Why Getting Comments on Your Blog is Important

Most internet publishers love comments. It’s not unheard of for a writer to sit at their computer checking email every two seconds of the day (literally) in the hopes that one will appear. If you do some surfing, you’ll find a million different guides to getting more of them.

There are obvious personal reasons to look forward to a comment - it makes you feel as if you’ve finally been heard. But comments are important for other reasons, too. Let’s look at a few.

Social Proof

When surfers stumble on a website that has no comments, there’s a lack of social proof. I’ve done it a few times before and I bet you have too; you visit a site where there’s not a comment to be seen or any sign of a readership, so you go elsewhere.

People leaving comments is a sign to others that your writing is worth reading. Social proof is an incredibly interesting concept and one that all writers, marketers, business owners and freelancers should understand.

Measuring Influence

Comment counts allow you to gauge how well you’re doing at converting visitors into readers and commenters, by comparing a certain period’s worth of comments to the same period’s unique visitors.

A good average is generally considered to be one comment for every hundred visitors - if your ratio is around or above this figure, you’re converting just fine.

Creating Loyal Readers

There’s another good reason to give your readers incentive to become commenters - perhaps one that is not as frequently cited as the others. By interacting with your site and content, individuals become part of the active, instead of passive, readership. When readers step into the discussion, your brand and the experience are cemented in their minds.

For them, the simple act of leaving a comment constitutes a social interaction, whether you respond or not, thereby forming a semi-personal connection in the commenter’s mind.

There is a rare type of reader who sticks around for years, never once leaving a comment or any indication of their existence, but by and large, it’s the ones you manage to get involved that are the most likely candidates to be long-term, loyal, referring readers.

Remember What Matters

Remember, it’s not about converting one statistic into another - this is how too many marketers think about comments and new media in general. This medium is supposed to facilitate real communication and real relationships, so the first rule is to always be genuine and look after your readers.

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