Enhance your reputation & increase traffic by joining discussions on other blogs

August 09th, 2007 | Category: Heidi's Entries,How-to,Recommendations,SEO,Social Networking,Tips and Tricks,marketing
written by: Heidi Cool

robot.jpg
Robots say the darnedest things

This is the third in a series of posts that discuss Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and other Web marketing strategies.

As you know from my earlier post on commenting, people (and robots) like to leave comments on other people's blogs in order to provide links back to their own Web site. This in turn can improve your rank on search engines. When done solely with the goal of boosting traffic, this can be annoying. Such comments are often off-topic, vague or otherwise inadequate. Neither bloggers nor their readers care to read input that doesn't add to the discussion at hand.

Careful commenting, on the other hand, will not only give you links, but it will also help you to build your reputation in your given field, network with others in that field and share your ideas with a wider audience.

About those links

Links build traffic to your site in multiple ways. If more sites link to you, you'll raise your rankings with search engines. However, not all comment links will do that. Many blogs use "rel=nofollow" in links. Search engines ignore such links when ranking your site. But that's O.K. Links are more useful for the direct traffic they send to your site—the traffic from the people who read your comments and find them interesting enough to visit your site. What follows are a few ideas on how to use blogs (or discussion groups) to direct traffic to your blog or Web site.

Read and post to blogs and/or discussion groups you enjoy reading

Read first. Post later. If your Web site or blog is about Internet Marketing, then find out who else is writing about this. If you subscribe to a journal or magazine on the topic, see if they have an online discussion board or if they recommend certain blogs. Use Google, Technorati, de.licio.us or your preferred strategy to find what blogs are popular in the field. You can also find (and promote your own) blogs through your social networking activities. I recently found Ob81, a Mac-focused blog, when I became friends with its author, Howard, on Pownce to which I was invited by Tiffany, who I met on Flickr.

Once you've found a few promising blogs, read a few entries from each one. Do you agree with most of what the author has to say? If so, look through the archives; does he/she write regularly on topics that would interest you and/or your readers? Would you come back and read future entries? Did you spend more time reading through the entries than you originally expected? If so, then subscribe to the feed or bookmark the site.

What if the blogger seems out of touch with reality? In your educated opinion are his/her entries wrong or misguided? Do the readers agree? Are the readers confused? Does the site seem to get a lot of traffic? Consider keeping track of this site as well. Your future comments may be of service to those readers. This applies primarily to sites whose topics are somewhat objective by nature. It's fine to politely give advice to the guy who just started learning HTML and is blogging about using <font> to control type on a Web page. You're helping him and his readers to learn more, and will be respected for your authority (presuming you were telling him to use Cascading Style Sheets.) But if you believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster and start correcting the guy who blogs about his belief in the Swimming Tortellini Monster your results may vary. You could find yourself in an amusing discussion or a rigorous flame war, but you probably won't be driving a lot of converts to your site.

It's all about content; post what comes naturally

Now that you've found a few worthwhile blogs or discussion groups it's time to chime in. But don't force it. As you are reading through the entries just think of what comes to mind. Do you have questions about the article? Ask them. If the entry gave tips on choosing your target audience, and you've got an additional tip, share it. Keep the audience in mind, would your comment or question be helpful to other readers? Does it add to the value of the discussion? If so post it. You can use the same criteria when posting to other people's blogs as you would your own. If it is meaningful and on topic, go ahead.

If nothing comes to mind, then don't feel you have to comment. Wait until you find an entry that gives you an idea. If you try to force it, but don't have anything to say, this will reflect poorly on you. You won't generate further dialogue with the other readers and you won't inspire them to follow the link back to your site. Think of your comment as the appetizer and your Web site as the meal. If you serve spam (pun intended)—or anything else that doesn't taste quite right—they're not going to follow you to the main course.

Connecting with these readers is important because they are your target market. These people are already interested in your topic. That means they are more likely to buy your widget, attend your event, collaborate on your project, learn from your advice, or otherwise relate to what your site has to offer. Traffic from search engines is nice, but it won't be as finely targeted as traffic from sources related directly to your topic.

