One of the biggest sticking points with many new blogs is when the readers and/or subscribers don’t grow at the rate you think they should. We’ve all felt the bitter pain of logging into your Feedburner account only to see that not one of the 3 unique visitors you got yesterday had the common decency to subscribe to your blog. The audacity of some people!

One of the quickest and most rewarding ways to gain new visitors to your blog is basically by stealing someone elses! By commenting on other, more established, blogs you can massively increase your blogs visibility and you’ll be able to convert a good proportion of those visitors into subscribers.

You don’t suck, blogging is just hard

It’s not easy to create amazing content that engages, helps others and promotes further discussion in the blogosphere. If it were, we’d all be making six figures a year and globe-hopping to our hearts content. Blogging takes dedication and determination. Like Cleavage, it’s the DD of blogging!

When the traffic doesn’t start pouring in, most bloggers lose interest and go back to eating ridiculous amounts of cake (not necessarily a bad thing), watching trashy TV soaps and patting themselves on the back for at least giving this blogging lark a go.

In actuality, you can start to see some really serious results just by commenting on other blogs.

Why commenting on other blogs will skyrocket your traffic

If you don’t want to spend the time commenting on blog posts here, there and everywhere to get your name out there, I suggest you take up something less strenuous like tiddlywinks. For those serious about being a blogger, this is why commenting on other blogs will help you in your goals:

• You’ll get targeted traffic! No need to worry about keyword anchor text here. You don’t need to be an SEO ninja to realise that if you’re posting a comment on a blog that has similar topics to yours, then the people reading said blog, who subsequently click on your link in the comments, will be very interested in what you have to say on your blog. Simples.
• You gain your audience through somebody elses. Most of the blogs you’ll be reading and commenting on will be established players in your market. This means they have a hell of a lot more readers and subscribers than you (let’s face it, at this point who doesn’t?). You’ll get to tap into that reader base and a good number of them will click through. I’m always finding new blogs through comments on my favourite sites. This is the way the web works, people!
• You get your name out there. If you are commenting on all the big blogs (and the smaller ones too) then the readers will start to recognise your name and face. (Get a Gravatar if you don’t already have one) This is a good thing because you want people to associate you with this market. It’s like Coca Cola. That’s all I ever see on TV so if I’m in a shop then I’m going to buy Coke. I definitely won’t touch the cheaper Rola Cola next to it!
• You’ll meet like minded folk. During your blog commenting campaign you will be introduced to many new bloggers. All of which will have similar interests as you. This is a potential goldmine for joint ventures, guest post opportunities and collaborations on any number of great ideas you may come up with. Nobody likes to be shunned by their family for continuously talking about WordPress, Google Analytics and Clickbank conversion rates so why not find another geek to wax lyrical with?
• You’ll get more post ideas than ever before. If the blog post your reading is the awesome kick ass rock concert, then the comments are like the super cool, super exclusive after show party backstage. People discuss the content, give opinions, argue, agree, add valuable points, digress onto similar topics and generally provide an immense and ongoing conversation that evolves with every comment. I’ve had so many ideas that stemmed from a comment on a blog (this post included) and had my opinion changed by a thoughtful and well articulated response. Everyone needs to be at the backstage party!
• Improve your writing skills. The more you comment, the better you become at getting your point across. It’s terrific writing practice. You’ll learn what gets you noticed and what doesn’t. What gets you click throughs to your own blog and what doesn’t. These can then be applied to your own blog so that you write in a way that will get you more subscribers. You can also use your newly found linguistic skills to encourage more comments on your own blog to build long lasting and thought flowing discussions while also giving back to the smaller blogs who come to you for advice now that you’re a big shot.

Of course, with the power to comment on other blogs there also comes a bit of responsibility. There is a certain code of conduct that comes with blog commenting and rules of etiquette that need to be followed if you want your comment to be published, let alone get you any clicks.

How to be a successful blog commenter (without looking like a nasty, robotic spambot)

I’ll assume here that you’re a commenting virgin. A complete newbie who doesn’t know their Disqus from their CommentLuv. As I go, I’ll try to explain everything that is a bit jargon-y. I’ve come up with what I like to call the Comment Code of Conduct. Basically it’s a set of best practices to give you maximum bang for your buck when commenting on other blogs.

