5 Tips for posting Comments Online which Improve your Success Rate
Disclaimer: Original Image.
© 2011, UV Associates. All rights reserved.
1. Comment and Interact
Like other online writing websites, HubPages allow people to add comments to the articles written. Comments are definitely a great way to give and receive feedback, but more than that effective commenting is an art that can actually improve your success rate at HubPages.
An observation was that many people either comment on other authors' hubs thinking that they are doing them a favor, or returning the favor - it's like a task they have to accomplish. Sometimes they just want to register their presence, "Hey I read your hub, now you read mine". In fact, on another website, I got a comment which directly said, "I liked your article, be kind to my article too". Consequently, many comments like this are seen - "I liked your hub", "It was a great hub". All such people either do not realize the importance of this powerful feature called comments or are really running out of time and they ignore it.
2. Glimpse of Quality
Each comment you write, like your hubs, is a glimpse of your writing style. Even in two sentences, a reader can be impressed by the seamless flow of thoughts, flawless grammar, correct punctuation etc. Every comment you post is a glimpse of not just your writing talent but also the kind of quality you strive for.
While short comments which are posted for the sake of commenting might not cause any direct harm, but think about it - a good, quality comment read by a passerby could have initiated another profile view, may be another follower thus increasing your readership. Sometimes, what you could have gained is a subtle measure of what you've lost.
If you're interested in Case Study
I would like to mention two of my fellow hubbers whose comments I really look forward to. More than often, they uplift my spirits. In a way, they inspired me to write this hub.
3. Back-links and Exposure
Don't frown, back-links here do not refer to the spam links which are disallowed at HubPages, nor do they point to urls to your own hubs. (Each comment form after all has the note, comments are not for promoting your hubs) The back-links are referring to the links to your profile.
Each time you leave a comment, a new back-link is created to your profile - the anchor text is your username. While this will definitely help with SEO (your sub-domain will be highly ranked if it has a high number of back-links), it will also improve the exposure you have to an increased number of potential readers.
You might be writing on topics which are not SEO friendly, this means that you won't get as much organic traffic directly. But if you post quality comments on hubs which receive a lot of direct traffic from Search Engines, you will attract more readers from the world outside of HubPages. It's quite possible that a person searching for job in Texas will land up on your poetry hub and have a great inspirational boost with your poem. But to ensure that your comment is not lost in an ocean of many comments, try to be one amongst the first few - readers generally check out the first few comments.
50Caliber
His writing - whether in his hubs, or in his comments reminds me of bold and powerful strokes of a confident painter. With sheer and raw power, his comments state his opinions very effectively. The value addition by his comments can be understood by a small example - Another fellow hubber referred to his comment while posting her comment on one of my hubs - Facade of Simplicity. Here is a link to his profile - 50Caliber
4. Bonding with the Fellow Authors
HubPages is a great place where really talented authors are sharing their wisdom, showcasing their art. As a writer, getting comments or feedbacks from authors you admire is a tremendous opportunity for anyone to hone his/her skills and really satisfactory when someone with brains and understanding of your work appreciate you.
While I don't quite approve of posting comments as favors or returning favors, let's face it. Till the time you are established as a good hubber and have a nice readership, you will have to depend on the bonding with the fellow authors to get some quality feedback. Now whether you want succinct comments or nice value adding quality comments, choice is yours. Remember, that your quality comments will attract the people who strive for quality and would like to have good feedback for their work too. Thus, the process will ensure that you interconnect with amazing writers.
Giselle Maine
I'm a fan of her writing style, and her presentation is so polished, I am tempted to click on the titles by her even if the topics are not of my interest. That's because her arrangement of expressed thoughts is so unique, there is something new to amaze me every time - while there is never a compromise with the quality - be it the written text or images.
