Blog Commenting - Yes, No, Maybe?

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • derekjay
    Email problem

    • Jan 2010
    • 110

    #1

    [Article] Blog Commenting - Yes, No, Maybe?

    I have a lot of people asking me about the effectiveness of blog commenting as a link building / SEO technique, so I’d like to express my opinion on the topic. I personally believe in blog commenting, and have enjoyed great SE results from this technique, but, and this is a big but, it must be done correctly. Here’s how:



    Contribute, Don’t Spam

    If you think you’re gonna get easy links by just writing a really generic message, and posting it to hundreds of blogs using something like Comment Kahuna (or anything similar), you’re wrong. Most blogs will simply flag you as spam (assuming you get past the Captcha code), and the ones that do accept you will most likely by poorly maintained blogs that carry very little SEO value in any case.

    If you want to get that link, you have to work for it. And its really not that hard. Simply read through the article, and draft a short, worthy response, that adds value to the blog. You can even ask a question you might have on the topic as this too adds value. Now I’m not saying that you’ll always get a link this way (because there are some nasty moderators out there), but this strategy is a lot more likely to win you some link juice.

    Forget About NoFollow

    The “nofollow conspiracy” as I call it is highly overated. Don’t waste your time looking purely for blogs that implement a “dofollow” comment policy. Rather mix it up and comment where its most appropriate. Looking for only the best, high PageRank, “dofollow” blogs is going to waste so much time that you could have used building links or otherwise marketing your business.

    Get A Gravatar

    This one’s more an opinion than anything else, but as a moderator, I always look for comments that have Gravatars (avatars) to add to my blog posts. Not only are they more colourful and exciting, but chances are that someone who’s taken the time to set up an avatar is less likely to be a spammer.

    Link To Something Useful

    Don’t always just use your root domain – if the blog post is about something that you have more info about on your site, link to that page instead. This adds more value to your comment, and also diversifies your backlinks, ensuring a “natural look”.

    Spread It Out

    Getting backlinks from the same blogs over and over again isn’t really that useful. Aim to get a few links from many different blogs, and diversify your linking domains.

    Be Consistent

    Last but not least is the one that trips us all up. Be consistent - its no use commenting a whole lot this month and forgetting about it next month. Rather commit to doing a few comments each week, and you’ll enjoy a much higher rate of SEO success.
    | 1on1 by
  • Dave A
    Site Caretaker

    • May 2006
    • 22806

    #2
    Originally posted by derekjay
    Contribute, Don’t Spam
    As a moderator myself...

    It's the first question I ask when I look at a post in moderation. On topic/relevant goes a long way.

    And honesty too.

    The first post goes - "I saw this on the internet, what do you think?"
    I think "this is the first thing you want to tell us about and you don't have a personal interest? Yeah right!" *Delete as spam*

    A guy makes a first post asking for SEO advice for a website or page that is clearly optimised and with a horde of backlinks already... *Delete as spam*
    Participation is voluntary.

    Alcocks Electrical Services | Alcocks Pest Control & Entomological Services | Alcocks Hygiene Services

    Comment

    • OnlineMarketing
      Junior Member
      • Jan 2011
      • 21

      #3
      Good post Derek. Blog commenting is certainly a way of targeting better PR sites ie sites with more authority in the eyes of Google, of course it is also a good medium to drive direct traffic if you are adding value AND you target blogs in your niche. Relevant ie niche related links on high PR sites are very valuable in the eyes of Google but even with good scanning tools(we have 4) finding such sites is not easy thats why overall we only use this strategy for less than 5% of our linkbuilding. Having said that if i were launching a new blog and was happy to grow my SEO slowly but with a great foundation for longevity i would probably use related niche blog commenting to drive traffic and get some decent links. IMHO though for mature sites or even young sites SEO is a link numbers game(assuming on page factors are a 6 out of 10) so blog commenting is too slow.

      Comment

      • derekjay
        Email problem

        • Jan 2010
        • 110

        #4
        Originally posted by OnlineMarketing
        IMHO though for mature sites or even young sites SEO is a link numbers game(assuming on page factors are a 6 out of 10) so blog commenting is too slow.
        Agreed - Blog commenting is only one link building tool of many. I'm not in any way suggesting that it be anyone's sole strategy
        | 1on1 by

        Comment

        • ava_camen
          Email problem
          • Nov 2010
          • 35

          #5
          these are really good tips, im a newbie in blog commenting and it all makes sense. cheers to the ts!

