There are many great things about blogging. It allows you to interact with the online community and you can share your thoughts and feelings about many issues. However, not everything about blogging is fun. In fact, most bloggers will tell you that there is one particular thing about blogging that they would rather not have to deal with – blog comment spam.
Blog comment spam is insidious and annoying. These are comments left on your blog that are only designed to lead your readers to an outside website. Usually these websites are commercial in nature, but sometimes they are dangerous, leading your readers to download viruses that could destroy a computer. Not only are these a problem for your readers, but they make you look unprofessional. And while something they are easy to spot, some of these comments will be more difficult to ferret out.
The first thing you should do to keep your blog free of spam is to enable comment moderation. Most blogging platforms allow you to keep comments from posting until you have had a chance to review and approve of them. This is definitely a feature you should be using. In addition, if your blogging platform has an automatic filter to help identify spam, you should use this as well.
It is sometimes tempting to turn off comment moderation if there’s a conversation going on between your readers and you have to leave the computer for an extended period of time. Don’t do it. Disabling comment moderation only allows spam to fill up your comment boxes. If you do have to go away and cannot moderate your comments at all, turn all comments off until you return. It will save you a great deal of hassle in the long run.
Some blog platforms offer a ‘blacklist’ option. You can ban certain words without ever having to moderate those comments. While this is a great option for some words, there are other words that you might want to add but shouldn’t. For example, adding the word ‘financial’ to your blacklist will mean that any comment, even a legitimate comment, will be completely removed. Instead, choose comment verification, which forces users to prove that they are a real person, not some robot posting automatic comments.
Now that you’ve started moderating the comments your blog receives, you’ll have to decide if the comments you are getting are legitimate. As a general rule, legitimate comments will be relevant to your original post. Spam comments are often unrelated and include a link to an external, usually unrelated, website. These should be deleted immediately. Legitimate comments can sometimes have a link embedded, but this link will always be relevant.
Check the handles of readers posting comments. The handle might have a link embedded, but a legitimate link will always lead to either the commenter’s blog or a home page. They will not lead to commercial websites or anything selling Viagra or offering to check your computer for viruses. These are spam. You should also be wary of allowing anonymous comment. Most spam will be posted by the dreaded anonymous user.
Some spam comments are more difficult to recognize. However, if you see a comment with horribly bad grammar or a post that is so generic that it could apply to almost any blog post on the Internet, then the comment is probably spam. For example, “Great post … visit my blog” doesn’t usually lend anything to your blog at all.
If it looks like spam, it’s probably spam, and it’s always better to be safe than sorry. If you think it’s spam, delete it anyway. At worst, the commenter will have to repost it later, and then you’ll be closer to knowing for certain that it isn’t spam. Err on the side of caution and your blog will have a clean look that is free of spam.
Blogging has become something of a phenomenon in recent years. It seems that everyone is starting a blog, and for many different reasons. Some people are blogging to have fun and connect with other people of similar interests. Others decide to start a blog to promote a particular business. There are also those who wish to make money from blogging. All of these goals can be met thought starting your own blog, perhaps more than one.
However, starting a blog almost invites an invasion of your personal life. You are broadcasting yourself, or at least a part of yourself, to the entire online community. Anyone can find and read your blog, and this can lead to some problems when it comes to protecting your personal life and identity. You might even find yourself the victim of cyber-bullying or Internet stalkers.
Even bloggers who use their blogs as a personal journal expect some degree of anonymity. No one wants their telephone published so that scammers and telemarketers can find it. Nor does anyone want to have their address broadcast for all to see. And certainly no one out there wants to have their identity stolen, leading to possibly years of hassle.
But the Internet, and some of the people using it, has little respect for these personal boundaries. The Web gives people the ability to invade the personal lives of almost anyone connected to the Internet, and bloggers are especially vulnerable to this since bloggers tend to reveal more personal information than is wise. While the invasion of your personal life is not necessarily a problem that can be eliminated, it is something that can be guarded against to a certain degree.
The ways in which the Internet can help others invade your privacy are numerous. If your e-mail address is published, it is possible that you will receive hundreds of pieces of spam a day in your Inbox. This could eventually force you to secure a new e-mail, abandoning the old as unsecure. While this is annoying, it is more a nuisance than anything.
Other information is not nearly so harmless. With a name, address, phone number, and some other minor pieces of information, someone could steal your identity. You might find yourself on the hook for credit cards you did not obtain or use. You might be subjected to harassing telephone calls, threatening letters, or perhaps even an unwelcome visitor.
Avoiding these problems means forethought and planning. Before you hit ‘post’ on your blog, consider what you’re posting and remember that the Internet is interconnected. Check to see if you’ve linked your blog to your Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking sites. Then check to see if you have information on these social networking sites that you’d rather your readers not have access to. If there is too much information on your profiles (such as a cell phone number), unlink the social networking sites from your blog as a precaution. Your readers don’t need that much information.
