5 Tips For More Comments On Your Blog
You know what, I just want to go on a little rant today.
Maybe I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning or maybe it had something to do with the fact that it’s only 35 F outside and Old Man Winter is knocking on our door.
I was just on Twitter going through my Direct Messages
trying to answer some of them and I found one of interest
and it led me to their blog.
Upon arriving at their blog I gave it the quick eyeball
glance and it looked very nice. You know the ones I mean,
easy on the eyes.
So I started reading some of their blog posts and they
were very good but I started noticing a pattern.
There were no comments! Why you might ask?
Because they had one of those captcha things where
you had to enter the code before you could enter your
comment.
I can’t stand those things because I can’t read them
half the time and have to refresh them several times
to make them work.
I’m sorry but I don’t have the time or patience to be
wasting entering those captcha codes so I can leave
a comment that will benefit their blog. Even though it
deserves one.
And apparantly neither does anyone else because this
is a nice blog and their just are not any comments.
Now I understand why they are doing this and it’s to
keep spammers away but you’re also scaring off your readers.
My advice, get rid of that captcha and you will start seeing
some comments on your blog.
And here are a few more tips that might get you a few
more comments on your blog.
Tip #1
Don’t be bashful, sometimes you just need to ask you readers for comments. Something as simple as; “What do you think about this post?” Or “Tell me what you think”.
Tip #2
You want to make it easy for visitors to leave comments. (ie. no captcha codes)
Tip #3
If they do leave a comment that’s worth approving then you absolutely must reply to them either to answer their question or elaborate on what it was they said or to even disagree, in a nice way of course.
Tip #4
You’ve got to get people to interact on your blog and if you don’t reply to their comments your dead in the water. Most people will return to a blog to see if you responded to their comment and if you didn’t you’ve lost that person forever.
Tip #5
Now I don’t do this on every comment because I’d never be able to get any other work done but if they have taken the time to leave a comment that gives my readers something of value then I’ll jump over to their blog and reciprocate by leaving them a nice comment of some value at least I hope it is to their readers.
After writing this post I did a Google search on part of my title
and found another great blog with more tips on getting
more comments on your blog.
Now this is obviously just my opinion of course
so please let me know here if I’m full of crap or
if you agree with me by leaving me a comment.
See what I mean, I asked you to leave
a comment and it didn’t hurt a bit. LOL!
til next time…
Jeff Sargent
Tagged with: blog • Blogging • captcha • comments on blog
Filed under: Blogging
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Hey Jeff
I completely agree, those captcha code thingys are a real pain in the a*se! I have never really thought about it in this way, but like you say, half a dozen refreshes just to be able to read the damn things is crazy!!
Replying to peoples comments is also a must. Every single comment more or less gets a reply on my blog, even if it’s just to thank people for stopping by and leaving a comment
A great post, and I pretty much have to agree with you!
Take care,
Paul
Hey Paul,
You’re the lucky winner! Of course there is no prize. You just get to claim the honor of being number one.
You’re the first one to leave a comment on this post about how to get more comments. Whew! I was getting worried I wouldn’t get any comments, then I would look the fool. ha!ha!
I try to reply to all my commenters but I’m sure I miss a few here and there unintentionally.
Thanks for the drive by Paul,
Jeff Sargent
Hi Jeff:
Useful tips! I also like to put the Stumbleupon in my blog. This also helps get the word out.
Until next time…
Create a great day,
Lisa Mininni
Hey Lisa,
Glad you like my tips and hope you can benefit from them. I think I used Stumbleupon a long time ago but I don’t really know much about it except that I should be using it.
Thanks,
Jeff Sargent
Hey man
Thanks for stopping by again Jeff I was just about to come on over.
Awesome comment on my blog and good stats my friend. yeah great post I bloody hate those captcha things to why do people do it?
Hey hope you got your medical stuff sorted.
speak soon
Marcus
Hey Marcus,
Thanks for dropping in.
Yeah, don’t like them captcha’s but even worse is when they want
you to login or register to leave a comment. That’s where I draw the
line. Their blog is going to have to be really special for me to do that.
Hey I just left your blog and made a challenge for myself and it involves you.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Jeff,
Well, one more here echoing the “no likey” of the Captcha boxes. Although I do recognize their value, especially days when I’m deleting spam from my “waiting to be reviewed” box in WP-Admin. Thankfully, I do use Akismet so that usually saves seeing the spam on the front end.
