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Heather Craik blends a passion for 3 dimensional computer graphics with a love of writing. Any such combination served up blog-style is unbeatable. When she’s tired of writing, she can model. When she’s tired of modeling, she can write. Each provides support for the other. Here, Heather continues discussion raised in her almost-but-not-quite-a-blog-post comment from the last Saturday Morning Surfing. Secret or not, Heather surely fits into any League of Extraordinary bloggers.
CommentLuv – We love it so!
-by Heather Craik
Most of us here will know what CommentLuv is and why we use it, but here’s a quick recap to bring everyone else up to speed;
CommentLuv is a plug-in that allows your commenters to enter their own website’s URL and gain a link back to them through their comment. If you happen to run a blog it’ll also look for your latest RSS feed and publish the title and link to your post.
Before we get to the really meaty stuff I’d like to say that I love using CommentLuv; it’s a fun plug-in to have and it’s certainly increased the sense of community/amount of comments on my blog. In fact, since I installed it, I’ve noticed myself looking for links whenever someone else comments so I can go and visit them. In fact, on other blogs with it installed I’m more likely to visit other people I find interesting, or even comment myself.
From a purely altruistic point of view I’d like to think that people (myself included) comment more when it’s installed because:
- There’s usually a greater sense of community on those blogs
- It shows that the author of the blog cares what you have to say in general
- Everyone on such high-community blogs posts interesting comments that no one could read and remain unchanged (possible exaggeration there)
However over the last couple of weeks I’ve been wondering why we really like CommentLuv, and who actually uses it. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it’d be fair to say that the people on this site read it because they have their own websites/blogs or are looking to create them. Possibly you even use the plug-in yourself, have used it on another site or you’ve at least heard of it.
I’d like to venture a radical concept (though probably not one that you haven’t thought of before).
Gosh, someone said it. Oops.
Hilarity aside, the only people that’d find it useful are people with a link to share. Everyone else would probably just ignore it, or if the check box is on by default, get bothered with some strange error they didn’t understand. (I’ve had this happen a couple of times to my non-web-owner friends)
I see nothing wrong with this. In fact, I think it can be a very positive thing when used correctly. Here’s why we might be hesitant to own up to it though;
- Having ‘I like the link back’ as a motive makes you worry about being regarded as a spammer
- Spammers actually do try to use it for this reason
- Semi-spammers use this as an opportunity to say ‘Great post’ and gain a link
- Bloggers have this crazy aversion to owning up to wanting something for their time
Isn’t that a little insane? We’ve probably all thought something along those lines at some point, so why is it such a taboo subject?
Personally I think it’s because there’s such a stigma surrounding making money online, promoting yourself, and generally receiving rewards for the work you put into your site that we’re all too afraid to own up to it.
People (usually the uninitiated) are going to persist in thinking that bloggers should work for free unless we start standing up as a whole and saying “Actually, we can provide good content and make a living.”
CommentLuv, at least to me, is a passive way of hinting that you know people like to be rewarded for their time and that you expect the same sort of treatment. I see nothing dark and horrible in that statement, so why not bring it into the open?
What do you think?
Is it time for us closet-link lovers to step out?
Heather writes The 3D Student providing
video tutorials, reviews, and advice for 3D students.
She loves working with light and texture for
animation and modeling,
writing, drawing, film and playing video games.
Visit Heather at The 3D Student.
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{ 127 comments }
Hi Heather,
Great follow up to last week’s conversation. I will quite happily admit that I love Comment Luv and the exposure it gives to Give A Brick.
I’d even take it one step further and say that on Tuesday, when I was trying to get lots of people to read about the situation with Sir Richard Branson, despite having a huge load of blog posts to write, I purposely took a couple of hours off writing and dedicated them instead to commenting wherever I could for the express purpose of getting eye balls to my post.
I wasn’t secret about this intention and in one place, I even used it as an example (because it fitted the context of what I was reading)
I believe the key difference between myself and a spammer is that I only leave a comment where I can add to or further the conversation. I never leave a random ‘great post, thanks’ comment and actively delete them from my place.
Maybe that’s me being too open and honest but you did ask
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..From acts of random kindness to taking over the world, it must be our Winter round-up 2010
I do the same: I’ll comment when I can add to the conversation, or something, if the comments are a little lonely, I’ll leave a quick note for encouragement.
I have to say I don’t comment much on blogspot blogs anymore. Too hard to log in, low quality link coming out.
Closed communities are going to have to either charge, or open up, or their going to die.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..A League of Ordinary Bloggers – Anyone can do this, so few do
Have to agree with both of you here really; it’s one of the more useful tools we have for building community and getting the word out (community first, word out second). I figure so long as you’re adding value in your comments then there’s no problem.
Heather´s last blog ..Confessions of a Student Blogger
Heather, thanks for writing up and extending your comments.
If I had a bunch of money and was an assistant professor somewhere, I’d get some graduate students working on how to measure the connectivity of CL versus non-CL blogs.
I don’t even know what “connectivity” really means in this context. Probably have to make up some new definitions.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Top 10 Traits for Finding Your League of Extraordinary Bloggers – Saturday Morning Surfing
Thanks again for the opportunity Dave – had a great time writing this and that was a stellar introduction (have a huge grin now).
It’d be really interesting to see exactly what the differences would be… but it’d probably be really hard to measure. ‘Connectivity’ is fickle at the best of times, and since the success of the plugin relies heavily on how you use your comments to attract other people (rather than just the link) it’d be a mammoth task to measure. Ah well.
