Every blogger has to deal with the issue of SPAMMY comments – and the spammers are getting more and more creative in what they leave. The challenge, though, is knowing when someone is just not very experienced at leaving real comments and when they’re only after some link love. While I do try to err in favor of those who just aren’t very good at commenting, we are deleting more and more borderline comments.
Are YOUR comments SPAMMY? Do they contribute to the discussion or are they only intended to provide a backlink?
Here are some very recent examples to help you understand when comments are NOT valuable and are VERY LIKELY to be deleted:
- Super-Duper site! I am loving it!! Will come back again – taking you feeds also, Thanks.
- amazing stuff thanx
- Interesting article, i have bookmarked your blog for future referrence [sic]
- I’ve been having a problem with this for a while now. I just can’t seem to figure it out
- Interessante Informationen
While every blogger might appreciate sincere compliments, the above are simply too vague and too generic to be of any value. If your comments are sincere I would love to keep them – but really now – how am I to know when they’re as vague as these?
Over time there have been batches of “I can’t figure out how to subscribe to your feed” and “I’ve bookmarked you” which are obviously SPAM. The way we know this is that they’ve already been reported by other bloggers or the same SPAMMY comment appears more than once in a single blog on multiple posts.
Sometimes the SPAM is very well written:
Hey all, sorry if this is in the wrong place. First time poster, long-time lurker. I’m a big fan of this community and found something I wanted to share. I’m really into vintage guitars, I have a small collection of my own, and this site has been a really cool resource for me.
It is a collection of a bunch of really good deals on some really sweet Vintage Guitars. It updates pretty much daily with a new list of good deals and things that look interesting. Check it out, let me know what you think. RockinMusicDeals.com
The above comment would be better in a blog about music or guitars, but it would STILL be a commercial and likely to be deleted. It starts out with a probable lie and has nothing to do with the post where it was left. Want more proof that it is SPAM? Search on the last line and today those two exact sentences are listed in Google 104 times.
There is nothing wrong with making a comment ABOUT A BLOG POST HERE that LINKS to the Vintage Guitars – or any other site. Those types of comments are welcome. We’re even using KeywordLuv so you can add your own anchor text. You won’t see the comment above HERE because we deleted it.
[Note: We now use CommentLuv Premium that has keywords built in - you can use either free CommentLuv and KeywordLuv OR CommentLuv Premium.]
Here is another:
Hello there… I’ve been hanging out in these forums for a while as a guest and finally got around to registering. Thumbs up to whoever runs this place. Seriously, I love the contribution of this community. I thought I’d do some contributing of my own and pimp a ringtone and free SMS site that my friend just sent me.
The last month I’ve been using TheCellFreak.com. This site allows me to send totally free sms worldwide, which is cool because I like finding these free gifts over the web. Plus I can have free ringtones and graphics via SMS to any cellphone worldwide – for free. No hidden costs, popups or nags.
Hope to contribute more useful links like this one. Cheers, and btw: some of the posts here are really funny: lol!
This one is obviously SPAM for many reasons. That this site is not a forum ad we don’t require registration make it obvious this is not a real comment. The extra link within the text is another. This SPAMMER wasn’t nearly as successful as the first. There are only three listings in Google so far when I searched on “pimp a ringtone and free SMS”.
[TIP: Select the most distinctive phrase to get the most accurate results when searching for SPAM comments.]
Here is a much tougher one. The text is still too generic and the commentator left an extra link. They also submitted this comment twice. There are no listings in Google for this comment so far though. What do you think? Real or SPAM?
I really liked your blog! You have some great content. Check out my blog, I just added my new post about Using Plr articles for fresh content. Let me know what you think
http://blogging-to-make-money.com/private-label-rights-products-how-to-use-plr-products-to-boost-your-profits/
The blogger leaving this last comment has a blog that is related to our content. It would be a good idea for them to take the time to write better comments here and use that link as the URL of the comment instead of including it in the text.