And thank you also for the other tips you’ve suggested for getting comments on our blogs. It’s nice to be reminded that writing and posting a blog post isn’t just about writing and posting a blog post. Comments add to a blog and help to increase traffic.
And I realize that I sometimes neglect taking that next step to encourage comments.
Hey Karen,
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a nice long comment.
It appears that not many like the captcha boxes. And yes, Akismet is an absolute
necessity or you will be slaughtered with SPAM.
Comments are as important to a blog post as the post itself. This is where you get to
interact with your readers. That’s what you want. You want to develop a relationship
with them so they will learn to like and trust you which will keep them coming back to
your blog.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hey Jeff,
I’m with you on the captcha thing, when I see one of those on someone’s blog it does put me off from commenting. But I usually will comment on my first visit and kindly suggest they remove it, to help them get more comments. If they haven’t taken my advice the next time I visit, unless their latest post is amazing I probably won’t comment.
I’m also with you on replying to your comments, I try to always do this. I’ve maybe missed one or two, but if you check through my posts you’ll see I reply to almost all my comments.
I’m also with you on reciprocal comments, if someone leaves me a comment I usually will drop by their blog and leave them a comment in return. Which coincidently, is what brought me to visit your blog today.
Of course if the post isn’t something I feel I can comment on then I won’t, as there’s nothing worse than generic replies. But most of the time the post will be of good enough quality for me to comment on.
Great post, Jeff.
Paul.
Hey Paul,
Appreciate the drive by.
I think replying to comments is just common blogging etiquette. Too bad
not everyone knows that. If they knew how much traffic they lost for not
replying to comments I think they would think twice.
Don’t you just love those generic comments?
Here’s 3 comments I just love.
[Nice blog!]
[Keep up the good work!]
[Lots of nice info!]
Thanks again Paul,
Jeff Sargent
I have wondered just why a group from the ADA or ADD or ADHD type haven’t taken the creators of Capta to task that it in fact discriminates against those dyslexic individuals or group of that have a difficult time or impossible time sequencing letters &/or numbers.
Hey Craig,
Glad you stopped by. You ask a very good question that I can not answer.
As stated earlier, I hate CAPTCHA boxes and don’t use them and never plan to.
I empathize with you when it comes to these CAPTCHA boxes. But embarrassingly
didn’t ever give it any thought on how they affect people with visual impairments.
Shame on me. This mainly because I hate them myself so I guess I just put it out
of my mind.
However, now that I feel bad I went on a search to see what I could find. What I
found out is that it’s a huge problem but I think there are solutions out there. The
problem is that no one knows about them or where to find them.
I did find a website that has come up with an alternative. It’s a start and I think it
needs to be looked at a lot more but at least people are aware of this problem and
are trying to do something about it.
So if you go to KittenAuth and follow instructions you will see something far better than the usual captcha.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Those are some very good ideas. I’m going to take your advice and apply it. Thanks.
Hi Jeff,
I enjoyed your post and appreciate the tips. Had no idea how annoying the majority of people find the captcha phrases though! They don’t bother me, but then I’m rather an odd duck! I don’t even remember if my blog uses captcha, but I’ll check and get rid of it! I have come right out and asked for comments, too.
If you stop by my blog – and I’ve a feeling you will! – you’ll see that if it weren’t for spam (weeded out by Akismet)I’d have almost no comments at all! But the comments I do get, I reply to.
Thanks for the helpful tips!
Hey Ruth,
Thanks for thoughts.
Obviously you read my Tip #5 because you’re assuming that I will visit
your blog and you’re right I will. That’s the name of this game isn’t it?
The old saying; “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”.
Oh and by the way, you don’t use captchas on your blog.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hi Jeff,
I think you just nailed it on the head about keeping blogs a two-way communication tool. It should never be a one-way thing.
Another tip that has helped me is to really make the “leave a comment” button/link visible. I’ve found it’s more effective to place the comment button at the bottom. I’ve seen blogs with the button on the top of the post and that just doesn’t make sense to me. People need to read down, not up.
So that’s an additional tip you could add to your list!
Talk soon.
