Today’s weekly quick tip on Making Money Online Dot Com is not for everyone, but it could help you in the future. As you probably know I love comments and I also love to comment on other bogs. One thing I like to do to help build our online presence is to leave comments on the blogs of the people that comment on our site. I also like to visit the sites of the people who comment on their blogs as well and leave comments. The reason is simple… you already know these people leave comments on blogs, so there is a good chance if you leave a comment on their site, they might return the favor and comment on yours. Even though this is a “Great Tip”, this is not the tip of the week.
One thing I have noticed when following commentors (which is not a real word, but should be) to their sites is that some people use the URL to their main site versus their blog and wonder why they are not getting more comments. A good example of this was my buddy Brian Bell. He was leaving lots of great comments on our site and I wanted to return the favor, so when I would click on his URL… it would take me to his BlogEngage site, which at the time I had NO IDEA what it was, so I would usually just leave.
Then one day Brian left a comment on our site on the post “Hey Bloggers, Scratch Our Blog and We’ll Scratch Yours” saying that he should try that method, as he wasn’t getting any comments on his blog. So I suggested that he use his Blog URL in the comment box instead of BlogEngage… which he started doing and is still doing today.
After he made that SIMPLE change I personally started visiting and commenting on his site all the time. Not only because he was commenting on our site, but because SEOMkt.com is a GREAT BLOG and has lots of great information on getting more high quality traffic to your site. Also from reading his blog I actually learned what his BlogEngage site is actually about and I started submitting my blog posts regularly to it. I even added his BlogEngage Voting widget to our blog so readers can actually vote for our posts right on our site. It is an awesome tool and I suggest everyone gets it for their blog.
Okay… so we have learned that making that simple change (using his blog address versus using his main website address) that he has at least received a lot more comments from me personally. But did it make any difference to his overall commenting results? Well I decided to ask him 24 days later…
As you can see the answer is an overwhelming success! Now I am not saying everyone is going to experience these kinds of results, as everyone’s business models are set-up differently. I do think though… that there is a much better chance of getting more comments on your blog if you send people directly to your blog versus to another section of your site (or a completely other site like Brian was doing) and making the visitor have to search for your blog.
Asswass on Thu, 6th Aug 2009 12:26 pm
Hey Doug, you know that I also started writing comments with Hiburrito as my URL. But I noticed the same thing and changed it. I’m also using blog engage and I’ve voted for your posts once or twice
.
Doug Dillard on Thu, 6th Aug 2009 12:38 pm
Thanks for supporting my theory… as well as the love
I really appreciate it!
bbrian017 on Thu, 6th Aug 2009 12:42 pm
It was amazing how great the difference was.
See I thought members would respect me using the blogengage url cause it would always link to the latest published blogs for the comment luv.
It’s amazing what a small change can do. Imagine if I had been doing it this way for the last 2 years omg blogengage would be huge!
Thanks for the great advice Doug.
Doug Dillard on Thu, 6th Aug 2009 1:12 pm
Sure… BlogEngage might have be HUGE by now if you did this 2 years ago, but we probably never would have met (as you would have been too big a Guru to be visiting little sites like this) and I would have not had you for my example in this post
Trey - Swollen Thumb Entertainment on Thu, 6th Aug 2009 4:57 pm
Hi Doug, I took your advice and started sending readers to my blog as opposed to my home page. I’m not sure yet if it’s making a huge difference though, and sometimes I forget because I’m in the habit of just typing the home page, and I get in a hurry when I make my rounds and post blog comments. However, I do see the validity of your point, and I might as well send readers to the blog since my home page isn’t finished yet. Good advice!
bbrian017 on Thu, 6th Aug 2009 6:34 pm
Perhaps give it some time. I’ve noticed a huge difference but perhaps it’s because of my niche. Hard to say without seeing what you’re blogging about. I’ll go visit your blog.
Sire on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 5:31 pm
Trey, one thing to remember, because of the auto-fill, is to change the details. I’ve been caught out more than once in my rush to post a comment.
Jared P Little | The Money Cult on Thu, 6th Aug 2009 7:55 pm
Doug,
Very nice post! This just shows you how one little change can make a world of difference. And I like the little snap shots of the comment history. Nice little creative way to tell the story.
Comments are powerful:)
Doug Dillard on Thu, 6th Aug 2009 7:59 pm
Thanks Jared! Yeah I figure I need to start adding some graphics to liven up my posts and these definitely told the story on their own. Thanks again!
