Using the Site Comment Feature Correctly
I think the new Site Comment feature is great and I've received some wonderful comments from WA members so far. I also have a 100% approval rate on the comments I've left for others.
Over the past couple of days I've seen a few people talk about comments being rejected, either in chat or in comments related to the feature, and they don't seem to understand why.
The point of this post is to give you an idea of why your comments may be rejected and what you should do to ensure that they are approved.
The main problem that people seem to be having is confusing the Site Comment feature with the Site Feedback feature. They are two completely different things.
The Site Feedback feature is intended to give feedback on another member's website when they ask for it. Within this feature it is perfectly acceptable to talk about the layout of the website, the appeal of it and how it can be improved, in a constructive way.
The Site Comment feature, however, is a separate entity.
The idea here is to leave a comment as a site visitor that has come across the post that has been linked to. Put the idea of leaving feedback as a WA member out of your mind. These comments are related to the specific post, to increase engagement on the content.
You should comment on the post as if you have plugged the keyword into Google and have come across the post in your search. Read the content. Respond to the content. Focus solely on the content.
I've compiled a small list of some basic do's and don't's that should help you get the most out of the Site Comments feature.
Don't
- Comment on the layout or visual aspects of the website.
- Comment on the website as a whole.
- Critique heavily on misspelling and/or grammatical errors.
- Mention the WA platform unless the post is specifically related to it.
- Comment about an unrelated page or post.
- Leave an unproductive comment of just a few words like "nice post" or "this is a good post".
Do
- READ the post that you are about to comment on. This is important.
- Comment on a specific point (or points) mentioned in the given post.
- Leave an opinion that differs from the author's (if yours does) in a way that encourages discussion.
- Ask for the author's opinion on something related to the post's content to encourage discussion.
- Ask the author for elaboration on something mentioned in the post that you're unsure of.
- Leave a lengthy comment that promotes engagement and leaves room for further discussion.
The idea of the Site Comment feature is to help people get engagement on their posts which, in time, will help when it comes to ranking. The idea of the Site Comment feature is not to interact with the author as a fellow website owner to offer suggestions for improvement.
If you want to offer suggestions outside of the content, do so in the Site Feedback section, or send the member a private message with your constructive feedback.
I hope this clears some things up for a few people.
Have fun with your commenting!
Recent Comments
17
Hi Leese. This is excellent. Thanks so much for the clarification. i'm a newbie and have made these cardinal mistakes. Unfortunately, my mistakes have gotten me banned from Site Comments (sigh, I'm trying to get that fixed). I now get it.
Franky, I'm pretty observant, but I didn't see these specifics within Kyle's training. I might have missed them. The only reason I mention this is because I truly believe that you should ask Kyle to have this article, or this list, included in the Level 2 training: Getting Crafty With the Wordpress Editor I got banned because the person said in her comments: "This comment ISN'T spam and it ISN'T inappropriate. It's perfectly legitimate..." plus the reason why she rejected it. Ouch! That set the filters off and now I'm gone! The Comment tool gave those exact reasons why I was being banned.
Thanks for the great article,
Steve
Thanks for bringing this up. I think leaving comments by the WA members on your website to critique your website in terms of how it looks, what should be improved, grammar, spelling, suggestions to include pictures, graphics etc is quite uncomfortable because the real organic visitors who could become your potential referrals would bounce out if they see these kinds of comments on your website. Hence the suggestions to keep the Site Comment feature separate from the Site Feedback section.
Philaccardo,
You find the site comment by going to your site rubix to the left under live chat and then clicking on sitecomment or you can just click below.
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/websites/comments
Awesome training. I was thinking about doing the same thing when i found this. The only thing I might add is that there have been times I have went to comment on a post and got nothing. No reaction to it whatsoever that would be comment worthy. In those cases I don't go ahead and comment. Occasionally I will PM about it if I rreally feel strongly I could provide feedback that would be helpful. But normally, in the rare times this had happened (just 2 or 3) I just chalk it up to me not being on the same page as this person and I should walk away. I am sure I have posts that do not appeal to everyone. That is just the way it is. But I think it is better to not comment than to force a comment that could come across to the search engine folks as fake.
Thanks again.
Jerry
Thank you, Lisa. I found your blog by typing new site comment feature. I had a wonderful experience with the new comments, until yesterday. I am sorry to say I had to disapprove 1 comment. The comment was not about the article subject at all and then the person mentioned if I want more information for a "more in depth critique" , I should PM them.
Thank you for posting, if I may refer this person to your blog, that would be great.
Thanks for the comment, Milla! It's a shame that you had to disapprove a comment but it's understandable if it's not related to the post itself. By all means, refer them here if you think it will help them :)
Great post. This needed to be said. I think you hit on all the points, but, I've run across a few sites where I really couldn't engage in the topic, or, it was a landing page, with very little content. At that point, I go by the rule that it's better to say nothing, and move on to the next one.
I agree that if I really have an issue with a page/post, and see something glaringly obvious, I would send a PM to the author.
Thank you!
I've had to skip over a couple of sites, too. I had a couple come up that were about things like stocks, which I have no knowledge of and couldn't engage with, and it's not something you can read up on quickly to learn about.
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Hi Leese,
Thanks for this. Something I wanted to check, as I'm a bit conflicted:
Someone left me a site comment and they're in the same niche as me. They included a link in their comment to their site, to a particular post on the same topic and with obvious affiliate links on their page.
I found this to be kind of cheeky, as essentially I took it to be syphoning potential sales away from my site to theirs.
Am I being overly sensitive, or is this indeed frowned upon?
I have the ability to reject the comment, but I just wanted to make sure before I do.
Best,
Gareth
Hi - if the comment overall was relevant and engaging, and under other circumstances, you would have accepted it, then you can accept it and remove the link, rather than rejecting it outright if you wish. (That is what I would do, others may have different opinions).