Do You Make Readers Run a Comment Obstacle Course? Make Your Blog Comment Friendly
Comments are the Lifeblood of Your Blog Community
Blogging’s interactive nature lends itself beautifully to building a sense of community and encouraging conversations. Bloggers often lament the lack of comments their posts attract. Here’s the deal. You’ve just written a scintillatingly [insert your choice of interesting, momentous, heartwarming, news breaking, money launching etc. post - here]. You sit back and wait for the traffic and comments to roll in. Traffic - check! RSS subscriptions - check! But wait… where are the commenters? Why are there only a handful of comments? Oh…nooo! Why are there no comments?
Is Your Blog a Comment Obstacle Course?
Bloggers take note. Avoiding or fixing these may attract far more comments, and not cause those of us who want to comment, to leave in frustration. Some are beyond the bloggers’ control, and are more to do with the blog platform you use. However, it is good to be aware that they are frustrations all the same, which may hinder potential commenters.
Please Note
The following is in no way reflective of people’s blogs and posts. I’m just talking about encouraging more comments. You can have a very loyal readership, and have great posts, but making it easier to comment will be a bonus.
Blogger Blogs - Enable the Other Option on Your Blog
Blogger is a great platform, but some Blogger users may not be aware that not everyone can comment easily. Blogger users - Please enable your “Other” option. Not everyone has a Google Account, wants to sign up for one or wants to use their Google account when commenting. Allowing readers to choose “Other” in addition to the existing options means anyone and everyone can leave a comment. I guarantee you will get more comments if you enable this.
On a side note, [just hold on… while I get my soapbox in position] I have to say Blogger blogs are not particularly comment friendly all round. I’d like to see Blogger offer the option to have comments in full screen rather than opening in a new window which can’t be maximized. It makes it less user friendly to follow and join in a whole conversation. Also, you can’t see the original post to refer to when commenting. I feel like I failed Blogger commenting school, and am a slow learner, because quite a few times I have to resubmit my comment as it didn’t seem to “take” the first time.
Captcha - Secret Codes
None of us want spam, but some blogs make it seem like an obstacle course to comment. Some of my recent commenting adventures have included having to enter through 2 lots of anti comment anti spam “secret codes”, deciphering letters and numbers that are so heavily “camouflaged” as to be unreadable, and having to pass math or word questions. By the time I’ve navigated the comment obstacle course, I’m exhausted. At the end of one commenting obstacle course marathon, it proclaimed in big letters - “Success!”, and that is exactly how I felt.
The trouble is you are not only keeping out spam. You risk keeping out genuine commenters too. If you are considering a new blog platform I can highly recommend the self hosted version of Wordpress along with the anti spam Aksimet plugin. If you have that combo, you don’t need secret codes.
Over to You
Comments spark conversations, and conversations build community. What hints do you have for making blogs comment friendly and generating conversations? What frustrations have you found with trying to leave comments? Any other thoughts?
Credit: Comment button is courtesy of Paper Napkin for International Delurking Week in January. I’m just giving you some early practice. 
Great advice, Yvonne.
I failed Blogger commenting school as well - commenting on Blogger blogs is always a challenge, but when they don’t have the “other” option, it’s worse. I do have a Google account and a Blogger blog just for that reason, but all I do is periodically post links to some of the posts on my main blog.
My vision is poor, so those secret codes always present a challenge. I seldom get it right the first time … and having to try and try again annoys me.
I agree with your recommendation of a self-hosted version of WordPress with Akismet. That’s what I use.
I have to admit, when you changed your blog design recently, I had to search for how to comment. I didn’t even see the “comments” link for a while and was about to give up in frustration before I figured it out. I don’t have a problem any more, but I suspect first-time commenters may. I’m glad you recognize the challenge on your own blog. It’s always easier to see what’s wrong with someone else’s blog. As I always tell my editing clients, I can’t find everyone’s mistakes but my own.
I wonder what people think of moderated comments? On my blog, first time comments are moderated, and after the first comment is approved, commenters aren’t moderated again. I haven’t changed from that arrangement, which was necessary before I installed Akismet. Akismet misses only a handful of spam comments a week, and it catches 200-400 spam comments a day. So maybe I should remove moderation completely now - I can delete the few spam comments that get through. Is moderation an obstacle to comments?
