If a blog has a lot of (meaningful) comments it is often a sign of high-quality, engaging and maybe even controversial posts.

But how can you motivate people to comment on your blog posts and reward those that actually do?

Let Search Engines Follow Their Url

Wordpress applies by default a rel=”nofollow” attribute to all external links in your comment list. This prevents search engine robots from following and indexing those links. By installing Kimmo Suominen’s DoFollow Plugin you can change that and let your commenters have some of your link love.

Let Them Share Their Own Posts

By installing a plugin such as CommentLuv you give commenters that have a blog of their own the possibility to promote their latest posts. This will not only make your commenters happy, but can also be a valuable addition for all of your readers, considering that commenters often have a blog in the same or a similar niche.

Announce Your Top Commenters

You can reward the readers that leave the highest number of comments by featuring them separately. If you have a weekly or monthly roundup you could do so in those posts or you can simply display a list in your sidebar. The Show Top Commentators Widget Plugin is a great way to achieve that. A nice and easy way to say thank you.

Respond to Comments

This is actually a very basic and almost self-evident thing to do and I’m simply assuming that this is more or less common practice. Responding to comments, answering questions and clarifying things will show your readers that you actually read and care about their comments and opinions. Keep in mind to be polite even if you are criticized (that’s part of being a blogger as well).

Visit, Promote and Comment on Their Web Sites

When someone is leaving a comment on your blog you should definitely have a look at their web site (maybe you’ll discover your new favorite blog), promote it by tweeting, digging and co. and leave a comment on your own. Reciprocal commenting can result in new contacts and sometimes even friendships.

Thank Them with an Email

If you have an especially interesting and valuable comment that takes your post to a whole new level you might even consider writing a thank you mail to the respective commenter. It will surely be appreciated and with a little bit of luck evolve into an interesting conversation.

Don’t Overdo It

I recently saw a blog that offered the user who leaves the most comments in a certain month a free ad space for the following month (I unfortunately can’t find the link anymore, otherwise I would have posted it here). Even though this is an interesting approach, I think it overshoots the mark. When it comes down to it, commenting on a blog shouldn’t be a competition and your readers should leave a comment because they have something to say, not because they’re after a prize.

Conclusion

By applying only some of these ideas to your blog you make leaving a comment on your blog already much more attractive and rewarding for your readers. Writing a good and elaborate comment takes some time after all and you should show your commenters that you appreciate that.

Admittedly not every blogger is a born writer, but in order to successfully present your ideas and articles on your blog the following tips and ideas come definitely in handy.

Keep it short:

The internet is a fast-paced medium and no one actually has the time to read your posts in all their length and beauty because there are another 1000 posts and articles waiting to be read, tweets to be tweeted and profiles to be updated.

It’s great that you have an extensive knowledge of Photoshop, but if your posts deals with the Type Tool stick to it and don’t end up talking about the Pen Tool as well.

Only write about things that are relevant to the theme of your post and to your reader even when it is tempting to write about other, interesting things (consider writing a separate blog post or linking to other posts on the web that deal with the respective theme).

Once you are done writing consider as well to re-read the article and cut excrescent parts and sentences as well as to shorten other parts further down.

Keep it simple:

The internet is not only fast-paced, but also manifold and international. Keep in mind that not all your readers have the same educational background and might not even be native English speakers (as a matter of fact only 35% of all Internet users speak English). Don’t use complicated words (I’m not talking about technical terms related to the theme of your blog) and keep your sentences short and simple.

Make also sure that you double-check your grammar and spelling, especially if you aren’t a native English speaker yourself. Very few bloggers will be able to afford their own, professional proof-reader, but most Text-Editors come nowadays with a built-in spelling and grammar check (even Wordpress has one).

Provide your sources, examples and links:

In order to make your posts easier to understand as well as to provide your readers with an easy way to read more about the topic you should always provide your sources and links to related articles as well as concrete examples (if possible).

By providing links for further reading and the sources of your information you also help to enforce the first rule of keeping your post short – if interested your reader can easily find out more about specific issues.

Examples allow you to create a connection to the real world as well as they help to reinforce your point.

Support your post with graphical elements:

Another great way to make your post more interesting and to visualize your topic is the use of illustrations, images or other graphical elements.
If you can create illustrations and graphs yourself and have the time to do so then you definitely should, but there are also loads of great stock image sites, where you can buy great graphics and photographs (Completely free: stock.xchng or not so free: iStockphoto or dreamstime)

Choose wisely and creatively, but don’t try to force it if you don’t find a good match. Better go without an image than with an image that has nothing to do with your post.

Stick to your style:

Finally it is important that you stick to your writing style once you chose one.

Decide whether you write in the first person (as well whether or not you want to use singular or plural) or third, whether you write factual and serious or funny and casual, whether you address your readers directly or not and so on.

Don’t switch between different writing styles within a post. This only creates confusion and gives a very unprofessional impression.
You should apply this rule not only to individual posts, but to your whole blog. Consistency is very important in order for your blog to gain its own personality.

If you apply these simple tips to your blog posts and articles you can take them immediately to the next level. Your readers will surely appreciate your efforts and reward you with numerous comments, tweets and diggs.