It is widely know that getting back links to your site will improve your rankings with the search engines but getting links by leaving blog comments is commonly over looked.
There are a lot of people out there that will tell you don't bother to use blog comments because all the blogs have no follow tags now and the search engines don't record the links.
This is both true and not true at the same time. Yes, a vast majority of the blogs you find will have the no follow tag on the comments. But there are some that don't have no follow tags.
The default installation of WordPress automatically adds the no follow tags to the comments but if you know what you are doing you can find blogs that don't have the no follow tag or will remove the no follow tag in return for you making a certain number of posts.
Go out and post your comments on these blogs but before you do I want to make sure you aren't leaving spammy comments so here is some blog comments etiquette.
Any comment you leave on a blog MUST have something to do with the content of the post.
For example if the post is on blog comments your comment should be related to that post and have something to do with the content of the post. Don't leave a comment talking about how to conquer the newest MLM offering.
When you are writing your comments don't put any links in the body of the comment. Not only is this poor etiquette it can actually get you listed on the comment spam lists if you are reported by the blog owners. You can put a link in the comment body if, and only if, it is a resource to something in the post.
Most of the time when I set up a blog I set the comments in the discussion area so that if you put links in the body of the comment it will send your comment to moderation where I have to review and approve or deny the comment before it is posted. This stops all the spammy links.
The name field for the comment form should only be filled with your name or moniker and a moniker should only be used if it describes you or your business accurately. Don't stuff the name with keywords if you start doing this you might have some blog masters ban you and put you on the spam lists. You can have keywords in your moniker but only if they apply (as stated above) to you personally or your business but you are always better of using a name that can be used to recognize you.
That pretty much covers the etiquette but I can hear a lot of you out there screaming, "Why should I bother if it is going to have the no follow tag on the back link?"
There are a number of reasons why you should do this:
1.People will see your comments and your links even if there is a no follow tag. If you put 4 comments on blogs per day you will end up with over 1,500 links in a year. These links will be seen by potentially tens of thousands of readers that might visit your site.
2.If your comments are on topic and informative people will remember your name and you will become a known expert in the field. This is part of the reason you want to use the same name.
3.Just like above if your comment is interesting people will click on your link out of curiosity just to see what else you have to say.
4.Just because the major search engines abide by the no follow tag doesn't mean everybody does. The last time I checked Ask would follow no follow tags and there are some ad services that do their own back link testing that will follow these links and this could raise the amount you collect for showing their ads.
If comments have the no follow tag activated how do you tell?
The most obvious way is to find a comment and look at the page source, pour through all the code looking for the link on the name and seeing if the no follow tag is in the link. This will drive you crazy if you do it a lot of times but it does work.
An easier way is to use FireFox or Flock browser (If you are not using one these you should be) and get the SEO for FireFox addon (It works in FireFox and Flock) you can find it as SEOTools.com or just search for it in Google.
This plugin will provide you with a lot of SEO information but it will also highlight any links that have no follow tags in red. If you find a post with comments if the name for the comment is highlighted in red it has no follow tags. Don't worry if you get tired of the red highlights you can turn the plugin off with a click at the bottom of your browser.
People that run WordPress blogs want you to leave comments and they don't want spam comments so a lot of them have started using a plugin that rewards the people that comment frequently, this plugin is called Lucia's Linky Love.
Once Lucia's is installed the blog master can set up the comments so that after a person make so many comments the no follow tag is removed for that person.
It checks the name and email address to see if this person has ever commented before and keeps track of all the ones that match. If you use different names (which has already been pointed out as a no no) or different emails you will never have the no follow tags removed.
The blog master gets to choose the number of comments it takes to qualify for no follow tag removal, the minimum number is 3 and the maximum is whatever they feel like. I usually see it set between 3 and 5 which means you have to make 4 to 6 post before you get a back link to your site.
How do you find blogs that use Lucia's Linky Love plugin? The easiest way is to use Google's Blogsearch, put your keywords in quotes and then put a plus sign and then Lucia's Linky in quotes and do you search. It should look something like this "keyword phrase"+"Lucia's Linky" you results should sow you posts that are related to your keywords and using Lucia's Linky Love plugin.
I use this on my blogs and I have it set at three. Because I read the comments and if they are spammy I delete them manual link spammers never get the three links they need. This encourages better comments and more comments.
