Tools for Commenting
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There are a few things you have to do if you want to get the word out about your blog. Joining blogging social networks helps. Writing good posts help. But you will probably go unnoticed by other bloggers if you are not commenting on their blogs.
Oh, great. Another rehashed post on commenting.
Not!
I am not going to tell you how to comment or what to comment on. I am going to show you a few of the techniques I have used to spread my comments around as far as I have and to have the posts come to you.
And after I searched the blogosphere for posts to reference I realized I am rehashing a little because Caroline Middlebrook wrote a killer post on building a blog commenting strategy that mentions a few techniques that I didn’t think of. But I am pushing on regardless because I have found a lot of tools that aren’t listed in one place. Plus it makes my job easier. Read her post and then check out the tools here.
When I start blogging, I would comment here, comment there with basically no rhyme or reason. Don’t get me wrong. I left what I thought were worthwhile comments, but I would get at the most maybe ten comments a week.
Subscribe to Feeds to Find More Commenting Options
I started by collecting feeds, a lot of feeds. All Google Reader says I have is 1000+. I did this through MyBlogLog and Entrecard. I would find a blog with great posts and subscribe.
At first, I used Firefox Livemarks along with the Feed Ticker plugin. The Feed Ticker picks random posts from your feeds and constantly scrolls them across a toolbar. Most of the time, just by watching the ticker for a minute or so I would find a few posts to comment on. The issue: Using Livemarks slows down Firefox. So it’s great if you subscribe to a few feeds, but right around 600 I started having issues.
If I could, I would find a way to make this work. The randomness of the posts really helped. They worked like an artificial subconscious. I never new what was going to pop up and that gave a freshness to my comments.
I eventually stopped this and went to using Google Reader so that my computer wouldn’t have to deal with the overhead of getting the updates on 1000 feeds. I can sort all posts from all feeds by date, so the newest one floats to the top. And I can search just the feeds I subscribe to. That’s how I found all the posts I link to. And there are some tools to make using Google Reader easier:
One site I will leave up to you to investigate, because I haven’t made it there yet and I tired of finding a perfect reader after I just found the perfect reader is favorit, which offers:
- News Reading
- Commenting
- Blog Posting
- Content Republication
- Human Powered Blog Searching
Now if any of you can find me a true OPML cleaner let me know. I have been looking for one for months. I have manually removed duplicate feeds, but no reader seems to do this well. And I mean the ability to tell that a Feedburner feed is the same as a Wordpress feed of the same name. It would also have to know that adding www. to a domain doesn’t make it a different. It would be great if it could tell me if there hasn’t been a post for a month also. I don’t ask for much. Just the world.
Hop Along
Explore the blogging communities and traffic sites you have signed up for. With Entrecard, I drop from 60 to 100 cards a day. By the end of that, I have found more than enough posts to comment on.
BlogCatalog recently added a lot more features to their dashboard that allow you to spy on the social doings of your friends there. I have yet to check out all the features, but it is bound to help you find posts that you can contribute to with your comments.
Targeted Comments
This falls under the "Guns don’t kill people. People kill people" category. A lot of these tools could be used by spammers, but if used correctly can help you out a lot. Comments on blogs that use DoFollow can help you not only while people are reading the post you are commenting on, but they can also help you in the future by increase your backlinks.
The tools:
Of these three, DoFollo seems the best.
Then there is the CommentLuv plugin. So by searching Google for "keyword" and "This blog uses the CommentLuv plugin", with the quotes, you can find posts that fit with the last one you posted.
Another technique that Caroline mentioned in her article is being one of the first to comment. And I have a tool for that too.
Each of these are powerful tools if used correctly.
From Your Own Blog
And once you start getting comments on your blog, just go back through them and pay a visit to the people who commented on your blog.
So, how to you find posts to comment on?
Tags: commenting, CommentLuv, comments, dofollow, favorit, worthwhile commentsRelated posts
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arham | Blogpreneur said
February 28 2008 @ 10:52 am
“you will probably go unnoticed by other bloggers if you are not commenting on their blogs” yup that’s happening on me… I need to rise my comment..oh ya thanks Stephan for the tools
arham | Blogpreneur’s last blog post..How to find a Dofollow Blog for Backlink
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Stephan Miller said
February 28 2008 @ 10:55 am
Great use of the CommentLuv plugin.
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Lin Burress said
February 28 2008 @ 5:15 pm
Wow Stephan, I’m not sure I can list the many ways I’ve found blogs to comment on/subscribe to. I’m not real sure I like the changes made on blogcatalog recently, but maybe I just need to spend more time getting used to it.
Checking out Blogrolls in my niche(s) has helped some.
I visit the blogs of those who comment on my blog, and if I like it I will subscribe and comment whenever I have something more to say than just Nice post!
StumbleUpon has done the most for my blog. Finding and befriending like-niche blogs and checking out the blogs they like and thumb up, has brought traffic my way and has allowed me to find more quality blogs to subscribe to and comment on.
