Getting readers to leave comments

Hi,
I have a blog, http://www.virtualmarketingblog.com, that receives 75-125+ visitors per day (50-100 uniques). Id like to increase the number of comments I receive on each post (usually its 0, but every once and awhile there will be 3-4 comments). Any thoughts on how I can increase comments? I could pay for them, but Im really trying to increase reader input. If I paid for 1 comment on every post, do you think the readers will reply to the comments? Do you make a fake account on your blog and post comments under a different name than the author of the post? Thanks!

 

That is a good question!.... How did you get your blog like that? Like your post then body text (summary) then (read more) I try it and it doest work!

 

I'm having the same problem.
It seems that my readers don't like commenting.

 

comments i mostly get on my posts are from other webmasters,

 

Ask your friends to make comments. When someone doesn't see any comments being made, he/she may not feel motivated to comment too.

And yeah, give them the benefit of the link. Never put a no follow

 

Good suggestion there!
I think I need to start a "Blog Comments Exchange" thread.
Would you like to post a comment in the Lively BLog?

 

The best way I've found is to simply ask people to comment and once you get a comment always reply even if it's just a simple thank you.

One of my writers is really good at getting reader participation. If you have a look at this post I'm amazed at how much time and effort my readers have put in to replying and all Fred did was simply ask the question.

 

To start with just add some comments yourself. Whatever you do don't pay for them - they will be crap.

Then do what johnchow.com does.

 

the more traffic the better for your blog. You are saying that you have a high traffic. Maybe it;s not high enough. Set up a feed on MyYahoo.com so your site gets regularly spidered.

Read and comment on other blogs that are in your target niche. Use Ping-0-matic to ping blog directories. Do this every time you publish.

Submit your blog to traditional search engines. Submit your blog to blog directories. The most comprehensive list of directories is on this site: http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/

Add a link to your blog in your email signature file.

Make sure you have an RSS feed URL that people can subscribe to.

Make a commitment to blog everyday. 10 minutes a day can help increase your traffic as new content attracts search engine spiders. Put it on your calendar as a task every day at the same time.

 

Ive been doing most of those things thus far. The site is being submitted to 100 blog / rss directories now (and has been for the last few days). Maybe Ill run an adwords campaign and build some more traffic. Thanks.

 

focus on increasing the traffic and the comments will come

once traffic is high you can make readers participate, offer prizes, use top commentators plugin and so on

 

Sure buddy
I commented

Your blog appears to be better off than some of the others when it comes to comments

 

Great idea with the top commentators plugin! Maybe Ill run some time of contest for most active user. Thanks.

 

Good suggestion. I have the same problem, and I really want readers to participate , not just with comments but with experiences.

 

Wow,the comments look like articles.Very long...

Thanks!

 

Yeah that's what I thought, if all comments were like that I could sack all my writers

 

Normally I get get none, but when I link to other blogs or specific posts, or get super opinionated, that's when they seem to come in. I know you comment on FadMarketing a good bit though, so I'll try to stop by and comment when I can.

 

Thanks Jenn, Id appreciate that. I started a business / marketing blog comment exchange thread here on digitalpoint, but havent had any responses. Would anyone in this thread be interested in exchanging 10 comments? Thanks.

 

Just post, post, post, and I'll comment, comment, comment. I'd shoot for daily, since you're pretty close to that now anyway, at least recently. That's another thing I've noticed with mine... the more often I yap about something, the more often people comment back to agree, disagree, or just say thanks. If I stop for a few days, the comments stop, and can take a little while to pick up again when I resume regular posting.

 

I would be interested in exchanging comments once my blog is up and running. (yah, been busy working on it).

I really like your blog though. Great design and content.

I'll let you know when I'm set up and running and maybe we'll exchange some comments?