You may not realize it, but blog comments can actually impact a site’s SEO.
This may seem strange, but a recent article on Hubspot discusses this issue and provides a few ways to increase blog comments and the effectiveness of an SEO strategy. Diana Freedman at the Hubspot blog explains that “each new comment adds more valuable content to a post, so yes, you can start ranking for different variations of keywords that are naturally mentioned in your comments.”
In addition to writing thought-provoking or controversial blogs, you can also encourage SEO beneficial comments by following a few simple steps.
- Consider asking a question at the end of a post. It doesn’t really matter whether it is a general request for feedback or a request for thoughts on a specific topic. The idea is to create a friendly environment in which readers want to participate.
- Also, don’t forget to reply to the comments posted. Thank readers for their input, answer their questions, and pose new ones. This can create a community that centers on your blog.
- Finally, let readers know their opinions are important. You can do so by writing blogs related to the top comments. “If someone leaves a spectacular and insightful comment around that blog post,” she says, “use that comment as inspiration for your next blog post. Open with a snippet from that comment, [include] a link to that reader’s website, and then follow with your opinion.”
Creating a “comment friendly” blog can not only increase traffic to your blog, but can also boost your SEO strategy.
