Winning Points for Commenting on Blogs

If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score? ~Vince Lombardi

According to Technorati’s 2008 State of the Blogosphere, 184 million people in the world have started a blog. With that many people engaging in regular posting, blogs have become a standard way of discussing topics of interest. Regularly commenting on blogs can be a valuable tool for building relationships and gaining SEO links in the major search engines.

How do comments build relationships?
When you regularly read and comment on the same blog, that blog’s owner is likely to take notice. In many cases, this can establish a relationship between you and the blog owner, almost in the same way that having regular discussions with a coworker might. This connection can be established in as little as a few weeks, and can lead to offline discussions and networking opportunities for each of you. If there is a person you want to make a business connection with, but they are a stranger, seeking out the person’s blog and regularly posting comments is an excellent way to open the door.

How can comments build SEO Links?
The more links you have to your website, the higher your page rank is going to be. Comment on blogs is a great way to increase your link count.

When commenting on blogs, you don’t have to use your real name when you post. Instead, using your name followed by a keyword will help gain some search engine indexing (for example: Bonnie the Web Designer). Most blogs will give you the option of linking back to a web site when you leave a comment. Be sure to take advantage of this option by entering your URL. It even better to link to a specific page in your site that you’re trying to get indexed using the keyword you've chosen.

How do I find blogs to comment on?

• Word of Mouth
• Blog directories
• Following on Twitter
• Using keywords in search engines

Does the topic of the blog matter?
It is going to be considered a more relevant link if the topic of the blog relates to your business. But even blogs that are unrelated give you a link back to your site. So if you've chosen to comment on a blog for your hobby, let's say, still use the strategy of your name + keyword to gain a link back to your site.

Are you ready to win?

Create a Traffic-Driving Budget

"I found out that if you are going to win games, you had better be ready to adapt."
~ Scotty Bowman, retired NHL coach, holds the record for most wins in league history


Everybody who has a website wants more visitors, and if you peruse the Internet, there are thousands of gigabytes of articles telling how to gain just that. But with all that information out there, how do you begin? What approach is best to get the new eyeballs to see your site?

The Traffic-Driving Budget
It takes a lot of time to implement strategies that drive web traffic, and time is not something most people have. So instead, you need to come up with a traffic driving budget that is going to create the greatest return for the most time you can invest. To create your budget you:

1. Familiarize yourself with the best practices for increasing site traffic
Start by asking people who have a successful website, or searching online for blogs to talk about SEO (search engine optimization) or website marketing. You can also hire a web consultant who can give you a few hours of time to discuss your site and your audience and they can help you determine what best practices would be optimum.

2. Choose 6 techniques that you have seen evidence of effectiveness
There is a lot to choose from. If you don't narrow it down, it will become overwhelming. So choose the 6 strategies that sound best to you. You might choose one or two that sound easy, since easy=quick success=motivation to do more. You might choose the ones that are easy to delegate since you don't have the time to implement or supervise.

3. Create a 6-month calendar, implementing one new strategy each month
Look at your strategies and come up with a logic for organizing them. One may be more successful if implemented after another, so save it for month 4 or 5. One might be really easy, so perhaps use it for month one to kickstart the project and get into the habit.

4. Create a weekly calendar, scheduling in time to implement your strategy
Determine how many hours a week will be required to implement the task for that month. Will you be doing it or delegating it to a staff member? Put it in your calendar, or the staff persons' calendar, and commit to setting the time aside.

5. Honor your commitment
It takes time and commitment to sucessfully implment an online marketing campaign. Honor your commitment as you would any other business meeting. Just know that following through is the only way to get the results.

Get a Basic "Web Traffic Driving Budget"!
Listen to Bonnie Landau and Ralph White on Consulting2Win Radio
Wednesday, May 17, 2009 at 11 am to noon
Bonnie will share details for a basic 6-month, step-by-step strategy for increasing your site traffic that you or your staff members can easily implement.

Are You Ready To Win?