There are great possibilities for driving good numbers of traffic to your blog by commenting on high-profile blogs. This article will explain how I got 230+ unique visitors from one comment in less than a week.
On December 26th I posted a comment on ZenHabits which is one of the biggest productivity blogs with over 79,000 RSS subscribers. The article I commented on was How to Press the Reset Button On Your Life. This one comment brought me 239 unique visitors in less than 6 days after it was written.
These 239 visitors were 11% of my total blog traffic in those 6 days. Average time on site from these visitors was 02:57 which was 8% better then the average total time spent on my blog. Visitors viewed 2.35 pages per visit (11% better than total average), and bounce rate was 61% (8% less than the total average).
What to be aware of when blog commenting
There are some things you must keep in mind to optimize your comment ability to drive great number of traffic to your blog.
Optimize exposure for most clicks
- To drive traffic you must comment on a high-profile blog that normally has lots of readers / RSS subscribers / commenters.
- You must comment on the latest post as soon as possible after it is published. If you do that you will expose your comment to thousands of people who are going to read the post
- You must be an early commentator. The earlier you are, more exposure you are going to get. Not many people are going to read 50 comments from the same blog post. Aim to be in top 5 comments or so.
Provide value to grab attention
- Don’t just comment for the sake of it. Only write a comment if you like the post and if you have something relevant and interesting to say.
- Write a quality comment that creates value and grabs the attention of readers. Add something substantial to your comment. Add your thoughts about the post, provide additional information from your personal experience or from a post you have on your blog.
Brand your comments for long-term benefits
- Brand your comment by using same name, same avatar, same URL and same signature. This should be consistent with your social media profiles. Consistent marketing will build relationships to your blog. When people continue seeing your name repeated in comments sections of blogs and your comments are useful and interesting, it will make them wonder who the person writing is and will get them to click over to your blog.
Now imagine if you do this consistently, and on several high-profile blogs at the same time. It could bring serious amount of traffic to your blog. At the moment it is mine 4th biggest traffic referral after StumbleUpon, direct traffic and Twitter. I would definitely recommend it for you to try as well.
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{ 77 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting article. Who knew that ONE comment could bring that many new visitors to your site. That is amazing!
I try and leave comments on blogs that I read frequently, but clearly I am not posting enough comments. After reading this I am going to make certain to post comments often.
I’m also working on a new logo so I can “brand” my name and image so people know me on Twitter, Stumble and other networking sites.
Thanks!
Happy New Year!
Same here, I really need to keep up my commenting activities and also I guess I would have to update that avatar that I use presently. It’s not really ‘me’.
I thought I know how to comment properly but after reading this, it looks like I do need some fine tuning on the way I comment. Thanks.
Many folks know they should be commenting on blogs, but it appears often the focus is on ‘dofollow’ links or commentluv. They forget that beyond simple PageRank, the goal should be to drive *people* to your site. An interesting comment will do that much more effectively than a dofollow comment that gets you some small slice of google-love.
Thanks for all comments!
@Andrea – Definitely. I do not care about dofollow or nofollow when commenting. It is more about branding, networking and building traffic.
@Steitiyeh – My avatar is the self-portrait I took of myself with my mobile phone and then edited with “cartoonish” layer on top. I believe all Nokia phones have some similar option in their photo editing. But also if you’re using Mac, you can use Photo Booth to take pictures with lots of different effects like pop-art or cartoon stuff which do make great avatars.
You are totally right, i always strive to be the first commentator on new post so i can get the highest possible number of clicks! you actually left me nothing to add, hats off and well done!! i love the way you present your articles with the analytics and numbers provided on each article!
Thanks,
Firas
Weblist
I can remember a time when writing a review on StumbleUpon would send that sort of traffic to our site too… pity they won’t recognize us anymore as they probably think we’re spamming them. We only EVER posted great content… (at least in our humble opinion)
any ideas where can i get a cool avatar from? such as the Face Your Manga ones?
Thanks
Firas
Great post. I try and make a point of not only commenting early, but Stumbling or re-tweeting a page after I have made my comment, so that those brought to the post via social media also get to see my comment.
STUMBLED!
I always comment on post I thumb up, I have posted thousands of comments and have never had that much traffic from one comment.
Commenting is a great way to get traffic but it is also a fantastic way to meet fellow bloggers.
