Gain Authority With Top Commentator
By Katy | Feb 6th, 2008
Ask any blogger what their strategy is for networking and you’ll get one of two answers:
I don’t have a strategy but they’ll still go into detail of the many things that they do. Or they’ll give you their tried and true strategy of how they accomplish specific goals.
The truth is that all bloggers have a strategy to their networking, even if they don’t realize what they’re doing is a strategy.
Believing this theory, I was not surprised when I ran across Caroline Middlebrook’s blog and her post detailing her comment strategy. At the end of the post, I was surprised by the calculated moves she had for how she comments on blogs, how she finds her blogs, and how she adds to the conversation.
If you haven’t read Caroline’s comment strategy, check it out. You may not be able to implement the system that she has but you’ll certainly learn a new trick of the trade. I admit her strategy is not one that I have put in place for myself.
Actually, I’m not great at commenting on other blogs. Sure, I can respond to any comment left here but to leave a comment on another blog I really must have something to say.
Now, the question becomes, is this the best strategy to have?
Well, when you’re talking about Technorati blog rank and authority, the answer is no. 
It sounds confusing, I’m sure. But here’s what I’ve discovered.
Blogs using the top commentator plugin are helping you gain authority and better your rank at Technorati.
After reading Brian’s post on Elite by Design discussing getting links to your blog by commenting on his site, I decided to investigate.
Apparently, being the top commentator for any blog is a “blog reaction” for Technorati. When you receive a new blog reaction your rank changes and so does your authority.
So, while Brian points out the two-fold benefit of being a top commentator on his blog, I’ll point out the third. Blogs using the top commentator plugin are linking to your website which is helping out with your ranking on Technorati.
Here’s Technorati displaying the reaction to I’m Blogging That by being a top commentator on Brian’s blog:
Likewise, at the end of January the top commentator on I’m Blogging That was Sarah. So naturally, she’s got a blog reaction from I’m Blogging That:
So, what’s the point here?
Maybe, like Caroline said, having a commenting strategy is going to work out well. Seek out blogs that will help you increase your authority as well as blogs that you can contribute something to.
Your comments should add to the conversation. While it’s nice, from time to time, to leave a comment that says “Nice post, I agree… blah blah” Bloggers usually want your insight or opinion on the topic. If you have something to say, take the minute to say it.
Too many times I have passed up on commenting because of time. Now, my strategy is to make sure that when I’m reading my feed I’ve given myself the time needed to add to the conversation. In the end, that’s what bloggers want. And it’ll do you good to.
The lesson is, thanks to the top commentator plugin on a couple of blogs I regularly visit, my Technorati authority is now at 72. This is up from 65 on January 28th. And my Technorati ranking has been affected as well, now at 99,658 from 132,210 I had on January 28th.
Technorati Tags: Technorati, Authority, Technorati Rank, Top Commentator, Elite By Design, Caroline Middlebrook, Networking, Comment Strategy, Increase Technorati Rank, Increase Technorati Authority
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Thanks for the link and the post. I definitely should have pointed out in my post that a backlink would also increase technorati authority.
I’ve always felt that commenting is the best way to form networks and relationships with other bloggers. If you really have something to say, say it!
I’m glad you didn’t point it out… if you had, what would have been my grand personal discovery on Technorati after commenting on your blog? LOL
Comments are a fantastic way to network, it becomes more personal than using any “social networking” sites out there.
Another post with proof, love it! To be honest, I haven’t checked my rank in a long time. I focused on it more in the past when I was first starting out and then kind of quit it.
I’m really bad about not commenting on blogs myself, especially personal type blogs. I try to always reply to the ones I receive but I sometimes even fail there as well:(
I’m a fan of Caroline’s too but I must have missed this post. **headed over to her place**
Commenting… I’ve been attempting to get better at it. Sad thing is, I usually have something to say but am too busy trying to head to the next post that I don’t say anything. I really don’t want to do that anymore so I’m attempting to fix it.
Great post. Its refreshing to do some stumbling and find a post that talks about a unique topic instead of “10 ways to use SEO.” You shared some very useful information, and I’ll be sure to visit some of the sites you suggested to check out their “comment strategy.” Thanks again!
Just so you know Katy, I appreciate you replying to my comments! So many bloggers don’t do that. Anyways, just a thank you…and you don’t have to reply to this one;)..lol
Looks like I better turn my top commenter’s plugin back on.
I hope you’ll come back by and follow me along in my Race to Rank series.
Lori » It’s because of the lack of response that I have seen from other bloggers that I respond to every comment. I don’t ever want to be perceived as one of those bloggers that are too good to talk to anyone. You know some of those, right? And, you’re welcome.
