Commenting is Not Worth It
As a lot of you know, I was just listed on John Chow’s site as one of the main beneficiaries of a Technorati Boost. It was really a great thrill to know that my blog was ranking at about 2k in Technorati, but let’s get real here - that’s a number that doesn’t truly reflect the amount of traffic I am receiving on my site. Even though, I was really tempted to just become a regular comment whore, I had to step back and really take a look at core blogging tips and see if I’m staying true to them. I was not.
The only true benefit that I have been receiving is a little branding and few more new visitors here and there. The main cost of trying to maintain my position on John’s comment boards is that I’m unable to sit down and really produce a quality article with tips and strategy about anything that’s going on the web, blogging or marketing. I don’t know if many of you know, but I do work for an internet marketing firm in Downtown Los Angeles 40 hours a week along with some other smaller clients that take up an additional 10-15 hours a week, so after getting through that client work for the day, it’s extremely hard to try and keep up with all the comments and then try and produce a quality article.
Again, it was a tempting offer to try and stay on John’s site. I look at it as the dumb High School jocks who sacrificed their education to get every varsity letter out there to be part of the “cool crowd” for those 4 years only to have that time period be the peak of their life. Now, these “Al Bundys” just sit around, struggle to make a buck and talk endlessly about how great it was back in the day. So basically, I don’t think it’s a smart for me long term. I definitely could make better use of my time right now building a strong foundation for my site.
I just want to note that I am only speaking for myself. I have personally talked to a lot of the other Top Commentators on John’s boards and know that their workloads and lives are completely different from mine, so please don’t take this post as a knock on them or their websites. This was a total personal opinion of MY situation that I wanted to express. I still will be commenting like I did before and that was to express my opinions to great articles and to also interact with the members of that particular community.
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The numbers on the John Chow commentators list are very discouraging, but it shouldn’t be the primary motivator for commenting! I add comments when I feel they contribute something to the blog post, getting onto the Top Commentators list is just a bonus!
That said, I’ve seen a lot of Saman’s comments and they’re NOT spam. They’re actually well thought out constructive comments!
I totally agree about Saman . . . I’ve read his comments and they’re totally legit like most of the top commentators . . . i just think that with the incentive of rising to the top 5k in Technorati is going to invite a bunch of spam comments that I think is going to ruin John’s community!
I don’t think a comment list should be used to promote your own site but it does and John Chow endorses it.
The issue is ultimately with Technorati - their whole system is obviously messed up and yet they make a ton of money. I wanted to make a point that within an hour I could totally get a fake result from Technorati and I think lots of people should do the same until they fix it. (not that the whole process didn’t make me feel a bit dirty)
The whole Top Commentator thing is really a bit stupid and I’ve gotten a bit cynical with watching people pepper my site with comments then bugger off - clearly just using my site to advertise theirs.
So Technorati should fix the glitch and John should stop giving out pens.
Yeah, it can be fun to be on somebody’s Top Commentators list - but on big blogs it can take a lot of your time to stay at the top and I’m not sure you get a good “ROI” on that spent time. I leave comments when I have something to say - but I just don’t have time to compete for the top spots.
But on smaller blogs (like mine) it’s much easier to get on the Top list
Thanks Jon! I really do try to contribute to the conversations!
Agreed, I can see an influx of spam comments coming very soon…
It really does take a lot of time to get on the list, but I have been getting a lot of new visitors so there is a trade off there.
Maintaining a spot on John Chow’s Top Commentator List requires unthoughtful comments, prepetual refreshing of the page, and replies to practically EVERY commentor who comes along.
Personally I find that a waste of time, and it promotes John’s dreams, not my own. I spend my time pursuing my dreams.
Hey - not that I’m complaining about the legit link back Gary - but with other people making many, many more comments then me, how did you choose me to get the moniker ‘comment whore’ anyway? Was it the 50 posts in one morning
By the way, are you offering any prizes to people that get on your top commentators list?
ya . . it was because you did that 50 post in the morning thing . . . i like passion . . doesn’t matter which side of the argument you’re on . . it’s always good . . and no, I can’t afford to give out prizes yet . . . a review of your site would probably the best i can do now
hahaha
Sounds good, and feel free to send me a self-review of your site if you like as part of my ‘review yourself’ offer: http://www.markrobinson.ca/2007/03/forget-reviewme-review-yourself-for-free/
Alternatively we could do a review exchange….
I think there’s also a big difference in being first and being second on the Top Commentators list. Its just like Google, most people click on only the first search result.
That’s good advice Bryan. At some point everyone may stop and realize that in doing anything to promote their own blogs all they’re really doing is making John Chow rich.
Hey, Gary. For some reason your contact me page isn’t working. I just wanted you to know that your blog has been chosen to compete in the 2007 Bloggers Tournament on my blog.
http://www.derrich.com/2007/03/19/2007-bloggers-tournament-take-2/
I won’t be offended if you delete this comment after you read it. I don’t want it to come across as spam, but I wasn’t sure how else to contact you. Best of luck!
I feel commenting is a needed task to some level. Building interaction in other sites will in turn increase traffic on your own site.
This should be a constant, long term process, not just a task to get into the top commenter list.
I comment for 2 reasons: I have something to say and/or I support the particular blogger and I show the support by leaving a comment (if I have one).
I don’t have the time to leave a gazillion comments.
I think people can tell the difference between just commenting to get attention and commenting to add value and be part of a larger conversation.
Sticking to core blogging SEO strategies are really where the long term benefits will be. While I agree that commenting can be an important strategy, it can be incredibly time consuming. In the process, you’re losing time that could be better spent on core SEO and on actually working on the stuff people come to your blog for - content.
I agree with you completely. I actually wrote a post about how the link exchange systems really help the site getting reviewed more than the site doing the reviewing.
On the same note, however, it is a way for people to get out of the Google sandbox - so it’s still not a bad thing to do - just realize that it’s helping the other guy out a lot more than you.
What’s really insightful is that this is from the guy who shot up technorati because of all of the commenting.