Tag Archives: reader interaction

Blog Comments For Beginners

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So you’ve created your blog and you’ve written your first posts. All you have to do now is sit back and wait for the readers to come, right? Wrong! Despite having been made famous by the movie “Field of Dreams,” the idea that you can build it and they will come just doesn’t work. This is true about any endeavor, not just blogging. People need to find out about you, and they need to get involved.

Over the next few weeks, we’re shifting focus from creating blog content to engaging readers and growing a following. As we go through this process, you’ll begin to see the unique characteristics of Web 2.0 coming to life. We’ll begin with blog comments.

What Are Blog Comments?

As we pointed out in an earlier post, as technology has changed, so has the way we communicate. I remember my summer camp days way back when. I used to send letters to friends and family to let them know that I was at camp for 3 weeks and I’d ask them to write to me. Admittedly, it was a simple ploy to get some attention as a kid–but it worked. My friends and family always sent me letters in return. Excited, I would respond immediately with a post card of my own. Before I knew it, I had a  dialogue going. Every day at mail call there was either a letter or a package waiting for me. Of course, I would always share the candy, cookies, and other goodies I received, which helped me make instant friends, a side benefit I hadn’t anticipated but that I was grateful for.

My fellow campers wanted to know how I managed to always have so much mail waiting for me. My secret was simple. I wrote as many letters as possible, and I always included a request for a response. In fact, I asked my friends and family to respond with a letter or a postcard RIGHT AWAY, AS SOON AS THEY GOT THIS!!! I can only imagine that my family thought it was adorable and my friends thought it was exciting and fun, so everyone got into it.

If I were a camper today, I’d probably be exchanging emails instead of letters, and text messages instead of postcards. Or maybe I’d keep a blog of my time at camp and I’d be asking for comments in response.

You see, your blog is like the letters I wrote from camp. This is where you share your thoughts, experiences, and insights. And the comments section of the blog is where people have a chance to respond to what you’ve written—and even share a few goodies of their own.

Another way to think of comments is to compare them to letters to an editor at a newspaper. Most comments are conversational reactions, such as “Thanks for the post, great information,” or “That’s what I think too!,” or “I never thought of that, thanks!” or “I agree with most of  what you said, but you forgot to mention xyz.” You can respond to the comments, and before you know it  your blog has gone from a static (Web 1.0) to an interactive (Web 2.0) platform capable of sustaining a conversation and growing a community.

Comments let you know that someone out there is reading your blog and benefitting from it. This is not only great motivation on an emotional level, it also shows that your content is going in the right direction and can help you make editorial decisions.

How Can My Readers Leave Comments?

The mechanics of how to leave a comment will depend on your blogging platform, your template, and your settings. But generally, at the bottom of each post, there is usually an area for comments. On TwoPointUhOh, this area looks like this:

Our template doesn’t automatically display the comments area, but readers can always navigate to it. The options for accessing the comments area are either at the top or bottom of each post. In our case, you can access comments from both the top and bottom of our posts.

The access from the top of the post is via a visual icon of a speech bubble. A number in the speech bubble indicates how many comments have already been left. If the speech bubble is empty, that means no one has commented yet. From within our blog post, click on the bubble to access the comment area for that post.

The access from the bottom of the post is via a link in the footer. In our case, the link asks readers to “leave a reply” if there are no comments yet. Or it says “3 comments,” if people have already left comments. Again, by clicking here, readers will be taken to the comments area. Your blog may work differently, but generally the links to the comments area will be found in the post’s header or footer.

How Do I Handle Negative Comments or Spam?

As soon as you open the door to participation, you take the risk of dealing with negativity or spam. You do have the option of turning off all comments to your blog, but if you do that, you’ll be missing out on the opportunity to enter a conversation with engaged readers.

Uh oh!

Fortunately, there is a solution, comment moderation. With this option, you will be asked to approve a comment before it goes live on your blog. If you choose to moderate comments, be aware that your readers want to see their comments on your blog. Try to approve  them quickly. Also, make sure that you don’t censor comments. It’s one thing to not publish spam or racist, sexist, and vulgar comments; it’s another not to publish and address a legitimate disagreement or criticism. If you accept comments, you’ll also need to learn to allow all opinions to be voiced.

How to Encourage Comments

  • Ask for Comments It worked for me in my letters from camp, and it will work for you. Throw the ball back in your readers’ court by asking: “What do you think?”, “Has this approach work for you?”, “Have you had a real life experience with this topic?”, or “Is there anything I forgot to add?”
  • Respond to Comments Just as you want proof that someone is reading your posts and responding to them, your readers want proof that you’ve seen their comments and appreciate them. Make an effort to respond to every comment in a timely fashion—preferably within hours, but certainly within the same day. This keeps your blog post active and dynamic and builds community. Set up your notifications to receive an email each time someone posts so you can respond quickly.
  • Be Grateful and Gracious In your response, thank the reader and let them know you appreciate their comment. Be sure to address something specific in their comment so they know you’ve actually read it. When people feel valued and heard, they will be more likely to want to keep interacting with you.
  • Handle Negative Comments Like A Pro If someone voices a complaint, don’t take it personally, and in this case, don’t answer right away. Take time to think about your response, and then answer in a positive and professional manner. It’s up to you to set the tone of the conversation. Remember, it’s hard to read all the nuances in written communications, so always assume the best of the person. Treat their comment as a sincere desire to communicate with you and answer respectfully and in a cool-headed manner. Of course, if readers get out of hand and the conversation devolves into a nasty argument, this is unacceptable. This kind of behavior is known as a “flame war,” and it’s your responsibility to resist fanning the flames and find a way to put them out. One option is to publish a comments policy, clearly stating what you will and will not accept on your blog.
  • Comment On Other Blogs If you want comments on your blog, then it’s only fair that you comment on the blogs you read! It will help you understand what readers feel and expect when they comment on your blog, and it’s another way to build community. We’ll talk more about this aspect next week, but for now  just keep in mind that the effects of blog commenting can go further than you imagine.

