“How do I get other bloggers and readers to leave comments on my blog?” This is a question I get asked a lot.
During the time I’ve been blogging, I’ve found many ways of getting readers to interact with me. Today, I’m going to share with you what I believe are the five most important and easiest ways of generating comments.
In one of her recent blog posts, blogging expert Janice Wald says that search engines such as Google and Bing are attracted to blog posts that contain at least 30 comments. Why? Because they show that the blog is active.
Janice goes on to say that value-added comments can bring in lots of extra traffic and boost the post’s SEO ranking too. Comments help lengthen a blog post, and search engines attract long posts rather than short ones.
Long posts Vs short posts. Which one is best?
Some readers shy away from reading long posts, saying they don’t have the time to read them. However, for me, it’s the content that counts, not the length of a post.
I’m more likely to read and leave a comment on a long post that grabs my attention than read lots of short posts that don’t motivate me to leave any comments.
The definition of a long post is anything that contains over 2,500 words.
Remember what Janice said? Short posts can be lengthened if they have lots of comments left on them. As bloggers, that tells us we should do all we can to encourage readers to leave comments.
To be beneficial, comments need to be at least a couple of sentences long, prove that the post’s content has been read, and helps if they contain keywords.
Short comments and those that include nothing but emojis are not ‘search engine’ friendly and are ranked lower. It’s one of the reasons why I do not approve of any comments that contain nothing but emojis.
I believe that on their own, emojis belong on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
I don’t mind the odd emoji in a value-added comment, but not when they are on their own. I either send the comment to the trash bin or edit the offending emoji out of a comment.
I think many bloggers will agree when I say that most of us want our readers to leave comments on our posts. It goes a long way in proving that our posts have been read and that we have an active blog.
Content will always be king.
Not only do successful bloggers believe that content is king, but there are other reasons why I’m mentioning it.
I come across many blog posts with little content to strike up a good, value-added comment or conversation, other than maybe a few dead comments such as ‘Thanks for sharing’ or ‘Great post!’ In fact. many of these posts either have no comments or are just full of dead comments.
Likewise, some posts have been so poorly put together and rushed into publication that they leave me wondering why they’ve been considered for publication in the first place. If only the author had spent a little more time on them.
Don’t publish a blog post just for the sake of publishing one. Make the content of the post work and bring you results.
Early on in my blogging journey, I was told something straightforward that every blogger should take on board –
‘The quality of blog posts is far more important than the number of blog posts you publish.’
It’s true. Those bloggers who care about content and quality soon reap the benefits of blogging.
If you’ve been following my blog for a long time, you may have noticed that many of my blog posts get lots of comments left on them.
According to WordPress, the average number of comments my blog posts have attracted so far this year is 64.
That’s a lot of comments to respond to, but remember that this number includes my comments when I’ve replied to those readers who have left them.
Of course, I’m delighted with the results because it’s precisely what I wanted to happen when I started blogging. Interacting with your audience is a key factor in blogging.
I like to think my blog is like wandering around a second-hand store. Why? Because you never know what you’ll come across around the next corner. Plus, when you do find something, you’ll hopefully want to ask me a question or leave a comment about what you have found.
Get your readers involved and ask them questions.
One of the easiest ways to get readers to leave a comment is to ensure you ask a question (or questions) in your post.
Ask them what they would have done or if they have any suggestions or tips about your writing. Likewise, encourage them to share with you if they’ve experienced something you’ve written about.
I’d recommend you leave questions towards the end of a post. That way, readers won’t forget what you have asked and always ensure questions relate to your written and published content.
Don’t make your blog a one-way street.
Once you get comments left on your posts, do everything you can to respond or acknowledge those comments as quickly as possible.
Never ignore comments, although there is nothing wrong with showing you’ve acknowledged a comment by ‘liking’ it. This is an especially good way to acknowledge comments you’re unsure how to respond to or don’t have the time to respond to.
Of course, we can always respond by saying ‘thank you’, but I think it is much better to respond to comments by saying more than just a simple ‘thank you.’
Getting into a conversation with your audience is better than cutting them off dead with something they can not respond to. And, when I say ‘conversation’, I don’t mean something that has nothing to do with the post’s contents. Take those types of conversations offline.
If somebody has taken the time to leave a comment, not responding or acknowledging them is a sure way to put them off from leaving any further comments. Nobody wants that, do they?
If my comments do not get a response or acknowledgement, I stop leaving comments on the blog I’ve left them on.
