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(Last updated on September 11, 2014)
Have you ever noticed in the comment section of certain blogs a small additional feature, called CommentLuv, where you can place a link to your most recent blog post against your comment?
If you’re not familiar with it then take a look at the comment section for this post. And if you want to see how it works in practice then go ahead and try it out when you’ve finished reading.
What Is CommentLuv?
Basically it’s a WordPress plugin designed to reward readers for taking the time to comment and engage with your blog.
It works by asking you to enter the URL for your blog’s home page. Then, while you type in your comment, it visits your own site and retrieves a list of your recent posts.
When you’re done, you simply choose which post you want to include as your link. CommentLuv then displays that link directly below your comment, using the headline of your selected post as the anchor text.
Why Readers Love It
1. Headlines Draw More Attention to Your Link
If you’re building online relationships through blog commenting then it’s only natural you want other people to find their way to your own blog and check out your content.
Now most commenting systems allow you to link back to your own site – which is great.
But the trouble is they generally offer you just a single link back to your site and display the anchor text as your name. As you can imagine, just a person’s name in the visible text of a link isn’t very interesting. And it’s not much of an incentive to click on it either.
This is where CommentLuv is different.
As well as providing a link showing your name, it also offers a second one displaying the headline of one of your posts. So if the headline for your own blog post is strong then chances are good that other readers will notice it, click on your link and visit your own blog.
Here’s an example of a comment about the very same subject I made on Kikolani earlier this year:
2. You Get More Links That Search Engines Follow
Long gone are the days when backlinks from comments had any significant positive impact on your search engine rankings.
But, when you comment on most CommentLuv-enabled blogs, you do at least get something back for getting involved in the conversation. Here’s why:
By default, the comment links in a standard WordPress blog are set to nofollow. So, when you comment on most WordPress sites, you get no SEO benefit whatsoever.
On the other hand, when CommentLuv is installed, the blog owner has the option to set outbound links to dofollow. This means that search engines do give your backlink some value – however small it is.
When a link contains the nofollow attribute, search engines generally ignore the link and don’t pass any SEO value to the page it links to.
3. You Get Links to More Interesting Pages on Your Site
Ask yourself why you’re reading this post right now. You’re not out to buy anything, but looking for knowledge, professional tips or topical discussion.
Therefore it surely stands to reason that most other readers are doing the same too.
So imagine you make a comment on this blog. And other readers are given a choice between visiting an interesting post you’ve written or a sales-oriented home page. Which one do you think they’re going to choose?
That’s right.
The blog post that provides useful, informational content.
4. You Get Links to Different Pages on Your Site
When you regularly contribute comments to a blog, the blog owner and other visitors will soon start to notice you. And, at some stage, many of them will click on your link and check you out.
However, the vast majority of blogs only let you include a link to your home page. So, with every comment you make, you get the same link back to your site over and over again. So after someone’s made their first visit, your link will never show anything to suggest they should visit again.
By contrast, CommentLuv links to one of your recent posts. This means that, whenever you make comment, you have the scope to link back to a different page on your site.
And when other people see a link to something different, they have new reason to visit your blog once again.
5. You Can Include Keywords without Being a Spammer
It wasn’t long ago when SEOs told us we needed relevant keywords in the anchor text of links back to our site.
But things have moved on. Sure, keywords still matter – but only when they occur naturally in our links.
Now consider this.
When you write a blog post headline, your keywords should be natural, make perfect sense and tell readers and search engines precisely what your post is about. So if that headline appears in the anchor text of your CommentLuv backlink then much the same will apply.
And think about it another way. When it comes to your anchor text, what could be more natural than the actual title of your post?
Why Bloggers Love It
6. You Give Readers More Incentive to Comment
Virtually every blogger should be looking for ways to encourage comments on their posts.
Not only do they foster a community spirit around your blog, but they also give it more credibility.
What’s more, comments are value-added user-generated content. And they often make fascinating additional reading.
So if you can reward readers for their contributions, which is what CommentLuv does, then people are far likelier to join in.
7. Your Blog Becomes a More Valuable Resource
By showing links to posts on other blogs, your comment section offers readers access to a whole host of other interesting content.