Joe
Hey Joe,
I agree with your tip here about putting the “leave a comment” button/link at the bottom of the post. I will certainly do that if I can figure out how. In fact if it can be done I may have it both at the top and the bottom.
I have been to many blogs where I find myself scrolling up and down to find that damn comments link and some are harder to read than others. It is maddening.
Thanks for the tip.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
I hate those captchas, too, but I use them on some blogs anyway. Why? You hit on it – spam. I’ve written for a few blogs and the ones that don’t use captchas get spammed constantly. The maintainence to keep the crap comments off is ridiculous and it actually serves your reader to use them snnce it deters malicious spammers who include virus- or malware- infested links or graphics in their posts.
Hey Carlie,
Thanks for stopping by.
I understand where you’re coming from as far as the maintenance to keep the crap comments off is ridiculous but I think that’s the price we have to pay to get more good comments. The people reading our blogs don’t really care about how much work we have to do to control SPAM. They are just looking for a pleasant experience on our blogs and that to me means no captchas.
Personally I don’t get a whole lot of SPAM but I’m sure as my blog grows I will get more and more.
So the question is; do you use captchas to get less spam (and less comments)
or not use captchas to get more spam (and more comments).
I don’t think there is an absolute correct answer here. It’s just personal preference.
I’ll deal with the spam and take a lot more comments.
As far as the virus and malware stuff goes hopefully if you have good anti-virus software it will catch all of this.
Let’s face it, there’s always going to be malicious spammers out there doing what they do and we have to deal with it. I accept it as part of being on the Internet. I don’t like it but I accept it.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Jeff–Since I just started my blog a few months ago, I will be taking your advice! Totally agree with you that those wacky captcha widgets are a PIA (pain in the…)
Best,
Ralph
Hey Ralph,
Totally agree with your PIA comment and thanks for dropping by.
Especially after I read Craig’s comment as to how captchas discriminate against those
who are visually impaired. It was something I never really considered until he brought
it to my attention and I thank him for that.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
I’ll take some of your suggestions and try to apply them.
How did I let this comment slip by. Not much value here but I guess I’ll let it go seeing I must have approved it.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
I, too, hate ‘captca’ with a passion, but fell it’s the next on life’s list of inevitabilities – death – taxes – captcha.
I find that captcha also discriminates against people up at 3am on a caffeine drip and using matchsticks to keep their eyes open!
Apart from that, thanks for the immensely informative post.
I started a new blog yesterday and will be using your tips. (With or without captcha, I’m not sure, yet.)
I don’t like to rush these things. LOL
Regards to all
Clive
Hey Clive,
Glad you stopped by and good luck with your new blog. I hope you don’t fall prey to the captcha. I paid your new blog a visit and read about global warming.
I would have left a comment but couldn’t find anyway to do it. Maybe you don’t have it set up yet as I know your blog is brand spankin new.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
I agree that captcha does cut down on the number of comments, but it also cuts down the number of spam comments as well.
When I started my blog I got tons of spam and it took forever to delete them, so captcha was installed. I still get the occasional “Nice Post” comment, but I just don’t approve them.
Captcha is only there to annoy spammers, but unfortunately those visitors that are not logged into the blog have to deal with it also. Creating an ID will stop the need for captcha when you leave a comment.
That doesn’t completely solve the problem because you can have a logged in user leave a “Nice Post” comment, but its the best balance I’ve found.
Thanks,
Gary
Hey Gary,
Thanks for stopping by. Yes captcha does cut down on spam but I’d rather put up with spam as to the alternative which is receiving far less comments. Without comments a blog is nothing.
You say it took you forever to delete the spam. It doesn’t take me any time at all.
I let Akismet take care of it and then I just click one button and it’s all gone. The spam that’s makes it through like “nice blog” doesn’t take long either. I take a quick glance at it and if it’s not a quality comment that brings value to my blog I just delete it without a moments hesitation.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Jeff
Some very useful tips there, as with most I hate the CAPTCHA codes. My action point from this is to get better (and more prompt) with my replies as I have been away and fallen behind slightly and need to interact more to keep things fresh. On that note…..
Tom
Hey Tom,
Good to have you back in circulation and thanks for dropping by.
Yeah it seams that’s the general census here that everyone hates those lovely captchas.