I much rather spend my time reading and leaving blogger comments where I see the blogger respond. After all, dialogue should never be a one-way street that leads to a dead-end, should it?
Reading other blogs and leaving comments.
As well as building your own blogging community and responding to comments left on your blog posts, you can also try and persuade other bloggers to leave comments on your posts by reading and commenting on their blogs.
This is probably why some bloggers fail to get any comments on their blog posts.
If you don’t visit, read and leave comments on other blogs, then you’re unlikely to get other bloggers to leave comments on your blog.
Being a part of other blogging communities is one of the best ways to get people to come and visit your blog.
Never be afraid to make the first move by leaving a comment on a blog you’ve never left a comment on before. The majority of bloggers are friendly and will give you a warm welcome.
However, never feel you have to read and leave a comment on every blog post somebody publishes.
If you don’t have time to read and comment on other blogs, make time.
I recently spoke with a blogger who told me she would ensure she spent at least 20 minutes a day reading and commenting on other blogs. Why had she told me that? Because nobody was leaving comments on her blog posts.
20 minutes is better than not visiting, reading and commenting on other blogs. Even if it’s only reading and leaving one comment daily, it’s better than not reading and leaving any comments.
I also promote these blog posts by sharing them on my social media accounts.
By leaving comments, you’ll soon become part of other blogging communities. In turn, this will help you build your blogging community.
However, remember only to leave value-added comments. And never be afraid of responding to comments from other bloggers and striking up conversations with them. Interaction with other bloggers is the name of the game.
Blogging challenges
One of the easiest ways to become a blogging community member is to participate in a blogging challenge.
Over the years I’ve been blogging, I’ve participated in hundreds of blogging challenges hosted by other bloggers. Not only were they fun to participate in, but they also brought lots of new visitors to my blog, some of whom left comments.
There are hundreds of challenges on WordPress.
© Sue Vincent
© Terri Webster Schrandt
© Charli Mills
Even if you only participate in one challenge a month, I can guarantee it will bring new visitors to your blog.
Likewise, seek out blog link parties where bloggers invite you to leave links to your blog posts. One blogger who hosts a weekly linky party is Esmé, at Esmé Salon.
Some of the new visitors to your blog will leave comments on the post you have published in response to a challenge or the invitation to leave a link. They may even start to follow your blog.
What about you? Do you have any suggestions, advice or tips on how to get readers to leave comments on your posts? Share them in the comments section at the bottom of this post.
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Hugh's Views & News 
I didn’t realised that comments can help our short posts to be seen as a longer post by Google. Great for SEO, right?
Neither did I, but it seems so. So that’s why getting comments left on your blog posts are so important.
And you keep your promise to reply comments from readers. I am honored. I am now following your blog when I bumped into this article. Thanks Hugh.
I’m one of those bloggers that replies to all comments unless they are spam comments or come from trolls.
Thank you for the follow. I hope you enjoy the content on my blog.
I wish i came across your post earlier than today,i believe i can start to implement the strategies right away.I really want to see comments increasing on my blog
I hope this post’s methods help you get your audience to engage with you on your blog. Good luck.
Yes sir will put it to practice i understand its marathon line upon line ,i will get there ,thank once again
I’ve only been blogging since September and have been using all your tips and advice so far Hugh. This one’s a great added bonus as I was only looking at my stats earlier today. I’ve been wondering how to increase comments as I’m only at 26 per post on average (that’s including mine). I think I manage 3 out of 5 of the ways you’ve suggested, so maybe I need to look at my content and perhaps I’ll give some of the Challenges a go.
26 per post is a great number, Caz. 30 is the magic number, as that’s when SEos then class blog posts as ‘long reads’ and boost them up their search pages. The number of comments I get per post varies widely, but all five tips in this post should help keep those numbers healthy.
Ah, brilliant. Thanks Hugh. Remember that question I was going to ask – well here goes lol. I’m thinking of changing my blog to ‘mental health from the sides’ (If I’d have taken my time in the beginning, I would have thought of this one). How would I do this and would it confuse things for people or now SEO etc?
You can change the name of your blog by going to My Sites – Design – Customize – Site identity. You’ll find the ‘site title’ box there where you can update or change the name of your blog. You can also change the tagline of your blog there, too.
If you’re going to change the name of your blog, let your followers know about the change and why you decided to change it, in a blog post. That way, they won’t get confused by it. It won’t affect the SEO of your blog. In fact, it may improve it.
