13 Responses

1. Sean Marler

   April 19th, 2008 at

   1

   Hey Elle,

   I agree. Ive posted heated comments before that I immediately regretted. They accomplished nothing other than making me look immature. I contributed nothing to the conversation.

   On a different, but related note, I won’t approve comments with keyword user names either. To me, those folks aren’t really interested in contributing to the convo - they just want the backlink. phucktards.

   So, to answer your question, yes, your comments can impact your reputation - for better or for worse.

   You gonna come rant in the comments section of my blog again? LOL

   I can delete it if you’d like… but only if you promise to post and additional comment ;)

2. Blog Lady elle

   April 19th, 2008 at

   2

   haha… actually the lovely Dee wrote this post.. she is much more “kosher” than I am and has a much nicer way with words. I tend to ramble a lot more.

   But.. totally agree with her and you.. whether you are ranting, raving, commenting or whatnot, it is important to contribute in a way that doesn’t tarnish your rep and is deemed a quality post.

   I like being able to rant a bit.. I won’t shy away from the controversial issues.. there are A TON in internet marketing… I appreciate being able to contribute and rant or rave about topics of interest. So.. you can keep my rant :) and can expect some more I suppose.. ha.

   If you wanna check out his blog (or my ranting post about the latest crude on forced continuity in the industry then check out http://www.seanmarler.com and enjoy :)

3. metroknow - AlmostFit.com

   April 19th, 2008 at

   3

   Nice Post!

   [just kidding. :)]

   Well, it IS a good post, and I totally agree. I use Entrecard (kind of on the fence about it right now), and one of the things they encourage when you visit another participant’s site is to drop your card of course, and leave a comment. Well quite honestly some of the participant sites I drop cover topics that I’m generally not drawn to - they may be good sites; but sometimes they’re just not my cup of tea. Of course, I am exposed to a lot of good random finds this way, but on many of them I’m simply not compelled to add anything to the conversation there. So more often than not I don’t leave a comment, and I stand by that.

   I know on my site when someone leaves a comment, I view that person as an appreciator of what I wrote (or a dissenter, but that’s good too), so I always try to follow up with them to “convert” them into a return visitor in one way or another, whether its via a personal thank you email to them, or a response, or both. When someone comments for no other reason than I’m one of their 600 drops, I feel like it wastes my time and theirs - I am glad for the visit, glad for the drop, but I don’t think folks should feel compelled to leave a comment unless something they saw or read really did resonate.

4. James Mann

   April 20th, 2008 at

   4

   I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave a comment on this post and sound spammy.

   When I comment on other blogs I try to match my comment content to the content in the post I am reading and I also try and leave a link to a relevant page one of my own blogs.

5. Blog Lady Dee

   April 20th, 2008 at

   5

   Hi guys,

   What started the idea for this post was a discussion on a community board. Like James and Metroknow, I sometimes will not comment because I have nothing to add to the conversation. Often times, what I would have said has already been said in the comments. There was a good percentage of the bloggers in the thread that felt they would rather have some comment any comment…even just a *Nice Post* comment as validation that they are getting through to their readers.

   That got me thinking….a *nice post* comment isn’t going to bring you readers, and it does make you look like you’re only posting for a backlink. Yet the poor blogger is sitting there writing his/her heart out, and no one is commenting. I’m still trying to formulate how to handle this in the future for myself.

   @Sean Real controversy never hurts anything—rants spice things up—both cause the blogger and the other readers to think. I think, what damages your reputation is when you artificially stir the pot because you’re emotionally involved. It is the knee jerk reactions –not the well thought out bombshells that cause the damage.

   Dee

6. Sean Marler

   April 20th, 2008 at

   6

   @Dee

   Oh yeah, I totally agree with you; controversy and debate on a topic are good. Not only dos it make readers think, but the inherent drama in the discussion draws readers in and inspires lurkers to join the conversation. Spicy discussion, and the occasional well thought out rant, are the lifeblood of conversation. Without contrasting opinions there is no need to say any other than “I agree”. That gets pretty boring.

   If you’ve read my blog, followed me on twitter, of seen any forum posts I’ve made, you know I’m all about the rant. Sometimes I become to emotionally invested in my own opinion though - that can be dangerous.