Lin Burress’s last blog post..Keeping the Fire Alive in Your Marriage
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Shanti said
February 29 2008 @ 3:57 am
Great post! I ussually try to write comments but don’t because most of my comments are something along the lines of “great post keep up the good work”. Which sounds completely spammy
But I’m working on my eloquence:)
Shanti’s last blog post..Where my head at?
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Mirjam said
February 29 2008 @ 5:15 am
I used to use mostly entrecard, dropping blogs in the category I like and comment on them if I come across a post I really like or having something to comment on. However… I wanted to up the number of cards dropped daily, so I have changed the method a bit, wanting to combine different things at the same time.
In firefox I open different tabs. One is the inbox of entrecard for dropping cards on the ones who have dropped on mine.
In the other tabs (3,4,5) I open sitehoppin and than have it go through entrecard to make as many drops as time permits, commenting on the ones I really like and stumbling great posts at the same time so the action is 2-fold (dropping, commenting and stumbling).
I do check out all blogs from the people who comment on mine before responding to them, mostly leaving comments on their blog aswell.
And if I am really bored without ideas, I use Court´s D-list
Thanks for recommending Caroline´s post, going to have a look over there right now and … you answered a question I was asking myself over these past few days
Mirjam’s last blog post..Why a Good Blogger is Like a Top Restaurant
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Speeding Links For Search For Blogging Readers | Blog | Search For Blogging said
February 29 2008 @ 7:51 am
[...] Don’t forget to check this one Tools for Commenting [...]
Stephan Miller said
February 29 2008 @ 10:15 am
Lin,
I plan on creating more niche blogs in the future. I like the free form of this one because I have so many options for now. When I get into more niches, I will have to learn more. There is just so much.
Shanti,
I have left “great post” comments before, because I have ran into posts that taught me so much I was amazed. There’s not much else you can add to them at times and you just want to express your appreciation. I need work on this one. Sometimes I ask a question to get more info on a part of the post, but some bloggers miss the question or ignore it.
Mirjam,
I have done the exact thing with sitehoppin. I like randomness or chaos. I think it is one of the ingredients to progress. Being a control freak, I am prone to kill any chance for change by nature. If left to my own devices, I would have probably stayed in a group of tightly grouped blogs. If I go through my feeds feed by feed, I would eventually hit the same few every day. A feed ticker gave me no chance to do this. Sitehoppin did in the same way or I would have eventually stayed in the group that dropped cards on me. So I look for a tool that throws randomness in the mix so I know I am changing on a daily basis.
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David said
March 1 2008 @ 1:39 pm
You offer some really good advice. Do you think my website based on spreading Hip hop and writing articles should use an RSS feed? I’m starting to suspect so, and will continue to read your excellent posts for more advice =).
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Arun said
March 2 2008 @ 12:22 am
“Of these three, DoFollo seems the best.”
May I know how and why DoFollow attracted you. I’m the owner of Backlinkspot.com
If you tell the reason why you prefer DoFOllow than BacklinkSpot, I’ll try to improve backlinkspot.
By the by this is a nice post. I never went deep this much into comments before.. Also your question “Was this comment useful to you ?” after every comment shows how much you’re concentrating on comments!
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Blogoloco said
March 2 2008 @ 7:00 am
absolutely brilliant tips mate.
Blogoloco’s last blog post..KC Concepcion and Richard Gutierrez Team Up
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Blogoloco said
March 2 2008 @ 7:04 am
And I meant it, honestly.
Blogoloco’s last blog post..KC Concepcion and Richard Gutierrez Team Up
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Green Pixel Dust Has A Negative | Andy Beard - Niche Marketing said
March 2 2008 @ 7:20 am
[...] listed a few comment tools recently and many of them have an affiliate program. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social [...]
Stephan Miller said
March 2 2008 @ 8:10 am
Arun,
I probably should have explained it more, but DoFollo came back with the most results for the terms I was testing.
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Stephan Miller said
March 2 2008 @ 8:11 am
But I think Comment Kahuna would have the most clean results since it check the source of the page.
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Michael said
March 2 2008 @ 3:26 pm
Hi Stephan,
Michael from Germany here.
Thanks for the info. Didn’t know the Sniper.
Will check it out now.
Keep the good work up …*-)
Michael
Michael’s last blog post..Marketers Gone Mafia?
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Mirjam said
March 2 2008 @ 3:28 pm
I like that concept… randomness of chaos for a control freak :D:D I guess the same goes for a perfectionist who needs to look outside the box
I read your new post with the links, but have not completely figured out how the entrecard script works… maybe I´d better stick to my own system…
Mirjam’s last blog post..Spending an Hour Wasting Time - Random Thoughts
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Stephan Miller said
March 2 2008 @ 3:45 pm
Michael,
Comment Sniper is the tool I actually use the most of the software type tools. I have it loaded with only about 20 of the blogs I subscribe to. It’s not only good for commenting but for making sure you keep up with the blogs you consider the top even if you subscribe to hundreds.