Thank you for this killer post – it is simple, but really got me thinking. Its very similar to what Middlebrook was talking about last year – commenting is a darn good strategy, but only if really effective.
I’ve been commenting all over the place because I love being part of the conversation. I’ve now realized that it can be detrimental because it likes to a lifestreaming site instead of my main one, I don’t have analytics set up and I’m not really tracking any data. This post has given me the kick up the behind to fix all this.
Being Aussie, I struggle with being the first commenter. I mostly use comments to build some kind of relationship with the blogger. I think this, in the long run, may serve me better traffic wise.
Happy 2009!
Jade
I think you are absolutely right about branding your comments. At first I was discouraged because it seemed like my comments went unnoticed but I decided to stick with it and now I find that people are starting to “know” me and I’m starting to know them. It’s great!
Wow that’s huge! actually I also had like that on early this year when I commented on lifehackers post. Now the one thing is that when you comment on blogs, it carries on the image of your blog and Im surprised most people don’t realize it. If your comment is worth of a value then more likely people would be interesting getting to know more of the one who wrote that comment which leads them to them eventually visitng the site…
I just recently started using my sites logo as a gravatar. I’d say that I have been getting a little more traffic from it, so it was worth it. I did the same for MyBlogLog as well.
Thank you very much Marko,
This post really made me go out of my shell. Often I just read articles and hop to another article without leaving some traces (comments) on that particular article. Little do I know that importance of commenting. I’ll leave more quality comments from now on. You’re right that sometimes we tend to comment just for the sake of it.
Good job! God Bless!
Your biggest traffic will come from being the 1st commenter and I compare that to bidding on an ebay item during the last minute of auction. You provide useful tips for everyone but please, everyone, apply value to your comment!
I hate seeing the first commenter saying “1st comment!”
The good point you make, that I’d really stress is about having something genuine to say. It grates my cheese when someone has posted quite clearly with the intention of being first, rather than without having value to add.
Interestingly StumbleUpon and twitter seem to also be some of my biggest traffic sources.
I do also comment on blog regularly and seem to get some traffic this way as well. However as simple as the concept is it never occurred to me to focus on blogs with a high number of RSS subscribers. Great insight. Thanks.
It is not that easy to be the first one who post a comment. But it could make a difference which blogs you are comment. For example a blog like yours which notify about followup comments can create a kind of community so people are more interested in comments other people have done.
Hi Marko,
Just like you, I leave comments on any blogs that I feel I can add a bit more depth, regardless of whether it is a “dofollow” or “nofollow.” I found that the “nofollow” rule only works with Google. I’m quite surprised lately that Yahoo is actually following all those “nofollow” comments that I made. This should be a good news for all Internet marketers!
Great tip! i’ve never had success with getting traffic for comments, however a trackback to techcrunch still brings me constant traffic! probably more than 230 totally. however the fact that your name was your site name and it was the first comment would be the reason for the traffic.
A wonderfully written article, btw. But more than that, it’s great information.
Another point that you might want to add is message relevancy to the target market. Zen Habits gets a pretty broad audience, and of that huge audience, not all of them are bloggers. While the volume “makes up for it”, and posting a comment takes little energy – if you can focus that energy with clarity, you have a greater chance of those 230 visits converting to feed subscribers or signing up for your email course or what-have-you.
Very good tips. That’s an amazing amount of traffic from one comment. But yeh, being the first comment and BRANDING is key for that kind of success.