Heather´s last blog ..Confessions of a Student Blogger
Heather,
I totally agree with you. I rarely look at other people’s links at the end of a comment unless something pops out just off the wall I guess. Backlinks are wonderful but I don’t think it adds a terrible amount on the human front.
And Dave and I were talking this morning about how it rarely works. He has it set up right apparently but his site is the only one I have ever seen my CommentLuv work on.
Oh well. You guys should check out my nifty CommentLuv link and tell me what you think about this Can-SPAM issue.
See now it’s not working again… sigh.
Erica Cosminsky´s last blog ..5 Ways You Can Make Writing Worth Your Time
There you go
Off to read your post 
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..From acts of random kindness to taking over the world, it must be our Winter round-up 2010
Hmmmm, I clicked the link but it didn’t take me to the post about CanSpam questions. Weird. Cool idea for your business though.
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..From acts of random kindness to taking over the world, it must be our Winter round-up 2010
Same issue here, very weird. Are you signed up to CL itself or are you just using it where you see it? (Mine messed up at one point before but signing up fixed it as far as I can see)
I’m with you though, if there’s a comment that really grabs me or something in it that I find interesting I’ll go and look; otherwise it becomes part of the screen blur. When used right I think it’s very effective though.
Heather´s last blog ..Confessions of a Student Blogger
Hey Ladies,
We are having some technical issues so I had Dave change the link. Otherwise you would have gone nowhere.
Yes I am actually using CL and I’ve followed all the directions several times for trying to fix the non-update or not showing up issue.
Erica Cosminsky´s last blog ..Free Call on Membership Site Software Digital Access Pass
That’s really weird Erica… hopefully it’ll get fixed soon. Subscribed to your blog either way – some interesting stuff on there that I look forward to reading.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
From a reader’s perspective (mine) the problem with CommentLuv is relevance vs. placement. If I like someone’s comment and want to connect and converse, I want either a general website link so I can explore what the author is about or a relevant article link to find more on the topic I’m interested in.
However, website links are usually placed at the top of the comment and hidden in the person’s name (There is a real mental cost to looking back up and highlighting it, especially if I have to scroll. It feels unnatural.) and CommentLuv’s article links aren’t usually relevant. They become clutter I have to scan through to find what’s usefull to me.
I think comments in general could use a bit of re-structuring to become more reader friendly. Content is king right? So put the signature, time, and link fields last.
Hm, that’s interesting to note really – hadn’t even begun to look at the placement of links. I can see what you’re saying though; since CommentLuv shows the most recent posts rather than the most relevant it can be difficult to find what you’re looking for when you first click through.
Less of a problem if you already keep up with the person and happen to see a new post there, but it’s still not ideal.
Thank you for sharing your perspective Chris
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
You’re welcome, Heather.
If you already keep up with the person CommentLuv is redundant, or occasionally serendipitous, and you want the author’s name prominent for easy recognition.
I suppose there is a choice to be made in whether you want the comments section designed for new or regular users of other people’s sites:
Do you want to drive new traffic their way or make it easier for traffic you already share to connect with them on your site?
Do you want the discussion that arises to be topical or social?
Is your site about spreading ideas or forming relationships?
CommentLuv doesn’t facilitate either approach, but I’m not aware of any alternatives that do.
I think the ‘need’ that CommentLuv fills is more to do with encouraging other webusers to comment. Because we all assume that people would find it useful to click on the link and divert to their site, and that its a good way to drive traffic.
The thing is, it does actually work to a point. We see an increase in pageviews after installing it, so we all assume it’s doing what its meant to. Definitely interesting hearing what you have to say here though as a reader.
Can’t speak for any of the other bloggers, but personally I just view it as an added bonus; if it brings me people, great, if not… no big deal. Here’s something you might find interesting though; Since installing it I’ve seen the number of Page Views per day rise, but the number of visitors is staying fairly constant. These arent always the same people, but a large chunk of them are.
I don’t know, like you I don’t see any alternatives that’d be a better fit, but I do think we need to stop viewing it as the best thing since sliced bread.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
Chris, interesting perspective.
Back the in day, any link in these sorts of comments was forbidden. It just wasn’t done. People used handles, too. Using your real name showed a total lack of sophistication.
So this whole CommentLuv thing is really different. Makes for a more egalitarian web how I see it.
Since you have left any link yourself, I am just a little curious how much you have used CL, and how you formed your opinions. Would make a good article in this series.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Top 10 Traits for Finding Your League of Extraordinary Bloggers – Saturday Morning Surfing
What am I missing here…or your missing… doesn’t comluv allow you to add a url that will show up as most relevant? Go to the site and add it as to always show Heather.. I’m pretty sure it allows you to do this, unless I’m misunderstanding your question.
lees shizzle´s last blog ..I Am Not Naked and You Are Not In Charge
Didn’t know you could do that Lee so I’ll go check it out in a minute; never really been a major gripe of mine though. Thanks for the tip!
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
How great would it be if CommentLuv served up the most relevant posts from commenters’ blogs, rather than the most recent? Our most recent post (if it shows up here) won’t be relevant to this conversation, though other posts on our blog are. : )
Yep that would indeed be useful, need to check out Lee’s tip. And your blog.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
It does!
You have register over at comluv.com.
