prevent spam and unwanted comments on your blog.

6. CAPTCHA

CAPTCHA is something we often see on many websites these days. It’s considered as the best to differentiate between humans and bots.
It has become a way of filtering spam and preventing bots from posting comments. However, not all readers like or approve of CAPTCHA.
Some people read the blog and don't comment because they find CAPTCHA annoying.
That risk is something you will have to consider. Also, some users mentioned that this tool doesn't seem to be working correctly with WordPress. But CAPTCHA is very good at identifying bots and automatic comments the other tools might not recognize and allow on your blog.

7. Rating Widget-Star Review System

It is yet another WordPress plug-in that makes it easy for you and your readers to track comments. Readers can rate the blog and the comments they like. It will allow you to keep track of popular comments on your posts.
The tool is GDPR compliant and works on WordPress, WooCommerce, BuddyPress, and bbPress forums. The widget also tracks duplicate comments and prevents them from being posted on the blog. It is a free widget that works on WordPress 3.0 or higher versions.
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