This is a guest post by John Mak. Should you wish to write in this blog, check out the guest post guidelines.
If you run a blog or an e-commerce website, then you know how difficult it can be to drive traffic back to your site. Getting your share of traffic is highly competitive, but the more people who visit your site, the more successful you will be. However, you just don’t want any old web traffic; you want highly targeted, quality visitors with a keen interest in what your website has to offer.
One of the best ways to get this type of traffic is to leave comments on other blogs in specific niches that are related to your site. You have free access to potentially thousands of new visitors that may never have found you otherwise. When you leave comments on relevant blogs, your website will be linked in the comments. If people like what you have to say, or if they’re just curious, they will click on your link to find out more about you and your site.
Also, the search engines will rank your site higher if they find a lot of other websites that backlink to yours. The more blog comments you leave, the more backlinks you create. As your site climbs up in the search engine rankings, more people will find you from doing basic keyword searches.
If you have never posted a comment on a blog before, here’s how to do it:
- Find a relevant blog with a post that you’d like to reply to
- Look for the “Comments” they are probably at the end of every blog post.
- Once you’re on the “Comments” area, scroll down to the “reply” box form
- Fill in your name, email, website address and comment in the spaces provided
- Click on “Post Comment”
Congratulations, you’ve just created a backlink! That part is simple enough, but I’d like to talk about some simple rules to follow to get the most out of this powerful method of targeted traffic generation.
The most obvious thing to pay attention to is something I’ve already touched upon, and that is to comment on blogs that are related to your site’s niche. If your blog is about investing or you’re selling an ebook about investing strategies, don’t post on gardening forums with stock market advice. People will ignore your posts, even if they’re approved by the site’s administrator. Assuming you do get some visitors this way, they will be unlikely to buy from you or become repeat visitors.
The next thing to look for is if the site is active and has lots of people commenting. You can look at the date of the posts to gauge how recent the activity is. If the last post was from 6 months ago then you should move on and find another place to post.
Once you find an active blog, you should post quality, informative comments that add to the discussion. Make sure to read what other people have written before you and reply to it. Be brief, respectful and polite. It’s ok to disagree if you do it constructively and give reasons why but avoid getting into an argument. Also, if you like what someone else said, don’t just say, “I agree” or “Great post”. Add something relevant to it.
Above all, don’t just post a sales pitch. People will see right through it and resent you for it. Let your quality comments be your sales pitch. Readers will appreciate your thoughtful commentary and click through to your website to get more information about what you have to offer.
Other blog owners will sometimes want build partnerships with you. This can take the form of a link exchange where you post each other’s blog links on a permanent “blog roll” on the sidebar of the website. Also, you can write an article for them as a “guest blogger” which they will post with a link back to your website. If you sell a product and have an affiliate program, they can send an email to their opt-in list, advertising your product. You simply pay them a portion of the sales proceeds.
I hope this article gives you a better understanding of how to drive traffic back to your website with blog commenting. If you have used this method yourself, what other tips on posting can you share with us?
Author’s Bio
John Mak publishes software reviews, web news and coupons at simply1software.com. Current promotions and discounts are GoToMyPC Promo, Mozy Discount and Raxco Promo Code.
If you like this article, you may also like:
well, with a title like that I am going to have to leave a comment aren’t I!?
The ROI on Blog commenting leaves a little to be desired later on in your blogs life, but when you are just starting it is probably the greatest way to generate traffic and brand recognition.
Just look at me. Hahah ok maybe not the best example LOL.
Great post John, thanks for sharing Lye
NB: I know EXACTLY who John Mak is… because he has commented on my blog before
Alex recently posted..Market Samurai Boot Camp. The Ultimate Training Guide – Part 1.
Hello Alex,
LOL, you’re everywhere! That “EXACTLY” scared me a little bit but I am cool cause what I am trying to do is to share my experiences with others in great blogs like Lye’s here. Thanks for commenting!
Credibility is all we need in order to succeed.
I think lots of things are depends on the quality of content if it will perfect and easy to understand for others then it will help to increase much traffic on your site. Which all things you mentioned above in this post really these are to useful for all blogger and i like some of words from that which you mentioned like that “Once you’re on the “Comments” page, scroll down to the “Leave a Reply” form”
sam recently posted..Goa Carnival Date 2011 (5th to 8th March)
Hi John,
Just to avoid confusion, I’m not the same Alex who commented above.lol Anyway, blog commenting has indeed become an online marketing strategy. While leaving backlinks is the main purpose of it, I think the networking part is also an added benefit where you get to meet other bloggers and as you have said, you may even build a good partnership with them by exchanging links.
Alex | Subsea Services recently posted..LDD wins major renewables contract in the Bay of Liverpool, UK
Hello Alex,
Glad you left a constructive comment here! I am looking forward to meet new people and participate in their blogs with my knowledge and my present experience!
Best Regards,
John
I do blog commenting for several months now to increase traffic to my site too but I don’t only comment on blogs that is relevant to mine. I comment on blogs that I also like and follow a lot, and on those with niches that i want to know more about just like yours that talk about creating traffic.
Zoe Wilkinson recently posted..Spanish Language Learning Software
Great Zoe,
I believe that searching only for a specific topic can limit you. Blogging is about a lot of things. I personally like to read posts about productivity and personal development! It creates energy and brings clarity to me. Thinking my goals and what I need to do in order to succeed.
