Post on 01-Dec-2014
description
3 WAYS THE PROS GET
BLOG COMMENTS (And When You Don’t Want Them)
NO BLOG COMMENTS?
IT MAY BE YOUR FAULT.
I MIGHT CONVINCE YOU THAT YOU DON’T WANT
BLOG COMMENTS.
The vast majority of visitors are “lurking”. They don’t comment, they share.
This doesn’t mean that these “lurkers” aren’t getting value from your content.
What it could mean is that you don’t have a critical mass of traffic. Russ Henneberry
Editorial Director, DigitalMarketer
Some Blogs get 100 visits per post and manage to regularly
receive thoughtful comments.
Crack open your analytics program and take a look at
the amount of traffic you are getting to your posts
on the first day you publish them.
IF YOUR POSTS ARE REGULARLY GETTING LESS THAN 300 VISITS IN THEIR
FIRST DAY OF PUBLICATIONS, YOU HAVE A TRAFFIC PROBLEM.
Why only look at the first day of traffic?
The vast majority of comments will take place in the first 24 hours your blog post is live.
Traffic
Read about our take on traffic in this post about building an unstoppable
business.
How does one blog with a small amount of traffic get more thoughtful comments than another blog with tons of traffic?
It boils down to this. Don’t be a know-it-all. At least not all the time.
When do you not want thoughtful blog comments? Or rather: when you shouldn’t expect thoughtful blog comments.
Don’t expect thoughtful comments when you publish an authority post like these: • The Ultimate Guide to Buying Penny Stocks • A Step-by-Step Guide to Setting up Google Analytics • Everything you need to know about the iPhone 6
When you don’t want thoughtful Blog comments.
When you write the end-all-be-all article on a subject-- you’ve left no room for discussion, and that’s ok.
Make no mistake, blog comments ARE NOT sales. The end goal is NOT blog comments—at least not if you want to be in business for long.
All that said, if you have enough traffic visiting on your authority post, you will get “applause comments”. You’ve seen them before:
• “WOW! Fantastic post” • “Thanks for Writing this!” Russ Henneberry
Editorial Director, DigitalMarketer
Now…Try adding these 3 Elements in your Blog Posts.
Humility 1
Incomplete Thoughts 2
Speculation 3
But first… need some blog post ideas? We have 212 that apply to any niche.
1
HUMILITY
1
Humility
Check out Marcus Sheridan’s blog post 8 People That Dramatically Impacted My Life in 2013 (notice the humility in the title itself?) Marcus, part owner of a pool company, praises people that made a difference in his life and business in 2013.
Humility
Here’s the stats on Marcus’ post just 4 hours after it was posted: • 1267 words written by Marcus in the blog post • 27 comments • 3062 words in the comments But here’s the thing, the success of business blogging for his pool company is the basis of what he teaches about marketing.
Humility
In this post on the company blog, Which is Best: Fiberglass, Concrete, or Vinyl Liner? Marcus offers his expert analysis of the best pool liner to buy based on your circumstances. This is an authority piece. His pool blog is full of authority pieces like this and he doesn’t allow comments on these post. Direct sales and leads are the goal, and these authority pieces leave little room for discussion.
INCOMPLETE THOUGHTS
2
Incomplete Thoughts
Write short posts and let your readers fill in the blanks---in the comment section. Seth Godin is a great example. He doesn’t allow comments on his blog posts but his writing style is perfect for studying this style of blogging. Here’s an example. (Yep, this is the entire post!)
Incomplete Thoughts
Seth’s posts are vehemently debated on social sites like Twitter and spark rebuttal blog posts across the web. Here’s why Seth doesn’t allow comments.
Source: http://boingboing.net/images/sethgodin2011.jpg
SPECULATION
3
Speculation
Mark Schaeffer wrote a post titled, What will be the next big thing in social media? Here are 7 clues. Notice Mark isn’t trying to be a know-it-all. He wants to lead an intelligent discussion about it.
Speculation
Here’s the stats on this post, • 665 words written by Mark Schaeffer • 40 thoughtful comments • 3834 words in comments
MIX AND MATCH
Mix and Match
You need to understand the purpose of each post you write. Is it an authority piece intended to establish me as an authority? Or is it an engagement piece intended to build a community and discussion? Both can be lucrative for your business.
QUESTIONS? Feel free to reach out to us …
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Twitter: @digitalmktr