5 Ways you Can Use Blog Comments to Obtain Organic Links
Anyone whose run a blog knows you get literally hundreds of
useless comments from people just looking for a quick link. It’s easy to ignore
these and many newer versions of WordPress and other blogging platforms do a
pretty good job of weeding out those “spammers.”
With this in mind, it’s almost counterintuitive to think you
can obtain organic links through blog comments.
But you can obtain links to your site through commenting on
other people’s blogs if you do it right. Rather than just passively commenting
on someone’s blog, good blog comments work to develop a relationship with the
blogger on the other side.
Over time, this pays off tremendously since the blogger will
see you actually read what they write and find it valuable. Not only will this
result in a link to your site, it’s also possible for them to get information
from your blog to put on theirs, giving you another link right there.
Continue reading for 5 ways you can obtain organic links
through commenting on other people’s blogs.
If you comment on a
blog, read the entire post
It’s hard to imagine this but many comments on blogs are
obviously from people who never actually read the post in its entirety. Many
comments in fact have absolutely nothing to do with the post itself, which is a
red flag for “spammy” comments. So if you’re going to comment on someone else’s
blog, be sure you read the entire post and have some substantive to add or a
question to ask.
Include your name
One big thing you need to do in order to gain trust with the
other blogger is to include your full name in the comment. Most platforms have
a field where you enter your name and even website. Many spammers simply place
keywords they’re trying to get links for in this field, which is a big red flag and a practice that’s generally shunned by mainstream marketers.
Be personal and
friendly
Another way to gain trust in someone you’re commenting on is
to be personal and friendly. Address the blogger by their first name and be
sure to thank them for their post. There are other ways too of course but these
are a couple of common ones.
Contribute something
to the conversation
Don’t just say “Great post” or something like that. While
that’s a good way to start out your comment, you need to add something of value
to the conversation. Perhaps you can point out something they may have missed
for example. If you disagree with their conclusions, explain why in a
courteous, professional tone. In other words, don’t be rude about it.
Be sure to come back
again and keep in touch
Simply leaving a comment and not coming back again isn’t
going to get you very far in terms of links. Check in often and leave a comment
if you have something to add. Consistent visits and comments will help build
the relationship that will eventually get you that link. And if you leave a
comment, be sure to subscribe to that particular comment so you will know when
they reply or someone else adds something.
No matter your industry, commenting on others’ blogs helps
build your professional network with like minded people as well as online
presence.
Links act as a vote of confidence for the search engines.
They signal to the search engines that your site is important and others find
it valuable. Remember, the bigger the site that’s linking to you is, the bigger
the impact a link from them will have on your position.
But in the beginning, start small and work your way up and
grow the quantity and quality of your links in unison.
Stone Reuning is president and founder of SEO Advantage, Inc., an online marketing firm and website optimization company that helps businesses turn their websites into powerful lead and revenue generation tools.
Beginning with a focus on search engine optimization in 1999, SEO Advantage now brings a full multi-disciplinary approach to each client website. Clients enjoy dominance on Google, Yahoo and Bing through a suite of unique pay-for-performance search engine optimization and online marketing services. Experts in SEO, social media optimization, online reputation management, and website conversions work hand-in-hand with small business owners and client marketing departments providing complete copywriting and creative web design support.
You’ll find SEO Advantage referenced in books such as Writing Web-Based Advertising Copy to Get the Sale and the BusinessWeek bestseller The New Rules of Marketing & PR, as well as popular ebooks like The Small Business Blogging Blueprint.
Make sure that you are interested about the article because spammy comments are transparent.
I’ve found that blog comments can be useful if you take your time to read and give the article some thought. Then form an opinion or follow up with some factual data. Using links to back up your opinion never hurts.
Contribution by expanding on the subject or forming an opinion about it works well in providing useful content for the readers of the blog and the author.
It drives me batty when folks think that because I advise them to comment on blogs, they can put half effort into it. As you said, it’s important to read the entire thing, and add value to the post, because it is seen highly by the search engines, and that is why you should comment on quality relevant sites, not just anything you might come across…quality matters big time.
nice post.. but now lot of people not write a real comment. alot of spam now to make backlink.. thank…keep write good post lke this…
Thank you for this post, I am just starting to follow blogs and read about link building. If I wanted to post a link for example, would I put a keyword “here” and then link it to the page I want?
@ Otello, Comment links on this blog are in nofollow…like the majority of blogs!
Sometimes, I take time to make a useful comment/ or state my opinion only for it to be rejected! And when I visit the post again, I see some spammy type comment.
It’s frustrating but I think you’re right. It’s helpful to be personal and make repeat visits.
Stone,
This article is pretty much straight to the point. If you have nothing useful to comment on, don’t then. If we could only get back all those hours we spend blocking or deleting spam entries, we could generate even more revenue doing something more useful with that time.
Stone,
You may with to modify your article because some people seem to have taken what you said and mis-interpreted things a bit. Specifically the notion of author names and keywords. Anyone who thinks its a good idea to stick keywords into your name field in a blog comment should be shot. Seriously.
It’s one of the most deplorable half-baked notions ever conceived. And if people think they can get away with it today because some blog authors are ignorant or don’t care, you’re missing the longer term issue of this being one more reason Google would want to eventually completely invalidate any value that might currently come from blog commenting for SEO.