One last thing about links

When commenting you generally include the link to your site in the appropriate Web site field. You can also include links within your text. Some people advise against this, saying it can single you out as a spammer, but I think if the links are in context it is O.K. If a link will add to the point you are making then include it. If the link is to your own site, just make sure it goes to a page pertinent to the comment rather than the home page.

Well, that should be enough to get you started. Now go out and promote yourself. You'll probably meet some interesting people and pick up some new ideas along the way.

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63 Comments »
  1. Hi, I have read many blogs but you have given a very good information on how to post comments and also how links help in promoting traffic.

    Comment by Promoting Website Traffic — August 10, 2007 @7:06 am

  2. Great advice for blogs and forums alike. You could find yourself in an amusing discussion or a rigorous flame war, but you probably won't be driving a lot of converts to your site. Also, you can drive your visitors away by editing their comment to make their response appear they totally agreed with your post (seen this a few times). If you are not looking for additions or possible debate I'm sure you can just disable the comments altogether.

    Comment by TomG — August 10, 2007 @9:56 am

  3. This space used to contain the long spam comment by BlackestHatter that Amanda refers to below. I deleted it because it goes against the grain of what we're discussing although it was a classic example of what we recommend against. (The legality of the product was also in question) -Heidi

    Comment by Anonymous — August 10, 2007 @10:39 am

  4. A great example of "spam commenting" is surely the comment above mine! For Heidi Cool: This post is a great read for people interesting in blog etiquette; I came across your post while reading up for a future post on my own blog about this same subject. On many of my own blogs/forums, I've had the "problem" of spam comments/posts which really get on my nerves! The most effective way I have found of eliminating most of the spam is to use a verification system, where readers must copy the letters from an image in order to prove they are human. Most Blogging platforms I have encountered support such a system. As well as being of use to the reader (helping others find your blog), comments are also great for the blog author: I love to read thoughtful comments on my blog! Comments and constructive criticism help me to develop as a blogger, and write posts which others like to read. Thanks for an informative and useful post!

    Comment by Amanda — August 10, 2007 @12:07 pm

  5. The captcha system works well but it has been, on some platforms, overcome by spammers. On my forum I resorted to a VIP system - the person registering has to go to a page on the site not in the forum and read the vip code - no link in the registration form to the page so the person has to follow simple directions - pain in the neck for sure but it has stopped the spam for the time being.

    Comment by TomG — August 10, 2007 @12:32 pm

  6. While the comment idea might work for some, on some sites and forums you will be spotted and labeled as a spammer immediately. For example, I used to blog about virtual worlds on a website that I maintained. One author at terranova.blogs.com posted an article related to one of the VWs I regularly wrote about. I posted a short comment and typed my website in the URL box. A few posts later I was labeled a spammer and told to 'advertise my site' elsewhere. My post was short and on topic but since I was new to their conversation I was quickly labeled. On the SEO topic in general, some people view SEO as an attempt to scam the system. They argue search engines have a more difficult time providing accurate and relevant results because of SEO. This present an interesting ethical issue - aside from writing informative and relative posts, what is acceptable in the effort to gain a higher ranking in Google search results?

    Comment by dave — August 10, 2007 @1:59 pm

  7. TomG makes an excellent point about editing comments. It is fine to delete them and sometimes to edit them, but if doing the latter, you should indicate what edits you made and why, so that it is totally clear who said what. (Unless it is something tiny like fixing a typo.) Dave, I think every blogger sets different standards. I try to be fairly liberal with what comments I'll allow, but it varies by topic. Also each system is different. I've actually had comments rejected from my own blog due to terms that triggered the spam filter. So I waited a few minutes, posted a shorter comment, then edited it from my admin panel. I also agree with Amanda, its nice to get thoughtful comments. They let me know that someone is out there reading this and they provide additional insights into the topic. If someone writes something worthwhile, then I certainly think they're entitled to a link. Also I like to see the links so I can visit those sites and see what else they have to say. SEO gets a bad wrap because it is so often misused. I'll write on Black Hat vs White Hat SEO/mktg in a future post. Of course many Black Hat strategies aren't effective anyway. While I think this is on many levels an issue of ethics it is also an issue of marketing strategy. Scattering comments randomly upon the Web just isn't the most effective way to market things. You came here to read and share ideas related to Web Development. You didn't come here to start a business selling possibly illegal herbal products. So even if I left those comments on the blog, it's not as you're going to follow that link and pull out your credit card. You'll just be annoyed that you have to scroll past a bunch of gibberish to get to the next valid message.

