Very good post! I think one thing that maybe can be add is that time will ad more comments. After 5 years blogging I have more comments than before. Quite obvious, isn´t? Best wishes.

Hey Diana,  
 
Thanks for this great article! 
Just kidding :^) 
 
Solid engagement tactics here that make me feel good about some of the habits I've picked up and use on my blog now. 
 
I particularly like responding to each comment and asking questions at the end of a blog post.  
 
I've read about those ideas and I've seen them employed here and there. But it was Sarah Mitchell's (globalcopywriting.com/blog/)consistent practice of asking readers a question at the end of her posts and responding to each and every comment without fail that inspired me. 
 
Thanks for sharing, 
+Ralston

Thank you. I have sadly neglected my blog since Christmas day. 
 
Maybe this will help me get back on track.

Even though you suggest to commenters not to just say..Thanks for a great article..well, I couldn't resist because it is. 
 
I have been blogging for almost 9 years and the comment rate on my blog is sub-par. In reviewing with some of the people I know personally who read my blog on why they do not comment I am told over and over 1. they do not want to open themselves up for others to spam them and 2. Don't really have the time. 
I take it, my following is not the norm. What would be a suggestion to get the blog to the community it belongs?

too many people are scared of comments, especially negative ones. I LOVE comments. I read comments. Comments are the fun stuff; collaborative, most times insightful and make your website sticky

Diana, 
 
 
 
Really useful top 9. I'm not a blogger and use to think what is the point. That said i'm now starting a sideline in photography and have been really looking into social media. It's funny how doing something you're passionate about inspires you not just to write about what you do, but also read comment on others blogs. 
 
 
 
I would say, and this is just me, all your tips can be narrowed down to one common denominator....relationship building through dialogue.Blogging twittering linking etc etc is just the platform to properly engage with people, you wouldn't normally be able to. 
 
 
 
You wouldn't (not for long anyway!) witter on just about yourself without encouraging input and comment from another while your sat at pub or coffee house..

Very useful post. 
Excuse me if this is a daft question, but how much value can be gained from comments? Is it something that I should be focussing on a lot? 

Thanks for your awesome comments everyone! 
 
Craig - Comments can certainly add a lot of value. If your readers are able to engage in conversations with you, they'll be more likely to become subscribers and come back for more. Building relationships with your readers through comments will also make them more likely to share your content with their networks.  
 
I'd say that your #1 objective should be to create fresh, new content on your blog as often as you can, and then 2nd incorporate as many of the above points as you have time for. As you can tell, some of these points will only take a few extra minutes (e.g. adding a question to the end of your post, generally thanking people for commenting, etc.).

All my controversial post get lots of comments and retweets..the reason for this is because if something is worth commenting on..then people are willing to get their friends on the conversation also..  
 
"Black Seo Guy "Signing Off"

Great post, some key information there, most of which we bloggers know but often forget (well I do anyway) a very useful reminder

Your 9 ways of encouraging people have helped encourage me to go ahead and start a blog. I've been contemplating it but have been intimidated...hard to believe considering I've been in PR, journalism, and management for 30 years. You think I might have something to contribute? Duh!

Scot, I take your point very well. We find that many people comment on our blog posts privately, rather than using the comment feature. And that sort of annoys me. I appreciate their interest, but with it was an open conversation rather than a private one.  
 
I'm not sure if this is relevant to your blog, but I've found that our readers/ participants are an older crowd, still rather luddite when it comes to interactive media.  
 
We are slowly attracting a new crowd, but I think that's just a fact we have to live with. 
 
What we do however, is we take some of those private comments and make blog posts of them. It think that's probably the best we can do at the moment. 
 
Great article btw!

That is a sweet picture...evokes Dilios.

Thanks Diana. 
 
Going along with "easy to read", like the number list, imagery is also a strong motivator to comment. If you can add some attractive, goofy or interesting photos that connect with your topic, it sparks more of a desire to interact. I think it draws out a more emotional connection to your topic. 
 
So my #10 is good imagery.

On my personal blog, I have found #1-4 to be the most effective. Nearly every time I end a post with a question, I get a lot of comments. And then, debates form leading to more comments. This is a great post for new bloggers who aren't getting the comments they want.

Thank you, I think this is one of your most helpful blog posts to date!

I have used many of these suggestions, but I have another one that I learned from the audience from a blog called Mojo40, (http://www.mojo40.com) and that is many folks over the age of 40 do not realize that the whole point of blogs is to get the discussion going. So, they email me with their reactions. At which point, I tell the sender directly, nice to hear your thoughts but would you be so kind as to put them directly into the post. That is what successful blogs look like - full of comments - and so we want to look like that. Sometimes, people do not really know what to do, and they need direct guidance that says, in effect "Do this"!

