10 Secrets to the Best Comments Ever
Posted on 20. Mar, 2010 by Julius.
Commenting is important nowadays. Mostly because of all the blogs. It has become almost an art by now.
But there are still enough people who haven’t learned about how to comment. Especially, about what you need to do in order to leave one of the best comments ever on a blog.
Comment as a Person
Always comment using your real name. There is nothing worse than someone using a keyword as a name just to rank better in Google.
The reason here is simple. First of all your comment will not pass the spam filter so all the attention you have paid to getting the right keyword is lost. Further it makes it hard for the blog owner to know what your name is in order to talk to you.
Nobody really wants to reply to Internet Marketing (if that is your keyword name) because it’s not natural. But commenting is all about being natural.
Manage the Length
There are some people who make it the habit of only writing one full sentence as a comment. One sentence is too short though. Of course there are articles that don’t leave you any other opportunity than to simply comment in one short sentence. If that’s the case then don’t comment at all.
Let’s head back to answering the question of how long a comment should really be. Generally I would say the longer the better but that’s not always the case. The best way of describing it is to quote my old US history teacher. Whenever he was asked how long an essay should be, he replied this:
An essay should be like a woman’s skirt. Long enough to cover it. But short enough to keep it interesting.
I believe the same applies to comments.
No Links
Don’t make the mistake of including links in your comments. Only if they add value to the conversation. But most of the time this isn’t the case anyway.
There are always people that include a link to their blog in their comment. I personally hate it. It makes that person look like he comments only for the purpose of getting that link. And most of the time that link isn’t worth anything anyway.
There isn’t even a reason for including a link. If what you posted is interesting then people will automatically visit your blog. You don’t need to leave an extra link in your comment.
Share One Thought at a Time
The best way to comment is to only share one thought at a time.
Of course you can share more than that but if you struggling to comment on an article then simply focus on one point the author made. Share your opinion on that single aspect.
Critically Examine
The best way of commenting is to critically examine something the author mentioned. I think there is nothing better. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to hear that people like my content but I find it way more interesting to see what I have missed or what has been said wrong.
Why? Because it shows that you took your time to read the article. Furthermore it makes you stand out. You are going the extra mile, and everyone knows that this pays off in the end.
Quote the Author
Eric, from BluePop13, truly knows how to comment. He has commented multiple times on this blog and he always does it in such a way as to stand out. But what I really learned from him is that one of the best things you can do in a comment is to quote the author himself.
Simply quote a sentence or more from the article. Then write about why you agree or disagree. It’s easy but it’s definitely one of the best ways to get you noticed.
Complete Sentences
Just because it’s a comment doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pay attention to what you write. Almost the reverse is true. If you don’t take a look at what you wrote then it can totally ruin the comment.
Nothing is worse than having half-complete sentences in your comments. Of course saying something like “Love your article!” is alright as long as that’s not the only thing you write.
Spell Check
Before you hit that submit button spell check your comment. Most of the modern browser have a spell checker by default so that shouldn’t be a problem. Just make sure that everything is written in a good manner.
Vulnerable Comment
One of the best ways to encourage a discussion is by making your comments vulnerable at some point. Don’t say everything that you could possibly say on the topic. No one will have something to add.
If you follow the step above and only comment on one point you somewhat automatically make yourself vulnerable. Being vulnerable creates one of the best conversations ever because it leaves the opportunity for others to criticize your comment.
And Repeat
Commenting multiple times on the same article is the last step you should take in order to impress the blog owner. Many bloggers don’t take the time to do that. If you do it then you will definitely stand out from the crowd.
It also has the added benefit of again creating a conversation.
What are your tips for writing great comments?
Related posts:
Alex
21. Mar, 2010
Julius,
Good tips man. Commenting as a person is what I feel is most important. I think that really ties a lot of the tips together in a way because when you comment on a personal level it means you have read the content, examined it, and are responding to it in a real way. I always comment on a personal level because I want the individual to do the same for me. It’s really a community, so comment on others as you would like to be commented is another good tip to add.
jules
25. Mar, 2010
thanks Alex. Yeah you have mentioned a great tip here: “Comment on others as you would like to commented”. You are right. It is indeed very important. You can’t expect other people to respond differently to you if all you are doing is saying “thanks for the comment’. You should comment the way you want the comments on your blog to be like. Great point Alex.
