Comments on Blogs

[orion_joel]

Hi All,

I know for bloggers, comments on others blogs can be a great benefit for building traffic. However i read an article in the last day or two that mentioned not offering the ability to comment on your blog can give you more credibility initially, with more tech savvy visitors who may look to the number of comments you receive as a indication to how good your blog is.

What are some of your thoughts in regards to this?

[vangogh]

The only reason I can think of for not allowing comments on a blog is if you don't want them. I can't speak for others, but it's never come across as more professional to me to have comments off. The argument about people judging your blog by its lack of comments makes sense, but turning them off doesn't really solve that problem.

Better to work toward building a community around your blog so it can generate comments.

[Marcomguy]

Not allowing comments implies one of two things: either the blogger got so many comments that it became ridiculous, or the blogger doesn't care for the opinions of the riff-raff.

Unless the blogger is a media superstar, nobody will believe the former scenario applies to him/her.

[vangogh]

That's how I'd look at it too Marcom. I understand why someone like Seth Godin has comments turned off. He'd get so many that he wouldn't be able to keep up with them. For most of us though it would likely come across as not wanting to hear the opinions of others.

I can see turning off comments on specific posts for a variety of reasons, but if you're going to turn them off on your blog it seems to me it's more an article than a blog post.

[KristineS]

I'm not fond of blogs that don't allow comments. I might still read them, but they'll be the first to go if I have to cut down my reading time. Part of the fun of reading a blog is being able to interact.

[orion_joel]

Some good points here. I think it really is a doubled edged sword with benefits and problems on both sides of the blade. The issue i see in either direction is that you either lose and gain at the same time. Without either being a clear benefit.

[vangogh]

What's the downside of having comments? Are you meaning if you allow comments and don't have a lot people might be turned away?

I don't think that's true. All blogs start out with no readers or comments. Instead of turning them off you should do what you can to get more. Ask friends to comment. Find another blogger who can also us some comments and offer an exchange where you each comment on the others blog for awhile. Do that with 2 or 3 people and you'll have a couple comments on every post and also start getting your name out there on other sites.

[bizcard]

Comments on your blog posts allows you to see what other people think whether they agree or disagree to your post. I normally look at people who disagree on my blog post and answer them as much as possible.

[Harold Mansfield]

I have comments turned off on my music blog for many reasons:

1. I post a lot of promotions and I would rather people follow the links for more information, rather than post questions. My goal is to provide information and refer traffic to the main site or affiliate link which are posted at the bottom of every post..

2. Got tired of bloggers and webmasters leaving standard "nice post, good information" comments for the backlink.

3. I would rather people interact with me on Facebook, Twitter, and My Space to build up those communities...and they do.

4. I want it to appear more like a magazine than a blog.

5. My blog doesn't inspire discussion...on posts that are more like articles, about certain people or events, like reviews....I turn the comments on.

My posts are not personal in nature and I don't exactly talk to my readers. I am trying to make it a source of information, not a blog about music, so turning off comments works for me.

On other blogs that I have, or have had, I have always left the comments on.

[vangogh]

On that particular blog it makes sense to keep the comments off then. In general I think they should be on, but there are certainly cases where turning them off makes sense. In your situation you don't want comments so why would have them on. You have other things in place to interact with your community too.

I still disagree with the idea that you should turn them off because you don't want to show how few comments you get.