I am sure that every blogger loves to see comments on their blogs. I am somehow lucky to get comments in each and every one of my posts on Wayne Liew Dot Com but some bloggers is facing problems of getting their visitors to voice up about what they have written on their blogs. I have made another list, which will be on reasons why you are not getting comments on your blog.
Nothing to Say
Don’t blame them. They just have nothing to say about the topic you are blogging. This situation arises when you have brought the wrong group of visitors into your blog. For example, you are an active poster in a football forum and you have a link in your signature that leads to your blogging blog. Visitors from the football forum may not comment on your blog unless they are passionate about blogging as well.
You Have Got Too Many Comments
Some visitors wanted to comment but they have the fear that their comments will go unnoticed by you because they haven’t read my 6 Arts Of Commenting On Articles. This is why replying to contributing comments might increase the number of response. In some situations, what they wanted to say might just have been voiced out by some other people. Of course this is good in a way that you will not be getting comments like “I agree!” and “I second that.”
Lousy Contents
Tones of spelling errors, grammatical errors and bad contents just won’t get people start talking. If people are bored and don’t even finishes an article you have wrote, do you think that they will comment? This once again proves that contents are really important. Use word processing software like Microsoft Word to type your articles to evade spelling and grammatical errors. The art of writing comes from frequent writing and reading. The more you read and write, the higher the quality of your site will become. This is why I always say, the longer you blog actively, the better your blog will become.
Difficult to Comment
Sometimes I am really engrossed with an article but at the time I wanted to speak up, I was required to register myself! What I will do normally is that I will even make the blog disappear from my bookmarks. Sometimes, blogs uses interstitial ads, which are full page ads that will pop out once every few page loads. Visitors might just drop their intentions of commenting and leave your blog when they wanted to comment but being led to an ad page. Make sure commenting on your blog is just one click away!
Tricked to Subscribe Comments
I noticed many blogs are using the Subscribe to Comments plugin which allows a commentator to track the comments activity of an article. This plugin allows every commentator to subscribe to the comments by default which is set according to the webmaster’s preference. Some visitors just don’t like to subscribe to comments. I agree that making your commentators subscribing to your comments by default might make your blog sticky but sometimes this will irritates them and maybe the time they clicked to your blog from the link in their e-mail, it will be the last time they are visiting you.
You Are Not Replying
Some commentators don’t comment for the sake of commenting. They are asking questions, arguing your discussion and adding value to your article. When you don’t appreciate these comments, they might not be here again. Replying to every comment is not a must but being cool about all your comments will bring you to a comment drought.
One Way Articles
Some bloggers write their articles in a commanding approach. They want their readers to read what they are writing and not argue with them. Sometimes, we are not this kind of bloggers but we might not notice we have this kind of writing style. Try putting in questions into your article. Try to interact with your commentator through your writings by including their names in your discussion. Make your blog a two way traffic and comments should come in.
You Are Not Reciprocating
Some bloggers tend to have the “You must give back!” mindset. When you comment on their blogs, they will comment on you blog but if you don’t, they won’t even come to your blog. This is why commenting has been proved as one of the best way to get traffic to your blog. Becoming friends with other bloggers might make them comment and visiting your blog without having them asking for reciprocation.
Wrong Placement of Comment Links
This is one of the common mistakes but went unrealized for most bloggers. I do see some comment links being placed right after the title of a post. Will it be logical that someone will comment right after reading your title? You should switch it and placed it right after your article. Think about it. After reading your articles, if the visitors feel like saying something and they see the comment link, the chances are high that they will click on it and make a comment. Most of us are lazy to scroll right back to the top to comment any more.
Not Everyone Dares to Be the First
Some visitors don’t feel like being the first to comment although being the first few to comment might get attention as said in my tactics to comment. This is because they think that the questions that they might going to ask will make them look stupid or sometimes they fear that what they feel is going to be wrong and they want to look at what others are saying first. If you are always getting a comment drought, you can try seeding your comment section with comments by you but with different names. This might sounds evil but most of the forums out there get started with this technique.
Enhance Your Comment Environment
To make your visitors to comment, enhance your comments section by using the MyAvatars plugin, encourage discussions by replying to comments and reward commentators with link loves! Having a nicely designed comment section will be appealing for a commentator to leave a comment as well.
A Pledge to My Readers
What makes you not commenting in blogs? Have you realized from the reasons above why your visitors are not commenting? I would love it if you decide to comment in this article of mine.
