Reply To Comments Appropriately

Commenting is an essential element of any blog and it’s been explained, emphasized, and proved repeatedly. Along with you, it permits your readers to share their opinions and ideas in public.

And sincerely, it’s quite appreciative when someone goes through your entire post, scrolls till the bottom, and comment after analyzing it.

Recently, I met a friend who realizes the importance of comments on our blog and sincerely appreciates it. He, like me, wants to personally reply each comment he receives from his readers. I believe it’s a nice and genuine idea to make readers feel special and attended.

Replying to each and every post is quite lengthy and challenging. However, the efforts are worth in the end. So, we decided to come up with a list of things to be kept in mind while commenting. Every lengthy task requires planning. The list is definitely helping us. However, this list is also targeted to many bloggers, whom I have noticed, are replying to their comments in a dire comportment.

1. Addressing the commenter by their name:

   Knowing your readers personally is indeed one of the most effective ways to build a decent affinity. And it starts with addressing them by their names in your reply or emails. The best way to start a reply is “Hello ‘Commenter’s name’”. Now, that isn’t as robotic as you think. It’s quite courteous.

   I really appreciate when someone addresses me by my name. I feel they care about their readers and have enough consideratenesses to get the name right. And I like when someone addresses me by my first name. What do you prefer? First name or last?

   A subscriber recently asked me an interesting question about commenting. He got many comments on his first blog posts. However, many amongst used their site name to comment, instead of first name or last. His question was “Is it okay to address them by their site name?”

   It is, but only after making sure that you have tried enough to get the name and couldn’t find it. However, sometimes it may sound strange to address someone by “Hi Earn $100 every hour. How do you do?” Instead, you can click on the link and visit their blog to know their name. Most often, you will get it in the ‘About’ page. Or

   

   you can try visiting their recent posts and comments. Chances are high that you will find the name.

   However, if you are not so sure about the name, or can’t find it at all, you can opt to use the website name. But phrase it in a way that doesn’t sound funny.

2. Talk to all the commenters:

   This is what I have learned from my experience. Replying to one commenter and not to the other for the same post isn’t chivalrous at all. The person who doesn’t receive a reply will definitely feel ignored and aggravated. See, how easily you lose your readers.

   Okay, I agree many comments just says “Good Post”, “Great article”, or “Hey, it’s amazing”. Understand that although these are very small comments, at least they took the pains to write something, unlike thousand others who visited your blog but didn’t bother to comment. It doesn’t take much time to reply “Thank you for stopping by”, or just “Thanks”.

   The probability of getting a response again on such comments would be very low. It’s also possible that many wouldn’t ever visit your website or check your response. However, you need to remember that there are many other readers who visit your posts and check the comments and responses. For them, you are doing a great job.

   Bear in mind that responding to ever comment is quite difficult to manage, especially if yours is a blog that attracts huge traffic and numerous comments per post. So while preparing a schedule, allocate some time for replying to comments.

3. Ask them:

   If you really want to give a personal touch, don’t do the regular commenting process. If you don’t understand a particular comment, ask them to clarify it. Remember, it’s like a chat session. You need to interact with them openly. You can also be casual, but within limits. Asking questions is also a good way to keep the conversation going on.

   These are some essential points that we have come up with. We occasionally keep adding points to your list of ‘replying essentials’. I would really appreciate if you can contribute some points to enhance the quality of our list.