          Comment

          • Dave A
            Site Caretaker

            • May 2006
            • 22806

            #6
            Originally posted by ava_camen
            im a newbie in blog commenting...
            Bullshit. I've come so close to banning you for comment spam and deleting everything you've ever posted on this board so many times, you have to be the ultimate expert. You can't walk that close to the line without knowing what you're doing.
            Participation is voluntary.

            Alcocks Electrical Services | Alcocks Pest Control & Entomological Services | Alcocks Hygiene Services

            Comment

            • bjsteyn
              Silver Member

              • Jul 2010
              • 231

              #7
              Originally posted by Dave A
              Bullshit. I've come so close to banning you for comment spam and deleting everything you've ever posted on this board so many times, you have to be the ultimate expert. You can't walk that close to the line without knowing what you're doing.
              I Agree Dave, Just from reading that one comment I get the impression that ava_camen is playing the dumb blond routine.
              Please support us--> https://thundafund.com/project/6716626611208846

              More info about Timeless.
              www.facebook.com/atimelessnation
              www.facebook.com/atnmagazine
              www.facebook.com/timelessaction
              www.facebook.com/timelessrehab
              www.facebook.com/godisstaying
              www.facebook.com/groups/howbigisourgod
              www.facebook.com/timelessessentials2020
              www.facebook.com/timelesscsm2019

              My Business Card
              https://imgur.com/N3PFn00
              https://imgur.com/qlYNGST

              Comment

              • bjsteyn
                Silver Member

                • Jul 2010
                • 231

                #8
                @derekjay you seem to be quite the SEO expert here. I read a while back how somebody increased their traffic from a few visits per day to over a 1000 per day by just using social bookmarking suggestion. What i believe he did was when ever a person came from a stumble upon ( or I cant remember if it was a different sight, any ways), he suggested that they social bookmark the page on stumble upon.

                This had a huge effect for his traffic. What are your thoughts on Social Bookmarking Suggestion?

                I added Social Bookmarking Buttons on my blog, but noboddy bookmarked, so i removed it and rather used it as advertising space. Maby an idee for your next helpfull post.

                Cheers
                BJ
                Please support us--> https://thundafund.com/project/6716626611208846

                More info about Timeless.
                www.facebook.com/atimelessnation
                www.facebook.com/atnmagazine
                www.facebook.com/timelessaction
                www.facebook.com/timelessrehab
                www.facebook.com/godisstaying
                www.facebook.com/groups/howbigisourgod
                www.facebook.com/timelessessentials2020
                www.facebook.com/timelesscsm2019

                My Business Card
                https://imgur.com/N3PFn00
                https://imgur.com/qlYNGST

                Comment

                • JanvandeMerwe
                  Email problem
                  • Dec 2010
                  • 19

                  #9
                  Good article

                  I can not but think to myself - this is not new, not a brainchild that someone just had, not something that we should hail. But there is something in me that says that we should keep writing about these things until people, and marketers especially, get the point that we add content to the web and contribute to the discussion.

                  As long as you are contributing something to the readers and the author of the piece then it is not spam.

                  That being said, I hope this contributes, and as always... pardon the ramble.

                  -Jan

                  Comment

                  • Dave A
                    Site Caretaker

                    • May 2006
                    • 22806

                    #10
                    Originally posted by bjsteyn
                    Just from reading that one comment I get the impression that ava_camen is playing the dumb blond routine.
                    Not really - well certainly not always. At least 50% of those comments actually do display a meaningful grasp of the topic and every now and then they're genuinely wordly-wise (albeit in a very brief statement of opinion).
                    Originally posted by JanvandeMerwe
                    As long as you are contributing something to the readers and the author of the piece then it is not spam.
                    That's exactly what makes dealing with Ava so tough. Today's another example - Ava has commented on 6 threads in 5 minutes. None are blatantly off-topic spam although most are very "thin."

                    Individually they're encouragment/refreshing the topic/possibly adding value. Viewed collectively a different agenda emerges, but is that important enough an issue to whack Ava for spam?
                    Last edited by Dave A; 17-Feb-11, 08:42 PM.
                    Participation is voluntary.

