Intentionally a little over exposed by bionicteaching is a Creative Commons image.
In recent weeks I’ve been blogging less than usual so that in the meantime I got fewer visitors and also fewer comments. In times like these I get more comments for the SEO of it than comments out of the sheer joy of commenting.
There is nothing wrong with blog commenting for SEO and exposure unless of course you do it wrong.
With the emergence of a huge SEO outsourcing industry in India most bloggers get often unintelligible comments barely scratching the surface of the issue at stake or adding any other value. Not to mention the automated comments and spam networks of “thank you, great post” bots. Commentators like these fail most of the time and comment for the sheer numbers. Dropping 100 one line comments and getting 90% of them deleted still results in ten links. This is the same calculation as the spam industry makes.
Now real SEOs and bloggers can’t rely on sheer numbers and low quality links as the 10% that get through are mostly poorly attended or dead blogs plus hugely popular blogs where there are 50 or more comments and your link is one of them.
Blog commenting for SEO and exposure is actually about more than dofollow links. In the best case scenario a comment link can make a huge difference. A proper blog comment can:
- Establish a long lasting relationship between you and the blogger
- Make the blogger add your link to the actual post as an update
- Make the blogger visit and write about your actual site
- Convince the blogger to submit your site to social media sites
- Make readers of the blog visit your site and doing some of the things mentioned above
Of course it’s not rocket science to achieve that. Most of the outstanding bloggers out there who are my virtual friends have “met” me online. Many of them first encountered me via comments or other blogging and social media activity. Some of them have linked me numerous times since then.
This is basically one of the main differences between SEO and SEO 2.0.
In SEO 2.0 relationships make you succeed not mindless following of Google’s wishes.
So how exactly do you blog commenting for SEO and exposure? First you got to forget about dofollow links. To achieve the most important goals listed above dofollow is irrelevant. Btw. even those so called dofollow links do not count much with Google. Google can spot where a link is placed. Editorial links added by the author are much more powerful for SEO than links in the comments you add yourself.
Use a real name or a memorable nick name without keywords in it. In case you want to introduce yourself as a professional you can by adding your company name or your actual profession
- John Doe of Google
- John Doe, SEO Consultant
Many private bloggers won’t accept that though so you better stick with your name. I’ve have explained blog commenting netiquette in depth here.
In order to comment successfully you have to:
- Read the post.
- Acknowledge the name of the blogger: Mine is Tad.
- Express the aspects you agree with at first.
- Refer to or mention a phrase used in the post.
- Add something useful to it. A correction, an observation, an additional resource (it can be yours!).
While I assume that it’s not a daunting task still most people don’t do that. So I present you a blueprint for proper blog commenting for SEO and exposure:
[topic of blog post] is indeed crucial for [example from your industry]. Especially when it comes to [case 1, case 2, case 3].
This line here: [citation from the blog post] made me think about [reference to something outside the blog post].
For [topic of blog post] it means you need to [your addition] in order to succeed. There is/I wrote a post about this. See it here: [link].
Sincerely, [your name]
To make it even easier I’ll give you an examply comment for this post:
Blog commenting for SEO is indeed crucial for getting a good start in the SEO industry. Especially when it comes to traffic, forging relationships with other bloggers and getting a name.
This line here: “First you got to forget about dofollow links.” made me think about how people used to obsess with meta tags and PageRank in the past.
For blog commenting it means that you need to focus on quality not quantity as well in order to succeed. I wrote a post about this. See it here:
http://seo2.0.onreact.com/seo-vs-seo-20-top-15-differences
Sincerely, Tad
Now, I’m awaiting your perfect comments! Blog commenting for SEO and exposure really works! I do it elsewhere and others do it successfully on my blog.
Related posts:
- Commenting on Dofollow-Blogs as a Link Building Strategy
- Dofollow Blog Commenting Netiquette vs a Barbecue Party
- DoFollow: Spread Link Love
- Web Success Without SEO Works: How I Entered the Top 10 for SEO Blog
- How Trust Made my Blog Triumph: 1000 Subscribers
This thing has 42 Comments
Tad – This is actually very helpful. I never put that much though into Commenting etiquette. A few simple things like these probably will go a long way.
