How to handle comments

By Bruce · Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Quite often we get questions on how to handle comments on your blog. The one feature that sets a blog apart from a static website is the ability to have interactivity with its audience. Of course, you should have the comment feature turned on when setting up your blog. You have to remember that the administration panel within your blog has the ability to control a comment before it becomes “live” on your site. By default, many blog settings are set to “moderate,” which is another way of asking you permission before a comment is to be approved for publishing.

Blogs can attract a lot of traffic just with a lot of comments posted in it. The reason is that a comment can trigger someone to post on top of that comment to rebutt or give feedback of what was said earlier.

The most pressing issue I get from our readers, especially in the small business field is how do I know which one to include or delete? Of course, a foul mouthed person who has nothing to contribute to the topic of the blog is not add any value, consequently delete those immediately! Now there will be some contraversial comments made, even harsh criticism being made. A lot of times there is value in these comments. The contraversial comments can help attract even more visitors because you how people like heated “arguments.” You need to keep control on when it gets out of hand, though and you may have to delete comments altogether if it interferes with the integrity of your blog. The second is harsh criticism, which may indeed work in your favor if you position your feedback comments in a positive light. For instance, a person who criticized your business because they were not satisfied with service or the product can quickly be addressed in the blog with your comment back to this person instructing them to come back to visit your business and you will make the complaint right. In front of everyone to see, you have made yourself look in a positive light, that you care about customer service. Whether you were right or wrong, it does not matter. Make your own judgement on how you want to address the issues.

You will find that comments may be your best friend because you can find ways to improve your service or product with the feedback you get there.

Remember the main attraction of blogs is the interactivity that the comments function provides for the blog owner and its visitors.