Don’t worry, it won’t take you long to catch up and in case no one told you, the Internet isn’t going anywhere.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Yeah I’m sure you have the time to go trough the SPAM comments, that’s why you dont like the damm captcha inputs.
One thing about them… they will stop a ton of spam. I experienced drops from 200 – 300 spam comments a day (yeah on a blog) to 1 – 3 a day after captcha was implemented.
Oh and believe me… that’s nor gonna stop the people that have something to say about your post.
TheRazor
TheRazor,
I hear you. There’s no doubt the captcha inputs will cut way down on spam. I’m not contending that. I’m just stating that I hate them and apparently so do others judging by the comments here. I’m also saying that I don’t have a lot of spam at the moment as you do at 200 – 300 a day. When the day comes that I’m getting that much spam maybe I’ll change my tune a little but as of right now I’ll put up with it to get more comments.
Like I said, my readers don’t really care how much time I spend deleting spam. All they care about is whether or not I have good content and that I make it as easy as I can for them to leave comments.
As far as your last statement, that it’s not going to stop people that have something to say about my post, why on earth would I want to do that?
After all, I did approve your comment didn’t I?
I welcome criticism as long as it’s constructive and not malicious. I never say that I am 100 percent right in my posts. This is my blog and everything here is just my opinion.
Thanks for your comment,
Jeff Sargent
Hey Jeff
Me again,
Really good stats for your alexa rank and your website value, I hope you will keep a track of it. It gives me a little motivation just to see that my business is growing a little.
I am just stopping by everyone who left a comment on that post of mine.
Thanks for always popping over mate.
Talk soon
Marcus
Hi Jeff,
Yep, I agree 100% with all of that. In fact, I have been yelling all this from the rooftops for ages now coz I get so many people ask me how I get so many vistors (879 yesterday and 828 the day before that and well over 400 today and it’s still early in the morning) and comments on my blog.
Duh! It’s simple. You’ve identified most of the basic stuff above but will people take notice of it? Noooooo! To give you an example – I have a young lady who has TWICE specifically asked me how she can get more visitors and comments. Twice I have answered her VERY specifically. Has she taken ANY notice? Nope.
I swear, if she comes back a third time I am just gonna write a ONE-word answer to her… “ditto!”
Blogging isn’t rocket science. The Law of Reciprocation is at work – give and you get. Simple.
Why people wanna make it hard I have no idea. But I think it boils down to ONE thing – laziness. They’ve been sold the story of “create a blog, make a post and watch the feverish crowd come.” Uh-uh!
Jeff, I could go on about this for ages but you’ve covered it very well above. And yes, the dopey security codes and other devices are just a brick wall to people who would otherwise leave a comment. But try convincing people to get rid of them. You might as well try walking to the moon!
Gary Simpson
TEMPLE
Hey Gary,
Nice to hear from you as always.
You’ve been yelling from the rooftops? I find it hard to believe that you would raise your voice to get your point across.
You might take a bubble bath but that’s another matter entirely. I still want to know who’s holding that camera.
You’re getting a lot of visitors to your blog every day. Good for you. I’m impressed but not surprised as I know what kind of content you put out.
I just replied to Jacinta’s comment and mentioned the Laws of Reciprocity. Now as I write this I see you said the same thing. Pure coincidence, I think. I did read your comment first so maybe I stole it from you subconsciously. Or maybe it’s just that great minds think alike. lol!
You’re right, blogging is not rocket science and I don’t know why people make it so hard.
Well, actually I think I do. Most people by nature want instant gratification.
Well your in the wrong business if that’s what you’re looking for. Blogging is not hard work but it certainly takes time to see positive results. It also takes consistency. You must keep at it everyday or your results will diminish. Believe me I know this from personal experience.
Oh and Gary, please take it easy on the young lady who keeps asking you how she can get more visitors and comments. She will be back.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hi Jeff,
I found your blog from visiting Marcus’s whom I found from visiting Paul’s blog.
I am a student of John Thornhill’s but for some reason I seem to be hanging out with Alex’s students in the blogging world at the moment. 
I completely agree with you on comments on blogs. I always encourage blog comments, I really look forward to getting them, plus I really like leaving answers.
I do agree that people check back to see if you have answered their comment as I am one that does that.
Another thing I have found interesting is when I installed the plugin Commentluv. Since installing that plugin my comment rate has risen.
I will definitely be back to read some more.