Thanks
Chris
It is so important to actually add to the blog post by posting intelligent comments. Not only is it a poor approach to leave horrendous comments but it does not leave the best message for your business.
Hey Tad!
Blog commenting for SEO is indeed crucial for getting a good start in the SEO industry. Especially when it comes to traffic, forging relationships with other bloggers and getting a name.
This line here: “First you got to forget about dofollow links.” made me think about how people used to obsess with meta tags and PageRank in the past.
For blog commenting it means that you need to focus on quality not quantity as well in order to succeed. I wrote a post about this. See it here:
http://esseoo.com/is-google-a-semantic-search-engine-2-years-later/
Sincerely, Tad… damnit it, I mean Phill.
Tad, I certainly agree with most parts of your post. But there is one aspect which you do not value sufficiently in my opinion: When I comment on a blog post, I usually don’t just address the blogger, but also the readers / the community. Thus those formal letter parts like the salutation is not necessary or even useful at most times.
Your example reminds me more of a good blueprint for a feedback e-mail.
Good enough, though this is not a seo comment? ;-)
Tad – I recently published a post on my blog regarding commenting as well. One point I strongly agree with is using your name and nothing else. Believe me, I learned the hard way.
Fantastic! I’m so glad that someone else understands the importance of leaving great comments. Have you ever found one of those posts where the actual post is great, but the discussions that go on in the comments are even better? Those are my favorite. Sometimes, I learn more from the comments than anything else.
I do have to disagree with leaving as signature including your company name or occupation. I think it not only helps to identify with the commenter, but it often puts their statement into perspective. The other reason why I like it is that, when the comments come to my email, it’s easy to identify who is saying what. Without it, I often have to go back to the actual post to understand the conversation.
Using a URL or anchor text is a whole new story all together.
Angie Haggstrom
(this is where my role and company name usually is ;) )
Ok i admit it, i am resisting the urge to follow your suggestions, even though i do agree with them ;)
As you say, posting blog links for SEO reasons isnt rocket science, and i agree that dofollow isnt all that important anymore. I read and post because i like to read what other people think, if a link is achieved through this, all good, but it should be a consequence of the posting, not a goal of the posting.
Blog commenting for SEO is indeed crucial for getting a good start in the SEO industry. Especially when it comes to traffic, forging relationships with other bloggers and getting a name.
Hey Guys, thank you for putting my advice into practice right away. Surprisingly none of your comments is perfect yet though…
Christopher: You forgot the deep link! Also this post does not focus on the etiquette part of commenting. It’s more a how to comment for SEO.
Nick: You’re the master commenter. Also I appreciate your comments over at SEOptimise. That’s why I remembered your name and contacted you back then.
You forgot the deep link as well! ;-)
Phill: Your comment is almost perfect and I also like the post you linked to, even stumbled it, but there is no real connection between my post and yours, is it? I also have a semantic SEO post you could have commented on :-)
am: Well, you might be right. Even when criticizing me you can add a link to a page that proves me wrong for instance ;-)
Mike: Exactly Mike. Those who don’t introduce themselves can speak with my butler. His name is Akismet.
Angie: Yeah, I’m always astounded by how many people fail at commenting which is such an easy task.
The signature thing is true. Don’t dd it. I only said that you can add your company name or what you do in the name input.
mat: Yeah. btw. you rock mat. You’re my most loyal commenter by now. I guess I have to upgrade you to contributor or something :-)
SEO Workgroup: You’re lucky that your URL is an exact match of your company name otherwise Akismet would take care of you. Don’t you have a name?
Nah. Do-follows still rules.
Why waste precious time allocated for a client. Adding “interesting” value to someone else’s blog or forum – who is not willing to share PageRank? Who is so nitty-picky as to delete my post before reading – seeing that my nickname is composed of keywords?
The blogger wins (traffic), my client website loses (PR).
There are still so many forums, and quite a number of few blogs who still provide us with clean backlinks, who are not fussy about keyword-rich nickname. Wouldn’t time be better spent seeking out for them instead? One link there = 20 links elsewhere. The sharing, good-will need to go both-ways.