There are three criteria I follow and advocate for successful blog commenting:

• Etiquette
• Value
• Conversation

Let’s look into each of these a little deeper and I’ll explain the best practices for each.

Elbows off the table, it’s time for some etiquette lessons

Good commenting etiquette is absolutely essential for a successful campaign. This is the stumbling block of many a blogger because they see the comments as merely a self serving tool. The aim of commenting is not to get loads of links back to your site. Forget about SEO and anchored keywords. If you want to rock it as a commenter then the following guidelines should give you a good start:

• Don’t use keywords for your name! If you use “elaborate sex toys” as your name when posting a comment, you won’t be taken seriously. Same goes for “cheap web hosting”, “search engine optimizsation”, “cheap viagra” or any other keyword you can possible think off. If you are a legit blogger, use your name. It lets people associate you with your Twitter or Facebook profiles and gives you consistency across the web so you can build up your brand. You can use your YourName@Keywords if you’re commenting on a KeyWordLuv enabled blog if you really have to get your keyword fix (even though I still advise you not to).
• Make sure you check your speeling. Nothing screams spam like a poorly written comment. Proof read your comment before submitting it. Don’t be anal and take longer to review it than it took to type but basic spelling stuff needs to be checked. I have a spell checker built into my laptop to help me out, although for some reason no matter how many times I change it to English it still insists that the correct spelling is color and favorite! Checking your spelling is a simple task and it just makes you look more professional and like you actually know what you’re doing. Bad spelling for me puts me on a back foot before I even finish reading the comment. Don’t let the first impression the blog owner sees of you be a bad one.
• Stop with all the linking! My biggest commenting pet peeve is links. When I comment on a blog I never post a link. You have to be damn near Shakespeare level to make yourself not come across like you’re shamelessly self promoting. I think you could get away with one link in the content of the comment if it is appropriate to what you’re writing but for 99.99% of cases I think that the standard link in the comment form is enough to get the traffic you want. It’s also worth mentioning that depending on how strict the blog you comment on is on spam policing, you may not even get your post approved. You have been warned!
• Be respectful of the content author. If you disagree with a post and want to comment on it then that’s fine. You can add to the discussion with your own opinions and add value to the conversation. People will respect that and click your link. If you flame the author for writing the most worthless piece of [insert expletive here] then your comment will either never be approved, will get deleted or if the comment does somehow make it through, you’ll find that the people who do click over to your site are coming to flame you. That ebook you wanted to sell to them? Not going to happen.

That’s pretty much the basics of etiquette covered. If you can avoid those comment faux pas you’ll be in good stead for the next part, providing good value.

Giving value like your life depends on it

This should be the easy part. People always harp on about providing value when you write blog posts. Useful, applicable, quality content will find it’s way to lots of eyeballs (with a little bit of promotion). So why is it your comments on other blogs don’t follow the same ethos?

Giving value will make you stand out from the crowd of spammers, attention seekers and commenters who don’t know why they are commenting. Here are a few guidelines to follow to ensure you always give, give, give when it comes to your comments:

• Read the article! So many people comment on articles that they haven’t even fully read or understood. It’s easily visible when the comment is clearly from someone who is only there to show others that they have a site and that they’ve commented. Sometimes the comment is not even remotely close to what the post was about. And this isn’t just from spammers. I’ve seen these types of comments by real people who simple typed out their comment on autopilot just to get something published on the blog. How can you comment if you don’t understand the content or don’t really know what the post is about? Read it, understand it, and add your own slant to it in the comments.
• “Thanks for the post!” is not a valuable comment. I see plenty of comment real estate wasted by people just thanking the author for their post. By all means thank them for the post but you have to add your two cents worth as well. A “comment” by definition is a statement that expresses a personal opinion or belief or adds information. Give a thoughtful comment that adds to the discussion, offers alternative understanding or a personal experience that goes against the original article. Whatever you do, make sure that other people reading the article will be able to take what you use to learn more or continue to evolve the original content. Doesn’t that sound a lot better than a simple, “Thanks.”?
• Back up your opposing opinions. If you disagree with the post then you should be in a position to say why you disagree. It comes back to the flaming point above. Simply saying, “This post completely sucks, Ian! You know nothing about what it takes to be a successful commenter.” is not giving value to anyone. It’s not necessarily flaming, but it’s not exactly doing the discussion any favours. If you have facts you can cite, or personal opinions and experiences that have led you to believe something different, then use these to put your point across. With a little discussion, your personal beliefs may evolve and you find yourself believing something different. Maybe I do know what it takes to be a successful commenter?
• Did the post miss something? Many people comment on the article itself and use this as the basis for opinions and discussion when sometimes what is really needed is to discuss what the article didn’t cover. When I wrote How to Tip Like A Gentleman it caused a massive storm among readers who wanted me to change the article to include things I had missed. I completely skipped over whether or not people in the service industry should even get paid tips and that caused a huge debate within the 373 comments that I could never have predicted. Sometimes adding what’s missing is the best way to bring value to the conversation.