Kind Regards
Jacinta
)
(An Aussie mum trying to create a business online while her 2 year old sleeps!
Hey Jacinta,
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a nice comment.
See, the Laws of Reciprocity do apply when it comes to blogging. From Paul to Marcus to me. I’m glad you found my blog. I have to hurry up and finish this reply to you before you come back as you say you will to check on me. I wouldn’t want you to swing by again and find that I haven’t replied.
I do so look forward to reading comments people have so kindly taken the time to leave.
After I make a new blog post I feel like I did when I was a little kid riding in the back seat of the family car as we all went on a long trip.
Are we there yet…
That would be the question that popped out of my mouth every mile to my dad. You know what I mean, we’ve all asked that question as a child.
I keep seeing and reading more and more about CommentLuv and I think I will be installing it soon. Jury’s still out on this one.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hey Jeff,
I don’t like those captcha things either but,if and only if the post is worth it I will take time to leave a comment.
I doubt it would be a blog I would be back to in a hurry though.
Tip#5 That’s what brought me here in the first place so thanks for your visit but I have been away so it took me a while to get here.
Tip #3 Replied to your comment the other day. For some reason it got caught in my spam,maybe that could be another tip. Check your spam as it may not all be rubbish.
I also as Jacinta above,think Commentluv is a great plugin that has helped with comments. Although my blog is still young really it is getting there.
Cheers for the tips always good to have a reminder,
James
Hey James,
I’m glad you stopped by. I can’t imagine why your reply to my comment on your blog would be tossed into the Spam folder. Never had that one happen. But if it did I would catch it because I do check each and every one. It doesn’t take long to skim over them and then just hit Delete all Spam. Every now and then a legitimate comment gets sent to Spam and I catch it and approve it.
I’m seeing Commentluv more and more and it’s probably only a matter of time before I install it.
You say your blog is still young but don’t fret, it does take time. Just keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll get there.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hi Jeff,
How nice to hear from you again – even if it is with a rant. (Guess you’ve been hanging around Gary Simpson too long, but he makes tremendous sense too!)
I agree with your captcha views. I NEVER get them right first time, and like some of your other commentators, wonder how people with dyslexia cope. Admittedly, there is sometimes an audio button where someone will read out the letters, but the voice is never very clear either.
Anyway, as you are obviously an investigator and write so clearly, can you please clarify the “do follow”, “no follow” attributes thing which completely confuses me.
I think one of Alex students covered it way back when we first started the course but I just didn’t get it.
Talking of the course, it’s almost a year since we began. How would you feel about giving me a telephone interview to tell me how you’re getting on?
Look forward to hearing from you.
Take care and best wishes,
Jean
Hey Jean,
Thanks for dropping by and nice to hear from you as well.
Yeah Gary does tend to rub off a little bit on people but that is a good thing. He’s a good friend from down under. (Hi Gary, in case you’re watching)
Boy, it seems that since I wrote this article I’ve run into more and more captchas than ever before. Isn’t that always the way though. Certain things may go unnoticed for the longest time but the moment you make mention of something it starts popping up all over the place.
Of course that’s not true. It just appears to be such. Once we entertain the thought of something we subconsciously become more mentally aware of it at which point it appears that we experience it more often than usual.
The other day I came upon a website that I had to register at and to do so I had to enter some text into a captcha. I’ll tell you, this was the worst one I’ve ever seen. I bet it took me seven tries before I got it right. I was ready to throw my laptop through the window out of frustration but it was something that I really needed so I kept entering it. If this had been a blog and I was trying to enter a comment there’s no way I would have bothered to even try once.
This is why I hate them so and I wish blogs would do away with them. Again, I do understand some of these blogs that get thousands of visitors every day need a system in place to discourage spammers but I don’t fit into this category. Until I start getting that amount of traffic (which does bring more spam) I’ll keep doing it the way I am.
To your question about the “do follow”, “no follow” attributes. It’s funny you should ask. I actually have already written an article explaining more about this but I haven’t posted it yet because I’m thinking about including a short video about it and a couple of simple tools that I use while I’m blog hopping.
Maybe you asking me to clarify this subject will light a fire under my butt and get me to post that article with or without the video.
As far as the telephone interview goes why don’t you email me with more details.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Great – will do.
