Have you ever wanted to leave a comment on a blog but didn’t do it because you had to register on the site or otherwise jump through hoops to make the comment?
We’re all in a time crunch and you’ll be more likely to increase social media engagement on your blog, if you make it quick and easy to leave a comment.
if you have a wp blog, a plugin can help and there are plenty to choose from. Here are a few suggestions.
Commentluv is popular and gets excellent reviews. It lets readers put a link to their own latest blog post at the end of their comment which can help them get more visibility for their blog and a backlink. (Do an online search for “how to find DoFollow Commentluv blogs” to get some helpful lists)
Social Login lets visitors login and leave a comment using their preferred social media network identity. It works with dozens of providers including facebook, twitter, LinkedIn even PayPal. You get the comments and the people who comment get more social juice.
I am a big fan of Michael Hyatt’s book “Platform” and enjoy reading his blog which generates hundreds of comments. He says his blog comment numbers grew significantly when he switched to Disqus which replaces the normal wordpress commenting function. It allows him to interact with readers through his email which makes it super easy to respond to comments.
There are also all kinds of variations regarding comment response tools. You can use a plugin that automatically sends a thank you to a commenter or a plugin that turns a comment into a tweet!
The important thing is engagement. As an expert, you write a blog to share ideas and increase your visibility and reach by communicating with a wider audience. You make your site a destination that readers like to return to by responding to comments and having a dialogue with the people who make comments. (Again, Michael Hyatt has some good ideas on his blog for how to do that well and still have time for your life!)
ANTI-SPAM: Be sure you have a way to manage your comments so spammers don’t overwhelm your blog. Again, you will find many choices. I am one of many bloggers who uses Akismet. It sometimes will block a legitimate comment, but you can monitor your comments and approve any good ones that inadvertently get “caught in the net.”
No matter which comment system you choose, look for simplicity and ease of use for both your readers and yourself.
A FINAL WORD OF CAUTION ABOUT PLUGINS: I often write about tools that I find interesting and useful, but less is more when you use wordpress plugins. Using too many can slow down your website, cause security issues and/or create conflicts with other plugins.
Everyone has had their own experience with plugins. You can find lots of “why I stopped using X” and “X versus Y” articles online.
Explore your options, but be careful, if like me, you're not very technical. I've used some plugins that really gummed up my site.
Ultimately, you have to decide which tools are YOUR essential tools to get the job done AND keep your site running smoothly.
More ideas for how to get and manage engagement? Please leave a comment!