Wow!
Yvonne this is great advice.
I heartily agree with you about Blogger blogs. About half the time they won’t let me leave a comment. I guess their owners don’t realize how tough it can be for those of us who don’t have blogger accounts.
I’m definitely going to check out the threaded comments option. I didn’t know about that.
BTW, I stumbled this post. I hope you don’t mind.
Lillie - Please do feel free to let me know anything I can improve on my blog, as I value any constructive feedback, positive or negative. I’ve wondered about moderated comments too, as like you only the first comment is moderated.
I figure as I work on my blog regularly, I could delete the few comments. I have wondered whether those who take the time to comment for the first time come back, don’t see their comment, and so don’t return. Similarly, I prefer to see my comment “live” when I take the time to comment on blogs I visit and comment at regularly.
It may be worth experimenting with no moderation for a little while. It’s easy enough to turn back on. I’d be interested to hear from others who have moderation or no moderation.
Laura - Please feel free to Stumble any of my posts on StumbleUpon. I’m both thrilled and flattered that you did. Thank you, and thanks also for giving me the jump start I needed to get moving with this post which has been in the back of my mind for a while.
Mig
Hi Mig - Thanks so much for the offer. I really appreciate it as I know nothing about stylesheets. I’m just in the process of working out what to do next in terms of choosing a new template etc.
Why? Do you want to change the template of your blog again? I find this pretty good. We could just brand it a little…
Mig - This is going to be a long answer….
I definitely agree with the branding and I would love to do that. If you have any ideas or suggestions for that I would be most appreciative.
I was thinking about a new template because some people have mentioned the comment issue that you and Lillie highlighted. Others have said that the black bar between posts is a distraction. Others don’t like the section right at the bottom (which I know could be improved if I had an article index page). I guess I thought it might be easier to start all over again. I’ve seen a few templates I like, but nothing which is “perfect”.
I have also been studying your great SOAP suggestions, including the branding. It seems the more I research and the more information I gather to help with making decisions, the more I hesitate to actually do something. Not very rational… I know.
If I was to keep this template (which I actually don’t mind), I’d need to get rid of most of the Google ads. I quite like the Google Image Ad but because I haven’t implemented channels (bad I know), I have no idea if it is worth keeping. I make barely anything from Google, so maybe I should ditch them altogether. I don’t get heaps of traffic (yet), so it’s hard to know if it’s too early to decide that.
I have been researching plugins and thinking about upgrading to WP 2.2., so thought if I was going to change templates it would be best to do that first. I would also need to get rid of the header and I am very keen on the branding as you suggest, so would need a logo.
Mig, you asked a short question… and I gave a very long winded answer. Do I sound confused? Too many decisions.
I really appreciate your interest, feedback and support.
If anyone is still with me this far, and has some suggestions or feedback about the template, I would love you to comment.
Thanks for this - I am always annoyed on Blogger blogs when the option is not enabled for me to use something other than my Google account to leave a comment. In fact, I often just skip it because the Google account points to my old Blogger blog from over a year ago!
I think moderating comments can definitely hinder comments…I don’t comment as often on those blogs which do that, and their comment boxes rarely seem to become a place for conversation.
But there are also blogs where I don’t bother to read or leave comments because they are so full of inappropriate comments. It is a balance, and depends largely on the audience you attract and the traffic you receive.
I’ve never moderated comments, and have had very few to delete. But I’m hardly a high traffic blog.
Hooray!!! I couldn’t agree more! There are many times that I don’t comment because of the obstacle course. I have to say that Blogger is THE worst for making the simple task of leaving a comment nearly unbearable.
As for your template, I hope you choose one with larger type and a narrower post field to make reading easier. Love the content though!
Randa - Thanks for stopping by. I agree - if a Blogger blog doesn’t have “Other” enabled I just move one because I don’t want to use my old Google Account.
Dana - As you say, it’s striking a balance. I don’t really like it when I comment at a blog I visit regularly, and they still have to moderate the comment. It doesn’t feel much like visiting “an old friend” if they have to screen you every time when you already a “tried and true” regular.
