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[dawud]

First off, I know this is a common question, so please forgive me if this topic has been listed before.

I've been blogging for quite a while. I used to blog on one of my friends servers, which recently got shut down - I then moved over to wordpress, where I currently am now.

I have tried to attract comments through a number of ways - mainly linking to my blog in forums, submitting it to blog listings, and leaving comments on other people's blogs. Last summer, I was leaving northwards of 30-40 comments on different blogs, and to my dismay, I wasn't getting many back. On another occasion, I noticed that someone else who had actually copied my content received about a dozen comments while my original post received none.

Another problem I've noticed is that when I post in forums or on facebook, people tend to comment on those sites instead of on my blog, which is my goal.

What other ways are there to get comments or get noticed?

[jo_lovely]

I've always had a problem with this, too. I was going to say maybe it's your content (no offense) but if someone else was getting many comments for the same stuff, I don't see how that can be an issue.

Maybe you need to consistently comment on the same blogs before the blogger will feel inclined to comment on yours? If you just comment once or twice on many different blogs, you probably won't stand out much.

[dawud]

That seems like a good idea. Although, I must admit some of my content tends to be a bit specialized and theoretical. I've noticed that those blogs tend to have a smaller niche; some people might also be put off by the "unconventional" views of my blog.

[jo_lovely]

Hmm...unconventional views sounds interesting to me. Might I have a link to your blog?

[basketofeggs]

How can they be "put off" if they are not visiting in the first place? Don't be so hard on yourself. The more let it get to you, the more you will bring it down. Just relax and have fun with it.

-bryan

Stupid is, Stupid does | Secret Basket of Eggs

[Melody]

There is another thread about how to get comments, and I wrote a long reply there. The upshot is that you know the traffic to your blog, and what your metrics are. Figure out what is important to you. Getting comments isn't really a sign of how many people are visiting a blog, but I understand why they're addictive: Fun to read and a visible clue of traffic.

You might though consider what other metrics are important to you. For example, for me I get disappointed when the average time on my site drops below 3 minutes - I want to make sure people are staying long enough to read what I write.

And generally speaking, here's my two cents on gettng comments, but I am no expert:

(1) Be sure to participate in the "big ol' comment" thread in the blog marketing forum of this site - READ the directions in the very first post before jumping into the thread.

(2) Always have a best friend or someone you can count on to leave comments now and then. It might not seem like much, but that one person who leaves the first comment can act as an "ice breaker".

(3) Always have a blog entry on the hot, cutting edge topic in your niche - even if it is a topic that you're personally tired of hearing about.

(4) Invite your readers to comment.

(5) If you comments go through moderation, act very fast to approve them. Even if this means you're checking and approving them on the go from your phone (I do this). The fact of the matter is that people are impatient about waiting to see their comment show up, and are less likely to come back as return traffic if they think that their comment is not showing up.

(6) Reply to comments. I am of the belief you do not have to reply to every single one of them, though I know some will to disagree with me. But at some point, if you have 30 unique comments in a thread, it becomes difficult to reply to them all.

(7) Develop a relationship with other bloggers in the same niche. Trade comments back and forth. This takes time. Many will say you should just leave a bunch of comments, but target blogs that are active, of a high quality, and in the same niche. Be sure to leave your own blog site as a link (that makes your name clickable)

Good luck!

I find that I do _reasonably_ well getting comments, but the truth is that it is very difficult to get people to comment, and if you're not getting comments, it may be no relationship at all to the quality of content. Don't worry too much about this.

[dawud]

Melody, thanks much for the advice, I'll work on it.

I'm starting to do #2, in fact, I recently had a friend start a blog and we plan to comment on each other's blogs regularly.

jo - I can't post links yet, but I'm slowly getting there. I'll post a link and signature as soon as I'm able.

[cathy]

Although much have written already but I believe interaction with the other blogger is also important. If someone commented on your post, say him/her thanks and try to reply his query.

[dawud]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Since I can now post links, I'll include the link to the thread where I introduce my blog:

http://www.bloggeries.com/forum/show...ee-square.html

This is to avoid cluttering this thread with posts on my blog and to avoid having to post my links everwhere

[LAPTOPPK]

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