Tia – my good friend the BizChickBlogger approached me many moons ago 
regards writing a guest post for the SEO Tips blog. Well, finally – just this morning, the said post landed upon my desk and had me all in an utter flutter!
I need say no more apart from it was well worth the wait!
(Oh, and sorry about all the dots throughout the post – you know how it is with WordPress.org sometimes – its got a mind of its own and it strips out the editing. Damn nuisance, really – its almost as bad as Squidoo).
*
*
One thing is for certain – buzz about blog commenting is on the rise!.
Link builders and SEO-ers have known about the benefit of blog comments for years and years, but I have a sneaky suspicion many of them don’t fully realize the potential of commenting.
.
It goes beyond the single, usually no-follow link that mass link builders are obtaining. Not only that, with stricter-than-ever comment filters, nervous bloggers worried about page rank, and a diminishing trust in online marketers, back links from comments are just not easy to come by anymore.
.
I suspect that internet marketers new to the biz still use mass commenting techniques for three reasons – the 3 Biggest Blog Commenting Myths.
.
Check these out. You will see how each one is debunked and what alternative methods exist for achieving awesome search engine ranking and promotional results.
-
.
Myth #1: MORE IS BETTER
.
More isn’t better, despite the fact that sooooo many SEO companies and software makers are still claiming this. Search engine developers are smarter – and faster – and 2000, quickly received, nofollow, crappy links don’t beat 20 solid ones anymore. At least, not for long.
.
This is particularly true with the onset of the semantic web (where search engines are placing more “weight” on links received from related sites).
.
Reason? Assuming you could get 2000 comments approved in a short amount of time and appearing on blogs, you have to consider caching.
The link doesn’t count until it is cached and/or the page it’s on is indexed.
.
Then, consider that most individual blog post pages carry no page rank whatsoever (usually because they have no quality incoming links).
.
If you take into account the types of blogs that do accept multiple comments in this way – usually unattended blogs with hundreds of comments on each post – the likelihood is that the blog itself is not one of high quality. Finally, add to this mix that you split the link juice among all of the outgoing links on that page.
.
Sure, you could get 2000 quality comments yourself in a non-automated, classical fashion. That’s the best strategy, but it takes awhile. Rather than trying to use mass commenting to get somewhere, use classic commenting in conjunction with several other link building techniques and focus on a few, really good comments left on blogs with good traffic and page rank.
.
-
.
Myth #2: CLICK-THROUGH’S FROM COMMENTS DON’T MEAN ANYTHING
.
Someone left a comment on a post about blog commenting, and said that he didn’t see the point because a single click-through from one comment isn’t worthwhile. That’s not true. It depends on who is clicking through.
.
Take this example, which has happened to me. Someone reads a post on a blog, and you yourself had previously commented on that post and left a link in the CommentLuv section. This person then follows your link because (smartly) your comment is super-catchy.
.
Lo and behold, they love your blog! So much so, in fact, that they write a post about it and link to your blog. That blog is now responsible for several hits per day for the next few weeks.
.
If you go back to the beginning of this example, 1 commentluv link led to 1 
keyword-contextual back link from another blog (so now you’re up to 3 back links from one comment – the one linked from your name, the one linked from commentluv, and the one linked from the blogger’s post) as well as a regular flow of traffic for the week it was posted, and most likely trickles of traffic after that.
keyword-contextual back link from another blog (so now you’re up to 3 back links from one comment – the one linked from your name, the one linked from commentluv, and the one linked from the blogger’s post) as well as a regular flow of traffic for the week it was posted, and most likely trickles of traffic after that..
If you’re smart, you go and thank the person who linked to you, leaving yet another (probably CommentLuv) comment, adding 2 additional back links). That’s FIVE back links from a single comment left somewhere.
.
-
.
Myth #3: 1 COMMENT = 1 BACK LINK
.
First, on CommentLuv blogs, one comment actually equals two back links, as I explained in the paragraph above. But we know that search engines don’t place too much weight on multiple links from the same page, so that alone is a minor benefit. But did you know that a single comment can actually lead to exponential comments? It can.
.