I have a couple of blogs and I let people comment on them. My question is how do keep people from righting stuff that does not pertain to the blog? I get tons of comments from people that don't even make sense or they are trying to just link to there site and are not adding to the topic. Frustrating.

Thank you Diana for this very valueable insight. I am a blog newbie and have struggled to find things to write about at times but I have to say, I am thrilled every time I get comments. I make a point of responding to them too. Afterall, if you were having that conversation in person you wouldn't just let a person's comment go unreplied to...in most cases anyway. 
 
I agree with Louis that great photos/imagery go a long way for me when I am reading a blog. 
 
 
 
Audrey  
 
aka AudreyGardenLady

Numbered list, asking a question at the end, encouraging me to keep writing thought provoking content, check! But oh dear, your comment form comes after all your comments. I had to scroll ALL the way down! Hehehe :-) 
 
This was just what I needed. Question: how do you know when to give away your content for free, and when to monetize? Thanks!

Great list of tips! I agree that one of the best ways is to close your post with a question to encourage others to participate and comment. From there, make it a point to respond to every comment and encourage that dialogue!  
 
On other thing I do is I use the "Top Commentators" plugin to showcase the top 5 people who comment on the blog in any given month. It's a nice simple way to encourage others to contribute as well :-)

In general, when I read a blog post and think, "good post", then I retweet it with a teaser comment and link. When I read a blog post and think I can add value with additional remarks, or when I disagree and can't keep quiet about it, then I comment. 
 
On my own blog, however, I'm not getting much commenting except the "nice post" variety. So, I think I'll use your suggestions to stir things up a bit. Thanks.

@Rasika - That is pretty funny! Yeah that tip really will depend on which blogging platform you use, as well as some tips from comments here about plugins. 
 
@Ricardo - Great point! Some blog platforms like Wordpress include plugins you can use to encourage blog comments, such as Top Commentators and even some that list the most commented-on posts. Great tip, thanks! 
 
@JMiller - You can moderate your comments and delete spammy comments. Which blogging platform do you use?

I liked the post a lot Diana, thanks for all the info. 
 
 
 
I will start a blog with this info as I've been looking to get into it as I have started SEO work for a UK mma cage fighting event company - http://www.efc-mma.co.uk/home.html this year, and I also I think these tips will help me with the facebook pages I run for companies. And I agree with the tip ten about imagery too. 
 
 
 
Thanks everyone

I liked the post a lot Diana, thanks for all the info.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I will start a blog with this info as I've been looking to get into it as I have started SEO work for a UK mma cage fighting event company - http://www.efc-mma.co.uk/home.html this year, and I also I think these tips will help me with the facebook pages I run for companies. And I agree with the tip ten about imagery too.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thanks everyone  
 
 
 
Sorry missed the link off - If anyone has any comments to help further I wld much appreciate ALL help :D 
 
 
 

These are really great tips -- thank you! While we've been greating great traffic on our blogs, and a lot of activity on Twitter/Facebook/etc., our challenge has been to move the conversation onto the blog. I will definitely use some, if not all, of these tips.

This is exactly what I needed to read! Very insightful...I've actually hand-written each header as a reminder for me whenever I write a new post. I love getting comments, who doesn't? So the more the merrier. It's a great way for me to get to know my readers better. Thanks again!

I find it funny that in a post that says "don't put the comment box below the comment thread"... the comment box is below the comment thread :)

Great Article. I know here at Dydacomp, many of our clients have just recently started to reach out and ask for more resources on how to utilize their blogs. This is a great resource to share with them thanks!

Thanks Diana! You do write back to us all! 
 
So yes perhaps my question about monetizing content could inspire a future article.  
 
I think I'll blog a list today!  
 
I'll also refer people to my blog here Http://rasika.uibcsites.com for insightful life lessons from a comedienne :-)  
 
Also, I think I've been receiving clever spam comments! 
They sound so personal, yet compliment Me without really referring to the article. One told me they bookmarked me a year ago because I was so helpful! And my blog is only a month old! Ah well, at least the spam was encouraging like my Mom.

We were "listening in on other blogs and wondering why there weren't a lot of comments with the great content presented on our friends blogs. Blogs are supposed to be engaging/interactive, right? :) I read and respond. Thought others might do the same. Your suggestions are helpful and will definitely help us move in the right direction.

I read lots of blogs, and they all follow your first guideline: they ask a question at the end of their post. I just wish most of them would ask something original. "What do you think?" The question they ask to encourage responses ought not to be rote. It ought to be just as thought-provoking as their blog post is.

