Whether you blog for pleasure or business, encouraging readers to visit and comment is usually a big part of your game plan.
But if you’re not helping readers come back to your blog, you might as well pack up shop and close it down. Get the “Subscribe to Comments” plugin installed. Now. Today.
Even Darren Rowse learned the value of the “Subscribe to Comments” feature after removing it from his blog. He reinstated it after overwhelming demand.
You’ll reap the benefits of adding that small, fast feature to your blog. If someone drops a fast comment and clicks the little checkbox to stay updated, a few marvelous events happen:
- You’ve increased the chance that your reader comes back, gets involved in discussions, and helps your blog appear alive and healthy.
- You’ll have more realistic hit stats about your blog.
- Your readers will be less frustrated, because they don’t have to remember to go back and check whether someone else added to the discussion.
- Your readers will be encouraged to leave comments related to someone else’s comments right away.
- You show that you care about your readers. You want them to have full service and ease of access. You want their comments – show it.
One of the best ways to help your readers be involved in discussions and your blog community is to provide them with the tools to stay updated on comments made about your posts.
Personally, when I drop a comment on a blog that doesn’t have a “Subscribe to Comments” feature, I often don’t return to that post – and sometimes I don’t even come back to the blog. I’ve completely forgotten it existed. The blogs that do have “Subscribe to Comments” draw me like a magnet.
Most of the comments I receive in my inbox from subscriptions are pretty useless, I’ll admit. (“Great job! Love your blog!” – there’s a whole issue right there. These comments waste space, breath and time.) A fast DELETE takes care of those.
(People. For the love of god, learn how to leave great comments. It is an art not to be taken for granted.)
Many comments are good ones. I can whip over seconds after receiving notification to add my two cents, answer a question, or debate a little. Blogs that allow me to do so are thriving, with people raving about the sense of community and friendship.
The blogs that don’t allow me to subscribe to comments honestly look like nothing much is going on. There are a handful of comments, each by a different person (they don’t come back, remember?) and the conversation going on seems lacking in flow and contribution.
Sounds like destination Nowhere, if you ask me.
Thanks for the tip on the plugin. I do go back when I’m alerted that a new comment was added to the post where I left a comment. It is a very useful plugin and I’m going to install it today.
You’re very welcome.
This morning I clicked through a post on my feed reader to leave a comment. When I arrived at the blog, I realized that I’d been there about a week ago, had left a comment, had wanted to continue participating in the discussion…
…and promptly forgot that I’d ever commented there at all.
Worse? I couldn’t even find the post I’d originally commented on.
I see so many blogs set up to DIScourage community and it’s frustrating. It doesn’t have to be that way.
James…I also want to offer my thanks on the plugin recommendation. Though I’ve just started Journey of Words and am using more to hone my craft than marketing at this time your points a quite valid and pertinent to ANY blogger. Oh, and I did install the subscribe to comments as well!
The way I track comments without the subscribe option is to put a star next to the topic in my feed reader. After a while though, that gets tiresome and I eventually stop watching. Having comments sent directly to my inbox is much better.
Bro… do you know how many starred posts I have in my reader?
If a blog requires registration to leave a comment, I usually just click away. There are many wonderful blogs that don’t ask visitors to sign in, and I already have enough IDs and passwords. I discuss this briefly in an upcoming post on my own site (scheduled for publication tomorrow). There are two or three blogs I’m subscribed to that have grueling processes for leaving a comment. If I click away, I can only wonder how many others do the same. If there were more hours in the day, I might go through the registration process but time is short and open comments are aplenty.
-Melissa Donovan
Writing Forward
Hm, true, true. I can think of one site that uses registrations for its commenting and it drives me nuts. I’m registered, yes – but I comment once in a blue moon.
I heard once from online marketing experts that each click a user has to make is equal to a 7% drop in sales. Considering a “sale” for a blog would be a reader, that’s 7 readers out of 100 that you lose for each click. Three clicks, and you’ve just lost 21 readers.
When blogs deal with numbers in the thousand, not hundreds, that’s a lot of visitors getting driven off by sheer irritation.
That’s an excellent formula to keep in mind for designing blogs and websites.
Okay. I get the hint. This can be my New Year’s resolution for my WordPress blogs. It won’t work for Typepad, but I think that blog will migrate to WordPress soon.
Isn’t everyone on WordPress yet? On a side note, the way Blogger recently cut the options for commenting has left me cutting out my comments on Blogger blogs. Bad move, Google.
AHA!!!!!
I’ve been wondering how everyone has one different than mine.
Oh..so much to learn….so little time….
ok, so far I’ve had trouble with these plug-ins but I’m going to work on this first thing in the morning!
This is my third week in the blogging world guys, I might have a backround in various small business and marketing, but none in technology or blogging.I failed basic typing in school.. I have spent the entire afternoon at the Pen Men Institute Archives and it’s been very informative. I feel there just might be hope….
Thanks.
Wendi
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post..Stop and Smell the Goodness
@ Wendi – If you install only one plugin on your site, make it this one. Please. I LOVE this plugin and it’s a must.
As for being new, everyone starts somewhere. We did, others did, and even more will to come. You’re definitely not alone, and I’m more than pleased you’ve found the help you need on our site. Central information resources are definitely time savers!
(and I’m flattered lol)