Tips for Leaving Quality Site Comments (And What Not to Do)

byEricCantu

13.8K followers

Updated 3 years ago

Recently I've been using the Site Comments feature a lot as I've been publishing new content along with updating old content as well.

Site Comments as a whole is a HUGE feature here at WA where we are able to leverage this amazing community we have to trigger engagement in our articles almost instantly after they're published.

We want these comments to look and sound like organic ones, right?

Here's what you definitely don't want to do:

• Mention that you've never heard of the topic of the article
• Make your first sentence something like "Thank you so, so much for writing this excellent article on [title of article here]."
• Make a long, drawn out comment that basically summarizes or paraphrases the whole article

Right now you may be thinking, "But what's wrong with thanking them for writing the article?"

There's nothing wrong with that. However, the whole thank you and then incorporating the title of the article or what you think are the focus keywords simply isn't a normal sounding thing that normal commenters do.

I'll explain each point with more detail. But first...

When you're leaving a comment, write from the perspective of someone finding that article organically after making a Google search.

Think about that for a second.
What would a comment from someone like that sound like?

People who comment on articles online don't comment just to comment. They're usually looking for a little more information about something specific within the article, or a point that may have been left out, or maybe they have a question about a specific point made in the article.

As an example, let's say the article is on chess. Maybe it's about tips on how to close out your opponent.

Would someone who found this article after a Google search start off their comment with "Wow, great article on how to close out your opponent in chess. I've never really played chess, but..."

Can you see how that type of comment wouldn't make sense? If you've never played chess then how did you come upon this article? (Point 1)

This happens so often.

Also, the reason there's simply no need to start all your comments with "Thank you so much for writing this excellent article on [article title here]" is because people who leave organic comments simply don't do that. (Point 2)

WA members tend to do this all the time because it's easy filler when you're trying to reach the minimium word count for the Site Comment to be accepted.

Don't be lazy. Avoid this practice.

When is the last time you left a comment on YouTube and started off with a really long thank you and took the time to type out the entire title of the video?

"Thank you so, so very much for this interesting video on Emmitt Smith, the NFL's leading rusher and greatest running back of all time..."

See how that just sounds bizarre? Again, avoid that as often as possible.

On to Point 3, the common tendency of leaving a long summary of the article. This never comes off sounding like an authentic comment.

"Thank you so much for writing this article on chess end game strategies. Chess has been around for a very long time. There are almost an infinite number of move combinations making every game unique. The end game is a critical aspect that should be practiced... blah blah blah"

No one who found that article after a Google search would leave a comment like that.

All you really have to do is find a single, specific point from the article and form an honest question from it or share an experience about it. Most comments jump right to the point and either agree, disagree, or ask a question. You can't go wrong with that.

"Are there any solid strategies on how to defend when closing against 2 rooks? I hate being caught in that situation..."

Just expand on that and you'll reach your minimum word count and you're well on your way to leaving a solid comment that the author of the post is going to love because it allows them to then answer the question and form a solid reply.

This also triggers engagement because now when people are actually finding this article organically and they see the back and forth in the comments area, they'll chime in as well.

Finally, I think a big one has to do with commenting on articles that are related to WA, like Jaaxy reviews, WA reviews, etc.

Fight the urge to start with "I too am a member of Wealthy Affiliate and this is by far the best platform i've found because..."

Think about how that would look on a review article for any product where every other comment says "I'm a member too and i love this product."

It begins to looks like a collection of staged comments. And that's not what the author is looking for, right?

So in summary, you can't go wrong when you take just a moment to think about the mindset someone would have who made a google search to arrive at the article.

• Think about why they would have looked it up.
• Never start with "Wow I've never even heard of this".
• Avoid just summarizing the article in their comment.
• And always avoid that awkward repeating of the title in the first sentence.

Thanks so, so much for reading this excellent article on Tips for Leaving Quality Site Comments (And What Not to Do) that covers many solid points on how to not leave a comment that sounds unauthentic and how to leave a comment that sounds organic as if someone found the article after a google search. I've never heard of commenting before but these are all interesting points.

See what i did there? Perfect example of a bad comment.

Hope this helps. :)