She has an acute and astute observation, and posts comments which are encouraging and off course which add value to the original hub. But I specially mention here for another reason. I sometimes post comments on her hubs including suggestions. Each time she responds, I learn from her, how to gracefully acknowledge suggestions. She writes great responses to all the comments, and for that, heads off to her. Here's a link to her profile Giselle Maine
5. Responding Back to Comments
No matter how busy you are, don't write one liner useless responses to people who have taken time to read your work. Postpone the responses if you have to, but acknowledge the comments gracefully, specially the quality ones. This would ensure that the people commenting would look forward to another interaction with you. One way interactivity will otherwise die in due course.
Conclusion - Return on Investment
When you read a hub, you spend time, attention - you invest some valuable efforts. Why not avail the obvious opportunities in the process and get full return on your investment? Just an extra minute can make a huge difference. Happy Commenting, Happy Hubbing.
Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.
— The BibleRelated
Comments
I have to say, that's why I hub. I love getting feedback from fellow writers. Hubpages is a rare breed of people, it's fun to read the other writers on here, and most of the comments are from people who actually read your hub, think about it and take the time to tell you what's on their minds!
Fabulous perspective on commenting. I did not begin to understand the importance of using the comments capsule correctly until well after I began hubbing. Posting this info with tips is a service to all hubbers.
Hi anusha15,
I do comment on hubs that impress me but I didn't realize that the value of commenting is more than that feeling of gratitude that you learned something after reading a good hub. Your hub gives me new insights on the importance of leaving a comment on hubs that I read.Thanks.
There are multiple reasons for commenting, including just a short note to let the author know that they were read and that you were there. Sometimes there are just too many Hubs to leave a detailed comment.
I prefer to leave a detailed note for Hubs of a particular interest, but I use private, email contact for criticisms.
Thoughtful and well written!
This was really interesting and I didn't realise that leaving comments could have additional bonuses. When I write a comment I do like to expand a little on what I particularly liked about a Hub - in your own hub here it was the additional benefits that could be gained by writing quality comments. I think comments also help to boost the confidence of new writers in particular - and many of them are writing for the very first time on Hub Pages. But basically I comment to let the writer know how much I have appreciated their hard work. I agree with you, I don't think you can give full appreciation by writing a two or three words comment.
I really enjoyed this very interesting hub!!
Hi Anusha - first I want to say a big thanks for the happy surprise of mentioning me by name in your hub! I wasn't surprised that you featured 50Caliber for his great writing and commenting, but when I scrolled down and saw my name mentioned too I was so surprised my jaw dropped!
Anyhow, about your hub, I really liked the many different angles you demonstrated about commenting. I hadn't previously thought about the idea that comments contain back-links to our profiles, so I learnt a lot. As Seeker7 so aptly put it, leaving comments can have additional bonuses. A very informative and clearly-written hub. And thanks again for mentioning my writing in such a positive light - it really means a lot to me, it made my day!
this was the hub i was searching long and stopped when not founded...thanks for sharing..now i understood some relevant points of making comments...as i don't go for commenting often but i really enjoy the articles...so its very necessary to be a good commentator too...thanks again
I have no problem thinking of something articulate to say. My problem is that I'm selfish, and commenting will detract from productive activities. On the other hand, you've given me a thing or three here to think about. There just might be a way for comments to benefit me as well as whomever!
- Author
@bonnebarton: I agree with you, hubpages is a rare breed of people. And as I mentioned in the hub, getting comments from them is exciting - as if you're being appreciated from experts in the field who really understand and thus appreciate the stuff. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. :)
@ RTalloni: Thanks so much for your encouraging words. Helping new hubbers understand the importance of and thus appreciate quality comments was the idea behind this. And off course the Return of Investment thing :) I'm glad you liked it.
@ franciaonline: I'm very happy the hub did for you what it intended to :) and I really appreciate your taking out time to expressing the same. Thanks so much.
- Author
@ WillStarr: While I agree, we often are running out of time, and writing a short encouraging comment is better than not leaving a comment at all, the whole purpose of this hub was highlighting the advantages of comments as well as quality comments. You know, an attempt to put more weight on other side of the scale, so people invest an extra minute :) I appreciate your stopping by and commenting. Thanks a lot. I second your opinion about using private messages for criticisms, as well as pointing out any mistakes.