It’s worth it. Andy is cool. He even commented here today, and he’s commented on WiaW before.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Don’t Abandon Your Blog! Mothball it to preserve your asset value
Wait, I remember it now *cough* have had the option for ages but keep forgetting that I can. Doh.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
Well then! So much for my concerns. XD
Now to go about spreading the word, and the luv.
Good to hear Chris, have fun
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
this is a great post and it’s made much better by the comments. I really like to collect feedback on how commentluv is received and used.
My personal experience with it and spam is not bad, I find that the bloggers that install it to their own site fit in to two categories.
1. real blogger who is the type of person to give back to their readers, someone who writes reviews about other peoples blogs or takes part in memes or makes posts with links to nice blogs they’ve seen.
2. someone who read somewhere 3 months ago that you can make a bazillion dollars in a week by making a site that scrapes rss content as posts and filling it with adsense and then realises that it wont make money until they get traffic (it’ll be a while before they realize that traffic wont make a difference on most MFA sites)
Person number 1 doesn’t do it for the dollar/effort ratio or dark SEO reasons. They do it because it fits with their blog and it makes it easier to find what their readers are posting about.
It provides a convenient link direct to the latest post so they can read it. And when they comment, it’s because they read the whole post and have a real reply to give that adds to the discussion instead of commenting only for some mythical google juice.
Person number 2 might not be a bad person, just clueless. They are probably new to this internet thing and they saw on Fox news or BBC about how some kid makes some money with his site on the internet and then started to believe the crap adsense ads that always appear on MMO blogs when they search for “make money online”.
Those people will eventually ‘get it’ and become grown up bloggers or else they’ll give up completely and get a real job.
Luckily, the commentluv community has a majority of the type 1 bloggers and it gets more every day thanks to great posts like this.
Andy Bailey´s last blog ..What to do if commentluv is not showing the latest post
Thanks Andy, I’m glad you found it interesting.
I think you’re bang on with the people that use CommentLuv, and I’d have to agree that most people that do seem to understand more about community (possibly that’s partly why it’s become something you watch for when commenting? Might be worth checking into). Basically my aim with the post was to say that its not a purely altruistic thing, people that use it and people that comment on blogs that have it don’t always do so for purely selfless reasons.
The selfless reasons could be there as well, and CommentLuv is (thankfully) far from being a miracle-pill for instant traffic. It’s just important to know what it is and what it isn’t.
Less of type b people, more of type a people. Sure would be nice.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
Andy, my experience with CL has been almost totally positive.
That said, I notice people are starting to get more sophisticated with it. For example, I generally turn it off once I’m 2 levels deep in a thread, or if I’m shooting out a one liner. Sometimes, and this is funny to me, I’ll have a post in queue where the title of the post is pretty much the comment, all by itself. It’s happened.
Thanks for surfing by this Saturday morning. Overall, CL *is* changing the way we communicate on blogs, and in a good way.
Here’s another example: when I’m out surfing around the web, I like to link back to my guest authors using CL. I also try to link to all my guest authors in my own replies here, before I link to my own articles.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..A Simple Guide To Wordpress Theme Installation
Right, it’s an incentive for other content producers to participate, however unoptimal, because they think it works: An anti-reticence placebo.
…and more publisher comments creates social proof to encourage readers also to participate, though there is risk that the links will make those without websites of their own feel out of place (I’ve felt this way on some sites, where most of the commenters are also bloggers).
That’s not always the case Chris, sometimes it may be, but more often than not it’s just an extra feature to help out some of the people with websites that take the time to make a productive comment. A way of saying Thank you, if you will.
I can see why it might make some readers feel out of place though; how often has this happened to you?
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
True, I was speaking more to function than intent, and the latter is more important.
I haven’t felt that way very often, though most of the blogs I’ve visited to comment on don’t use CL yet. Once or twice a month at the most, I think. It only occurs when there are a lot of comments and all or nearly all have the extra backlink.
I think that usually the intent of the people using CommentLuv is good, and that’s why the sense of community is more apparent on those blogs; they want to give something back, and that shows through.
While I can understand that not having a link might make people feel out of place, I don’t really see why it’s such an issue. Let me explain; People with blogs and links will go ahead and use it, people without (at least in my experience) tend to ignore it and/or start their own blog sooner or later. Don’t have an instant answer for you, but as Dave said, why not start one if it bothers you to be left out?
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
My problem isn’t so much about fitting it, but authority. The underlying fear is that I won’t be taken seriously if I don’t have something to point to and say, “See? I’m a real human being and I wrote that!” when I want my comments to stand for themselves.
I don’t let it stop me though. (and from the course this discussion has taken, it’s probably unfounded)
Ah ok, that makes a bit more sense. In all honesty the blogging community (or, most of them at least) is full of really supportive, friendly people. Just because you don’t have a link of your own doesn’t mean that we’re going to disregard what you’re saying.
Good that it doesn’t stop you though.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
@Chris, it *is* unfounded when you engage with thoughtfulness as you have.
Christopher, following up on Heather’s question, how can we help you if you would like to start publishing on the web?
There really is a phenomenally supportive community out here.
It costs very little money, and you can put as little or as much time into it as you like.
I’ve started republishing the Website In A Weekend ecourse on Sundays. There is always a link back to the beginning for getting started.
Once you get started, you can jump in almost anywhere.
Thank you for the encouragement!
I’m not ready to take that plunge yet for personal reasons, though I will be keeping an eye on the community.