If you think that my guide is useful, you can subscribe to Wayne Liew Dot Com Full RSS Feed to get red hot blogging guides in the future.
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November 8th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Great post! I do not comment on blogs which ask me to register first… the bloggers just don’t seem to get me. All I wanna do is comment, so why ask me to register? *sighs*
P.S. You’ve got some awesome posts, I just subscribed to your RSS feed.
November 8th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
This is a great article! It’s great to see things from a general commentators perspective. Thanks
November 8th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Insightful article. I’ve always tried to figure out why some days I don’t get any comments and on others I get 20 …
November 8th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
erm, another reason.. i read from feeds.. sometimes just lazy to go to the site… unless can comment directly from feed, that’ll be great
November 8th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
I think I got the content problem, that’s why my blog has so little comments..
November 8th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Very comprehensive article.. great job ::)
Lemme put some comments here as well
hahaha
come comment on my blog as well la XD thanks..
November 8th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I wonder I’ve made which mistake, my blog just no many comments lately… I already put my efford on it…
November 8th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Luckily I still haven’t faced this prob
November 9th, 2007 at 12:08 am
I don’t mind not having comments….. not as if it’s important for my blogging experience….
November 9th, 2007 at 12:23 am
Great points. The most annoying to me is when I’m reading articles on the front page of a site, then have to scroll back up to find a comment link near the headline. That’s not where people need that particular action link.
November 9th, 2007 at 1:08 am
Great summary Wayne. Consider me as a new subscriber to your blog. I love your summary on this. And I have to heavily agree on the default checked subscribe to comments via email. This can really hurt your blog instead of the expected increase of readers.
November 9th, 2007 at 1:16 am
No wonder my blog no comments lar.
November 9th, 2007 at 6:47 am
Great post on comments… I could add a few others. Like… requiring the visitor to register or create an account before they can post a comment??? Why not just tell them to go away, I don’t get that one.
I also like posing a question at the end of the article to encourage comments, and also the dofollow plugin or the u comment I follow is a good one too. If the blog has turned off the rel=nofollow the commenter actually gets something positive for leaving a comment.
Scott
November 9th, 2007 at 7:36 am
Good points. Trying to get comments can be very frustrating sometimes.
November 9th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I think for me, if people comments on my post, i will definately will leave a comments on their blogs.
I do not mind to comments on people blogs although I din get any comments from them. For me, I leave a comment on other blogs because I really want to say something on their posts..
November 9th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
I think I need to spend more time to “socialise” in the blogsphere.
November 9th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
I’m talking from my experience…One of the reasons why I didn’t comment on a blog was simply because “I forgot to comment”!!!! And when I wanted to go back and comment again, I lost the URL… LOL
This might sound silly, but it’s true, thus, remind your readers to comment & welcome them to comment.
November 9th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
@ Jug
Thanks for subscribing to my RSS Feed. I hope you will like my upcoming posts.
Yes, some blogs has this kind of weird policies but maybe this is one of their quality control process but it makes me leave their blogs.
@ Noddegamra
Thanks for visiting and you’re welcome.
@ GD
The comment numbers sometimes shows what your visitors like and what your visitors don’t. Try to post more of what they like and your comments will always be at 20 or more.
@ clement
I do have a link in my feed which will link you to my comment section. I know the function to comment right through a feed reader will be a great move for Feedburner. I am waiting for it as well.
@ yung .
If you can get comments even on a sponsored post, it will be a great achievement.
I always went to your site and your posts are never short of comments.
@ Michael Woo
Thanks for commenting. You definitely will be seeing me at your blog.
@ Sean
I guess you should bloghop more. Bloghopping and commenting is my major ways of getting visitors and commentators. Malaysia have so many personal bloggers and to be honest, you can’t even finish bloghopping all Malaysian personal blogs in 24 hours.
Try discovering at least a new personal blog everyday.
@ Edward
Lots of comments… I have just voted on your blog and guess what I have voted for. 
Your blog is great. Full stop!
@ kljs
Most bloggers love comments. You are a special one but I do agree with you that blogging is more than just commenting.
@ Ed Kohler
I find my finger so tired after the scrolling. This is how I find the point.
@ McBilly
Thanks for subscribing!
I got tricked once or twice and I don’t quite like it when a blog with many comments do that. The next day I wake up, my inbox will be full of mails with just comments.
@ Kitkat
Some people tend to reciprocate comments. You don’t comment on their blog, they won’t comment on yours.
As you said, go out and socialize.
