Comment Evaluation: The Good, The Bad and The Fugly
Posted: April 28, 2012 Filed under: Blogging, Content, SEO, Social Media, Social Sharing | Tags: bad blog comments, blog comment evaluation, blog comments, community engagement, community involvement, genuine blog comments, good blog comments, Google search commands, link building, social metrics 18 Comments »
I was asked the other day about blog comments and the difficulties in writing something genuine that adds to the conversion. So, I thought I’d compile a list of comments as examples of good, bad and downright ugly blog comments.
And I thought the best way to do this would be to write this article and then actually post comments on this post (see below) along with an evaluation of each. But first, I need to write something to comment on.
So here are a few tips on how to find blogs and how to comment on them in the most authentic way:
- The Pub Conversation Approach – Only post a comment if you feel you have something to add. Basically if these people were talking in a pub would you feel confident joining in on the conversion? Often this is easier said than done when you are working on a client site and you’re not an expert on the industry, nevertheless it is a good rule of thumb.
- Google Search Commands – There are loads of different Google search commands you can use to find relevant blog comments, such as inurl:blog, inurl:keyword or combinations of each.
- Check the Metrics – I use a social analytics as well as a Google+ extension, if a post has lots of shares then I know it is a good page to add a comment on.
- Read the Blog – Don’t just post “great post”, instead read the blog and find a section you have an opinion on then post your opinion referencing what you have read.
- Read other Comments – Read what others have posted to see if there is an overall theme, only then you can add something new to the conversation. You don’t want to post something that has already been said, you want to add something new.
- Write a Comment that adds Something to the Conversation – Telling the writer how good their post is can sometimes be genuine but you also want to question the author, ask them to elaborate or in some cases disagree with what they have said.
Now for the comments
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Comment: I really like the “pub conversation” approach, it does make sense to only join in conversations when you have something to add.
Evaluation: A really good comment. It references the article and demonstrates that the commenter has read and understood the blog. It also has the authors name and an appropriate url.
Comment: I regularly use site commands, here is a good list of them: http://www.searchcommands.com/google/
Evaluation: Great comment. The author has read the blog and has even added to it by telling potential readers about a useful site for carrying out one of the actions mentioned within the blog. It’s even better as they have linked to an external website rather than their own site.
Love this. I use site commands regularly to clean the SERP data I collect. And no where is this more helpful in comment marketing. I use the daterange: operator to filter out the sites that were not most recently indexed. It’s an awesome operator, but gets wonky when adding others at times, lol.
Comment: I agree with the last comment, site commands are a real useful method of finding blogs. But the social metrics idea is even better as it allows you to see how good a blog actually is, page rank isn’t always a good indicator. I use the social analytics extension, which gives a summary of social metrics from Twitter, Facebook and Google+, as well as some other sites.
Evaluation: Amazing comment. It references a comment from another reader, as well as adding to the content from the blog. They’ve also added a link to a tool that could help potential readers.
Comment: Great post. I’ve been following your blog for a while and I love your SEO week in pictures blogs.
Evaluation: This comment shows that the author has actually read the blog before or at the very least has read some of the previous posts before posting a comment. However, they have optimised the comment by posting with the name “SEO Expert”, it is spammy and makes me a bit sceptical.
Comment: Great comment, thanks. I’m going to link to this on my blog.
Evaluation: Again the anchor text has been optimised and the url is an inner page, this would be fine if that was their author bio but long urls within comments can be considered spammy. The comment also seems disingenuous as I’m unsure whether they have actually read my blog. The mention of giving me a link may also be lip service, so that I approve the comment.
Comment: This really applies to my two site, here are the links: tudordavies.wordpress.com and twitter.com/Tudor_Davies
Evaluation: They haven’t put a link to accompany their name, which can work sometimes, if done in the right way. However, the comment is clearly spam as they haven’t read my blog and have just post 2 unrelated links. This one would definitely go in the spam folder.
Comment: You have to read the blog and the comments before adding anything, otherwise you’re just self promoting rather than engaging with people. What’s more it is more or less like butting in to a private conversation and interrupting the flow of the conversation.
About me: I’m a blogger for tudordavies.wordpress.com
Evaluation: This comment has all the signs of being quality. A keyword hasn’t been stuffed in the author box, nor has a link. They have also actually read my blog and have an opinion on it. The link they have added is in an author bio at the bottom of the comment. I’m not sure what the success rate of this would be but I think it’s natural and explains to the blog owner who I am and why I am commenting; without trying to pull a fast one.
Comment: Asking the author a question is a great technique, although it can be dangerous disagreeing with them it is also a good idea when appropriate. That is much better than always agreeing with an author, they always hear false praise so being genuine can make you stand out and make them engage with you.
About me: I’m a blogger for tudordavies.wordpress.com
Evaluation: Like other comments this one demonstrates that the commenter has read my blog and thought about the topic I was discussing. I think placing two links in this context is perfectly acceptable, as it tells the blog author who I am and the company I am working for. What’s more this can enable you to gain author ranking for all of your comments. I’m going to test this technique further over the next few weeks to see how successful it is.
Comment: love the post, great to read a blog on this topic. to find out more check out this site get traffic fast
Evaluation: Do I need to say anything about this comment? We’ve all seen them and we all know what to do when see them. What’s more they haven’t got an avatar, not a massive thing but I feel that bloggers and Google want to see real people commenting, not nameless corporate employees or fictional employees. Real names and real avatars make the difference, so make them count.
Comment: I know your article is about blog commenting but your technique and outlook could also have some benefit when guest blogging. In particular you “pub conversation” approach, is a perfect technique for guest blogging. Here is a SEOMoz video that I found that you and your readers may find useful, Guest Blogging Strategies.
About me: I’m a blogger for tudordavies.wordpress.com
Evaluation: This is the perfect comment. It doesn’t just parrot what I have written but it goes one step beyond and suggests a new way of using my techniques. There are no spammy links, I know who the author is and I know who they are working for. I tried embedding the video but it didn’t work, so just stick to a link and explain what it is. Hopefully the moderator will view the video and see that it is a valuable addition to the blog, especially as it is not a link that could directly benefit the commenter.
Comment: Another technique that I have just started to use is to check to see whether there are dead links on a page and then commenting giving the author an updated url. I got this idea from James Welch a while a go but it wasn’t until I found the check my links chrome extension that I started using this technique.
About me: I’m a blogger for tudordavies.wordpress.com
Evaluation: Although this comment is link heavy (1 author link, 1 twitter link, 1 useful link, 1 client link) it is far from spam. It gives sources, tells the blog owner who I am, who I’m working for and gives them a link to a useful tool. It also expands upon the article by giving the author an additional technique for improving their blog comments.
End of my “scripted” comments – read below for real comments (assuming that there are any).
This really applies to me, great post. I think you should do more blog postings about comments in blog posts. I love your pictures this week.
Thanks. Glad you like the images, I really like infographics as you know : )
Hello Web Admin, I noticed that your On-Page SEO is is missing a few factors, for one you do not use all three H tags in your post, also I notice that you are not using bold or italics…
A spam comment posted on Gaz Copeland’s blog at stokedseo.wordpress.com
Not seen this one before but just looked it up and it’s clearly been used to death.
That’s one of the better Spam comments too!