If as a commenter I am branded a criminal, a spammer just like the rest. So be it. I move on. Add value to another niche-blog. In exchange for a clean backlink.
Sure I post here, for fun. I can’t care less about my own website. Truly.
But if its’ a web-promo project for a client. You will find it hard to see one of my comments on a no-follow blog or forum // If I was wrong – then I suppose I wouldn’t achieve good results for my clients. But since I very often do .. and am pretty fast with that too, then … yeah – do:follows rules.
haha thanks Tad, does this mean the cheques in the post already?
WoW, A great article and helpful for me as i am a new blogger
This gotta be THE best post about the topic I`ve ever read. I guess this is the great wall between spamming random blogs and actually writing something other people can have use for. I`ve got several blogs myself, and have had the policy for years that good comments will be posted after moderation even if they contain links. If the post has good content and not ONLY links, that is. Been noticing a slight change the last couple of months when it comes to good comments; people are actually behaving, posting good comments with little or few links, and hardly any spam. =)
Well Tad, thanks for the insight. Quality links always count best! But spam will be out there for some time still! It is still good business and this will not change soon… nofollow’s are still being followed by many crawlers! I dont like spammers but just optimism will not make them dissapear.
read here http://bit.ly/u8i9D about 14 reasons why commenting is more effective than blogging.
Hi Tad,
As you said I ‘m doing it here in your post. :D
Actually I’m outsourcing SEO task, a part of the “huge SEO outsourcing industry in India”.
At first I used to leave single line comments and now I’ve learned from my mistakes.
And you have said it very clearly.
Thanks for the post.
Great Article Tad,
Many of the amateur SEOs still rely largely on blog comments to get backlinks. The -ve points are, many many webmasters still don’t know the difference between dofollow(non-nofollow) and nofollow links, some who know, don’t identify them rightly and get it all wrong when they’re actually expecting backlinks out of that time spent.
I feel there’s much more than just commenting on blogs if you’re trying for a backlink. Just to give an example, a few days back while ‘randomly’ surfing the net i came across a guestbook of a famous band where i could place my link next to my name(dofollow ofcourse), and the best thing about it was that it was PR4(quite valuable) and had no other outbound links.
Now that’s a rare, unique backlink(though irrelevant with the niche of my website) :)
You’re right Tad, you caught me :(
Hello Tad.
I agree with you that the quality links is much more better than the quantity links. Posting of the comment for SEO is an another way to increasing the traffic towards any sites.
But we should follow the above points that you mark in your post .Which tells the best way to post a comments on a Blog.
Well done….
I don’t really understand why it’s so “frowned” against by most. Even if you leave a good comment. It doesn’t take away anything from the blog itself…it doesn’t “break” anything. I can see why on if someone leaves a comment like,
“yea!…w*w.blahblah.com”
If anyones leaves comments on my blog that made sense and left a link, I wouldn’t care…doesn’t hurt me. I feel we are in this together and help each other out. Specially if it is a good place.
By the way, this comment really has no interest probably…lol…Party on Wayne!
I agree with Tad. A link is a link. The PR-whores should stop whining. You will still get traffic. Soon enough, if you make a good impression on the web, you may even get yourself a reputation as a good poster.
So the strategy is: impersonate your client, verify he doesn’t mind. Add value to blogs, use the client’s real name – and you never know: you just “may” end up with a do-follow link back to his website anyway.
Thanks Tad. I am learning to learn again. Opening up my mind a bit, here. Way too stuck on SEO 1.0 ways!
Right on Tad, Do follow links are useful indeed.
I would think more blog owners would frown upon a link that is posted in the comment itself – rather than using keywords in the name field.
That’s just my two cents.
Regardless, Tad is right – it’s about leaving a comment that has VALUE to other readers.
Great article about blog commenting. I do blog commenting a lot and really helped me gain backlinks as well as traffic.
When leaving a comment make sure it is related to the topic do it will be approved by the moderator.
