Turning your business blog comments off or leaving them on may not even be something that has crossed your mind. However, several large marketing blogs have tried it both ways for you and highlight the pros and cons. Of course, every blog and every business are different, so keep in line with what works for you but don’t be afraid to test out either scenario or even ask your readers how they prefer to engage with your brand.
SocialMediaExaminer.com reported earlier this month that two major bloggers, Michael Hyatt and Brian Clark both turned off comments on their blogs but recently made the decision to turn comments back on. The main reason why they say they turned off comments in the first place was to drive the conversation to their social channels. It seemed that managing comments and engaging with readers on the blog comments and on all social channels was getting out of control and turning off comments allowed them to filter comments into less places. However, they realized that it reduced the overall comments on social and even decreased readership. Michael Hyatt said that one of the reasons he turned the comments back on was to create a central location for conversation. His initial idea of encouraging readings to comment on whichever social media channel they preferred would be natural; however it ended up spreading the conversations too thin. He is quoted as now saying, “Running a blog without comments is like hosting a party without a venue.” He received 485 comments on the post announcing his decision to turn the comments back on. In January of 2016 when Copyblogger announced they turned their comments back on in conjunction with a redesign that post received 77 comments and 846 shares. After analysing past comments, the adjustment they made was to only allow comments for 7 days, this reduced spam since they found that most spam was posted to older posts.
What do you think about blog comments? Make one here and let us know!
As an ending note, you can see the effect positive, fun, or even viral comments can have with this post that has the best comments section on the internet.
If you require further information or have any specific questions, don’t hesitate to give a member of the GoPromotional team a call on 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today.
