3 Sure-fire Ways to Get People to Comment on Your Articles

Comments are very important online today, especially since they are a sign of highly successful blogs.

Comments are important for so many reasons, some of the most common ones are:

• They give us validation that we know our stuff
• They prove that people read what we write
• They can contribute significantly to our pool of ideas on what to write
• They serves as social proof that your blog is active

While having a lot of blog comments doesn’t necessarily mean your blog is successful, there are a lot of benefits to it that cannot be quantified. Some of these benefits are emotional, and some of them are real. I’ve listed a few of those benefits above, and I’m sure you can come up with more with a little research.

I’ll be sharing a few sure-fire ways to get people to comment on your article.

It’s Mostly about Your Content

This is the first realization you have to face if you want to get a lot of blog comments.

One thing I’ve realized is that having a lot of traffic, and being good at marketing, can make a lot of impact on the comments you have, but one thing that determines the overall outcome is your content.

Your content has the power to provoke people and stir emotions, and it can also be boring and dull that no one dares comment.

The key to using your content to provoke comments is to breathe life into it; people will almost always respond to life in anything, and here are a few ways you can use your content to spark emotions.

1. Be Inspiring: People will always comment on anything that is inspiring. We’re so surrounded with a lot of negativity that we need people to cheer us up, and we will always happily respond to someone who tells us we can do it.

Your readers need motivation. They need encouragement and affirmation that they can do it, and giving them this can be a sure way to getting more comments.

Let your readers know that they can do it, and they’ll be happy to thank you for the encouragement (in the form of comments).

2. Be Factual: State a real fact, one that very few people are aware of. Look for a way to tie this fact to your audience and share a lesson with them.

The cool thing is that the fact may have little to do with your niche; it could be on the rate of obesity, the highest death killers, or something that provokes emotions. Look for a way to share your lessons from these facts with your readers, and they will thank you for your “genius” by commenting on your article.

3. Be Controversial: Challenge popular ideas and take a strong stand. Don’t compromise your stand, and take no pity on the stand you’re challenging. This will provoke emotions, and it is emotions in the first place that lead to people commenting.

4. Empathize: Let people know that you feel their pain. Let them know that you share their problems. Let them know that they’re not alone.

Your readers will surely appreciate you empathizing with them, and as a result will comment to thank you for sharing their pain.

Marketing is Important

While having content that provokes comments is important, you need to realize that having content alone isn’t enough. You need to market yourself, you need to actually go out there and spread the word about your content.

Unfortunately, marketing isn’t a set-and-forget thing. You need to take active measures to market yourself, and you need to do it regularly.

Marketing is a whole new subject on its own, and it is the subject of a whole post in itself. Here are a few articles on this blog that I think covers marketing well-enough.

• How to Get Traffic to Come to You
• How to Build Web Traffic with Viral Marketing

Two Things You Can Do to Increase Your Blog Comments Today

The above are long-term techniques that can help you ensure you get more comments to your blog, but if you want some quick fixes and guarantees, here are two quick ways to increase the number of comments on your blog for the purpose of social proof.

1. Comment on Other Blogs: Look for top blogs and blogs of the same size as yours, in your niche, and try to be the first to comment. Try commenting on at least 10 blogs a day, and make sure you do it regularly. The more comments you can make on other blogs, the more people will likely comment on your own articles.

2. Reply to Every Comment: Another way to automatically double the number of comments on your blog is to reply to every single comment you get. This not only instantly doubles your comment and gives you social proof, but also encourages more people to comment since they feel like they’re being heard.

This article was written by Bamidele Onibalusi the author of  “The Writer’s Handbook-How To Write For Traffic And Money. See here to get a free copy.