UPDATE: 9/19/09 ProBlogger Guest post I Came, I Saw, I Commented: Was It Worth It by Josh Hanagarne – The World’s Strongest Librarian – provides this additional confirmation that commenting does indeed work. He gives these stats:
The numbers after commenting:
- A 100% increase on RSS subscribers (160-320)
- Over 40 newsletter subscriptions
- A second traffic spike due to people returning to answer my comment on their own blogs
Note that HIS strategy was commenting on the blogs of those who commented on his previous ProBlogger guest post. Imagine what could happen if he had used the additional strategy explained below. Maybe he’ll read this, try it out, and let us know what additional growth his blog sees from it.
UPDATE: 3/23/09 I thought some might be interested to know that the Google Analytics default view (which compares the most recent 30 days to the previous 30 days) now shows traffic is now up 76.63%. This traffic is almost exactly evenly split with one third coming from Direct, one-third from search engines, and one-third from referring sites.
Want proof this strategy works for others too? Check out these two Tweets I received today (Mar 23, 2009):
PaulHassing@GrowMap Thank YOU! Yesterday my site traffic was double what it was last Monday. All I did differently was follow your advice. Great stuff!
PaulHassing@GrowMap It’s nice (& rare) to see an approach which is ethical & practical having an effect. For once, good guys don’t finish last! 
ORIGINAL POST BELOW
What if there were a simply action you could take whenever you have a few minutes that would benefit the other blogs you visit and increase your own blog traffic too? Would you be interested enough to act on it and see if it works for you too?
Here is the step-by-step method responsible for the increase in traffic here:
- Visit your favorite blog, preferably a dofollow CommentLuv blog.
- Leave a high quality comment.
- If the blog uses CommentLuv select the most relevant post to share or a post you wish to promote.
- In a CommentLuv blog you can leave two links in a comment by changing the primary link JUST BEFORE you click submit. When you’re ready to send the comment paste the other link into the box and immediately send the comment BEFORE the CommentLuv system loses your selected post.
- AFTER you’ve left your comment share the post at Twitter, FriendFeed, cliKball, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us or on any other favorite Social Networking site or reader.
- When sharing use an excerpt, image and title illustrating what YOU feel is the most pertinent information in the post. This will increase the number of new visitors the post will receive – and the number of readers who may read your comment or be interested in your featured post.
- I often also share the best comment(s) or additional thoughts at cliKball and FriendFeed.
We all have limited time and the same number of hours in any day so maximizing the return on how we spend that time is critical to our success. If you already have quality content on your blog and a recent post worth sharing it is time to focus on getting quality backlinks from commenting to greatly increase your traffic.
NEW: If you don’t fully understand how CommentLuv works or haven’t registered your blog take the time to read this excellent post with screen shots on How CommentLuv works and the benefits of registering your site.
Combine our strategy above with the one from that last link to Peter Lee’s Work from Home blog and your time is guaranteed to generate incoming links, better search engine placement, higher visibility and more traffic to your blog.
For a more advanced strategy read How I Doubled the Pageviews of my Blog in Two Week – That post opens in a new window to make sure that BEFORE you do that you START immediately increasing your own traffic here:
The best way to learn something is to do enough of it that you will remember how and it will become a habit. The great thing about this strategy is that you can easily get started RIGHT NOW:
- Just leave a comment in this post; the early commentators get the most exposure so go ahead and leave it now. It won’t take that long since you’re already here.
- Be sure to include a link to your blog post. Make it your most recent post, the most related post, one you want to promote most OR one that your readers like best.
- If you have a Twitter account here is an easy way: Just click this Tweet This!
- Then share it in your other Social Networking accounts and share it in your reader. The more you share the more it benefits you and everyone else.
- BONUS VISITORS: If you want even more traffic publish your results and link to this post. We’ll find your new post, leave our own comments, and share it at Twitter, FriendFeed and cliKball.
BLOG COMMENTING:
- NEW: Internet Marketing Blog of Vance Sova – Increase Blog Traffic Using Blog Comments
- NEW: Social Media Training blog Velvet Connect – (Keith Jenkins) – Boost Your Reader Base by Commenting
- WordPress How To Spotter (TheSpotter) 3 Reasons Why Blog Commenting is Important
- FMS SEO Company – (Follow Karl)(Follow Kelly) – Blog Commenting for Traffic Generation
- ExtremeJohn - (Twitter) – 16 Reasons Commenting on Your Blog Sucks
- OES tsetnoc – (Twitter) – Blog Commenting – High PageRank
DoFollow CommentLuv KeywordLuv Blogs With Comments Moderated by GrowMap
I approve more comments to support small businesses, good causes and bloggers than most bloggers so being active in our blogs is to your benefit. They are all 100% dofollow from the first comment and have both CommentLuv and KeywordLuv installed:
- GrowMap (This blog) – Internet Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Blogging, Supporting Small Businesses, Local Search. See Best of GrowMap.