There are a lot of people out there that will tell you don't bother to use blog comments because all the blogs have no follow tags now and the search engines don't record the links.
This is both true and not true at the same time. Yes, a vast majority of the blogs you find will have the no follow tag on the comments. But there are some that don't have no follow tags.
The default installation of WordPress automatically adds the no follow tags to the comments but if you know what you are doing you can find blogs that don't have the no follow tag or will remove the no follow tag in return for you making a certain number of posts.
Go out and post your comments on these blogs but before you do I want to make sure you aren't leaving spammy comments so here is some blog comments etiquette.
Any comment you leave on a blog MUST have something to do with the content of the post.
For example if the post is on blog comments your comment should be related to that post and have something to do with the content of the post. Don't leave a comment talking about how to conquer the newest MLM offering.
When you are writing your comments don't put any links in the body of the comment. Not only is this poor etiquette it can actually get you listed on the comment spam lists if you are reported by the blog owners. You can put a link in the comment body if, and only if, it is a resource to something in the post.
Most of the time when I set up a blog I set the comments in the discussion area so that if you put links in the body of the comment it will send your comment to moderation where I have to review and approve or deny the comment before it is posted. This stops all the spammy links.
The name field for the comment form should only be filled with your name or moniker and a moniker should only be used if it describes you or your business accurately. Don't stuff the name with keywords if you start doing this you might have some blog masters ban you and put you on the spam lists. You can have keywords in your moniker but only if they apply (as stated above) to you personally or your business but you are always better of using a name that can be used to recognize you.
That pretty much covers the etiquette but I can hear a lot of you out there screaming, "Why should I bother if it is going to have the no follow tag on the back link?"
There are a number of reasons why you should do this:
1.People will see your comments and your links even if there is a no follow tag. If you put 4 comments on blogs per day you will end up with over 1,500 links in a year. These links will be seen by potentially tens of thousands of readers that might visit your site.
2.If your comments are on topic and informative people will remember your name and you will become a known expert in the field. This is part of the reason you want to use the same name.
3.Just like above if your comment is interesting people will click on your link out of curiosity just to see what else you have to say.
4.Just because the major search engines abide by the no follow tag doesn't mean everybody does. The last time I checked Ask would follow no follow tags and there are some ad services that do their own back link testing that will follow these links and this could raise the amount you collect for showing their ads.
If comments have the no follow tag activated how do you tell?
The most obvious way is to find a comment and look at the page source, pour through all the code looking for the link on the name and seeing if the no follow tag is in the link. This will drive you crazy if you do it a lot of times but it does work.
An easier way is to use FireFox or Flock browser (If you are not using one these you should be) and get the SEO for FireFox addon (It works in FireFox and Flock) you can find it as SEOTools.com or just search for it in Google.
This plugin will provide you with a lot of SEO information but it will also highlight any links that have no follow tags in red. If you find a post with comments if the name for the comment is highlighted in red it has no follow tags. Don't worry if you get tired of the red highlights you can turn the plugin off with a click at the bottom of your browser.
People that run WordPress blogs want you to leave comments and they don't want spam comments so a lot of them have started using a plugin that rewards the people that comment frequently, this plugin is called Lucia's Linky Love.
Once Lucia's is installed the blog master can set up the comments so that after a person make so many comments the no follow tag is removed for that person.
It checks the name and email address to see if this person has ever commented before and keeps track of all the ones that match. If you use different names (which has already been pointed out as a no no) or different emails you will never have the no follow tags removed.
The blog master gets to choose the number of comments it takes to qualify for no follow tag removal, the minimum number is 3 and the maximum is whatever they feel like. I usually see it set between 3 and 5 which means you have to make 4 to 6 post before you get a back link to your site.
How do you find blogs that use Lucia's Linky Love plugin? The easiest way is to use Google's Blogsearch, put your keywords in quotes and then put a plus sign and then Lucia's Linky in quotes and do you search. It should look something like this "keyword phrase"+"Lucia's Linky" you results should sow you posts that are related to your keywords and using Lucia's Linky Love plugin.
I use this on my blogs and I have it set at three. Because I read the comments and if they are spammy I delete them manual link spammers never get the three links they need. This encourages better comments and more comments.
About the Author:
About The Author: Randy The Hermit Baustert has been working online since 1994 and is the top rated SEO expert according to ExpertRating.com the industry testing services. You can find more free information on SEO and blogging at his newest blog How To Blog Site
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