If you are a blogger, you would have noticed most of the comments you receive are from co-bloggers. Bloggers travel around blogosphere and leave their footprints. It’s no rocket science, why bloggers love to travel breadth and width of the cyber world and make sure to comment and make their presence – The answer is simple: Most bloggers leave their footprints to show their existence and make sure they get a return visit. It’s a crowded world out here and everyone is in a mission to pick as many eyeballs as possible. It’s absolutely a normal blogger’s behavior that you, me and we indulge upon. We leave more footprints as soon as we publish a new post, it’s an open secret that we may not admit in public but understood by most bloggers.
So leaving comments is absolutely a normal blogger’s behavioral science. Having agreed upon it, let’s see if there is a commenting etiquette that would differentiate good commenter and a bad commenter. What makes a good comment? What makes an irritating comment? What is a profitable comment? (That would drive traffic to your own site)
Before, I delve further into the topic, let me clear myself on certain point. Of late, blogging has also become a social networking platform. So lots of friendly conversations happen in your comment section. I am not stressing upon this friendly conversation that you make or come across.
So here are our golden rules:
Rule number 1: Be a wise commenter and not a dumb commenter.
Let’s analyze two types of comments.
XYS says “Hi there! Nice one!
ABC says “Hi! Really appreciate the insight you have provided, I would like to add few more points to go with it …”
The above two comments are just an example but out of this two, ABC stands out to catch eyeballs. Not only he would attract the attention of the blog author but also other readers of the topic and in return harvesting more eyeballs to his own site.
Rule number 2: Don’t give an impression of a comment spammer.
You don’t have to leave comments on all the topics you bump into. Say something only if you like it. (Of course, unless you are a social networking blogger and commenting on your friend’s blog but still it makes sense to be a good commenter, even in this case)
Rule number 3: Don’t leave a comment without reading the topic.
There are many bloggers who leave a comment without even reading the full topic. Don’t do it. Read the topic. If possible, let you comment show you have read the topic (by analyzing your view on the topic or picking a point or two and briefing on it)
Rule number 4: Be honest.
One does not expect everyone to agree with whatever the blogger says. If you disagree with the author’s viewpoint, you can disagree to him or her politely. One can always agree to disagree. If you are genuine in disagreeing with topic and present your case politely, you will be surprised to see more readers turning to your own blog from there. Having said that, don’t make this a tool to drive traffic by disagreeing to whatever written just for the sake of disagreeing.
Rule number 5: Don’t scream.
Don’t scream about your own new post in comment section of a topic irrelevant to what you have written. If you have written a post that is related to the topic in the visiting blog, leave the link for it along with your comment; otherwise don’t scream about your latest topic at irrelevant places. Leave a link to your topic only if you feel it will be a value addition the topic or conversation taking place in the comment section.
Rule number 6: Be polite and nice.
Your comments are your identity. Don’t give an impression of being abusive and spew hatred. It does not help you in any ways in blogosphere. Most probably, your comments will only get deleted, if the blog is not already moderated.
Rule number 7: Write proper comments.
Not only your post needs proper spell and grammar checks but also your comments too. Don’t be casual in your comment writing. After all, comments are like your visiting cards. So you can impress upon people with your writing skills and make your presence felt. Also, it makes a good practice to cultivate your spell and grammar skills wherever you leave your trails.
Rule number 8: Use humor.
People love humor. So if you have a witty gene within you, feel free to add a humor dose in your comments at relevant context. But be careful not to offend people in the name of humor.
Rule number 9: Length of the comment.
Of course no one expects you to write 1000 words as comment. Even if you do, hardly anyone would read. But a golden rule you can follow is to stand apart: If all the comments are short, leave a long comment (needless to say non-spam ones), if all the comments are long, leave a short, crisp comment. What if all the comments are of average size? Take your call but make a sensible comment.
Rule number 10: Comments are your visiting cards.
Your comments are visiting cards you leave for other readers. It displays your identity and your link to your blog. So be wise in using it. Your comments should interest others to have a look at you. Stand out with your comments. Be a good, intelligent commenter and use your visiting card smartly.
So what you think? If you have any other golden rules to add to this list, do share it here.
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“Having said that, don’t make this a tool to drive traffic by disagreeing with whatever written just for the sake of disagreeing.”
:O
No one does that, do they?
lol …..
I wish to say that i had come across someone who commented in almost every blogpost of my friend circle with ” i don’t completely agree with this …. ” and he would say something, which i believe as his attempt to make a point.
I had another nasty experience when i had posted a topic on electronic cheating in which i tried to expose some irregularities in telecom billing i am referring to prepaid mobile connections in which you are billed for VAS services which you did not opt for and i even wanted to raise a PIL( public interest litigation) but some ass** commented as if i were posting it for comments.
Everyone have an opinion and his opinion stopped me from further moving on it.
How sweetly diplomatic you are, Rajan! Just the right person to write about commenting ettiquettes.
Hey Ambi! Nice to see you have a great sense of humour
Hey LR have u reposted this one?? I feel i’ve read this b4..
Anyway, nice observations, true to the core..
Analysing my own commenting behaviour I’ll give myself 10/10 on commenting etiquettes
Um pretty humble u c
Nopes , I have other blogging tips posted earlier, you can check it in the technology categoy. Blogging tips to avoid activity trap and how to dress up your blog
and wow ! so you are a Mr.Perfect when it comes to comment etiquettes ! Nice to know
10/10? How do we know its really so? You see,u have 2 convince us. By lets say a small test. How about commenting on all of the next hundred posts of ginger chai n let us see for ourselves your perfect score. What say Rajan?
lol …. right !!!!!!!!
lol.. sure, if the next 100 posts r worth a comment, I’ll surely b commenting
I had stumbled upon your website when i saw a comment of yours in some blogpost and i rememeber the name gingerchai it was a few months before.
