Create a Comment Community
By Katy | Mar 27th, 2008
Last year when I attended Blog World Expo I signed up for a few sessions that I believed would help me become a better blogger. Not a top blogger, not an authority blogger, but just a better blogger.
The session that I was most excited about was “Creating a Community.” One of the speakers was a very well known “eMom” that I respected a great deal. As a Work at Home Mom, I wanted to hear how she created a community with her blog.
Approaching the session with my laptop open and a notepad ready to go the session began with “So, what do you want to know?”
My gut reaction was that this wasn’t good. I believe the title of the session “creating a community” said what we all wanted to know, why are you asking? Sarcastic comments flooded my head but I digress.
By the end of the session I was bored to tears and made that session my final one for the event even though I had more scheduled. I was (and still am) convinced that by the time that session ended I would become a better blogger by just doing it.
But I still wanted to know how to create a community with my blog!
The following week after Blog World Expo, I randomly decided to start a new practice here on I’m Blogging That. My plan was so simple that I did not realize the impact that it would have.
I decided to reply to my commentators.
That’s it. I didn’t change anything but started replying to comments left on my blog. Shortly there after I installed the subscribe to comments plugin and I have kept my practice.
Since starting this very basic practice here, I have read many posts that indicate that bloggers only reply to their commentators to boost their comment count. While I can see that point of view, those bloggers making that claim are missing a community around their blog.
While I have mentioned before that responding to your commentators is a good thing, I’d like to give you specific reasons why I believe it’s the best practice for all bloggers who are really looking for a blogging community.
You’re Personable
Visitors become fans by feeling as though they have a connection to the blogger themselves. Be it in the way that they write or the way they design their site, visitors need some sort of a connection to come back.
By responding to your commentators, particularly first time commentators, you’ll get them to come back. You’ll give them a reason to connect with you and will make yourself more approachable as a blogger.
It’s in our very human nature to look for connections. So after doing all of our “is this blog worthy of my time” checks, we look to connect with the one who has written the post. This is even more true when we already know the name behind the blogger because of their own blogging power house!
After someone comments on your blog for the first time they’re very likely to surf away. Bring them back with a little more love than just your response. Automate a response to thank everyone for their comments and send thank you e-mails to your first time commentators.
Conversation
We love to talk and even more than that, we love to talk about ourselves. By engaging visitors with your posts and asking questions, you’re giving them a reason to comment and talk about themselves. Once you have responded to their endearing comment about them, you’ve reached their ego to bring them back.
Nothing gets me faster on a post than giving me a reason to comment with my opinion and then compliment me with your response. Oh, I’ll be back and I’ll share more!
Allowing commentators to add more than just “great post” creates a conversation on in your blog posts.
Off Topic
Enabling your commentators to be free in their opinion (within reason, of course) means that generally the comments will go off topic. Your post will spark further ideas and questions from your commentators that will inspire you. Use these conversations as ideas for future posts on your blog. And when you do write those posts, send some link love back to the original commentator!
Generate Traffic
If you’re comment on a blog sends some traffic your way, will you back to comment on that blog? Of course you will!
When you have responded to your commentators you’ve given them a reason to come back. With out a doubt, I will check out the blog of anyone that has an open opinion on the blog posts I read. If they have so much to say within the comments of another’s post, what do they talk about on their own blog?
By replying to your commentators, you’re giving them further reason to promote themselves on your blog. Allow it! It’s not only good for you but your commentators as well.
Start Today
Look at your recent posts, what can you say to the commentators who have left you a note? And in your response, how will you include me, as a first time commentator in your conversation?
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Great post. I have also started sending an email to people who comment when I can. Initially I did started to boost my numbers, but have since realized the value of creating community. Networking especially with other bloggers is a great way to learn and to generate some traffic. Emailing another blogger/commenter does go a long way in showing that a real person has written the post and that they do appreciate you stopping by.
I have just started working extra hard to reply to posts and I can already see a difference! Definitely a great post.
I reply to my responders :) I get a conversation going at some points, and I just love it :)
I’ve got to say the off-topic conversations that go on entertain me more than anything, LOL. I love reading some of the mini conversations that can go on in the comment sections :)
Lori » Thanks! Good luck with your community building. You certainly have the means to do it and I can see it being great things for all of your blogs.
Sarah » I enjoy going off topic just because I like to watch someone’s mind spin from one idea to the next. I’ve also used it as great inspiration for many posts around here.
Killer post! Throughly agree about maintaining a community, even though that can be hard at times. Luckily my commenters tend to interact with each other, saving me a lot of work.
Love the design, btw. :)
Creating a community seems to be easier than maintaining the same community. But the rewards are great and turn your visitors into fans… very worth it.
Thank you for the compliment on my design. :o)
Great advice. Building community is great. I do put the effort into on all my blogs, but on my main one, I’m getting 35.5% direct traffic, which I believe “community” is responsible for.
People remember you name,url, and keep wanting to come back.
Great point about people remembering your name and URL. The question is though, is responding to comments enough to keep someone coming back?
Katy,
Great article. Started to go through some of your older post…. I really should have found this site much earlier. :)
Quite honestly, I’m a little surprised at your intro and I’m not sure how to respond.
One of the foundation building blocks I put in place in building the community on eMoms is making sure I ask my audience what they want to know rather than assuming that I know what they want.
Sorry you were disappointed.
Your session at Blog World last year sadly wasn’t what I expected. Mostly because instead of having a ton of information it was audience participation and a full hour of Q&A. I didn’t have questions coming into the session that I didn’t feel wouldn’t be covered by the very title of the session.
Knowing that you were going to be on that panel made me deeply interested. Your knowledge was lost with the men who sat next to you that didn’t blog and instead created blogging services. I felt like I was being sold on websites (which Blog World says they prohibit) instead of gaining actual insightful information related to the session.
I very much appreciate that you would come by and hope that I have an opportunity to hear you speak again… without the non-sense from others.
I’m very happy to see this. Not much irks me more hen to have comments that I took time to write, ignored by the blog owner….it pretty much ensures that I will not return. :)
Katy- Great post and I found it via Char @ Essential Keystrokes.
The conversation, the give and take, the added value of the community … that’s blogging to me. How great is it when a post sparks conversation and commenters add new angles to consider and other posts or sources to explore?
If someone walked up to you and started to talk to you would you just walk away and say nothing? No, you would interact with them.
Keep creating a comment community! Great resources always do.
What’s equally insulting katy is when you see the same ones commenting on other blog….their “no time” excuse is shot to hell for one thing…
Excellent point about talking to someone face to face. The thing about interacting with people on a computer is that at times, it’s easy to lose the human touch and remember that someone on the other side on the monitor. Because we’re not looking at someone’s face, we don’t give them the same respect we would should they be standing in front of us.
Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you again.
Dennis » I agree and that’s something that is commonly said from bloggers that don’t respond to comments.
I even apologised to one reader who had 4 comments in a row caught in my spam filter and I didn’t realize it for several days.
He took my apology to heart and continues to return :)