COMMENTS
Sorry to hear that posting comments does not improve your rankings but I beg to differ. Somehow, my comments have been crawled and noticed and has given me recognition by the search engines. So, here I am, posting again :-)! Ask, and you shall receive, that's "The Secret" lol... And if you are looking to buy a mobile home (or any other home), please contact me. Remember, ask...
Hey Pete,
I was under the impression that pingbacks or trackbacks didn't do the nofollow coding... I've been doing pingbacks when I write about someone else's blogs. Is this helpful for SEO purposes, or just good etiquette for bloggers?
Nick
Great question, Nick. I'm going to defer to someone else on this. I haven't used trackbacks in awhile. I don't see anything wrong with them. I also think most bloggers are monitoring their inbound links and "name mentions", so it may not be necessary. An easy way to check whether you're getting credit, is to do "view source" and find the link in the code and see if it says rel=nofollow.
Pete,
From an SEO link building perspective I completely agree with you, but I don't think leaving comments have lost complete value. For example leaving a good comment on a post that adds to the conversation can be a great way to gain natural traffic. Example: me leaving this comment right now could cause someone to think well I can see where this guy is coming from I wonder what else he has to say and click on my name to go read some of my blog.
Now if you are a true thought leader then this can be a great way to drive traffic to a site which is more likely to convert. Also regularly posting quality comments around blogs in your industry helps you to stand out. Ultimately I would pair leaving comments along with the rest of social networking as a relationship and trust building experience. If your leaving a comment simply to build your link pool stay away, but if you are doing it to build a relationship with the author and readers (exactly what comments are intended for) then keep commenting and the rest will come out in the wash.
I wrote an article about Commenting in my niche, Higher Education Marketing, a while back that could be translated over to any industry. It takes a look at some things for both authors and readers if anyone wants to explore a little more.
http://doteduguru.com/id163-join-the-conversation-leave-a-comment.html
You know, I was just heading to the shower and thought, 'hey, I'll just go to Blogspot and read their blog 1st!', which is something I have never ever done, and this is the 1st thing I read here....
I still can't stop laughing. I loved this post! I don't even care if you're right or you're wrong (you're probly both), I love you're style.
How I wish I sold viagra, or had an answer to credit woes, or one of the other endless pieces of spam comments I delete every day.
No, I don't filter any of them. Not even Akismet. I dunno why...One of these days maybe I'll do a post on them. Did that with email scams and it's turning into an ebook this summer, whoda thunkit?
* HUB spot
(told ya I was new here! ;)
Forgive me but Pete's comment wasn't up there when I started.
I agree, and that's why I said you're both right and wrong about the value of comment links. Wordout has been mentioned in several more popular blogs and sites because of comments I made on a 3rd blog. Plus, look at everything you learn by engaging in the conversations... IMHO the value is incalculable.
"Link, I am your father!..."
To me, the article is not saying that comment links have no value or even to stop leaving comments. It just suggests that we use our real names instead of a spammy looking keyword.
@Nick Inglis Most comment links, trackbacks and pingbacks I have seen are 'nofollow'. It just depends on the blog.
If anyone is uncomfortable with 'View Source' to check for nofollow, I use the 'SEO for Firefox' plugin. The plugin allows Firefox to highlight all 'nofollow' links in red at the click of a button.
@Jon If you get a lot of spam comments, definitely get Akismet, it is a miracle plugin.
Great article Peter, what do you think about blog comments with a keyword targeted signature at the bottom? Kinda like this:
All the best,
Daryl Auclair
Modular Buildings
Thanks for the nice article. Please visit my "Smartest Marketing Guy Ever" website to buy the world's greatest marketing tools and software ever!!!
(This comment is a joke. And the fact that I need to clarify that for some people is pathetic.)
I'm glad everyone's getting a kick out of this post.
@Darryl eg Link Builder II, I'm not a big fan of leaving links in comments. That's why someone's name is hyperlinked to their site.
@all. I agree: everyone should read and comment blogs. Just like going to a networking event, leaving comments is like having conversations. You're not going to stand in the corner at a networking event and just read people's faces. If you like a blog and you have something valuable to add to a post, you should leave a comment.
@eva. mail us some mobile home brochures. we're in the market. we're lucky you asked.
@Darryl Thanks for rec'ing the SEO plugin. Cleared up a lot for me, a lot easier than scanning through code.
I had a similar question as LinkBuilderII- what about links added in the body of the comment? Good, bad, neutral?
But my real name is Discount Golf Balls!! (First, middle, last). Honest!
ok, not really. but i thought that was funny. I'm the guy who laughs at his own jokes....
And my real name is Ross...
I'd say "don't add links" to the body of your comments unless they are extremely relevant to the post and the other comments. Otherwise, it looks like spam and I'd probably edit them out or delete the comment.
But, as a blog owners, it's going to piss me off if it's not very relevant.
And even if it is relevant, I'd recommend emailing me a link to it. Or twitter'ing it to me. I will actually appreciate that, as most bloggers would.
Rather than complaining about fictional or spammable names that people use, I'm more irritated by the interfaces on Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, etc that allow "anonymous" commenters. So there could be 10 people, each calling themselves anonymous, responding to a post. Who's to say whether those are 10 different people or one person responding 10 times?
So what now? I would assume without knowing whether or not a site uses "no follow "rules, we should still take a chance and comment. In any case, it is still an affordable form of marketing. ...nice article!
