It's really demoralising when you only get disappointing comments.
You know, the ones that say 'Nice post' or something equally useless. OK it's nice to get a comment, but wouldn't be better if it was a bit more than just two words?
But rather than blaming the commenter, why not take a look at what you're doing. Perhaps the environment is only suitable for disappointing comments.
There's a lot more to receiving comments than meets the eye. This infographic may shed a bit of light on the subject.
And here's some code you could paste into your own posts (via the text mode) if you want to share this Infographic with your readers.
Lack of substance
What is a typical comment on your blog? I bet you regularly get ‘Nice post’ or ‘Thank you for this post’, with very little else.
These are disappointing comments because they contain very little value. They could have mentioned which bits of the post they liked, or which parts they were thankful for. And you could reply asking them for this information as well.
But apparently this is beyond the capacity of most commenters. It seems they take the short way out by merely putting something down for the sake of it.
Lack of regular readers
You could blame everything on not getting many readers. Or readers who don't know how to comment, or can't think of anything decent to say.
But why not turn everything on its head. Do you have many visitors who will be likely to comment? Perhaps your blog doesn't welcome comments? A distant and unfriendly blog will only receive a ‘Nice post’ once in a while.
A friend suggested to me that disappointing comments are not because people can’t think of anything to say. It's possibly because of the lack of relationship you have with your readers.
Lack of friendship
It's worth getting to know your readers and who they are. If they are made to feel special and see your blog as a safe haven where to have their say, they will be more likely to open up in their comments.
Forming a ‘friendship’ with your readers allows them to feel part of the community. They need to regard you as someone they can relate to. This means you need to be able to understand each other.
Visitors will be more willing to reveal their experiences if they have an affinity with a particular subject. Or share their expertise to fill a knowledge gap if they know it will enhance the post to benefit others.
Lack of knowledge
It's not easy for a stranger to pluck up the courage to comment. Especially if they don't know you and you don't know them. This is the reason why they don't know what to say.
If you went to a party full of strangers, especially if they were ignoring you, would you feel able to strike up a conversation? It takes an extrovert to make that plunge.
This is also particularly so if your blog doesn't already have a regular commenting crowd. Being the first to comment is very disconcerting. It takes guts to break that commenting duck.
Lack of comfort
Readers are more likely to write substantial comments if they feel comfortable about doing so. Develop your blog as a secure hub for expressing views and opinions. Encourage like-minded readers to start conversations and stimulate discussions.
You may need to have many of these ‘conversations’ to get your readers to know, like and trust you. Regularly replying to comments is the perfect way to find out more about your readers, and they about you.
Having a blog that welcomes readers with open arms and big smiles will encourage more readers to respond favourably with meaningful comments. People will happily congregate where they know they have friends.
Do you get disappointing comments?
Treating your blog as a community is a major factor when it comes to getting your readers to write good comments. How much do you value your readers to try to communicate with them more?
If you get disappointing comments, could you adapt your blog to make it more friendly? How would you go about making your readers feel wanted and special? And does it have to be on your blog? Find you readers on social media and start engaging with them there too!
Let me know your solutions to avoid getting disappointing comments. We would love to hear from you.
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Interesting article and I can’t say I disagree with any of the points. It’s not always easy to build these relationships though. Particularly if your blog is based around a business. It means that you have to have the time to get to know a huge number of people who may or may not be truly relevant to your business.
Many commenters are nice people but as many are trolls or contrary types who simply seek to derail, and upstage you. I no longer have the time for such people. How do you deal with those people?
Hi Phil, thanks for commenting. Wouldn’t it be easier to focus only on a few relevant people to create a business relationship with? Make sure these can help your business by being an influencer or a supplier. Get them on your side through helpful and forthcoming comments and you never know what they could do for you in the future.
As regards trolls and other unfortunates, the best thing to do is to either ignore and delete them, or learn how to cope with them via my latest e-course to start spreading positivity rather than negativity around the blogosphere.