I’m looking forward to seeing your article on the no follow/do follow, especially if there’s a video to go with it.
Let me know when it’s done.
I’ll be in touch about the telephone call, and thanks for listening to my one with Martin. Considering it’s only the second one I’ve ever done I think it went quite well.
Will speak to you soon.
Take care
Jean
Jeff,
Methinks there are a few more tips that be really important, but you’ve picked some of the more important ones.
Even though I’m one of the ‘visually impaired’ folk, there’s another reason I dislike captcha: about half the time, my Firefox browser will not send them properly, even though I’ve entered them accurately. So, add local config issues to the captcha fault list .
BTW, I took a look at KittenAuth … better, but still vision probs … I could not distinctly identify lamb photo . Maybe it’d work better with cartoons or symbols, e.g., Zodiac signs or such.
Make a good day …
… barn
Hey Barney,
Thanks for stopping by.
You’re right, there are many more important tips I could have written about but I had to limit the length of my article.
I agree that KittenAuth is a nice alternative to regular captchas but it still needs to be better. I don’t have any vision problems and I can’t clearly make out the pictures. If this is to be used the pics need to be simple ones that are easily and quickly identifiable or it just won’t work. People are just not going to stare at their monitor trying to figure out the difference between pictures. It needs to be done with a quick glance.
So yes Barney, there is work to be done still to simplify this process. KittenAuth has the right idea they just need to simplify and perfect it.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
I am in the process of starting a health blog. The problem is that I don’t have a dedicated person to handle it, and I am going to have to monitor the posts myself, which I don’t really have time to do. Which is the lesser of two evils: not giving people the ability to comment on a blog, or not responding to comments on a regular basis?
Hey Regina,
Thanks for stopping by and asking these questions.
I’m going to be brutally honest with you.
The first question I would ask is what is the purpose of your blog?
You say you’re going to have to monitor the posts yourself. I think you mean monitor the comments. Which brings me to the question, who’s going to write your posts(articles)?
You ask which is the lesser of two evils. My answer would be they both spell DOOM!
The whole point behind having a blog is to give your readers good quality content to read and then allow them to interact with you by leaving comments and asking questions just like you are asking me right now.
Again, I don’t know what your reason is for having a blog. You say you don’t have time to monitor the comments. You don’t know whether or not to allow your readers the ability to leave comments. And lastly you don’t have time to reply to comments on a regular basis.
A blog is something you need to be passionate about so you can write good quality posts that will attract readers that will leave comments. If you’re not passionate about your blog your readers will see right through this and if you get any readers at all to begin with I can bet they won’t stick around for long.
Remember now, you asked me. When someone asks me a question I always answer to the best of my ability and of course it is just my opinion. What I can guarantee is that I will be truthful.
My advice based on the information you provided here, don’t bother having a blog.
Sorry if I was too harsh, but you asked.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hey Jeff
How are ya my friend.
I already left a comment here I am just stopping by just to say hi.
And congrats on your improved Alexa ranking and blog value estimate.
That was a cool post I wrote, great to see people still checking their stats.
cheers
Marcus
Hi Jeff,
Great post, and wow it works, lots of comments here! Couldn’t agree with you more regarding Captcha, the awful thing is I think they’re making them harder to read these days than in the past…it’s concerning when you need to sit there with a couple of friends making bets on what the Captcha code is. Askimet is what I use to catch the spam, and it seems to be working really well, touch wood
Annie
Hey Ann Marie,
Thanks for stopping by.
It does seem like captcha’s are getting harder to read. Then again, maybe it’s just me getting older that is the problem.
Yeah I must say that’s bad if you and your friends together still can’t read the damn things. So who usually wins the bet?
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Yup I hate capcha non-sense – I can never read the buggers..
Mr Robert Plank has a good thing going with all of his blog posts. He promotes the like a product, uses the powers of scarcity and cuts people off.
It’s very simple and really clever getting lots of blog posts.. Might have to get my but in gear.
.-= Allen´s last blog ..Back to Front Marketing… Writing your Sales Copy first =-.
Hi Jeff,
You make good points. I don’t really like the capcha either but if I like the blog I will still leave a comment.
I do usually most of the things you cover in your 5 points but don’t always ask people to leave a comment, I do that only once in a while.
