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Confession: I am obsessed with research. I will spend hours poring over information to ensure that I have all the facts and angles figured out.
I also happen to be very skeptical when doing research, wondering: Who’s credible? Is what I’m reading just a ploy to convince me of something or are there others who agree?
That said, I am a huge believer in reading reviews, Googling additional information, and… checking the comments section.
A comments section can tell you a lot, which is why I want to crush the belief that blog commenting is dead.
How Users Utilize Blog Commenting
At Tribute Media, we like to do a lot of research and analyze data. This has helped us discover many things we would not have known otherwise (or wouldn’t have had proof for). That being the case, we’ve observed some interesting behaviors from the users on our website--particularly related to blog comments.
Observation #1
If there are comments on a blog post, they are VERY likely to be read by site visitors, as seen by user behaviors. In our latest review of heatmaps, we saw more than half of the users who read all the way to the bottom of a blog post would continue reading through the comments. We deduce that comments add value to the reader, and they will make the most of them if they’re available.
Observation #2
Many users will check to see if there are comments before they read the blog. Possibly checking for credibility or to get a general idea of the reactions of other blog readers.
This may be concerning to you as a business leader for a number of reasons, but it shouldn’t be.
Why You Should Allow and Encourage Blog Commenting
Some business leaders question whether blog commenting is genuine interaction, spam, or positioning. The answer is: All of the above.
What blog commenting is on your website is what you allow it to be. If you handle commenting well by filtering out spam comments (by requiring approval for posts) and encouraging genuine interaction (by ensuring appropriate team members get notifications of comments so they can respond promptly), then you place your company in a position of success when it comes to blog engagement.
Blogging opens the door for numerous ways to prove your industry thought leadership and expertise, and commenting is a part of that.
By producing quality content that encourages engagement and by allowing commenting, you have the opportunity to:
- Spur on conversations around topics that you decide are appropriate
- Show you are knowledgeable by answering additional questions
- Have follow-up conversations with leads
- Establish your credibility by allowing comments that affirm your thought leadership
Check out this example of meaningful feedback in the blog comments section of a Tribute Media blog post.
Allow blog comments to work for you!
Written by Sarah Wai
Former Content, Email, and Social Media Marketing Specialist of Tribute Media. Bachelor of Science in Digital Communication Arts and Master in Business Administration.