Paul
21. Mar, 2010
Julius,
What a great post this is.
I agree with every point you’ve made, can be very frustrating to read a comment that says , “great post”. Likewise it can be equally frustrating to read a response to a comment that merely says, “thanks for your comment”.
A couple I would like to add, which may help the conversation are:
1. Commenter to thank the author for sharing the information
2. Author to thank the commenter for leaving their comment
Thanks for raising some great points.
Regards
Paul
jules
25. Mar, 2010
You are right Paul. It can be frustrating for both the commenter and the blog owner. That’s why you need to create a conversation. And yes your points definitely help to create one. Also thanks for the mention on Twitter. I am now going to comment on your latest post
ChickenFreak
21. Mar, 2010
I would, of course, disagree with the requirement that you comment with your real name. I’m not using “ChickenFreak” as a keyword, I’m using it as an alias. Using aliases on the Internet is a long, long tradition.
I just ambled over to what’s probably the highest-traffic blog in my niche (445 comments on the latest post) to see what percentage of commenters are using full real names, or partial real names. I don’t see even one full name, and I’d say that perhaps six out of ten use some component of what could be a real name.
If a blog owner, or commenter, needs to talk to me, my name is ChickenFreak.
Or CF, or Chicken, or Freak, to use some of the ways that folks address me.
If my use of an alias makes my comment spam, well, you of course have the right to delete it. But I think that rejecting the very idea of aliases, in an environment where they’re so very commonly used, will limit the people that you can interact with.
Signed, yep,
ChickenFreak
jules
25. Mar, 2010
You are right. I don’t really mind the use of alias. It does of course in some way eliminate the more personal conversation you could have had. If someone comments on a blog using his real name then this person is somewhat sharing some information about himself. Using an alias eliminates that for an obvious reason.
Don’t get me wrong I think it’s alright to use an alias. I just think that if someone comments using their real name you can connect much more to that person. Don’t you think?
And yes you might be right with the high traffic blog. But it always depends on what kind of blog it is. What kind of content it covers and how it engages its readers.
ChickenFreak
25. Mar, 2010
Actually, no – sometimes I feel that knowing a person’s real name online is _bad_ for the quality of the connection. In my opinion, it blurs reality. The reality is that an online connection is not the same as a real-world connection. Using my real-world name implies that it is. Online, I am ChickenFreak.
In fact, this makes me think about a lot of interlocking issues about identity and friendship and illusions of friendship and privacy and age (and the resulting difference in attitudes about online communication) and … well, I could go on and on. I may, later in my own blog world, but in case I don’t, I’ll go on here, too.
Thought One: I used to do a lot of online roleplaying. And in roleplaying, you always need to be aware of the level of reality that you’re dealing with – IC (In Character), OOC (Out Of Character) and RL (Real Life).
When roleplaying, it’s essential to keep those levels of reality in mind, and to be aware that interactions are not usually based on friendship, they’re just based on shared joy in a hobby. Sometimes they turn into a fully-developed friendship, but that’s quite rare.
I think that merely being online similarly involves different levels of reality, and the potential to mistake a shared interest for a friendship. I think that online is often OOC, not RL.
Thought Two: I’m also reminded of Miss Manners/Judith Martin’s view about the immediate use of first names. People who are friends use each other’s first names, so if we all use each other’s first names, we’ll all be friends instantly, right? Well, no. As she makes clear, cause and effect can’t be reversed that way.
Thought Three: There are always layers of identity and privacy. John Smith’s grandmother, and his mother, and his brother, and his sister, and his girlfriend, and his drinking buddies, and his boss, and the counter guy at his local coffee shop, all probably know a different person as John Smith.
I don’t mean that he’s actively lying or actively roleplaying. But his grandmother isn’t going to hear the dirty jokes that he shares with his drinking buddies. His boss isn’t going to hear about the favorite children’s stories that he shared with his grandmother. His girlfriend may know about depths of feeling and vulnerability that no one else in the world is aware of.
Thought Four: And, in fact, he may well have different names for different people. John. Johnny. Johnathon. Smith. Smithie. J. Jay. J.S. John-boy. Jon-Jon. The name doesn’t make the relationship; the relationship makes the name.