Would you approve this last comment, mark it as SPAM, or simply delete it?
[NOTE: Akismet flags comments that include extra links and many people find links - especially really long links - SPAMMY.]
Here are some tips for quality comments that are far more likely to be approved and lead new readers to your blog:
- Akismet traps short comments so make your comments at least a couple of sentences long.
- Say something specific about the post that you’re leaving the comment in so the person reviewing it knows without a doubt that it is a REAL comment. Comments should NOT be advertisements or only to invite readers to visit you. FIRST they should be comments; THEN you can add a SHORT blurb mentioning your own site.
- In blogs that use KeywordLuv use that feature to create anchor text.
- Consider joining CommentLuv so you can select the most relevant of your last ten posts to link to your comment.
- Whether you have CommentLuv or not, you CAN link to a specific post instead of your home page if you wish by using that link in your comment.
- Those using CommentLuv can leave TWO links by first entering their main page and then changing it AFTER they select their post using CommentLuv.
- If you leave any additional links in the body of your comment it is almost sure to be moderated so do NOT leave your standard links in the text. Only leave links in the body of your comment if you feel an additional link is relevant and will be approved. You might consider leaving one comment that mentions another link and then adding the link in a second comment. That way your first comment will go live and the blog has the option to approve the second link – or not – and you will still have a quality comment there.
Be sure to check comment policies BEFORE you leave comments. There are blogs I avoid commenting in because their policies are overly restrictive. Some don’t provide any links at all. One forbids linking to specific posts and others insist on “real” names (as though they could verify them anyway). Since we all have limited time why not focus our efforts in blogs that appreciate our participation?
And when we do, don’t make the poor blogger think long and hard trying to figure out whether our comments is sincere and real. Even if weak or spammy comments are approved, they affect your reputation so only leave quality comments.
Comments are NOT just links back to your site. They are indicators of the quality of your writing. The better your comments the more likely readers are to visit you!
Trade-Show-Guru has an entertaining comment policy worth reading. Even though officially he requires “real names” I’m hoping he’ll grant me a Friends of the Guru exception and let me call myself Internet Strategist as I do everywhere I travel online – or at least GrowMap which I use in blogs where they consider Internet Strategist too much like a keyword phrase.
Most Bloggers Love Comments But Not THOSE Comments is another humorous comment policy page worth reading. It gives some great ideas on what makes a good comment while being funny too.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
ANCHOR TEXT:
USING KEYWORDLUV:
- How Does KeywordLuv Work?
- How WordPress Plugin KeywordLuv Rewards Your Commentators
- Target Your Keywords in Backlinks from KeyWordLuv Using DoFollow Blogs
ATTRACTING QUALITY COMMENTS:
- Like Bees to Honey: Attracting Quality Comments to Your Blog
- Do DoFollow Blogs Need a Stricter Comment Policy?
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I bet that it’s quite hard to keep up with spammers, specially when you have a dofollow blog!
While I’m here for a backlink
, I don’t consider myself a spammer. I always try my best at contributing to the discussion.
BTW, I find Akismet to be a great tool for battling comment spam.
It is indeed irritating when someone writes something completely different from the subject of the post. I was recently reading a post about a dog behavior and there was a comment about software. It was clearly out of place and didn’t relate to the post at all and I don’t know how it got through. That was obviously a spam, but there were many like : great advice , nice tips and I think they were genuine, so I think each case is individual. In any case I will try to get your advice on board. Thanks.
.-= Maria@natural balance dog food´s last blog .. =-.
I disagree with you about probelm with spam in comments. Yes, there are people who live comment to get a link, but if the comments adds value to your post, why not to allow the user to get a link?! They deserve it for their efforts and for making your blog a friendly place, don’t they?!
If you want to fight spam – you simple install an anti-spam plugin. I use askimet and so far it works perfectrly for me. There are other good plugin outthere that do the same job.
