There are few things you can do that will help you more on social media than commenting regularly on blogs. It costs nothing but your time and thought and offers a wealth of benefits.
Here are six reasons you should comment on other blogs as often as you can.
1 – It introduces you to influencers
Bloggers LOVE feedback. It reassures us that we are not writing in a vacuum. So we read comments. The most successful bloggers tend to respond to comments as well. So commenting regularly on a blog can begin a relationship with an influential blogger that could be very beneficial to you in the long run.
2 – It allows you to create a new link to your website
Most blog comment forms allow you to add a link to your website that appears with your comment. Comments on sites that don’t use nofollow tags can also help to increase your page rank.
3 – It helps you establish a strong online presence
After you’ve been commenting on blogs for a while, all you have to do is Google your name and you’ll start seeing it. A strong online presence helps build your brand, your reputation and your credibility.
4 – It helps establish you as a thought leader in your field
Thoughtful comments on blog posts in your niche can start to establish you as a thought leader in that field. Blog comments give you the opportunity to publicize your dialogue with influencers, so it’s important to add to the conversation as much as possible.
5 – It helps you build a community for your own blog
As you begin to comment on other blogs in your niche, you will often find those bloggers returning the favor. This is one of the greatest and most immediate benefits of blog commenting. A strong community that engages on your blog helps grow your readership, gives you support and keeps your blog vibrant.
6 – It helps you build professional relationships
I’ve met and formed relationships with lots of people on Twitter. But the people who regularly comment on my blog, I consider part of my support team. By the same token, I know that commenting on other blogs has helped strengthen relationships that I’ve begun on other social media sites. Several of these relationships have led to business opportunities and alliances I wouldn’t have otherwise had.
Some tips for commenting:
* You’ll get the most benefit from commenting on blogs that are in your niche.
* Make sure your comment is relevant and adds something to the conversation. “Great post” will do very little for you.
* Don’t use the comment section to talk about how great your company is. It will just make you look bad and your comment could be blocked as spam. A thoughtful comment makes clear that you’ve read the piece and thought about it’s implications.
* Make blog commenting part of a larger social media strategy like the #EIR (Engage, Inform, Retweet) approach to Twitter, which balances give and take.
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Jenise Fryatt is Co-Owner and Marketing Director of Icon Presentations , audio visual for events located in the Palm Springs area of Southern California. Her blog, Sound ‘n Sight , offers information on the events industry with an audio visual and social media bent. She is married with two teenagers (one now attends college in Canada) and has a background that includes print & broadcast journalism, PR, theater production and acting.
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