——
So I think that whether I’m ChickenFreak or whether I’m that other name that I choose to withhold from the general public isn’t going to make me one bit closer to, or distant from, the general public. And in fact, I don’t think that I’m any less close to a person who knows me as ChickenFreak, than I am to a person who knows me as the other name, just as Johnnie isn’t any more or less of a person than Jay. ChickenFreak isn’t anonymous; ChickenFreak is a different face.
Everybody has different faces. Online, you can easily put different names to them, and I think that’s a good thing, not a bad one.
ChickenFreak
jules
25. Mar, 2010
Thanks for the long and in depth comment ChickenFreak. I believe you are partly right. I don’t think that putting a different name to a face is bad, it’s indeed good.
And you are right by using first names you don’t necessarily become best friends immediately. I simply think it’s easier to connect to someone who uses his real name. Why would you need to be anonymous on the Internet? Whenever someone wants to be anonymous, he seems to need to hide something. I believe that blogging is about being honest, showing your vulnerabilities and acknowledging them.
I am not saying that you can’t have a meaningful conversation with someone who uses an alias, alone this conversation shows that you can indeed have a meaningful conversation. But I would like to know why you chose an alias? Why do you want to be more anonymous than others?
ChickenFreak
25. Mar, 2010
(Odd. I can’t reply to replies to my comment. So I’ll just reply to my comment and hope it falls below the reply.
)
Re:
“Whenever someone wants to be anonymous, he seems to need to hide something”
and
“Why do you want to be more anonymous than others?”
Minor response: There are lots of aliases, so I’d argue that I’m no more anonymous than many others.
Main response: Ah, but I’m not more anonymous than people _traditionally_ are – I’m essentially returning to the status quo. Before the Internet, it wasn’t possible for someone to type a few characters into a keyboard and find out all about your politics, your hobbies, your relationship with your family, your reading habits, and so on.
In the Stone Age, if I asked a friend for recommendations for good trashy mystery novels, my boss wasn’t able to listen to that conversation. And that fact didn’t make the conversation any less valuable. My relationship with my friend was not devalued by my failure to tape-record it for replay by anyone who was interested.
In other words, privacy or discretion, choosing what to reveal and who to reveal it to, is not a bad thing. Opening up one’s activities to all the world should be a choice, not a default.
I’m not under any illusion that I have strong privacy on the Internet – if I needed strong privacy for something, I wouldn’t be doing it on the Internet at all. If I even needed half-decent privacy, I wouldn’t be using an email address linked with me. There are no big secrets hidden behind the ChickenFreak name.
But I don’t think that it’s somehow shameful to decline to shine a bright light on everything I do, either.
I don’t believe that there is anyone who has nothing to hide, or at least to push into the shadows a little. Imagine the most proper person in your life. Imagine the most improper joke that you’ve ever told. Would you happily tell that person that joke? If not, are you ashamed of your need to “hide” something?
I don’t think that you should be the least bit ashamed. Every person has more than one face, and privacy and discretion are good things.
ChickenFreak
jules
26. Mar, 2010
Alright I now know what you mean. So you basically want it to be like it was before the Internet. Or at least you don’t want to reveal your privacy too easily!? I don’t think it’s shameful either to be wanting to have more privacy. I think it’s good. I just think it’s hard to do that while blogging you know?
Don’t you think it’s hard to keep up the privacy you want to have while blogging? As you have said you are still anonymous if you only use your first name. There are so many people out there with the same name as you.
ChickenFreak
26. Mar, 2010
Ah, but then I’m _too_ anonymous, in the wrong way.
ChickenFreak is much more memorable than some baby-naming-book first name.
ChickenFreak
jules
28. Mar, 2010
You are right. It is more memorable. But why did you choose ChickenFreak?
Armen Shirvanian
21. Mar, 2010
Hi Julius.
You made many valid points here about commenting. It is an opportunity that can be treated with concern.
Actually quoting the author is something I don’t normally do, so I could see myself doing that at times from now on. I usually just refer to a section without quoting it.
Also, that point about commenting multiple times on one article is something I have not done. Actually, I have done it a couple of times, and it was great to have such a conversation. I will keep that in mind as well.
One thing I don’t usually do is criticize too much, as it does not exactly match my personality, but I can see that I should point out where I disagree at times. It would represent my views better.
