Blog Commenting – For Links or For Love?

Blog Commenting – For Links or For Love?

Blog commenting used to be a terrific way way to get some juicy high-quality inbound links to your site. You could sit down and in an afternoon come up with a bunch of high PageRank (PR) links that could really help your link profile. And the best part of it all was, it was so doggone easy!



Notice I said “used to be” and “was”. Would that it were still that easy. Today with the advent of the “no-follow” attribute, much of the lustre of blog comment links for passing link juice to your site is gone. Most popular blogs now have that tag in place, and while the jury is still out as to whether or not the link is counted, the consensus seems to be that while it is noticed and catalogued, it does not pass PR. The easy days are over.



But hang on here. The links are still there, and what remains is the reason blog comments were created in the first place; to foster communication and build relationship. So for me, blog commenting remains a terrific way of getting your site noticed, whether or not a search engine cares. The key lies in using them to create relationship and buzz where you’d like to be known. You can find ways to comment and insert yourself into the conversation on blogs and forums you really like. They may be industry leaders, marketers you respect, niche leading sites, or any other place where it would be advantageous for you be found. Likewise, your link is also found, and you’ll be surprised at how effective this can be.



You will start to be known as someone who is serious about the subject, and has something to offer. (Even if at first that’s merely questions) Plus, the best part of the deal is that occasionally you’ll strike a chord and get a spike of traffic to your site, resulting in more good things, whether they be sales, optins or bookmarks. The ultimate prize should be, in my opinion, a link within a blog post recommending you or your site. This can only be accomplished if you take the time to write thoughtful comments, and become part of the community. (This can also lead to opportunities to guest-post, which is incredibly more valuable than a blog comment!)



While we all want and need incoming links to our sites, you would do well to lose the obsession with garnering only no-follow links, and focus instead on using comments for what they were intended for. Everybody wins!



Oh, and as always, comments are welcomed and appreciated!

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