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Welcome to another edition of how to improve your blog with your host, MInTheGap. Today’s topic is Blog Comments– specifically, how to increase dramatically the number of comments that you get to an individual blog post.
To help us in the list, we will provide some fresh and not-so-fresh examples of posts that got a crazy amount of comments to show you how you to can accomplish this feat.
1. Announce that You’re Done Blogging
This one is classic. I believe that it was early on in my blogging that I found my first post where someone announced that they were done blogging– and I commented!
Our latest example of just how powerful this kind of post can be comes from Holly at Seeking Faithfulness. Her post, entitled Slow Death of a Blog, is up to 59 comments as of this writing, and would have been much higher had she not posted three more posts after this one.
The classic in this genre comes from Adventures in Mercy where I believe it took her not one, but three announcements that she was done blogging before actually stopping. The latest one (My Goodbye Post) has 63 comments, but I think that this is only because she announced that she may be blogging at a different place and her followers went there.
2. Have a Child
This gets a lot of comments– and positive ones! for the most part, people like seeing baby pictures, women love reading baby stories, and people like to offer congratulations. So, My Malachi on The Haphazard Housewife is off to a great start having 15 comments!
My own post on my daughter’s birth got me 16 comments easily.
3. Have a Post on a Controversial Topic
Want to see comments soar? Pick a controversial topic. Like When is it a Baby? This post got 44 comments– partly because yours truly was posting a lot about what it means to be a baby and a lot of the other commenters disagreed.
Or how about the discussion we had here just a little while ago about whether a Woman Could Be President? That post got 35 comments!
You have to be careful with controversial topics, though, that you keep people on task. They can degenerate into name calling and mischaracterization!
4. Launch a New Theme for Your Blog
This one worked to get me 12 comments. This works especially well if it’s a new theme and you’ve had the old one a while. Also, if there are bugs you get more this way.
5. Write about a Change in Faith
Don’t know that I want to link to these kinds of posts, but it seems that any time someone questions their own faith, announces that they are leaving it, or that they have major problems with it, that people come out of the woodwork for both sides to fight it out.
In fact, anything challenging Christianity and/or God in a controversial way (see #3) have the effect of ballooning comment counts out of proportion if there are people with strongly held opinions on both sides of the fence.
This concludes this edition of how to improve your blog. Tune in next time for more exciting ways to make your blog a better place.
I love the new look!! MIn, it is just wonderful.
As for getting more people to comment, I gave up and just post what I feel like posting and let it go.
I have a few lurkers and I know who they are, they just refuse to comment.
Thanks for the compliment, Leticia. I’m growing to even like the wood!
Of course, your way of blogging is best, I’m just surprised at how easily some people get up to 50 odd comments by saying that they’re leaving, and then they turn around and say that they might not the next day!
Yay for the link love! 🙂 Thanks.
I was shocked at how many comments I got when I suggested that V-necks were going out of style! I guess that’s an example of #3? Also, the same thing when I posted against wearing black to a wedding. I didn’t honestly think there was anything so shocking about either of those topics.
I’m with Leticia. I have friends and family who read but don’t comment, however, my engagement post and baptism had the top comments ever!
wow! I actually thought about not blogging any more this morning (for a brief moment) I guess I should have blogged about that passing thought!
I am still waiting on my blog make-over, ho hum!
Thank you for the tips!
now come comment on my blog! *grin*
Actually, I get the most comments on women’s fashion. Post about trying to find the perfect black t-shirt, and you will have 50 posts, easily. Post about whether gauchos are hideous or attractive…oh man…that’ll garner you about 80 comments in the blink of an eye. 🙂
But…I hope you weren’t saying that you think I posted that just to get comments. When I posted of leaving, I truly agonized over that for months, and finally felt it was really time to go.
I received a lot of personal e-mails, however, from young women that I didn’t even know read the blog – saying that I was a type of mentor to them, that I had helped change their mothering. THAT really DOES have an impact on this (pathetic) blogger, and it makes me rethink my decisions. Did I make the decision because I am tired? (possibly.) I’m still praying about that. At times (as many people) I’m not sure when my physical self over-rides my spiritual self. 🙂
As for Mz. Molly….wowzers. That girl knew how to pull in comments. Her environmentalist blogs pulled in close to 200 comments, I think!
I think…controversy often brings out the most comments. It depend who your readership is.
And, yet another thing, :), I don’t know that most men bloggers understand. (And I say that respectfully!!!) For men, I think blogging is often goal oriented…possibly for some women too…but maybe a little bit more for men. For women, it is relational. My commenters are my friends! I know a lot about the ones that actually comment, and I care about them and their lives.
I don’t have a goal of getting comments – I don’t check stats but maybe once every few months – I blog to communicate. I think I’m one of those strange bloggers who knows a lot of her readers…I probably know at least 200 of them in real life. (That makes it strange!) Odder still…the ones who know me in real life never comment!!!! I wish they would, but they are too shy.
