I run a successful blog and employ close to 20 writers/bloggers for the site and was wondering if anyone out there with a site similar to mine can shed some light on how to get people to comment on my site more and often. My site url is http://www.theurbantwist.com I get on average 2500 visitors a day. I'm striving for at least 100,000 and I think that my site has potential to do so eventually. I have almost 900 facebook fans, almost 2000 followers on Twitter... A lot of my posts get shared, but no one comments. My goal is to turn my site into a social portal through the comments on my site and later I planned to launch a forum similar to DP for my site as well. I was just curious, because there are others like me who gets ok traffic but doesn't hardly get any participation on the site. Please share your site below and any tips that you use to gain visitors that actually interact with your site. Thanks
If you end your postings with a question to the readers ( like what is your opinion?) it will encourage readers to comment. You can also put some contests. You can offer rewards for the best comments.
You really have to target them, find a niche they are interested in, then you gotta plan how to bring them in. I suggest doing a lot of demographic research on your vertical and really figure out how to bring people in who really want the information you provide, then figure out how you can tweak it to attract new people, and engage with those who are already with you. Thats how you do it! .... that will be 5 Dollars. lol
Ask people to comment in the end of your article to share your view. 2.Do commenting on other blog as you can also do my seekersfind.com and be top commentator. 3.Ask question in the end of your article so that have no choice other than comments to reply. 4.Give best replies to comments you recieved.Take as much time you can to give your best in replying so that they will come back again. 5.Make your comment link dofollow as you can see on my blog seekersfind.com
I think that the comment box is so far down from the end of the articles that many readers are simply not seeing it. I would assume many people don't scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page after the article is over. Also, in my browser there is no border to the text boxes so I can't even really see them. Obviously people know that there should be a comment option on just about any site, but attention spans are so short and even a short moment of frustration over not finding it could send them away to somewhere else. Since you run a professional-looking news and entertainment site, I actually think that changing the style of writing to ask direct questions at the end would be a bad idea. I'd say the same for running contests or rewards for comments. That kind of thing is great for a personal blog, but this is in a different class and I don't think it would be appropriate for the brand image you've cultivated. Just an idea.
Those are some strong ideas my man. I know it sounds silly but I never thought to put borders around my comment boxes to attract people to that section. I pretty much was just trying to be a little fancy with those boxes and maybe fancy isn't the way. You made me reconsider and it now looks like I will be updating my css file rather soon. And I might change the template so that on every post right at the bottom, it will say "sound off" or something similar with a link that takes them directly to the comment posting area and see what happens. If it brings more comments, I'll leave it. If not, I'll change it back. Thanks for your suggestions. It's appreciated. I would like for my site to have at least 15 comments per article to spark discussion and keep people coming back to see what others have said on topic.
Ajwalsh raises some really good points. The commenting process needs to be refined and simplified. To people that don't read blogs much, that comment box is barely noticeable, it definitely needs a border of some sort. You can make comments dofollow with a WP plugin, but unless your target market is other bloggers/webmasters, I don't think there's much point in doing it. I run a blog similar to yours (not the same niche, but I manage lots of contributors). Our traffic isn't as strong as yours, but sometimes we do get quite a few comments: http://www.drifted.com/ian-gratton/buxton-raceway-a-days-drifting-for-just-10/1226/ The comment box is nice and clear underneath the article. To encourage commenting, we usually post a link from our FB fan page, and ask them a question there, or politely ask to them to drop a comment. Having a good rapport with your readers via your social media strategy definitely helps
Thats really well said. When I was not into blogging, I never used to look at the comment box. Making comments dofollow and a little highlighted should increase user interaction. Regarding the FB Fanpage, I would say FB is a goldmine. You can draw thousands of visitors to your blog if you have a good friend base. Cheers.
Besides blogging, I've found many ways to get comments from the readers. One of them I would like to suggest is: "Using your Skill". For example, see this: http://www.hacktutors.info/2010/08/releasing-thesis-blogger-template.html How he have used his skills in his field? He made web template and got more than 50 comments to that post. Another one is: http://www.hacktutors.info/2010/08/50-dofollow-blogs-to-increase-your-page.html Collected 50 blog and easily gets comments from his readers. These are only examples. You have to use your skill and all is up to you.
Comment on relevant blogs will make those bloggers to comment in your blog. This is kinda link building. And don't forget to ask a question at the end of every blog post.
I always end my posts with Over to the readers: 2 or 3 questions. This should get the readers to answer and comment.
A blog with top list is always attractive to visitors. Most people will comment and thank you for the list as they find it helpful and educational.