Thank you for your time commenting here,
John
Twitter: stevescott1
John,
Very true. There are actually few ways better to drive traffic than blog commenting. The important points are what you pointed out: Quality.
The better comments you are able to leave, the more they may interest and intrigue those that see them.
The power of blog commenting is also directly proportional to how new the site is. IN other words it is THE thing to do for newer sites, and as your site grows it decreases in importance. (but is ALWAYS a factor.)
Steve recently posted..Bad Internet Marketing Advice: 19 Recommendations Ruining your Online Efforts
Hi Steve,
Nice to hear from you. I understand what you’re saying. New sites and new bloggers need to engage with popular and quality blogs just to get the credibility! Blog commenting isn’t the only way but it’s good when you can built a friendship for example from out of nowhere!
Nice to see you around,
John
Hi, John,
blog commenting is essential for bringing traffic-that is why we all do it, right? Of course, it is even better when you can build mutual confidence with the blogger. I am sort of like Zoe, here (above in the comment) – I do not comment just on sites similar to mine, but on all the sites that I find interesting or that have topics that are useful for me to learn about. I always appreciate the feedback to my comment from the blogger, and try to get involved as much as I can. As you said for yourself, commenting on just one type of blog can have its limitations.
Kristina L. recently posted..iNetVideo Coupon Code
Hi John, I would like to thank you for this particular tips of yours “If you sell a product and have an affiliate program, they can send an email to their opt-in list, advertising your product.”
I have always considered that Blog commenting is a great way to create a mutual relationship if done in right manner but never thought that way.
Thank you Daniel, nice to see you around!
Hi
john mak,
I also doing this for getting more traffic on my page.
one of my friend recommend me.
thank you for sharing your experience, i got more specific knowledge after reading your post.
Mellisa James recently posted..Photos from Brazil – International Symposium of Plastic Surgery
Hello Mellisa! I’m glad I could help you with this post. Focus only on things that gives you results and you’ll succeed in any field!
Thanks for commenting,
John
This is SO true. I just started blog commenting, and in the past 24 hours, I’ve driven about a 100 visitors to my site. My website is humor-based, so I post funny comments on other humor sites.
I can’t believe how well this is working.
Currently at 250 visitors just today. Last week I was lucky to get 20 visitors a day.
Delfin Joaquin Paris III recently posted..Two Stories About My Dad’s Dick – Part I
Comments are an important organ of blog. With out comments on a blog, it seems almost dead.
Naser recently posted..How to find royalty free images for commercial use?
Very true Naser! Comments can engage you to a community and learn a lot from other commenters too! Great to see you around.
John
John Mak recently posted..My Review of Poser 8 and Pricing Details
Proper etiquette is very important. I wouldn’t put something improper on someone else’s blog and I expect the same courtesy.
It’s one of my favorite strategies (when I get time to do so)! As a matter of fact, the reason I’m here is because you commented on my blog and I wanted to see what kind of information you have as well (great stuff that I’ll be sharing by the way!)
I love sharing! Make it a great day!
Thank you for stopping by Geoffrey!
It’s totally true, blog commenting is one way of getting more traffic and gain more exposure to your site. Blog commenting also is a great way to create a mutual relationship to other bloggers.
Mamie recently posted..Breast Actives Before And After Pictures
I will agree with you that commenting brings bloggers closer and is creating mutual relationships! It is good to know other peoples thoughts and share your experiences.
Thank you for sharing with us,
John
Comments are great for link backs, but they also give a blogger a chance to be part of a real community. That community has huge reserves of knowledge and, from my experience, is very generous about sharing it. In fact, I saw your comment on Steve Scott’s site and thought I would drop by. Will keep looking around for more good ideas!
AstroGremlin recently posted..You Don’t Know Your Best Ideas
Blog commenting is one of the most popular ways of getting back links and ranking higher on search engines. I believe that apart from finding a niche that is similar to yours you should also ensure that you make good quality comments which are relevant to the topic.
Caesar Parisi recently posted..The Bridges Real Estate is coming to Boca Raton / Delray Beach in 2012
Commenting is one of the most reliable linkbuilding strategy. But seldom of the commentators are actually writing post related comments because some send out comments automatically using some automated tools. It is very important to put relevant comments to ones blog in order to have higher rate of acceptance.
Greg recently posted..DuroStar SD1300 Snow Demon 16-Inch Electric Snow Thrower Review
The commenting on blogs is a cool strategy that has the potential to bring in unbelievable of traffic to your blog if you don’t screw it up. I always be sure to leave valuable information in your comments and stay away from including links in your comments. You don’t want the owner of the blog you are commenting on to think that you are just there to gain backlinks because if they think so they’ll not approve your comment and you would have wasted your time commenting there.
Totally agree Klavier,
I am sick to death of deleting the spam comments in my blog that akismet doesn’t pick up on. I may have to go for the paid version if it does a better job. Does anyone know if it does or not
? or are we stuck with the illiterate spammers???
Twitter: hydraulic1
Thanks for sharing this information for us and resources its really help full for me with the help of this we can improve our ranking in google and other search engine
I am sick to death of deleting the spam comments in my blog that akismet doesn’t pick up on.
jackson recently posted..Excellent Quality High PR2+ Dofollow Backlinks At Only 0.2cents per Link
Across much of Australia you now have the freedom to choose your electricity or gas suppliers. However, with a range of different electricity rates and gas rates available, making an informed choice is not easy.