Do You Get Long And Valuable Comments?

This is a guest post by Jeevan Jacob John from TechPupil.com.

One long and valuable comment is always better than 100 short and useless comments.

Comments are the life blood of a blog.  They add more value and information to the article that you write. People have always placed importance on the number of comments (rather than the quality and length of each comment). The blogging world has always talked about getting more comments (the length and value of it didn’t really matter at all).

We, bloggers have used many different techniques to get more comments for our articles (Commentluv, Keywordluv are all examples of techniques that have already been used, a hundred times). That’s why these techniques aren’t so “good” now (so, we need to improve. We need to do more to get more comments).

blog comments

In this blog post, we are going to talk about getting more (number of) valuable (and lengthier) comments from your active readers. We will also talk about the various techniques through which you can  “keep” your loyal readers.

Note: To apply these techniques, you need to maintain a list (list of new and active commentators).

Give-n-Get  NEW Comments!

Giveaways have always been popular. They help you to get more readers and comments for your blog. Run giveaways for your commentators. Reward them for their effort (yes, I know that there is nothing new in this. But, let me get to the best part). Run giveaways only for “new commentators” (In this giveaways, you can’t reward anyone who is already an active commentator at your site). Note: To run this giveaway, you need to have tracking plug-ins for your blog (IP Tracking and Comment Count).

Redirect your new commentator onto a special page (in which you tell them about the giveaway). You can do this through reply notification and thank you messages. Tell your new commentators that you reward him/her for being active on your site.

Retain Your Loyal Commentators!

Here comes the best part. Once the new commentator has been active for some time (say for a month), add him to your active commentators list. The next step in the process is to retain your loyal commentators. For your loyal commentators list, you can stop the giveaways and start “surprise” rewards.

Here is how it is going to work :-

  1. Tell your “new” loyal commentators that they are no longer “qualified” for your comment giveaways. You also need to tell them about the surprise rewards program (to ensure that the loyal commentators stay loyal).
  2. Run surprise giveaways every few months (don’t tell it your list). Run it and announce the winners (in a post or something).

Let me tell you why you should keep it as a surprise :-

You don’t need to run the contest/giveaway every month. Instead you could do it for every 2-3 months (be sure not to follow a pattern). This allows you to retain your loyal commentators, get more valuable comments and save money (you don’t need to spend on rewards, every month).

Get New Subscribers While Doing this!

Now, you can also apply the same techniques for getting new subscribers. For instance, you can run surprise giveaways for your loyal subscribers who actively participate in your list (by participating in list discussion etc.)

You can also get new subscribers by adding a twist to these techniques. You can convert your loyal commentators into loyal subscribers by telling them that the rewards are only for people who are on your list (or that you have special rewards for people who are on the list).

You can always read my article – How to awe your visitors to subscribe? to learn more techniques to get more subscribers.

Ensure The Value Of The Comments

Now, when you run comment giveaways, it is very common to get more spam. So, you need make sure that you mention quality of comments as a requirement for participating in the giveaways.

Let YOUR Comments Be Long!

As usual. If you want to get lengthy comments, you need to do so. Consider comments as Mini guest posts (you get the same benefits – saying that the site supports Commentluv and Keywordluv). Note: I thank Ryan for this idea. Write comments that are valuable and that trigger response. Ask questions in your comments. It is a good way to ensure replies.

So, Do You Get Long And Valuable Comments?

Use the techniques that I mentioned above. Just experiment with it. I can guarantee that you will get results. Also, let me know what strategies you are using to get long and valuable comments. Does your blog have a loyal commenter base? Are you trying to build one? Then the above techniques can surely help you.

I hope that you find my articles useful. Do let me know of your comments and thoughts about it. Thank you for reading! (If you don’t mind, please do share this post as I am participating in the guest blogging contest). Thanks!

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64 thoughts on “Do You Get Long And Valuable Comments?”

  1. Long comments are good because chances are that search engines might index them and the readers could also find them useful. But if the comments are very long and there are numerous comments, it could be slightly difficult for readers to follow them. Anyways, good point and idea taken!

    1. Hey Raj,

      Thank you for the awesome comment!

      Yeah, I agree with you 🙂 Too long is a bad idea. We should always stay with the appropriate length. By the way, do you get long comments (do you like to post long comments?). What is your opinion about the methods that I talked about? (to get more comments?)

      1. Giveaways is something that we have not considered till now. I guess it is a good idea but can’t comment without trying. I mostly get short comments, but on a personal blog the comments are longer and there are even debates. Long comments & replying to them are good fun over there! Especially when so many people reply to the same thread.

        1. I guess personal blogs tend to have a better relationship with the visitor (especially because the reader may be able to identify their lives with it). You should probably try (do let me know of your results with it).

          Thank you for the reply!

          1. Hi Jeevan,

            You KNOW I LOVE comments and I have been guilty of writing comments that some might consider too long. Sometimes I have to turn them into blog posts that link to the original post. 🙂

            1. Hey Gail,

              First of all, Thank you for leaving a comment! Appreciate your effort and time!

              😀 That, I consider as a good thing (I love reading long comments). But, it would be great to turn that comment itself into a new blog post 😀

              Anyways, thank you for the comment!

              1. HI Jeevan,

                If I turn a comment into a blog post I link to the original post using optimum anchor text and I leave a short comment with my reply post in CommentLuv.

                It is even better for a blogger when that happens because the get links AND my posts are usually tweeted by a couple dozen other bloggers who have strong Twitter followings.

