When you leave blog comments, do you have a goal in mind?
Believe it or not, blog comments are an excellent way to build relationships with key people in your field (find them on AllTop and Technorati), create positive touchpoints for your personal brand, and demonstrate your ability to synthesize information, provide insight and draw on past experiences.
Commenting on blogs demonstrates that you’re an active member of your niche, you’re passionate enough to participate in conversations related to your area of expertise, and you’re intelligent enough to add value to conversations in your space.
When commenting on blogs, here’s a checklist that will ensure you’re leaving as strong an impression as possible.
Blog comment checklist:
- Adds insight, a new idea or a relevant link to the original blog post
- Accurately and concisely answers someone’s question
- Relates to your area of expertise
- Includes your name (the one you want people to find you with when they search for you in Google)
- Includes a link to your website (boosting the Google rank of your site and leading more people there)
- Includes your tagline/position (a short phrase that describes to strangers what you do)
- Has no spelling or grammar mistakes (you usually can’t edit it later)
- Is not hyper-reactive (doesn’t make you seem emotionally unstable) and does not put anyone down (if arguing, provide counterpoints. Don’t attack individuals)
Commenting on blogs leaves a trail of “digital breadcrumbs” that people (employers, co-workers, bosses, first dates, etc.) will find when they type your name into Google. So always keep this checklist in mind. Your comments are permanent!
Blog comments, forums comments, book reviews and contributing to wiki articles are just a few ways to leave a trail of breadcrumbs online that builds a web presence worthy of remark, differentiating you from others. Strengthen your personal brand across the web, one insight at a time.
Author:
Pete Kistler is a leading Online Reputation Management expert for Generation Y, a top 5 finalist for Entrepreneur Magazine’s College Entrepreneur of 2009, one of the Top 30 Definitive Personal Branding Experts on Twitter, a widely read career development blogger, and a Judge for the 2009 Personal Brand Awards. Pete manages strategic vision for Brand‐Yourself.com, the first online reputation management platform for job applicants, named one of the Top 100 Most Innovative College Startups in the U.S.
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Here comes a big shout-out and response the great comments on this post! Thanks everyone for your thoughts and keep ‘em coming
JJ, thanks for the kind feedback.
Greg, absolutely! Feedback on your own posts is key to improving your next posts.
Mike, glad to hear that your commenting is bringing your more traffic and engagement.
Marian, FANTASTIC point. A blogger without much traffic will be much happier to get one comment from you than a popular blogger who expects dozens of comments on every post they write. It’s easier to build real relationships when you start small and engage people who you think will care the most.
Marshall, awesome! I’m so glad you’ve converted from reader to commenter
Hood Nerd, some people make a living simply being ridiculously controversial. Take Perez Hilton.
Alex, thanks for the SEO clarification. You’re right that most of the main blog platforms use no-follow tags, so traffic increases from commenting on these blogs will come directly from readers clicking your link (rather than raised search results).
Steve, YES! Disqus, BackType and a Gravatar are all KEY for commenters. Another way to track blog comments you leave is through Brand-Yourself.com, which helps you manage a whole slew of other touchpoints of your personal brand online.
Yinka, blog comments do indeed make up your “digital footprint.”
Bryan, good points. Even brief praise is a nice pat on the back for any blogger.
MySocialRelevane, two comments a day is a very solid commenting strategy. I usually go on commenting sprees then take a break for a week or so.
Nathan, you never know who will respond well to your comments – it could take a day, or a year, but you never know until you try!
Thomas, the services you mentioned (BackType and Disuqs) are vital for blog commenters.
Jo, that’s great to hear. Leave a little love and the world become a better place!
- Pete Kistler
CEO, Brand-Yourself.com