@ Seeker7: I'm so glad you enjoyed the writeup. Yeah, the additional bonuses are many, even more than I've expressed in this hub. You know I've seen people commenting with rhymes on poetry hubs on hubpages :) It's so creative, so spontaneous, so awesome. It improves one's skills and creativity! We might not realize it at moment, but think about it, you might not write a complete poem, may be you are lacking a thought, but a 4 liner response to another poem can be just a start :)
Appreciation for the hard work, as you said, expressing your opinion on something or even interesting discussions, all are really good outlets for a creative mind. Thanks a ton for dropping a quality comment :)
- Author
@ Giselle: Hmmm, now that's some comment :D I'm so happy it could make you smile Giselle, and you more than deserve every word of appreciation. :) When you say, you learnt a lot, I've every reason for beaming with satisfaction. See, any admiration and admiration from someone specific - like you - is different. So thanks a ton, and I'll be returning to your profile in sometime to learn some more innovative presentation styles. :)
- Author
@ moneycop: I'm glad you found it useful, and I hope it would encourage you to drop more comments. May be you can start with short notes for encouragement, since you're not used to writing detailed comments :) Thanks a lot for stopping by and commenting.
@ Howard S.: Actually, in this materialistic world we often have to become selfish: after all time is money. One of my respected seniors often quoted it, "Time is the only true resource anyone has". And off course, once gone, it doesn't come back. But as I mentioned in the hub, apart from encouraging others, comments might be just the correct tool for fulfilling some of our not so selfless motives :) I'm glad you got some points to ponder upon. Thanks so much for commenting.
Awesome awesome points. At first I thought leaving comments on other hubber's hubs was not the best use of time. But as I have gained hub page experience I have realized what a powerful tool the comments can be...thanks for sharing all this great information...now you can check out one of my hubs...and tell me how good I am as well....lol.
- Author
@ Cogerson: Yes, comments can be very powerful tool. Thanks for stopping by and commenting, I'll definitely check out your hubs sometime :)
So true Anusha15.
I love reading feedback whether it be criticism or praise from my hub community since it makes me feel well appreciated for the content I wrote/worked on any hub.
- Author
@ Ruchira: Apart from appreciation, which is indeed important, sometimes the feed backs, suggestions from people with different perspectives are such a good way of improving oneself :) Thanks for stopping by and commenting Ruchira.
anusha15, great hub on comments, I will refer you to WillStar who has another awesome hub on comments.
I think the comment section boosts the value of the Hub Pages in that one can get really good feed back from others here. I came to read but learned a bit from comments and found my way to publishing a few and received much from the comments left.
You picked a worthy topic and handled it well, Peace, Dusty
Excellent observations on the benefits of commenting on Hubs. The fact that people can get a quick glimpse into your writing style and decide whether to explore your hubs is often overlooked. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people who simply say "nice hub," without any substance, which (in my opinion) is the equivalent of spam. Rated up and useful, Steph
- Author
@50 Caliber - Thanks for giving your opinions, we really receive a lot from quality comments. I've read WillStar's hub too and he has got some nice views about encouraging the new authors with our comments. The value that you add with your thoughtful comments is highly appreciated. Thanks again.
