The first step to leaving a great comment is to read the content you will be commenting on, and that means - READING THE WHOLE THING.

Don't not just skim the page - READ IT.

If the page is really something that does not interest you, then move on. There is no sense in leaving a comment on something you have no interest in or know nothing about.



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jvranjes Premium
My experience is that if I disagree with something the comment is not accepted. People expect to see only kind words, but it is different in real life, so as you say, I am pretending to be a real-life visitor.
As for asking questions, this is formally fine, to give the author a chance to reply, but it is pointless; reality is we do not go back to see the answer.
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LouieLuc Premium
I would disagree with you. It depends on who you're "talking" to and how you do it.

A few days back I had a comment where this guy simple said "you're talking about of this and I bet you don't have a clue about it". I did not delete his comment and answered him proving him wrong.

I took it to clarify some points to my audience, and that's how people should take bad / stupid comments too.

And I always go back to see what the author replied and thank him/her.
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jvranjes Premium
Fine, but you are speaking about somebody else, it was not me. I do not make such comments.
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dj-drea Premium Plus
I will have to try the disagreement tactic and see how it works, see if my comment gets approved :) I don't often go back to WA sites to see the reply to my questions, but that is ok, the answer is left there for other readers who may wonder the same thing.
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LouieLuc Premium
???
Who ever said you leave such comments?

I was talking about... me.

You said that from your experience whenever you disagree people reject your comments.

I was exemplifying that it does not always happen: I've left tons of comments criticizing and I've also accepted critiques from others.

And I also explained that It all depends on how the author leverages his/her comments and how people write their critiques.
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NWTDennis Premium
Hi Jovo ... I don't think that leaving a question is meant to be a back and forth dialog. It's great when it does ... more engagement. But leaving the question allows the site owner to at least provide an answer creating a little more engagement.

As Kyle has said, the dialog created by this process is treated as quality content by the googlebots.
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jvranjes Premium
Yes Dennis, I agree, I mentioned this, and that is why I do ask questions in comments, knowing that I shall not really go back to see the answer.

Once in a blog I suggested that the system is modified to include credits for replies: This would mean a true dialog.
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LouieLuc Premium
I don't think Google treats comments as quality content anymore, that's long gone when Google found out that people were doing that just to create backlinks.

What could benefit your SEO is the amount of time a person spends on your site writing / reading comments. That's important because it increases "time-on page", which is a ranking factor.
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jvranjes Premium
There are more than 200 ranking factors. Pointing one single like time spent on site makes no much sense. It is a complete package.

Comments bring new keywords and new text, I can give you many examples of that. This has nothing to do with backlinks, the nofollow strategy, accepted by WP and search engines for comments is well known. So comments are good, one factor out of many, no more no less.
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LouieLuc Premium
I see nobody here saying that comments aren't good, who said that?

I've known about those 200+ ranking factors for ages.
Probably long before many people out there.
(Just an example of them here: http://backlinko.com/google-ranking-factors.)

What I said was (I hate to be misinterpreted when I write clear English):
1) "I don't think Google treats comments as quality content anymore".
2) "What could benefit your SEO is the amount of time a person spends on your site writing / reading comments".

And I can add "lower bounce rate", "more long tail keywords", "active site", "fresh content" and so on and so on.

I'm talking about COMMENTS here.
It's impossible to fit the entire 200-ranking factors package inside COMMENTS. That is what makes absolute no sense.

P.S.: I also can give you examples of my site's comment getting indexed and ranked.

But does not mean they're bringing that much traffic, does it?
Better let an actual expert say something about it: https://www.quicksprout.com/2014/10/27/do-comments-actually-increase-your-search-traffic-a-data-driven-answer/
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NWTDennis Premium
I'm going with Kyle's point of view on site comments.
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jvranjes Premium
No, you said: "I don't think Google treats comments as quality content anymore, that's long gone when Google found out that people were doing that just to create backlinks." And my reply was focused on that.

It is a bad habit to HATE what somebody says.
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jvranjes Premium
Me too, definitely.
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LouieLuc Premium
I'm sorry... are you telling me what I said and meant? Wow, brilliant! You know me better than I do. Congratulations!