Also, cool font and style there, and also nice centered title and font as well. Those types of cool design items make articles look better.
jules
25. Mar, 2010
Thanks Armen. I don’t do everything I have mentioned here all the time. On some articles I would only comment using a couple of points mentioned here. On others I cover everything I have talked about here. No matter how you comment it all boils down to one thing: Writing an interesting comment that engages other readers or the author himself.
If you don’t feel like you need to criticize then that’s fine. You don’t need to but if you want to really show your point of view then this is definitely something you should do.
And yes you have mentioned an interesting idea here. Styling the comment section nicely is very important too. It’s probably one of the most overlooked points.
Mo
23. Mar, 2010
First time I’ve read a post on commenting. I’ve never received a comment from “Internet Marketing” but believe you me, if I had, I would have moaned about it…
The hardest thing (for me personally) about commenting on long posts is picking out what to comment on. I’m not talking about this post, which is a nice length, but I read some blogs that typically produce very long posts and in my mind I feel that if I comment I should somehow encapsulate everything…so I don’t comment, or end up struggling with a response.
For me the key about commenting is engaging with the principals or thoughts behind the post. There’s nothing worse than a ‘great post!’ comment or one that gives the impression the reader is just cruising by. Once I got a comment that said ‘can’t stop, will be back later’ and they weren’t, which was probably my least favourite ever!
jules
25. Mar, 2010
I can totally understand you here. It is very disappoiting to see how many just really cruise by and say “Oh I love this article” and then disappear. But that’s what the Internet, I guess, is all about. Anonymity. And that is exactly what blogging is trying to change. Don’t you think?
And I agree on your thoughts on long posts. It’s hard to find something to comment on. And especially if you try to somehow encapsulate everything then I always have the problem that I think I might have misunderstood something. It would leave me vulnerable. But somehow that’s what commenting is about. Thanks for stopping by
jules
25. Mar, 2010
I can totally understand you here. It is very disappoiting to see how many just really cruise by and say “Oh I love this article” and then disappear. But that’s what the Internet, I guess, is all about. Anonymity. And that is exactly what blogging is trying to change. Don’t you think?
And I agree on your thoughts on long posts. It’s hard to find something to comment on. And especially if you try to somehow encapsulate everything then I always have the problem that I think I might have misunderstood something. It would leave me vulnerable. But somehow that’s what commenting is about. Thanks for stopping by
Mars Dorian
23. Mar, 2010
Those are awesome tips.
I do maybe 50%, but I will try the rest now, especially you one where you say
“Simply quote a sentence or more from the article”
I never did that, it’s an epic share
jules
25. Mar, 2010
Try it Mars. It’s amazing. It’s exactly about doing what you just did
Thanks for the comment.
ChickenFreak
24. Mar, 2010
Re:
“… in order to impress the blog owner.”
Ah, but I don’t comment in order to impress the blog owner. I comment to have a conversation, with the blog owner _and_ with the other readers. (At least, the readers that comment.)
To me, comments are a conversation among the community of people reading and authoring the blog, and I don’t particularly distinguish between them. Naturally, if I get to a post early, my first comment is likely to be addressed to the author of the post, because the conversation hasn’t started. But if there’s an active conversation going on, I may respond to another commenter instead.
I think that comment conversations, the ones where the original post sparks a detailed back-and-forth discussion among many people, are the best kinds of comments, and the posts that spark those conversations are the most valuable posts.
ChickenFreak
jules
25. Mar, 2010
Thanks for the comment. Sorry that it took me so long to reply but I was on vacation in Italy.
I agree commenting is about having conversations. You are right if you are the first to leave a comment then responding to the author is a great way to start a conversation. Otherwise if there are already comments then you could simply join the conversation.
Yes Chickenfreak you have hit it on the spot: “the posts that spark those conversations are the most valuable posts.” I couldn’t agree more. They are the best kind of comments. Thanks for being such an active commenter and also thanks for starting the discussion
Murlu
20. May, 2010
I agree Jules.
I’m not sure if the comments I make are a bit too lengthy sometimes. I like to add additional information which does requires going into detail, maybe I should cut back a bit.
Just write in your voice how you feel about the post, make an effort to keep the conversation going and interact with one another.
Julius
20. May, 2010
Yeah good point. And I don’t think that your comments are too long. It shows that you have read the post and have something to say or add to the conversation. So keep it up