Karen » Heck yeah, enable that sucker and send on some love! :D (Let me know if you need/want it installed when I’m upgrading your WP tonight).
Hey, look! My name is on there. *snort*
Katy is awesome when it comes to comment replying. She got me hooked on doing it on my own blogs.
I’m just curious if the top commentator plugin is anything like the built-in Top Commentator that’s in the newer version of WP? I have a Top Commentator list on my blog, but I don’t have a plugin for it. It came with my installation (downloaded and installed).
Wow. Great information. Looks like the race is on.
DR
This has to be one of the first blogging articles I have read where I actually learned something practical and useful. I really had no idea what Technorati’s authority stat really meant, I just knew I had no authority! Thanks for the lesson.
wow! So this strategy should work? Got this link from a recent discussion in blog catalog. I hope it’d work for me too and commenting here would be my first step. :) Great tip, thanks for sharing!
Beeker » I’m glad I could help. My aim has always been to be practical. I’m tired of reading articles that are seemly packed with with information but, I have no idea how to apply it.
Lex » Perhaps it could work. Everyone has something different that they feel they can do. I’m just aiming to provide a wide variety of ideas that someone can apply… not everyone. Good luck!
Thanks for the information.
It’s a nice change to be able to read something like this and actually understand it.
Just stumbled over your site today, can’t remember how I came across it though.
This site really struck me as being incredibly yummy. I love the style, really very good.
Not had chance to fully explore your offerings, but scanned your recent posts and I am very impressed with what I have read. Certainly want to read more so have signed up for email updates, Stumbled you and a few other things as well. :)
Particularly interested in this post, so have now added Top Commentator on my site, as this seems a great incentive for people to leave comments regularly.
All the best
I love commentating, I like writing, usually you can’t shut me up, waffle waffle waffle, yada yada yada.
Really good stuff.
Graham
ImJustCreative
“On: Web & Blog Ramblings from the Gutter”
Graham » I’m happy to hear you like what you see, that’s always very important to me. Thanks for the stumble, signup, and other things. Greatly appreciated and a very nice compliment indeed.
I love having comments so, I hope that you’ll continue to come back and drop notes…feel free to ramble, I’m pretty good at that as well. Let me know if I can ever be helpful. :o)
Hey,
I just found your site on stumble upon today and I have to say I really enjoy your style. it is very readable. I also wanted to let you know I appreciate your technorati article. As a blog that has recently moved rebuilding that is very difficult! thanks for the strategy!
This is super helpful. I am thrilled to have found this post and all the comments. I am just getting started but I have so much to write about. My blog is about wedding planning but I am already starting to think about how it could morph into a post wedding blog with a very different slant… am sure that will be a challenge from an SEO perspective but fun to explore just the same.
Have you ever changed the name of, or started a new blog?
Think about gaining some rank, build your PageRank and investigate keywords for your niche that you can rank high with on all the search engines (not just Google).
With setting up blogs, I have done this many times. I’m not just a blogger but a web designer as well so I’ve setup several blogs of my own and several blogs for other people. If you’re serious about SEO, rank, and monetization, you may want to consider investing in hosting and a domain name. This will give you much more visibility on the web than blending in with more blogspot blogs.
If you need help, have questions, want a design, or a good coupon code and recommendation for domain and hosting… give me a shout. I’ll be happy to help.
Good luck!
Nice post…I really never thought about the third benefit to be a top commentator. But, the moderator also have the right to cut off our websignature. And if it is happened, I think we will not get the third benefit. Do you think so?
Hmm.. you are helping my dear! :)
I am still on my hunt to increase my technocrati authority.
any strategy from anyone? the one that is real fast? :)
thanks
gary
Gary » I’m glad! I don’t think there’s a strategy to do it faster. Write some linkbait posts, smile when a splogger syndicates you, and keep working at it. I’ve been blogging for more than 2 years and my authority is still low but since seeing this, it’s quickly increasing. Keep working at it!
Thanks for sharing, I learned a lot today!!
Its really helpful for people like me who are new to this blogging world.
Mohit
Sharing Best Practices!!
Hi i wanted to tell you that i absolutely love your blog it’s full of a tonne of great stuff!! I really enjoy reading it.. it’s so good! I also have a blog which i am trying to promote it’s called “Black in the new blog”, dont ask me why.. but i would love it if you could check it out at http://www.blackinblog.com
Keep up the great work!
Kasey » Thank you for the compliment. I’ll be sure to check out your blog as well. Hope to see you around again. :o)
I found this article and lots of other things so helpful. I’m not sure if I’ve alwready commented on your blog, but thanks it’s great and the design is hot!
