15 Ways to Encourage Comments

There are so many ways that you must aim to make it easy for your readers to join the conversation on your blog to make it much more interactive.

As you allow and encourage your readers to comment, it helps you to reap lots of benefits as it increases your community and build solid relationships with your visitors.

So, here are some ways that would help you to achieve the same:

1. Remove barriers to commenting – don’t force them to sign in or leave your site.

2. Make a habit of responding to comments within 24 hours or sooner, this will continue the conversation going on your blog.

3. Write about something interesting and universal so that it appeals to everyone in your niche.

4. If you’re moderating comments, take some time to approve them as quickly as possible.

5. It’s a good practice if you’re replying to your readers comments, as it shows you care.

6. Try to install plugins that encourages comments like “Top Commentator Plugin” etc.

7. Often times, we make some mistakes in our posts, so keep in mind that you are not always right; admit it when you’re not.

8. Make sure that you’re tweeting your blog posts.

9. Be creative and somewhat controversial when writing blog posts to get maximum exposure.

10. If you’re not fully exploiting the power of social media, then from now on, make it a habit. Take advantage of social networking sites as much as you can.

11. Develop a community through your blog posts content.

12. If you’re stuck somewhere, don’t hesitate to ask experts in your niche.

13. Try to implement threaded comments functionality if you’re using WordPress powered blog.

14. Ask for input from your readers at the end of your blog posts.

15. Ask a question at the end of your posts – simply ask your readers to comment! End your post with – ‘So what are your thoughts about the topic?’

I feel that following these above perspective actually improve interactivity on your blog as this way you could connect with your readers on a more personal level.

Finally, realize that comments are not everything. You should keep on writing interesting, unique and informative posts. Visitors will eventually come to your blog and if you please them, they will definitely drop their thoughts.

I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments section, if you could share some other ways to encourage comments.