Blogging Basics 101

How can I make a comment on a blog into traffic for my site?

You can't make a comment on one blog into traffic for your site.

However, you can become an interested part of a community and contribute to conversations in the comments sections of several blogs (also part of that community--whether it's political, parenting, gardening, etc.). The more you comment, the more visible you are. The more interesting your comments--and the more relevant they are to the topic--the more visible you are.

Other readers will begin to notice your comments at the blogs you both frequent. Soon, if your comments are relevant, respectful, and interesting, those other readers may want to click over to your site to see what else you have to say. Providing your blog is also relevant, respectful, and interesting they will stick around, maybe add you to their blog rolls, and maybe link to you in a post.

Everyone loves traffic. For bloggers, it's almost always about the comments and the traffic. We like to know that what we are doing is worthwhile and maybe even helping someone. Knowing that people are visiting our blogs and bothering to leave a comment is reinforcement that our blogs have a voice that is being heard.

Having said that, bloggers must have patience. Very few bloggers start their blogs and immediately have more than 20 people visiting and commenting on a regular basis. Building a community and becoming part of a community takes time. Sometimes it takes a long time.

Keep at it, though. Comment often and comment well. Don't poach traffic (by leaving your URL or an irrelevant link in the comment), but do entice others to want to visit your site. That means not just commenting with "Great post!" or "Wow. I can so relate." Go the extra mile and tell the blogger and readers why you think it's a great post or why it's so relatable.

When you invest your time in a community, you'll most likely be rewarded with traffic from that same community. You have to give to get.

When commenting, why do some people use a profile name and others use their real name? Does it matter which one I choose to use?

As you visit blogs and read comments, you will notice that some people appear to have an alias (e.g., chilihead) and some people appear to be using their real names (e.g., Melanie). Whichever route you choose (alias or real name or blog name), that is the name that will become associated with you. When readers see a comment from your alias or name, they will recognize you as part of a community.

There are several reasons I can think of to use an alias:

• Privacy: Some people are not comfortable putting their real names online. They prefer to have a modicum of privacy when they comment or blog.
• Too many people with the same name: For example, there are a lot of different bloggers with the name Melanie. It's hard to keep them all straight without a little help.
• Branding: Many bloggers have a brand they've developed based on their blog and/or their interests. Commenting under that brand helps others recognize them. The brand can be an alias or the name of your blog.
• Nickname: Some people use their nickname because it's easy for them to slip between online and offline.

When I started blogging four years ago, I only went by Chilihead online. I was wary of privacy issues and didn't want anyone I know to stumble on my blog and know it was me.

As I've gained readership and started writing for other blogs, I realized that Chilihead as an alias wasn't going to cut it. For one thing, many of the professional organizations I deal with prefer to have a real name for their authors and not a nickname or alias. So I shed the Chilihead persona and outed myself as Melanie. However, it became clear that Chilihead was not going to be lost completely; it is part of my mommy blog brand that I cultivated for four years.

Now I go by both names, but only comment as Chilihead. The reasons are two-fold:

1. Chilihead is part of my brand in the mommy blog world. People know me as Chilihead. When I comment as Melanie, my blog friends don't always realize it's me.
2. There are many, many bloggers named Melanie and many of them comment as Melanie. Posting comments as Chilihead allows me to separate myself from the pack and most people who know me are immediately sure it's me posting.

Using an alias when you post, whether it's a nickname or your blog name, allows you to be immediately recognizable when you post comments somewhere else. People begin to associate your alias with your brand. Using your real name can do the same thing as long as it is still unique.

Another thing that can help your recognition is a memorable avatar (the picture that represents you online--usually when you leave a comment at a Blogger blog). For instance, I use a picture of me with my Groucho glasses. People know it's me when they see those.

Do you use an alias or real name? Why? Do you have a unique avatar?

Podcast: Lurking and Commenting

This is the third installment of my blog discussion with Shannon. Today we're talking about whether lurking on a blog is rude. We're also spouting opinions on comments. You can listen to the podcast with the links below or on iTunes (you can search the iTunes podcasts for Blogging Basics 101 and you'll find us, just click on the BB101 graphic that comes up and you'll see all the podcasts). If you don't have the QuickTime Player, you may need to download it for free. Let me know if that helps you with these links. Thanks!

Version m4a:

Version mp3:

Am I supposed to respond to every comment left at my blog?

This is one of those questions that comes up a lot. The short answer is do what works best for you.

The long answer (you knew it would be so easy, right?) is that every blogger handles this differently. Some bloggers answer comments by writing their comments under the first comment. Some bloggers respond via e-mail (if you've included your e-mail in your comment). If it's a recurring question or comment, a blogger may choose to post an update to the original post. Still others choose not to respond at all.

Regardless of how you choose to respond to comments, please do not take it personally if a blogger does not respond to yours. It's true that leaving and responding to comments is a great way to become a part of the blogging community. It can also help you build your traffic; if people feel they are being heard, they will most likely continue to visit your site. However, some sites have such a high volume of comments that it's impossible to answer each comment.

Blogger recently established a box at the bottom of comment sections that you can check to get follow up comments sent to you. I don't want to read "everyone's" comments in the string, only if the author responds. Is this the way it works?

No. If you check the box to be updated (via e-mail) with new comments or responses, you will receive all comments/responses (including those posted by the author). Depending on the discussion topic, the site's traffic, etc. this may or may not inundate you with e-mail.

How do I deal with Spam comments on my WordPress blog?

Thank you to Jordan McCollum at Momma Blogga for this answer!

On WordPress.com, they automatically filter spam comments using a plugin called Akismet.  Sometimes spam comments aren't marked as such. Mark them as spam to help Akismet block comments from that bot.