I've tried several of these, but they don't do me much good so far because I don't really have a lot of readers. Any advice on how to get readers?

I found the tips really helpful, especially the one on asking a question at the end.  
 
 
 
My question is more on how to deal with comments on a blog - we have a lot of the automated spam comments which are very generic - that is easy - we just delete them. 
 
 
 
we also receive comments that do not add much to the post but are put there by people so that there will be a link from our blog to their website - do you usually "approve" or publish those kinds of comments? 
 
 
 
finally, while i love the "receive email when someone replies" box on your comment box, we have some posts where there are over 100+ comments all asking variations of the same question, ie. pricing (we don't post our pricing on the blog/website). I would think people would not want to have notifications on this? 
 
 
 
Currently, we reply to every comment/question via email as well as on the blog.. but it can get repetitive as the questions are similar...  
 
 
 
thanks and great job with the blogpost :)

Very thoughtful insight...I have been trying to build community around my blog that talks about social media tips...I am really thankful to the author for sharing these tips with us...

I target an older audience, so I make sure the font on my blog posts and in my comment area is large enough to read easily. It seems like a little thing, but people are more likely to read the comments and add their own if they can actually read them.

Very useful post, Diana, thanks! 
 
My #10 would be: keep a regular schedule, like "a new post every wednesday". It make things easier to your followers.

Diana, this is a fantastic post. Your nine tips are extremely useful, some as reminders, some as new ideas for me. 
 
I really liked #2 about asking for people to add to your list. Unfortunately, I have nothing to add to this list right now. If something comes up, I'll come back and let you know. 
 
Jonathan, I totally agree - it's all about building relationships! 
 
Miranda, I'm part of the older crowd you mentioned. I hope you don't think we're all luddites!!??

Commenting on other posts is required to get comments on your posts. Replying to comments is also helpful in building up a relationship with your readers who will get encouraged to comment on more posts in the future.

Love the article. Especially the last point about posting to social media.

First, great article. You brought it back to the basics. They're important because they work. 
 
I agree with everyone that said commenting and responding is about building relationships with your readers and expanding that relationship to cover new readers. Just like any relationship, it takes time and commitment.

This is a great list. I am terrible at ending my posts without encouraging people to leave a comment. I should always remember to do one of the above.

I like #4. 
 
Just like if I said you really have no clue what you're talking about and everything on here sounds like jibberish. 
 
And most of the comments are very mediocre. 
 
 
 
See, that gets the blood flowing! 
 
 
 
Actually, I was kidding but you see the point. My goal this year is to add more blogs to our site after the re-design and make our site more user-friendly. All of your points are excellent!!!!

I have been trying to get a conversation going on my FaceBook business page. The subject is controversial (counseling for lust issues)and while the analytics show visits, no one is leaving comments. The process in itself is like counseling. Talking about the issue is what brings light. What the heck!I plan to implement #4 and be even more controversial in my comments to links that I share.

great post, but just thought it was kinda funny that you are doing the opposite of what you say to do in #6... you are making ppl scroll all the way down in order to comment! LOL

This is exactly what i need. I will keep this article of yours because it gives me an idea on how to start my own blog. With the tips from numbers 1 to 9. If I follow your advice, I am sure I will have tons of new blog followers. The more comments I leave, the more traffic I can get. Anyways, thanks for sharing this. 
 
Warm Regards, 
blogger11 
Blogging tip: S.M.A.R.T. Goal Setting  

Blog Success - Get Traffic and Make Money Blogging

#No 10 has to be sign up for the "receive email when someone replies" box. This way you can get the conversation going with others who leave comments. Having more than one comment in a thread again builds your credibility. Also as some people comment quite a long time after the original post it means that you can engage with a whole new audience. The comments then appear again on the latest posts extending the timescale of your comments. I have some interactions that originally started years ago.

Very good post. I've heard that comments help SEO, though I've also heard that comments can actually dilute your keywords, and lower your SEO. Do you think that's the case or is that a myth?

I have been wondering the same thing. My blog is four years old, but I notice that my subscriber base is 30 plus with alot of them over 50.  
 
I end each post with questions. Ask questions in the post. Think I am engaging. But no comments. Nada. I know people are reading my posts due to my stats and my email opens but no conversation. 
 
I started my blog for this very reason. To create community. I wrote about this in my about page, end each post with "join the conversation," and heck my name is Green Talk. How much clearer can I get? 
 
The other idea I had is to get buddy commenters. Maybe if someone comments first it will get the ball rolling? 
 
Any suggestions would be appreciated. PS My facebook fan page is so quite too even though I ask questions there and let people upload pics and videos. 
 
I am starting to get a complex.