The Gooroo @ iBlogPlanet on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 2:26 am
Yeah, I was going to say that. I haven’t seen you post images usually. This was a good change
Doug Dillard on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 9:07 am
Sorry for the lack of images… I will try and do a better job about that
The Gooroo @ iBlogPlanet on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 9:50 am
No worries. You make up for it with your good content.
Btw Doug, if you get a chance, have a look at my site, and let me know if the Top Commentators is active (for the contest). Good luck BTW!
Doug Dillard on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 9:57 am
Thanks
It seems to be working fine.
Sire on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 5:34 pm
Although images aren’t completely necessary I’ve found that using the right ones are great for capturing peoples attention and for breaking up longer articles.
MichaelR on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 1:35 am
Very good tip. Will follow your advice and hopefully I’ll get the same result as Brian.
Thanks
Michael
Doug Dillard on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 9:05 am
Thanks Michael! I really suggest that you start getting involved with BlogEngage.com as well. I have noticed a significant traffic increase since I started submitting posts there and it is a great place to network with other bloggers. Just make sure to vote for other blog posts and get involved a little and it can definitely bring you more QUALITY traffic.
bbrian017 on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 9:09 am
MichaelR has already submitted over at blgoengage and is now a members. Doug I think you said something here that is very important.
“Just make sure to vote for other blog posts and get involved a little.”
This part is so important. One thing I have noticed since I owned blogengage is that bloggers are very smart and they can tell a poser from a mile away. Voting, Commenting and Engaging with other bloggers is a must or you will get lost in the crowd.
Saying and doing are two different things.
Doug Dillard on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 2:01 pm
Can you point me to one of his posts on BlogEngage so I can vote for it? I can’t find any.
bbrian017 on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 2:30 pm
I think this is his profile here, http://www.blogengage.com/user.php?login=MichaelR
Trey - Swollen Thumb Entertainment on Thu, 13th Aug 2009 6:52 pm
Brian, what you say about bloggers being able to tell a poser from a mile away is SO true. Honestly, it took me just a few weeks of blogging to be able to do just that. It baffles me how people can honestly think that their actions are helping their cause. If anything, it HURTS them. It’s also high selfish to go onto other people’s blogs with the sole reason being to promote your own blog. I mean, get on there and try to add value to the post. And if you’re lucky enough to be on a site, (Such as this one) that actually encourages discussion, then get involved with that too. With all of the newbie bloggers around that don’t get this, you’d think it’s rocket science… but it isn’t.
Trey – Swollen Thumb Entertainment´s last blog ..About My New Theme (Or Admitting Your Weaknesses)
Lee Ka Hoong on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 7:36 am
I’ve actually heard about blogengage some days ago, I think it was from brian. I didn’t know whether it was working or not so I didn’t use it for my blog. Then I’m going to submit my blog post to BlogEngage and see what I’ll get in coming days.
Regards,
Lee
The Gooroo @ iBlogPlanet on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 2:15 am
Haha, great tip Doug! Just like you basically said — small change = world of difference. I’m still looking for those “small changes” in order to make a “world of difference” in the success I see from my blog. Sometimes they aren’t too easy to spot.
Btw, how do you like BlogEngage? I’ve talked to Brian a few times — great guy. Been busy lately with the new domain and such, but as soon as I have sometime, I think I’m going to begin using BlogEngage regularly.
Doug Dillard on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 9:06 am
BlogEngage has been great and Brian is AWESOME. I highly recommend you sign-up and get involved.
bbrian017 on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 9:11 am
Time is always a restraint isn’t it? Life has so many obstacles and when you have things to do that are important other things like social networking just don’t fit in the schedule.
Take things at a good pace so when you get to doing it you can take full advantage of the service. We’re not going anywhere Gooroo so when you’re ready we’ll see ya there!
The Gooroo @ iBlogPlanet on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 6:31 pm
Great Brian. You’ll see me over there soon! Out of curiosity — do you manage the site on your own? I’m guessing not, but I just had to ask.
bbrian017 on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 10:31 pm
I Manage, Maintain, Host, and own blognegage.com and have now for about 2 years.
bbrian017 on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 10:33 pm
I have help from Sarah and Jessi… Sorry I mis read your question. I thought you asked do I manage it or own it lol
I could use some dedicated help lol
Sire on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 10:42 pm
Man, has it been two years already Brian. I reckon joined fairly early on in the game but I’m not sure it was that long ago.
