There are different ways to gauge a Blog’s authority. It can be done by RSS Feeds, Email Subscribers, Alexa Rankings, Google Pagerank, Quality of posts, Number of Comments, Number of Guest Posts etc. and the list goes on and on.
While other statistics are also important and tell you a lot about your site, Comments from your blog visitors is the most important reflection for your Authority in your domain. However, the comments should be natural and not provoked by a offering or a controversial topic.
Reasons for Encouraging Comments on your Blog
There are a lot of reasons for encouraging more comments on your blog apart form the feel good factor. It gives me a lot of satisfaction when someone comments on my blog. I go through their comment and make a note of what they have to say. Even constructive criticism are welcome. It give you an effective ruler to measure your performance as a Blogger. Let’s see some of the main benefits you derive from encouraging more comments for your blog posts.
Gives you Feedback
The most important reason and benefit of comments are that “THEY COMPLETE THE COMMUNICATION CYCLE”. The communication cycle starts with the sender (a blogger in this case) communicating via the medium (the blog post) to the recipients (the blog readers), and Feedback being the Comments Section.
Continuation of Discussion
Another important aspect of comments are that they continue the discussion from the point where the blog post left. You might ask a open ended question or invite suggestion for your topic. Then the commentators gets a chance to extend your idea and provide his interpretation of the topic.
They become your Critics
Comments keeps you in check. They channel your flow of posts. They stop you to go all ga-ga about yourself. They stop you from been criticizing someone in public for more than they deserve. They in a way border’s your post and control the check of the blogosphere. They tell you if you have written a bad post or done an excellent work.
Gives Ideas for more Post Topics
Comments are a good way to gather ideas for more blog posts. The discussion and views posted by commentators are often filled with new ideas of what could be your next post. May be they can encourage you to write up a follow up post to the current one. Listen to your comments. Stitch them together and you have a good analytic report in front of you.
Inspire you as a Blogger
There is nothing that inspires me more than a good comment. Not even attaining an increase in Pagerank. It feels great that people are reading your posts. It reminds you, that something you have written is adding value to something greater. Makes you write more posts like that.
Helps SEO for your Blog
Google, Yahoo, Live and many other search engines rank your blog by looking at how many quality links are coming in and going out. Comments and Trackbacks are a good and natural way to promote your blog to the Search Engines. The deal is simple. Write Killer Post Content. It encourages visitors to comment more. The more they comment, the more good it does for you SEO.
Increase Blog’s Authority
Finally, comments are the most important thing in bragging a Blog’s Authority. I think Average comments per post would be the best indication and sites like Technorati should take that into account rather than how many trackbacks are shared among the blogs.
Add your own points via comments. Have a nice Day..!!
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The communication process section was on point. It took me back in time to a business and communication class in college. I remember the communication process beginning with a sender and ending with a receiver, but your reference to the blogger and the blog reader was good. Well done.
Reader feedback is very important in the communication process because if you (the blogger) are going to be a great communicator it is important receive (or hear)what the other party is saying so you may understand their position.
What I like about the blogosphere is many people understand the importance of commenting on blogs and participating in the discussion. It makes learning better for all parties and it potentially builds backlinks to your site.
It is when you get into other areas outside of blogging that getting comments on the blog to be very difficult. The blogging community seems more trusting and open as to oppose the real estate community, where I have another blog. The readers are less willing to share so it seems at the moment.
Never the less, thanks for the thought provoking post.
I think the reasons you want comments on your blog is because it means you are actually writing about something that readers care about. Nobody comments on an article that is about blah, blah, blah. It means you have connected with the reader.
@Freddie: Yeah, my Business Communication lectures suddenly strike me from my MBA days when I began writing Communication Cycle.
@Rob: True, Comments is an indicator which shows that the blog author connected with the reader.
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Regards
TJ
Without feedback there is no way to really know if your posts are clear, on topic, and understandable to those who are reading them. Comments are one way to get that feedback.
It also allows your readers to clarify points you’ve made and ask related questions. They allow you to know what direction to take in follow-on posts.
Last but not least they are an excellent way to find other blogs. Some of the very best bloggers I know found me – or I found them – through comments on blogs we read.
Comments are very important. They help with seo. They give others readers of the post more to think about and the provide great feedback to the blogger.
Comments are the lifeblood of a good blog I believe. Aside from the traffic and ranking factors, which are still relatively new concepts to me, I agree that they really help you evolve as a writer. Sometimes it takes a reader to spot a mistake you overlooked, or leave an opinion that opens up a whole new train of thought for you. Most of all, when I recieve comments on my posts I am just gratified that someone is taking the time to read it.
fascinating and communicative, but would make something more on this topic?
Your are Great. And so is your site! Awesome content. Good job guys! Interesting article, adding it to my favourites!
I read many blog posts, and feel that if an article is good, the few seconds spent commenting is only polite.
I like smartblogtips and category this very interesting.
Best Regards
You pointed out good reasons why somebody want to get more comments, but I expected here also some technique how to encourage visitors to comment more.