The problem with Blogger & WordPress blogs, they don't get comments :D

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   DasEngelposted 9 years ago

   
   
   So, quite recently some hubbers declared that they might venture out to create their independent, 100%  'all cash goes to the author's pocket' blogs using Blogger or WordPress. I just figured out, after checking some blogs on both those platforms, that they might face one little problem, it's not even worth mentioning! There are no "comments" on those blogs, and it seemed as if the blogging world is lacking in commenting in general.
   
   It's one thing to be wanting to be independent. It's another thing to be wanting to live inside Antarctica.

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      theraggededgeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      It depends what the purpose of the blog is, doesn't it. My blog shares information, generates direct purchases, Amazon commission, Adsense and writing gigs. I do have comments but not in great numbers. It's a different animal to HP... I make the rules there and I can do what I like. Fun!
      
      I'm not sure I agree with you about blogs lacking comments - you should read some popular art, craft, cooking, how-to, animal care, auto, RV-ing, DIY blogs - they get tons of interaction.
      
      It depends on the topic, the writer, tone of writing, frequency of updates, quality of info and whether or not your blog solves a problem for someone somewhere.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         For some reason, I get a lot more readers emailing me through the Contact page to ask a question, rather than posting a question/comment on the blog.
         
         Recently I've taken to posting the question, with my answer, on the blog as a post.

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            lobobrandonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Yes I do that too Marisa. I get quite a few people mailing me with questions. The reason I post on the site and offer them a link to read the answer is because it indirectly gives me more content and amazon doesn't allow affiliate links via email

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         SimilarSamposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I definitely agree that it will completely depend on the blog and audience, information or sales heavy blogging probably isn't going to bring in many comments and maybe you might not even consider comments an important element and disable them completely.
         
         Then on the other side a number of the blogs I follow heavily (mostly personal finance related) get massive discussions going in the comment section as they are focused around sharing peoples own views/thoughts/opinions. If you create a place for people to share their thoughts and give them a disruptive topic or one that varies across people dramatically the comments will no doubt come!

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         The J Phronesisposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Splendid reply.

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      peachpurpleposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      My blogs don't get comments either, better stay put at hubpages

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   Marisa Wrightposted 9 years ago

   Why is a lack of comments an issue? 
   
   If your goal is to make money, then you don't care whether your readers are commenting, you only care whether they are reading and buying/viewing ads.   
   
   However I agree, blogging (as compared to writing on a sociable writing site like HubPages) is a lonely business, as you don't necessarily get a lot of feedback from your readers.

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      DasEngelposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That's true. I would add that most contributors have a mixed need for both.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Why do you think "most" people need both?

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            DasEngelposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I both think and feel that unless a contributor is creating a Wikipedia article, or something like that, they by default want feedback on their work.

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               Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               But there are different kinds of feedback.
               
               If each month, I have a good balance in my eBay account, then that gives me all the feedback I need - it means that large numbers of people are buying the items on my blog, based on the information that I give them. 
               
               That may not be enough feedback for some people, and that's fine - everyone is different.

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                  DasEngelposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  That's true. Many people read Wikipedia articles, for example.

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                     Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                     ....and the people who write on Wikipedia get no feedback AT ALL for what they do, as there are no comments and there's no pay. Yet people still do it.

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                        DasEngelposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                        There are just so many feedback services for Wikipedia authors.

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                           Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                           What kind of feedback is there for Wikipedia authors?  Anyway I'm not sure what point you're trying to make?

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                              lobobrandonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                              I don't see the point either, it's just personal opinions. If I'm not mistaken there's a way to see the total stats of a particular wikipedia page. So if an author is really interested there are ways to know how many people are reading their work.

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                                 Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                                 It is true there's a way to see traffic, but DasEngel's original point was that HubPages was better than Blogger or Wordpress, because there's no motivation to write online if you don't get comments.  Obviously you get no comments on Wikipedia, except from other contributors discussing changes.

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                                    makingamarkposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                                    Plus popularity of the page is entirely down to the topic and has virtually nothing to do with who wrote it - especially as most of those of us who write for Wikipedia take the trouble to have a username unique to that site

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   WriteAngledposted 9 years ago

   I don't give a rat's a__e about comments as long as I get the clicks. I've disabled comments on my own sites, because they just attract spammers.

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   psycheskinnerposted 9 years ago

   I do both, because I use the platform that best suits each message, audience and goal. Blogs have the potential to get a lot more comments than hub, but they the start at the ground floor with zero.

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   lisavollrathposted 9 years ago

   Right now, I have five self-hosted WP blogs, on assorted topics. Two of them have comments shut off completely, because I actually don't want any feedback on what I'm posting. Three have AdSense hooked up to them, and right now, I'm consistently making the AdSense payout every month.
   
   Of the three blogs that have advertising: one never gets comments; one has comments turned off, because the ones I got there were mostly either demands that I post the classes I teach for pay on the site for free (fat chance), or questions about how to do things that I'd already answered in the article (because people don't read). The third one has comments turned on, but is fairly new, and doesn't get very many.
   