- GoodMillwork – Wood Products Manufacturer of architectural moldings including crown moldings, door and window trim, baseboard, chair rail, wood siding, exterior shutters. They can match any existing woodwork of any age for historical restorations, sell rare woods including cypress and genuine mahogany and mill mahogany moldings and ecofriendly TimberSIL.
- ExecGiftsBlog Personalized Gifts ~ Gift Affiliate Program ~ Wedding Store
- NoBogies Golf Store and Blog
- GrokHorses Horse Information Blog
- PSPLiving Living Healthier
{ 127 comments }
Next Comments →
Great Article good work
I´ve not yet thought about the metioned ways to improve traffic – but it sounds more than logic to do so.
yes Good post , Posting on Blogs and participating in communities is a good way to increase the traffic
Twitter: lhrowley
March 18, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Twitter: @lhrowley
Great tips for increasing blog traffic! An increase of over 50% in a month is quite impressive indeed.
Thank you very much for stopping by and commenting on my blog. After seeing your posts here, I think I have as much to learn from you as you do from me!
Adding your blog to my favorites until I get a minute to sign up for FriendFeed.
To Your Success,
Lee
Lee, Blogger’s Workshop’s last blog post..What’s All The Noise About “Affiliate Theme”?
Twitter: DennisEdell
March 18, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Twitter: @DennisEdell
“The way I understand it, if you use All-In-One-SEO your category pages are not indexed so you want to link to either posts or your main page but NOT your category pages.”
That’s up to the individual. Within the AIO plugin settings page is a tick box to choose if you want categories indexed or not.
“It would make sense to use a category link with appropriate anchor text IF those pages were indexed.”
This depends on why you’re linking. If it’s strictly for SEO purposes, then maybe. However if you’re say, interlinking within your blog for user navigation purposes (as a blogger should) then indexing makes no nevermind.
In regards to keywordluv – the purpose of the plugin is to use name@keyword and it links the keyword. What aggravates bloggers the most is when they DO use the plugin and commenters STILL don’t use a name first….that’s the rudest of all.
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..Do You Accept Guest Posts? Get Your Name On The List
I’m back on my pc now so no auto capitalized text!
The reason I delete comments that use the URL to deep link to an article on their site is because the site url field (to me at least) is for linking to the site of the comment author, if there’s something special the author wants to link to then it should be within the comment itself or as part of the commentluv link.
If it can’t be part of the comment then it isn’t relevant to the page that’s being commented on which changes the motivation for adding the comment to “what can I get for commenting here?” instead of “what can I add to the discussion here?”
I don’t use deep links in the url field myself because what happens if the link gets visited and they don’t like the article? that’s their full impression of your site, one article.
If you link to the root of your site then the visitor can see the whole blog and make an opinion from a bigger picture. Sure, I know a visitor could do that from a deep link but in my experience, a deep link is usually combined with a non value adding comment or insincere “well done” or “great site” or something that shows the comment author only scanned the article because they’re in a hurry to add their link to as many posts with their chosen keyword as possible.
I guess I’m old fashioned! (or have been poisoned from too many spam comments in my years of blogging!)
Andy Bailey’s last blog post..A minor update on the way for WP CommentLuv
Twitter: GrowMap
March 17, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Dennis Thank you for the link and the headsup to rescue it from Akismet.The information in that article makes perfect sense so perhaps we should always be using posts instead of our main page.
Here’s one more wrinkle: The way I understand it, if you use All-In-One-SEO your category pages are not indexed so you want to link to either posts or your main page but NOT your category pages.
It would make sense to use a category link with appropriate anchor text IF those pages were indexed. I just tried to find the most distinctive of my categories and don’t see it so I believe they are NOT listed.
So, it makes the most sense to start targeting a specific keyword phrase as anchor text in KeyWordLuv blogs and select a representative post to link to it.
One thing that I have never understood is why blogs install dofollow and KeywordLuv but object to their commentators using keywords and pages in a way that most benefits them.