This will give them a much richer user experience.
And that means more incentive for people to come back to your blog in search for more.
Have Your Say
Do you use CommentLuv on your own blog? How do you find it? Tell us your views and experiences below.
In our next post: Discover the non-existent words and phrases that have the potential to make YOU look like a halfwit copywriter.
About the Author
Kevin Carlton is an IT copywriter and blogger based in Stafford in the UK. He is owner of freelance copywriting service Write Online, which helps technology companies get the most out of their online presence.
hey there nice review of commentluv and don’t forget the ReplyMe addition which has already been shown to really increase the engagement with blogs that get comments!
Andrew Bailey recently posted…Global CommentLuv Search
Thanks for letting us know about the ReplyMe addition Andrew.
You’ll also notice that I’ve amended my post to clarify how CommentLuv gives blog owners the option to set outbound links to dofollow.
Hi Kevin,
I’m glad you got a chance to write about CommentLuv.
What Andy said is true about the ReplyMe feature adding even more engagement. I’ve seen it on Basic Blog Tips for sure.
I also love the fact that I removed the Subscribe to Comments plugin also.
Thanks for the post!
Ileane recently posted…Global CommentLuv Search
Ileane, I must say that I do get fed up with repeatedly going back to certain blogs to find out whether anyone has responded to my comments.
In other words, ReplyMe makes very good sense where engagement is concerned.
Very good point and it does make interacting with your blog much easier, which encourages people to do so and therefore boosts your SEO. Happy days all round!
Mike, I’m glad someone has picked up on the fact that CommentLuv has SEO benefits not just to the commenter but also to the blog owner (in terms of more user-generated content).
By the way, my own CommentLuv settings have dofollow enabled. So, as you say, it’s happy days all round!
Hi Kevin –
Thanks for the reminder about the benefits with this.. especially being able to connect with other blogs (that’s how I found this entry!) I think I need to install another new app on my blog now! :)
Cheers,
Craig
Craig
It’s very rewarding as a blog writer when people comment on your posts, on top of all the other benefits. So I hope CommentLuv also works for you.
I also notice that you, too, are a freelance writer, so I’ll check out your blog from time to time.
And, of course, don’t be surprised if I make a comment.
This can only be used on wordpress.org I beleive, it that correct?
Peter D. Mallett recently posted…When Editing Gets Away From You (A Confession)
Peter, you raised an interesting point and got me looking online to see if it was available to other types of blog and CMS.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it to me.
However, the creator of CommentLuv, Andy Bailey, who left the first comment on this post may be available to confirm this.
Ileane, who has also commented here, runs the CommentLuv Facebook page. She may be the better person to contact and will be able to let you know of current alternatives and future developments.
We have kicked around the idea of using CommentLuv in the past, but have shied away after colleagues reported a massive rise in spam comments after installing. What has been your experience with that? Did you see any issues crop up after implementing the plugin? As of now, our blog is in WordPress with the Disqus commenting system installed. It seems to be working like a charm, but we’re always open to new ideas if they provide value.
Tommy Landry @ Return On Now SEO recently posted…How To Build A Social Media Strategy Template
Tommy, I’ve used CommentLuv on my blog pretty well from the word go. So I can’t really say whether the plugin has made a difference to the number of spam comments or not.
One thing I can say, though, is that I don’t really have a problem with spam.
I think the two main reasons for this are:
– I moderate the first comment anyone makes
– I use the Growmap Anti Spambot Plugin (GASP)
The GASP plugin (which is free) does a number of things to filter out spam. But one of the main features is a checkbox that commenters have to tick to confirm they’re not a spambot. You should be able to see it in the Leave a Comment section below.
In other words, what I’m saying is that if you do decide to use CommentLuv then install the GASP plugin at the same time.
Please come back and leave a comment if you do give CommentLuv a go. I’d be interested to know how you get on.
Thank you for clearing this up! I was so confused about commentluv links until now. Thank you again
Hi Scott
Even though commenters get a free backlink from my site in exchange for their comment, I always prefer them to make use of the CommentLuv facility. Links to other resources just make the comment stream more interesting.