Receiving comments on your blog posts can be very satisfying. If people leave comments it means that they have found your site, probably through search results or a link from a referring site. It also shows that visitors are actually reading your content and care enough about whatever you said to actually leave a comment.
Some blogs get lots of comments. Some of the bigger, most popular blogs out there will receive hundreds upon hundreds of comments, especially on their best or most interesting posts. Expecting to see that many comments might mean your sights could be set too high, but you should definitely expect some commenting activity if you are putting out quality content.
That being said, the following are a few tips that can help you to get comments on your blog. There is no way to guarantee that you will get comments, but these tips give you good odds of getting some of your readers talking back.
Ask for them
A call to action like asking people to comment makes them more likely to do so. If you blogged about an experience, ask your visitors to share similar experiences in the comments. Ask for insights and opinions.
Not everyone will take you up on your call to action, but those who formed an opinion and have something to say could be persuaded to comment with the little invite. Otherwise, many of these folks may stay silent.
Make it easy to do
Many blog comment system require commenters to jump through hoops before they can give their feedback. While most of these mechanisms are created to ditch spammers, they can also discourage real human comments as well.
If someone doesn’t feel too terribly passionately, they aren’t going to go out of the way to leave a comment. You may have a visitor who simply wants to tell you that they agree, but if they have to create a profile, respond to an email and decipher a CAPTCHA you can guarantee that he or she would rather just forget about it.
Respond to comments
If your blog blows up, you may not be able to give all of your commenters such special attention, but right now you should take the time to respond to those who comment. You don’t have to say anything long or drawn out; it may be enough to just thank them for their feedback.
People like interacting with bloggers, and if you interact with them, they will feel special and important, and they are likely to comment again. Others will want to get in on the conversation, and this leads to even more comments.
Conclusion
There are many ways in which you can help to get more comments on your blog, and these tips are just a fraction of the ways in which you can get this done. If you want comments and visitors, you will need to be sure that you are creating quality content, as good writing will surely make commenters and regular visitors come back for more.