Why NOT let them? What are the specific objections or reasons not to do so? I can not think of any.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..Making Money with Your Blog – Part 2 – Evaluating Affiliate Programs
Twitter: DennisEdell
March 17, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Twitter: @DennisEdell
A bit contradictory Andy, deeplinking the URL is the discussion…isn’t it?
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..Do You Charge For Blog Reviews?
Twitter: DennisEdell
March 17, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Twitter: @DennisEdell
Check spam, I just posted an article link.
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..Do You Charge For Blog Reviews?
Twitter: DennisEdell
March 17, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Twitter: @DennisEdell
A very very good article from an exceptional marketer –
http://www.clicknewz.com/1427/stop-linking-to-your-home-page/
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..Do You Charge For Blog Reviews?
Twitter: blogaboutnothin
March 17, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Twitter: @blogaboutnothin
This is a brilliant idea! I am always finding new ways to increase traffic. I might not get an increase of 50%, but 10-20% is still a great boost. Thanks for the post!
Kai Lo’s last blog post..Google Pagerank 0
Twitter: GrowMap
March 17, 2009 at 11:39 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Andy Thank you for commenting, Andy. Could you share with us WHY you “always delete comments that use a deep link in the URL field!”? Are you assuming anyone who links to a specific page is selling something or ?
To make it easier for others to see what we’re talking about, here are some examples of comments where I have used a specific page (the comment usually indicates WHY):
http://www.growmap.com/super-friendfeed-users/#comment-2826
Reply to @Chad: Currently the last comment on the page
http://www.untwistedvortex.com/2009/03/16/what-kind-of-washing-machine-is-this/#comments – Linked to Local Listing Directories
What does anyone else think? If you object to deep linking in the URL field could you tell us WHY? I do make an effort to remember and conform to any special comment policies or preferences held by any blogs I frequent.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..Blog Traffic Up 54.87% in the Last 30 Days: Our Proven Traffic Improvement Strategy
Twitter: GrowMap
March 17, 2009 at 9:47 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
UPDATE: Andy sent me a DM at Twitter that he is away from his computer until tomorrow.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..Don’t Make ANY Changes Based on Web Analytics Until You READ THIS FIRST
Oh sweet commentluv works when I comment on my blackberry!
The method that you describe here is not frowned upon, as Dennis says,
I told him how to do this from a long time ago and its something you’ll be
Able to do as part of the new plugin, you’ll be able to register
More than one site per account and have a selection of posts from
Each one get returned. There will even be an option to add a specific anchor text
With link to be returned as well as your event diggs
Or stumbleupons or tweets!
That being said though, I always delete comments that use a deep link
In the URL field !
Andy Bailey’s last blog post..A minor update on the way for WP CommentLuv
Twitter: GrowMap
March 16, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Dennis That is good to know. It seemed logical to me and that tip was not the primary strategy in the post; just something I added that I believe I have mentioned in the past.
@JR Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this too. Although the search engines may see links to posts as somewhat different than links to the main page of a blog I don’t know of any reason it would make a difference to any bloggers.
I have seen one blog that prohibits deep linking and only allows links to the main page of a blog. They did not give any reason and I don’t know why they would care.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..REVIEW: Mastering Google Analytics – Easy to Understand FREE eCourse
Twitter: imstrategies
March 16, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Twitter: @imstrategies
I too do not see this as a big issue, the blog that has Comment Luv expects the name link and the post link, so what difference does the target make, none at all, not to me and I have comment luv on my blog as well.
JR’s last blog post..Google Adsense Privacy Policy Update Deadline
Twitter: DennisEdell
March 16, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Twitter: @DennisEdell
No worries Grow. Ironically i sent an eail to Andy quite a while back specifically ASKING him, “how do I insert a deep-link into the URL field and still get commentluv to display the latest post” because sometimes it screws up.
Since he replied with the exact requirements that have to be in place, he has absolutely no issues with it.
And neither should any sane blogger – especially if at least one of the two links is relevant to the post being commented on. For that too be the homepage, would be quite coincidental, wouldn’t you say?
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..Do You Charge For Blog Reviews?
Twitter: GrowMap
March 16, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Boris I sent a DM to Andy at Twitter asking for his opinion. Hopefully he will have the time to read and understand what I’ve suggested and any concerns you or anyone else may have regarding changing the other link.
I do hope you will come back and share what specific objections you have to offering another link instead of the home page. Perhaps I have missed a downside to this idea and if so I sincerely do wish to know what it is. Did you think I was suggesting some clandestine way to add an EXTRA link to a comment?
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..Are You Missing the Conversations Because You Only Read Blogs in RSS Readers?
