Using blog comments to generate back links to your site is becoming more and more prevalent.
Those of you that aren’t using blog comments for back link have probably heard some on tell you about no follow tags and how the search engines won’t follow the link from comment on blogs.
It is true that the search engines usually won’t follow links with the no follow tag. But more and more you are finding blog that have disabled the no follow tag in the comments section.
When WordPress is installed it automatically configures your blog to have no follow tag on comment but there are some blog owners that want you to comment so they will use a plugin to remove the no follow tags, either completely or based on the number of comments you leave.
Before I get into what to look for to find blogs without the no follow tag I want to cover comment etiquette.
Any comment you leave on a blog MUST have something to do with the content of the post.
For example if the post is on blog comments your comment should be related to that post and have something to do with the content of the post. Don’t leave a comment talking about how to conquer the newest MLM offering.
When you are writing your comments don’t put any links in the body of the comment. Not only is this poor etiquette it can actually get you listed on the comment spam lists if you are reported by the blog owners. You can put a link in the comment body if, and only if, it is a resource to something in the post.
I recommend that you set your blog up so that if there are links in the body of the comment it will go to the comment moderation. This way you will have to approve the comment before it shows up on your blog. This will keep the spammy comments of your blog.
The name field for the comment form should only be filled with your name or moniker and a moniker should only be used if it describes you or your business accurately. Don’t stuff the name with keywords if you start doing this you might have some blog masters ban you and put you on the spam lists. You can have keywords in your moniker but only if they apply (as stated above) to you personally or your business but you are always better of using a name that can be used to recognize you.
That is brief overview of comment etiquette, basically it is the “Golden Rule” don’t do anything on another person’s blog you wouldn’t want done on yours. But I bet there are still of bunch of you asking why you should bother if the no follow tad is in place?
This question can be given a few answers, such as:
1.People will see your comments and your links even if there is a no follow tag. If you put 4 comments on blogs per day you will end up with over 1,500 links in a year. These links will be seen by potentially tens of thousands of readers that might visit your site.
2.If you comments adds value to the topic of the post the author and readers will start to recognize your name and you will be branding yourself as an expert.
3.If you post an interesting comment people will click on your link to see what else you have to offer.
4.If you are selling advertising on your site through a service like text link ads they sometimes do their own back link research and ignore the no follow tag. This could result in you receiving more income from your ads.
Now how to tell if the comments have the no follow tag applied to them.
The most obvious way is to find a comment and look at the page source, pour through all the code looking for the link on the name and seeing if the no follow tag is in the link. This will drive you crazy if you do it a lot of times but it does work.
An easier way is to use FireFox or Flock browser (If you are not using one these you should be) and get the SEO for FireFox addon (It works in FireFox and Flock) you can find it as SEOTools.com or just search for it in Google.
Once this is installed all no follow links will be highlighted in red so they are easy to notice. If the link (the name) in the blog comment isn’t highlighted that mean the no follow is shut off for the comments on that blog.
Then there is another plugin that some people add to their WordPress blogs that will reward the frequent commenter. It is called Lucia’s Linky Love.
How it works it the owner of the blog can set the plugin so that after so many posts the no follow tag is removed from the comments of that person.
It checks the name and email address to see if this person has ever commented before and keeps track of all the ones that match. If you use different names (which has already been pointed out as a no no) or different emails you will never have the no follow tags removed.
The owner of the site can set the limit from 3 to whatever they feel like but most of the time if they are using the plugin it is set from 3 to 5. This means you will have to leave a relevant comment 3 to 5 times before the no follow tag is removed but when it is removed it is removed from any comments you make from there on.
How do you find blogs that use Lucia’s Linky Love plugin? The easiest way is to use Google’s Blogsearch, put your keywords in quotes and then put a plus sign and then Lucia’s Linky in quotes and do you search. It should look something like this “keyword phrase”+”Lucia’s Linky” you results should sow you posts that are related to your keywords and using Lucia’s Linky Love plugin.
I use this on my blogs and I have it set at three. Because I read the comments and if they are spammy I delete them manual link spammers never get the three links they need. This encourages better comments and more comments.
Hi Randy
There is an even easier way to find doFollow blogs: I run a doFollow blog search engine at Find Do-Follow blogs at seo-traffic-guide.de. Give it a try! You will also get two bonus lists: one with blogs that use commentluv and onethat use keywordluv…
Mike
Great Post! Very informative and a great read. Keep up the great posts!
Found your blog on Google and have enjoyed reading your posts. Nice work!http://www.suncoastinternet.com.au/
I am a newbee when it comes to back link/SEO sounds like hard to do but with your post it gives me tips and ideas about this stuff, thanks.
I forgot to ask, do you have more tips about SEO? or a tutorial video? thanks you can email to me at joahnmabelo@yahoo.com
I see so they call it Lucias Linky Love, I saw a couple of blogs that are using this plugin wherein a comment poster gets a Do follow link if they have a number post already. Cool name huh
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I totally agree with your post. Other bloggers are just commenting, but not really related to the topic. Every blogger should be professional, particularly to those link their site. Thank you for sharing this, I hope other bloggers will read this.