Over the years I've experimented with several different systems for managing comments on this blog. First, I simply used the default WordPress comment system. But, it's pretty basic and I wanted more options so I installed the Disqus Commenting System.
I used Disqus for a long time. I liked the threaded posts, but I found that sometimes it was slow to load and occasionally it conflicted with other plugins.
Finally, a few months ago, I took the leap and purchased CommentLuv Premium (affiliate link). I love it!
Many bloggers are frustrated because they feel they don't get enough comments from their readers. I'm frequently asked how to encourage more commenting. Beyond the tried and true advice that you need to write compelling content and ASK for comments, I've decided to share the system I use to encourage more comments as well as get repeat visits by my readers.
It took a few weeks and some research to put this blog comment system into place and includes four plugins installed on my blog. There may be some redundancy, but that's OK.
Step 1 – CommentLuv Premium
One the best features of CommentLuv, a robust comment system with a lot of bells and whistles, is that your reader can include a link back to a post on their blog. In fact it's encouraged. When the person commenting adds their blog site URL, a list of their 10 most recent posts pops up for them to choose from. You can set this to show up when the reader posts their first comment or after they've posted X number of comments on your blog. This is a bonus for your reader and it can send some traffic their way and gives them a little link luv.
You can also set it up so the person commenting can share their Twitter handle and link their URL to a keyword. It's up to you how you want to customize the set up.
If you get the unlimited license, you can install CommentLuv Premium on as many blog sites you own and control. Sweet deal.
Step 2 – Comment Redirect
Comment Redirect is a plugin and tactic I discovered on the Outspoken Media blog and implemented immediately. In a nutshell, the first time someone comments on your blog, they are immediately redirected to another page on your site (you have to create the page) where you can thank them for commenting and share any other information you choose. If you've never commented on this blog, post a comment now and you'll see how it works (or click here to see my page)!
What makes this powerful is that most bloggers never thank the people who comment. It's an opportunity to give a surprise bonus gift, ask about your readers' challenges, invite them to follow you on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, invite them to optin for a free ecourse… you name it. Delight your reader with a big Thank You and there's a good bet they'll subscribe to get your updates and come back for more of your awesome content.
Step 3 – ReplyMe
The ReplyMe plugin is set up so whenever someone replies to a comment, the original comment author will automatically get a an email alerting them to the reply. This is a great way to assure your commenters actually see replies. They may also return to your blog to carry on the conversation. My advice is that you respond to as many comments as you can and that make sense so you start the ball rolling on the conversation.
Step 4 – Subscribe to Comments Reloaded
One feature I could not find on CommentLuv was the ability for readers to get notified about new comments on the post. Frustrating. My colleague Tom Treanor at Right Mix Marketing, told me he used Subscribe to Comments Reloaded which places a checkbox under the comment so anyone, whether they comment or not, can get notified of new comments. Solved my problem.
Now it's your turn.
How do you encourage more comments on your blog? Is there a plugin you love that helps you manage comments? Share in the comments below!
Denise, thanks for the valuable effort you put on the post. I have recently added Comment Luv premium to my website and I absolutely love it. It encourages commenting and it helps me give something back to those who visit my blog.
Thank You!
Hi Denise,
With the latest updates to the premium version of CommentLuv, it looks like you can use it to replace the functionality of ReplyMe and also Subscribe To Comments. They are also running a Black Friday special on it this weekend too at their website! Just thought I would share this update with you and your readers! Happy Blogging!
Nick
Hi Denise…not sure whether you’re still checking comments for this post, but…when I clicked the ‘Reply Me’ link you included, it took me to some strange page with seemingly all Japanese text…is there a better link?
Also, do you know anything about the ‘Subscribe to comments’ plugin? (http://txfx.net/wordpress-plugins/subscribe-to-comments/)…instead of sending a reply email the commenter, it seems to allow the person posting the comment to subscribe to receive a reply when someone else comments…Have you heard anything good/bad about this plugin, by chance?
I was thinking about getting CommenLuv…does it allow you to customize the look and feel of it to match your blog design, do you know? Seems like it threads comments as part of its functionality…true?
Thanks!
Rachel
This is the perfect article for my blogging needs. I recently heard about some of your recommendations & your article reconfirms that I really need to consider these plugins.
Thanks for the clear info!
Stacey. (:
Nice information collection about business blogging and managing comments. Thanks for informing.
I’m always looking to try out new plugins on my website so thanks for the great suggestions.