    Comment by Heidi Cool — August 10, 2007 @4:30 pm

  8. I just saw on Technorati that Dave Lucas had referred to this entry in his entry, Blog Traffic: Easy To Get If You Know How!. His article offers a number of other good tips as well as links to additional resources on the topic. This is worth a quick read if you're looking for more ideas.

    Comment by Heidi Cool — August 12, 2007 @5:18 pm

  9. Well, this advice is good, I agree that careful commenting would gain reputations but there were times that being too careful sometimes you were mark as spam. The comment must not always long, to look like decent or reputable. It's the "sense" that counts. Anyway, thanks for sharing with us this information.

    Comment by internet marketing strategies — August 13, 2007 @12:14 pm

  10. again, this is a great post ! Nice writing style. Heidi if you ever want to write some posts on my blog, let me know. I love Seth Godwin's link to lists too :D

    Comment by PreBlogging — August 17, 2007 @11:19 am

  11. Thanks Becky, Often it's hard to find the time to write to this blog, let alone someone elses! But I appreciate the offer.

    Comment by Heidi Cool — August 17, 2007 @5:27 pm

  12. The Flying Spaghetti Monster rocks!

    Comment by Gretchen — August 21, 2007 @4:34 pm

  13. Great post indeed! Thanks. It's easy to undestand also from not english peoples, like me.

    Comment by Marcello — August 22, 2007 @1:38 am

  14. Interresting, it would be better with numbers. i.e. percentage of incoming visitor from blog, and newsgroup.

    Comment by Anonymous — August 27, 2007 @7:48 pm

  15. Very fine points made in equally refined way. I wish that more people listenrd to your advice and there was lesser spam caught by Akismet filter on my WordPress blog!

    Comment by Web Designer Delhi — August 28, 2007 @10:24 am

  16. Just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying the blog. I'm going to have to bookmark it and check back later...

    Comment by PHP MySQL — August 30, 2007 @3:20 am

  17. Those of you who run a blog and would like to get rid of the spammers might be interested in the following eBook - How to Quickly and Easily Get .edu Backlinks. This short eBook describes exactly how anyone can get and use backlinks from .edu blogs to improve their Page Rank and move their website to the top of the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). By learning how spammers identify the blogs they spam, you can make changes to your website which will prevent them from finding it in the first place. Others may be interested in using the technique defined in the eBook for their own SEO purposes. This ebook tells you exactly how to go about getting the prized .edu links the search engines love. In the spirit of trying to offer a helping hand, I would be happy to send any legitimate .edu blog operator a copy of the eBook free of charge in exchange for re-posting this entry in your blog. Just send your email address and the link to the re-post to Frank @ goSEOpro.com and I will send you the eBook. -- Frank

    Comment by Search Engine Optimization Expert — August 30, 2007 @5:33 pm

  18. Having briefly mentioned Pownce in this entry, I thought you might be interested in Wayne Smallman's blog entry which gives a nice overview of Pownce and "Micro-Blogging."

    Comment by Heidi Cool — September 5, 2007 @11:25 am

  19. Some people tend to be quite sensitive to deep links in the URL field for comments. I'm with Heidi in that a relevant link — one that matches the comment — and the comment itself being relevant as well as informative serves to strengthen the article itself, better serving the reader. If you're serious about 'blogging, your comment is your calling card. So it's your best interests to add value. So long as you're not the size of TechCrunch, the odd comment spam can be weeded out manually. BTW, thanks for the link, Heidi!

