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the mommyhood memos: want to get more comments on your blog?

Saturday, March 12, 2011

want to get more comments on your blog?

There are a number of things you can do to encourage more comments on your posts, but today I want to focus on the simplest way. The good news? It's completely within your control.


Wait for it.

Wait for it.

It really is earth-shattering...

Ok, here it is:

Turn off you comment word verification.

"What?" you ask, "how could this make a difference with the amount of comments I receive?"

Most people who visit our sites don't have all the time in the world. (I know, duh.) If you're lucky enough to have reeled in some readers, they are probably there for a quick read of your post (maybe they've popped over from their google reader) and now they want to quickly leave a comment and buzz off to the next blog or task.

I often wonder how many times I've left comments that never got published on posts because after commenting I've clicked off to my next destination without first refreshing the page to make sure it posted... only to then see the word verification pop up. {Arg!}

When you sign up to Blogger and go through the steps to set up your blog the back end suggests that turning on the word verification helps protect you from spammers, so most newbies follow those prompts. (I did when I first started - who wants to be taken over by scary spammers?!?!!) But I quickly learned how annoyed other bloggers felt about word verification and experimented with turning mine off.

I can now tell you that I've only ever received two outright spam comments in the nine months that I've been blogging. (Not including the highly irritating "Hi, follow me!" comments that people sometimes leave.) And even if it were a few more than that, it doesn't take much effort to delete any comments that I don't want. I think readers deserve the ease of commenting over my small inconvenience of having to delete a few spam comments a year.

So here's the bottom line: 
If you want to encourage more comments on your posts your first and most simple starting point is to turn off your word verification. (This is even more important if yours comes up in a pop-up window instead of imbedded into your post.)

You'll be glad that you did. More importantly, your readers will be glad that you did.

Dear friends, this is the first post of my new series called Bloggy Bits {simple tips for beginners} that I've been wanting and meaning to start for months now. My aim is to help people kick-off their small blogs well. I'm no expert, but I have learned a few things along the way that I'd have loved to have known when I was a newbie. I've got several topics lined up, but please let me know if there's something you'd like to see included in Bloggy Bits and I'll see what I can do. And now... tell me your thoughts about word verification. Does it affect your commenting on others' blogs? Do you think it might affect the commenting on your own blog?

just sharing what i've learned,





adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2011
do not reproduce without written permission

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12 Comments:

At March 12, 2011 at 11:44 PM , Blogger The Planet Pink said...

Word verification never bothered me, and still doesn't - as long as I'm on my computer. If I'm reading on my phone however, it is a big pain in the rear and I'm likely to not comment, so I definitely agree that in the big picture it's best to have it off. I turned mine off over 6 months ago and I still don't get spam (oh wait, maybe that's just because my blog isn't big enough for it to find me.... LOL).

 
At March 12, 2011 at 11:54 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

Good tips! I turned mine off and got some crazy spam so I turned it back on but I know it irritates bloggers so I turned it back off. Hope your feeling great!

 
At March 13, 2011 at 12:55 PM , Blogger JIll said...

Ok so I am giving it a try. I never thought about it so we will see how things go. Looking forward to your next tip. Thanks.

 
At March 13, 2011 at 1:05 PM , Blogger Adriel Booker said...

i find it so ironic that this post about getting more comments has only gotten three comments so far! maybe my forthright opinion has scared people off???! oh well, i stand by my guns. :)

 
At March 13, 2011 at 3:50 PM , Blogger Shawntae @ alittlekingandi said...

Soooo true!!

 
At March 13, 2011 at 4:13 PM , Blogger Getrealmommy said...

I was just saying to my mom how I just don't get why I don't get more comments! It drives me NUTS how some blogs get 101 comments for a post about a hang-nail and I could write that I was being held hostage on mars and I would get nothing. I'm willing to try your idea, thanks for the tip!

P.S. follow me...... :)

 
At March 13, 2011 at 7:03 PM , Blogger Adriel Booker said...

@rachel... ha. ha. ha. following you, ya smarty pants.

 
At March 13, 2011 at 7:21 PM , Blogger Lorraine said...

Good advice, I hate the word verification and if I 'get it wrong' once then that's it for me!!

 
At March 14, 2011 at 12:48 AM , Blogger Jessica said...

I got rid of my word verification after realizing, through reading other blogs, just how cumbersome and annoying it can be.

I look forward to this series. I've been blogging for a year now, but there is always so much to learn! I feel like I've only scratched the surface of blogging.

Hope you are enjoying (or, have enjoyed) your weekend!

 
At March 16, 2011 at 9:12 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

Thanks for posting this. I turned mine off. I actually never even realized that I had it on. I guess it doesn't ask for word verification when your commenting on your own blog.

 
At March 19, 2011 at 1:46 AM , Blogger Kaitlin Godfrey said...

I turned mine off last week and I have gotten more comments since. Not many, ha, but a few!

I look forward to reading more tips and tricks :)

 
At April 14, 2011 at 11:41 PM , Anonymous Jill@JunkyVagabond said...

I never had it turned on, but it's a good tip. Thanks for doing this series - I'm reading along and trying all the tips out!

 

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