There are two ways I have seen this: with the Recent Comments widget and Top Commentator widget – both for WordPress. What happens is this: when the blog you’ve commented on has either of those widgets installed – if your comment lands you in the sidebar, each time the blog is updated in search engines and a new page is cached, a back link to your blog is credited.
.
I have seen a single comment that I left on a blog turn into 10, then 20, then 30+ back links, all from different posts, so none could be considered duplicate back links.
.
Try it for yourself. Leave a comment (or several, if you’re trying to land in Top Commentator), and then wait a few days for indexing and caching. You can check your back links – I suggest Yahoo! Site Explorer.
.
Count the back links generated from that single comment. Check regularly, because a new back link will be added with every update (again, so long as you are in the sidebar). If you don’t believe me, I welcome you to explore bizchickblogs’ back links. In Yahoo! Site Explorer, enter URL http://bizchickblogs.com (don’t use www since I only recently started using it and still prefer without www), and select Inlinks.
.
Set the parameters to Show Inlinks ‘Except from this domain’ – so you don’t count any internal links – and to ‘Entire site‘ so you get them all, including deep links. As you start to go through the pages, you’ll see tons of links from the same domains over and over. In some cases, those are footer attributes for my client’s sites, but many, including sites like twitip.com, are from being in the sidebar.
.
It’s very similar to being on someone’s blogroll, except you don’t have to work as hard to get that special nod. Just leave a recent comment or become a top commentator.
.
-
.
Special Notes: Cheaters Never Prosper
Top Commentator abuse will back fire. At the rate bloggers are picking up on new trends and tricks, it’s easy to spy hit and runners.
.
Some, like on AffordableSEOTipsandTricks, start over each month. It’s a feature of the plugin. Others, like me, sniff out abusers. If someone leaves a handful of comments and never comes back, I don’t reward them by giving such a valuable position, as my blog has tons of indexed pages and that would be a lot of back links – a massive gift.
.
The funny thing about using comments purely for back link benefit is that you always have to work much harder to do that. When you use them the right way, your benefits are beyond that which you could possibly get otherwise.
.
Usually, in the form of traffic. But also from recognition, visibility and connection.
.
-
.
Tia Peterson is the creator of BizChickBlogs.com, a practical blogging guide. Find her on Twitter @bizchickblogs and Facebook at www.Facebook.com/BizChickBlogs
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
At first I thought it was going to be some kind of religious site with a bunch of BS. I haven’t finished looking at the site, but from what I’ve read so far this site is legit.
I’m kicking off the commenting again – nothing new there then!
Wanna say to Tia, thanks so much for the guest post and hope its the first of many to come!
And I also want to say that Tia is one of the nicest folks that you could “meet” online. If she had time she would go out on a limb to ensure you will make a ton of money when it comes to internet marketing!
She’s also helped me when it comes to the more techie stuff, which as you all know by now – I am hopeless at!
And that said, I give my good friend Tia a MASSIVE thumbs up and a star rating of 6 out of 5 for her amazing and incredible abilities when it comes to helping us internet “strugglers”!
Kind regards!
Joseph
Hi Joseph! Thanks so much for posting.
I’m glad you like it, and it will help to serve us *all* as we get busy and neglect this powerful strategy.
Tia recently posted..Why Criticism Is Your Best Friend
Thanks for the great advice Tia, as always! Getting the hang of commenting is something takes practice, and guides like yours have been extremely helpful as we’ve launched our blog!
Jeff S recently posted..1-000 College Scholarship Challenge- Enter to Win!
Indeed it will mia Tia, indeed it will!
Thanks for sharing all your experience in the SEO area. I didn’t know about the myth #3 interesting approach to an important theme about inbound links.
All the best,
Gera
Gera @ Sweets Foods Blog recently posted..Blogging- Social Media- Food Bloggers – Best of the Week
Web Traffic, I’m intrigued how you managed to think that this was a religious site?
Hi Jeff – Thanks! I’m glad you found this post, too.
Now you can see how getting ’round the block also helps. Good luck with your guest post on skipping breakfast!
