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If you take a look at a lot of my articles, especially those that I published late 2009, you’ll find a bunch with close to the 100 comment stratosphere. However, it wasn’t until this week that the barrier was broken. My 10 FREE killer themes of 2009 is actually at 102 comments as of this writing.
And I’m talking legit comments, regardless of whether they’re from visitors you’ve never met before, your friends, or yourself. For the most part, cut out the spam and you’re good. For me, I typically respond to 30%-40% of comments. So when I broke the 100 comment mark on this article, I recounted those from yours truly. Out of the 102 comments for that post, 25 were mine and 77 were from others, which means I responded to just under a third of them.
The point is, exceeding the 100 comment milestone legitimately takes a lot more than elbow grease and dumb luck. Here are my takeaways:
What I learned from a 100 comment article
- Partnering with others helps. (That post was part of a writing project from another site.)
- Give people what they want. That means writing an article that actually provides value.
- The title should compel people to read on.
- Lists posts kick butt.
- Making the site DoFollow will bring more comments even though you might get a bit more spam to clean up.
- Hit hard, hit fast. Keeping articles short allows visitors to stay focused and not be bored before they reach the comment area.
- Asking a question at the end of an article steers people to the type of comment you’re looking for.
- When people take the time to write a comment that is useful and relevant, taking the time to respond makes total sense.
Obviously, I’ve already known most of these. However, seeing the results of the successful, aforementioned article certainly reinforces my thinking.
What’s your highest commented article to date?