Well here i am commenting towards the end, contrary to the good advice you just spooned out. I just wanted to let you know I love your site, just sunscibed and thank you for the heads up. Maybe you can answer a question for me. This a a different topic, but clearly It seems related to your post (at the very least related to your site in general). I am 41, a female attorney, recently left my job with the government that I held for nearly 20 years to open my own firm. I went into the deal with good name recognition as a top trial attorney. I don’t have any business experience. I began blogging just for fun, and little by little have added some very useful articles on selecting a good criminal defense attorney, how to be a good client, to issues like how to write a winning appeal. I have received favorbale comments. I do not have much traffic at all; I am sure it is because I have not done a single thing to drive traffic my way. My husband, who is also an attorney, very prominent in his field, but who is 24 years my senior and I have a very heated on going debate about the blog. I think it is harmless at worst and could possible generate business for me ;I certainly do not rely on it as one of my advertising or marketing stategies. He on the other hand finds it immature, childish, silly and a complete waste of time. If that was his only problem with my little hobby we would not have much to argue about. He also finds it embarrasing that ” the young people today put it all out there on these silly websites likefacebook etc” (you get the idea) he has gone so far as to say that the criminals we represent are making foolish errors because they are making the police work too easy. They advertise what they do , with whom they do it and pretty much give the police an itenarary for their whereabouts on the night in question. Do you favor one side more than the other? If so I would really appreciate your input. I hate to think that I am giving my husbands good name a foolish reputation, just through “guilt by association” Thakns in advance for any suggestions you may have
@Melissa Sugar – I don’t see anything wrong in writing a blog. Blog is different from a Facebook profile. I do agree with him that putting pictures and info on criminal offenses you have done on Facebook is pretty stupid, but that has nothing to do with you writing a professional blog that will promote your business and help out people.
@Rowell Dionicio – I have been thinking of that lately. Stumblers do seem to leave comments on blogs much more frequently than the average visitor.
@The Passive Dad – Definitely. If you know when the post is published and can be there early to read it and write an useful comment, it would be perfect and will constantly bring lots of visitors as the average visitor does seem to read some of the comments on top.
…and this seems to be my most popular post yet in regards to number of comments, so thanks to everybody who commented!
Thank you for the helpful advice. I know it has been a long time, but I just wanted to let you know I appreciated your response. I have been away from the computer and blogs for a few months. I have been overwhelmed with work and family and lost my mom. As soon as I caught up on business matters I began looking up my favorite bloggers to see what has been happening. I came across this older post and felt terrible that I never responded to your reply. I apologize and I am eager to begin reading your post again.
We actually offer blog commenting as a part of our services for our clients. We do not spam clients, instead we learn their business and try to make solid, informative comments on appropriate blogs. The results have been excellent both from a link building and traffic perspective.
Good post. I think another tip is to leave comments on blogs that are relevant to your own blog theme. That audience will be interested in not only what you have to say in the comments, but your blog as well. You will have a better chance at turning those visitors into long-time readers.
Its important to comment on Blogs that have similar interests to your own Blog, therefore people who read the blog you comment on will be more likely to follow your link.
Conincidently, I wrote a 2 part article this week on 2 other methods of brining traffic to your Blog, based on my own experiences.
great post as always …
I am subscribed to this thread and just noticed an influx of comments come in. Looks like you may have just hit the stumbleupon community with this one.
Great thing about stumbleupon other than the traffic are the many comments readers will leave.
Thanks, I had no idea that that could get so much traffic.
Happy New Year.
Great reminder for the new year. I tend to focus on commenting in my own niche, but it makes sense to widen the focus and get out of my current rut. Fantastic advice. I guess it would also help to know when the top bloggers post a new article and that’s half the fun of it.
Thanks for sharing this insight with the rest of us. It’s great to see confirmation of something I’ve suspected all along but had not yet confirmed with our blog. You just took the guesswork out of my theory – much appreciated!
Administering blogs, it’s often quite hard to decide whether a comment should be treated as spam or not. Is a comment that simply says “Nice post!” spam or a compliment? What about if it’s followed by a link to a Viagra site?
I feel that what you’ve understressed in your article is that a comment should have actual content. Oh, and where there is a “Notify me…” box, is it really better to comment early? Or would a later comment end up in more people’s Inbox?
Cliff.
@Cliff – I do approve “nice post” comments when they link to a normal-looking page and are written to my latest post. The rest I delete.
One of my rules is to only write when you have something to say as “nice post” comment will not attract anyone to click over to your site.
I would say being on top of comments is much more valuable than being last when there is “notify me”. Not all visitors to a blog post write comments but many would scroll down and take a look at first comments etc.
@Ari Herzog – Using full name is a great tip, especially if you have unique name. Also in case that the blogger allows it, I like using the blog name to get the full branding effect.
Until now 10 people subscribed to comments on this post. I never really did any analysis of this, maybe a good topic for a new case study?
Great tips, Marko!
Two items you didn’t mention:
1. Type your full name into the applicable comment field, like I do, and not your first name, like you do, to imply a greater reason for someone to trust you.