Mirjam,
The script is kind of strange. It only works with Windows. It’s an execuatble that runs in the tray. All it does is make the “Windows” key and the “Z” key a hot button or whatever they call it. By pushing these two keys together it opens a random Entrecard site. I saved the download to my desktop and when I want to run through a random bunch of blogs, I just double click it to run it like any other software.
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Blogoloco said
March 2 2008 @ 7:05 pm
I hope it opens mine the next time you open random entrecard sites
Blogoloco’s last blog post..KC Concepcion and Richard Gutierrez Team Up
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Jack Payne said
March 3 2008 @ 12:09 am
Fine piece. A lot of stuff in there that is all new to me. Guess I’ve still got much to learn about this mysterious blogging business.
Big drawback to me is that I get in an average of about 15 comments per blog piece (high of 31). And, I find that I am spending so much time lately commenting on my comments that I have little time to write and post new pieces–despite the fact I only post a new piece about once a week.
Ah, yes, I still have a long way to go as to understanding. Your info is helpful.
Jack Payne’s last blog post..Don’t be Victim of Escrow Scams: How to Lose $630,000 in a Hurry
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Stephan Miller said
March 3 2008 @ 6:01 am
I run into that a lot, which is why I don’t keep up with the post a day habit I tried to set for myself. Now it is more like four to five a week.
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Mirjam said
March 4 2008 @ 5:46 am
For windows only … I´m an apple girl
Taking chaos out of the randomness… have you tried neoco.org?
By adding ImgLikeOpera to firefox to only allow certain images to open (speeding up sites) and combining it with the 3inky addon, you can open 100 firefox tabs at a time. Just wait a bit till all is opened (doing something else meanwhile) and once they are all open you can drop in a breeze…
Mirjam’s last blog post..Sales Tactics and Free Reports
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Stephan Miller said
March 4 2008 @ 6:14 am
I work with Apple also when I have to, at work. After considering switching, I went back to Windows. It fits my control freak nature.
But cool trick. I have Opera also. I was using that for while. To tell you the truth I have Opera, IE7, Safari, Firefox, Firefox 3 and Flock. I was an IE7 person forever. Then I switched to Firefox. Now I am no longer a true believer when it comes to any browser and use what works at the time.
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10 Blogs I Signed Up for Since I Started this One | Me Myself and I said
March 11 2008 @ 5:16 pm
[...] Stephan Miller: I really can relate to his style of writing, and at times the posts make me laugh, going from one thing to another, but mostly good quality information offered and his lists are a great reference point on where to submit your blog and I really enjoyed his post on tools for commenting. [...]
Descartes said
May 2 2008 @ 11:54 am
To me the problem is always one of time, if I have a lot to say on a topic I’d rather blog about it than comment on it. I like the Dofollo search engine and have found a lot of good blogs using it. I tend to read and nod to myself and not leave a comment-then off to the next place. But I am trying to pay more attention and leave more comments.
Great post.
Descartes’s last blog post..Coffee-Drink of the Gods
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Stephan Miller said
May 3 2008 @ 4:27 pm
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How to Find Dofollow Blogs : Digital Products Review said
May 8 2008 @ 2:56 pm
[...] of the ways to get more search engine traffic to your blogs is to comment on dofollow blogs. Dofollow blogs are blogs that remove the dofollow links from the urls in the comment section [...]
Ask Terry Hall said
May 28 2008 @ 8:06 pm
Excellent - I think this system does all that automatically and combines live typers to post comments for your behalf…Let me know your thoughts. -Terry
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Stephan Miller said
May 29 2008 @ 5:22 am
I’ll check it out.
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Jon The DC Traveler said
May 30 2008 @ 3:39 pm
Great article, very helpful, especially the feeds comments. I’ll try it. Thanks
Jon The DC Traveler’s last blog post..“T”heme Day
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jason said
June 2 2008 @ 11:12 am
I use http://www.commenthunt.com for finding relevant dofollow blogs. They also have blog commenting service 100 comments for just 19$, used them onces and comment were good.
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Stephan Miller said
June 2 2008 @ 11:19 am
Commenthut seems to work pretty good also. I didn’t find it until after I wrote this post.
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Tom At The Home Business Archive said
June 5 2008 @ 3:27 am
I have been using comment kahuna recently, and it is a useful tool.I don´t think anyone should comment on blogs for the sake of getting a link back to their own site.If you can add to the discussion with a useful comment, everyone wins.The blogger gets more content, and he/she who made the comment will get more visitors to their site.
Tom At The Home Business Archive’s last blog post..By: Tom
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Stephan Miller said
June 5 2008 @ 4:53 am
You should never comment for a link, but then again, if you just wrote a post on a specific topic, you might as well find related posts to comment on because you’re already in the groove.