Chris, excellent point about commenters being bloggers. I’ve noticed this myself.
And here’s what’s really cool about that.
From my sales data most of my customers, people that buy my stuff, never comment. Not ever. And I’m totally cool with that. I’m helping them solve a problem that leaving a comment won’t solve.
From my traffic data, about 1% (2% on a good day) of my readers leave a comment.
Finally, people without blogs, well, they should get a blog! And I am right here to help, with close to 300,000 words of original, high quality, entertaining and technically accurate content. For free!
So, yeah, now that I think about it, if CommentLuv helps inspire people to learn to blog (or to write), that’s awesome, really awesome.
Also, by way of disclaimer, I am *totally* in this thing to make money. The more the better. Otherwise I’d be out surfing for real this morning…
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Not-So-Secret Blog Alliances – Kelly Diels bares (almost) all
Dave,
My sales data shows similar trends to yours. My clients *other than you* rarely comment. I rarely get comments at all but I know they are reading it because they will bring up some random thing in the post in conversation or on Twitter.
I’ve heard the 1% commenter number somewhere else but I’m not sure where. My true numbers seem to be lower than that. I’ve built up a good deal of traffic but I get the comments on the phone, by email or other ways.
I have seen it one other place, but it was early last summer, and I wrote an article on it about the same time. That hive mind thing again.
From what I can see you’re doing, “don’t fix what ain’t broke.” If your clients prefer “read-only” well, keep giving them goodies to read!
Here’s even more data: my most popular articles, by far, get almost no comments at all.
Well of course if your site and products are about blogging you want it to seem like everyone’s doing it!
Everybody’s Doing It!
There’s No Time To Lose!
Don’t Be Left Behind!
(Just couldn’t resist. =)
There are indeed two sides to this: the blog owner the commenter.
The blog owner: for him commentluv / keywordluv / top commenter plugins are all way to encourage comments on his blog. For commentluv only enabled blogs, you could argue that you only let real names through as signature: the commenter already receiving an optimised link via CL. On blogs that have both KL and CL real name is really a great way to have “rela” conversation instead of talking to “some keywords” and “another keyword”.
For the commenter: yes CL is a great way to gain deep links, and the blogs that use them are worth investing time into to develop as a member of the community.
Tom´s last blog ..Get more people talking with the Wordpress plugin “subscribe to comments”
Thanks for your input Tom – So would you say that its worth having KeywordLuv as well as CommentLuv on your blog? I’ve only really seen KL used in a couple of places (though it does seem to work for them) and I’m just wondering how useful it is in general.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
Personally I use Keywordluv, not commentluv … but I might give it a try once the site is a bit more established.
KL is great to get people using their own/real names which makes discussions more personal. Some people may still try to squeeze keywords if you only use CL, that’s why I used the former.
I have no problem with keywords in names here.
Eleanor Edwards @ Give a Brick
Heather @ Shades of a Dream (yes. really.)
Tom @ Your Practice Web Site
Suhasini @ Loudable
Andy Baily @ CommentLuv (heh)
Dave, there’s an ‘a’ in there
Shades of Dream is a band apparently. [fixed -dave]
Anyway, I guess using KeyworLuv makes sense too. Might be worth checking into – thanks for bringing it up.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
I’ll keep that in mind for next time
I am back after a small gap as had papers, You are rightly got many valid points about comment luv and I really hate this as it takes lot of time to get updated.
Tell us more Suhasini… I sense some frustration.
The CommentLuv author may still be following this conversation, he left an excellent note above.
So definitely take a few minutes and write out some details.
Tom, thanks for stopping by.
I never thought about examining CL from these two perspectives, but it makes perfect sense.
I never found a good keyword luv plugin, the only one I found was a couple of years out of date. Any recommendations?
Also, I used to have a twitter field here, I need to put that back in. Don’t know where it got off to. I did a clean up a while back, it must have been swept away then.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..How Do You Eat An Elephant? – Eleanor Edwards tells all
You’re right I forgot about the twitter plugin, I wanted to install it as well.
The KL plugin I use is from scratch99. It is not as user friendly as it could (name@your keyword) but I put the explanation line at the top of the comment form so someone who is not familiar with it should see it.
I did see a comment form that used 2 fields, one for name, one for keywords, which is ideal, but for the life of me I can’t recall the blog I saw it on.
Excellent, thanks.
Hi Heather,
Great feedback you have for this post.
Anyway, I find the comment luv very useful to find other blogs I have never read, a great way to find great people and its how I found James, Lee, Karen, Eleanor and yourself. If it wasn’t for these links I probably wouldn’t have found you all.
That said, spammers do use and abuse this system. When I first started blogging, and reading other blogs, I was to shy to leave a comment and often just wrote ‘great post’. Sometimes people dont have anything to add and just want the author to know you liked it without leaving a huge comment. (like this one) I have been to your site several times, but I really have nothing to add because I don’t have a clue on most of your subjects but I still enjoy reading them. ( I do a little psp)
So, a genuine question: What would be better, just saying great post, well done or not saying anything at all?
Sometimes I find this frustrating because I want to comment, and not just to have my link shown at the end of it. I have commented on posts without links back to my blog and it doesn’t bother me one way or the other.
Great post
Maria´s last blog ..If I was A Politician……….
Hey Maria, nice to see you!
