Before I start, I should clarify that this article is written with authority sites in mind. It focuses on building relationships, not backlinks. If you are here looking for SEO advice, then stay tuned for my backlinking strategy, which is coming soon. Be sure to sign up to the newsletter to be updated when it is published.
A lot of you may be rather disinterested in blog commenting. After all, if you are looking to improve your site’s rankings in Google, there are better things that you could be doing. Moreover, for every blog comment you make, you probably only receive one or two direct visitors to your website from the link you leave.
So Why Bother?
I comment on many blogs. I spend a considerable amount of time doing it every week. And I don’t do it for search engine optimization purposes. Nor do I do it because I hope to achieve a heavy flow of traffic directly from the link. So why do I do it?
Because it is the easiest way of striking up a dialogue wih bloggers. Because I want to form relationships. I want to engage with people. If you have an internet marketing blog and I have commented on one or more of your articles (or have contacted you via other means), I am interested in what you have to say, I like your content, and I want to know you better. It is entirely genuine, and I have no ulterior motives.
Exposure To The Right People
When it comes to building authority sites, or really any online property that you want to hang your hat on (as opposed to straight ‘money’ sites such as affiliate and three page Adsense sites), the key to expanding your brand is exposure to the right people. Everything else follows behind that key factor – even Google rankings.
If you engage with the right people and show genuine interest in their content, they will likely reciprocate. And if they are relatively more than you in your niche, you can expect to benefit greatly from the resultant exposure.
A Recipe For Success
In conceptual terms, it is this simple – combine great content with great relationships. Consider the genuine relationship you may form with an A-list blogger over a period of a few months. In time, they will recognise that you produce great content, and will likely look to share it with their followers, without you ever even asking them to. All of a sudden, you may find yourself exposed to 10,000 newsletter readers. Those readers are loyal to the A-list blogger who is telling them that they should definitely check out your blog. This is a recipe for success that you simply cannot buy with backlinks.
Good things will come of those who aim to do nothing more than build positive relationships across the internet. I have an agenda when it comes to Leaving Work Behind – to form friendships with and help as many people as I possibly can. I do nothing in terms of search engine optimization. I do not focus on any ‘artificial’ means of building traffic (such as adding 1,000 people on Twitter in the hope that they will follow me back). My approach is what I would consider entirely organic.
A Caveat
Now I am not saying that you should take the exact same approach for your site. After all, I don’t for my niche site, Modeling For Kids. Whilst I have looked to establish relationships with modeling agencies and talent scouts to a small extent (and will look to do more so as the site’s authority grows), the majority of my efforts have been in search engine optimization. But that alone is not enough if you are looking to build a reputable brand. You need the right people to be aware of you, not just thousands of casual Google searchers.
If You Take Nothing Else From This Article…
I will leave you with what I consider to be a key piece of advice. Care less about increasing traffic – care more about nurturing relationships. The rest will follow.
Jayne says
That take-away is a doozy, Tom. Earlier this morning I was thinking about how social media advice and training is suddenly everywhere. I had just decided to start work on a web development degree with an emphasis in social media and was wondering if I’m so far behind the 8-ball that by the time I’m done the rest of the world will have moved on to the next big thing. Your post reassured me. I am all about building and nurturing relationships – that’s what gets me up in the morning. Not everyone else in my web development classes has that same motivation. Some want to be coding stars, some want to be design stars, and some want to just be employable now that they can’t make a living selling houses or brokering mortgages. You reminded me that those are all worthy goals, but without the desire to engage and relate they can only go so far. Thanks for starting my Friday off on a positive note of reaffirmation! Jayne
Tom Ewer says
Hello Jayne,
Thank you for your well thought out comments. I am so glad I was able to help you in some way – it means a lot to me.
Fads come and go (let’s not forget that even as much as I like it as a social media tool, Twitter has only been in existence for 5 years!), but the fundamentals of business relations and marketing haven’t changed for decades.
Don’t worry about everyone else in your classes – it sounds like you’re on the right track.
All the best,
Tom
Paul Gardner says
Thanks for the great post on blog commenting and why it is more important than just securing a back link and a couple of visitors to your site. The idea of exposure to the right people and the benefits that can follow is a plus for the business that is looking for good business relationships.
Tom Ewer says
I couldn’t agree more Paul 🙂
Ben Norman says
This rings so true with the experience I’ve had so far with my blog. I (like I imagine most people do) assumed that the main benefit of commenting was traffic from the link to your website. In my experience this simply isn’t the case, I’ve got the top spot on some really popular posts and they’ve converted to a tiny amount of click throughs.
However, the comments I’ve left, especially on the smaller blogs have frequently lead to regular visitors.
Tom Ewer says
Yep – I’ve lost count of the amount of times someone has commented on a post here saying something along the lines of, “I saw your comment on [insert blog name here]’s blog…”
Jen Wood says
Hi Tom,
I’m a fairly new blogger and originally started in order to increase my exposure and connections with professional people in the arts field. However somewhere along the line, I got bogged down with the pressure to get lots of hits. So it’s really good to hear your advice which has reminded me of why I set about writing my blog in the first place! Many thanks!
Tom Ewer says
No problem Jen! The quantity of traffic is overrated – the quality is far more important. It’s not a competition 🙂
Colin says
Agree 100% Tom. And its something I need to start doing. My blog is right at the start of its journey, and im not even much of a writer really, but I think I need to engage and network more as part of the growing process.
Funny im one of those people that loves reading blog comments as sometimes there is more interesting stuff in the comments than in the post itself, but never really been one for commenting myself. Just have to put myself out there.
Jitendra Vaswani says
I love blog commenting. It’s what makes blogging and blogosphere what it is. In fact, I believe that a website can’t even be called blog if the comments are disabled or not there at all.
I’ve used blog commenting successfully to get traffic to my blog, I’ve built some back links with it, I’ve enjoyed great discussions and exchanged ideas with other bloggers and readers, and I even increased my blog PageRank partly because of blog commenting.
Tom Ewer says
Congrats on your success Jitendra 🙂
Syreeta Rickman says
This is right on the spot. Blog commenting is not about getting traffic and having links. The main reason is that you become active in the blogging community. Having traffic is just a by product of being active in the blogging community.