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One of the big advantages to blogging is being part of a community. A community that will offer support and encouragement when needed. But community and connection do not happen unless you do things that help foster them. One of the best practices an artist blogger can get into is commenting on other blogs. I should take a step back and also mention that you will be a better blogger if you are reading blogs. That is writing 101, want to be a better writer, read. If you’re not in the habit of reading blogs I suggest you use Google’s blog search and find some blogs to read.
Don’t just read, interact
As you read a blog post think about how you can add to the discussion. You’ll no doubt form an opinion on the article you’re reading, share that opinion via the comment section. This helps the publisher of the blog and it also helps you and your blog or website. For publisher it helps them get to know their readers a bit better which can help guide and improve their content. For you it is just one more place to have your name and a link to your work out there. People read comments, often times more than the article itself. We want to know what other people think. When someone reads your comment they have the ability to click on your name which will take them to your site. And depending on how the blog publisher has their code set your link might also be indexed by search engines. (That topic would need a post for itself.)
Quality over quantity
The practice of commenting on blogs is so valuable to building traffic that many bloggers schedule their commenting practice. Or they have a set amount to schedule on everyday or every week. But more important than quantity is quality. Leaving a good comment that actually adds to the discussion takes a bit of thought. Do not be tempted to leave a comment such as “Great post!” or “I agree!” Comments as simple as those are pretty transparent, the blog publisher knows you are leaving a comment for the sake of leaving a comment. Don’t do it.
Let’s say you do agree with the post, then tell us why you agree. Relate some experience you’ve had that makes the point of the post true for you. The same can be said of a post you disagree with. “You make an interesting point but in my experience this has not been true because…” Something along those lines. Don’t feel you need to write a lengthy comment, just show us you did put some thought into it.
Also you don’t want to leave comments where you blatantly ask for people to visit your site. “Great post. I wrote something similar on my blog: www.yourblog.com” Tacky.
Look for commenting policies
Some blogs will have specific guidelines for commenting. This is common with larger blogs that get tons of traffic because they are common targets of comment spammers. If you become a regular reader check out their “about” page and see if they offer guidelines for commenting.
It’s all about traffic
Recently I talked the importance of writing for other blogs and having others write on your blog, the practice of leaving comments serves that same purpose in a much simpler fashion, it build traffic to your site. And when you are promoting and marketing yourself online traffic is the very valuable. And by traffic I mean visitors to your site or blog. The more visitors you have, the more fans you will add to your fan base, the bigger the fan base the more sales you have.
If this is something you have not done and want to try I recommend starting with one comment a week. Make it a goal to leave at least one good genuine comment on a blog every week. And since you’re here reading this post that has a comment form below why not start now?
Leaving Comments On Blogs Is A Smart Way To Build Traffic To Your Blog
One of the big advantages to blogging is being part of a community. A community that will offer support and encouragement when needed. But community and connection do not happen unless you do things that help foster them. One of the best practices an artist blogger can get into is commenting on other blogs. I should take a step back and also mention that you will be a better blogger if you are reading blogs. That is writing 101, want to be a better writer, read. If you’re not in the habit of reading blogs I suggest you use Google’s blog search and find some blogs to read.
Don’t just read, interact
As you read a blog post think about how you can add to the discussion. You’ll no doubt form an opinion on the article you’re reading, share that opinion via the comment section. This helps the publisher of the blog and it also helps you and your blog or website. For publisher it helps them get to know their readers a bit better which can help guide and improve their content. For you it is just one more place to have your name and a link to your work out there. People read comments, often times more than the article itself. We want to know what other people think. When someone reads your comment they have the ability to click on your name which will take them to your site. And depending on how the blog publisher has their code set your link might also be indexed by search engines. (That topic would need a post for itself.)
Quality over quantity
The practice of commenting on blogs is so valuable to building traffic that many bloggers schedule their commenting practice. Or they have a set amount to schedule on everyday or every week. But more important than quantity is quality. Leaving a good comment that actually adds to the discussion takes a bit of thought. Do not be tempted to leave a comment such as “Great post!” or “I agree!” Comments as simple as those are pretty transparent, the blog publisher knows you are leaving a comment for the sake of leaving a comment. Don’t do it.
Let’s say you do agree with the post, then tell us why you agree. Relate some experience you’ve had that makes the point of the post true for you. The same can be said of a post you disagree with. “You make an interesting point but in my experience this has not been true because…” Something along those lines. Don’t feel you need to write a lengthy comment, just show us you did put some thought into it.
Also you don’t want to leave comments where you blatantly ask for people to visit your site. “Great post. I wrote something similar on my blog: www.yourblog.com” Tacky.
Look for commenting policies
Some blogs will have specific guidelines for commenting. This is common with larger blogs that get tons of traffic because they are common targets of comment spammers. If you become a regular reader check out their “about” page and see if they offer guidelines for commenting.
It’s all about traffic
Recently I talked the importance of writing for other blogs and having others write on your blog, the practice of leaving comments serves that same purpose in a much simpler fashion, it build traffic to your site. And when you are promoting and marketing yourself online traffic is the very valuable. And by traffic I mean visitors to your site or blog. The more visitors you have, the more fans you will add to your fan base, the bigger the fan base the more sales you have.
If this is something you have not done and want to try I recommend starting with one comment a week. Make it a goal to leave at least one good genuine comment on a blog every week. And since you’re here reading this post that has a comment form below why not start now?
Live to create!
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Categories: Marketing And Selling Art Online - Tags: art blogs, Boosting Traffic, Building Traffic, Commenting On Blogs