A ‘Contact Me’ page is a wonderful addition to any blog. However, it is also a great way for people to start spamming you. Consider setting up a new, separate e-mail address to associate with your blogs. That way, your readers can contact you through e-mail but you are not exposing your own personal e-mail to anyone who might want to constantly spam you.
Examine your ‘Contact Me’ page thoroughly. There is no reason to post information here that could be used to track you down. Avoid any mention of your home address or phone number, and certainly remove your social security number. There have been hundreds of people who have mistakenly added their social security number only to have their identities stolen later. It might be a good idea to identify yourself only by your first name, and if you have to refer to your location, be generic. It’s okay to identify yourself as ‘Sarah from Ohio’ if it protects your privacy.
Be mindful of your content when blogging. Certain subjects are more controversial than others, and so attract people who might wish you invade your privacy. If you blog on politics, religion, stem cell research, gun control, or any other suitably controversial topic, make sure you have your privacy settings sufficiently high on whichever blog platform you choose. This should be done before you set up the blog itself to avoid have any information unintentionally exposed.
Be especially careful when using names. Many bloggers keep all their personal information hidden only to expose the names of their children, spouses, teachers, and coworkers. This is typically information hackers and stalkers look for. Information about your family and friends can be used to track you down (and your boss might be reading your blog). Create fake names for everyone in your life if you’re going to write about them in your blog.
If you are going to post information about other people (including photos), get their permission first. If they don’t want their names or pictures posted online, respect that. Protecting their privacy is just as important as protecting your own.
If you are really worried about who might read your blog, consider creating a blog that only those you invite may read. Most blogging platforms have optional privacy settings. These typically allow you to limit readership to those who are on your friend or contact list. You should also ensure that you protect the username and password of your account when you’re blogging. Your account has certain information that you wouldn’t want others to see, so make sure you have a secure password and change it often.
It is impossible to be completely protected as a blogger, but you can still be aware of what you post. Read everything before you hot ‘post’ and make sure there is no identifying information. There is very little room for error when it comes to protecting your privacy online. Once something exists in cyberspace, it is out there forever. So think long and hard before you put any piece of information online.
Blogging is a truly unique medium for sharing the written word. In the past, once something was written, that was it. There was virtually no communication with the writer, and what communication there was could take months and weeks to reach the readers. Blogging has changed all that. Now, an internet writer or blogger can post an article or other piece on a blog, a reader can comment, and the writer can immediately respond, if they so choose. Blogging allows readers and writers to interact on a level never really seen before.
However, with this interaction sometimes come problems. Blog comment boxes are a prime target for spam, abuse, and just plain bad manners. But you can take some steps to help ensure the integrity of blog comment boxes with a few simple tips, whether you’re commenting on someone else’s blog or responding to a comment left on your own blog.
Leaving Comments on Another Blog
As a general rule, don’t comment unless you have something to say. Constantly posting “Nice!” after each post you enjoy can get annoying, and you’ll probably have your posts deleted by the blog owner or moderator. You also shouldn’t post “Boring!” after a post.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t post. Just make sure you have something constructive to add. It’s even acceptable to disagree with the post, but do it in a respectful manner. Present your case and the reasons for disagreeing with the post and move one. Don’t insult anyone or anything, simply express your point of view. “With all due respect, John is an idiot,” is generally not considered an acceptable comment. If you can’t think of anything to add, then add nothing.
Don’t troll. Trolling is searching out places to place provocative comments designed to illicit a desired response, usually anger. If you’re going to disagree, do it politely. Just because everyone else seems to be trolling for places to irritate people doesn’t me you should do the same.
You’ll also want to avoid excessive self-promotion. For the most part, don’t post links back to your own blogs. If you have a blog that is relevant to the content your reading, then it might be an interesting addition to the comments section, but otherwise you’re simply drawing traffic away from the current blog, and that’s just not polite.
Of course, you should comment on blog posts you enjoyed, or even those you disagreed with. That’s what the comments box is there for. You get to decide what to say and how to say, but don’t be drawn into long arguments with other posters. Make your point and move on. You probably don’t need to comment three times on the same blog post.
Comments on Your Blog
Before you even think about how to respond to comments, consider adding a comment policy section to your own blog. Detail exactly what is and is not acceptable by posters. You could ban things such as swearing, defamatory language, racism, or any comments that attack any group of people. You’ll also want to enable comment moderation so that you can approve each comment before it’s posted. This will help eliminate spam and comment abuse.
Don’t delete a comment simply because it expressed an alternate point of view. If someone disagrees with you and does it well, it can be the starting point for a great debate on the issue. Engage with those who disagree with you, ask their opinion, and don’t be afraid to correct your post if you got your facts wrong. As long as a comment isn’t abusive or disrespectful, and it contributes something to the conversation, you should probably approve it.
However, there are some comments that you should delete. Among these are: “Boring,” “What?” “Cool,” and anything that really doesn’t add to the comment section. Anything posted by someone just trying to get attention should also be ignored. If you get a great many comments, you may have to exercise some discretion when it comes to approving comments. It will generally be the one-word posts that you’ll decide to delete.