People need to realize that the only real, long term, viable way blog comments can be used for SEO is by being 100% pure in that commenting process, and NOT by keyword stuffing.
Thanks for this post, Stone! I found it very interesting. I am just learning about commenting on blogs and you have some very good points.
One thing that I am finding is that finding a blog that allows comments with a link to website is not easy. But I will not give up!
Thanks for sharing!
You got a nice mention on Dojo radio for this waste of an article (is that too harsh?).
It goes without exception blogs are not there to be spammed, people who think they will get any benefit from leaving their anchor text in the name field have a long way to catch up – this is 2010 right?
People will always spam blogs with useless comments, no matter how much you say “Don’t just say “Great post” or something like that.”
How Google views blog comments is anyones guess, but I’m certain they know where the name field is and I’m certain they know not to trust links placed here.
I don’t even own a blog, but if I did – I’d be damn sure that all comments would be no follow and every spam comment that ws left would be greeted with anger!
After posting my initial comment I see another post by Gina Simms. Gina, blogs are not for you to leave comments. Blogs are for people to collect there thoughts, ideas etc and if they are of interest to you by all means leave a comment.
Actively seeking blogs that “allows comments with a link to website” is beyond words. If your doing this for SEO purposes, your several years too late. This shipped sailed long ago.
It drives me batty when folks think that because I advise them to comment on blogs, they can put half effort into it. As you said, it’s important to read the entire thing, and add value to the post, because it is seen highly by the search engines, and that is why you should comment on quality relevant sites, not just anything you might come across…quality matters big time.
Hey Stone,
Great post! Since I’ve just started my blog I’m always disappointed to freak the fake comments. I think commenting on a blog is very much like a relationship, if you only act like you’re listening you’re bound to get in trouble. I know I appreciated comments that are rich in content. Thanks again for writing
This is a great post Stone. We have developed a lot of ‘business friendships’ through blog commenting, and our sister company has also had a guest blog exchange through relevant and consistent commenting, so the SEO and business benefits of effective blog commenting are there for all to see.
I would say the most important part of commenting is NOT using it for links. Sounds ironic I know. Commenting is supposed to be part of natural discussion on the internet, but overtime companies have started abusing the system with 4 word comments like “great information thank you!”, come now, what kind of content is this? but it’s used everyday by people as a possible tool to smash up sites with useless information.
I know the article is topic specific, but let’s add a last point to it:
6th way: Comment as part of the natural process instead of a marketing process. Discuss the issues at hand with factual information and follow through. Don’t just look for a link here or link there, that’s going to always leave you in the dust.
Funny. You leave guidelines for comments… The first few commenters follow the guidelines and it looks like an interesting conversation is forming… and then the rest are spammy and you let them just sit there. Why? Why not respond? Why not delete the ones that are barely in English? Just curious.
Stone, I agree completely to what you are saying. I cant tell you how many comments we delete for stating, “Hey great blog” now go here to see what we are offering. Great advice! I rarely comment on blogs but had to chime in here!
Thanks Stone, a great insight into blog commenting and some good examples in the comments posted above! One question, you say ‘Not only will this result in a link to your site, it’s also possible for them to get information from your blog to put on theirs, giving you another link right there.’ – how does this work? How does your the link you leave when commenting end up on someone’s site if they use info from your blog comment?
Simon Toft
Good to see this on SEGuide! It drives me crazy when people think blog commenting is black hat. It is a vital piece to the social search strategy if if you actually take the time to read the post and make a strong comment on it. Automating the process would make it black hat.
Do you benefit from placing comments if the blog links are no-follow, as is the case with most blogs?
That’s not so much the issue. What I’m referring to are direct links from the blog owner to your blog/site. The link doesn’t come from the comment itself but rather building a relationship with the blogger. This eventually leads to a link from their site to yours (…and all of the benefits that come along with that)
You are correct – most blog comments are no-follow so they don’t provide any “link” benefits as some would have you believe.
Hope this answers your question
Absolutely!! Blog commenting possesses mutual benefits.
Absolutely and thanks! Blog comments are only legitimate if their done to add value to a conversation. You probably know how many comments that come across are just spam and black hat SEO practices.
Back at you Simon, great question. What I meant by that is many bloggers (…myself included) will refer to other sites and blogs for information, ideas, insights, etc. etc. To credit the source, I will link to the particular post or article I found my information. This is where the other link comes from – it usually points directly to a post. So if someone uses information from your blog to help them write a post in theirs, they should link to the particular post they got their information/inspiration from.
Sorry, I keep pretty busy and have neglected to take the time to reply to comments until now. I’ve deleted some comments that look like spam but I mainly only see them when I get an email saying I have a comment. In any event, check out the rest of the comments…I think we’ve had some pretty good conversation on this topic
Finally! I get some understanding with all the crazy people on these blogs ” Help the natives are getting restless” You see I have just entered the world of blogging and have found some great sites pertain to the work I have done and have left comments to find people after me tearing me up thinking I was a spammer. I like the part that you said to leave my full name and I will leave a lot longer comments, even if they are real posts. Thanks for then info and you peoples comments.
I have a question, the most of the links are no-follow and search engines specially Google does not give any credit for the organic ranking of site,
My question is whether Google count this link for the Cache Rate Calculation, or any other purpose.
If Google consider the no-follow link in any aspect of SEO, SEM please let me know
Thanks
Rajesh Kumar
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