Brilliant and thank you so much for taking to the time to respond Hugh. Much appreciated.
You’re welcome. I’m always happy to help.
Sound advice Hugh now there’s no excuse but to make small changes!
I’m not sure why, but WordPress sent your comment straight to my spam folder. I’m glad I check it at least twice a day. It may be worth checking if the comments you leave on other blogs also disappear into the spam folder. They may not be, but it’s worth checking.
Thanks Hugh, it might explain why some comments go unanswered and un ‘liked’
A lot of bloggers never check their spam folder or tell those who end up in there that their comment went to spam. I’m always glad when somebody lets me know that my comment ended up in spam. Sometimes it can just be the odd one, but when they all end up in there then I know there’s a problem.
Thanks Hugh, have a lovely Sunday.
Wow! Everything in this post rings true for me, Hugh. I’ve only been blogging for about a year, and I’m at that point where I’ve nearly maxed out on the blogs I can follow. I don’t understand the philosophy of “following” someone if you never leave comments. I can only surmise these are people who are trying to add to their massive lists.
I know many blogs exist for the sole reason of selling something, but that’s never going to be me. The best part of blogging for me is to connect with interesting people around the world. In a day and age where common decency is lacking, I enjoy the friendly interaction and exchange of ideas that I find from blogging.
I agree, Pete. Why follow a blog if you’re never going to visit it? It’s one of the reasons why I cut down on the number of blogs I now follow. I used to follow over 500, but that number is now down to just over 130. That’s far more manageable for me. I try and visit at least a few of those blogs every day, and rather than leave comments that are pointless to have even left (such as ‘Great post’), I’ll leave a comment that I hope adds value to the post I’ve read and one which gives the author some feedback. I love getting into discussions in the comments sections of blogs, so it’s another reason why I now only ever leave valuable comments.
Thanks so much for joining this discussion.
Hugh, I’m pretty sure you took your own advice for this post and used all five suggestions. Based on the number of comments, I’d say you also up’d your average significantly! Participating in Challenges has definitely increased followers for me, as has being diligent about reading and commenting on other blogs. Thanks for sharing what works for you.
Yes, I’ve used all five of these tips, Suzanne, and I continue to do so. The number of comments can vary widely on each of my posts, but that magic number of 30 is the one we should all aim for. That’s the point when SEOs such as Google start to pick up your posts and boost the rating so that it shows higher up the results page.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on these five tips.
This is one of my favorite blog posts! Sharing on my blog post The Weekend Edit over the weekend.
I had no idea about some of the facts you shared! Thank you! Laura in Colorado
Hi Laura. Thank you. And thanks too for the upcoming share of this post on your blog.
Have a lovely weekend.
Once again, thank you for mentioning the writephoto challenge, Hugh. I love hosting that, as I have met so many new people through it.
You’re welcome, Sue. I thought this post was worthy of another airing on my blog. Your #writephoto challenge must take up a lot of your time, so thank you so much for hosting it every week.
There are a good many posts at your place full of very useful advice, Hugh.
As to the writephoto challenge… it is a real pleaure to host so many and varied responses every week 🙂
Thanks, Sue. Yes, I’m building up quite a small library of them. I enjoy sharing all the information, though.
I know, I often refer folks to you for info.
That’s very kind of you. Thank you so much, Sue.
I just came across your blog! This is such a great post and so helpful! I’ve also started dedicating about half an hour to reading and commenting on blogs. It’s already helped by allowing me time to come across your site and feel comfortable to leave a comment. Thanks again!
I’m so pleased to hear you have put some time aside to read and leave comments on other blogs. It can be a slow process, to begin with, but if you continue to read and leave comments on the same blogs, many of the bloggers will eventually return the favour. You’ll soon find yourself a part of many blogging communities. Good luck with it.
Thank you!
Hi Hugh! Thanks for this very insightful post! I will reblog it! I did really enjoy reading it and got so much out of it! 🙂
Thank you, Carol Anne. I’m always pleased when people tell me that my blogging tips posts have helped. Thank you for the reblog.
Your comment went straight into my WordPress spam folder. I don’t know why, but it’s just as well that I check the folder daily.
Have a lovely weekend.
It happens, don’t really know why either, you have a lovely weekend to 💟💐
I also discovered on three occasions that all my comments were going to spam regardless of which blog I was leaving them on. WordPress sent me some information on what to do.
Hopefully, it’s not happening to all your comments, but it may be worth checking with some other bloggers if your comments are going to their spam folders.