Se7en Strategic Commenting Tips to Grow Your Blog…

Last week I wrote a post on How to Start a Blog and said I would follow up with a post on how to grow your blog. Let me say when I began blogging it was with the sole purpose of keeping our respective grannies up to date with what was happening in the life of my little Hoods. I never intended to grow our blog, I did it inadvertently. We don’t have a huge blog but it is bigger than I ever expected. And I don’t make millions of dollars from our blog – that’s the next question folks ask!!! And I never intend to give up my day job for blogging!!! I am first-off a wife and a mom and I love that, blogging comes somewhere down the line after that. I am sure you are dying to know, and a superb writer would save their punchline to the end but here goes: The thing that seriously grew our blog was quite simply:

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Once you have started a blog you will eventually, and this may take a few minutes or a couple of months, want more than your immediate family to read your blog. In fact I know that most of my family and real live friends don’t read our blog… but other folk do. An astonishing number of folk virtually wander through our kitchen on a daily basis. I know there are blogs dedicated to teaching you how to grow your blog, Problogger for example, is great. There are also all sorts of little tricks and fancy words and in depth studies that will show you how you can do it!!!. But I have found that growing a blog is all about making friends. In the virtual world the more friends you have the the bigger your blog will grow, because in the virtual world friendships are connections and the more connected you become the bigger your blog will grow.

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  1. Comment Consistently: I bet you have a couple of blogs that you read and love already – take the time to comment, tell the blogger what you love… reaching out is the first step in any friendship and commenting is the first step in reaching out in the virtual world. I have made so many true and lasting friends just by commenting consistently. You can go one step further than commenting and link to the blogs you love, I always go and have a look at blogs that are linking to us and this works both ways… when I link to a blog I follow, generally the author comes over to say hi… every visitor is adding to your traffic. You never know they may even link back to you, in which case expect a traffic spike of note and even though you traffic will drop after a spike it never drops back to the level you began with.
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  3. Comment Cautiously: Don’t comment on every blog you read – you will never have time to maintain your own blog if you do. This is an easy trap to fall into… spend an evening commenting on other folks blogs and then realize – oops you are too tired to post on your own site. I keep the blogs that I am most likely to comment on in a separate folder in my news reader… and I know if there are posts in that folder then I am probably going to be commenting.
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  5. Comment intelligently: Make the effort when you comment to say something worthwhile, think of them as mini blog posts. If your comments are valuable they will get noticed. Before you know it you will be meeting other loyal readers of a blog who will pop over and visit to see what you have to say on your blog as well. Many times I have made a comment on a site only to be surprised by an increase in traffic to our blog for a few days following – that comment may well have “directed” the direction that the comments that followed takes. So really take the time to think about what you are saying and make sure that it is relevant.
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  7. Comment Carefully: I know I am at fault here, but try and keep errors out of your comments!!! Bad spelling and so on are not very inviting. Mixed up words and grammar errors just don’t say: “Come over to my blog, come over and visit,” very well!!! Also, if you don’t fill in your return address or your blog information correctly then no-one can get back to your site anyway.
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  9. Comment Timeously: If you are just socializing then comment anytime but if you are hoping to grow traffic from your comment then you need to comment as high up the comment list of the latest post on a blog as you can. Traffic from a really big blog can literally fly over to visit you if you comment in the first three to five comments… even the first fifteen comments is good!!! I know for myself that if I read a post and intend to comment then I will read the first couple of comments as well… often I will go and visit the site of an interesting comment.
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  11. Use Your Comments: Often comments on our own blog are a place for readers to ask questions, either there or on our contact page. Questions are a fabulous way to get ideas to blog about, especially since you know your readers want to know more about that topic. If someone has made the effort to ask a question then I make sure that I address the question either right there in the comments or in a follow up post a week or two down the line. Nothing builds traffic to your blog quite like giving your readers what they want to read.
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  13. Carnival Linking and Commenting: Carnivals are the ultimate in commenting… They are an open invitation from fellow bloggers to “comment” with a blog post. Carnivals are little weekly blog parties around the blogosphere where folks can link up posts they have written that week. I have a couple that I try and link to each week, if I have written something relevant. Carnivals like: Works for me Wednesday and Craft Schooling Sunday. Just as I pop around visiting other sites who have joined the link-up so they visit ours.
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    The Se7en + 1th thing:

  15. Treat Your Commentators like the Guests they are: I am a blogger, which by definition means that I enjoy getting comments… they are like little gifts to unpack, I really appreciate them. Only a very small percentage of my readers are inspired enough by what we write here to actually comment… and I will always respond and say thank-you and wish them a great day!!! I want them to feel extra-welcome for their efforts.