Thanks so much for your feedback above!!
Am having a blast with my blog and will definately look into your suggestions from 2/11!
A
Me again,
I have finally found a version of Top Commentator that works for me, have had hideous issues with this PlugIn.
It has always been one of the PI’s (Plug-Ins) at the top of my list due to the coolness of it.
As you mention, it has worked really well for Brian and also the other commentators. Last time I looked, a few days ago I was the at the top. This is a great incentive to, as you say, add to the conversation, and it’s almost like a reward if you comment regularly (assuming you leave half decent comments more than 3 words long that is).
Havn’t actually checked my Technorati stats yet, as frankly, Technorati frightens me. :0)
But am happy I have a workable version on my site, just needs some CSS love. Just the version that works lacks any customization, of any kind, so sort of stuck with default settings.
As I Mentioned before, love the ‘freshness’ factor of your site, keep coming back to it, just has this something I can’t really put my fingers on. Or maybe it’s just the colour. Whatever, it works.
Graham
ImJustBlogging
“Web & Blog Ramblings from ‘my’ Gutter”
I think you may find that you’re pleasantly surprised when your check our your Technorati stats. It’s really quite interesting to watch the fluctuation over there. And remember, those stats are interesting because Technorati tracks all blogs… even if the blogger hasn’t signed-up with them.
Thanks again, for the compliment to my design. I’m usually notorious for changing my blog’s design often. I’m always searching for the “the one.” This, by far, has been my most favorite design.
You are amazing. I’m such a noob! I tried different strategies. Finnally after a few days of work, google and Technorati know I’m alive. Thanks!
I can’t find where I saw this, but is I had never thought to use as a Name a word that I’m aiming at google serche ranks.
Congratulations on your growing Technorati authority! And good for you on getting top Google organic results for good keywords too.
My comment is about commenting. I think many bloggers have a misdirected strategy for commenting… or they don’t comment at all.
A few bloggers really add to the conversation.
I guess it various as much as the reason people blog to begin with — some like to “collect people” as in build a community… others like to “get on a soapbox”…and a third group see blogging as a “means to an end” as in sell their products/services/company.
Do you think comments fall into much the same categories? I do.
Thanks for getting my thoughts going so early on a Sunday morning!
Chris
I absolutely agree with you about the type of commentators. But it really is dependent on the very factor you mentioned: the purpose they blog for.
Everyone has different reasons for everything, especially when it comes to the opinions of blogging and comments.
Just StumbledUpon your site. Great name. You’re added to the RSS.
Muy interesante… lo que you pienso es que los que estan comentando en un blog, pero su blog no tiene nada que ver con ese blog, ese no debe ayudar con su technorati authoridad. Es mi opinion…
Rough Translation:
Very interesting… what you I think is that the ones that are commenting in a blog, but its blog has nothing to do with that blog, that should not help with its technorati authoridad. Is my opinion…
James » Regardless of niche topic, the Top Commentator plugin still works because it is a link back to the site. It’s not a blog post about someone, just a simple link.
I think the system is great that regardless of subject matter or niche, anyone can comment anywhere they please and receive special treatment from it. Just because I blog about blogging doesn’t mean that I don’t comment on blogs that have nothing to do with me.
This is one of the fabulous things about blogging, I can have more than one subject of interest. And because of that, why not share the link love with Top Commentator if I’m going to have that much to stay on your blog?
You really explained that well and thank you for the links. I agree that looking at other’s strategies, will help each of us hone our own skills. We need to tailor our strategy to out own strenths. Thanks for sharing this.
Katy - thanks for adding to Brian’s original post. Had a question about Technorati authority, though. I’m finding that when people link to a specific post on my blog, I’ll get the credit to my technorati authority rank, but if people link to the site itself, (i.e. webdiggin.com), then it doesn’t lead to an authority.
Have you found that in your experience? I’m wondering whether technorati rank only works when you link to a post, vs a page, or the site itself.
Perhaps not, because clearly your example shows how technorati rank is affected by being the top commentator and people would put in their website address as opposed to a link to a specific post when leaving a comment. Still, I’m a little puzzled. Any thoughts?
Hey Katy - Just wanted to say publicly that I received your personalized thank you note and thought it was brillant marketing. A little second tap to get us on the RSS feed. (Given that this post is about commenting, I thought I would comment as opposed to resond by email.)
Do you do that manually by hand or do you have a plug in that sends off the welcome email? If not by widget, someone should invent that!