@ Scott
The two has actually been incorporated into my post under the headlines “Difficult to Comment” and “Enhance Your Comment Environment”.
Thanks for giving the points.
@ Steven
I know many want it but I do know some that doesn’t bother about it.
@ keeyit
This is the correct attitude. 100% correct. I comment because I enjoy to but it is kind of “potong steam” (ending the excitement in English) sometimes when I am expecting an answer from a blogger and he/she doesn’t reply.
@ Chris
Is this equivalent to asking question or spamming my visitors mail box to ask them for comment?
You made a point here. Hmm, how can I remind my readers to make a comment? A delayed pop-up maybe…
November 9th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Yeah, perhaps I should explore more blogs in Malaysia~ You so coOL, go everywhere also can see you~ muhahaha
November 10th, 2007 at 6:05 am
A good article about commenting. I hate the auto follow up comments via e-mail because of the mail spamming.
November 10th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
@ Sean
I have the passion to type a lot. This is why you see me everywhere. Don’t make me feel like I am haunting the blogosphere.
@ david
Thanks for your comment!
Yes and sometimes if big blogs do this to me, I will be so angry because I will be seeing 40 over mails in my inbox because of the comments they received.
November 10th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Also, I think a great way to encourage comments is to show your readers that you value their comments. Start the discussion by asking questions at the end of your posts.
One thing I sometimes do (I did this earlier this week) was take a question that somebody left as a comment and rather than answering it in the comments section I make a brand new post about it and I mention the commenter and link to him. This really shows readers that you are listening to them.
November 11th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
That is a great way of blogger-reader interaction. I did this a few times as well. The reader himself will feel proud of it and you might just get yourself a new fan.
November 11th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Responding for the comments is the most important thing. that will make a dialog and loyal visitors.
-Nish
November 11th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Your readers will not feel like a dumb talking to themselves if you reply them.
November 12th, 2007 at 12:36 am
If I visit one of the pro blogger sites I’m more hesitant to comment. I guess it’s because I’m concerned what the other commenters might think. This is something I have to make myself get over.
If I have to register in order to comment I leave the site and usually never return.
Good article!
November 12th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Don’t care about them. When you comment, it is your business with the writer of the article. If other commentators don’t like you, just bashed back at them and it will be the blogger’s task to clean up the mess.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
you got the most informative information.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:11 am
i think i haven’t been commenting much (though i read dozens of blogs) because (1) i haven’t seen the value in it (not realizing that it will help drive some traffic to my site) and (2) i felt it took too much time.
but this didn’t take too long.
November 13th, 2007 at 3:19 am
Good tips.
I use the number of comments or lack of as metric to measure how popular a post was. At least I know what sort of posts my readers like and probably write more of such posts.
November 13th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
@ Spidey
Thanks.
@ brad
Commenting is really a good way to network and a great way to get traffic. You don’t need to comment much, maybe on just 5 blogs a day…
@ Andrew
Yes, this is how some bloggers measure their posts’ quality. There are other aspects like permalink views and so on though…
November 14th, 2007 at 11:06 am
One thing’s for sure, bloggers must be clear that NOT GETTING COMMENT does not mean your POST / ARTICLE is not good.
Chanya, Wayne’s right - you have the rights to comment. Just be tactful.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Great article! I always reply to my comments and I try to encourage commenting within my posts whenever it’s relevant, but I could still always use some tips for improvement and the ones you provide are perfect. I might share them with my own readers as well in my next roundup. Keep up the good work.
November 15th, 2007 at 9:18 am
@ goldfries
Yes, there might be other factors as well. Sometimes they thought their writings is not good and they switch their style,which might become a worse style.
@ Tay
Thanks for that. I am proud to be featured on a big blog like yours.
November 16th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Very interesting article. I don’t have a lot of comments and was wondering if you could give me a suggestion why because I don’t see any one thing here that rings a bell. I am interested in the two plugins at the end and will try them. It is difficult sometimes figuring out why comments are not happening much.
November 16th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
A quick glance at your articles showed me that you do ask questions but you quickly answered the question as well. This don’t leave any hanging questions for your readers to answer in the comments section any more.
Also, do you try commenting on other sites? Your blog is a personal blog so bloghopping to other personal blogs will help a lot. If you comment on their blogs, they tend to reciprocate with you.
If you still find both of it won’t help, you seriously need to review your articles, see what attract most of the comments and what fails to attract anything. Post more of those what people like and go out to market it in forums or places that you will find people with similar interests.
