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Soliciting Comments from Web Site Readers Benefits Web Masters
By: Bill McRea
There are several reasons why a web master should not overlook this fast growing SEO tool. Soliciting comments from website readers is the most valid form of posting testimonials on the web. These testimonials give a web site's content credibility and establish the writers and owners as industry professionals.
Soliciting comments from web readers is the most reliable way of removing the 'static' stigma from a website. Blogs and forums are the best methods of establishing a two way method of communication between the web master and the readers. When managed right, a forum or blog can become a powerful Q&A or even a sales page.
Comments are becoming a rubric for measuring a content's importance and a establishing a web site as an authority on a subject. The most common method of soliciting comments is visiting other writer's blogs, and this time consuming method works fairly well.
Soliciting comments can be a frustrating task. Several factors must be in balance before a blog or forum will receive multiple comments:
? The original content must not be preachy or 'talk down to' the reader.
? It must be factual, but leave the topic open for discussion.
Allowing others to discuss a topic, and responding to their comments, is a good way of encouraging comments. It is harder to encourage readers to comment if the blog or forum is written to be the 'final word on the topic.' Write the blog to sound like a personal experience, or a single piece of advice, will encourage others to include their information.
Focus on the blog's target audience, and pay close attention to who is leaving comments. A professional blogger will expose problems. This gives people a chance to offer their suggestions and even their own experiences to the problem. This type of blog solves two problems. It encourages readers to leave comments, and it gives a brief look into the lives of the people who read the blog. Knowing who reads a blog is the first step to writing a blog that solves their problems.
The Commentator prevents comment spam while allowing you to add content and build opt-in email list The Commentator. |  |
