Managing Your Blog Comments

Now that you’ve created a following on your growing blog, and you’ve created a content schedule to keep those followers engaged, you’re about to meet the inevitable: blog comments.

Blog Comments and SEO

Comments on your blog add content, which is great because Google indexes all of the content on your blog.  Google will, however, recognize those comments as just comments.  While the value given to comments with search engines is minimal, responding to those visitors results in a higher percentage of returning visitors.

Four type of comments

Blog commenters can be categorized in roughly 4 different types:

1. Positive Feedbackers
   These commenters are the folks that just want to tell you they like you, your company, your work, and/or your blog post.  We love having these people “on our team”.  Giving them a simple “thanks!” or little bits of gratitude can really go a long way.  Making your audience feel appreciated will keep them coming back.
    
2. The Question Askers
   Commenters that ask questions after your post.  They’re either unclear of something you’ve written, or it has triggered them to ask about you or your post.  Typically, responding to questions shouldn’t be a hard task.  If a question is a little harder to answer or could use a little further explanation, you could write a whole new blog.  But what if you don’t know the answer to the question?  It’s advisable to still reply to the comment, stating that you’d like to look into more information so that you can give a better answer.
    
3. Negative Feedbackers
   Unfortunately, there are some people who might disagree with a post you’ve written, or a product or service you provide.  And sometimes people are just plain mean.  Clearly, these comments are the hardest to handle and respond to.  If comments are hurtful or inappropriate, deleting them is your best bet.  However, deleting comments from dissatisfied customers or readers isn’t a great idea.  Deleting those comments can really backfire, especially if a customer is dissatisfied enough.  There’s no saying if they’ll complain through other channels that you have no control of.  Responding to these commenters and assessing the source of their dissatisfaction can lead to a positive outcome.  As long as you keep it police and respectful, you’ll continue to have a great following on your blog.
    
4. SPAM
   Spam is the most frustrating comment to receive.  There are people out there doing everything they can to get clicks to other links that are completely unrelated to your posting.  If a spam filter doesn’t filter those out already, you should delete them as soon as possible.

Just as you’ve taken time to create your content schedule with your blogging and content team, you need to block out time to sort through and reply to comments.  Adding it to your day to day workflow shows your audience that you’re involved and you care.

Don't Miss Part 1 - Content Planning For Growing Your Blog 

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