Typhoon on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 4:29 am
From this post, I came to know about blogengage.com It’s looking a great site for bloggers. I like such sites which helps blogger in submitting their content for voting up and down.
bbrian017 on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 7:15 am
Glad to see you’re going to be joining the community. be sure to vote for Doug’s articles because were all about social sharing at blogengage!
Compute Live on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 6:58 am
Nice thought Doug..I would also prefer you post more images for your post…looks lively…;)
Doug Dillard on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 9:08 am
Thanks… I will try!
Stefan on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 2:16 pm
This is actually not only a good method to get more comments, but also a method to seem more genuine. Personally I have a tendency to trust people more if they link to their personal blog instead of linking to a corporate website.
Doug Dillard on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 12:51 am
I absolutely agree with that Stefan. It allows you to get a feeling about the person before you do business with them.
Sire on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 5:29 pm
I’ve often wondered about Brian leaving a link to Blogengage all the time, but never thought about putting him on the right path, probably because I thought there must have been some method in his madness. Reckon I was wrong. Nice of you to put him straight Doug.
bbrian017 on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 6:09 pm
well I used to link to blogengage like this post here check it sire! Also the comment love would be the latest published blog.
So in general I was doing better for our members but ti wasn’t working as affective for getting new members and building relationships.
Sire on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 6:20 pm
Which post is that Brian, there is no link
bbrian017 on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 10:36 pm
It’s not a post… were talking about my comments link I get from making a comment. The link I was referring to would had been the comment luv but after I posted I noticed Doug doesn’t have that installed.
Sire on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 10:40 pm
I actually went looking for the commentluv and I noticed it wasn’t installed so it left me wondering.
Doug Dillard on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 12:49 am
CommentLuv for some reason screws up my blog. Not sure why… and when I went to their support (who were extremely responsive) they could not duplicate the issues I was having so they couldn’t assist me
I want to have it on the site and one day I will!
Sire on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 1:49 am
When’s the last time you tried Doug, because there have been several updates.
Doug Dillard on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 2:06 am
Yesterday and the day before. What happens is when I activate it it makes every single link (except on the index page), including all the links in the sidebar, as well as in the footer open up in new tab… and it drives me crazy! It only happens in Firefox though… not IE.
Sire on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 2:15 am
That is weird. Surprising that Andy couldn’t work it out. Must be Theme related. I suppose he needs to install your theme to try and reproduce the results before he can resolve it.
Tycoon Blogger on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 6:03 pm
Very cool and I agree that seomkt.com is a great blog. I was actually the top commentator until you came along Doug
It seems like Blog Engage is really gaining in popularity which is great for all of us that participate.
bbrian017 on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 6:10 pm
I agree and I’m pretty excited! I’m going to miss it while on my vacations next week.
Doug Dillard on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 12:46 am
Sorry Dan… Just trying to get my name out there while helping others
Definitely BlogEngage seems to be starting to really take off which is very cool!
bbrian017 on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 10:46 pm
@sire
We started 2007-10-29 so it will be 2 years in 2 months! Time flies by huh wow!
Your profile: 2008-01-14
http://www.blogengage.com/user.php?login=Sire
Sire on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 11:20 pm
yep, a little over 2 months in. I knew I joined fairly early on in the piece. You’ve done a great job Brian. I reckon it’s about time I do another post on your site. Soon mate.
bbrian017 on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 10:27 am
You’ve only voted for 23 articles that weren’t yours! If you write an article please include in it why your not so social. I really expected more from you sire but nothing came from it. Every time I see you you’re always saying I’ll get involved soon etc… but here we are the same place we left off.
Karma Score of 6.00 is really poor for a being a members so long.
Sire on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 5:00 pm
True, but that’s what comes from having 9 blogs and a full time job, not to mention a family and a life outside of blogging. I also don’t use Twitter Digg or Stumble much either.
As most people will tell you, I am an avid commentator and in that respect I am being pretty social.
The Gooroo @ iBlogPlanet on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 9:10 pm
Yikes! 9 blogs? How do you manage all of those, and a job as well?