                    Alcocks Electrical Services | Alcocks Pest Control & Entomological Services | Alcocks Hygiene Services

                    Comment

                    • bjsteyn
                      Silver Member

                      • Jul 2010
                      • 231

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Dave A
                      Not really - well certainly not always. At least 50% of those comments actually do display a meaningful grasp of the topic and every now and then they're genuinely wordly-wise (albeit in a very brief statement of opinion).
                      I did n forum search and cannot find any of ava_camen's previous comments and the search link you supplied says "Sorry - No Matches"

                      Some people spam very cleverly, using the dumb blond, charming or I Agree tactic.

                      WoW, I did not know that!! - Dumb Blond
                      Blog Commenting is a great SEO strategy, you are right!! - I Agree
                      You are just so awesome DAVE!! - Charming
                      Last edited by Dave A; 17-Feb-11, 08:42 PM.
                      Please support us--> https://thundafund.com/project/6716626611208846

                      More info about Timeless.
                      www.facebook.com/atimelessnation
                      www.facebook.com/atnmagazine
                      www.facebook.com/timelessaction
                      www.facebook.com/timelessrehab
                      www.facebook.com/godisstaying
                      www.facebook.com/groups/howbigisourgod
                      www.facebook.com/timelessessentials2020
                      www.facebook.com/timelesscsm2019

                      My Business Card
                      https://imgur.com/N3PFn00
                      https://imgur.com/qlYNGST

                      Comment

                      • Dave A
                        Site Caretaker

                        • May 2006
                        • 22806

                        #12
                        Originally posted by bjsteyn
                        the search link you supplied says "Sorry - No Matches"
                        I forgot searches are only cached for an hour.
                        Participation is voluntary.

                        Alcocks Electrical Services | Alcocks Pest Control & Entomological Services | Alcocks Hygiene Services

                        Comment

                        • JanvandeMerwe
                          Email problem
                          • Dec 2010
                          • 19

                          #13
                          Dave, I guess in this case if all the posts were like that, then I would axe them or deny them a signature with links. If there are good comments amongst the spam I would have to look at the overall contribution. But I guess we should never say that someone is contributing if there is no substance. Naturally this effects the quality and culture of the forum in the long run.

                          Pardon the ramble

                          Comment

                          • Dave A
                            Site Caretaker

                            • May 2006
                            • 22806

                            #14
                            Originally posted by JanvandeMerwe
                            I would axe them or deny them a signature with links.
                            I hate manual; far prefer automated. I had a mod loaded that automatically dealt with the "signature link incentive" for spammy commenting techniques like Ava's, but with the December upgrade it needs some fixing to work on the vB4 platform.

                            It'll come back. In the meantime I guess we just need to grin and bear it.

                            For Ava and co., enjoy it while it lasts
                            Participation is voluntary.

                            Alcocks Electrical Services | Alcocks Pest Control & Entomological Services | Alcocks Hygiene Services

                            Comment

                            • BryanCasson
                              Email problem

                              • Mar 2011
                              • 51

                              #15
                              Google no longer takes blog links into consideration and the value you get from them for link building is next to none. If we were to give a score for the quality of links, it breaks down like this:

                              Relevant Link on page in footer of site or side bar 5/10
                              Irrelevant Link on page in footer of site or side bar 2/10
                              Relevant Link in main content of post when there are less than 5 outgoing links in the post content: 10/10
                              Irrelevant Link in main content of post when there are less than 5 outgoing links in the post content: 3/10
                              Relevant Link in main content of posts shared with 10 other links 4/10
                              Irrelevant Link in main content of posts shared with 10 other links 1/10
                              Relevant Comment Links 1/10
                              Irrelevant Comment Links 0/10
                              Relevant Links from Facebook/Twitter 6/10
                              Irrelevant Links from Facebook/Twitter 2/10
                              Relevant Reciprocal Links 3/10
                              Irrelevant Reciprocal Links 1/10

                              what is the difference in Relevant vs Irrelevant?

                              Site A: Vet
                              Site B: Dog Food Company
                              Site C: Car Sales Company

                              Link from A to B = Relevant
                              Link from B to A = Relevant
                              Link from A to C = Irrelevant
                              Link from C to A = Irrelevant
                              Link from B to C = Irrelevant
                              Link from C to B = Irrelevant
                              Link from A to B and B to A = Relevant Reciprocal
                              Link from A to C and C to A = Irrelevant Reciprocal

                              Hope this helps.
                              Bryan Casson: & Owner of
                              "Google or Bing...... um what is Bing?"

                              Comment

                              Working...