1. Don't have music playing. One of the biggest no-no's of blogging etiquette is forcing us to listen to whatever song you're currently loving. Please don't. Leave it off with the option to turn it on rather than vice versa. If there's music playing, then I tend to leave pretty quickly.
2. Remove captcha. Please please please! This is one of the most infuriating parts of commenting. Why make it difficult?! You can easily delete spammer comments or at least set it to "owner approval" if you are that afraid of malicious comments being posted.
3. Don't make me scroll back up. I read your posts from top to bottom so your comments should be at the bottom after I'm done reading. Rather than making me scroll back up to find it near the title of the post. It would make my life easier.
4. No self promotion. Don't say "I followed you, now follow me." I follow blogs I genuinely enjoy and want to subscribe to. Not because the person told me to.
5. Make sure I can read your blog. Yes, having a purple font can be pretty but it's not very easy on the eyes. Avoid colored text. Make sure your font color and your background are easily distinguishable from each other.
6. Break up the text. Include picture(s) with your posts. Some of the link-ups I participate in feature 100+ submissions. I try my best to read most of the submissions. However, if your post is an ongoing series of words with no breaks. It's going to be hard for my eyes to sit through and read it all. Pictures give my eyes a break when reading through and they also add to your content. Or you could do bullet points or numbered lists.
7. Have something worth reading. Sometimes I go to a blog and honestly can't find anything to comment on. I've seen where bloggers post a quote and say "Happy Monday" to which I have no idea how to respond. Or sometimes I can't relate to the content so don't want to leave a fake comment like "so awesome!" It feels disingenuous to me. If you notice no one is commenting on then it may be what you're posting.
8. Comment on my blog. It's really a dying luxury in the blogging world. Commenting on my blog let's me know you visited and shows effort on your behalf. Some bloggers disagree with me on this. I'm okay if you let me know you read my blog by tweeting me. However, there have been blogs that I would comment on a frequent basis and would never say a word back to me. It was a major put off. It's also easy for me to just click over from your comment and go visit your blog to leave one in return. Pay it forward people.
Hopefully I make it easy for you all to comment on my blog. If I don't and there's something you'd like to see changed please don't hesitate to share!
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Exactly, I agree with all of these. The Captcha is very annoying and I don't know if people don't realize they have it on...or mean to have it on. I also don't like to comment when it has this popup form where I have to include my name, email, social security number (well maybe not SSN:) Just let me comment without including so many steps. Thanks for sharing this list - I'm sure most people agree with your points.
ReplyDeletelmao yes you do have to put in a lot of information. Usually the less steps... the better. Glad you liked the post :)
DeleteThis was a great read, and I agree with many of these. When I first started blogging I had music featured on my site. I didn't realize how annoying it could be until people actually started telling me it was a distraction. Thank goodness for honesty! And captcha can be pretty tricky. When I remove the captcha option, I have like 100 spam comments sent to my phone. Do you know of any ways I can decrease the spam? I see you have been blogging for quite some time and I'm wondering if you've ever come across this problem.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips!
Hey lady! Perhaps you could opt for only Google/Blogger accounts to reply or they have to fill in their name/URL. Typically when you have an Anonymous option, that invites spam. Or if you have Wordpress there's a box you can click "confirm you're not a spammer" which is a lot easier to do then filling out capcha. Hope this helped!
DeleteThis was very helpful. I have to take the Anonymous option off. Thank you Kimberlee! :-)
DeleteHope it helps!
DeleteI totally agree with this! When you first sign up with blogger, they don't tell you that the captcha is on, so you don't know that it's annoying people. Thankfully, I met some nice, but honest, people who told me about it so I could fix it! My favorite part of blogging is the "getting to know people" part, so I can't stand it when people are no-reply bloggers. I want to be able to email them if they have a great comment I want to respond to, you know?