So my point it – by fighting with spam in comments you show mistrust to your audience and thus miss a great number of readers that you could have otherwise.
Also be aware that that linking out to topical resources does your site GOOD (!) in terms of rankings, so not only your readers benefit from the links, but you yourself benefit TWICE – by acquiring more loyal readers and improving your rankings.
Whoa cool, and yes it does depend on the blog owner mood greatly and what kind of comments he likes, if he is in a mood for “spam deletion” then its gonna be deleted even if its a great comment
I personally have noticed this with some of my friends that are bloggers too… So you also have to have some luck i guess…
Twitter: bali villa
September 10, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Twitter: @bali villa
thanks for the tips but i think it also depending on the blog owner mood…
It’s a nice and consultative article. Things are configured fit. Get to know couple of abstraction which were unknown to me. It’s real one of the most reformatory article I ever show. Thanks for to share looking more from you. I bookmarked this article as compartment for to get service from it in next.
it’s really disappointing when someone leaves a comment on your site that is not appropriate on the blog or topic that you post.. isn’t it? so on that case you know that the comment post is a spam.. well it’s good to know some of the comments that are spammed.
Well, as for me i think its the spamming machines who leave these comments… Usually if they are too generic and do not talk about what is on the page, i mark it as spam of course, since it obvious that its been made by a machine and not a person…
I use the commentluv as well and i really like it, but i combat spam on my own since some of the genuine comments are short as well… It is a bit of a hassle to mark out all the artificial comments, but quite rewarding because you approve what you want to be approved.. Perhaps i am speaking like this because my blog is not too big and maybe later i will need akismet the amount of spam becomes huge…
Oh and btw its nice that you are using keywordluv and commentluv, i also am using them and they are the best plugins imo as more comments = more content for the bloggers so it pays off both ways and thanks ^^
Cheers!
Twitter: SNVINFOTECH
July 7, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Twitter: @SNVINFOTECH
Hi,
Very nice post.I really enjoy the post.It is always good if you are write the quality comment.
Thanks for the sharing.
Twitter: amvdl1966
June 18, 2009 at 1:46 am
Twitter: @amvdl1966
Here’s my piece of spam….Great post you have here, very informative, Wish I had seen this earlier….Blah, blah, blah.
One way of overcoming spam comments is to moderating ALL comments as I do on my blog. I’ve had a a few comments that Akismet caught for me, but there are usually a few that get past it.
I turned on moderating all comments and since then I have been a lot more busy at my site. But my site is cleaner and more enjoyable to everyone that come there.
One other thing to look out for: links to sites that has viruses.
Today I moderated 2 comments that has links to adult sites, that have viruses. ( I usually don’t allow links to adult sites on my own site ).
My recommendation : Moderate ALL comments. Do NOT let them autopost even with a captcha.
Oh yea. I did link to this post on my site.
Abraham van der Linde’s last blog post..CB Quantum Costs too Much for over 30,000 People
Twitter: GrowMap
June 19, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello Abraham,
I review all comments and delete them after the fact rather than moderating them up front. One reason I do that is because I consider it better for anyone leaving comments and then sharing the posts immediately as I suggest doing in my post Commenting Strategy Increased Our Traffic 54.87% .
I delete any adult content whether it is text or link. Do you have a trick for checking for viruses and ensuring your PC does not get infected?
Thank you for the link. I followed you at Twitter. How is the making momey online coming? If you’re interested in building a large store filled with affiliate products quickly and easily we’ve been testing various methods. Datafeedr and PopShops are well worth checking out.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..How to Create a Successful Blog Based Business Part 1
Twitter: amvdl1966
June 19, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Twitter: @amvdl1966
I can’t speak for everyone, but I use Avast Antivirus, It’s got an Internet shield. Whenever I go to a site that has a virus, Avast block the site and I can’t get into the site to see the content.
Usually I then just browse away from that site or close my browser.