    Comment by Wayne Smallman — September 5, 2007 @6:31 pm

  20. A agree, great for blogs and forums alike. It drives me nuts when people will sign up to a forum make one or to posts and then throw up links to their website everywhere. If it's content related than great, go ahead and post the link in the content area. If it's not don't waste out time! For example, I see SteveM and Awesasay who both posted today to this blog entry with links to their site which are totally unrelated. Granted both entries are obviously robotic spam entries but you know what, most of the comments I see in blogs and in forums are about as useless. Heidi, nice link to Dave Lucas blog over at blogger--I glanced over it and some useful tips. Cheers all. Mike

    Comment by Michael Farley — September 10, 2007 @2:05 pm

  21. Thanks Mike, Alas sometimes folks like SteveM and Awesasay sneak through. I've since deleted them. The non-porn one didn't even go to valid links, so I'm not sure why he even bothered. I give people are fair amount of leeway when it comes to approving comments, but if they would follow your lead, they would learn it isn't that hard to leave a comment that is on point, and that such comments not only get approved, but also are more likely to drive traffic to the commenter's site. Nice site by the way, it's nice to see a Web design firm that follows standards! (As you know it is far too rare.)

    Comment by Heidi Cool — September 10, 2007 @9:32 pm

  22. Clear information. Link is king, content is also king.. no matter how much link do you have it gonna be useless if the content is pure.

    Comment by Clever Presentations — September 12, 2007 @2:48 pm

  23. thanks so much, just update content, its big solution. its so great information

    Comment by Teguh Hermawan — September 16, 2007 @9:28 pm

  24. There are many ways to Enhance your reputation and increase traffic but I personally agree with this TITLE "Enhance your reputation & increase traffic by joining discussions on other blogs:". It's a great title telling directly into the content of your post. It's TRUE and terrific Information to the rest of other bloggers. The best is to include in the discussion on other blogs, you get in the topic and get more by telling others what you know. Cool!

    Comment by Rosalind Armelia — September 24, 2007 @12:09 pm

  25. Heidi, Thanks for the additional link. ;) Part of my job as an online marketer is to visit content specific sites and if it warrants comment and include a backlink. But if I or my client's site has nothing to contribute I'm not going to plug the site. Quality over quantity every time. BTW, if you like standards we updated our look and I've updated it to XHTML Strict and CSS valid. =)

    Comment by Michael Farley — October 5, 2007 @3:34 pm

  26. Great tips here. I have a blog and started getting spammed by all types of crazy things, totally irrelevant to my site so I added a basic mathematical captcha which makes sure you're a human and not a robot spammer - it works a treat. I'm using WordPress which has lots of useful plugins such as that one.

    Comment by Jason — October 8, 2007 @7:52 am

  27. "Careful commenting, on the other hand, will not only give you links, but it will also help you to build your reputation in your given field, network with others in that field and share your ideas with a wider audience." It's a cool stuff you have written. I do appreciate your thought and advice.

    Comment by webexpert — October 10, 2007 @1:22 am

  28. This is a good article. I'm going to point you to an experiment I'm doing on how to Boost Your Google Ranking - it's working very nicely for me. Doesn't always get me on the first page of Google or the other search engines - depends if the keywords are popular or not. Also, regarding links from .edu and .gov sites and how to check whether they are live or "nofollow" - you either have a look at the page's source code by doing "view" and then "view source" - and look for the rel="nofollow" tag or you get the SEO Firefox add-on and enter the page into the browser and that tool will highlight any URLs that have the "nofollow" tag. I've just looked at the code on this site and I see you have "nofollow" - so while the hyperlink works, you've instructed the Search Engine spiders not to follow the link and therefore share the juice.

    Comment by Malcolm Lambe — October 13, 2007 @5:46 pm

  29. Really, very useful information on how to increase traffic to a website through blogs.But your comment should be relevant to the theme of the blog otherwise people will not interested to read that comment. Blog is a good technique to share information and to improve traffic of your website.

    Comment by Brickel — October 30, 2007 @11:06 pm

  30. Very nice article.. thanks :) I have a few blogs, and the spammers have found them :( I get a ton of automated comment spams every day. I have it set that I have to approve them... boy is it annoying. I just delete the moderation emails, until I think I have a few hundred spam comments waiting on my blog, then I login and mass delete them all. I just keep wondering when people will get a life... it's kinda sad.