Anything off-topic or excessively self-promotional should be deleted immediately. Someone who posts a link to their political blog on your dog training blog is only looking for traffic to their own site. However, if one of your readers posts a link to a sled dog training blog after a post that concerns winter activities for training dogs is adding a relevant and interesting link. That you should let stand.
Remember to engage with your readers. If someone posts a question, you should take the time to answer it, either in your own comment or by modifying the original post. Readers enjoy being able to contact the writer, so add a “Contact Me” page as well. While you probably can’t be online twenty-four hours a day, check your comments at least every two days for comments to deserve a reply. Comment boxes are what make blogs unique. They should be used frequently and appropriately. Comment frequently, do so with respect, and always respond to engaging comments left on your own blog. If you do these things, you are truly participating in an online community.
Blogs are a fun and creative way to interact with the online community. You can express your thoughts and feelings on an issue, receive feedback, and eventually attract followers. However, for these things to happen, people have to be able to find your blog. For the most part, this will happen through search engines such as Bing or Google. And the search engines will give more weight to blogs that can boast many quality inbound links.
Inbound links exist when someone else links to your blog. Not only is this flattering, but it lets search engines know that someone out there considers you an authority in your niche. Some of these links will be developed over time as you deliver unique and relevant content to your readers. Hopefully, some of your readers will find your content so valuable or entertaining that they’ll share your blog through a popular social networking site, such as Twitter or Facebook. But if you want to create a successful blog, you’ll have to spend some time generating these inbound links.
As a blogger, you can take advantage of social networking to generate some quality inbound links. Join as many social networking sites as you can. However, be prepared to participate in these sites. Some of them, such as Digg or Stumbleupon, will label you as a spammer and delete your account if all you do is post links to your blog. Take the time to make friends and follow their posts, and they will likely return the favor. Building a loyal following on Twitter, Facebook, Stumbleupon, or any other social networking site does take time, but if you’re willing to do the work, you’ll soon find your social networking friends are generating some of your inbound links for you.
Inbound links will carry more weight with search engines if the links are relevant to the content of your blog. A link from a site about global politics to your dog training blog might be ignored by the search engines simply because the two subjects have very little in common. If you want relevant links, you’ll need to spend some time reading other blogs first. Search out those with content that complements yours. When you find something suitable, leave an insightful and useful comment, including a link back to your own blog. Some blog owners might even be open to the idea of link exchange. This means that they place a link to your blog on their site, and you return the favor. It never hurts to ask. But remember to keep it relevant or you might be penalized by search engines.
Guest blogging is a powerful way to generate inbound links. Guest blogging is when you post on a blog that isn’t your own. You might do this because you have been asked to by the owner of the other blog, or you might have approached the owner about the idea. When you guest blog, make sure it’s on a blog that has similar content to yours and post a link to your own blog at the end of your guest post. This generates at least one more quality inbound link.
If you’re an avid writer, you might want to consider article marketing. The idea here is that you produce quality content that is related to your blog and post in online (but not on your own blog). Make sure to include a relevant link back to your own site. This can help not only with the page rank (PR) of your site, but it can help drive readers from your articles to your blogs. Just make sure that every article you choose to link to your blog is relevant is some way. Also remember to check the terms of service at each site you post your articles on. Some of them will have rules about linking to your own blog directly from an article. However, most of them will allow you to place a link in your profile, which still serves as a valuable backlink.
Consider adding a review page to your blog. On this page you can review other blogs of similar content and post this review on your site. When you’ve completed a positive review, send a note to the owner of the blog you’ve finished reviewing. Let them know how much you’ve enjoyed their site, and that you wanted to share their site with your readers. If your review is well written and flattering, the site owner will usually include it on their own site, complete with a backlink.
Search out those directories that allow you to list your site. These should be quality sites with a review process, not simply a post-and-run approach. Sites that have humans reviewing submissions tend to have a higher PR than automated directories, and so will actually help your blog. Once your link has been approved, search engines will consider the backlink to be one of quality. Don't get impatient and submit your site to an automated directory, as your PR will likely drop in the long run.
There are sites out there that promise to provide incoming links for a fee. Don’t even consider these websites as a viable option for generating quality inbound links. Building links takes time and effort, and your blog will attract links as your content grows. Remember that search engines often reward a blog for quality incoming links, but penalize these same blogs for irrelevant links. Purchasing inbound links is not only a waste of money, but it can damage the PR of your site in the eyes of the major search engines.
Take the time to interact with your readers. Answer questions left in your comments section, read their blogs, and consider creating a forum section on your blog for readers to interact with each other. These are all valuable ways to ensure your readers remember your site, and this increases the chance that they will generate backlinks for you. A good blog with strong content almost generates links on its own.
Remember, most search engines ranks websites and blogs to determine who shows up first in search results. The higher your PR, the higher your site will be on the long list of results, and the more visitors you will have to your blog. Taking the time to explore possible inbound link ideas is never a waste, and just might help you generate additional traffic to your blog.
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