In answer to your question… I have no idea. Personally I never grow tired of hearing ‘great post’ so long as its genuine, but like you I’ve been finding myself in the position lately where I’ve not had anything else to say. Usually that means I’ll sit quietly in the background until a – something occurs to me or b – the author posts something else that I can comment on.
It’d be interesting to hear what Dave has to say about this really, been around longer than I have at least so he’ll probably have more to offer. Definitely an interesting point to raise though, and I can relate to the frustration.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
Maria, it really depends.
If there are no comments, I might leave a sentence of encouragement: “I liked what you said about thus and such.”
If I don’t have anything to say, I won’t say anything. Example: I popped on over to your blog the other day. I can’t remember if I left a comment, I don’t recall exactly, but I do remember thinking, “I don’t think I can add to this particular discussion.”
If the comments are roaring along, but what I want to say has been said, I won’t say anything.
I hardly ever comment to “score points.” Never to make someone look bad. Once in a while for blatant suck-uppery, but that’s also almost always an inside joke with the OP.
Also, on shorter comments, I’ll often unclick CL.
Gr8 pt. Maria… sometimes i want ppl to know I read there shiz but I don’t fit in their niche so to speak. I don’t just want to say gr8 post or keep it up but I sincerely want them to know that I read it. Maybe thats because i want to see the same on my site or whatnot. So I try to say something encouraging, (me imagine that) I remember the days (months) when I never got any comments. So help me God, comment luv has helped spread my shiz here and there and for this I am grateful.
Bottom line is don’t complicate it. If I did or didn’t get something from your post, I’ll usually not forget you, I will come back for a second try. And in doing so I usually almost always get it on the rebound and leave a comment next time.. And if I don’t then your Shizz just didn’t cut it..
lees shizzle´s last blog ..I Am Not Naked and You Are Not In Charge
Thanks for that guys. While I was reading your replies it occurred to me that maybe sending a short email to the author to say you enjoyed the post, but again, some may think this is time consuming and annoying.
Not to worry, I guess the authors of the post can fizzle out the ones just looking for free traffic.
Have a great weekend.
Maria´s last blog ..If I was A Politician……….
Yep, guessing the authors probably can. Certainly on my own blog, if you ever feel like commenting go ahead regardless of length
So long as its genuine I’ve no issue with people doing that.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
I think it’s because there’s such a stigma surrounding making money online, promoting yourself, and generally receiving rewards for the work you put into your site that we’re all too afraid to own up to it.
> Australian Detox < [Unlinked]
Folks, a perfect example of how NOT to conduct social media marketing. To the doctors at Australian Detox:
All that being said, you have a very nice looking website, and I do hope you succeed.
-dave d
.-= Australian Dtx´s last blog > Silver Edition AGi < [unlinked]
Yes, there is a bit of stigma, and your comment is exactly why: I know there is real person that made this comment, but 1. I know it’s not anyone from Aus. Detox, and 2. I don’t know who *you* are that is representing Aus. Detox.
And this is where “social media marketing” gets derailed.
I have no problem at all owning up to wanting to make bank by building relationships on the web, but your clients just want to make bank, without the trouble of building relationships.
Not here.
As an aside, copying directly from the post you’re commenting on to make a comment doesn’t really score you brownie points either.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
Heh… I didn’t catch that! Of course, I didn’t write the article either… I gotta link that…
I wasn’t sure for a second, went to reply, then realised “Hey wait, I wrote that”. Was very weird.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
I picked up that it was copied from the post directly as soon as I saw the comment – went I just read that unique statement. Darn funny response.
JadeDragon@innovativepassiveincome´s last blog ..Blog Contest and Updates
I’ll admit that it gave me a good giggle too. Oddly flattering =)
Heather´s last blog ..Well then… Spiders on drugs.
Heather,
I do like comment Luv. I do enjoy seeing the latest post for commenters and often head right off to read when the title grabs me. What I don’t like about comment Luv is that it is not working for me and so far I can’t figure out why. I cut back on plugins about the time it stopped working so I know it is something I did. I just don’t know what. I liked learning from Dave that people who buy are not people who leave comments. I may be able to make money yet.
Hey Ralph, Been a while.
When you say it’s not working, what’s it actually doing? Just refusing to show when people go to comment, or is it messing with your own comments? As Dave said to someone else a little further up, it’s possible that Andy’s still following the conversation so he might be able to help you.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
Other peoples show up when they comment on my blog, It is just that it shows an error in finding the link to my posts.
Any specifics on what the error is? A little while ago mine had a small bug that said it’d failed to find my posts, and the feedreader had actually updated its style and I hadn’t copied that to my commentluv settings. Maybe that’s it?
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
I’ve had this problem twice.
make sure your feed address is correct in your comment luv profile. go to http://comluv.com/member
you should have this feed address in there:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/RalphCarlsonBlog
if that is correct, your site may have gotten banned for errors with your feed at one point. I had this problem. go to:
http://comluv.com/member/unban-url/
…and request that it get removed.
Carlos Velez´s last blog ..I Choose To Be Socially Successful
I do count customers among regular commenters!
Check at the CommentLuv site to see if there is any problem with your URL. Consider registering there as well.
I have done that. It hasn’t made a difference.
Ok I left a couple of replies….whew spent more time on here than just about anywhere this week. Good job Heather and Dave.
Now to add my two cents. Comment luv and Andy have provided us with an invaluable asset. Nuff said. If you don’t use it or don’t care for it, fine don’t. But for me it has been ‘priceless’ and that’s not from a monetary value thing either. It has helped me create and build relationships online that I would not had been able to otherwise. And for this I am grateful.