    Comment by BlogRush — November 4, 2007 @1:19 am

  31. I don't consider on topic comments (even if they include a link) to be spam, but when people blatantly just leave keywords or a plug for their site I hit delete. I have found loads of great blogs that I like to keep up with by following links on blog comments knowing they share an interest with me and I also love reading the comments people leave for me so disabling comments is not an option for me. Unfortunately even requiring that people sign up to comment hasn't stopped pesky spammer software so like the commenter above me I just get to them once a month and reject them.

    Comment by Dollar Demon — November 18, 2007 @5:08 am

  32. I’m sick of all the blog spammers. My blog was getting close to 200 spam comments every day. It takes forever to find the real comments. Most of the time I just delete all the comments.

    Comment by Jack — November 20, 2007 @12:08 pm

  33. great article....really helps in this day and age of pushy SEO..

    Comment by Ola Philip-King — November 22, 2007 @6:46 am

  34. Agreed. The "nofollow" attribute is an excellent way to deter black hat and blog spammers. Especially use them in .edu domains such as yours where Google seems to gives you more trust.

    Comment by cleveland — December 6, 2007 @8:12 am

  35. Its a new age of Social Networking. It really is very important to participate in online communities and have friends online who can digg or stumble your stories.

    Comment by Marketing Jobs — December 7, 2007 @6:17 am

  36. Posting comments forcibly without any concrete view on off-theme blogs won't generate further dialogue with the other readers and fail to inspire them to follow the link back to your site. In this case you have to offer something interesting that will match readers taste.

    Comment by Ukwebco — February 4, 2008 @11:12 pm

  37. I am always looking for insight into this subject. For backlinks I have tried many methods, highly relevant as well as brute force (general). These sites are under the general heading, but you can get maybe a couple hundred links in a few minutes of effort. They are basically forms on top-ranked websites that list in many other sites. Note that the first one is a list of the top 50 free directories with the highest Alexa rankings, and the free form is at the bottom of the page. If you spend the time listing in all 50 I assure you it will be time well spent. http://www.freewebsubmission.com/ http://www.technorati.com/ping http://submit.isedn.org/ http://submit2.jayde.com/ https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/submit http://www.scrubtheweb.com/addurl.html http://www.entireweb.com/free_submission/ http://www.whatuseek.com/addurl-secondary.shtml If anyone has any issues with their usage please let me know. I have actually used them for years and thought I'd add a good list of tools to the mix.

    Comment by seo, internet marketing — April 17, 2008 @5:29 am

  38. I really hate when a person's comment is "Nice Post". Why bother if this is all you have to say. Its the forced comment that you referred to. Wait until something grabs you before you comment "Nice Post"

    Comment by Jill Wente — April 20, 2008 @12:14 pm

  39. That is really a great Idea, and I appreciate your efforts and research towards this innovative idea of enhancing the reputation and traffic, I would like to add one thing which is actually becoming the need of the time, like you can't enhance your reputation just by giving the comments or by communicating your message on other's blog, but what you need is to creat such a social relationship with each other. And it can be achieved just by helping each other without keeping any incentive in mind. That can create a repute and brand in true meanings.

    Comment by John — April 24, 2008 @3:34 am

  40. If more took your advice and others like you they actually would see more traffic. But for some reason they don't then whine about it!

    Comment by Barry Cunningham — May 3, 2008 @10:23 am

  41. I am a web designer in Baton Rouge Louisiana and do seo for my clients sites and find that links on sites with similar content or at least in the same industry or related industry really has more of an impact on the helpfulness of the link. Also try and get articles published with your ala mater, as links from .edu sites can also have a great positive effect.

    Comment by Dayne — May 30, 2008 @3:07 pm

  42. I totally agree!! To get comments, you need to be active in other communities, make friends (other bloggers) .. show them you're there when they have something new and you're joining in the discussions.. Automatically they will come to your website and see what you're doing, pass on comments and the circle begins! Good read! MoiN

    Comment by MoiN — June 6, 2008 @7:21 pm

  43. It all boils down to making sure you're involved in your respective community. This way not only helps you with making your website more popular, but it educates you and builds towards creating community (something good business needs). I think there is tremendous amount of benefit through what's been written here – this is something that many people and even companies should take cognisance of.