Ah, I’m a bad example, M In. I’m probably the least linked blogger there is. I don’t try to increase traffic, I don’t have time to visit too many blogs. I’m a pretty pathetic blogger. I don’t even know how to do many of the things that most bloggers do. Too much life happening around here!
Amanda – You’re welcome
Rebecca – V-Necks are out of style? Somehow I don’t think it’ll do as well over here.
Colleen – Maybe #2 should have been “Have a Life Even Happen” because engagement, graduation, marriage, baby– all are good for comments.
MamaArcher – You should have! I’ve added you to my feed reader, so I should be stopping by soon.
Holly – I remember the black shirt discussion– that was a classic. And no, I believe that you were sincere (and I hope you “got” my comment to your original slow death), but I’ve also been around long enough to know that there’s much more going on than we ever see in comments. People are reading and are touched but don’t say anything.
Every time I see someone say “I’m done” I look for the “I’m back.” Either they can’t stay away, people poured out their hearts to ask you to stay, or something happens.
Molly was the classic. I think she quit two or three times only to be back a month later going at it every day. And she really could get the comments, but that’s because she mixed them. She was doing #5 and kept people going back and forth. Plus she had an easy to read writing style.
So, no I don’t think you were just trying to get comments. I believe that you’re sincere from your heart. I also think that it’s next to impossible to say something and not offend someone. What Christ said in love was offensive (you think calling Pharisees white washed tombs wasn’t offensive?) and yet it was in their best interest. You may have a desire to save people from things that you know are bad, and you need to say those things in love!
And I’m not as stats obsessed as some (I’ve read some people that have to check it all the time) but I am both goal oriented with the blogs as well as enjoying the relationships.
I do make some money off these blogs, but I separate that from the conversation of all of you– I really do enjoy hearing and interacting with you and seeing where our conversation goes.
Having a baby is good for stats as well: I live-blogged the birth our son in June of ’06 and went from about 400 pageviews/day to over 6,000 that day. Of course my stats dropped a good bit after that…
And…I’d like to point out that I still don’t know what will come. I mentioned in the “farewell” post that I had some stories I wanted to tell, then that I would leave the blog up until the baby was born. That’s why it was called a “slow death!” I DO NOT KNOW what God has for my blog…perhaps it will become more of a resource that doesn’t change very often. I don’t know! (I am a GIRL! I can change my mind!!! LOL!)
I remember so well the reaction when Spunky quit – people felt like she had cheated them somehow, by leaving! I think that people need time to adjust to an idea.
One more thought on comments…I think that women comment to be friendly…mostly. We don’t want to be rude. We want our friends to know that we stopped by. I think that guy bloggers get comments because other guys truly have something they want the poster to know, or they want to argue or debate. 🙂
Ah, I don’t know. I think guy bloggers and girl bloggers are quite different.
But – thanks for at least trying to understand me on that post. I guess I’ve not been around long enough to see the farewell/hello cycle…except with Molly. I still think Molly will be back someday.
Thank you, too, for your thoughts on the “offensive” thing. I know that is an area in which I need to grow personally. I care, deeply, what people think of me, and you can’t do that when you are putting your thoughts/opinions out into the www. I KNOW that God is working in me, somehow, but I’m not exactly sure where He is going with this. I’m willing…just semi-clueless right now. 🙂
Thanks for the dialog. 🙂
Is it time to have another then, KimC? 🙂
Time for another? It sure seems like it! Most of our children were 19 months apart, so we’re months behind schedule already. Maybe we’ll have something to announce soon.
Here’s hoping for a long string of boys to balance out the 7 girls. Our little guy is badly in need of a brother.
Eight kids and still going for more– whew!
Just how long a string are you shooting for?
MIn, (*gasp*) I can’t believe you said that to Kim! That’s one way to generate comments. 😉
Back when we had only 4 or 5 girls, I used to jokingly tell people that we were going to have all the girls first, then start on the boys.
I guess we’ll need another 6 boys to even things out, although the girls are wishing for another sweet baby girl too. Now some of them want twins – one of each.
Talk about blog comments. That’ll get ’em!
Good job – good thoughts here, Min.
You’ve gotta attract the commenting crowd as opposed to the lurking crowd if you want lots of comments. Push buttons, rile people up. Talk about a hot topic and take a weird or unpopular stand.
Or just make an awesome announcement, etc.
I should have added that as #6– talk about how to get blog comments. My pageviews on that post went up, but the comments still aren’t that many.
I was thinking, too…that you must not have seen some of the comments for apron giveaways. 🙂
THAT will get you 300 comments, easily! 🙂
Wow, I love the new look… and the topic 😀
Thanks, BrittneyLeigh.
Holly– you got 300 comments on a single post?
Perhaps I’ll have to come back with an updated list, because I’m sure giveaways and contests run huge as well. Also, if someone develops a WordPress plugin (especially if it has room for more features or has bugs), I’m sure they get some comments.