Hi Gera – Yes, myth #3 is sort of a ninja tactic. Welcome to the ninja club. LOL
Tia recently posted..Why Criticism Is Your Best Friend
I definitely agree with #2. People do click through and read what you say. I once did a lengthy comment (I had a hubpage in the url), and the blog owner clicked through, liked my hub so much they did a blog post quoting it.
But old fashioned commenting is time-consuming, which is why few people do it (most prefer to use software for a quick return, or they skip the commenting thing altogether).
Teatree recently posted..Experiment
Hi TeaTree, I agree in that if you are in this strictly for the SEO value then there are far faster ways of obtaining decent quality backlinks than to go around “the world” hunting out blogs to comment upon. But if you are in this for the joy that blogging can bring then that’s where the comments are going to come from – those who really want to be invovled with the community spirit that blogging should be about.
Not long ago I would have been part of the first group – SEO was my toy and I had little time for reading posts and then commenting on their value or lack of. But I now realize that I was missing out on a very important part of working online – the sheer pleasure that the social side of it can bring. And that side of it now allows me to enjoy working online far more than previously I did.
Kind regards TeaTree!
Joseph
Well I already knew all of this, but it is a great read and it’s always nice to get it refreshed in my mind anyhow! Don’t forget commenting on sites with nice Alexa rankings can lead to some great traffic sources as well
!!!!
Matthew Gannon
Ha! Matt, you comment well (at least, here on Jo’s blog).
Good point about the high-traffic sites. But what I’ve discovered is that new blogs are also good for it. They have fewer visitors but also fewer comments to compete with. It always astounds me how some very small, new blogs can send 5-10 visits a day.
Tia recently posted..Are Your Comments Bringing in Traffic- or Not
Yeah Matt, I’m more keen on Alexa rankings than on Goog PR these days. Not that I go by that alone – its much more important – the way I see it, that I enjoy the post and thus feel the need to comment.
Hehehe, yes Tia I do comment here a lot! Ill start commenting at your blog too as I do find your content valuable!
Matthew Gannon
You’ll do nothing of the sort Matthew Gannon! Just stick to commenting on this blog, if you don’t mind, thank you!
LOL Jo, you are a riot.
On first reading your comment mia Tia, I thought it said “LoL Jo, you are an idiot!”
And I could not but feel you had that one right!
You had poor young Matthew a little concerned when you said that he’s not been commenting on your blog. No doubt he’s headed on over there to grovel with you hehehehe.
Hi, I applaud your blog for informing people, very interesting article, keep up it coming Smile. Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts.
Melissamercy recently posted..Public Records Tasters 6- ‘Environmentalist’- Al Gore
Hi Melissa, thanks for coming by the blog and taking the time to leave you thoughts!
Kind regards
Joseph
One thing pop up at the back of my mind after reading your post, what will happen to advertising agency who will not engage in the internet technology. SEO is future of online business. Owners and managers will cry to put their site at the top page of search engine google, bing or yahoo.
Hi Toronto SEO Expert, I can but imagine that all those advertising agencies – the companies – who do not engage in internet technology will, over time, fall by the way side, or at the very least – take a back seat to all their competitors. And for exactly the reason you have provided – everyone else will be desperately trying (if they are not beginning to already) to get their web pages at or near the top of the search engines.
Thanks for contributing to the discussion!
Regards
Joseph
This is a great info, I agree with the fact that 20 good quality backlinks are much better then 1000s of backlinks that are of little page rank and of little relevance. When it comes to building links its quality over quantity. There are those who just comment without reading the article but if one does not read the article they are missing out on some valuable information.
This is a very good blog. I have already been back more than once during the last seven days and want to register for your rss feed utilizing Google but find it difficult to learn the right way to do it exactly. Would you know of any guides?
Hi Lady Gaga Games, thanks for stopping by the blog!
To subscribe to this blog using the RSS feed, you can either click the Subscribe button in the top right hand side of each blog post (within the header), or there is another just below the 40 Day Challenge eBook cover – also on the left hand side, which says “Subscribe in a Reader” and will do exactly the same thing. You just have to decide which reader you prefer from the drop down list. Or, you can sign up to get email alerts to your email account.
Regards
Joseph
{ 1 trackback }