I would say that there is content here, for which there is opinion to comment.
Thats a really nice post…. but some of the commenters now-a-days are just saying…
“wow… that’s a great one…. nice post dude….”
This is the standard comment…. very few read the entire post.. some reads half of post and deliver their views….
Well analysed post. You are a nice analyst. This is well shown in your comments. You are very true. I value few comments in my post very much and you are one among them.
a very detailed post I must say…
but most of the point are seldom followed in the blogosphere…
most of the readers just give a nice comment without even reading the post..
@ Shankar , RSV,
Thanks guys ! Yes , unfortunately we have many who have a standard comment to copy paste everywhere without reading or half reading the post …
@ Bharathi
Thanks buddy ! That was a huge compliment !
Even though I have a short memory, I will try to remember this points, next time I comment.
By the way, your comments really improved the quality of our blog.
NICE ANALYSIS REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR POST, I THINK I MIGHT LINK THIS POST TO EVERY OF MY BLOG POST SO THAT PPL WILL GIVE SOME MEANINGFUL AND GOOD COMMENTS ON OUR BLOG..!!
With utmost satisfaction, i would like to inform you that this post of yours has been selected as a suiting piece to honor my newly installed wall of fame.(http://rsvwalloffame.blogspot.com)
So, I would like you to take out some of your precious time and gimme a small writeup introducing this post in about 40-50 words to mail address:rahul938@gmail.com
I would also appreciate it if you could nominate some more posts(including yours) which can be pinned up on my wall.
yours truly
RSV
@ Pramathesh
Thanks mate , I am glad that my comments helped you a bit
@ Rohit
Thanks mate, hope your readers get benefited and provide you insightful comments
@ RSV
Thanks again , It’s an wonderful gesture ! Sure will mail you !
Damn cool tips! And so very relevant and apt!
Rules No. 3 & 4…should be the religion of every blogger!!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Lakshmi Rajan, Lakshmi Rajan. Lakshmi Rajan said: Commenting etiquettes for bloggers http://bit.ly/3DqrPV [...]
Here through Tangy Tuesdays.
I like the idea of our comments being like our visiting cards and foot prints in the blogosphere!! I have often followed interesting comments to reach some very interesting blogs! In fact, I feel, in many ways we learn more about a blogger through their comments than even through their posts!
And being honest is important too, so long as one is polite.
You have said it all and so did the others….what more to add,
hope you had a wonderful diwali Mr R:)))
Hey as bharathi said you are a very good analyst! Even I could see the routine,’Wow, amazing write up!’
You wrote really well and congo for blogadda pick!
Hi Shilpa, Indian homemaker, Pins n Ashes, Shruti,
Thanks for stopping by and appreciating the post !
Hey Mr R,
Nice! You have quite a nice set of pointers here.
What with these and previous ones, and others I am sure you will write in future, you could seriously consider a “Tips’N'Trikz” heading in your menu!
Thanks sir for the suggestion ! I will definitely incorporate it in future once I come up with few more posts on tips n tricks !
Laxmi Rajan hi,
i read your post on activity-trap,dressing up the blog and the importance of name including this one,i must say that each of the post is a great help for a new blogger like me(6 months today).A lot of time is invested in a post so it does deserves a fair attention from visitor likewise when someone visits us we need to deliver something good so that their time is not wasted .As a new comer i was lucky to have some very good friends who encouraged and motivated me a lot even if my post were just so-so.Thanks to those well meaning and motivating comments i am still learning a lot every day.I will keep your tips in my mind always.Looking forward for more on blogging tips.Thanks.
Very informative article indeed. When I compared my habits of leaving comments, I discoverd I do lot of stupid things. Thanks Mr Rajan for bringing this topic. It’s helpful and perhaps I will be able to improve my foot prints in future!
Hey Nice Tips …
Do I leave it at that and break the Rule No 1 itself
I think I can’t … coz I have read through the entire post
and for Rule No. 7 I thank my browser it does the spell check on anything I type
Came here thru blogadda..good tips, but i have seen that slowly slowly blogworld is taking all the qualities of real world..some people are very diplomatic, some are completely fake and so on…the inner personality always comes out ultimately..so I always say..be what you are.dont pretend anything.
[...] Understand as a commenter: Opinions differ. You cannot expect everyone to agree with you. One can always agree to disagree. So understand all the varied, diversified comments you may get for your posts. Understand and respect the other’s view of point. Listen to them, people will listen to you too. Refer: commenting etiquettes for bloggers [...]
“You cannot expect everyone to agree with you. One can always agree to disagree ”
But disagreement should be something which the blogger can tolerate.
A blogger should certainly be open to criticisms.
but that doesn’t mean a blogger should be open to slander.
Hi Laxmi Rajan,
Good to be here again i am here via one of your earlier post. “What is in a Name” that prompted me to visit again thus I am here. I am so glad to note that your posts are really worth reading and a blogger/writer like me can emulate much from it.
Indeed these are golden rules for a blogger. some bloggers i noticed never respond to any comments and they never write or post any comments to any other posts, that is really embarrassing. I comment regularly especially the one who responds to my posts. I follow some of the rules but many i missed, now I feel that my search ends here on this issue and i learned much from this post and would like to put into practice in my comments.
I liked your rule #1 and rule # 10 very much
Yes: “Be a wise commenter and not a dumb commenter” and ha, # 10. “Comments are your visiting cards” This is really a new thought to me.
Thanks a lot Rajan for the thought provoking and very useful rules.
Keep inform
Best regards
Philip