@stephhicks68 - You've a strong and interesting opinion. I've read a few other posts at HubPages and elsewhere, demanding the justification of succinct comments like nice hub, where there is a voting system available to appreciate. However, in case of HubPages, voting system is anonymous. So, many times people just want to register their presence via comments. While there is nothing wrong in it (in my opinion :) ), an extra minute can bring in a lot of benefits. So I don't disagree with your opinion completely, but people sometimes are running out of time - thus it's okay to leave short comments too sometimes :)
Well, I shouldn't have thrown all people leaving short comments "under the bus," but I do agree that a meaningful comment that adds to the discussion is far more valuable, both for the hub author and the person leaving the comment. When I am short on time, I usually just "thumbs up" and rate the hub, rather than leaving a comment that doesn't really add anything. Again, great hub. Steph
- Author
@ stephhicks68 - I was glad to see your comment again. I appreciate what you do - I really do. Leaving a comment only when you really have something to valuable to add is the best thing to do. In fact, it's one of those things which if, everyone in the world (here HubPages) starts doing, the world will definitely become a better place (here quality content at hubPages will improve)
I often do this while I hop hubs - just vote and move on - and only leave comment when I really like the hub and when I've something good to add. But then I'm a new writer - have less fans, have to reply to less people, and I follow less people at moment. Those who are writing since long, for them off course it's more important to reply to people who took time to appreciate their work, and they generally follow a lot of people too. Some new writers also get very excited when veterans of the community appreciate them - no matter how few the words are. So short comments could be justified too :) That's why I focused in my hub, how could you get more return on your investment of time of writing comments. Thanks for the appreciation :) it's really encouraging.
Anusha -Thank you for this informative hub. I had joined Hub pages two years ago, wrote, probably, 4 hubs and then drifted away. I was not contributing enough to the community.
I picked up writing Hubs again THIS summer. I am writing quite often and yes, I'm also reading other hubs. I try very hard to comment whenever I can, also I try to acknowledge the comments I do receive.
At First I was just going to tell you that you did a great job on this hub....but now I am going to tell you also that you made me realize that the comments do actually create backlinks to your hubpages profile page. Thank-you very much for bringing this to my attention. I hope this is an interesting comment for an interesting hub. Sometimes I am just "wowed" by hubs and I am speechless.
- Author
@tammyfrost: An interesting comment indeed :) Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Many times we do not realize the importance of "by-products" of certain actions we take, and highlighting the good "side effects" of effective commenting was the sole purpose of this hub. I'm glad you liked it.
Thank you for pointing out so clearly that the comments section of others hubs is rather like a large searchlight on the commenter. When I Google my hubpages name I see more results about people making comments on my hubs than results that lead directly to my hubs.
Isn't that interesting! It would appear that Google (on occasion) finds more 'value' in a comment to my hub than the hub itself.
Your hub has reinforced for me the importance of being professional as well as uplifting in our comments as often as we can.
Thank you for an important reminder.
Also, I wanted to mention that I came to your profile because of your comments to others hubs. I chose this hub and another of yours to read, and am so happy I did.
Hey Anusha, I finally got to read this today! I rated it up, useful, awesome, and interesting. This is an excellent hub filled with all kinds of information, tips, truths, and things to think about.
Okay, I admit I never thought about the fact that each comment links back to our profile. Good call! Hmm as you know (I think), we're both on the same page here with leaving meaningful comments (and of course fanmail.)
Hey, I totally identify with what you're saying about people just commenting to get attention redirected to themselves. Or worse, they do it as if it's a chore. I personally enjoy reading other people's work and learning new things.
This should be standard reading for all Hubbers. Excellent work! :)
- Author
@Maralexa: Thanks so much for the value addition you did to this hub by adding your experience about google search, and also mentioning the case study (your reading a couple of my hubs coz of my comments). I'm going to mention your comment in a highlighted section in the next update of this hub. :)
@Faceless39: I'm glad you finally got time to read this one, and thanks a lot for appreciation. About getting attention to yourself via your comments, what I feel is, one shouldn't have to do it on purpose, rather the quality of your comment should automatically do it for you :) Thanks for stopping by and your interesting comment.
This is a well written hub. Your points are clear and noteworthy. It is right that some people do comment hoping they will receive back some comments on some of their hubs. Expectation is fine, but don't ask other people to comment on one's hub in return. Getting attention is another point of comments and there is nothing wrong in it. Our involvement in a positive way has to be ensured and it will reflect in traffic too. Thank you for writing this wonderful hub. Shared with pleasure.
- Author
Thanks Sunil, for stopping by, commenting, providing your opinion, and off course for your encouraging words :) That's what I call a Great Comment
29