Blog comment tutorial: attract the good, deal with the bad

Want to get more blog comments? Write about personal or controversial topics, or share widely-held but little discussed how-to information, or post links to what you write on Facebook.

That’s just some of the advice on how to get more comments on your blog posts that was shared during last week’s WordCount Last Wednesday monthly Twitter chat for writers.

Writers and bloggers also talked about dealing with fans who think nothing of responding to blog posts on a related Facebook page, but wouldn’t be caught dead leaving a comment on the actual post, and about how they deal with readers who leave mean comments.

Read on:

How to get more comments on blog posts

@MathforGrownups, Laura Laing, a Baltimore journalist and author of the new book, Math for Grownups – Personal posts, especially when I ask folks to tell me their stories. There’s not a whole lot that’s personal about math, but people are always eager to share their math stories, teacher was mean, etc. Also, controversial posts. Oh, and when I make a math mistake, someone always chimes in to tell me.

@sarahmorgan, Sarah Morgan, a New Jersey writer covering personal and social media – Blog posts (that get) the most comments are intensely personal or teach people how to do something. My post with the most comments was after one of my best friends died. Depressing but true.

@MichelleRafter, that’s me!- Agree about controversial posts. I got most comments ever on pieces debating writing for content mills. I also started adding a line to bottom of post asking: “What do you think?” or “What’s your experience?” to solicit feedback. It works. I’ve also had good success running polls. People love taking polls and Polldaddy makes it simple if you have a WordPress or WordPress.com blog.

@jenwillis, a Portland, Oregon, freelancer covering living, religion, history and health current in Dublin, Ireland, on a fellowship – For me, it’s usually when I share writing advice. Or when people start wars with each other in the comments on my posts.

@UrbanMuseWriter, Susan Johnston, a Boston freelancer who covers small biz and personal finance – When I post unconventional advice or find a topic that hits a nerve with people it tends to generate comments. Topics that are relatable, for instance, challenges that many freelancers face but few discuss. Also, I get more comments when I’m hosting a giveaway and people need to leave a comment to enter.

@JanUdlock, Jan Udlock, a Portland, Oregon writer for regional parenting mags, and blogger at IMP3RfecCt Mom – Giveaways get the highest number of comments. I’ve given away books and ebooks. I find it important to comment on people’s comments. They feel more engaged.

@riverand, Nicole Rivera, blogger, techie, foodie and a ton more – I find I get more comments when working within a blogging community, i.e., SitsGirls, BlogFrog or WriteOnEdge.

I get more comments on Facebook than on my blog, is that a problem?

@ThoughtsHappen, Louise Julig, a San Diego marketing writer – Getting comments is hard for me. I get more comments on the Facebook page for my blog than on blog itself. I think non-writer people feel ‘safer’ on Facebook than posting right on the blog. I have the Facebook ‘Like’ box, but don’t know how to get the feed yet.

@jenwillis I’ve had a similar experience with comments on Facebook v. comments on the actual blog post.

@wordwhacker, Linda Bernstein, New York City writer and blogger at GenerationBSquared – I get more comments through Facebook, Google+, email or Twitter than in the comment box on my blogs.

@AmyVernon, ex-newspaper reporter turned social media superstar - That’s not really a problem, as long as they’re actually reading and sharing, that’s the important part. NPR, for example, found they were getting more comments on Facebook than on their site. But visits and shares exploded. I believe that’s completely scalable no matter the size of your audience, too.

@MichelleRafter Getting comments on Facebook shows how important it is to be on social networks, and channel that back to your blog. I’ve kept Facebook for non-work stuff, so I don’t put links to my posts there either. But I put the FB ‘Like’ box on my blog’s social sharing toolbar.

@JanUdlock I find there are moms that don’t want to leave comments on my blog for personal space issues, but will on Facebook. If social media is not their thing, they won’t comment.

@sarahmorgan I also find that I get comments on Facebook rather than on the actual post. Frustrating, isn’t it?

@riverand Also, replying on someone’s blog, rather than on your own can often be even more valuable! I get non-bloggy/writers on Facebook. Each audience has their space.

@MichelleRafter I added StumbleUpon, Reddit boxes to my social media toolbar this year, that generates some additional comments but Reddit readers comment on posts on Reddit & StumbleUpon generates mostly drive-by page views and no comments.

@ThoughtsHappen I have also gotten comments on LinkedIn groups that I put a blog post in discussion, but the post has to be very relevant to the group.

@AmyVernon You need to communicate where the people are, and they’re fragmented. Plus, Facebook comments tend to be more civil because they’re not anonymous.

Dealing with trolls, bullies and nasties

@jenwillis I moderate all comments. They don’t post online unless I approve them. If someone offers an alternative view and is making a good point, I let it through. If it’s nastiness for the sake of being nasty, I trash it. Maybe that’s censorship, but it’s my blog space.

@MathforGrownups I put on my big-girl panties and respond respectfully and with logic. That is, only if the comments are not abusive. My blog is my house, and I control who can speak there.

@wordwhacker I just don’t approve nastiness. But I almost never get it, probably because of my subject.

@MathforGrownups What’s even more interesting is to get nastiness on another blog or elsewhere on the internet. Then responding or not is critical.

@ThoughtsHappen I rarely if ever get nastiness, but I think that’s because I don’t get many comments overall. That is one benefit of Facebook though.

@wordwhacker I see on Google+ all these mommy bloggers talking about mommy bullying through blogs. I find that weird.

@ThoughtsHappen Good grief. People don’t have enough to do w/out bullying each other on the net? Dumb.

@wordwhacker Yes, agree, especially for these mommy bloggers.

@MichelleRafter If a reader presents an alternative point of view in a comment, do you debate it, thank them for sharing, let others respond or let it go?

@riverand On Reddit there can be lots of nastiness for nastiness sake, so I take it from the source and decide when to engage in a debate.

@MathforGrownups Depends. Sometimes I debate it. But there is almost always a time to let it go.

@MichelleRafter Laura, can you share what happened to you?

@MathforGrownups USA Weekend wrote a story about my book with incorrect info. Commenters on that site pointed out the error. I responded to say that the book is right, story wrong. It got picked up by HuffPost, CJR and others. People were furious! USA Weekend didn’t correct the mistake soon enough. There was a huge online uproar, and I had to decide where and when to respond. Today there are two bad reviews on Amazon for my book, both referencing the USA Weekend story and I decided not to respond. But I did blog about it and got some negative comments. We had a little back and forth on my own blog. Pretty harmless and easy.

To moderate or not to moderate comments, that’s the question

@MathforGrownups Yes, I moderate comments, just through WordPress.

@MichelleRafter I moderate comments, but don’t use CAPTCHA or something like it. I want to make it as easy as possible for people to give feedback.

@jenwillis I do moderate comments, using my blog’s WordPress backbone.

@riverand I use DISQUS and recently found out this confuses my non-blogger followers. I’ve loved it until I had two different Facebook followers say, “I’m writing this here because I can’t figure that thing out!” I’m planning on a how-to post now.

@sarahmorgan I don’t moderate but I do review after they go up.

@wordwhacker I do moderate comments. I have a spam filter and then a plugin to my email and I moderate by hand. The filter gets all the spam. Amazing.

@ThoughtsHappen Is the spam filter part of WordPress? My blog is not on WordPress but I’m thinking of migrating.

@MichelleRafter Use a plug in called Akismet.