    Comment by vacuum cleaners — July 22, 2008 @12:29 pm

  44. Spamming has become a permanent problem for blogs that supported the dofollow movement. As mentioned in the post, lots of webmasters love to use automated spamming software to attack blogs in return for links to improve their SERPs ranking. These spammers do not seem to understand that link juice comes with the age of the link, a spamming link ever get to last because moderators are bound to delete them off the blog. - Rif Chia

    Comment by Singapore SEO — September 11, 2008 @3:22 am

  45. One way that some forum are getting around the spammers is to allow you to reference your website or page in your signature but to block your signature until you have made a certain number of relevant posts. This means spammers using bots are defeated on a one off post. It also means that people doing this manually have to come up with 5 or maybe 10 relevant posts. (i know digital point requires 10) More often than not spammers cant be bothered because for them it is a numbers game pure and simple and they dont care about the quality of the link. I think it would be a shame if everyone went to nofollow links but can understand the reasoning behind those that do. Basically if you want quality links take the time to make sure that you are posting comments on blogs and forum etc that are a: relevant to your site, or b: whoes topic is something that you are interested enough in to be able to post something a bit more constructive than "Nice post".

    Comment by Dating singles — October 12, 2008 @7:48 pm

  46. Hi, I would like to add a few points to this discussion. Of course, having a good blog culture involves around good standing in the blogosphere. There are quite a few bloggers who don't just stop to even comment on a new blog they find today. Some of them on the contrary are for enhancing their blog's reputation alone. For that matter, they may make a purely illogical "Great post" comment and leave a link to their site. These aspects are degrading blogging in general. You can read my post series on Professional Blogging, which addresses these issues.

    Comment by Lenin Nair — October 27, 2008 @9:19 am

  47. I would actually like to disagree on one point (not to start a debate - but something I have seen tested)...you stated "However, not all comment links will do that. Many blogs use "rel=nofollow" in links. Search engines ignore such links when ranking your site." Actually, google does not ignore blogs where "rel=nofollow' is enabled. They do however ignore the pagerank 'juice' that would give that link more power. For instance, if you can get a backlink from a site with a pagerank of 6, then that site linking back to yours will give you alot more power than if you had a backlink from a site with no pagerank. However, if the no follow tag is enabled, google will not count the power of the page rank, but the backlink still does count as a 'vote' for your site according to google. Kind of a complicated subject, I know!

    Comment by Instant Guru Status — October 27, 2008 @9:07 pm

  48. I've heard the no=follow and do=follow links what's that mean? Can anyone give an example both of it? Is this blog a no=follow comment?

    Comment by Kj Malc — November 23, 2008 @8:33 pm

  49. Hello. That is one of the best SEO posts I have ever read. Lots of information going to use on my blog, will link back with much love without any doubts. "Think of your site like food, if you serve spam" - Yes you are right, no child is going to what broccoli forced, you need to show them WHY they want it, WHY they will like it and WHY it is good for them. I really like you blog. I disagree with the comment about dofollow above. You turn it off or not Google can STILL can it - they may not jump to it, but the Alg() will know its there. I have posted on my own blog regarding Top Ten Lies posted by SEO companies and all these web companies out their. My company are SEO exclusive these days, SEO is what we do. Blog comments are a nice way of back linking for PR and SERP only. They are not a good way to convert traffic into sales.

    Comment by Web Design Manchester — December 11, 2008 @9:35 am

  50. ive put dofolow plugin at my blog...but i got to filter it too,cz i don't like spammy comments spread among my personal weblog,btw nice post you have here...and great to know you (found this blog) :D

    Comment by bachtiar — December 29, 2008 @10:52 pm

  51. Thats a very informative post, Well, I believe if you have time you should manually approve comments, but for those people and post which attract lots of comments plugins remain the only solution. Steve, rustic room designs

    Comment by Anonymous — January 4, 2009 @1:22 pm

  52. [...] I've mentioned on several occasions, leaving relevant comments on other blogs is a great way to generate traffic and forge connections with fellow bloggers. Some companies hire [...]