I hope all the tips above help. If you have any doubts about it, feel free to ask.
November 17th, 2007 at 12:46 am
Great article! I found myself am doing some of these top 10 failure stuffs, this may help to mend the problems.
Anyway,is this your pure work or some bloggers’ article? This seems too good for me. 
November 17th, 2007 at 12:54 am
Thanks for reading and commenting.
This is my pure work but I won’t say that others have not post it before since I entered this niche quite late.
I can assure you that this article has been written originally by me but whether you believe it or not, it will still up to you.
November 17th, 2007 at 1:30 am
Thank you so much for taking the time to come by and comment. I appreciate it very much and am thinking about what you said. Hopefully I can make some changes that will help. Have a great day.
November 17th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
I was receiving zero comments on my blog TailgatingIdeas.com until I read this post. I immediately took off the requirement that people had to register in order to post comments. I know I hate to register and get assigned a random password for any website out there. I honestly think the registration requirement was making people move on to the next article. Since I made the switch i have been getting comments. Nice article and keep up the good work.
November 17th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
@ David
Just nudge me any time if you want any advice. I will try my best.
@ Dave
I can one comment in two of your posts there. Maybe you can take some times to reply their comments and they might be back commenting next time.
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
November 18th, 2007 at 2:22 am
Great article!
I don’t comment on blogs that ask me to signup.
I do comment in a blog if I have something to say, or in return for someone who leave a comment in my blog. And I always want to be notified about the comments that came after my comments, because maybe I get an answer. That’s why I like that the input “notify me of …” to be checked by default, because I leave many comments and it bothers me to check all the time. So in my blog, this input is checked by default. If someone doesn’t want to view the followup comments, a single click is enough
November 18th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
Maybe different people have different preference. If your readers don’t like it, they will write in a mail for you but if everything is fine, just carry on with the practice.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:12 am
I don’t get many comments but can’t blame my visitors, there’s nothing really to comment about on my website, at least for now since it still a big work in progress, however sometimes I don’t understand how IMHO some very poor blogs get tons of comment and some very very good ones 0.
I do my part, if I like the topic I might comment
December 17th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Well, small bloggers with poor contents might get contents because of their personality, networking skills.
I am sure in real life you can see people that can talk a lot with others but if you listen to what he says carefully, all of them are crap.
(Just an example)
Some people do know how to capture the world with their interpersonal skills.
December 28th, 2007 at 1:01 am
How about giving readers an option not to include their email? I practice it in my new blog, it’s still struggling for traffic so i haven’t see any differences yet..
btw i go this tips from michael martine’s blog
December 28th, 2007 at 1:06 am
sorry! the tips was from Vladimir Prelovac’s blog… sorry!
December 28th, 2007 at 6:46 am
I know many out there are reluctant to give out their e-mail address because of the fear of spam. However, this helps to prevent spam and since it is a default by Wordpress, I don’t think many will modify this.
Anyway, keeping the number of fields to be filled up low will help to increase the number of comments though.
January 19th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
You have put a lot of thought in this article! I have been discouraged to comment on blogs so many times
.
Sometimes an article just says everything and I just have nothing more to say!
I also hate it when when comments are very slow to load, I just end up turning off my computer because it has frozen (Hi, John Chow!) and make a point of never ever returning to the blog in question (Bye bye John Chow!)
January 20th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
How sarcastic are you towards John…
Well, slow loading comment space might happen if a blog uses the threaded comment like John. I don’t use them for this reason and another reason will be, I don’t want you all to ignore me by chatting among yourselves.
January 26th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
this is indeed a very informative post. i’ve learned something about comments from you thru this. thanks!
i also intend to write something about comments and commenting but in another perspective.
January 28th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
I have tried absolutely every darn tip under the sun in several years of blogging and I find that the only posts that really stimulate a discussion with more than just one or two comments are those in which I make a very provocative generalization or else assert something very controversial (as in the MMR post). Average posts generally get no response.
I reckon the average commenting rate for Sciencebase (not counting my responses) is one comment per every two posts, but some posts will garner 20-30 or so over time.
Ironic that you have “notify me” set to default on your posts when you suggest that’s one thing that might deter comments in the first place.
db
January 29th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
@ Jessie
Hope you will do well with the post of yours.
@ David
You can try commenting on other blogs so that the bloggers feel “obligated” to comment on yours. Ask some questions and they might give you some replies.
