What Do Comments Do For You? For Your Blog?
For some bloggers, the Feedburner chicklet is worn proudly on their blogs. It’s a way of saying how popular their blog is. I must admit, I, too, feel this way and eagerly look at the number each day to see how much it has gone up. Bad habit? I don’t know.
But how many of you feel the same way? How many of you put importance on that number and use it as an indicator as to whether you should pay attention to a blog at all?
Another indicator of a blog’s popularity, even its interactivity is in its comments. I’ve recently come across a plugin that does just that called Liz Strauss Comment Counter WordPress Plugin. I found it on The Blog Herald (great content there, btw).
It displays a chicklet much like Feedburner, but shows how many comments you have on your blog overall. For me, the subscriber count is useful because it shows how many people think a blog is worth paying attention to. But a comment counter, wow, that says something more. It tells me that someone’s home and very active.
I like active. I also like responses to my comments from the blog owner. That’s why I was co-founder of the iReply Movement last summer. So when I see a number that’s high in comments, I’m thinking that my comment will have a strong chance of being accepted by the community that’s there. It’s a win-win.
I think I may give this plugin a try. What do you think? Do you find value in such a number?
Popularity: 54% [?]
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About the Author: Mark Sierra is an online entrepreneur and web publisher. As the owner of StarFrost Media, he continues to add blogs and products to his online portfolio designed to help inform readers on software and blogging, teach them to be more productive, and even learn how to make money online.
Bruno Auger | Aug 27, 2008 | Reply
I don’t really think the plugin is necessary if you already display recent comments in your sidebar . I think all those little number counter just get silly after awhile and makes a blog look cluttered in my opinion
Bruno Augers last blog post..Home Business Ideas - Online Money Making
Mark Sierra | Aug 27, 2008 | Reply
@Bruno
Welcome to MeAndMyDrum!
Good point. The recent comments only show a small slice of the latest comments, so while it does show some interaction, it fails to show quantity which is what the plugin is designed to do. I agree with you though in that sidebars can become very cluttered if left unchecked.
Zath | Aug 28, 2008 | Reply
That’s an interesting plugin, although I don’t think I’ll be using it - I do use one that gives me lots of stats on my WP Dashboard, let me know if you’d like me to look it up for you.
Mark Sierra | Aug 28, 2008 | Reply
@Zath
I think I know the one you’re talking about, but isn’t that only for the admin and not readers?
Christine Senter | Aug 29, 2008 | Reply
I loved the iReply movement. That was a cool move.
Personally, I get so excited that I get any comments that I try to make sure that I answer all of them. I don’t always succeed, but I do try.
I usually check my feedburner stats from the site. I don’t have hundreds of subscribers, so I keep the actual numbers to myself. LOL
Great post, honey. Hope you’re doing well. Miss ya.
Christine Senters last blog post..Create Your Own Greeting Cards
Mark Sierra | Aug 29, 2008 | Reply
@Christine
Thank you, Christine! Good to see you here.
I know what you mean about getting comments. It’s like Christmas for me. LOL
Jarret | Sep 4, 2008 | Reply
I love getting comments on my blog. Obviously getting more then I have right now would be nice, but my blog is still growing and I am still working on getting my name out there and making friends.
Although lately I have been thinking of coming up with a post that could spark up some controversy as a way to get some traffic and comments.
Mark Sierra | Sep 4, 2008 | Reply
@Jarret
Patience, unfortunately, is something we need in abundance when we wait for the traffic to come in. Writing a controversial post would definitely help generate that.
Olivier @ brainwave meditation | Sep 7, 2008 | Reply
I also think that comment numbers are a great metric. Hopefully people commenting will also subscribe and come back later (or am I a bit optimistic there?)
Mark Sierra | Sep 7, 2008 | Reply
@Olivier
Oh absolutely! The whole concept behind subscribing is communication — the author sending a message to the reader. It’s human nature to engage in the discussion, you’re just giving that reader one more reason to join in.
Normal Joe | Sep 8, 2008 | Reply
Yeah…I think comments really show the life of the blog more than rss. How many rss feeds do you have that you don’t even check often? But just haven’t deleted lol.
I want a community, so active comments from the friends are better than rss any day! Unfortunately, many in the blogsphere equate rss with success so it’s still a good metric.
That’s a slick chicklet, not sure I’d use it, but the concept is cool.
SuiteJ | Sep 10, 2008 | Reply
I wet my pants every time my feedburner stats show one more digit. I’m working on getting help for that right now.
You can imagine what comments do to me
Jay
Mark Sierra | Sep 10, 2008 | Reply
@SuiteJ
I know what you mean, that’s why use the WP-Underwear plugin. It works like pingbacks in that when you get a comment, someone delivers a fresh pair of underwear (boxers or briefs — a simple configuration) right to your doorstep. It has saved me from many embarrassing moments!
BigPappa | Sep 12, 2008 | Reply
When I don’ get any comments, I feel like something is wrong. When a post gets 30+ comments is seems like it was a pretty good post. However I am not to terribly controversial, so there isn’t a lot I do that stirs up the hornet’s nest.
