Blog Comment Commandments for Digital Marketers

It's not uncommon for those in the digital marketing space to be, well, overzealous when it comes to leveraging white hat SEO tactics. White can turn black quickly however if you're not following the best practices - and such is the case with using comments to raise the profile of your website.

Comments on other website content (i.e. blogs), particularly when they do not have the no-follow tag, are quite helpful in providing quality citations to your digital property. But of course, it's been misused as a tactic for so long that publishers just tend to gloss over most of the bad behavior, opting for some activity rather than genuine interaction.

That's why those that engage in comment marketing need to abide by the three comment commandments.

1) Thou Shalt Use Your Own, Real, Genuine Identify (for Pete's Sake)



2) Thou Shalt Have Something Positive, Constructive To Say
Hopefully it should go without saying that it's best not to be rude or much less slanderous in your comments. You could be held liable if you happen to state something that's incorrect - whether you believe it or not - so opt for thoughtful and insightful criticisms. And when you're in a fine mood, say something positive about the argument or approach taken by the writer, and constructive overall, adding something to the broader conversation.

3) Thou Shalt Track This Form of Participatory Marketing
Time is money and believe me, it takes time to comment on a variety of blogs within your vertical, particularly when it comes to finding those that have recently published content on a long tail term. Since time is such a valuable commodity, it's imperative that you track the results, the performance, of your participation in comment marketing.