The lifeblood of a good blog has to be the comments left by it’s readers. Without comments a blog could be likened to a heartless, soulless zombie wandering around cyberspace looking for commentators to suck the brains from their skulls. :twisted_wp: OK, that may be a little exaggerated, but I reckon you get the gist of where I’m going.

So, we’ve established that comments are important; now we shall look at the types of comments left on blogs.


  • Spam: These are slimy icky comments left by brainless people (probably had them sucked out by zombies) in the hope that they may get some link juice. Can usually be recognized by blatant keywords in the url section and because they’re inane crap that have nothing to do with the post.
  • Ass Kissing: Akin to spam and can be recognized by smooth bullshit comments structured to appease the ego of the blogger. Unfortunately many a blogger will fall for these comments  thereby failing to delete them for the useless crap that they are.
  • Dumb Ass: There are quite a few of these and what makes them stand out is that their comments show they didn’t read the whole post. They have to be really dumb to think they won’t be found out.
  • Ranters: These can be good or bad commentators. Their appearance depend a lot on the actual post as some posts elicit when can be a very emotional response from some commentators. When you do not agree with the rant it is best to deal it diplomatically. Abusive rants should be moderated or even deleted.
  • Enhancers: Cherished by bloggers far and wide these comments improve the post by providing well constructed comments, comments that add value to the original post.

    • Whilst there are other forms of comments, these can be seen as the ones most bloggers come across. As bloggers we wish to attract good comments but unfortunately no matter how hard we try maggots infest our post and these must be eradicated before they spoil the post itself. Eradication is as easy as spamming or deleting the comment, depending on which category the slovenly comments fits in.

    The question is what can we do to invite the thought provoking, post enriching comments that we all long for?

    1. Comment Policy: This is a must as it instructs them as to the type of comments that you insist on whilst warning them how comments not adhering to the rules will be terminated. Too bad a lot of readers will not bother reading it, but those that do will appreciate it.
    2. Quality Content: If you do not provide quality content in the first place, how can you possibly expect people to leave a quality comment. You must lead the way and hopefully some will follow.
    3. Leave Room For Comment: Some posts are so comprehensive that they cover every point imaginable, and if this is the case you’ve left no room for a commentator to add to the subject of the post. Almost all that is left is “Nice Post” and we know how much everybody hates those.
    4. Encourage Comments: Sometimes people need a little encouragement. They may read a post, liked it a whole lot but just don’t know what to say. You can encourage comments by asking for an opinion or by asking for their valued input to solve a problem. I’m sure there’s an old saying that says, ‘Ask and you shall receive?’ Well that works well when blogging is concerned.
    5. Don’t Discourage Comments: Things that discourage comments include Captchas and requiring people to register before they can leave a comment.

    So, what are your thoughts on this post? Was it enough to get you to Tweet, stumble or to share it with some other of your favorite social networks? Perhaps you could even add more points, ones that I have missed? Whatever you do, don’t leave before Tweeting it. I am watching you. :tongue_wink_ee:

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