Mark Sierra | Sep 12, 2008 | Reply
@BigPappa
I feel the same way. Comments are like the equivalent to applause in a theater
megan fox | Sep 19, 2008 | Reply
I find that comments are a measure of good content. Hits are one thing but if people aren’t willing to sit down and read the content then what good is it. it takes time to read and make a comment so it shows you have good retention rates on your site.
megan foxs last blog post..Megan Fox at FOX All-Star Party
Mark Sierra | Sep 19, 2008 | Reply
@Megan
Welcome to MeAndMyDrum! I’m glad you agree.
Garry Conn | Sep 29, 2008 | Reply
I think my blog has around 23,000 comments on it. This looks like a really neat little plugin, I may too give it a try. Thanks for writing about it Mark.
Garry Conns last blog post..Make Money Online With A Concrete Curbing Niche Blog
Mark Sierra | Sep 30, 2008 | Reply
@Garry
Hey man, good to see you here! I see that you’ve already installed this thing on your blog. I’m glad you found this interesting enough to decide to use it.
James Spinosa | Oct 10, 2008 | Reply
I am a huge fan of my own feedburner chicklet, my blog is relatively new, approximately 2 weeks old, and to see numbers nearing 50 already make me quite happy. Typically I don’t pay too much attention to the little widget considering I have seen quite a few blogs with a simple .gif to lie about their subscriber base. I see yours is progressing nicely though, here’s to your success!
-James
James Spinosas last blog post..15 Ways to Decrease Your Visitor Base
Bobby Revell | Oct 13, 2008 | Reply
Hi Mark! I’ve been using this plugin since it was created. Many blogs get tons of comments but it really doesn’t mean anything. A blog can suck and have irrelevant drivel for content and still get thousands of comments (like John Chow) hahahahaha
Mark Sierra | Oct 13, 2008 | Reply
Hi Bobby! Good to see you here. How have you been?
Clindy | Oct 20, 2008 | Reply
That’s an interesting plugin, although I don’t think I’ll be using it - I do use one that gives me lots of stats on my WP Dashboard, let me know if you’d like me to look it up for you.
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Mark Sierra | Oct 23, 2008 | Reply
Hi Clindy, thanks for taking the time to comment.
Aaron Cook | Oct 24, 2008 | Reply
Hey buddy! I agree that comment numbers can be representative of a blog’s heartbeat, so to say. But it’s just one measure of it. Lots of comments doesn’t necessarily mean good content, just as a lack of comments doesn’t necessarily mean bad content.
I know plenty of blogs that are quite successful and full of excellent content, but they don’t get many comments at all. It all comes down to demographics and the readers themselves really. Some blogs’ readers are very busy in life and rarely take the time to comment. And many times, these readers are not bloggers themselves. -This has a direct effect on comment activity.
For the most part, when a blog’s readership consists primarily of other bloggers, you’ll find that there are more comments and more interaction…because bloggers themselves have embraced the comment culture, whereas, general readers haven’t. They simply read and move on. Like I said, much of it comes down to demographics.
Personally, I don’t take comment activity into account when I read a blog. If the content is good, I read. It it’s not, I move on. Doesn’t matter how many or how few comments I see when I’m there. To me, it’s just like choosing to ignore a book or a movie just because the “sheeple” didn’t flock to it. Not my style.
Anyway, excellent post, my friend. Hope all is well.
Aaron Cooks last blog post..Hump Day Humor - Bailout Thoughts From Shitcat and Friends
Mark Sierra | Oct 24, 2008 | Reply
Well if it isn’t Aaron Cook! How ya doin’? Very true, just one component of an overall calculation. Thanks for stopping by.
Wholesale | Oct 29, 2008 | Reply
I’ve stumbled upon many worth reading blogs that don’t display any figure on how many readers they have. I don’t think it is fair to judge a blog’s worthiness based on the number of its readers. The last judge is the first time reader of the blog.
Mark Sierra | Oct 29, 2008 | Reply
@Wholesale
I think you may have missed the point. True, a blog’s worth should not be based solely on the number of comments. However, it can be used as a good measure to indicate just how active its community is.
Phao Loo | Nov 3, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for you ideas about commenting on other blogs. Search Engines always change their algorithm. And after apply a new algorithm, there will be winners and losers. I believe another source of traffic is more stable: relative.
Yep, commenting on other blogs is the best way to make new friends, to find more ideas for writing posts.
Phao Loos last blog post..Use IE Tab Addon To Use Multiple Gmail At The Same Time
TheMoneyac | Nov 4, 2008 | Reply
I think these kind of tools are very useful. I mean, you’ll make more subscribers/comments or whatever by doing this. People are sheep, they will go if they see that someone has already done it. I mean if the RSS subscriber count would show 0, I bet my ass that people won’t sign up to it, because they see the number of zero, and they will think “oh shit, nobody has subscribed, there must be something wrong with this blog, I’m leaving”. But if there are for example already 1k subscribers then people will think “Oh yeah, 1k already ! There must be something useful on this blog, I’ll sign up right away”.
That’s why I advice to show only the count of subscribers or whatever if you have a decent amount of them.
Cheers,
TheMoneyac
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