This question comes from Sandra at The Musings of a Book Addict.
I have difficulty getting people to leave comments. Besides asking a question on each post, what other tips do you have for getting people to leave comments?I hear you and honestly I'm clueless on how to get people to comment. Obviously requiring a comment to enter a giveaway is one way but I'm pretty sure that is not the answer you are looking for.
I for one an not really a "commenter". I read a lot of blogs but don't comment very often so I don't expect to get a lot of comments on my blog.
I've tried several things but never with a huge amount of success. It seems like posts where opinions are shared seem to bring out more comments. But it is not very often that I make a post full of my opinions.
One suggestion I do have is turn off word verification for comments. It discourages people from commenting. If you are getting spam then change the settings to require comment moderation on posts older than 14 days.
And make sure you have enabled comment notification so you receive an email whenever someone comments on your blog. You can then comment on the post as well or stop by their blog to leave a comment.
These steps are easily taken in your blogger dashboard. Click on Settings and then Comments.
Do you have any suggestions for how to get people to comment? Please share!
Do you have a question for me? Send me an email toobusyreading(at)gmail(dot)com or fill out the form below.
Join active memes and read and comment on blogs with similar posts to yours.
ReplyDeleteI stop by and comment on all the blogs who participate in the meme I host. When someone comments on my blog I try to visit their blog and leave a comment. Some days I do better than others.
ReplyDeleteI find that bloggers are a bit of a mixed bag. Some are fantastic and will stop by and comment whenever you visit their blog and comment in return. Others you can visit dozens of times and get nothing. I've found that the best way to get regular comments is to find and befriend a small group of bloggers. That's the best way I've found so far. It's a difficult one to answer that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteI find it much easier to think of something to say on a discussion post than on a review post - and absolutely agree with you in terms of word verification being a big annoyance.
ReplyDeleteI made the changes you suggested. It had been a while since I had gone into my settings and checked them out. I understand people not commenting on reviews. I have more trouble understanding when I ask a question or have a giveaway and people don't comment or enter to win. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteTo kind of add to the commenting issue I think part of it has to do with a lot of us subscribe to feeds in our emails or readers, so there is no commenting feature there. Unless we really have something to add, we probably don't usually click the link to view the blog and add a comment. Though I wonder if we only read the blog by feed, does that add to the blogs viewing statistics? Probably not, just the number of subscribers statistics? I think it all has to do with being lazy. But you're right that a thoughtful post will get more comments. See, it worked I clicked and came to the page to write something ;)
ReplyDeleteI visit quite a few blogs comment every now and then. I appreciate people who return the visit and I try to be a good host and reply to all the comments I get. There's no fun in writing something only to be ignored. If they answer (on their blog or mine), chances are I will come back to check up their new posts. If they don't, chances are I will move on.
ReplyDeleteIt also depends on the blog - I write mainly book reviews and people may not have much to say if they haven't read the books I write about. I'm trying to branch out a little and approach other topics as well and maybe people will comment more on those posts. Like Agrippina said, some people find it easier to comment on a discussion post than a book review - it's all a matter of taste.