© Yuri
Ahh … commenters leaving their blog links in comments. This is a bane of many bloggers and it’s no wonder why. All blog platforms have commenting systems that allow commenters to leave their blog URL in the allocated text boxes yet many commenters still choose to add their link under their comments. You’ll see even more of this in very popular blogs where commenters leave a short comment and a link to their blogs.
Truth be told, this used to annoy me. I didn’t understand why people do it when they’ve already left their link in the allocated area. Isn’t it redundant to have to leave their links with their comments? And talk about aesthetically displeasing, right?
The thing is, I said “used to” because it doesn’t really bother me any more. Please understand that I’m not getting on my high horse and saying that I’m “above” other bloggers in saying that this doesn’t irk me. What I’m saying is that I understand why people do this, especially on popular, high traffic blogs. The blogosphere is saturated with bloggers in the same niche and it’s exceedingly difficult to get noticed especially when the big blogs get bigger and the small blogs struggle to keep up. Hell, I’m still bloody struggling to keep up and be noticed.
Example of comments on very popular blogs Zoella and Cupcakes and Cashmere
A lot of bloggers naturally assumed that comments left on their blogs are meant for their eyes only. After all, they’re the ones who are going to click on the hyperlinked name that is associated with the commenter. This is not true, at least, not any more. Comments increase engagement, not only between the commenter and the blogger but amongst the commenters too.
Think about it. When was the last time you checked out each of the hyperlinked names of the commenters on comments left on another blog other than your own? Honestly? I don’t, not any more. Who has the time to go through ALL of the hyperlinked commenters?
WordPress plugins like Commentluv allow the commenter to share his/her blog post with the comment but remember that this is just for WordPress. This feature isn’t available on other blogging platforms (although I recently found out that you can now install it on Blogger). The only way another blogger can get noticed by other people other than the blog he/she commented on is to display their blog links in the comments as well in hopes that other commenters will click on their link, check their website out, like what they see and most importantly, stay on as a reader.
Of course, there’s a difference between leaving a quality comment and a link, and a generic comment and a link. For the ones that just say “Great post! Check out my blog!” and leave links, I don’t delete the links but I know I won’t be compelled to visit their website. However, for the ones that leave quality comments, I’m more than happy for them to sign off with a link under their comment and I would definitely check their website out and send them traffic if possible. The links that I do delete are the spammy ones that link to unrelated topics (you know the ones).
At the end of the day, as bloggers, you know how hard it is to stand out amongst the vast ocean of bloggers. Even if it’s something you don’t practise, please try to understand and cut these commenters who leave links some slack. If the comments are legitimate, does it really hurt to allow inclusion of their blog links as well?
If you’re trying to cultivate a community through your blog with your readers, when you delete their links, aren’t you telling them “you can’t sit with us?”
I’ve never understood why people get annoyed at links being posted! I love looking at people’s blogs when they comment 🙂
The only time I’ll get annoyed is if it’s a generic copy/paste ‘Great post! Check out my blog at bloobdyblob.blogspot.com’, but if it’s a well-thought-out response to the post, then why not?
Personally I put my links in unless the blog has a ‘no links in comments’ policy; I’ll often even look around the blog pages just to check there isn’t a sneaky ‘no links in comments’ policy hiding in the ‘contact me’ tab or something! I only tend to comment if I have something to say about the post too, if I honestly can’t think of anything to comment on beyond ‘hey I guess that was cool’ I won’t bother. I’ve tried forcing a comment sometimes and it takes me forever and always seems really obviously forced!
~Becca 🙂
Becca // rjtmisti recently posted..Makeup Revolution Ultimate Eyeshadow Collection – First Impressions // 144 shades!
Hmm I don’t know, I’m actually quite interested to check out a website called Bloobdyblob if he/she comments on my blog 😛
I agree and that’s how I do it too. If I can’t think of anything useful to add to a comment, I’m not going to bother leaving one. “Great post” and “Wow so cool!” aren’t useful; unfortunately, in this day and age of blogging, they don’t mean jack.
If the link goes under a good comment, it doesn’t bother me, but a blogger putting her affiliate links on my blog (on unrelated posts and without asking) gets me super mad!! I understand the need to get more traffic, but to try to earn money with my blog takes the cake! (And it’s not like I have a big blog…)
Oooh now THAT is simply not on! That’s incredibly cheeky. I’m okay if you want to leave your blog link (homepage link, btw) but to leave an affiliate link is just screaming at me to “please delete and blacklist me”. Big blog or not, that’s just sneaky.
Yes, I do get bothered and I always delete links lefts in comments unless it’s a link to a specific post that maybe relevant to what my blogpost is about. Too often, we get the “Great Post! {blog link}” type of comments whenever links are allowed and I don’t have truck with that. It’s part of my comment policy and it’s to do with aesthetics as well as not having tons of links in your face. Sometimes, as a reader, when I browse the blog comments and see a ton of links, I don’t feel the compulsion to click any. If the comment is a well written, well thought out comment, I sometimes see if there’s a hyperlink to the name. Otherwise, no and no. I do realise it’s a big rough blogging world out there, but links in comments isn’t the way to get noticed IMO Well I don’t notice them anyway 😛
Paris B recently posted..PREVIEW & OVERVIEW: Collection Plumes Précieuses de Chanel : Pretty birds of a feather flocking together
I think I’m lucky that I get very few of those “great post!” {blog link}” comments, which is why blog links are something I allow on the blog. I’m not big enough for people to want to ride on my coat tails. But I totally get your point and it is a big rough blogging world out there.