Hopefully that should be enough to get you going with providing value in your comments. You want to keep your comments in the same tone as your blog so that when they arrive on your site they know what to expect in the way your articles are written. I seem to have a unique blend of formal writing, humour (or at least an attempt at it), and a subtle undercurrent of sarcasm and disdain. Find out what works for you and stick with it.

The final piece of the Comment Code of Conduct is Discussion. It ties in nicely with Value but it needs it’s own point to really drive home the message that commenting is not a one and done strategy. If you’re trying to build a community, you need to immerse yourself in other communities as well.

Build your community through comment discussions

Many bloggers wrongly believe that once you’ve left a comment on another blog, you’re done. But that was the old you. The you that didn’t understand why using stupid keywords for your name, not worrying about spelling or punctuation, posting a million links and simply saying “thanks” will not help you to achieve your blogging goals.

The new you knows that blogging is all about community. Now I don’t have any rules for the Discussion part of the process. All I will say is that the only guideline I have is:

Continue to add value to the conversations using proper commenting etiquette.

What I mean by this is you simply need to revisit the blogs you comment on and reply to other commenters. Reply to people that comment on your input, expand on or offer opinions to comments others have made and immerse yourself in the community of that blog.

Yes, it’s not easy and it takes time. But if you want to be a successful blogger then this is what you need to do. I personally don’t find it a chore at all because I am commenting on blogs that I already subscribe to and really enjoy. I couldn’t post a comment on a blog I didn’t enjoy simply because I wouldn’t have anything to add to it. I’m wasting my time and theirs if I do that.

How do you keep up with constant conversations?

The short answer to this is, “With great difficulty!. Honestly, keeping up with all the conversations going on in your niche/market/whatever is the hardest thing about the entire process. I sometimes comment on 10, 20 or even 30 posts on any given day and then going back and commenting on replies and so on is very time consuming!

I do it for the same reason you should be doing it: connecting with other people. If I didn’t like talking to new people, making new friends, finding worthy foes or just generally talking about the things I love with others then I don’t think I could keep it up.

The best way I have found to keep up with the comments is to subscribe to the comments on the post I commented on. I do this through the email subscription option that most blogs have enabled at the bottom of the comment box. From there, I have an email filter in GMail that moves it from an inbox into the only folder I have, cleverly named “Comments”. It keeps each post in a separate email and updates the conversation with every new comment that comes in.

You can do this via RSS but I just find email easier to manage. Do whatever feels best for you but you should be subscribing in some way to make it easy to continue the discussion.

Eventually, you’ll reach a tipping point in which you start to attract new readers without the need to comment all over the web. This happens because as you build a community who are loyal to you, you’ll get some link love from blogs, retweets on your posts and your subscribers will post links to their favourite posts on Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon, Facebook etc bringing a hold bunch of new eyeballs to the party.

For right now though, as a newbie in this market, I definitely haven’t reach that point. Until that day, I’ll continue comment whoring to any blog that will have me!

Now, you may be forgiven for thinking that this is where this blog post ends. In fact, this is where it now begins. In the comments below I want each and every one of you reading this to add your voice to the conversation.

Do the guidelines I’ve given work for you? Have you had success with blog commenting and if so how did you do it? What did I miss from this post that could make life easier for a blogger looking to get attention through commenting?

Let’s make this post the definitive guide to blog commenting as a community! I really want to hear what you have to say so please take a few minutes to post a comment. I will definitely buy you a beer if you do! Promise.