The first rule of getting noticed online appears to be “go comment on a lot of blogs.”
I’ve been trying to increase my online presence this December, so I have been reading all the suggestions that I can find.
Each blogger has a slightly different take on the grand enterprise, but they all agree: comment on related blogs as if you were voting in Chicago: early and often.
Blog comments serve two purposes.
First, for those blogs that allow the links to be followed by search engines, you get credit for links back to your site. This is actually a complicated topic, and I encourage you to learn more over at Jim’s Marketing Blog.
The second benefit is for actual human beings to read your comment and follow that comment back to your (presumably) blog.
That makes sense. Web 2.0 is about the conversation, after all. So I’ve read a lot of blog posts in the past month. And I’ve left a whopping five or six comments. Not a day, total. If you’re to believe all of the advice, then I should have been posting that many before lunch.
But I just haven’t had that much to say. And it just seemed dumb to go spouting “I agree. You’re brilliant” on a bunch of blogs. It seemed like comment spam.
Then this morning, Twitter pointed me to a post titled, “Are You Commenting for Traffic or Relationships?” by Kimberlee Ferrell on Remarkablogger.com.
Ferrell did write an excellent post (no false comment praise here), and it coalesced my thoughts far better than my own mind had accomplished.
So what is the point of commenting? To engage other members of the blogging community. You are building relationships: with the owner of the blog, with the other commenters, and with the other readers of the blog. You are working on the social side of social media. You are establishing yourself as part of the online community.
Web 2.0 must be foremost about conversations. If we’re not interacting — with multiple iterations — then Web 2.0 is merely an illusion. Without genuine conversation, even powerful bloggers are nothing more than traditional media outlets with small audiences.
And my way hasn’t been especially fruitful in driving traffic to this blog (yet?), but I have made one really solid connection that will be intellectually fruitful, and I have arranged two interviews for my 5 Questions feature.
So my ROI exceeds my expectations. I’ve forged new relationships.
But, you see, the thing is, this should not have been news. We got so busy being social that we, perhaps, forgot to be human.
When is it not the case that you should only say meaningful things? Why speak for no reason?
A friend and former co-worker of mine once quipped, “advertising ethics means never telling a lie you don’t have to.”
It’s funny because we’re all familiar with puffery, bait-and-switch, and other less-than-noble practices in this industry.
But more than the George Washington-like notion of not lying, we should reaffirm our commitment to not speaking just to hear ourselves talk.
Practitioners in advertising and public relations work to craft a brand. If you’re online in any professional sense, then you represent your brand.
And whether it’s McDonald’s, Apple, or you, you need to understand your brand. Who are you? What is your personality? Even if you know, take a moment to refresh you memory. It never hurts to be reminded.
And once you know, then make sure that everything you say is on message. Reinforce rather than dilute your brand.
Now, let me backtrack a bit and say that’s not nearly as boardroom MBA jargon-speak as it sounds.
I’m just saying: Be true to yourself. Even if you’re invading social media only to make a quick buck, you’ll do so more quickly with sincere relationships more quickly than fleeting ones.
But hopefully you do value relationships more than receipts!
And although initial hits might not skyrocket the way that you’d hope, those who follow links from diligent, relevant comments are precisely those visitors likely to return.
And long-term success demands repeat visitors.
And this is about relationships. A basic human tendency.
This is simply basic communication science for any brand: even if it’s Brand You.
Photo credit: iStockPhoto.com, Nikolay Kropachev.
I'm a cognitive scientist and communication scholar who manages a psychophysiology lab at Texas Tech. I teach courses about the cognitive processing of media messages and research methods.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Sam,
I agree, it shouldn’t have been news. Yet how many times per day do you see flashy ads and sales pages promising thousands of visitors and millions of dollars, if you only buy whatever they are selling? So many people have lost track of what is important: people.
People want an instant ROI, and commenting doesn’t often bring immediate or direct results. Yet if you are persistent and consistent in building your brand and being sincere with people, the results will come. Web 2.0 does not often bring immediate gratification.
I recently wrote an e-book on how to build sincere online communities, without the fluff and hard sells. As a community, we need to regain our focus on relationships, not statistics.
Excellent post! Thanks for sharing this with the community.
Kimberlee Ferrell
Thanks, Kimberlee. I appreciate the comment.
And I went back and added a sentence. Upon rereading it, that “news” line could have come across the wrong way. I hope I cleared that up.
It is simply amazing how much traffic I get on Twitter about lists of how to drive more traffic.
And so few of them are right-minded the way that you are.
Meaningful relationships.
Meaningful content.
How can that go wrong?
I agree. You’re brilliant.
Great post Sam. I’m glad I stumbled across your work, I’ve enjoyed reading your thoughts.
Tim L. stole my thunder.
Glad my close friends are still witty as every.
And glad to see you online Watty! Hope Sacramento is treating you well.
I was going to write what Tim wrote, “I agree You’re brilliant.”
I see and read my fill of online content and I do include remarks on some blogs and it is sometimes nothing more than a “that a boy”. I agree it is not an engaging lead in to a real conversation but it is feedback and is a readers quickest way to say “Thanks for your effort.” Isn’t better than to just be a nameless hit on an analytics program? Doesn’t a blogger enjoy a little feedback? If every blog post attracted 40 engaging comments, would this be a blessing or a headache for the blogger if the readers are expecting answers, feedback and engaging commentary? It is without a doubt the problem a blogger wants to have.
I think your point is not about too many great comments, but rather to not spread comment spam and smear your brand. Did I mention that I agree. You’re brilliant
But, if I like a blog, I see nothing brand smearing about a short comment saying, Thanks.