Why Good Blogs Don't Get Comments
Posted by junger | July 11th, 2006
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You're a good blogger. You've got good content. You've started to get some traffic. But you can't get anyone to leave a comment on your blog posts. What are you doing wrong?
Tricked you there. The question is not necessarily what you are doing wrong — it's why you aren't getting comments on your blog posts. Sure, you could be doing more things to encourage conversation — asking questions, making ridiculous statements, causing controversy, etc. — but you have to face some facts about your blog and your blog's audience.
Blogs are the closest thing to "old media" on the Internet (besides newspaper/magazine stories, etc.). It's one person (or a group's) soapbox to rant about what interests them, as opposed to a wiki where literally anyone can edit.
What do bloggers rant about? There's only two answers here: either their life, or something that they are passionate about.
If you're a blogger who writes about life, can you really expect people outside of your real-life social circle to care so much about your day-to-day activities as to leave comments on your blog?
And if you're a blogger who writes about a passion, there's a fair assumption that you are somewhat of an expert in the subject. People reading your blog come to it for information — and not necessarily conversation.
Your visitors see you as an expert in your field, which they aren't. So unless they are asking a question, will they really chime in to discuss the topic if they are trying to learn from you?
Funny, noone commented here.
Ok, I'll bite on this thinly veiled comment-baiting ploy.
Interesting point. My solution is to be a mediocre blogger so no one is intimidated. Of course that still doesn't quite do the trick because who wants to have a conversation with a mediocre blogger?
Hah, you guys are classic. In all honesty, I wasn't even expecting (nor baiting) for comments, but I'm glad to see some came across.
Abba, I'm not suggesting that you should lower your quality as a blogger to try and get comments — it's just that bloggers have to realize those key facts when they become frustrated at the lack of comments they are getting.
Obviously, doing things like asking questions, encouraging discussion, etc. can only help your cause.
Being serious for a moment, you're totally right. I just find it hard to be serious.
I turned comments OFF on all my blogs and link each post to a phpBB thread. This creates a better sense of community, and also lets my readers see other popular posts between my blogs.
I think it works out much better.
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