Denise, thanks for the work you put into this article. I have recently added Comment Luv premium to my website and I absolutely love it. It encourages commenting and it helps me give something back to those who visit my blog. I like your recommendation for ReplyMe – I will look into this plug in. Thanks, Suzanne
Thanks for stopping by, Suzanne. Glad to know you love CommentLuv, too! Let me know how you like the ReplyMe plugin. For me, I know I appreciate getting an immediate email when someone replies to a comment so I don’t have to remember to go back to the blog post to check for replies. Blog on!
Denise, all I can say is this ROCKS…thanks again for such amazing valuable and up-to-date tips you provide – am definitely going to go for these. Still feeling the enormous benefits of your terrific Virtual blog writing day … thanks for posting our links!
Caryl, glad you found the post useful. Would love to get a report back when you’ve installed some of the plugins and find out what kind of difference they made for your blog.
Denise, thank you so much for all of the tips and explaning what each plugin does. It’s important to understand how allvof the pieces of the puzzle fit together and choose plugins that don’t overlap each other in functionality. Since I help clients sort out their plugins all the time, you can bet I’ll be sharing this post with them.
And, I’ve been meaning to switch over to CommentLuv for some time. This post (and their current special) were a perfect incentive.
Thanks, MaAnna. Hope this system works for you, too. Blog on!
Denise,
Thanks for sharing these great plugins and how you utilize them with us. I had debated over CommentLuv previously as it had been recommended on many occasions.
I did have a question regarding ReplyMe – when I go to its page in the WordPress plugin repository, it has the following warning:
” !This plugin hasn’t been updated in over 2 years. It may no longer be maintained or supported and may have compatibility issues when used with more recent versions of WordPress.”
Compatible up to: 2.7
Last Updated: 2009-1-27
I usually don’t load plugins if they aren’t updated on a regular timely basis. Are you looking for any other plugins that provide this functionality with recent updates? Just curious as I roll out the excellent plan you documented above.
Thanks again!
Nick
Hi Nick, I’ve been using the ReplyMe plugin for a few months and haven’t experienced any problems with it. I’m not aware of another plugin that does the same thing, and haven’t had a chance to do a lot of research either. If you find one, let me know. Thanks for stopping by…blog on!
Hi Denise,
Thanks for sharing these plugins. I knew only about commentluv, but not about the other three.
Hi Denise, great tips and I love CommentRedirect – It’s so nice to say thank you for the time someone takes to leave us a comment. I also like blogs that give me the ability to see follow up for the post where I comment so now I know I need CommentReloaded! Thanks for sharing great tips as always!
Helena
Thanks for stopping by, Helena. Glad you like the tips…blog on!
Denise, you and another commenter mentioned you belong to a couple of groups where bloggers help each other by sharing content. We are both a part of SBC and I’m wondering if you’d be willing to talk about the other group. Thanks for the info!
Alicia, the other syndication group I belong to is Triberr. I’m part of 3 tribes with a combined total of 33 members who share posts on various social networks. http://triberr.com I think you have to be invited to a tribe in order to get in, but that may have recently changed.
What a great article!
It’s seldom you see comment plugins discussed in depth much less in language even a beginner can understand.
Thanks so much and I’ll sure be following your blogs and articles from now on.
Glad you got value from the article, Frank…blog on!
Betsy Decillis (@decillis) has #2 on her blog, I think – now I know what it is! I loved that feature, so I’m going to try it asap.
I’ve heard a lot of people talk about CommentLuv. I started using LiveFyre a while back and simply love it for the ability to tag people on Twitter & Facebook, thereby bringing them into the conversation. They’ve added showing your most recent post etc. too, so I’m still not sold on CL… but that’s just me. Thanks so much for this great list!
Appreciate you stopping by and sharing info about LiveFyre. The great thing about plugins, is that there are so many so you can find and choose the ones that work best for your purposes. Blog on!
Denise, as always…valuable pertinent content. This is way cool and I’m off to try and figure this out on my site! Will let you know how it turns out!
Thanks, Karen. Look forward to hearing how the plugins work for you…blog on!
Denise, thank you for this post. You’ve got some great info here. I’ve been using Disqus and you’ve got me convinced to try the plugins you have recommended. Quick question: When you switched to Commentluv, did that cause any issues with comments that were left on older posts? There have been some good discussions in my comments and I’d hate to lost them. Thanks again. PS – Found you via SBC.
Hi Alicia, thanks for stopping by, nice to meet another Social Buzzer! No, I had no issues with previous comments when I switched to CommentLuv Premium. Your comments reside on wordpress as well as Disqus so it shouldn’t matter. However, I’m not a techie and had my VA install the plugin. There were no problems and all older comments remained intact.
I just upgraded to this CommentLuv premium! My webmaster put CommentLuv on my blog a while back and I love it. So, we’ll see about the premium version.