ReplyDeletehaha I try to be honest with people in my comments, it's only because I'm tying to be helpful :) I hate when someone leaves a nice question that I want to honestly answer for them but they don't leave any link back or are "Anonymous"!!! Totally feel ya on that one
Deletehi kimberlee! need to agree to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ! all are pet peeves to me! and captcha is also getting more and more annoyingly difficult to read! i need to refresh twice....but i really dont like the follow me back comments, its annoying and makes me ignore them. I think this article should be spread everywhere and let all bloggers know. x
ReplyDeleteAw glad you agree! P.S. thanks for making me realized I forgot the T in captcha (where were you people on that one?! haha) I've had to fill them out so many times and yes they are definitely getting harder to read. Feel free to pass it on :)
DeleteLove this! I totally agree with you. I'm a fan of clean pages. If I can find your comment box easily then I'll leave a comment but if its difficult to find then more likely or not I'll just leave. I started spamming comments that are just follow you, follow me ones. I hate them and wrote in my comment policy page not to leave those or they will be marked as spam. I also hate the catche but SO MANY people have them now. It's so annoying but since I took the time out to write the comment I now feel like it would have been a waste not to now type in the code.
ReplyDeletehttp://fashionistanygirl.blogspot.com/
Thanks lady! Oh perhaps I should include that in my policy page... haha I feel like I'm filling out a survey with some of these comments!
DeleteWonderful post, Kim! I definitely agree with all 8. I must admit, I don't have my comment button at the bottom of my post, but it's because of my blog template. If I knew how to move it to the bottom, I would--might have to ask the hubs.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with #7 and #8 for sure.
Aw thanks :) Bummer about the template. Maybe your hubby can help. They shouldn't make templates like that! Otherwise you make it pretty easy to comment on your blog.
DeleteWhat a great post. The Capcha is what stops me the most from commenting. I hate having to prove I'm not a robot ugh it makes me sick!! what a great post with lots for us to think about in regards to increasing traffic and comments
ReplyDeleteAw thanks :)
DeleteI agree with every single one of your points! The captors codes are the worst! It took me 4 times to get one right the other day! And the post comment link at the top is annoying too! GreAt post boo! :)
ReplyDeletelmao omg me too! Why do they make them so difficult?!!
DeleteThis is such a smart post. I agree on so many points. Personally, I try not to post a pointless comment. I do like to let other bloggers know I visited his/her site by commenting. And...I totally and absolutely agree...I dislike the comments that state "follow me and I'll follow you..." If you don't like my blog enough to follow, then that's fine. But, don't make it a game. It's hard enough! =)
ReplyDeletexo,
nancy
Thanks! I mean if all I can see is pretty nail polish about your post then I may leave it but otherwise I try to leave something helpful/insightful on the post. haha the "you follow me, I'll follow you" game is so ridiculous. That's not how it works people!!
DeleteWe're total veterans in the blogging world! Great post though. I agree with all of these! I visit most of the bloggers who comment on my blog, except for the ones that just leave the 'follow me and I'll follow you' comment.
ReplyDeletehaha we're oldies in the blogging world :p Yeah exactly, it's kind of easier to just click on over and return the favor. But some bloggers I know read my post and just don't think oh I need to comment so they tweet or FB me so I know they read it! ugh haha
DeleteI agree with each and everyone of these!! Especially the last one. I go through my email and answer questions/visit the blogs that have commented on mine, so essentially, I am commenting mainly on the blogs that comment on mine! I try to go through reader, but I can't keep up with everyone, and thus I like to keep up with the ones I form relationships through COMMENTING. Haha.
ReplyDeleteAw I'm glad! Yes commenting is a great way to maintain relationships. If you ask a question on my post, I tend to hop over to your site and leave a comment and my answer there. Create a nice conversation! Or I'm also on Twitter a lot so I tend to answer there but I know everyone isn't as Twitter addicted as I am :p
DeleteCapcha. I mean, I still take the time to comment, but it does drive me crazy and if I'm in a hurry, I will leave and maybe not make it back. I also don't love bloggers who write in all caps. That's hard for me to read too for some reason.
ReplyDeleteOH yes that's also hard to read! Sometimes if I get the captcha wrong a few times, then I just give up. Do you really want to do that to your readers?
DeleteYou inspired me to post a comment to myself on my own blog to check for a faux pas on your list. (I think I am easy)
ReplyDeleteI agree about the capcha... it messes with my self-esteem and makes me feel inept half the time.
I find that some blogs require you to sign up with a service of some sort and create an account with a password to leave a comment. I always back out at that point.
I'm a rookie blogger - and appreciate your advice sound advice.
Thanks!
Jo
Well glad you found it helpful! Oh yes, those services are interesting. I'm okay if they allow me to sign in with Twitter but otherwise yes they scare me off.