On a self-hosted WordPress blog (WordPress.org), you need a WordPress.com API key to activate the Akismet plugin, which comes with WordPress.  To get the API key, register with WordPress.com.  Once you've registered, sign in and go to http://www.wordpress.com/profile to see your profile.  Your API key will be at the bottom of this page.

If Akismet isn't working for you, other spam-fighting plugins include Bad Behavior ( http://www.bad-behavior.ioerror.us/ ) and Spam Karma ( http://unknowngenius.com/blog/wordpress/spam-karma/ ).

Finally, you can use WordPress to filter comments that include specific words, marking them for moderation or as spam.  Under Options > Discussion, you can type these specific words in the Comment Moderation box to mark the comments for your moderation.  To automatically mark these comments as spam, enter the words in the Comment Blacklist box instead.  (You can retrieve "false positives," or comments that are not actually spam, from the Akismet Spam submenu under the  Comments menu.)

And yes, I get X-rated spam comments on my blog every day. For a while, I received more than fifty spam comments a day.  Akismet caught nearly all of them.  The few that it didn't catch were often flagged for moderation automatically.

Good luck.  You can't stop the spam comments from coming in, but you can make sure that the spammers attacking your site don't get what they want!

I use WordPress. Every time I try to publish a comment on a BlogSpot page, it won't allow me. I have to do it anonymously. Is this a WordPress problem and how do I fix it?

Thanks to Jordan McCollum at Momma Blogga for this answer.

I haven't heard of this specific problem before, but these are the things I would try:

Sign up for a Blogger account at Blogger.com. Some BlogSpot blogs don't allow anonymous comments; you have to sign in to Blogger to comment.  (If you have a GMail or other Google account already, you can use this same account.)  You can customize what name appears on the link, but the link will lead automatically to your Blogger.com profile.

However, if you're given an option, I actually recommend choosing the "Other" option.  You can enter whatever name and URL you choose here.  Although they have a "nofollow" tag, visitors can click on your name/link to get directly to your blog.

Blogger Blogs: Make Sure Everyone Can Post a Comment on Your Blog

It's incredibly frustrating when you are all set to leave a comment and then . . . WHAT?!? I have to be a registered user of this site? Never mind.

That scenario happens more than you realize and it may be happening at your site and you don't even know it. Please follow these directions to ensure that you allow everyone to comment on your site instead of just a few (unless you like it that way, then just ignore this post).

Blogger:

1. Go to Dashboard > Settings > Comments.
2. Beside Who Can Comment? Choose Anyone.
3. Click Save Settings.

How do I make a make a link in a comment I’m leaving on a blog?

This can be tricky because it all depends on how the blog owner has her/his site set up. Some people have their comments set to accept limited HTML, some have them set to accept no HTML, and some have them set to automatically link URLs left in the comments. I believe Blogger automatically allows limited HTML and this can’t be changed. If you are using Typepad, go to Weblogs > Configure > Feedback > Comment Formatting (choose whether you want to Allow limited HTML or use Auto-link URLs).

To leave a link in most blog comments you must manually type in the HTML required to make a link. It will look like this:

<a href=”http://www.CHANGEURL.com”>Your text to link</a>
(you’ll obviously have to change the part that says CHANGEURL)

After you submit your comment you may receive a message that says something like, “This blog does not allow HTML comments.” In that case, instead of typing the HTML, simply type the URL and it will be made into a link automatically. So instead of typing

<a href=”http://www.CHANGEURL.com”>Your text to link</a>

You’ll type

http://www.CHANGEURL.com
(again, don't forget to change the CHANGEURL part)

then submit your comment.

As an aside, I noticed when I was testing this that some of my links didn’t appear as links once the comment was posted. However, when I received the e-mail confirmation of the comment, the links were all there and clickable.

How do I change the word ‘Comments’ to a different word at the bottom of my posts? *UPDATED*

As you peruse the blogosphere you'll no doubt see many blogs (mostly Blogger blogs) that have changed the word 'Comments' under their posts to something that is less generic and is more reflective of their blog theme. You can do it too.

In Blogger:

1. Log in to your Blogger account.
2. Click on Template.
3. Click on Page Elements.
4. In the square that says Blog Posts, click Edit.
5. A new window will pop up and you can change several elements here (including the word Comments).
6. Change the word Comments to whatever you'd like it to say.
7. Click Save Changes.
8. Click the Save Template button.

If you want to get your hands dirty in the code, you can try the following instructions. However, you need to be aware that this code isn't in all Blogger templates.

1. Log in to your Blogger account.
2. Click on Template.
3. Click “Edit HTML”.
4. Find the following code in your template:

<MainOrArchivePage>
<BlogItemCommentsEnabled>
<a href="<$BlogItemPermalinkURL$>#comments">
<$BlogItemCommentCount$> comments</a>
</BlogItemCommentsEnabled>
</MainOrArchivePage>

5. Change the word comments to whatever you’d like it to be (e.g., People like me). I’ve highlighted the word you need to change below:

<MainOrArchivePage>
<BlogItemCommentsEnabled>
<a href="<$BlogItemPermalinkURL$>#comments">
<$BlogItemCommentCount$> comments</a>
</BlogItemCommentsEnabled>
</MainOrArchivePage> 

6. Click the Preview button and make sure you like the changes you’ve made.
7. If you’re happy, click the Save Template Changes button.

In Typepad: You must have the highest level of Typepad to change this option. You will need to go into your HTML and find similar code to that listed above and make the changes.

In WordPress:

(These instructions provided by Jordan at Momma Blogga.)

There is no way to change the wording of the 'Responses' section.  WordPress.org blogs ('self-hosted' blogs) offer this ability, though.