2. Like you do, Marko, other Wordpress bloggers should install the “Subscribe to Comments” plugin to allow commenters to opt to check the box to be notified of subsequent comments.
But here’s my question: Of the approximate 25+ commenters above me, how many checked the box and how many read the emails? If I mention Gerald, Shirley, or Melissa’s names, would they know and return to post a follow-up comment?
This is someone named Melissa. It has taken me a very long time to catch on to the blogs and blawgs and subscribing to feedburners etc. I admit than when I first read this; I did not have a clue how to read the email or reply to comments etc. I had just recently opened my own law firm and was living on 3-4 hrs MAX of sleep per night. I did get into the habit posting often and consistently {as I write this, I am returning from a two month leave} I have been really overwhelmed and busy with work and family and recently lost my mother. I am making an effort to get back. I decided to set my return so that it coincided with the kids returning to school; but I am running a week behind. I just wanted to let you know that thanks to comments like yours ; I took the time to learn more about what I was doing. I realize this reply is months ovedue, but I had to reply and say thank you.
Great trick to get traffic, but just traffic does not matter for me, i love to read good content
The uniqueness of one’s name has nothing to do with it, though I’d argue having 5 comments by Marks vs 1 comment by Mark Smith, 1 by Mark Rubin, etc., is more confusing.
Another interesting thing todo as well as addition is create an accompanying gravatar for commenting!
Great tips Marko!
BTW–how did you get that cool “Welcome Googler” at the top of your post?? Is it is plug in??
I have been playing around with comments to drive traffic. I have had limited success so far but probably because I am usually the 50th commenter
@Steve – Yeah it is plugin called “referrer detector”. I have written about it in some of my older posts, you can try and use the search function for more information on why and how I use it. Link to the plugin is http://www.phoenixheart.net/2008/11/referrer-detector/
It goes to show, that every little thing counts!
Great article. Of course we all comment to get the backlinks and the commentluv, but above all what we are looking for is traffic, and good traffic. To do that, as you say, you need to write a good comment, something that people will read and want to read more of, plus you have to be an early commenter, otherwise it’s likely your comment will get missed.
The next key for me to work on is how to get visitors to my blog to register for the feeds/comments.
Marko,
Thanks for this short but concise and informative article
It has given me the motivation to start commenting more often, hence this message! JOKE!
Just came across your site via twitter (you just added me).
Keep up the good work mate
Hi good expalanation
really helpsfull for me increase the traffi
thank you
Marko,
firstly i would like to thank you for this amazing blog post. It really helped me, though i already had imagined that trick. Still, you enhanced my optimism and taught me some of the values that go together with this comment-trick.
Continue your great work
My salutes from Greece,
Frikolakas
It is been sometime since I have put my efforts on giving meaningful comments on high traffic Blogs. Marco, Thanks for reminding and I will make it a point from today onwards to make atleast a 5 comments per day.
I hope this comment will drive a lot of traffic to my blog.
No, seriously – another rule you should follow when commenting: Write comments on blogs that cover similiar topics as yours.
1.You’ll seem to be an expert.
2.The traffic will be useful for your blog because the visitors will be interested in your articles as well.
Hi Marko!
Well done on an awesome post! Your tips are extremely valuable! Can’t insist enough on the power of TWITTER! Extremely easy to use and SO rewarding! Just started a couple of months back and already reaping great results!
Keep it up,
Michael
I am starting a niche blogging and also a blog design business. I didn’t realize how important being on top & one of the very first to comment was!
I will start a strategy now of commenting alot more often & to the top as much as possible. Also just checked your “Notify me of followup comments via e-mail “!
Thanks for the fantastic blogging advice.
Thank you for this useful and interesting post….:)))…
Thanks for the post.. A useful comment can really bring a great traffic to your blog
Great post! So good, I had to retweeted to my big list of Twitter followers and got a couple retweets as well. You can see the stat results here: http://bit.ly/info/QzKRD
Keep up the great work! You have a lot of great content here.
Tom
@Tom Duong – Thanks for the tweet, I am glad you liked the post!
wow i didn’t think blogs could bring you that much traffic !
im agree for the post.. A useful comment can really bring a great traffic to your blog
So in a nutshell, how to find the most important blogs, ie the highest profile blogs