Make It Easy On Your Readers
I use Google Alert to keep me alerted (pardon the pun) on topics of interest to me and often I see a blog post I want to go and comment on - and perhaps link back on one of my blogs. So I find it really frustrating when I can’t leave a comment on a blog because you have to sign up or register for whatever the system is that the blog is on. I usually go away again. Who wants to be forced to sign up to heaps of different services just to leave a blog comment?
Which made me wonder just how many bloggers actually lose out on comments and knowing about readers because they make it too difficult for others to comment? They might consider it’s a simple process but stop and think for a moment - how many blogging communities and platforms are out there? And if you have to stop and register (and sometimes wait for a password too) the moment of opportunity quickly fades and is replaced with one of annoyance and time wasted. This is often coupled with no contact information on these same blogs - I don’t know how much time I’ve wasted trying to work out how to contact owners of blogs too.
Make it easy on your readers and set your comment system so that anyone can comment. Simple process in most cases. You can set up moderation so you view all comments first and use a spam filter like Akismet or Captcha or something but don’t make it hard on your readers to leave comments - it could open up a whole new channel for discussion and further posts.
Some places that this occurs are: MySpace, AOL Blogs, Blogger, Wordpress
That’s right. I am put off by blogging platforms that require me to sign up, and I just go away. A pity, as I came across one post recently that I really wanted to add my comments to. I blogged about it instead, but it doesn’t feel quite the same.
Nadine
Ah but, Nadine, if you linked to their blog, they will discover it and might even come back to respond to you. I’ve had that happen!
Hi Kathie,
As always, you are on top of your game.
Pam Archer
Hear! Hear! (or is it Here! Here! LOL) I agree with you 100%!
I too will go away if I have to go through a lengthy sign-up process. I have mine set up so people can even leave an anonymous comment.
Blogger allows you to set up comments for who can post - it’s under the Settings Tab, then the Comments sub-tab if you’re using the new layout format.
But I’m confused about link backs and track backs - how do you do them and what advantages do they provide?
Hear! Hear! I can attest that I’ve passed up many blogs because I couldn’t post without going through hocus pocus. Like you said, there are so many blogs, so little time.
I totally agree Kathie! I really don’t like blogs that ask me to subscribe because I may not be interested in EVERYTHING they write. I just might like that one blog post. Besides, subscribing to too many other blogs only clogs up my email—even more than it already is.
Amen! I get very frustrated, especially when the blog is particularly good.
I have always tried to make it easy to comment. Who needs all that stuff. The one I really hate is when you have to go through all that and still do captcha. GRRRRR.