    Pingback by » If you move, will they follow? Marketing the move of the Web Development Blog Update #1. | Web Development Blog: Heidi Adams Cool — March 30, 2009 @9:17 pm

  53. [...] the comments along with the posts I'm reading. In talking about it with Heidi, she reminded me of a post she'd written some time ago about how blog commenting builds your reputation. And, as if on cue, there's a lengthy and highly [...]

    Pingback by Blog commenting as a network builder | Welcome to Social Media — July 3, 2009 @11:40 am

  54. I'm new to reading blogs and feel there are so many rules, I'm afraid to comment for doing the wrong thing. Do I sign my name on this comment? Do I include my podcast website?

    Comment by David Sher — August 10, 2009 @7:36 am

  55. David, You did it correctly. Put your main Web site address (or other preferred link) in the url, include your name, then respond to the issue or question in whatever manner you would like. If you have a logical reason to include a link to a specific podcast in your answer you can do that as well. For example, if you had just done a podcast on blog commenting, you could add your two cents and mention that you had recently done a show on the topic and include that link right in the comment. I'll sometimes do that with blog entries - similar to the way I might include them when answering a question on LinkedIn. So no worries, you're on track!

    Comment by Heidi Cool — August 10, 2009 @12:33 pm

  56. Heidi, I can't begin to tell you how impressed I am with your knowledge & willingness to share your social media expertise. You are constantly answering questions and helping others. When I grow up, I want to be like you. :)

    Comment by David Sher — August 10, 2009 @10:30 pm

  57. Twitter Comment... RT @w2scott: Great point about reputation RT @hacool I wrote a related post at [link to post] #Blogchat - Posted using Chat Catcher ...

    Trackback by JDEbberly (J D Ebberly) — August 16, 2009 @10:32 pm

  58. Twitter Comment... Great point about reputation RT @hacool I wrote a related post at [link to post] #blogchat - Posted using Chat Catcher ...

    Trackback by w2scott (Will Scott) — August 16, 2009 @11:34 pm

  59. A very nice post, Heidi! In fact, I came here because you have posted a link on my guest post on SEM Group ;-) . I have two things to add. 1. If you don't comment correctly and blindly comment, your reputation will decrease. 2. In order to be more active in comment discussions, subscribe to comments if possible. For example, if you look at this blog's comment form below, you could see the subscribe to comments checkbox. ;-)

    Comment by Gloson — October 1, 2009 @4:23 am

  60. Thanks Gloson!
    Your post, 15 Ways To Get Your Blog Comments Noticed, was superb—a must read for all commenters. (I'll add it to the links at the bottom of the post.) Those are great tips too. It is just as easy to look foolish by leaving a bad comment as to look wise by leaving a good one. That's something worth remembering. I also find it helpful to subscribe to comments. I don't do it all of the time, but unless one is keeping a log of every comment one makes it's really the easiest way to keep track of the ongoing conversation. Thanks for visiting and for sharing your great suggestions!

    Comment by Heidi Cool — October 1, 2009 @7:28 am

  61. Twitter Comment... Enhance your reputation & increase traffic by joining discussions on other blogs - [link to post] (via @hacool ) - Posted using Chat Catcher ...

    Trackback by JDEbberly (J D Ebberly) — October 26, 2009 @2:17 am

  62. Twitter Comment... RT @hacool: @bethanyrc Commenting (usefully) on other blogs (in conjunction with socmed) helps get readers [link to post] #Blogchat - Posted using Chat Catcher ...

    Trackback by JDEbberly (J D Ebberly) — November 1, 2009 @10:58 pm

  63. Twitter Comment... RT @hacool: @bethanyrc Commenting (usefully) on other blogs (in conjunction with social media) helps get readers [link to post] - Posted using Chat Catcher ...

    Trackback by JDEbberly (J D Ebberly) — November 2, 2009 @4:34 am

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