   Do I care about comments? Only when they become too demanding of my time or resources. I can see that when I post about a new article to my email list, traffic goes up, and my bounce rate goes down. I don't really need a bunch of mindless comments to validate my work. What I do need is a regular payout, and my blogs provide that.

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      DasEngelposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That sounds fantastic, Lisa. Keep up the good work.
      
      
      
      [ Edit: I did a quick research about you, hope you don't mind if I share the findings, so, here are the facts:
      
      1. You came to HubPages from Squidoo, after the merger of the both websites.
      
      2. You have already retired from HubPages, I mean 'officially'.
      
      3. You're a painter. I've checked your paintings and they're good. (Don't know if you sell them frequently because I've a background in the arts and the market of creative paintings is volatile and unpredictable, to say the least).
      
      4. Your personal (art) website is powered by WordPress.
      
      5. A quote: "I don't think HubPages is a bad place, and I'm not leaving with bad feelings. I just think, in terms of how I approach marketing myself and my various creative projects online, HubPages is a bad fit. If there are two words that have made my decision to leave this site an easy one, they are "passive income". I just can't wrap my head around the idea that the prevailing approach to building readership here is to just post articles, and hope Google likes them, and that people eventually find them through search. I don't know how to sit back and wait for readers to find me. That goes against everything I know about marketing myself online."
      
      http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/126239
      
      6. I googled to find your WordPress blogs. But I didn't/couldn't find them. They were not on the frontage at least. I tried the original and then a couple of combinations of relevant keywords. Anyway, thank you again for sharing your comment on this thread. I wish you all the best in your endeavors. ]

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         justholidaysposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         What's your point here?

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            DasEngelposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I found Lisa's comment on this thread to be interesting. But I needed to do a bit of research to understand it in its proper context. I though I should share these facts. That's it.

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            DasEngelposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I just figured out that you're also a WordPress user. Just checked out your personal website (from the 'link' at the far right corner of your HubPages profile). And seems like you've also been an avid blogger and your website is powered by WordPress. :-)
            
            I've just read on the 'About' section of your personal website that you started writing for the internet back in 2006 (personally speaking: back then, I didn't even have the idea what a thing even "Facebook" is). After a huge contribution to several well known online writing platforms, you decided to write directly for your readers instead of revenue-sharing websites and search engines, and you're now a owner of several websites all related to celebrations.
            
            
            I'm glad to attract so many talented writers on this thread. Thank you all for your contributions.

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               justholidaysposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               I don't like to see my background listed on here. If anybody wants to know more about me, they can read my profile, otherwise, I don't see the point of you listing what I've been doing for so long nor do I saw the point of listing the other Hubber's profile and background. But you do not seem to read what others actually write...

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                  DasEngelposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  I'm really sorry if I've offended you. But I thought I should let everyone know that we have so many talented and successful online writers among us. People that some of us can learn from.
                  
                  What can I do to settle things, now? :-)
                  
                  
                  [ I mentioned you because you didn't respond after my reply to your first comment on this thread. And also because I found all that information about you from a publicly shared profile on a commercial website. ]

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                     theraggededgeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                     You can stop 'sharing' now, thank you.

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                     Kylyssaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                     I'm sure your intentions are innocent but it can come off a bit creepy to just randomly investigate information about people and post it in unrelated discussions. I'm guessing it's just exuberance on your part but it's likely to feel anywhere from a little unsettling to very unsettling to those you decide to post about, depending on whether or not they've had cyber stalkers in the past.

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                     DasEngelposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                     10 am:
                     
                     
                     Should I start talking to myself?
                     
                     Nope.
                     
                     Stop! Who are you talking to?

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                  justholidaysposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  Did you ask me permission to share my information? Did I ask you to share my public profile on here? I don't think so.
                  
                  If anybody's interested in learning "how good I am" [lol], they can check my profile. As you said, it's public... they just have to click on my nickname
                  
                  By the way this account is not my primary HP account, which was an 8 year old account I deleted earlier this year. So the info you've found on this one is not the most interesting either as it's an account that moved from Squidoo. It includes only the 8 Hubs I agreed to be moved from that site. The info is thus linked to the account niche. That does not mean it's linked to what I actually do, know or write.
                  
                  As you can see, you might just report wrong information. And you did share wrong info: I started to write on my own sites long before joining these writing platforms
                  
                  @TheRaggedEdge: indeed, we've all met interesting people even though we work on our own on blogs and sites outside of writing platforms. I've hundreds of such friends on Facebook not to mention those who aren't on any social media site [Hope you're doing well, lady ]

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                     theraggededgeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                     Ah ha... hello my dear! Now I know who you are. You can tell I'm not a profile clicker! All well here and hope you are the same.
                     
                     Edit; Thanks Das Engel!

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         lisavollrathposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Erm, thanks for stalking, err, researching me, and the art critique, I guess. Most of that stuff is common knowledge for my readers, but totally irrelevant to this discussion.
         
         I migrated all but 9 of my articles off HubPages a while ago. I have no plans to add new ones here, because I do much better on my own sites.
         