                1. Hey Gail,

                  Thanks for replying!

                  I am glad that you could identify it with your experiences with blogging. Yes, when you help someone, you usually get it back in some form, atleast in the world of blogging.

                  Thank you for stopping by!

  2. Hi Jeevan, great tips for getting long and valuable comments. I think that when people come to my blog often the conversation flows more easily as time goes by and we get to know each other. That makes my readers feel more comfortable with leaving long comments and spending more time on the blog. When they see the CommentLuv links they tend to click on those as well.
    Thanks for the post Jeevan, good luck in the contest.

    1. Hey Ileane,

      Thank you stopping by!

      Yeah, your blog does have a different style of conversations to it. I should have emphasized the importance of relationships on the post. Yes, as your relationship with the reader gets stronger. There will be a stronger motivator (for the reader) to leave a long comment that is about the post.

      By the way, what do you think about the giveaway style? Do you think that it will serve as a good motivator for the reader? What about having a surprise giveaway?

      Thank you for the comment, Ileane! I appreciate it!

      Thanks!

  3. Jeevan Jacob, You have figure out a lot of things i was missing in my blogging.. I will surely use your mentioned techniques on my blog. See my comment going more big. But usually i dont write that much.

    I really like you said treat comments as a small blog post.

    1. Hey Manu,

      Thank you for the comment, Manu!

      I do hope that you take advantage of these techniques and get more comments than usual! Anyways, do let me know of the results of your experimentation!

      Thank you!

  4. Hello Jeevan. This is a great post on an important topic. I love the tips, especially about contests. As you know the contest bug just bit me recently and I am having great results. Another variation to your suggestion, I now answer valuable comments with valuable replies. This motivates those who want a response to post long and valuable comments.

    1. Hey Ana,

      Thank you for the comment! I appreciate it!

      Yeah, I saw your blog posts about thesis theme giveaway (and I know that you are having great results with it). That is a great tip, Ana! Yes, you have better chances of getting more valuable comments if you post valuable replies.

      Thank you for stopping by!

  5. Great Post, Jeevan. I think the best and prooven way to get more valuable comments is to always reply to our commentators. Thay way, they are encouraged and get a feel that there is a real person running the blog 🙂

  6. Long and valuable comment is like a dream these days. If you get 10 comments then only 3-4 comments may be long and nice. I get happy when do long comments or if any one ask questions or give suggestions via comment.

    1. I wouldn’t mind if the comments are long enough or not. But I would be happy to see if I get valuable comments that are adding value to the conversation.

      1. Hey Sam,

        Thank you for the comment!

        A comment doesn’t need to be long to be valuable (but the chances of a long comment being valuable is very high). By the way, what is your opinion about the giveaway technique? Would you try it out?

    2. Hey Atish,

      I am glad that you are happy about getting long comments. Yeah, since people tend to have a lot “lesser” time (because they spend a lot on social networks etc.).

      Thank you for the comment!

  7. A very interesting post that highlights an issue of the most fundamental importance for all of us. I, like many others, had always thought it was the number that was all important but you have amazed me by telling that the length is of equal, if not more, importance.

    We know that comments have dual purpose. They are important for the blogger as well as the one who comments on a blog. I just wonder if the length (of course meaningful length) carries more importance and value for the commenter as well??

    1. Hey Azam,

      Thank you for the compliment!

      Yes, when a commenter posts better comments (and even ask questions), the conversation tend to be stronger (your relationship with the commenter strengthens). It is a better deal for both parties. Both of them gets to meet a (new) person (Whom they might work with future) (Networking).

      Thank you for the comment! Appreciate it.

  8. Giveaways and contests are fine but the only real way to get valuable comments is to have an insightful post in the first place. That’s how you get people thinking, commenting and debating. Sometimes it takes a turn for the worse but that’s where regulation comes in. 🙂

    1. Hey Dany,

      Yes, I do agree with you. All of these techniques are just compliments to your “fantastic” post. These techniques are worthless, if your posts are “useless”. Thank you for the comment, Dany!

  9. With a bit of modification you could set parameters for minimum comment length and a reject comments contain certain keywords. I’m sure there are wp extensions like this as they would cut down on the war against spam.

    1. Hey Joe,

      Yeah! There are no plugins that will actually help you to monitor comment length (at least, not to my knowledge). I hope that there will a be plugin in the future.

      Anyways, thank you for the comment, Joe!

  10. Having long comments is definitely more rewarding for a blogger to see. Not to mention it is highly engaging as some times the discussions between the blogger and his commentators can go on for quite a long time. Loyal commentators of course will always be there even without contests but for getting new commentators regularly, some sort of motivation like giveaways or contests are definitely a big help.

    -Jean

    1. Hey Jean,

      Yes, long comments do help us to strengthen our relationship with the readers (it also helps us to convey the message clearly – most times). Yes, loyal commenters will be there, always. But, we also need to make sure that they stay loyal (the giveaways can be a help here).

      Anyways, thank you for the comment!

      By the way, if you were to try out the giveaway techniques, would you make any changes (to the basic structure)? (Like surprise giveaways etc.). Or would you follow the standard rules of contests?

      1. I think it is different for each blog. They each have something that works differently for them depending on the nature and preferences of the visitors for example. I generally like to test to see which approach works better, and what reaction I get out of each and then proceed to work off of those findings. Hope that helps.

        -Jean

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