Author Mom - The dilemma of narrower post width and text size is one I struggle with. If the post width is narrow, the post (and a lot of mine are quite long) seems to go on forever down the page. Text size - I’m not sure on this either, as narrow width and larger text make it even “longer” down the page. I’d actually been thinking of smaller text or only showing excerpts - not the full post.
Reader Feedback Please - I would value reader feedback about text size, post width and just showing the first part of a post, rather than the full post. Any thoughts or feedback on this?
Hi, Yvonne,
Again, I have to say I delight in reading your intelligent post. Due to the time I only have on hand, I visit very few blogs because I will feel guilty if I couldn’t go to anyone on a regular basis. I also try my best to leave a comment when I visit a blog. Yes, I often have problems sending my comments - either the comment window comes out blank, or when I send it it doesn’t go through and I have to re-type. BTW, I have already gotten accustomed to seeing your site the way it is. I really wouldn’t mind if you change it, because I am sure my eyes can easily re-adjust.
Have you decided on having a Food Blog yet? I will post the recipes to the souffle soon.
Princess
Thanks Princess. I feel honoured that you visit my blog when you are so busy. I look forward to your visits and always appreciate your comments.
I’m still thinking about whether to go ahead with the Food Blog, but am definitely looking forward to your souffle recipe.
Great post. We can all work harder to make our blogs comment friendly. I use Aksimet too, it really weeds out the bad stuff. Subscribe to Commentsis another great plugin for Wordpress that works to keep your readers involved through their email.
Business Blogger - I definitely agree about Subscribe to Comments. It’s on my list of plugins to be installed. It makes it much easier to keep in the loop with sites where you commented, and keeps the sense of community and conversation going.
Thanks for stopping by, and for taking the time to comment.
No problem, you have a nice blog here.
I also dislike those captchas, especially when they come in too dark backgrounds with equally dark text making it impossible to see what you have to type at all. Thanks for this insightful post. I just wish many bloggers would heed your advice.
Thanks for stopping by Alfa. I’ve visited your site and found it very informative and also caught your guest spot at b5.
Captchas are a big part of the comment obstacle course. Often I could have sworn I typed in exactly what it said, but as they are so heavily “camouflaged”, sometimes it’s hard to know.
I really think they are a bit overzealous about keeping out spambots, if even humans can’t read them. LOL.
You are quite right about blogger being a bit unfriendly when it comes to comment posting. As for captchas, I had a problem with a friend’s blog, not blogger though: it gave me a code 7 times and it was so twisted I could not get it right. They took off the captchas afterwards…
Loved this post and am really glad I’ve taken Mig’s recommendation to visit your blog
Hi Alina
Gosh… 7 times… you were patient! Lucky you were a friend and could let them know.
It’s lovely to have you visit, and very thoughtful of Mig to let you know about my site and to recommend it. I hope you will visit often.
Hi Yvonne. I’m frustrated with my own comment system. Before when the blogger commenting service was having glitches, I noticed many changing to HaloScan and I followed. HaloScan was doing very well. Sadly, I have been very disappointed with HaloScan service lately. Many find it hard to leave me a comment due to various reasons: 1) commenting link not showing 2) comment box takes too long to load or appear 3) comments such as “cookies should be enabled” even though they already are 4) service being down and countless more reasons. I even signed up for a premium account thinking I would get better service but I still experience same problems. If there was a way I could transfer my old HaloScan comments to Blogger, I would do so. Another alternative would be to put the Blogger commenting service back and at the same time maintain the HaloScan link but I couldn’t find a way to figure out how.
Sorry for the rant, just wanted to share my personal experience.
Hi Yvonne,
PostReach ClickComments eliminates the comment obstacle course. This helps bring in a lot of readers that would never normally comment…..which is probably 95% of readers. You can check it out at www.postreach.com We have a plug-in for wordpress which I noticed you were using.
…PostReach
I personally don’t like the comment system on Blogger regardless of how it is set up. But I’m not a Blogger user so I guess my opinion doesn’t make much of a difference.
Steven - Not being a Blogger User, your opinion is probably even more important, as blogs should be easily accessible and user friendly by everyone, not just those familiar with the [particular system. While we can work it out, the obstacle course can be frustrating.
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