You asked about ideas to encourage more comments? There are two online groups I belong to for bloggers helping bloggers. Each is a little different but the bottom line is we support each other with tweeting, liking, sharing and commenting on each others blogs. It’s also a terrific way to build relationships with other like-minded and go-giver people.
Thanks for the explanation of all these great plug-ins we can use!
Patricia
Hi Patricia, thanks for stopping by. I also belong to a couple of blog syndication groups where bloggers help bloggers get more visibility via social media and commenting. You’re right that they are great for making new connections. Blog on!
I forgot to add that I totally agree that replying to commenters is so important and is one of the best ways to develop a sense of community.
I love when you share your hard-won knowledge (from experience) about tools and software. I am a big fan of CommentLuv, but have not gone to the premium version. The prices you cite certainly make it a no-brainer. The other three were new to me, and I plan to try them. Like Allison, I’ve heard that overloading with plug-ins can slow a WordPress site down, but when they add so much functionality, they certainly deserve a shot.
Thank you for the valuable and practical information!
Thanks for stopping by, Elizabeth. I test a lot of plugins so they come and go on my blog. Some have been installed since the beginning, others get deactivated pretty quickly.
Denise, thanks for the review… I’m trying to cut down on the number of plugins I’ve got that really aren’t doing anything — aside from the back-end clutter and confusion for me, what I understand is that makes everything run slower.
I have been thinking about replacing Disqus on my blog, but one of the things I really like about it is the ability to do everything from email. You didn’t mention that and I wonder if it’s part of CommentLuv.
Thanks for your comment, Allison. As far as I can tell, you cannot reply via email with CommentLuv. And, I agree that is a nice feature of Disqus, but the ability for commenters to share links and get some link love outweighs that for me.
Thanks for this list of helpful plugins, Denise! I need to use the comment redirect one because it would be great to be able to direct people who are new to my blog, or at least new to commenting, to a specific page.
Hi Rebecca, I really like the comment redirect. It’s a great way to further engage readers. I offer my free Visibility Boost and encourage following me on my other social networks.
Very useful post, I am adding “CommentLUV” to my blog. I’ve been seeing this feature used but I never got around to actually adding it. Another one is “Reply Me” I think this will be useful, because when people leave comments on my blog, when I reply – I want them to be notified so that they know I did leave them a answer or feedback.
Great post Denise. Interesting to know the various things on option and their features. Thank you.
Thanks for stopping by Kim! It seems there’s no one plugin that does everything that I want which is why I cobbled together 4 plugins to get maximum benefit. Blog on!
Hi Denise,
Perfect timing on this post. I’m just getting ready to add a plug-in to my site. I really like Comment Luv. Do you use all 4 of these plug-ins or just Commen Luv? They sound great for what I’m looking for.
Thanks so much for your help!
Julie, I use all four plugins as part of my system, since they each do something a bit different.
I thought so but just wanted to doublecheck. Thanks for the list!
Thanks for this, Denise ! Thanks to you I had already installed Comment Redirect & created a great Thank You page ! I use the free version of CommentLuv & like it as well.
I don’t remember the differences between the free and premium versions of CommentLuv, but since I have multiple blogs I purchased the the unlimited license version. And now (at time of this writing) it’s on sale for less than $24 (I paid $67) so I think the upgrade is worth it. Blog on!
Very helpful post Denise and thank you for the mention! I’ve been thinking about doing a comment redirect for a while so maybe it’s time to try it. Looking forward to seeing what’s next here after I push “post comment”!
Tom, I don’t think you would be redirected to the thank you page because you have commented before on this blog. It only redirects first time commenters. Let me know though, if you got redirected, that would be good for me to know. Blog on!
I’ve been seeing CommentLuv a lot lately 🙂 I’ve been using Disqus but I think I’m about to switch over now. I love how it builds a community around your blog.
I’m going to have to start using CommentRedirect and ReplyMe as well. I love the idea of redirecting someone to a specific page after they make their first comment. That way you can create a super personalized experience. Sending them to a page with a video of yourself welcoming them to the community. And then below that you can feature some of your best blog posts and an opt-in box if they want to stay updated.
Good stuff as always Denise!!
Cheers,
Kim
Hey Kim, just found your comment in my comment spam and for the life of my, I can’t figure out why! Thanks for stopping by. Great tip about adding a welcome video to the thank you page. I’ve been lazy about video and yet, it’s the perfect way for your audience to have a more intimate experience with you. Thanks for that. Blog on!
This is really a great tool
This can increase comments on each post but I have little doubt can I use this on my blog
http://www.rehut.org