Let me rephrase that because it seems English is a difficult language to understand for some people and I wrote it in a hurry:

"I don't think Google treats comments as quality content anymore. (PERIOD)

That's long gone. (PERIOD)

When Google found out that people were doing that just to create backlinks... (didn't find the need to explain with greater detail, but now...)

... and for other SEO purposes they stopped giving less and less importance to comments."

Data-driven proofs VS "I'm telling you"... hmmm, hard to choose.
Good luck with that.

I said "I hate to be misinterpreted when I write clear English".
Again, who said anything about hating what someone said?

It's even a badder habit to TAKE THINGS OUT OF CONTEXT and MISINTERPRET THEM.

Lol, good one, thanks!
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Lady May Premium
Awesome training, I'm all for great positive comments even if it's mingled with constructive criticism.
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dj-drea Premium Plus
:D
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rodeves Premium
Thank you for this. I have been guilty of sometimes leaving a comment that does not lead to engagement. I will do better next time. Thank you again!
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dj-drea Premium Plus
You are very welcome :)
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LouieLuc Premium
Hi Andrea!

First of all, I read your training thoroughly.
I mean the whole thing! Great subject, good read. :)

I just couldn't agree with you more.
I don't enjoy it that much -- euphemism for "hate" -- when after leaving a good comment on a fellow WA member's blog, I ask for a comment back in return and all I get is something like "yeah great post bye john doe".

Just one simple line of comment written in a hurry which basically means "I just couldn't care less."

What value does it add to my post?
How much respect does it show for my effort in writing the post?

That's why I love the comment system I'm using on my Buzznitrous.com blog: Disqus. It "forces" users to create an account on Disqus or login via their social networks, so people really thing twice before leaving a comment like that.

It's true I get a lot less comments, but the ones I get are much more in-depth and valuable. People just won't make the effort of creating an account simply to leave a crappy comment.

Thanks for your work and effort in creating this pertinent training Andrea!

All the best and much success,
Louie
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dj-drea Premium Plus
Disqus looks really nice too :)
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EKautz Premium
Just so everyone one knows ... what I just left Andrea was a QUALITY comment.
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dj-drea Premium Plus
YEYER!
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LouieLuc Premium
Ahhh, you beat me to it. :PPP
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EKautz Premium
This is a much needed post Andrea.

I would like to add that "negative" or comments of a "differing opinion" are excellent comments to leave though too many folks reject them.

Let me put it this way, if every comment on a site is positive and a ra ra sis boom ba for the post in question I'm going to bail and fast because it doesn't seem realistic that everyone just adores and loves the post and no one opposes it.

Now keep in mind too that people are more likely to leave a negative comment or feedback or complaint than a positive one .... so ....

We NEED and MUST HAVE negative comments on our sites.

We also need to respond to these comments in a professional manner and at minimum acknowledge the individuals stance. You all can figure out the rest from there but I guarantee you negative comments WILL help your site.

So this brings me to my grand finale - I cannot give you a quality NEGATIVE comment on your post Andrea because I 100% AGREE with everything you said and I am pulling out my pom poms (imaginary of course) and chanting ra ra sis boom ba!

ROCK ON!
E
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dj-drea Premium Plus
Awesome! I love the negative comment idea, and it is something I didn't think to include in my training.

Thanks for your enthusiasm and your pom poms :) And Thank You for your awesome, engaging, and thoughtful comment!
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EKautz Premium
You are very welcome Andrea and it was my pleasure to respond to your thoughtful and helpful post.

And for those watching ... what just happened here is exactly what YOU WANT ON YOUR SITE ... the engagement occurred and a conversation emerged. Google LOVES this.

Actually negative comments are often overlooked and shunned upon when some folks encounter them on their websites. Do the opposite and embrace them as if they were made of gold because they are.

I wrote a blog awhile back that focuses on another tough topic in business and some of you may benefit from this and it is relevant to Andrea's blog and negative comments, take a look: I must say again Andrea your training is greatly needed and certainly should be embraced as gospel for the masses (at least the masses that chose to be successful). YOU ROCK!

E
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dj-drea Premium Plus
Thanks Man :) I will look at negative comments as gold from now on.
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EKautz Premium
You're welcome. :)
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