Having said that I also use it as a device for traffic in some instances. But not always. I will say that I read a lot of comments just as much if not more than the content of the blog and if your comments are grabbing me by the cojones then I will usually look next at your link and visit.
@Andy.. why does intensedebate link only to the url with your name and not the post title when commenting? My blog shows your latest post in comments but you have to click the name of said commenter to get there.. the title is left standing, looking like part of the comments.
@dave d. now I know why you never comment on my blog.. blogspot.. heh heh
Gonna go tweet this again.. best dam post of the day! love you Heather
lees shizzle´s last blog ..I Am Not Naked and You Are Not In Charge
High praise Lee! Thank you.
Reading comments and making connections is more or less the same way I use it, sometimes even as a reminder to check someone’s blog if they (oh horrors) don’t have a working RSS feed. Its a great plugin, and I do love it very much.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
Blogspot can be a hassle, it depends on whether I’m logged or not.
But there’s really a lot more to it than that. It turns out to be impossible to keep up with everything. James is finding this out right now.
I do try and visit everyone that comments here. Actually, I do visit, whether I comment or not.
This is a very high quality problem to have. A couple of people I know are in a similar situation, and we’ve agreed NOT to comment on each other’s blogs!
Hmm .. very interesting.. I like the agree thing about not commenting on each others blogs..
And yes I was on the band wagon with James in the beginning about commenting to everybody etc… and no my site isn’t guru shizz, but if I didn’t have the time I have to comment and reply I wouldn’t enjoy it so much..( not everyone has the time) Those who bash others for not commenting are those who probably don’t get much traffic or not as much as they profess to get. I can see from the growth of mine that it would be impossible to comment and reply to everyone and still get your work done. Unless your a Ghost commenter, imposter type of shizz.. I’m for real so I’d never do that….. he heheh he (never say never Huh) couldn’t resist.
Thanks Dave, and by the way would it make any difference if I had my own domain and was still on blogspot.. from your end anyway.. would it still be the login issue etc.. what am I missing here… should email ya..
lees shizzle´s last blog ..I Am Not Naked and You Are Not In Charge
1. If you are willing to hump very hard, I firmly believe your domain name is TOTALLY irrelevant.
“Google?” Oh please. WTF kind of name is that?
So I don’t worry about the .com, .net, .biz, dashes in the name, whatever.
Different story if I were setting up a different kind of site, say, like http://practicalseotips.com/
2. Intense Debate, I *loath* logging into it for reasons not worth discussing here and now.
If you configure the form fields for autocomplete, that’s going a long way right there. Otherwise people have to type in everything by hand every time they stop by. Bummer.
Given 1. and 2., if you can make it easy to comment on Blogspot, why change?
Once you’re logged in to IntenseDebate over on Lee’s blog you can elect to stay logged in. Unless that’s just my computer.
Honestly I prefer his current setup to the way he had it before my nagging lol.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
Can you configure it to do this… I’d love for my readers not to have to login every fruggin time… It’s a pain.. I know.. waste of time.. (google) did I say that somewhere? or where you just being the sarcastic Dave..
Imma holler at Andy about this autocomplete you are bang on there!
lees shizzle´s last blog ..I Am Not Naked and You Are Not In Charge
thanks Heather I wasn’t sure about this… glad to know that it’s like this, I mean I had to log in here first..huh, we all did but i wasn’t sure about IDebate. Appreciate that!
lees shizzle´s last blog ..I Am Not Naked and You Are Not In Charge
Unless I’m completely wrong, once you log in on a site once you have the option to stay logged in. I think. Been ages since I had to log in lol.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
We use CommentLuv because it’s win-win, and because it gives us a sense of the person (and the website) behind the comment. It really does help people get noticed — it allows me (and everyone else out there) to find and become interested in our commenters. That’s really powerful when you’re building a community.
More info about KeywordLuv would be welcome (perhaps as a followup to this article?).
KeywordLuv is pretty foreign to me as well, but it does look useful… May have to bug Dave or Tom to tell us about it.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
I’m more likely to click through on CL sites.
I love CommentLuv and the idea of how it works, and I hardly can change my comment system to a system that doesn’t support CommentLuv!
I also comment more on blogs that has CommentLuv enabled, it’s like exactly find what you want and need on a blog while commenting!
I want also to mention the new design of Comluv network which give credit for active CommentLuv members and blogs!
Hesham @ FamousBloggers´s last blog ..ComLuv new Theme, Traffic and more Exposure for CommentLuv Enabled Blogs
CommentLuv is doing some great things at the moment, really useful tool. Hadn’t noticed the new design before you mentioned it (looks great) so thanks for the heads up!
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
Haha! I just left a comment over on your site, Hesham. Good synchronicity. I use CL much the same way.
This article spun out of the League of Extraordinary Bloggers post, which I’m providing as the CL link below.
Specifically, I asked Heather to expound on her comment to that article.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Top 10 Traits for Finding Your League of Extraordinary Bloggers – Saturday Morning Surfing
Thank you to everyone who has stopped by.
Heather knocked this one out of the ballpark, it’s the top single day traffic article so far, and has the most comments of any article so far. Thanks Heather!
Yes, thank you Everyone! I’m astonished at the reception really, you sure know how to make a gal feel welcome
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
This been said, good and hard work always awards!