I agree with Paris, don’t spam the comment box with your links. I understand that it is hard work getting someone to check out my blog but I am more likely to click on a genuine, well thought out comment than a “Great post-can you check out my blog…” I am a big fan of Comment Luv and that is an easy way to shoutout your blog.
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Thanks for your comment Lisa. I don’t delete those comments (at least, at the moment of writing, this is my policy) but I sure as heck won’t “check out your blog”. Have you noticed spammers leaving spam links on CommentLuv? I get that one very often. I can allow homepage links (www.yourblog.com) but not spammy links that are attached to CommentLuv (www.yourblog.com/thissospammyyoushouldcheckitout). This is when I remove the “luv”.
I think I’ll have to amend the blog post to specify what kind of links I allow when I say I allow them. I don’t mean specific links; I just mean the home page! 😛
Links don’t usually annoy me at all, in fact,I love it when people do it because if I’m in the mood to blog hop I’ll just scroll down the comments on popular blogs and right click+open new tabs on the links and read it when I’ve got spare time!
I don’t go through every single comment when I leave one on a popular blog but I have to admit, the ones with the really quirky names always get a click through from me. I’m like, damn that’s a very witty name you came up with, okay I have to check you out. 😛
It doesn’t bother me much unless it’s one of those “check me out” type of nonsense. Blogger has a terrible commenting system and it’s no wonder people prefer to leave links in the comments to get noticed. It’s not something I do though.
You know what irks me? Captcha. Captcha + moderation.
lyn recently posted..REN Rosa Centifolia Hot Cloth Cleanser
Captcha needs to die. Right now. Shits me to pieces when I have to figure out the blurry numbers and slanty letters that make no sense.
It does bother me when you know they comment just to be able to leave their link on your site. It’s even more annoying when they comment on old posts, saying “Great post! Check out my review on the same product… “. I just delete those.
It’s not about being arrogant or selfish. My blog is not huge. But I work for it and spamming my blog with links is not cool.
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Thanks for your input Lily. Say if commenters just leave their home page links instead of specific links with their comments or if the comment was legit and they sign off with their blog link (again, main homepage link), would you be okay with that?
If the comment was legit, I don’t usually mind…and I have let some through… but after reading the other comments here regarding SEO and stuff, I’m not sure if I should even allow links at all. LOL!
Lily recently posted..Vice3 Look: Pinks and Purples
It depends on the comment. If it’s well thought out I don’t mind, but writing “great post” and then adding your link is very spammy imo. I also don’t like it when they do it on blogs that use commentluv. It’s just redundant.
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Yeah I get what you mean. I have a feeling that I’m now in the minority whom, at the moment, doesn’t think it’s a huge deal. But I’m loving all of your comments on how y’all feel. What a great debate! 🙂
It does bother me, and I’ll tell you why. It has the potential to mess with the SEO of the blog post. If your blog post is focused on a particular topic, and your commenters are spamming irrelevant links that don’t associate well with the actual blog topic, it won’t rank as high on google. Admittedly it has a pretty small impact in the greater scheme of things, but like you, and these bloggers, I’m doing the best I can to increase my own blog’s readership and one of the ways I can help with this is to maintian the quality of the content that appears on my blog. I don’t think I should be made to sacrifice my own ability to succeed for the sake of others around me. (Not sure if that came across harsh! But you know, I’m big on the IT set of blogs XD)
Celina recently posted..Amore Pacific Color Control Cushion Compact Review, Swatches and Photos
I’m with you on the SEO, Celina. Whilst most of the time the comment boxes are no-follow by default, having the links in there does allow the text to be crawled by the big G and we just never know what dastardly new algorithm they have up their sleeve so like you, I’m adopting a better to be safe than sorry route!
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Good insight, Celina!
I wasn’t clear in the blog post but I actually meant commenters leaving their blog links without reference to a specific post. I’m only scratching the surface in terms of SEO knowledge and you definitely know this more than I do so here’s a question: if commenters only leave home links in comments, does this also hurt SEO? I’d understand if commenters leave irrelevant links (this is when I remove the links, even on CommentLuv) that make no sense to the post which hurts SEO but if it’s just home links e.g. http://www.examplebeautyblog.com, would that also hurt SEO? Thanks! 🙂
I do agree; we shouldn’t sacrifice ourselves in order for others to succeed. I’m not that noble. 😛
hey Tine…has been a long time since I have commented on your blog 🙂
i also used to get bugged by such comments but not anymore. i have stopped thinking about them!!
Oh hey hey Swati, it’s been a while! Hope you’ve been well! 🙂
I’ve seen a lot of fuss about others bloggers leaving links, but honestly, it’s never bothered me. Their comment would have to be incredibly fascinating for me to want to visit their blog if I happened upon it on someone else’s site, so I guess maybe they earned the click in that case? 😛 So I only delete them if they’re affiliate/referral links (which does happen, occasionally. Tacky!) I did have somebody once leave one of those generic “cool post” comments with not one but FOUR links to the various blog giveaways they were running at the time. That was… excessive, perhaps?
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Oh yeah, if it’s four links, into the spam box it goes. One, I’m cool with but geez, four?? Overkill man!
Great article! I used to get bothered by links of my blogs but have stopped ingnoring them now.
Does google penelize a website for too mank link?
Hina recently posted..Matrix Biolage Advanced RepairInside Treatment – Review & Pictures
Thanks Hina. If they’re irrelevant links then yes. Some say that using too many of your own links in one blog post can get in trouble with Google as well. I think that as long as they’re relevant and important to the post, it should be all right.
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