Abraham van der Linde’s last blog post..Writing Your Own Ebooks
Twitter: BTL_Mortgages
June 10, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Twitter: @BTL_Mortgages
I haven’t been doing it for long and certainly can say that I am quite new to blogging. I have been browsing through quite a few blogs on a regular basis and leave comments; I don’t consider myself a spammer in any way, but sometimes my comments end up in a spam box. It did happen here and you couldn’t see any obvious reasons. Not so long ago I didn’t even know about Akismet, however we have installed Akismet plugin on our news section, but we manually check all comments. Ok if comments have automatically ended up in the wrong place, I can understand, but when someone leaves my comment, but removes my link, I think it is unfair, especially if underneath a comment box, they state that HTML allowed.
Twitter: GrowMap
June 19, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello Kate,
I don’t consider comments spam as long as they relate to the posts. I don’t intentionally delete real comments; however, it can often be really challenging to tell if the commentator doesn’t include something specific about that particular post in the comment.
I only remove links here if they are invalid or broken. Many blogs use a plugin that makes some comments nofollow and some delete or unlink URLs. I do my best to keep all real comments and delete those that are not. When in doubt I use delete instead of SPAM. I do report any obviously SPAMMY comments.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..How to Get Your Free Business Listing in Yelp
Hi,
This post show that you receive the lot of spam comment.
You cover the all type of comment.
Thanks for your tips.
Twitter: GrowMap
June 19, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Mac,
I often write a post so I can answer future questions and comments with it. That saves time and provides much more thorough answers.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..How to Add Your Free Business Listing to infoUSA
Thanks, I was leaving comments that look like spam without even know it.
I’m a new blogger (3 months now) who just found you’re site.
I wish I found your website when I started the amount I’ve learned in the hours I’ve know about your site could have saved me months of research. This site is a gold mine, keep up the great work.
I put a link for you in my website’s link list so it will show on every page.
Jeff’s last blog post..Bank scams
Twitter: GrowMap
May 8, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Jeff. I’m glad you found us. Most sites are written by experts for other experts. They totally skip the basics that anyone new could really use. Until they finally came around I used to regularly get razed for writing stuff “no one could possibly need” according to my brilliant online friends who think “anyone can write code” or any other geek-required talent.
Your blog is on an excellent topic. You will certainly never run out of things to write about and so many don’t realize how common scams are considered mainstream and normal. I look forward to reading and sharing your posts.
Thank you for the high quality links. I have been hoping others like you would find this blog and recommend it to their friends. I will also check out CodeProject and see what they have to offer.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..How to Create a Successful Blog Based Business Part 1
Twitter: GrowMap
April 26, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
@goodtherapy While it would be great if spammers would go away, we are committed to being dofollow and using CommentLuv so we’ll find a way to deal with them. I just found a new WP plugin that catches spambot comments that sounds very promising. We’ll see how well and how long it works before spammers catch on.
@Hanna Yes, they’re pretty good which is what prompted me to write this post. A combination of Akismet and math, Akismet and Captcha, or Akismet and NoSpamNX are the best solutions I’ve come across so far.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..Do YOUR Blogging Goals Include Monetization: Benefits Our Readers Receive
I think that spammer have become savvy enough to know how to hide behind good comment wording. I don’t believe that it is possible to be completely free of them.
Hanna’s last blog post..Just Who Are You Buying From?
Twitter: tinababyk
April 23, 2009 at 10:19 am
Twitter: @tinababyk
I think every one of us should become more responsible ,when it comes to make comments on dofollow blogs/website. We should not force the webmasters to switch over to nofollow from dofollow due to unethical practices.
Twitter: GrowMap
April 23, 2009 at 1:29 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Peter I often wonder why people would choose to waste their time and talents in these ways instead of doing something productive with their lives. What we need are whitelists and blacklists for Akismet that automatically approve the few and delete the repetitive spammer’s comments.
