Monday, July 8, 2013

Why leaving blog comments helps your SEO

One of the mysteries that I don't think a lot of people understand is that search engines seem to love blog comments, so much so that leaving blog comments can actually help your SEO efforts.

The reason that search engines love blog comments is that well, as I once described them, search engines are spider demons who are pretending to be human beings, who are experts in whatever terms and subjects that you punched into the query form.

And the way that the search engines do this is by weighing factors, such as the number of links there are to your webpage, and where it is coming from.

Think of each comment you leave (where you are allowed to place your website into the information field or leave one of your profile addresses) as a thread in a spider web. And if lots of people like the site that you commented on, the thread is thicker and heavier. You also have a heavier thread if your site and the site you are commenting on are actually about the same subject matter.

Basically, the little spider demons that are search engines count the number of times that the search term is found on your page (decide if it is a balanced number), and then factor in the weight of all the threads to your page to determine exactly where they are going to place your page in the search results.

So how do you use this demonic thought process to your advantage?

Be selective about what blogs that you comment on (unless you are doing a networking exercise like the commenting part of the UBC). Make sure that your site is related in the type of subject matter.

Try to write meaningful comments. If you can engage a blogger in a conversation, the little spiders notice and add more weight to their opinion of your threads.

Don't be afraid of linking to posts done by your favorite bloggers. In fact, linking to a post that you have commented on creates a double thread for the spiders to weigh.

The mysteries of SEO is simple once you start treating search engines as the demonic comment loving spiders that they really are.

8 comments:

  1. Spider demons! I find that google is very efficient at picking up the labels in blog posts also. This is why I frequently tag posts with "numpty" and "cuntwit" to make sure they're linked to the person in question whenever someone does a google search.

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    1. Your labels are so much nicer for him and his sock puppet troll brigade than the ones I use in my head. But I have thought about labeling my posts concerning him under "whiny business rival who thinks that everyone else is a crook and Satanist." Should we take bets on how soon it is before he realizes that this blog comment section is not locked down completely, and he shows up screaming that we are all worshippers of the SRIA?

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  2. outstanding advice! may I add your RSS feed to the Women's Toolbox to help our women business owners with their SEO and exposure?

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  3. I think a lot of bloggers tend to forget this fact, they seem to foucs a lot of their effort into their own blog, sharing here there and wherever, but commenting does help, I ove reading other blogs and coment very very regularly and it definatley makes a difference.

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  4. Morgan,

    So well explained! Thanks! So, how do you suggest finding people who write about a similar topic to yours? I love the UBC, and have found a lot of great ideas, but no one who is really in my niche (Time Management Strategies for Direct Sales Professionals). Any ideas? I would most certainly like LOTS of threads!

    Thanks!
    Lisa
    http://www.systemsavvyconsulting.com

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    1. Let me think about this one, and see what I can come up with.

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  5. Food for thought. I'm saving all the terrific information and blogs to review once this UBC push is over and I can breathe again (a blog post everyday plus everything else is a lot to keep up with). That said, I know that continuing the contact will be good.
    So release the spiders...
    Barbara
    http://www.glutenfreehomestead.com

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Thank you for stirring the pot. Please remember that I moderate comments on posts older than thirty days because I had trolls invade in the past. And it took forever to get their smell out of the carpet.