Hesham @ FamousBloggers´s last blog ..Technorati Authority measures FB standing & influence in the Blogosphere
I’ve used this and it’s sister plugin, KeywordLuv for a while on my old blog and really think it adds to the site and community like you said. I find the spammers that don’t read the post in the first place don’t know how to take advantage of the two plugins anyways (too busy putting in links in the comment to notice). Which seems to be most of them. It still requires good moderation to keep it clean.
Now that I am working on a new blog, I’ll be adding both of these plugins there also, once I get some other things worked out on that site. Oddly, it is still no follow and it has already attracted an amazing number of spammers. It would seem that if you use the plugins or not, you still get spam, so why not reward the good comments.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. I did notice a rise in the amount of spam my filters were catching once I installed CommentLuv, but not a massive amount. All in all, I think they’re definitely worth the effort.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
I completely agree with you on this! But this is great for many reasons. Without having discovered ComLuv, I never would have found some interesting blogs that others are actively posting (so many blogs are dead these days). The second part I like about it is it really helps build communities. I’ll see some people who have posted on other blogs, and have at least some idea of who they are!
Victor´s last blog ..Flavors of Ice Cream in San Francisco
Absolutely Victor! Nothing quite like getting to know some people, then seeing them crop up all over the blogs you read. Then you can start to engage with them properly and have real conversations instead of fly-by commenting.
The point about dead blogs is a good one; can remember seeing statistics recently that said there was something like 100,000 blogs started every minute/hour (don’t remember exactly), but almost all of them fail within the first three months. That’s a lot of dead blogs.
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
Haha! Bi Rite ice cream is awesome. Cardamom indeed.
Good to see some local yokels around here for a change.
Do you know about http://foodspotting.com?
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Not-So-Secret Blog Alliances – Kelly Diels bares (almost) all
Wow was I scrolling along way down reading some very interesting comments. I’m a fan on Comluv and Andy’s and his twitterlinks plugin is also killer. Since my blog is offbeat
I try to have everything available to encourage comments, feedback etc, from Do following all the links,comment luv,keyword luv, even the person’s avatar pic is linked back.I have been thinking about toning it down to appeal to more people. Glad I stopped by and Happy to see your Blog ON FIRE 
Nice work Heather /Dave Peace.
But I do allow people to use and KW LUv the want if the linked site is OK 
Thanks
PS as far as Aust DR. mentioned above. I do protect the links to my site by NOT approving ones that are sales pitches/ links etc
John Sullivan´s last blog ..What’s your favorite wordpress plugin ?
Great to see you John! And thanks too
Just not letting them through in the first place seems like a good system, I just found it funny that they’d copy paste the comment really. It’s the sort of thing you hear about happening, but when you actually see it you don’t know whether to laugh or shake your head in exasperation!
Used right KL itself seems like it’d be pretty beneficial though. Do you find it helps you more than just having CommentLuv, or not really noticed any difference?
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
John, thanks for stopping by.
You are probably running up against the wall on social media, commenting, etc. I know I am. Just not enough time, and so many places to visit.
I caught Aus DR in my email. I unlinked it and left it in so that I might be able to use it for an example later. Some of this comment spam is getting sophisticated.
Yes, CL is a great plug-in. I was just disappointed when I was supposed to use it before and realized it doesn’t support most widely used commenting system. Like that of Disqus…
Bert Padilla´s last blog ..Windows Phone 7 Tablet Concept and Features Leaked
Hm… I’ll admit to not being a huge fan of Disqus anyway, but what other ones doesn’t it seem to support?
Heather´s last blog ..First Guest Post – Website in a Weekend
I actually didn’t have the chance to get the latest updates from Andy Bailey. Before it doesn’t support JS-Kit which was the first one I used, but the integration was already made last year. The same thing with ID. I’m optimistic though, that Bailey and the Disqus team will finally release the CL plugin for Disqus.
Bert Padilla´s last blog ..Windows Phone 7 Tablet Concept and Features Leaked
Yep, sounds like they’re getting to them slowly. Good to hear they’ve already been adding functionality though
Dave – wow an interactive group on this post! Very interesting insights, opinions and other on here.
Andy’s comment made me laugh with scenario #2 – guess I missed that post three months ago about making a kazillion dollars!
My initial intent for installing CommentLuv was to show appreciation to the people who took the time to comment on my blog.
Overall it’s been a very positive experience and the few that just do the good ‘ole “great post” – I trash those.
I enjoy visiting sites that have commentLuv installed because I know they care about the comments (and I really do try to only comment if I really have something to contribute so I often will only “lurk”).
Since I also frequently actually read other comments left I have often found other good blogs to visit because of CommentLuv. Gabe, ExtremeJohn and Dennis Edell are just a few that I found as a result of finding your website and seeing their comments/links.
It would be nice to turn off if I don’t want to include a recent link – if there is a way to do it, I am not familiar with it.
I’m all for CommentLuv – the good, the bad and the ugly!
Thanks, Andy, for the awesome plug-in!
Michelle Mangen´s last blog ..5 Easy To Implement Tips That Will Help You Gain Control Over Email
Hey Michelle – great to hear that you’re using it and finding it useful.
Like you, I’ve found some amazing people through sites that use it; I’d estimate that most of my feed reader is filled with them now (talking about 50-100 different people)!
Great to see you here, and thanks for your comment.