Now, Practice!

You’ve come to the end of this blog post. Here’s your opportunity to become more familiar with comments! Go ahead, leave us your thoughts. Are you excited by the conversational aspect of blog comments? Or does the whole thing leave you feeling overwhelmed and uneasy? Let us know!

3 Posts to Get Readers Talking

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To me, engaging an audience in a give-and-take exchange is much like the game of Tug of War. For those who have never played the game, Tug of War involves two opposing teams in a test of strength. Using a rope, each team tries to pull the other over a center line marked on the ground in chalk.

I know what you’re probably thinking: conversations aren’t meant to be competitive. Nobody’s trying to take the other side down. And you’re right. But I’m a competitive athlete. I’m actually editing this post on a plane as I head to Lisbon to take part in a half marathon. I enjoy competition, even if it’s only against my own best time. Competition gets my creative juices flowing and helps me set goals. And I like my analogies to have a little muscle on them, so hang in there with me as I try to find commonality between civilized conversation and dragging each other through the mud.

In Tug of War, once you get into the game, the momentum becomes so powerful that you find yourself doing your all to help the cause. Everyone is focused on the task at hand, ready to pull and to give every ounce of their energy. The rope is the common bond among all players. Everyone is in physical contact with the rope, taking information from it and responding to that information in real time. Each change of pressure on the rope elicits a response from each and every player. They react by digging in their heels, leaning back, refreshing their grip on the rope, or by groaning or laughing. It’s a conversation of sorts, even though no words are being used. Or at least no words longer than four letters. Nevertheless, the teams are “talking” to each other, engaging through the common bond of the rope.

This brings us to our discussion of unconventional posts. Much like the rope in a game of Tug-of-War, an unconventional post coaxes interaction. So far all the posts we’ve looked at generated information for readers. But the three posts we’re looking at today exist to create immediate engagement and conversation. Key to using these posts successfully is to wait until you’ve grown a small following and you feel confident moderating.

The Questions Post

If you’re having a hard time coming up with ideas, or if you have so many ideas but don’t know which ones would interest your readers most, consider a questions post. Select a subject in your niche that you’d like to explore further and ask your readers to post their most burning questions about it. It’s a great way to find out what your readers need, and it guarantees that you’ll be spending your time writing something your readers care about! You can also use questions to involve your readers in a live event that you’re attending but they’re not, such as a conference or a seminar. As an expert in your field, you have access to other professionals, and you can help open up that access to your readers by gathering their questions and asking on their behalf. Here’s a great example from the U-T San Diego that gathered reader questions for a mayoral candidate debate on education. They chose to collect questions by email, but you can ask readers to leave their questions in the comment section. (We’ll talk more about comments and how to manage them soon.)

The Survey, Poll, or Quiz Post

Surveys, polls, and quizzes are a fun and easy way to get to know your audience. Unlike a questions post that requires your taking time to answer, surveys, polls, and quizzes can give you and your readers quick insight on a certain topic. Do a survey or a poll if you want to gather information on a topic from many people and then publish or comment on the results. Opt for a quiz to help your readers learn something about themselves or test their understanding of a particular topic. Check out this useful quiz designed to help readers decide if they should start a blog.

One quick poll I recently ran on another blog was to help me select the logo for that business. Why not let your readers or clients participate in some of the more fun decisions that go into running your business? They’ll be happy to help and it will make them feel more invested in what you’re doing.

Surveys can go deeper than the simple poll described above. They might include more questions and use a variety of tools, such as ratings on a scale of one to ten, drop-down menus, or text fields where people can respond in their own words. A great tool for running surveys is Surveymonkey.com. The basic survey is free, but is limited to 10 questions and 100 responses.

The Contest Post

Just like a game of Tug of War, contests provide a playful way to connect with your audience. The key to running a good contest is to offer a good prize. The prize doesn’t have to be expensive, but it does need to provide value to your audience. For example, you might want to offer the winner a copy of your book if you’ve written one, or a free consultation or other equally valuable perk. Be sure to spell out the details, deadline, and entry rules of your contest. Make it as simple as possible for people to enter. Entries can be via a comment on your blog, or through an email, or the social networks. Here’s an excellent contest post by Darren Rowse of ProBlogger. The prize? A five-day, all-expenses-paid trip to Australia!

Next week we’ll finish our roundup of blog post types by taking a look at how you can use audio, video, presentations, and slideshares to enhance your blog.