5 things you need to know about using comments to build up your blog following

Just about every company or business has a blog, we don’t need to go into detail on why this is important, but we all want more followers. We create awesome content, share it on social media, and even send it to colleagues in the industry. There’s still more we can be doing. Start leaving comments on blogs you follow.

Anyone with a blog understands how difficult it can be to sift through spammy comments that people simply cut and paste or automate to drop comments on any blog. We’re not saying to take this approach. There’s some very simple ways you can provide comments to other blogs and influence others to begin following your blog. These tips and tricks are designed to increase visibility, but time and energy must be invested to see results.

1. Provide valuable responses

As mentioned above, often we see comments that say something along the lines of “awesome points, good article, fun read”. Comments like these are not providing any value to the content.

Provide additional information, experiences, or even questions within your comments. Make comments engaging and helpful to fellow readers. Maybe the author missed a very important piece that others may find helpful, add this to your comment.

2. Link to your own examples

After your valuable comment, link to examples. It doesn’t always have to be linked to your blog, it can be linked to another blog that is relevant, the overall goal is to provide that value.

3. Build your profile

Often when posting comments you may be required to create an account or profile with the blog. This doesn’t take much time, and provides a good opportunity to add a link. Make sure to complete your profile when you sign up for a blog, add an image, link to your site, and if applicable a link to your social media. Some blogs will also link this when you leave a comment, giving readers direct access to your site and social media.

4. Be proactive

There’s millions of blogs out there, some better than others, some more relevant than others. It takes time to go through these blogs and find articles worth commenting on. A quick way to get started is to join different social bookmarking sites, subscribe to niche categories, and begin following which blogs are popular.

5. Follow up

Once you leave a compelling comment, check back to see if there are any responses. People may have additional questions or comments that will develop additional engagement.

Leaving comments can take time and in some cases not yield any results. Like anything in SEO and social media, these things take time. It’s important to make it a part of your schedule to visit blogs and leave compelling remarks.

What are your thoughts? How have you utilized comments to build a following to your blog?