Replying to comments is a no brainer but I noticed that the big bloggers do it only sporadically and some of them don’t do it at all.
I guess the reason they get away with it is their fame and popularity plus high traffic.
I wonder if you’ll come over to comment on my blog.
I visit the commentator blogs about 95% of the time when I like the comments they leave and comment on their blog.
I just asked you if you would comment on my blog. I think this is the first time I’ve done that within a comment.
Vance
.-= Vance Sova´s last blog ..First Extraordinary Minds Panel, Jay Abraham, Rich Schefren =-.
Hey Vance,
Glad to see you drop by and thanks for the comment.
Yeah it’s pretty apparent by the comments here that not many people like the captchas. Either they’re getting harder to read or I’m getting older and my eyes aren’t what they used to be. Actually I think it’s the former.
As far as the big name bloggers go I’m sure in the beginning of their blogs they answered all comments by when you start getting 50 to 100 comments a day it’s impossible to reply to them all.
You didn’t have to ask me to visit your blog and leave as I try to do that as quickly as possible most of the time. But I’ve fallen behind lately so I’m a few days late but that’s where I’m heading now.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Again , great advice Jeff
A lot of it is pretty much common sense but I guess some people just don’t have any do they?
Hi Jeff,
guess what – you left a nice comment on my site, so I followed to your site, found a few nice posts and decided to leave a comment on this one! How about that – shows that you have a point with Tip #5! I try to respond to most comments, but as there are many with having a top commentator, keywordluv, commentluv and dofollow blog, sometimes it is just not possible. Your readers also have to understand that at times they might not get a reply, and I think that’s cool. Thanks for this useful post!
A great New Year with lots of IM success to you, too!
Petra
.-= Petra Weiss´s last blog ..Happy New Year To All My Readers! =-.
I totally agree that you need to make it easier for your visitors. I also think you should take some action to motivate them to provide quality posts and to actually post SOMETHING
You’re absolutely right. I know I haven’t posted anything new here in quite some time and I won’t waste everyone’s time by telling them why. I will say that I haven’t been just twiddling my thumbs and have been quite busy but that’s no excuse to only have made three posts this entire year. I will be posting again very soon like in the next week and will try to make weekly posts.
Thanks for getting on my case,
Later,
Jeff Sargent
You know, I am so torn about this. If your site gets good traffic and your posts are interesting, you SHOULD get a lot of comments. I have never installed the ASKIMET plug in on my blogs because I don’t have the money to pay for it. But then I get all these spammy comments for people who just want to advertise THEIR product on my blog, when oftentimes its not even related to what my post was about, and that just annoys the crap out of me.
I really think its a catch 22, and I know there are other CAPTCHA tools out there besides ASKIMET, but I also agree with you that I have a helluva time reading those, and its frustrating. What I have seen that I really liked on a couple blogs was where they ask a question, like “type the color of grass” but I do not know how to implement that. Does anyone else?
Hey Vanessa,
First off, Askimet is FREE. Second, it’s not a Captcha tool it’s just a plugin that really stops most of your SPAM.
The are other Captcha tools I’ve seen like selecting image recognition CAPTCHAs but these pose a problem for the visually impaired.
No I don’t know how to implement the one you’re talking about where readers are asked mathematical questions (“what is 1+1″), or “common sense” questions (“what color is the sky on a clear day”). These are done by the use of JavaScript but they don’t meet the criteria for successful Captcha’s because they’re not automatically generated and they don’t present a new problem or test to meet each attack.
I don’t know what the answer is but for now I will just keep doing what I’ve been doing and that’s not to leave comments on blogs that require Captchas.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hey Jeff,
Really excellent and insightful post. Just to say something on replying comments. I believe replying comments is necessary. I a good way of building a relationship. A reply to a comment makes the commenter welcome and affirmed.
I just haven’t plucked up the courage yet to add these plugins to my sites. I am too worried about spammers. But, I can see from your site, that the comments are tasteful and not spammy, so you might have convinced me.
Do you find that Akismet helps with this?
totally agree with the capatcha plugin. Also just write interesting content…people want to be entertained not bored!
You have provided a nice collection of information but i am disagree with you on some points like captcha code. i think it prevent auto generated comments. i made a guest book and there was not captcha code. after few days i saw that more than 700 comments were there. all was about a medicine, so it must be there. Thanks
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