Twitter: GrowMap
March 16, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Boris I don’t know Andy would mind but I can run it by him. There already are two links when we make comments in blogs using CommentLuv. All I’m doing is changing one of them from a link to the main page to a link to another post.
Why would a blog be angered? I usually do this in order to share an older blog post that is more relevant to their current post.
I’m not saying that which link you use increases traffic. It probably has minimal if any effect. It is commenting and then SHARING the posts of other bloggers that causes the increase because it sends THEIR post more traffic and the comment provides an opportunity for anyone reading it to consider visiting this blog too.
Perhaps you (or other bloggers) can elaborate more on why you feel this would be a negative issue or suggest any reasons sharing another link instead of a home link would be a bad thing to do.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..Making Money with Your Blog – Part 2 – Evaluating Affiliate Programs
I hate to rain about the parade here I could not help but wonder how long will it take before Andy Bailey catches onto what is being suggested. I would think that he might eventually take action against blogs that are using this technique or tweak the plugin so this doesn’t occur
Also do you really want to anger the Comment Luv blogs when the discover what you are doing? I use Comment Luv and I moderate my comments. If I saw this once I would likely just delete one link. If it happened a second time I would likely have thought it a bug in the plugin and contacted Andy.
Now, having said all of that I admire the cleverness, but is being clever the best option to increase blog traffic? I have used Comment Luv Blogs for a specific marketing campaign and I got similar increased traffic results without using this method. Those results were because I took the time to leave useful comments and because of Comment Luv providing a link to a targeted blog post.
Do we really wanted to be supporting actions that may cause blogs to remove this plugin?
I like your blog a lot and I have recommended it often and it has sent you a fair amount of traffic. However, based on this post I am seriously considering removing all references to your blog from ours.
Just because you can get away with something does it mean that you should? Also in closing I can not express how disappointed that I am to see this appear on your blog!
Boris’s last blog post..The 109 Day Link Building Explosion Day 73
Twitter: GrowMap
March 16, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
@John Those who use CommentLuv tend to be far more likely to comment – and since they are dofollow blogs those who participate also get SEO benefits.
Google Reader is a very popular place to read and then share blogs so they send most bloggers quite a bit of traffic. FriendFeed and StumbleUpon can too – sometimes. You either get a little traffic or a WHOLE LOT of traffic.
I once did a post about Paying it Forward on how one message, comment, or post can spread across the Internet.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..Making Money with Your Blog – Part 2 – Evaluating Affiliate Programs
I’ve never specifically targeted CommentLuv blogs, although I do have a preference for Disqus blogs because the comments themselves help to promote both your comment itself and the post by the original poster. I will need to check into CommentLuv a bit more.
I tend to share posts via Google Reader, provided they show up within my feeds, but also use FriendFeed itself, StumbleUpon, and other sharing facilities. (My own posts end up on FriendFeed, and from there to Twitter, and sometimes to other places.)
Thanks for the tips.
John Bredehoft’s last blog post..Facebook censoring mentions of Twitter? I doubt it.
Twitter: GrowMap
March 16, 2009 at 11:02 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Peter Lee Thank YOU for coming by and commenting. Whenever I visit your blog I share at least one of your posts at Twitter, FriendFeed and cliKball. Whenever you see new comments from me look for added traffic from those sources.
Adding two links is something I first started doing when I wanted to share a highly relevant post that was not one of my last ten – so CommentLuv wouldn’t allow me to select it.
The key is switching the primary link immediately before you submit the comment. You can’t give the CommentLuv system time to check it before you submit it.
Leaving two links allows you to share one that is most relevant to that post plus the one you most want new potential visitors to see. We always leave two links as the primary link is whatever you use for CommentLuv (usually your blog home page). All I’m doing is switching that link to a specific post.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..REVIEW: Mastering Google Analytics – Easy to Understand FREE eCourse
Twitter: peterleehc
March 16, 2009 at 8:22 am
Twitter: @peterleehc
Thanks for the mention again. Leaving 2 links in a CommentLuv blog is something new to me. Quite clever. Thanks for sharing it.
Peter Lee
Work At Home Blog’s last blog post..Make Clickbank Your Alternative To Google Adsense
Cool, I never knew how to change my post with Comment Luv, appreciate that info and this whole post. You have so much great information on your blog. I think networking with other bloggers is a great way to get traffic and build relations in the blogosphere.
Thanks,
Ann
Work From Home’s last blog post..Work From Home Jobs and Staying Productive and Disciplined
Next Comments →
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 6 trackbacks }