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ProBlogger interview: Replying to comments
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A recent theme on my blog has been replying to comments. I recently changed my replies to not address each person individually, not because I don't have time to, but because my big long replies were killing the discussion.It got me thinking - what would ProBlogger (Darren Rowse) do? Darren has over 48,000 subscribers and regularly gets 50-100 comments on his posts. How can you manage that volume of comments? I asked him a few questions - here are his replies...
1. Do you think new bloggers should aim to reply to all the comments they receive on their blog?
It will always depend a little on the situation of the blogger and how much time that they have - however it's always a good strategy to interact with readers as much as possible - particularly in the early days as it reinforces to your readers that you're interested in them.
2. Is there a point when it's acceptable to not reply to comments if you don't have time?
I find that after a while it becomes impossible to reply to every comment left on your blog. Sometimes this is because the comments left don't really warrant a reply (for example if someone is leaving lots of comments that are not really saying much new about your article it can be overkill to reply to every one) or because there are too many of them to be able to respond to them all. For example if I were to reply to every comment on ProBlogger I'd be writing thousands of comments a week - it's just not possible to keep up that kind of level of commenting.
3. I notice that you don't always reply to the comments on ProBlogger (at least not in a follow-up comment), but you did reply to several comments on your "Top Income Streams Update" post. Is this something you are hoping to do more of in future, or was it a one-off?
I attempt to reply to as many as I can - but as said above - it'd be a mammoth task to reply to every one. Of course that doesn't mean comments don't get replied to - because I've worked hard to build a community of readers who answer each other's questions. ProBlogger is read by a lot of smart people so I'm pretty confident that if someone asks a question that it'll get an answer.
4. Do your readers respond better to direct replies or follow-up posts? Does this vary depending on the medium? e.g. comments, email, Twitter...
I like to reply to questions in a variety of forms, depending partly upon the medium that they are asked in but also depending upon the depth of the question. Sometimes a comment is sufficient, other times it makes more sense to write a full post answering it.
Thanks Darren for your replies. It's good to get some feedback from someone who has a lot of readers and a lot of comments.
What do you think? Have you found the right balance when it comes to replying to comments? Do you keep on top of them? What methods do you use for replying?
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Comments on ProBlogger interview: Replying to comments
Steve Pavlina turned comments off on his blog when he first started getting popular. He considered it too much of a sinkhole. You can read about it here:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/blog-comments/ and here: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/more-on-blog-comments/
Eventually, he opened a forum to engage his community. It seems to have worked out well for him, give the popularity of his blog. I don't know of many other big bloggers that have done it though.
Hi Ben, Great Post!
For me, commenting is a major part of my blog, because it's how I set the "tone" since the beginning. I enjoy taking my time and responding to each comment individually, so the reader feels that their presence really matters to me. My blog is an extension of my home, so I treat my readers as I would a friend visiting. I will admit, that as my readership has been growing, it's been more challenging. I also moderate all my comments, and always have. This gives me a chance to read each comment seperately, so I can focus on what each reader has to say, and respond fully to them. I will usually check my moderation box 3 times a day, so I keep up with them and respond quickly. It's not easy, but this is why I feel people enjoy comming to my blog. They feel special. I have no idea what I'll do when eventually, it may get to the point where it's simply not humanly possible to do this. I'm hoping that my readers will understand. But in the meantime, I really enjoy responding to comments and will do my best!
I have a small blog and not too many comments other than meme type posts. I try to respond, but not responding to individual posts, which I find irritating when reading comments unless they are amusing.
As usual you have given me something to think about. I do not get many comments so I can easily answer all of them. It does however make sense to leave them sometimes in the hope that the comments themselves lead to some debate. Some comments (rather than the actual article) have actually prompted me to comment myself.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm trying to balance my replies here, hopefully it's going a bit better than it was before. I like getting comments but I don't think they all require a direct response - sometimes it's just good to have additional people weighing in on the discussion. Keep the great comments coming. :)
Nice job getting an interview with Mr. Rowse. As for me, I average 40 comments per post. It can be difficult to manage this number, but part of the reason for the success of my blog is that my replying to every comment builds community. Everyone who comes to The Junk Drawer knows there'll be a party in the comments. And that's a key element of my blog. For now, it's worth replying to all of them. But I don't know what I'll do if my average hits the 100 mark. I may need an assistant.