I’ll be by to check out your Less SEO Tags posts. There are enormous changes coming to search so bloggers would do well to be really proactive at building reach and community. More on that when I have the time to put the research together. For now do a search for Google CEO’s comments about the Internet being a “cesspool” which indicates censorship is probably on the way soon.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..Why You Can NOT Rely Solely on Organic Search Listings for Traffic and Revenue
Twitter: peterleehc
April 19, 2009 at 4:47 am
Twitter: @peterleehc
Yes I too have received my fair share of spam comments and some of them are pretty well written. It’s a shame that these people choose to focus their energy into something despicable and loathed by everyone. On top of all these spam ones, I also delete those one liners and even short phrases as they don’t contribute to the conversation.
Peter Lee
Work At Home Blog’s last blog post..Less SEO Tags for More Visitors
Twitter: tinababyk
May 22, 2009 at 1:55 am
Twitter: @tinababyk
You are write peter,those one liners are more like garbage then adding any real value to the conversation. But coming to your point “some of them are pretty well written” what do you mean from it, is it they are grammatically well written and goes well with the post. If this is true then i think people should consider the time and energy a spammer invest in writing that comment and we should value this by giving him a link.
Twitter: GrowMap
March 20, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Mark While I did get some SPAM before them, adding those plugins DID multiple it exponentially. Thanks to Akismet though it is worth it as it also created an intelligent, active blogging community.
If you check out the discussions going on in the comments here you’ll see that not only do my posts offer substance – my commentators share great information. Some of our exchanges are true collaborations – something I strongly and recommend.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..REVIEW: Mastering Google Analytics – Easy to Understand FREE eCourse
I’ve got over 25 blogs going now and can safely say the key to attracting spam is dofollow, keyword luv, and comment luv. Everyone and their mother searches for blogs that use those plugins. How do you think I found this blog?
The secret to attracting good content from your readers in the form of comments is to give them something worth talking about. If your blog is more for sharing information then turn off the comments and save yourself a lot of aggravation.
mark’s last blog post..Medical billing services software
Twitter: GrowMap
March 17, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Kai Lo I suspect most of those “Great post!!” comments and variations on that theme are auto-generated. We all get plenty of those too. At least the SPAM saying we have a great domain name makes for more interesting reading.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..Making Money with Your Blog – Part 2 – Evaluating Affiliate Programs
Twitter: blogaboutnothin
March 17, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Twitter: @blogaboutnothin
I rather get spam messages than comments like “Great post!!” Most spams are hilarious, and makes me laugh a bit. Simply saying, “Great post!!” has no originality to it and the person put 0% thought into the comment. All that person wanted to do is leave a link to his or her site.
Kai Lo’s last blog post..Google Pagerank 0
Twitter: GrowMap
March 17, 2009 at 11:03 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
Would you believe this SPAM comment “I usually don?t post in Blogs but your blog forced me to, amazing work…” has about 1100! links. See the Zuula Search Results at http://twurl.nl/rqda2n
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..REVIEW: Mastering Google Analytics – Easy to Understand FREE eCourse
Twitter: GrowMap
March 17, 2009 at 10:43 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Steve It is always good to communicate with intelligent people who see more than one tree or even more than one forest.
I suspect you’ve seen the reports of people being arrested based on what they bought or read. No doubt what we write will be considered even more dangerous.
And thank you for appreciating the time and effort required to pay it forward. If more understood the value perhaps they would do it too – or at least appreciate those who do.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..Making Money with Your Blog – Part 2 – Evaluating Affiliate Programs
Twitter: 12
March 11, 2009 at 9:39 am
Twitter: @12
hey IS,
I read your post on “not free” and you raise good points. There is a risk in using a real name. As with so many things, it is a matter of balance. I suppose one could go with a nickname. And maybe my name isn’t really Steve…
~ the mysterious trade show guru
PS. I have always hated the supermarket “membership” cards required to get the sale price, and that allow the tracking of purchases.
PPS. Thanks for paying it forward!
Steve’s last blog post..Green Trade Show Displays
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