I’m not sure about your problem with Technorati though. For example, I just checked out your “blog reactions” on Technorati and see that you are indeed getting authority for links to your main site. For example, it appears as though you’re a Top Commentator on the blog Duckeldannys. For this I found a reaction on Technorati for your site. Perhaps you’re not seeing the right place for your blog reaction?
With regard to the email you received, that’s sent out to all first time commentators. I like to encourage not only RSS subscription to the site but a community. But to answer your question, this is done with the plugin Comment Relish. If you want some good tips on WordPress plugins, you may be interested in my post Ultimate Plugins for WordPress
Hope to see you around again soon! :o)
Thanks for your valuable advise.
I don’t think a lot of bloggers realize how much hard work goes in to the promotion of their site.
Blogging is something that I do just for fun, but it would be nice to a have reader besides myself - well, I do have a couple dozen.
It seems initially that the promotion is more time consuming than the actual blogging.
Since blogging is something fun for you, the best news is that you can do it at your own pace and not feel as though you have to rush to reach any authority or compete with the big guys.
Good luck with all your efforts!
Hi Katy,
Great post however, I’ve been reading a lot about how Technorati is no longer helping much as far as traffic and and rankings on search engines like Google. So yes it may help with authority on Technorati but what will authority on Technorati do for your blog? I’ve used Technorati a few times but I would want to make sure that “authority” will mean something as far as finding new readers. Also, you are always welcome to comment on Beyond Beauty Basics regardless of what you have to say. It doesn’t have to be “important”. I too felt if I commented on someone else’s blog that I better say something good. Now it comes easy because I just let my mind talk and it all just comes out. Good luck!
Paul
Authority and rank from Technorati is used by a lot of third party sites in their mix for determining your blog’s worth for advertising. SponsoredReviews and companies similar to it come up with a rank for your blog based on many factors, Technorati included.
Thanks for the invitation to comment on Beyond Beauty Basics. Seems to me a lot of comment policies are put in place on blogs and while I don’t always agree with the policy, I do believe that comments should be personable and add to the conversation.
Katy,
I just checked out technorati. Now, I can see that your every post appear in technorati. So, my question is will this sort of counted as a backlink to your site in google, yahoo & msn search engine?
Same as MyBlogLog, they show all posts from the site, are they counted as link as well?
And, is it advisable to start utilized both site?
As far as utilizing both sites, I’d suggest it. Both sites bring me a good deal of traffic and have been worthwhile for networking.
Katy thanks for sharing this. I am learning everyday that some of the little things that are often ignored can do as much good for a new blogger than the big things that are beyond his reach. Every new blogger wants high rank, but he seeks for it ignorantly from the big bloggers. Imagine how long he will have to wait if he continue with such method. With this tip, I can easily influence my Technorati Rank with hard-work. I can assign a particular time to visit blogs that have the top commentator plugin and drop quality comments there regularly for about five days.
Thanks for sharing the tip. I sure will implement the strategy.
Also, I very much agree with your statement about new bloggers seeking ranks the wrong ways. A lot of the suggestions out there to reach ranking goals are very “black hat” and often practiced by the newbies for lack of better understanding.
Practicing newbie here. (Sometimes I feel like I’m learning, but then I’ll find a whole new blog and I realize how much I don’t know. Like Matt Cutt’s blog. Whew!)
So. What’s considered blackhat. What do you consider proper ettiquette in commenting. For example, we leave WebDiggin as our name, mainly because that’s the brand we’re pushing for our blog. (Not necessarily cause we’re trying to corner the market on the keyword, WebDiggin)
I know lots of people are branding their own name, so it makes sense for a Caroline Middlebrook to leave her own name, but I know some bloggers don’t like trying to have a conversation with a “WebDiggin”… They’d rather talk with a Mark, for example.
What’s your take on what’s blackhat?
As someone that replies to every single comment I receive, this is really huge for me.
On the flip side, I never comment with “I’m Blogging That.” That’s my blog, not me and my blog isn’t the one giving you feedback with a comment. It’s important to me that while my blog is unique I have my own brand. For that, I leave all comments as “Katy” or “Katy Castro.”
Blog commenting is one thing in social media optimization that will continue to elicit comments..:) It can be done so many ways. I appreciate that the many benefits of it was highlighted in this article…I’ve been working in web 2.0 for a while now, and it is kind of ironic that I haven’t delved into Alexa yet. Is Alexa ranking more influential than Technorati’s? You also made me think of what strategy I actually have. Something is added onto it everyday, as I surf and learn.
Katy, just to let you know that I implemented it and it is working. Yes, I am noticing an increase in the number of bloggers that drop comments on my blog. Commentators like seeing their names in the sidebar. Of course I love it too. Cheers.