You should keep commenting Rick. Just focus on adding insightful thoughts. People will still keep following your links, especially if your comments are good. Also, the more you comment on an individual blog, the more likely you'll get to know the writer (and their other commenters) and the better they'll get to know you.
@Ari. I'm not a big fan of anonymous commenters either. I think anonymity is an important thing though, sometimes, that shouldn't be prevented on the web. Specifically, for political and freedom of speech issues. However, I think anonymity is abused by flame-commenters.
I actually just sent the link to your blog to a guy I have doing some blog commenting for a site we just launched.
The main benefit, that I see, of commenting, since everyone started using the "no-follow" is it helps drive traffic to your site by piggy-backing off older sites that already have established the same keywords you'd like to have rank for. For example - the site I'm working on just released an interview with the curator of the 55th Carnegie International Exhibit. We searched and found a few blogs that were using similar keywords that we wanted to rank for and posted comments. Not spammy comments, but genuine, part of the conversation style comments.
We're still in the very early stages of this launch, but our numbers are steadily climbing. Mind you, this is part of a much larger campaign. And notice I didn't put any links in my comment :)
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm incredibly sick of the keyword spamming comments and when they're consistent,.. I'm sick of trying to respond to my comments by talking to a keyword. It's annoying and it's not good for a community!
This is a great blog post. I can't wait to go back and put this advice to use. Thanks so much........seriously though, I think you're underestimating the value of blog posts. According to Google Webmaster Tools, these blog posts still get counted in the Link Count even though they "don't follow" the anchor text. The link still exists and increases the links that are counted by Google & Yahoo Site Explorer.
Furthermore, there are plenty of blog sites that are "do follow" and relevant to anyone trying to optimize their web site.
Forum posts are also beneficial, especially if they are "Do Follow" and have relevance to one's web site objectives and key words.
Very interesting...
I also use the SEO plugin for Firefox - it's brilliant, and not just for highlighting the no follow links.
I'm also a firm believer in commenting on blogs for exactly the reason Kyle pointed out above - if someone checks out your blog and likes what they see there are any number of possibilities: they could subscribe, add you to their blogroll, link to you from their lens or hubpage - the list goes on.
Heck - they may even buy your ebook/software application/membership site..!
Thanks for an interesting and educational thread,
Cheers,
Martin.
@Sacramento DJs.
Just to be clear for the rest of our readers, just because the link shows up in their index or in site explorer, doesn't mean it passes SEO credit and helps you rise in the rankings for YOUR KEYWORD.
As discussed so accurately in your comment, participating as a real person through forums and blog comments is a great thing. And using your real name is a great way to connect with people in a more meaningful way as well as drive some additional direct traffic to your site. I'm much more like likely to click "Martin Malden's" name than "Sacramento DJs".
As always, thanks for your comment. Please consider using you real name on the HubSpot blog, so we can get to know you as a person.
At least twice a year I review the sites I link to and the blogs I follow. Then I post articles recommending those sites to others.
A great article. I didnt know about the firefox plugin, ll have to use that. So if we post relative information comments, on 100 blogs, although we may not get the link juice we may get juice by people visiting our site.
So in this case then do we need to use keyword(s) in our comments, whats the point if we are not going to get the juice.
Interesting post, it caught my eye. I think to a degree you are right but I cannot agree, i want to know about the people who read my blog, and in return I want to know what they are about and I surely look at their blog in return.
Nice one Link.. Just read your article and I've learned that leaving comments is not a link building strategy, but I hope it still works like what others have said. Friends, can you please drop by my page and leave some ideas on how to work more on it. I really need help. It's about Marketing Online - http://olmarktng.blogspot.com
I'm just fresh in the scene so a tickle from experts like you really counts. have a nice day!
Well, as you said in your post, this is your last chance to use your phoney name so here's mine. Great post and I'll now begin reading your other link building articles as you've completely shattered me about blog commenting.
The war against spam comments could be a lifetime battle. In a basket, there is always a bad egg and a good egg. In the Internet, there are good guys and there are bad guys. It's all up to the blog owner how to separate the chaff from the wheat.
Well, but some visitors click the name just for curiosity. I have actually many visitors that way.
This is really nice info.
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Franklin Rose
Social Media Marketing - 1070033189.76744
Nofollow still leaks juice, read this:
http://blog.widecircles.com/2008/07/07/to-follow-or-not-to-follow/
Thanks.
I enjoyed the post and reading the comments, especially Kyle James. Yeah, I'll go check out his site because of his post here and no I would never have heard of the guy otherwise. Keep on commenting!
Randy
<A HREF=http://www.cdnevangelist.com>http://www.cdnevangelist.com
05;5;MayNice thanks for keeping it on,
Your web is from some in the industry which make surfing fun & interesting.
www.iherbal.in
Great comments blogging is the main SEO tool along with link building, It’s amazing as usual to see there is not much blogging going in boston, or much else affiliate wise really, other than OMG being in NY.
Great blogg thanks
Chris Boston
Great post Pete. I completely agree with your points. I also agree with Kyle that posting comments on blogs should be more about networking and developing relationships, getting your name out there and creating a reason for someone to want to know more about you and thus click on your name and bring interested traffic to your site.
As long as they dont stuff the name section with dirty keywords they are selling.