Do you want increase comments on your blog?
Having comments on your articles is very important: you can get useful tips for your blog, interact with your users and create a real community on your site. Furthermore, it will allow you to obtain great SEO advantages thanks to User Generated Content .
But first, make sure you enable comments on your WordPress blog. To do this, go to your Dashboard, navigate to Settings and change the settings in the Discussion section .
You could also choose to turn off comments on pages and leave them on only in articles.
Now that you’ve done this, let’s start looking at the strategies for increase comments on your articles one by one.
If you want to learn more about managing comments on your blog, you can also take our WordPress course , where I dedicate an entire lesson to comments.
How to increase comments on your website or blog
To increase comments, you need to ask your users to comment!
This is the most important thing: if you want increase comments on your blog, you need to ask your users to do this.
At the end of each article, include a paragraph inviting readers to share their views, experiences, and suggestions. I recommend that you customize this paragraph for each post you write, asking specific questions for the topics covered.
Do not underestimate this aspect, various studies and experts have confirmed that using “open questions” or requests will generate more comments. An example of an “open question”: “How to drive traffic to your blog?” It may seem like a trivial trick but it really works.
Monitor your comments and offer valuable responses
First, monitor your comments regularly. A popular tool for managing comments is Disqus , but I recommend that you avoid using it. Here because.
Surely it has many features, it is very simple to use and, above all, it has a great graphic aspect, like it a lot and has all the characteristics of a chat that invites you to write and comment.
So why not use Disqus? Because it slows down the site a lot. Unfortunately, page load times with Disqus are very high, so I highly recommend using the native WordPress comment feature.
If you want increase comments on your site, take advantage of this feature and do your best to give your users helpful and comprehensive answers. Often, short-word answers aren’t enough.
Here are some general rules you should follow to write replying comments to your users:
- write at least a couple of sentences
- use good grammar
- double check what you wrote
- ask questions
- always address the user by name.
When replying to comments, you show your users that you care about their opinion. Many experts recommend replying to all comments on your blog, spam aside. Cite industry bloggers and maybe let them know about your post or comment. This approach can lead to profitable collaborations and higher traffic volumes for you and your partners.
Simplify the process for leaving comments
If you want to increase the comments, you need to make the process as simple as possible. Avoid having systems on your site that require users to log in in order to leave a comment. Above all, avoid ” captchas “, tests to determine whether a user is a human or a program, they are time consuming and can be frustrating.
Allow to comment also as a guest user, using a default avatar that you can set on your WordPress site.
You could also make the comments section more original and fun by letting you insert Facebook-style reactions to your articles.
Recognize who participates the most
If you manage to create a community in your comments section, you will notice that there will be users who regularly participate in discussions.
There are various tools you can use to recognize these top commentators ; one of these, is precisely the Top Commentators Widget that will make the name of those who contribute most often to the conversations appear in the sidebar of your blog. Your users will like to see their name and leave more comments as a result.
Give space to all the opinions of your users
If you want increase comments on your blog and create a real community, you will have to welcome all the opinions of your users. Perhaps, these may not agree with what you wrote in your article or with a comment you left. However, try to welcome them in a positive and constructive way.
But be careful: this type of comments is different from those left by so-called trolls , users who often leave negative and offensive comments both towards you and towards other readers. You could then invite your readers to freely express their opinion, as long as it doesn’t involve disrespect or good manners (good old netiquette).
Conclusion
Today I showed you the fundamental strategies for managing feedback on your articles, and increase comments on your blog. Now, I really ask you to comment!
What do you think?
Do you get so many comments?