That’s it Se7en Strategic Commenting Tips to grow your blog… Next time I will share about how I blog and where I find the time!!! Meanwhile, Happy Blogging!!!

28 Replies to “Se7en Strategic Commenting Tips to Grow Your Blog…”

  1. Oh dear, I am very ungrateful! I read here quite often but rarely comment so, hello again and thanks. You can tell I’m not building my blog right? :o)

    xc

  2. Hay there Mrs Hojo!!! Would you just look at that huge cheese on your front page!!! Love it!!! Thanks for commenting!!! And hope you have a fabulous week!!!

  3. Thank you for the excellent tips. I have been unobtrusively enjoying your blog for some time without comment, even though your posts are delightful.
    I was excited to discover from one of your Christmastime posts that you love the book “One Wintry Night.” I thought you would enjoy knowing that Richard Jesse Watson (the illustrator, and incidentally, my dad) has just done a stunning edition of “The Lord’s Prayer” with Zondervan.

  4. Thank you for sharing all this really useful information – it is a gift to us! I’m in the process of getting my blog up and running, so this is very helpful. I think I don’t comment frequently on blogs because mine isn’t ready yet, so I feel like my comments don’t mean as much without a blog to go along with it. I appreciate the perspective of comments being gifts to the author/blogger – that makes perfect sense! I know I will be thrilled to know that someone, anyone, is reading my blog and thinking that what I have to say is worthy of a comment. 🙂 You are definitely worth tons of comments!!

  5. Well Hello Faith!!! How cool to meet you, where have been lurking, literally!!! I will definitely be looking out for your dad’s new book, “One Wintry Night” is so part of our tradition!!! I can’t believe to have “met” you. I loved a visit to your blog and Smile is one of our all time favorite books…ALL TIME!!! I have a kidlet who wants a birthday party based on it… and I am thinking of countless ideas!!! I hope you have a fabulous week!!!

  6. Hi Kimberley… Thanks for the gift!!! I think I woke up to the world of blogging about two months before I started one and for the first six months… listen to this: I couldn’t figure out how to open my comments!!! So while I was commenting everywhere and getting my presence known, no-one could come back to me and comment!!! It was very good in retrospect, I learned to post without waiting to see readers approval or disapproval… just post and stay true to what I had to say, but it was a bit like posting into a black hole!!! Now that my comments are working and next week when I write about how I blog you will see how I split my time between writing/commenting/researching and so on… Meantime well done on your new blog I hope it brings you heaps of joy!!!

  7. Great tips here. Never underestimate the power of comments. They’re a brilliant way to network and build relationships too. I love my commenters:)

    Keep up the great blogging here and thanks for introducing me to a new word: timeously!

    x Annabel

  8. Great advice -I’ve been blogging 4 years, and have met and made some great connections with bloggers by meeting them through comments.

    I always try to reply to a comment and make a reciprocal visit to their blog when ever possible.

    Keep up the great advice and series.

    Thanks

  9. Hay Annabel Candy!!! Thank you so much for stopping by!!! I have found the power of commenting to be simply remarkable!!! And isn’t timeously such a great word… it really just fits!!! I do apparently tweet but I have no idea how it works (horrified sigh for my husband). I would so love to know more about tweeting and I am determined to tweet with a purpose this year!!! Note – no giant leaps in a week – little goals spread out over a year a good!!! Have a fabulous day!!!

  10. Hay Annabel Candy!!! Thank you so much for stopping by!!! I have found the power of commenting to be simply remarkable!!! And isn’t timeously such a great word… it really just fits!!! I do apparently tweet but I have no idea how it works (horrified sigh for my husband). I would so love to know more about tweeting and I am determined to tweet with a purpose this year!!! Note – no giant leaps in a week – little goals spread out over a year a good!!! Have a fabulous day!!!!!

  11. Hay Janmary, I haven’t heard from you in the longest time!!! So great to hear from faraway N.Ireland!!! I must say comments and blogging and best friends made… certainly reason enough to blog!!! Hope you are feeling better soon and I am so loving roaming around Pinterest!!! Have a fabulous day!!!

  12. Excellent post, se7en. I still feel so new to it all. I find that by commenting on other people’s blogs I learn more. Interacting rather than just browsing. Otherwise how else would I have learnt about your potato and babboon issues!

    The one aspect that stops me commenting on some blogs is that I almost feel like I’m interrupting a group of established friends. I hope that my own blog doesn’t feel like that. How do you create an open friendly blog, which encourages people to leave comments, or am I jumping the gun, if you are covering this next week?

