Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Are Blog Comments now useless?
-
Hello
I see there is much debate on this issue of Blog Commenting. Is it still a useful way to get a backlink? Would you suggest only using 'No follow' blogs to leave comments?
Many thanks
-
Eliathah - I agree. Blog commenting is extremely inefficient use of time. I wonder how many of the people who promote blog commenting as a method to obtain traffic would pay someone else to put "meaningful comments" on relevant (no-follow) blogs. I wouldn't and I doubt many people would.
-
Yes I'm afraid they are useless when it comes to incorporating them into your SEO stategy.
Better to take the energy you would have expended tracking down do follow comment opportunities and spend it creating rich content like posts, guides, infographic(high quality only) and useful widgets.
Yes it's harder now than pre Panda but good in a way because the barrier for entry is that little bit higher and that gives you an advantage over new starters who want to cut corners and steal your customers.
Good luck, you're going to rock!
-
Blog commenting is a crappy way to spend your time if your goal is to get quality backlinks for SEO purposes. With that said, I have clients that receive substantial (relevant) traffic on a daily basis from blog comments they posted a while ago, so i know first hand that blog comments can drive traffic.
Is it ever the MOST productive and efficient use of your time? Probably not. Not unless you're commenting on blogs you already read regularly. Going out of your way to search for relevant blogs, reading articles you have no interest in besides getting traffic from the comment link, and crafting comments that grab peoples attention and encourage click throughs...? I can only speak for myself, but that doesn't sound like the most effective use of my time.
-
I agree, Simon pretty much summed it up pretty well. I was thinking the question was asking "Is it still a useful way to get a backlink?" which it is but only if done right and not a one time action. We're obviously on the same page though. Thanks for the clarity in your answer.
-
Hi Darin,
We might've gotten confused with the OP's question.
I agree with you of course in marketing terms but the OP's question is referring to backlinks. Backlinks as in SEO not PR. Hence my answer commenting for SEO purposes are useless and not a good idea.
Commenting for marketing and PR is good, but be selective.
-
Comments from William and Darin show the two different types of blog commenting. Let me expand:
Type 1:
Commenting on any blog you can get your hands on linking back to your site (those that will let you): This is the kind of blog commenting that you should avoid like the plague. It will do you no good and will simply be a waste of time these days.
Type 2:
Commenting on blogs that mean something in your industry and commenting with content people want to read: Like with any kind of content, if it is content people want to read it can be valuable. If you are selling running shoes and you build your authority on an athletics blog and your comment is contributing to a conversation and a link to your site is relevant and valuable to the users then by all means this is the kind of blog commenting you want to involve yourself in and can be very beneficial in the long run.
Hope that helps.
-
I have to disagree with William Lau.
I think that blog commenting has changed a bit. It think it is still relevant. I prefer the term Comment Marketing and Link Earning because that is my goal, to market my site and earn links. Here is how I do it now.
I find blogs that are relevant to my industry and of people who I really want to have link to me (authority figures). I follow their blogs and comment regularly on them. My goal is to build up enough trust and awareness of what I am all about. I have two goals here. 1) if my comments are good then people will want to learn more about me and click on my profile/link to go to my site (not so much for SEO purposes but for site traffice) ( I don't care if I'm number one if no one goes to my site. Traffic is important to me. Even better, relevant traffic.) and 2) I want to be able to eventually earn the right to become a guest blogger or have that person read about me and link to my site because of it's good content.
I think the idea of posting a comment for the sake of posting a comment is pointless. SEO is changing (for the better) and SEO now should stand for Search EXPERIENCE Optimization and not Search Engine Optimization. Comment Marketing is relevant if you use it to help build traffic and not to earn "traditional SEO links".
-
Yes, blog spamming is not really a smart idea. Plus majority of blog platforms nofollow comment links.
The only way you will benefit from blog comments are if they actually help the reader and is more of a marketing tactic than SEO.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Comments on Blogs
Does it help SEO to post comments with link on blog? Thank you
Link Building | Jan 31, 2024, 2:20 PM | melvinwu4 -
Guest Blogging Question? How many links in an article?
I am being offered by a blog to have more than 5 links in an article that points directly to our money sites. The blog is in the same niche. This is the first time i am being offered more than 2-3 links in an article. Should i do it? How many links should be in an article so not to be penalized by Google? Does it look unnatural to have more links in an article that points to the same site but different pages? Thanks
Link Building | Dec 1, 2014, 2:28 PM | WayneRooney0 -
Has anyone used Fat Joe as an outsource solution for blog links?
Hi guys, I have seen a company on social media a lot recently who offer a guest blog posting service. It seems to be reasonable quality from the reviews and the blurb they give as they at least seem to find you a relevant blogger to match up with, actually write good content with as many reviews as is needed and then post it to just that one page. I noticed on their site they have claimed that their service is Loved by Moz but I couldn't find any reference to them anywhere on the Moz site. My question is - has anyone used them and are the links going to be any good for my site?
Link Building | Aug 14, 2017, 3:18 PM | OrderBlinds1 -
Backlinks through dofollow commenting
I'm interested in building backlinks to my photography business site by leaving good, engaging comments on other photographers' DoFollow blogs. Is this a good idea? Is it worth the effort? Through a little research, I've managed to locate more than 40 dofollow photographer blogs that have a domain authority of 35+. The idea is to take an hour or so a week to leave 10-20 comments on their blog posts. Would you consider this a good strategy? I rank on the first and second page of most of my keywords that I'm working on, but I want to rank 1st or 2nd on them. I used the keyword finder tool on google adwords to find the keywords that are the most searched for in my area. Surprisingly the competition is not large, so I'm fairly comfident I can get there. I've already optimized my site substantially and I'm looking into link building. Thoughts?
Link Building | Feb 8, 2015, 8:19 PM | studio35design0 -
Houzz Comment Links
A company I am working with has been posting pictures and links to their website in the comments section of Houzz articles. I notice many companies have been doing this in general. While it generates decent amounts of traffic, I am wondering if google sees 30 links coming from article comments that it will deem that as spam? My gut tells me to send these comment links to the Houzz member profile, then direct them to your own website. Thoughts? ***Anyone in home design, decor, etc. should really get involved there. Fantastic source of business for professional in that field.
Link Building | Aug 19, 2013, 6:15 PM | RandyEpp0 -
Adding Anchor Text in Blog Comments
Hi, could someone please let me know the correct html code to get an anchor text link in a blog comment please? Thanks!
Link Building | Sep 7, 2022, 10:19 AM | Clicksjim1 -
Blog commenting
Is this still a good way of getting backlinks? I do not plan on making it my only method. Most of my backlinking is done through content creation, press releases, and guest blogging. But looking for some variety in there that can be done quicker. Is it even worth the time or are the links too spammy now? If I did I would actually hand build the links and comment to the article.
Link Building | Jan 24, 2012, 8:04 PM | webfeatseo1 -
Creating a separate blog off our website
A while ago we purchased some domains that are related to our industry. I'm fairly sceptical about using them, but I am interested what peoples thoughts are. We are currently producing quite alot of engaging content and although it's industry related, it is sometimes quite broad and not always appropriate for our company blog. I have been debating whether or not it will be a good idea to use one of the domain names that we have purchased to create more of an industry blog that is off our website. I'm not sure if this is considered a "black hat" technique by using domains registered to us? And also whether or not Google will punish because we are blogging from the same IP address and linking back to our site ? I look forward to hearing what people think. Thanks,
Link Building | Oct 7, 2011, 11:08 AM | esendex0