         If you couldn't find my other WP sites, you weren't looking for them. There are social links to some or all of them in the headers and footers of all the art sites: LisaVollrath.com, my personal/portfolio site; Ten Two Studios, my business site; Go Make Something, an archive of how-to articles I wrote prior to this year; Mixed Media Club, my current articles and videos. The one that is difficult to find is Lisa's Garden, a mashup of my old garden blog that used to live on Blogger, and vegan recipes. It's the only one not cross linked to the others, and I don't update it often.

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   SockPuppetposted 9 years ago

   There is no community there. You're a lone island, without any connection with anyone else.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I assume you mean that when you're blogging, you're a lone island with no community?  Yes, that's very often the case I'm afraid.
      
      It doesn't have to be that way however - if you have chosen your subject well and you're willing to put in the hours, you can build up a community, it just won't be on the blog.  What you do is start a Facebook page for your blog and post interesting material on there (not just links to your blog posts).  In fact, you need to put just as much (or more) work into your Facebook page as your blog!

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         SockPuppetposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Yes. And most write blogs to have some kind of connection with others. If there was a central forum, like this, it would allow them to better mingle. There's probably plenty of privately run forums, but I never found any worth going to 5+ years ago when I did have a blog on those sort of sites.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            You say "MOST write blogs to have some kind of connection".   I think that's nonsense. 
            
            Some people write blogs to make connections.
            
            Some people write blogs to make money.
            
            Some people write blogs to feed their ego by attracting complimentary comments.

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               Kylyssaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               Some people write blogs to share knowledge.
               
               Some people write blogs to support a cause.
               
               Some people write blogs to promote something.
               
               Some people write blogs to serve as journals.
               
               Some people write blogs to get in writing practice ever day.
               
               Some people write blogs to talk about their hobbies.
               
               I could go on all day. People blog for all sorts of reasons. The only generalization we can really make about bloggers is that they all blog.
               
               I dread going to some of my blogs when there are comments because there's about a 50/50 chance at least one of them will be either spam, abuse, or unintelligible cut and paste craziness rather than someone just having a say.

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                  paradigm searchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  Blogger has been really good at killing those critters off before they ever see the light of day. Come to think of it, HubPages is pretty good at it, too.

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      theraggededgeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      On the contrary, I have made several very good friends via my old website and current blog. Some over 10 years ago and others more recently.

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   makingamarkposted 9 years ago

   It seems to me we have in this thread people who have been blogging for years successfully who know how it works and why they do it
   
   Then we have some people who know relatively little about blogging who seem to be making some big statements based on their assumptions about what blogging is and how it works - and get them wrong.
   
   Tip - when you don't know a lot about a topic it's generally better to ask questions - in a non-creepy way.
   
   For the record 90% of blogs that are published are dead within 3 months (and 99% within a year). That's because these are the ones written by people who want a fast return (whether that's in comments or clicks or income) and who don't know how to build an audience for their content.
   
   To get a return on your effort you have to work at it and quite often you have to wait - sometimes quite a long time. Sadly this is a life lesson some people never seem to read about.
   
   PS Comments mean nothing as an indicator of blogging success - especially post Facebook!

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      DasEngelposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Deleted
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         makingamarkposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Just as another person has highlighted - I object to you singling out my profile in this thread. It is NOT appreciated - particularly because you are creating an incorrect impression with the only partial information that you have "digested".
         
         Please take it all down.
         
         I'm now going to comment further on this topic to HQ and see what they think about the matter. [DONE]

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            DasEngelposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Every information that I've shared of this thread were found on publicly shared websites, on commercial platforms. They were all copyright protected. But they didn't mention anything negative regarding information distribution.
            
            I'm basically trying to understand this thread. I have shared the findings because I think others may find them useful. Morally speaking: I both think and feel that I'm free to do so.

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               Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               You're still giving a good impression of a creepy stalker so please don't do it

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               theraggededgeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               It doesn't matter. You have had several requests not to do it and still you think it's okay.
               
               1. It's rude
               2. It's disconcerting and creepy
               3. It is *not* necessary for you to research participants on this thread so you can 'understand' it
               4. It will get you banned if enough people complain about you.
               5. As a community, we don't like it, so bloody well stop it.

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   Thelma Albertsposted 9 years ago

   Blogging at Bloggers or Word Press is very different than HP and it also depends on what you write and who are reading. Some of the readers just want to read and if they ever ask  questions, they send an email to the author.

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   clivewilliamsposted 9 years ago

   blogger has no comments....never knew that

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    systotechposted 9 years ago

    ya agreed with Thelma Alberts
    
    Most of the peoples only check your blog for reading purpose and if they are unsatisfied they starts surfing another blog on google instead on commenting on your blog.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Very often they won't comment even if they love your blog. Whether a blog has comments or not is no reflection on its quality.

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       theraggededgeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       You're obviously not doing it right. There are tons of resources out there to help anyone set up a blog and produce quality content that will attract readers and keep them coming back. If I can do it anyone can.

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