   “I think, what damages your reputation is when you artificially stir the pot because you’re emotionally involved. It is the knee jerk reactions –not the well thought out bombshells that cause the damage.” <– been there, done that, got the ‘you’re a Flamer’ tee shirt. Those are usually not my best moments.

   In context with this blog post though, the think to remember is ‘Google is forever’ and the comment you leave today could rank well the SER down the line. Not only can a scalding rant, or a comment displaying a complete lack of understanding, do you damage in an Acute sense… it can continue hurting you for years to come.

   This was a good blog post. All of the comments were interesting as well.

   Sean

   P.S Sorry I thought Elle wrote this post. I followed her “new blog posted” link and assumed it was her - never even looked at the byline.

   Take care.

7. Blog Lady Dee

   April 20th, 2008 at

   7

   Hi again Sean,

   No worries about the byline. We’ve become so close– we think alike and finish each other’s sentences. LOL So, she could have easily made this post as well.

   Good point– “Google is forever” Only on the internet can your mistakes be enshrined for posterity. Building your reputation is a very slow tedious process. That reputation is very fragile…a few bonehead mistakes and you can never recover. It’s a part of human nature—we remember people more for their sleazy antics than for the good they did. Even if the good encompasses years….and the sleaze was only a one time deal. (Are you listening, Joel?)

   Dee

8. iheartyahoo

   April 22nd, 2008 at

   8

   You mean to tell me you don’t like the head banger spammers that leave you the “bnjkwh sbjb wkjbsdjeb dwbedb w bdejk dbkj” comments? Or the suck up spammers who pretty much agree to anything and everything you say with their “I like this a lot” messages…

   You know, spammers these days are becoming less creative, and blig comment links are slowly but surely being ignored by elgoog and other search engines. So with time, they might stop. HAHAHAHA ok that made me laugh too, spammers will forever exist, it’s become part of my morning ritual to read their amusing repeated comment and delete the few not caught by my spam filter.

   I guess I see the point to your post though Dee, if you’re a real user looking for blogs in your niche to drop a link, come on, no problem in that as long as you at least have the curtsy to read the blog post and comment accordingly.

   Crap, and here I was hoping this would be a 2 liner comment as apposed to the articles comments above…wooosh.

   [here we go friendly spam you can not resist, so sue me]
   Ii’m taking a break from loving yahoo over at my iheatyahoo blog, if you want to read up on some really cool SEO tips and the likes, please drop by over at my DNForum Blog http://www.dnforum.com/blogs/mikek/

   *big hug*
   Mike.

9. Felix Krusch

   April 24th, 2008 at

   9

   You don’t always have to leave a comment that adds value to the post. I really do like to get “nice post” comments. They key here is to not doing the same thing over and over again. “Nice Post” comments at least show your present. The more present you are in the blogosphere, the more people recognize you and my visit your site.

10. Blog Lady Dee

    April 25th, 2008 at

    10

    Hi Mike,

    Glad to see you! Was kinda worried because I hadn’t seen you around. Now, we know where to look. :))) And I do hate spammers…especially the ones like you mentioned. I can not imagine why they think I’d publish their brain farts on my blog to give them a link.

    Dee

11. Blog Lady Dee

    April 25th, 2008 at

    11

    Hi Felix,

    See, that’s been my dilemma. I always thought, if I left a comment, it should be adding to the discussion. Now, I understand that some bloggers just would like to know you read their posts even if you don’t have anything to add. I’m thinking up ways to leave comments that at least have some creativity to them besides *nice post*.

    Dee

12. Sean Marler

    April 25th, 2008 at

    12

    Just jumping back into the convo to say “I agree, too.” lol

    Seriously though, it is nice to get some validation from others that your thoughts are sound. Some hint that what you’ve said resonates with the people reading your post.

    @mike article comments are gooood! Free content. Search engine fodder. Inspires MORE commenting. Love ‘em. So, feel free to go leave a long comment on MY blog lol (with a plug, of course)

13. Blog Lady Dee

    April 26th, 2008 at

    13

    Hi Sean,

    Good to see you again. We come back to my point that when you leave a comment you are posting your content on another blog. Every blogger appreciates the article length comment
    with or without the plug. LOL The article comments are much more likely to attract a new reader to your blog than a short generic comment.

    Dee