Sire on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 10:58 pm
I suppose it’s because I’m unsociable
Christie on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 4:04 am
Great advice – I know if I try to follow a link and don’t see the person’s blog pretty quickly, I may not even know there is one, and then – bounce! I’d think people are a lot more likely to explore that main site after they’ve gotten to know the blogger a bit.
Looks like I’m going to have to check out BlogEngage, too!
Doug Dillard on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 9:25 am
Christie… thanks for stopping by and commenting. We do appreciate it!
Yes, you should definitely sign-up for BlogEngage and start adding your posts, as well as voting for others. You will be amazed how fast you will start getting new visitors to your site.
Lee Ka Hoong on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 4:13 pm
I’ve signed up BlogEngage few hours ago but haven’t received the verification email, I’m going to give it a try and see the performance.
Regards,
Lee
bbrian017 on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 4:17 pm
Lee is everything fine? Did you get the e-mail?
Lee Ka Hoong on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 7:31 am
Great tips Doug! Leaving a blog URL instead of site URL is really working when it comes to community building, as long as people who visits your blog has the ability to leave a comment or contact you.
Regards,
Lee
Doug Dillard on Sat, 8th Aug 2009 9:26 am
Very true Lee! Thanks.
Lee Ka Hoong on Sun, 9th Aug 2009 10:09 am
Between, I’ve just signed up BlogEngage yesterday and submitted a blog post as well. There is no vote yet for the blog post, I have to see how well I can do with this.
Regards,
Lee
Jacob Yap on Sun, 9th Aug 2009 9:06 am
Good advice. This is another great site to promote blogposts. Going to sign up BlogEngage. =)
Doug Dillard on Sun, 9th Aug 2009 9:59 am
Hi Jacob… thanks for stopping by, as well as leaving a comment. We do appreciate it. Hopefully we will see you around engaging in more topics as we grow. Thanks again
Extreme John on Sun, 9th Aug 2009 4:58 pm
Without a doubt a “no brainer” that most people probably wouldn’t even think twice about, it’s funny though because as you know I am part of both of Brian’s communities and went through almost the same exact meeting process with Brian.
Glad you were able to help Brian out, he has some great stuff going on regardless of how much of a clown he is.. yeah I said it.
Just kidding Brian is a good guy, he mouthed off over at Pot Politics on an article praising how I am the greatest thing ever to happen to blogging, so I figured I would return the favor.
The “greatest thing to..” all a lie.
TechZoomIn on Mon, 10th Aug 2009 9:55 am
I believe in building relationship to get more comments.
TechZoomIn´s last blog ..Make Money By Selling Resell Right Products On Your Blog..!
The Gooroo @ iBlogPlanet on Mon, 10th Aug 2009 8:13 pm
WOW! 64 (now 65 comments on one post). I think anybody looking to get more comments on their blog should read this. Clearly what you are doing is working Doug. Nice work!
The Gooroo @ iBlogPlanet´s last blog ..How Important Are Domain Names?
Doug Dillard on Mon, 10th Aug 2009 11:47 pm
Thanks Gooroo! I does seem to be working pretty well so far. I hope we can sustain it
The Gooroo @ iBlogPlanet on Wed, 12th Aug 2009 3:35 am
Yeah, wow. Looks like you’re becoming the next John Chow
In a few years, John Chow will be trying to keep up with you. Haha!
The Gooroo @ iBlogPlanet´s last blog ..How To Write Good Articles
Lee Ka Hoong on Wed, 12th Aug 2009 6:30 am
lol! Doug is doing really good in building his own community, I think the main reason of getting so much comments should be this blog is a dofollow blog, with Top Commentators plugin and CommentLuv plugin. I’m going to make my blog to become a dofollow blog after changing my themes, still in the editing progress.
Regards,
Lee
Lee Ka Hoong´s last blog ..How To Make Money Online By Using Article Marketing
Jared P Little on Wed, 12th Aug 2009 7:46 pm
All these comments make me jealous! Nice work I need to run a contest.
Jared P Little´s last blog ..Learn SEO in 15 Minutes Part 1
Make Money Online Free on Fri, 14th Aug 2009 4:49 pm
I love comments too
I talk alot so I always respond to all the comments I get, plus I visit all the people that stop by my blog and comment on theirs as well. I’m sure they appreciate the favor, but it has also helped me to build quite an interesting network online and meet some very cool people 
Thanks for the tip.
– TriNi
Make Money Online Free´s last blog ..IMReportCard Proof of Payment! Get paid to review products, services and people online!