Bloggers, it’s time we take a stand!
Bear with my. My title will make sense as you read the post!
Lately I’ve been working on Wealth and Wisdom a lot. Some of it was to improve our interface. A lot of it is to grow our subscriber base.
One area we have been working on is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). As I’ve implemented several things one thing jumps out at me…
Most blogs use nofollow tags on their comments
Of the 15 or 20 blogs I checked, only one had comments that didn’t use nofollow tags (thanks Pat, we appreciate it).
Nofollow tags prevent the search engines from following the link. The link owner gets no credit for it and it doesn’t contribute to their search engine ranking. While this effectively eliminates the spam issue it punishes legitimate commenters. One big reason people comment is for the link juice.
The spam problem
I understand why the search engines and the blogging platforms make this their default setting. Comment spam is a major issue. While spam filters like Akismet do a great job with obvious spam, the subtle spam comments get through.
What do I mean by subtle? It’s the comment that is generic and complementary. “Great blog. I just came across you and will be adding you to my reading list.”
These comments are harder to find. I had a bunch sprinkled through my blog and had to go back and delete them. How do you know when it’s spam and not just a complement? Copy the comment and paste it into google search. If you come up with hundreds (or hundreds of thousands) of results, the comment is spam. Report it!
Take a stand
We bloggers need to take a stand. Take back your blog. The answer to comment spam is vigilance by bloggers, not by indiscriminant nofollow tag use.
At Wealth and Wisdom we proudly use follow tags on all our comments. If your comment contributes to our community you will get full search engine credit.
I’m calling on all bloggers to do the same. It’s easy to do. If you use wordpress there are several plugins to allow follow tags. I personally use Nofollow Case by Case, but there are several others that are highly rated.
7 Responses to “Bloggers, it’s time we take a stand!”
Aaron
Brandt –
Thanks, and good point. If a comment is worthwhile and adds to the value or discussion, there\’s no reason to block it from getting the link, although these days I think more click throughs, especially on blogs, come from the social aspect associated with the blogosphere, and not as much from Google (e.g. I found your blog through Brian Armstrong over at startbreakingfree.com), but in any case, I agree with the post.
You mentioned that in WP there are plugins to allow follow tags. Do you have any examples that you\’ve used or seen? I\’d like to get one added to mine.
Thanks.
-Aaron
Scott
Thanks for this post Brandt.
Your right we need to be more vigil and monitor the comments to our blogs.
I will make sure I add the plugin for allowing follow tags to my blog too.
The other thing that bugs me is trackback uri. I think I get my head around there use then again I lose it. Just can\’t quite get the concept.
Two things for weekend maintenance this weekend.
Brandt Smith
@Aaron-I agree about the social aspect of commenting. One cool thing is to leave a great comment and then have that blogger show up and return the favor. And I personally make sure all my comments are well thought out and benefit the community. The SEO and traffic benefits are secondary.
From a SEO and traffic aspect comments have two benefits:
Blogs tend to get a lot of Google love due to their massive amount of content. The links just help drive your ranking higher for targeted keywords. If nofollow tags are used benefit of commenting goes out the door!
I use Nofollow Case by Case. There were several others but it seemed to be the best. I was looking to make dofollow tags the normal practice but still allow myself the ability to selectively make a link nofollow. nofollow Case by Case fit these guidelines best.
I also added nodofollow to Firefox. It allows me to see if a site uses nodofollow tags easily.
Brandt Smith
@Scott-Thanks. Spread the word!
You mention trackback uri. Where is your confusion?
Aaron
Thanks Brandt, I just downloaded and activated the plugin. Do I need to make any other changes in my configuration, or will that do it?
Appreciate for the post and link.
Thanks again,
Aaron
Brandt Smith
@Aaron-Just install and activate it. By the way, I just checked out your blog Think Forward Work Backwards. All your comments seem to be dofollow links so the plugin is working!
Aaron
Brandt,
Thanks for checking it out and letting me know. Any tips you have, or other feedback is greatly appreciated. I’m fairly new into blogging, so I’m always interested in learning from experienced folks.
Thanks again for the link on the plugin,
Aaron