Only 1 out of every 100 Readers Comments on your Blog
A Jakob Nielsen study once found that 90% of online community users are lurkers (read or observe without contributing) with only 9% of users contributing ‘a little’ and 1% actively contributing.
Are only 1% of your blog’s users are actively engaging with your blog?
And are the rest (at best) only occasional contributors?
The study is a bit dated now and wasn’t just on blogging, so the actual numbers could be more or less than these and would no doubt vary from site to site anyway but I’m sure the general principle still holds…
The vast majority of readers leave a blog WITHOUT leaving a comment or contributing to it in any way.
Some bloggers like it like this and switch comments off. Read more on whether to have comments on or off here and the ups and downsides of comments on blogs here.
But comments and interactivity are the first steps to building a community around your blog and I believe this is important.
When it comes to comments there are some ways to encourage more interactivity and participation on your blog:
10 Ways to Increase Comment Numbers on Your Blog
1. Invite Comments
I notice that when I specifically invite comments that people leave them in higher numbers than when I don’t. To some degree, this confuses me as most of my readers know that they can leave comments on any post – but I guess inviting a comment triggers a response to some extent. Also, keep in mind that new readers that are unfamiliar with blogging don’t always know about comments or how to use them – invitations to participate in well-laid-out and easy-to-use comments systems are good for helping them participate.
2. Ask Questions
Including specific questions in posts helps get higher numbers of comments. I find that when I include questions in my headings that it is a particularly effective way of getting a response from readers as you set a question in their mind from the first moments of your post.
For example, here are Nine Types of Questions to Ask On Your Facebook Page to Get More Comments.
3. Be Open Ended
If you say everything there is to say on a topic you’re less likely to get others to add their opinions because you’ll have covered what they might have added. While you don’t want to purposely leave too many things unsaid there is an writin,g open ended posts that leaves room for your readers to be experts also.
4. Interact with cos left
If you’re not willing to use your own comments section why would your readers? If someone leaves a comment interact with them. This gets harder as your blog grows but it’s particularly important in the early days of your blog as it shows your readers that their comments are valued, it creates a culture of interactivity, and gives the impression to other readers that your comments section is an active place that you as the blogger value. As the activity in your comments section grows you may find you need to be slightly less active in it as readers will start to take over answering questions and creating community – however, don’t completely ignore your comment threads.
Whether you struggle with or get a kick out of interaction, it is an important aspect of blogging, so here are 12 Ways to Be a More Interactive and Accessible Blogger.
5. Set Boundaries
I noticed that shortly after I set the rules for my comments section (with a comments policy) my comment numbers jumped up a little. I’m not sure if it was just a coincidence or whether readers responded to knowing what was and wasn’t acceptable. It’s just a theory but I think a well-managed and moderated comments section that is free of spam and that deals well with people stepping out of line is an attractive thing to readers. I don’t mind people expressing different opinions to one another in comments but when I sen. Still, when are getting a little out of hand and too personal I often step in to attempt to bring some order to the situation (I rarely delete nonspam comments). I find that people have responded to this and that comment threads generally stay constructive as a result.
6. Be humble
I find that readers respond very well to posts that show your weaknesses, failings, and gaps in your knowledge rather than those posts where you come across as knowing everything there is to know on a topic. People are attracted to humility and are more likely to respond to it than a post written in the tone of someone who might harshly respond to their comments.
7. Be gracious
Related to humility is grace. There are times when you as the blogger will get something wrong in your posts. It might be spelling or grammar, it could be the crux of your argument or some other aspect of your blogging. When someone leaves a comment that shows your failing it’s very easy to respond harshly in a defensive manner. We’ve all seen the flaming that can ensue. While it’s not easy – a graceful appran agilemments where you admit where you are wrong and others are right can bring out the lurkers and make them feel a little safer in leaving comments.
8. Be controversial(?)
I put a question mark after this one because it doesn’t always work (and I avoid it as much as I can these days) – but there’s nothing like controversy to get people commenting on your blog. Of course with controversy comes other consequences – one of which is the risk of putting off less vocal members of your readership.
9. ‘Reward’ Comments
There are many ways of acknowledging and ‘rewarding’ good comments that range from simply including a ‘good comment’ remark to highlighting them in other posts that you write. Drawing attention to your readers who use comments well affirms them but also draws the attention of other readers to good use of your comments section.
10. Make it Easy to Comment
I leave a lot of comments on a lot of blogs each week – but there is one situation where I rarely leave a comment – even if the post deserves it – blogs that require me to log in before commenting. Maybe I’m lazy (actually there’s no maybe about it) or maybe there’s something inside me that worries about giving out my details – but when I see a comments section that requires registration I almost always (95% or more of the time) leave the blog without leaving the comment that I want to make. While I understand the temptation to require registration for comments (combatting spam in most cases) something inside me resists participating in such comment sections. Registration is a hurdle you put in front of your readers that some will be willing to leap but that others will balk at (the same is often said about other comments section requirements that go beyond the basics). Keep your comments section as simple and as easy to use as possible.
