Yes, its an unusual title but there is a point to it so stay with me!
I am talking a lot to people who have just started a blog are in the throes of starting one. Once we get over the initial “I have got nothing interesting to say” (future blog post coming up on that) and “who is going to read it” phase, which I have coined the “blog self doubt” phase. The most common thing that I hear is, nobody comments on my blog so why should I bother?
This is to me the classic blog comment depression phase. Trust me I have been through this and no amount of Prozac will relieve it. Here is the typical scenario.
You have started blogging, your writing on a regular basis and you are probably obsessing over your stats which incidentally are not actually doing an awful lot. You are proud of what you have written yet nobody bothers to leave comments. Then you get depressed, you stop writing and the self doubt creeps in, you think that what you write or broadcast is utter rubbish and then you go find something else to do and before long your blog is just another digital relic, unloved and lonely. So whats gone wrong?
The above is the scenario that I went through in the early days of this blog. It hurts, lets face it most bloggers will tell you that comments are in some respects the blogging holy grail and honestly, you cannot beat the feeling of receiving comments on you blog posts its a massive motivator.
The single biggest mistake that I made was having this blinkered approach to blogging. I put all my effort into my blog and my blog only, sod everyone else’s blog, I’m the new blog daddy (well not quite but you get the picture!) and this is the mistake. You have to get out amongst your fellow bloggers, get involved and get commenting on the articles that they write, speak to them, follow them on twitter and join the conversation (apologies for the cliche). Bloggers can be a fickle bunch and we all have egos that need a massage, they love to get comments and the chances are that if you engage with them they will visit your blog and start to converse with you. Its simple but very effective, it took me several months and about 20 posts to start to get a flow of regular comments and only when I started to comment and engage with other bloggers, you will be surprised at quickly this can turn your unloved blog into a blog that is getting some comment love.
Give it a go, hunt down all the blogs that are in your niche or are talking about what you do, subscribe to their RSS feed and spend 15-20 Min’s per day looking at the posts and providing good quality comments. NB – don’t just say “great post” and leave, that wont work, if you have got nothing better to say than that just walk away, until you have. If you do this you will get comments and an added boost of traffic to your blog.
So that’s Simon’s, quick and easy tip to prevent blog comment depression – give it a go and do let me know how you get on by leaving a comment below!
I was going to write “Great post”…
Agree with the euphoric feeling when a comment is left, proving that someone has read you stuff.
I’ve tried using CommentLuv plugin with a bit of success – it allows commenters to pop in a link to their most recent post on their own blog.
Keep these posts going Simon, they’re really useful.
Thanks Chris for the feedback and comments and I am glad that you are finding them useful!! Agreed comment Luv is a decent plugin and I am planning on giving it a try on this blog.
Hi Simon
I follow your blog which is full of good stuff. I look forward to getting my own blog up and running. Feel sure that it will help me with my speling also help me to concentrate on what lifes all about. We all nead friends even if they are virtual friends. keep up the good work. I like the idea of reading a book every fortnight
Hi James, thanks for the feedback on the blog. Blogging can be a liberating experience and it will help the old writing skills!! Good luck with the blog when you get started
This is good advice, thanks.
It frustrates me often when my postings see little traffic, and even fewer comments. I thought that getting my postings automatically posted to Facebook and Twitter would help, since I have a number of followers there, however Facebook shows the complete article, and I get lots of comments on there, without the visitors and comments on the main article. It’s nice to get traffic, but when that traffic doesn’t go where you would like tio to go, you need some kind of redirection. I don’t think Facebook members are necessarily the best when it comes to expecting them to click on an article, but maybe I need a bigger signpost!
Hi Tony, thanks for the comment. I think the key here is to test different platforms and see which ones work for you. I have had good results with twittter and more recently with Linkedin. It might be worth trying out some different platforms and see what results you get.
thanks again Simon