6 surefire strategies to get more comments on your blog

A freelance writer acquaintance recently asked how she could quickly and easily boost comments on her new blog.

The good news is it is possible to get more people to leave comments on your blog. The bad news is may not be quick or easy.

In the 15 months since I started blogging, I’ve seen the number of comments on my blog posts steadily creep upwards. I credit this to a few things, including a steady rise in traffic, good writing and committing to posting three to five times a week.

But there’s more to it. Based on my experience, here’s a half-dozen other surefire ways to get more comments on your blog:

1. Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you. Blogging is an interactive medium, so if you want comments, find blogs that cover the same topic and leave comments on them. Link back to posts you’ve written that are relevant to the discussion. Some of the people who’re interested in the topic will see what you’ve written, click on the link, and if you’re lucky, leave comments on your post.

2. Make friends with like-minded bloggers. After a while some of these bloggers who cover the same or similar topics will become your online posse. You’ll find yourself leaving reciprocal comments quite frequently. In my experience, that happens rather organically and if you push too hard it may seem forced rather than genuine.

3. Market your blog posts. Just because you wrote them doesn’t mean people know that they’re there. That’s what Digg, StumbleUpon, Techorati et al are for. Spread the word and if people are interested in the content, they’ll come, read and comment.

4. Blog about what’s happening now. Write about topical things, such as why Michelle Obama is a new style icon what the fallout has been from the Madoff scandal or the octomom or other news events or trends.

5. Be controversial. Expressing a contrarian point of view is going to illicit more comments that going with the flow. But be careful what you wish for. Do you really want people to leave comments telling you how ill-conceived or otherwise stupid your opinions are? They might, and that’s why using the comment moderation feature that comes with your blogging software is good.

6. Ask for them. Once you’re done giving your take on a certain topic, ask your readers what they think – that usually works for me.

After all that, realize that only a tiny portion of people who read blogs leave comments. I don’t know what the research shows, but in my experience it’s 1 or 2 percent.

Here are some other posts on getting blog comments, including a few earlier things I’ve written on the subject:

How to write blog posts that get comments

More on blog comments: be careful what you wish for

10 techniques to get more comments on your blog – Advice from the always helpful staff at ProBlogger.com.

10 best plugins to get more comments – Apps to dress up your comments area so people will be more inclined to add their 2 cents.

Got your own tips? Let’s hear them!