Case study: Comment whoring, is it worth it?
First, let me explain what this experiment was all about just so we are all clear. Basically, I was going to find a whole list of sites that have NoFollow turned off so that I could post a bunch of comments to get some links back here.
Sounds like a very simple process. It is not hard to find a DoFollow list of websites that you can comment on. Plus, how hard is it to write a small comment on a bunch of blogs every day? The second goal being to do it regularly on a bunch of blogs to get in the top commentator list. Not a hard thing to do if you comment daily.
So now that I had my plan, I decided to get myself a caffine refill and begin.
STEP 1: Find a doFollow list
This one was easy as I am already part of Andy’s doFollow movement.
STEP 2: Go through list and start commenting on posts!
So I begin going through my list. I go to the first blog and it is on a similer topic to this one. I read all the posts on the front page and find one that interests me enough to comment so I do. I notice that I just spent 20 mins doing so.
Note to self, need to speed this up or it’s going to take hours.
I go to the next site. It has nothing on it of interest to me. I skip this one and go to the next.
Again, Bill’s blog about batteries does not interest me even though I try to find a post that does. I could just comment on any post, but is that the right thing to do? Isn’t there already enough crap on the net without me adding to it?
Then I realize this is going to be an impossible task for me. I don’t comment daily on the blogs I read daily. How am I going to do it on a bunch of blogs I don’t care to read? I know this is supposed to be purely for build links back here, but that does not sit well with me. Other people are working hard on these blogs, I don’t need to clutter them up with off topic comments.
So I end my experiment with a failure. I cannot turn my mind off long enough to do it. Running this blog is work, but it is fun also. I’m not spending hours a day doing a boring task that adds nothing to this blog or the blogs of others. Seems a little seedy to me.
Is it worth it? Not to me. I would rather just keep producing content and hope that people find and enjoy it. If it takes longer than I can live with that. I’d rather get linked back because of something we wrote, rather than wasting time.
I wouldn’t advertise my car for sale in a gardening magazine. Maybe I need to work on being a little more evil?
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I feel the same way as you. it just doesn’t feel right to comment just to get a link back. I know it’s a good way to build links, but if i have nothing good to offer to the author, other readers, or conversation then i’m just wasting everyones time. And i don’t want to just write some bs comment to get a link back…
Comment by getrandom — June 16, 2007 @ 4:00 pm
What! Did you hear about the wild fire that burned everything in it’s way? No? You didn’t hear…? Well you heard it now, because I told you!
TELL people what you’re doing, don’t comment just for the hell of it. Tell them something useful, tell them how and why you agree or disagree, tell them what you’re doing! For example, I subscribe to 200+ blogs and if I stumble upon a post about AGLOCO, I comment on their blog about how much I hate it and link it to my post. I did that to your post about AGLOCO earlier.
The point being… don’t stop marketing yourself, I think I found you on one of the blogger’s comments section and I subscribe to your RSS ever since and you have written great posts.
The thing with me though is that, I usually delete comments that have “Wow, great article” I just know they didn’t read it and comment on it just to get a link back.
Sorry for a long ass comment, I don’t know if I had a point anywhere. I just blab a lot. LOL.
Comment by Deaf Musician — June 16, 2007 @ 5:00 pm
Maybe you should start doing that first. The more you comment, the easier it will get.
Commenting is great for a variety of reasons. You get to write about subjects not in your blog niche, you get to practice your writing skills, you develop friendships or enemies (either of which are good for blogging), and sometimes your comments become blog post worthy.
But most of all, what if you find a really good blog you really like? Then would you consider it a waste of time? You should force yourself to read a blog you’ve never read at least once a week. It will be good for you.
The way you describe doing it, actually reading and finding stuff to comment on, is completely legitimate and I doubt many bloggers would complain. Most bloggers want more comments, that might even be why they changed to dofollow.
Clutter would be spamming the comments with irrelevant and objectionable material. But what you’re describing isn’t spam. It’s targeted commenting.
Anyway, cheers! Feel free to comment on my blog
Comment by Elaine Vigneault — June 16, 2007 @ 6:25 pm
Jason - Right on - there are enough ‘whores’ out there, those that will do anything for a dollar. What a waste. Glad that you stuck true to yourself and didn’t prostitute yourself. It’s nice to look yourself in the mirror and be proud of what you see, isn’t it!? Take care.
Comment by MorganLighter — June 17, 2007 @ 12:11 am
Good point. I also think it’s a bad idea to post on sites that aren’t at all related to yours. I don’t think the search engines like it very much.
Comment by Aimee — June 17, 2007 @ 12:16 am
I think a lot of people worried about setting the DoFollow plug up, fearing it would bring on an onslaught of new spam posters. As long as you have the Askimet spam filter anyway, all should be fine. Commenting across a range of “DoFollow” blogs would take a long long time… and probably not that beneficial.
Comment by Zac Johnson — June 17, 2007 @ 1:40 pm
I don’t have the energy to post comments and engage in discussion on sites that I don’t read often. My blog is just somewhere I write and ramble about what I’m doing online. I hope someone somewhere finds it useful.
Comment by Ted — June 18, 2007 @ 2:31 am
Maybe you do need to work on being more evil…
Only joking. I think what you posted here is common sense. Read blogs you enjoy and comment on them. Commenting on random sites just to get more traffic on to your blog does sound like a lot of effort for little reward.
Comment by Goddess Carlie — June 18, 2007 @ 7:25 am
Being more evil, that is something I will at least have to look into. Don’t know if I want to join the dark side just yet though. I do admit that it looks like it’s easier and faster, but I don’t think it would be something that I could be proud of.
I’ll try to respond to a few of your comments now.
I do try and comment on the blogs a read regularly, but sometimes I am just not interested enough in that days post, or what I think has already been said. A simple ‘I agree’ comment doesn’t really do it for me.
I like the idea of reading a new blog once a week. Now that I am getting submissions for our fantastic new blog directory I am getting that chance. (If you want in, just send me the URL through our contact form)
Akismet spam filter is my favorite plugin so far. It does a great job. Very few real comments get blocked and I just go through it once a week to clean it out.
Comment by Jason — June 18, 2007 @ 9:56 am
I’m glad that you feel that garbage commenting is bad, I totally agree. If I’m not interested in your site to want to comment, then I won’t. However, there are some sites that I can sit and read all day. I like your site
Comment by Roberta — June 19, 2007 @ 8:05 am
I’ve plowed through DoFollow lists only to find that maybe 10% of the sites interest me. So, I comment on those sites and chalk it up to a good way to find blogs I may not have come across otherwise.
I like commenting whenI have something to add. I feel like it’s mini-blogging and I enjoy it more on days I don’t feel like writing in my own blog. Like this morning, for example.
Comment by Angie — June 20, 2007 @ 5:11 am
Hello,
Congrats, your site is now listed on the updated Do Follow List!
Regards,
Nicusor
Comment by nicusor — July 11, 2007 @ 9:01 am