Add Links To Your Website Comment Replies
Hi everybody,
I've just discovered something this morning!
I suspect lots of you already know this but in case you haven't come across it, I thought I'd mention it.
Basically is the fact that you can put links in the replies to the comments that you get on your website.
That's why I was putting a comment on somebody's website through site comments, and as often do I browse through one or two of the pages on their website and spotted a page that I really liked so I wanted to comment on that as well in my reply. To me that it would have been useful if I could have put a link in the comments but of course we can't do that.
Then this morning I was looking at a couple of comments that people have made on pages on my website and somebody had mentioned another page on my website that they had really liked. Thank you, Cynthia!
Originally, I thought I would put the whole title in my reply so that if somebody else is looking for the next comment it would be easier to locate. After that, I noticed just above that there were three little symbols bold, italic, and link, so I could bold the title of the page and also put a link directly to that page. Moreover, if somebody else has read a recommendation from another person, then they might want to explore that page as well, and I would like to make that easy for them.
Now I did this because somebody mentioned an actual page, but it strikes me that there might be lots of other opportunities to put links in my replies; picking up on something they've said or an interest that they've professed.
Also, because we can go back and edit our own comments at any time, it occurs to me that I could go back to previous comments and link to more recent pages.
What do you think?
I hope this helps somebody.
All the best,
Julia
Recent Comments
15
Hi Julia
I think Kyle did some training on this encouraging us to add links in replies to comments that help the commenter. I do this quite frequently especially when someone has asked a question the response to which is contained in a different post on my site.
It just makes your content easier to navigate.
Best regards
Andy
Hey Julia,
Welcome to the world of links, LOL.
You can actually put ANY link you want in ANY comment, whether made by you or by someone else.
Remember, it is YOUR website, so you're completely in control of what goes on it.
This is also why within the comments section you have the ability to EDIT.
So realistically, if you're using SiteComments or the Need Website Comments thread here at WA you never actually need to disapprove a comment.
You can approve everything and then edit the comment to your liking (as well as including internal links, external links or affiliate links within that person's comment or your reply).
In truth, we are slightly "cheating" the system at WA with the comments sections.
Basically, we are creating "social signals" on a post by having comments added.
This is good in the eyes of Google and the other search engines.
"Oh look, people are commenting on this post, it must be popular and it must answer the searcher's intent. Let's rank this post higher in the search engines for various search terms".
So, as the comments received from within the platform aren't specifically "real" you can play about them with as much as you want (don't do this with "real" comments, although you can still add links to their comment, just don't change their wording).
So, as an example, if you've written a product review and someone mentions the product name within their comment, then why not add an affiliate hyperlink to the product name?
Works for me.
Always remember, it's your site, you control what goes on it, and this is even more true when it comes from internal comments from other Wealthy Affiliate members that aren't really "real".
Once someone has added a comment, their email and address an ip address has been logged as separate user to your website (This is all that Google can tell, a comment has been left by referal traffic from Wealthy Affiliate)..
So, you can do what you like with their comment before or after approving it.
If you want to turn it into a mini-review or add the works of Shakespeare, be my guest.
If anyone says you can't do that with internal comments and it's "cheating", I'd argue back that so is either paying for comments or "earning credits" or swapping comments with other members.
Therefore, use the internal comments section to YOUR advantage.
Make sense?
Partha
Hi Partha - this is brilliant!
I knew that we could edit so occasionally I have tidied up some comments so they made sense, but I didn't realise that we could add our links straight into their posts!
I also love the idea of adding an affiliate hyperlink to their comment re products - brilliant!
Thanks!
Julia
Yaaayy!!
Well, it always good to have a bit of "outside the box" thinking
Obviously, don't overdo it.
There's no need to add links to every comment and reply, probably not even every post either.
Simply, where you believe it's relevant.
You can also work it so that is some of your replies you use the exact keyword to another article and then anchor text/hyperlink that.
Additionally, Google typically finds articles through links. So, if you're suffering from the the current "Discovered - not yet indexed" nightmare, you could use internal links in comments to "steer" Google in the right direction.
But, yes the product name and affiliate links is a good one.
As a race, us humans are all quite nosey (plus we love a scandal, LOL), so you'll often get people who spend just as much time reading the comments to a post.
Plus, don't forget that Google (and the other search engines) include every singe word on the page as "content". So, a 1,500-word article could in effect be viewed as a 10,000-word article simply because of additional comments.
Partha
I have learnt a lot from this comment. thanks for your time and thanks for enriching our knowledge, Partha.
See more comments
Hi Julia,
This is a good idea when used appropriately. When someone responds to my request for site comments and I feel another post on my website is relevant, I do indeed provide the link for that. There is a link shortcut we can use so that you can embed it in a phrase.
Thanks for sharing your discovery.
Cheers.
Edwin