Hey Tad,
Great post! “Relationships vs. following Google” and “forget about dofollow” are two really good concepts. I guess you could call it “viral linking”. It’s not so much about the link you drop in the comments (or the forum or wherever), it’s much more about how other people will react to it. If it gets picked up and starts spreading, you’ll get far more backlinks than you could build yourself. And of course, it will only get picked up if what you say is somehow relevant and interesting.
Oh, and the perfect comment template: Brilliant!
Cheers,
Shane
It is fine with me for SEO’s and marketeers to comment to my blog post as long as it is informative and related to my post.
Tad,
I am laughing as I read your post because I think that many people, including myself, jumped on that commenting bandwagon and did all the things that you should not do. Custom Google searches for dofollow blogs, spammy anchor text, etc. There is no doubt that the single most important thing is the relationship with the blog/site owner. I have found much more response and link love by just commenting on the sites that I frequent and only when I have something to say/contribute. Excellent post.
very good work tad.. really very helpfull.. thankyou
Hi Tad
A post on how to comment on posts… sounds weird but believe me, it is very useful.
I’m probably guilty of commiting all the sins of posting responses. I even used to sign the end of the comment with my name! Then I found out that it was a no no, so I stopped doing it.
If the web had comment police… they would have knocked on my door by now.
If only I’d found this post when I first got involved with Wordpress, it would have made life so much easier.
I noticed your comment under the top graphic “Intentionally a little over exposed by bionicteaching is a Creative Commons image.”
Nice touch to add a little extra to the attribution, but why not tell us what you like about the photo? I’m sure it would make the photographer feel good.
hey tad,
this is very helpful psot many of comments rejected bcause of keywords, outlines the differences very clearly. I guess I knew most of the points,
Irfan
Do follow links is greast.
job description, job descriptions
Great Post Tad!!
I just started with Blog and getting nice articles with you. I like to visit you again and again.
It is so important to actually add to the blog post by posting intelligent comments.
If you take care this than you will get more Back links from Google.
Its a great comment. Blogs helps to gain backlink traffic. A simple view of knowing what is SEO & Blog commenting all about. I hope to visit again.
First I read your post, “Dofollow Blog Commenting Netiquette vs a Barbecue Party”, and then I read this one, and I am looking forward to reading more in the group.
Just like with blog posts and website pages, I believe that it’s quality of your comments over quantity. And I believe even a large quantity of low quality links can come back to bite you in the site rankings.
I always try to share at least one insight on the post in my comment, or add to the discussion.
But sometimes, the post (and ensuing comments) cover everything I can think of at that time on the subject, so I leave a comment to say Thank you to the author, because I enjoyed learning from his post.
Thank you.
Thanks for the valuable information
I’ve been getting backlinks from blogs/commenting etc but not sure if it really works – I’ve yet to see any real results
Blog commenting is really a good way to get back links…I like this post very much as I got many good info from this post…thanks a lot.
hello,
i am agree with you if you want to get quick and quality back links blog commenting is the best way for sure.
Hi Mr. Tad,
I am also new on blog commenting and honestly this is not the way i comment blogs before. But i found your example to be more polite yet just simple enough. This will suit my personality also because i love to this in real life giving someone respect especially if they really deserved it. Also my purpose of blog commenting is to gather as much useful info as possible. I am a newbie here and honestly am willing to hear any expert’s advice/comments about my site or about web development and SEO in general. I’ve learn web the hard way because I am an Engineer first developing softwares b4 i make web designs so i dont care about blogs. But now as i venture into web i realized how important the blogs were to a website. Right now im busy taking tutorials about blog/article writing hoping to be able to create one like this someday where people can find useful topics they can read/comment for. My site is nothing special and it still has a lot of things to do, but im looking for oppurtunities to make it better suited on current trends and to be more customer friendly. If ever you happen to visit my site please say something about it(suggestions), Im willing to listen coz I know it will be useful..thanks
Sincrely, Bryan
new tool i recommend and this is not a affiliate offer is Market Samurai with this tool you can easily find sites that have high PR value and have the follow attribute. Just google “Market Samurai” try it out for free and decide if it’s worth it. It payed for itself in 14 days. happy link hunting.
One Trackback
[...] Commenting on other blogs for exposure [...]