    I know exactly what you mean about each comment feeling like a gift!

  13. Great post and spot on! My blog is just for fun, but I do notice I get more visits after I have commented on other’s blogs.

  14. Sometimes I get so busy (and collect tooo many blogs on my google reader) that I don’t pop over and comment. So, your post is a timely reminder. Thank you so much!

    I love how you referred to comments as “little gifts to unpack”. So well put.

    PS: Loving the tips you sent through to me today. You always have such words of wisdom to share! Can’t wait to share them with my readers too. I will post it in early April, and will give you a heads up when I post it.

    xo

  15. Hay Cheryl!!! So glad you commented!!! You are so right about commenting adding another dimension to blogging I definitely share differently when commenting, it is a different medium to posting when I am usually sticking to a topic.
    That is a great question about blogs that are “established,” for my self I comment away!!! I have found a lot of what I once thought were well-established and unapproachable bloggers were actually quite approachable and have become good friends over time… sometimes I will contact a blogger “to comment” but mostly just by consistent and honest commenting eventually pay off!!!
    Lots of blogs leave “leading questions at the end of their posts” to encourage folk to post but generally I will comment when I want to say: “Love what you shared” or I have something to say about a particular post. For our blog, the more readers we have the more comments we get… I will have to think about how to make a “comment friendly blog” !!! It is a really good question!!! Anyway hope you enjoy the rest of the week and really thank-you for something to ponder!!!

  16. Thank you so much for sharing this information! I have thought and prayed about my own blog – how my original vision has changed, and how it can be used in the future.
    I recently found your blog, and have just had a blast reading it! So much great information! As a matter of fact (and I should have contacted you!!!), I shared your post on my blog about all the neat Valentines activities – there were so many good ones!
    You got me, friend — I am terrible at commenting. Usually my surfing is while laying down with my nursling, which means I have one hand to type, usually over the baby’s head, LOL! When I have both hands, I rarely feel like I can put too many sentences together! 🙂
    It’s a season, right?
    Thank you for how you minister to this global community of women!

  17. I thought this was really helpful and widened my perspective on comments a lot. And by the way, I think your blogs is one of the most welcoming I know!

  18. Hi Sally!!! As a matter of fact: thank-you for the wonderful comment. Just before I started blogging I saw a button on a blog that said: “me and my blog we will serve the Lord…” and I have that firmly entrenched in my head. It certainly stops me from posting all the grumpy stuff and keeps me on the light and happy!!! and I seriously believe in the seasons of life!!! My season right now is headed out the door without me and I am off to catch up … I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!

  19. Hay Jacki… So glad you think we have a welcoming blog!!! I am always so happy to receive a comment… I need to think about how to have my welcome mat open all the time!!! I hope you guys are seeing a little bit more sun!!! Miss you so much!!! Lots of love…

  20. Hay Meeks!!! Good to hear from you, thanks for stopping by for the comment!!! Glad you liked the tips… Hope you have a fabulous weekend.

  21. Hi there
    I always read your blog and hardly ever comment, so sorry about that!
    You are right, visitors should let the blogger know that they enjoy what has been written.
    Keep up the good work!

  22. Hi Sam!!! Gosh I have met so many readers through this one post, it is just lovely!!! Thanks for stopping by!!! Please carry right on reading and never feel you ever have to comment!!! Hope you have a fabulous weekend!!!

  23. I used to be so good at commenting! Then I think when I started working from home more and am constantly online for work, I end up wanting to spend my free time OFFline. But, I miss reading other blogs and really am trying to be better at commenting again! It’s what makes the community awesome for me!

    Steph

  24. Hay Steph… Mother of the cutest kids!!! I am so glad you stopped by!!!! I have a feeling the difference between working and playing is a vast one!!! If I actually earned money from blogging I would spend so much less time out and about commenting and a whole lot more time writing… It is fun to be part of a community of commenting but there are only so many hours in a day, a week, a lifetime!!! I hope you and your gang have the best weekend!!!

  25. Well, I definitely fail in the “comment timeously” part of your post! But I did want to say, Thank you! And I agree so much with everything you’ve written, especially the part about making true friends. I feel like I’ve got all these international pen pals, who genuinely move me, inspire me, and make me laugh every day. I feel very lucky to be part of their community and, when they visit, it means the world to have them be part of mine.

    Thank you for your thoughtful words, which never fail to inspire me and make me smile. Which is what life’s all about isn’t it? To connect, be lifted up, and do a lot of smiling! 🙂

  26. Hi Helena!!! Good to hear from you again!!! Yup connecting is great – and I loved your date post!!! Just loved it!!!

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