January 29th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Yeah, I do…
Okay, so I posted a list of the posts that had had the most comments already, what do you think? What do those posts have in common?
db
January 29th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
The posts that get you comments are posts with facts that are known to the mass public, which means after reading, your readers knew what to say. Remember that not all readers might be good in advanced science.
I think I spotted an error for this. Where is your comment link? I can’t see it anywhere. Not having the link will give the impression to readers that your blog does not allow readers to comment. Unless they reach your blog via your posts’ permalinks, they will have such thoughts in their minds.
Another important thing is about your comment count. It can be shown beside comment link. A comment count shows that a discussion is happening under an article, giving rise to curiosity of a reader on what is being discussed. A “read more” link is good allows a reader to reach a post’s permalink but not everyone will click to read more if they are not interested in your excerpts.
Sometimes, after reading, a reader might not know what to say. However, if they scanned through a comment that might have different views from your articles or asking a question, they might be enticed to write a comment.
January 29th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Thanks for your thoughts Wayne, very useful.
db
February 2nd, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Thanks for this nice article Wayne. I will surely be following some of these guidelines to get more comments on my posts.
February 3rd, 2008 at 10:58 pm
I hope they will work out pretty well for you.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Just came upon your site. Interesting tips
I guess my blog seldom have comments because it’s new and more of a personal blog.
*need to get more ideas to write more interesting post*
Happy Chinese New Year to you!! Cheers
February 15th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Try to put in more photos on a personal blog. Also, start building traffic by commenting on blogs of others so that you get attention from other bloggers. Don’t be shy and blogging will be a happy hobby for everyone.
February 25th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
What makes you not commenting in blogs?
Not enough time. -_-
I prefer to comment sincerely and because of that my comments can be quite lengthy at times.
Have you realized from the reasons above why your visitors are not commenting?
Of course.
I would love it if you decide to comment in this article of mine.
Well, I just did.
To add in my thoughts regarding this subject:
Just because a person did not comment on an article, does not mean that person did not read that article.
This is of course, based on your first point - Nothing to Say.
Many people seems to have forgotten about this though.
February 25th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
This is why sometimes it is worth a thought for bloggers on whether to write a blog post with loose ends or post something which is very complete but will keep the mouth of readers shut.
February 26th, 2008 at 8:08 am
If they require me to subscribe or register, I wont comment. However, it wont stop me from reading their content if it’s still worth reading.
If there is a subject I want to comment on, and it requires me to register, it just angers me. If you’re that worried about spam, install an anti-spam plugin.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:51 am
its funny, if you don’t comment some people would feel that you are stalking their blog!
March 5th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
@ unTECHy
I personally dislike using anti-spam plugin that requires readers to fill in one more blank in the comment form that requires them to squeeze their eyeballs to identify numbers with crazy form.
This equals to a registration before commenting as well.
@ Kissmi
Stalking is just a humor word to plead for comments by bloggers I guess. Anyway, comments is just a blog performance measurement metric and this is why bloggers want it.
April 5th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
I have several blogs running, and for some reason the one that gets the most traffic has comparatively the least comments.
It might be because I have a somewhat facetious, tongue-in cheek writing style and perhaps people think I might insult them or something.
As you mentioned, replying is a good tactic. I have been doing this and it does help a little.
I think the number of comments is important. Once people see quite a few comments on a blog already, they are more likely to join in. It’s getting to that point that’s the hard part …
April 6th, 2008 at 11:39 am
I am having a hard time getting comments on my blog as well. I have the readers but they just don’t wanna talk : p/
April 6th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
@ Matt
I think I saw your blog. Well, if you think your blog post might be seen by your readers as unfriendly, try to interact with those who commented, especially by commenting on their blog so that they come back to comment.
When these returning commentators return to leave their comments, it will pursue more readers to comment because the 0 is not showing under every post of yours anymore.
I hope this helps.
@ Rob
Why don’t you try to make them talk by asking questions, giving sarcastic statements to them (do this at your own risk) or beg for them (this works!)?
Sometimes, you should try to seed your comment section to present a established discussion place to your readers so that they are more prompted to leave a comment.
April 18th, 2008 at 6:42 am
Making it easy to comment with a box at the bottom is great because it just makes it that much simpler for someone to drop their opinion.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Great article! May be, my blog is really new. But still I don’t recieve any comment. I hope the broke the ice, and the reader come to participate.
Thanks by your tips,
July 1st, 2008 at 12:11 am
Using 2 main languages like my blog is such a bad idea. People only comments in my native language post. Problem is i need my adsense work in english (no ads for my country language).