DeleteThanks for stopping by :)
wow i can't beleive youve been blogging for 3 years! thats so awesome! Thanks for the tips for us newbies, i really do appreciate it everytime a fellow blogger shares advice! i love that its not a competition and everyone wants to see everyone else succeed! :)
ReplyDeletehaha yes I'm old :p
DeleteWell that last part is not true for ALL of us. It definitely has become catty but I'm all about helping other bloggers be better. I'm always willing to give my advice/tips :)
good stuff lady.
ReplyDeletethe catchpa is definitely a comment killer for me...ugh!
and i use disqus for my blog, so hopefully it makes commenting easy for folks and i love how easy it makes it for me to comment back straight from email.
most people comment about my posts to me via twitter...i think this is because i am a tweet-a-holic and always on it, so that they may feel its an easier way to connect and have a convo as opposed to just leaving a comment.
Disqus is easy for me because I can stay logged in with Twitter. Is it easy to find my blog with Disqus?
Deletelmao I'm the same way. I am on Twitter constantly so I understand commenting that way. As long as they are letting me know because sometimes I feel worried no one is reading!
Thanks for your advice! I find it helpful as someone trying to wrap her heading around blogging.
ReplyDeleteGlad I could help :)
DeleteHi Kimberlee,
ReplyDeleteKILL THE MUSIC. I hate when I go to a site and music begins automatically and I cannot find the off or mute button.
I also hate it when bloggers visit my site because I visited theirs. I would prefer that you stopped by because you wanted to or I offered you something you could use; not because I stopped by yours.
I actually stopped visiting one site because the owner's only comments were, "Thanks for stopping by" or "great to see you". Uh, people want conversation. Sometimes, conversations are not necessary, but some of the comments on that site were very fruitful.
Thanks for this post and the opportunity to vent. :)
No problem!
DeleteI like if someone new visits then I check out their site to see if there's anything I like. I think it's a courteous thing, but that's just my opinion.
haha aww yeah the conversation has definitely dropped off in the blogging world.
So agree about the captcha and I could throw Disqus in there too since it makes the post longer to load and is buggy on my pc and iPad. Grrr.
ReplyDeleteOh interesting point. I don't typically comment from my mobile device so I've had no issues with Disqus. Thanks for sharing!
DeleteGreat post. I am trying to change my title but until I found the righ person to do it, I will be guilty of it. I agree with the fact that people should want to follow you because they genuinely love what you do. As always, you hit the nail right on its head.
ReplyDeleteAw thanks :)
DeleteYour recommendations are all common sense, but it's good to have them reiterated.
ReplyDeleteOne would think it would be common sense... but apparently not if I have to write about it haha
DeleteThese are all great hints - and not just new bloggers need them either!
ReplyDeleteMy biggest pet peeve is to go through all the captcha stuff, and then see "your comment is awaiting moderation". Really? If you are going to moderate the comments anyway, then why bother with verification?
A close second, or maybe tied for first place is not having the Name/URL option available. I'm not on blogger, wordpress.com or disqus - let me fricken comment already!
this post rocks!
Thanks for checking it out! Oh yes, that's also nice to have as well.
DeleteThese are all brilliant tips and advice. Impressive! I hate the 'follow back' drives me craaaazy!
ReplyDeleteX
Thanks :)
DeleteThe Captcha questions are terrible - often they are too hard for me to read, so I fail it and then the next one is even harder! Sometimes after three or four times I just give up, which is infuriating because I usually spend a good amount of time and thought to my comments! As for spam comments - I have Akismet on my blogs, and that does a very good job of weeding out the spam comments. I highly recommend it.
ReplyDeleteYeah I'm getting worse at them! Oh good to know :)
DeleteEvery point in your post is very true. I especially agree with breaking up your text with pictures, numbers or bullet points. It sure makes it easier on the eye and easier to read. When a writer is mindful of the reader's ability to read a post easily, the article is much more enjoyable. I, personally am more likely to read the post completely.
ReplyDeleteGood to know!
DeleteYou're right. On all accounts. And here I was thinking I would avoid nasty comments with the captcha, but i myself have avoided leaving them cause I usually read blogs on a device, so that just annoys the hell out of me. You've inspired me. I am going to go delete it now. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Well glad I could point it out to you. Thanks for stopping by :)
Delete