Written on November 15th, 2006 at 12:11 pm by Darren Rowse
Building Faithful Readership
The following reader ‘quick tip’ was submitted by Shawn Blanc from Fighting to Stay Awake
Something I’ve done and still try to do if I can is to send an email to those leaving comments for the first time.
When someone comments on my site for the first time I send them a thank-you email.
I say something like:
“Thanks for the comment on such-and-such post. I don’t know if you’re new to the site or if you’ve been reading for a while and this is your first comment but either way your feedback is apprecated and always welcome.”
This helps them feel noticed and part of the community; like someone is paying attention to what they have to say.
13 Responses to “Building Faithful Readership”
brem
November 15th, 2006 1:15 pm
Nice tip. Although you don’t want to sound too desperate for commenters.
I think this is probably more effective than replying to commenters. I’ll try to implement it. Thanks.
Caydel
November 15th, 2006 1:16 pm
That’s actually a very good tip - the more you make your readers feel appreciated, the more they will appreciate you (and your site).
Trevor
November 15th, 2006 2:34 pm
I’ve used this idea very successfully on my three blogs. I believe it helps to build a loyal readership.
JohnTP
November 15th, 2006 2:54 pm
I used to do this in my first few months of blogging but then it gets harder when the number of commenters on your blog increases.
Encouraging Your First Time Commenters - JohnTP.com
November 15th, 2006 6:35 pm
[…] Shawn Blanc from Fighting to Stay Awake had got his ‘quick tip’ submitted on Problogger.net today. It’s a simple tip that I used to do in my first few months of blogging - When someone comments on your site for the first time, send them a thank-you email […]
Jack Humphrey
November 15th, 2006 9:18 pm
Seems like a plugin would be in order. Why do that by hand? It is a GREAT idea, but the same thing can be said for every single commentor without having to email them manually.
If someone created a plugin to respond automatically to all commentors you could implement this strategy no sweat.
Let me know when it’s done! lol
pcunix
November 15th, 2006 9:22 pm
There’s also the issue that you are requiring them to provide an email address.. yes, most comment systems do require that, and I suppose most of us are used to it, but I took that requirement off my comment system and increased commenting activity.
People don’t like to “register”, don’t like sharing personal info..
jhay
November 15th, 2006 10:54 pm
Great tip. This works best if the commenter was just a pure visitor not having his/her own site or blog. I’ve had an experience where my non-blogging friends were a bit reluctant to visit my site because they thought blogs are just for bloggers.
Shawn Blanc
November 16th, 2006 2:49 am
@ jhay - That’s exactly the circle of people that it has helped keep faithful: those without blogs of thier own.
A plugin would be great.
I have to spotlight thier name through my email folder with all the comment emails I’ve gotten from wordpress to make sure it’s not someone that already commented a while ago and has been lurking for 3 months. The plugin would also need a delayed response. If they get an e-mail 10 seconds after commenting they’re going to know something fishy and impersonal is going on.
Thomas Holmes
November 17th, 2006 1:18 am
Nice tip Shawn! Just got to lure someone in to comment first!
Lindalee
November 17th, 2006 3:15 am
Great tip. I don’t have that many commenters, so it will be easy for me to drop them an e-mail. I’m just so happy when someone leaves a comment; I’ll try not to gush when I write… :)
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December 15th, 2006 11:23 pm
[…] Building Faithful Readership - respond to commenters […]
Cara Hurley
March 31st, 2008 6:26 am
Great tip.
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