Heather´s last blog ..Webcomic: The Mayans Day 3
Until a few months ago, I’d never heard of commentluv, then I put it on my blog and haven’t looked back. It’s a great tool and obviously a good hook to bring people to your site.
Look at all these comments Heather! Amazing!
Thanks Matthew!
Yea I’m still really stunned at the response on here; there’s been a lot of really good, quality comments. Hard even keeping up yesterday!
Heather´s last blog ..Webcomic: The Mayans Day 3
*I think* one thing that CL is pointing out to people is that we actually do have to pay attention to the titles of our posts. We hear it all the time, but often play it lip service. The reason for writing better post titles is clearly visible in this thread.
Who’s CL link did you click on? Who’s didn’t you? Why?
Deacon´s last blog ..Skater Series Printing is Done
I was wondering when someone would notice that.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Why the Apple iPad Will Make Me More Productive
Great point Deacon!
I’d noticed myself taking more care with post titles, but I hadn’t equated it with CL (go figure). One thing to know you’re Meant to pay more attention to titles, another thing to see how directly it affects you.
Heather´s last blog ..Webcomic: The Mayans Day 3
Heather, I wrote a whole series of articles on just how to write titles.
Start here: http://website-in-a-weekend.net/building-traffic/how-a-fool-stunt-will-make-me-a-star-blogger/
Yep, can remember looking through them (along with half your archive) – need a refresher though. Thanks
Heather´s last blog ..Webcomic: The Mayans Day 3
My hunch is that if somebody spent a lot of time crafting their post titles, they could get a *lot* of traffic by commenting on CommentLuv blogs.
Deacon´s last blog ..Skater Series Printing is Done
Agreed. Or at least more than you’d get from CommentLuv with average post titles.
Heather´s last blog ..Webcomic: The Mayans Day 3
I really like commentluv. It is real nice when that new commentator comes a long (on our smaller blogs) and to see his work and what kind of blogger he is. Great job on this post Heather!
Ryan Hanzel´s last blog ..A fresh direction
Thanks Ryan!
Have to agree, seeing new commentators and finding out what they’re about is one of my favourite parts of CL… especially since it then means I can respond more intelligently as well. Great tool
Heather´s last blog ..Webcomic: The Mayans Day 3
Heck, I don’t even use commentluv (not anymore), I’m really into Disqus, which is awesome, because it’s fully customizable ! You have your own profile, can track your commentators etc. I’m so in love with it, I want to marry it !
Mars Dorian´s last blog ..Why YOU should be delusional !
To each their own I guess Mars
Heather´s last blog ..The Elf Blacksmith
Mars, I like Disqus quite a bit, and have considered using it here. If I have to ditch my current commenting/spam suite of plugins, I would definitely go with Disqus at this point.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Why the Apple iPad Will Make Me More Productive
I tried Disqus for a few minutes until I realized commentluv didn’t work on it. Then I switched to IntenseDebate and I’m a happy camper. As far as I know it gives all the benefits of disqus, but you can use commentluv with it.
Carlos Velez´s last blog ..The Pre-Writing Challenge Wrap Up: It’s Only Just Begun
I would be happy if Andy Bailey work out the integration for the benefit of Disqus users… I tried Echo before in which CL is now working on it, but it’s not user friendly based on experience…
Bert Padilla´s last blog ..The Pre-writing Challenge is over; Let’s talk about it
I ue Comment Luv and Keyword Luv on my blogs. I find that the people who take the time to use them, leave the best comments, because they care and usually are bloggers themselves.
Spammers may have an rss feed that Comment Luv catches but they never seem to use Keywork Luv and use a name. The spam bots don’t seem to work with Comment Luv.
So, I think it is fair to say that these plugins to improve the comments on my sites.
James´s last blog ..5 Reasons Hackers Use Malware To Screw Up Your Computer
My experience as well, with Disqus running a very close second.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..3 Ways Daily Blog Posting Benefits You (and your readers)
I am always glad to see someone discussing the pink elephant in the room. I have an even more expansive vision of why links in comments are a good thing and I recommend using both CommentLuv AND KeywordLuv.
More CommentLuv users will know me soon because I am the newly announced Editor-in-Chief for the official CommentLuv blog. I will also be making recommendations on improving the usability of the CommentLuv site and plugin.
I hope you will come by and offer your suggestions and insights. I also hope you will consider what I have to say about how our DoFollow CommentLuv KeywordLuv community can create a better world.
Those who wonder what CommentLuv, links and bloggers have to do with surviving a declining economy can find out more in the post I’ve featured in CommentLuv.
Gail from GrowMap´s last blog ..Why Marketing is NOT Evil
Gail, pleased to meet you.
I’m glad Andy has brought on some help. I know he’s been really busy growing this thing.
Personally, I think commentluv is a bit of game changer.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..hRecipe – Semantic Recipes for WordPress (Google loves these)
very well said here, heather… as for me, i must admit that these plug-ins are necessary for the back-up links but then again you yourself could see which comments are a spam or not.. i managed to encounter many wonderful people thru this in continents across the globe and that for me is a treasure that i would always keep.. and keep on writing as i will follow your threads since i find some topics interesting..
Thanks for the post Heather. I think CommentLuv is a wonderful idea to inspire a community of friendly and informative bloggers to share ideas and thoughts. Especially since it encourages other bloggers who have their own sites to connect with each other.
Mystic Kitty´s last blog ..Oscar the very funny cat burglar steals underwear
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