How important are comments for you?
We often see bloggers implementing many startegies to attract comments on their blogs. How important are the comments to you considering the fact that it is mostly the co bloggers who comment on your blog and not others. The other loyal readers simply read and thank you in their hearts for having produced such beautiful content.
And a question: What strategies have you implemented to attract comments on your blog?
Comments are very very inspiring because they signify reader involvement (when they don't signify link-building :D ). Probably 2 out of every 100 of your readers will comment. Comments are indeed satisfying for this reason.
How did you come to a conclusion on those statistics: 2 out of 100?
One can intelligently diable comments if the blog gets hardly any comments and sate that commenting was disabled to keep a check on spammers. Another marketing idea. 
Must be true. *dhishum*
;o)
@Rumbaho you are right!! comments from unknown people are important too!! only then we know how much exposure is our blog getting beyond the bloggin network we are in!! but as arti said people coming from outside the network rarely comment!!
I am happy to get some comments from people on indiblogger, but it would be great to have some found-your-blog-on-google comments too. know what I mean? That way, I know I am being seeing by people without having the visibility that one gets here.
On this site, we are all bloggers patting each other's backs. It's encouraging, but its not enough. It's like me telling my friend that he is doing a good job, or some random person on the street tellling him the same because they found my friend to be doing something good. I think comments from unknown people are very important too.
dunno if my opinion will change or not. will keep writing meanwhile and hope for the best.
@ Art accept with your view. But at the same time, some even search for blogs of their niche.
@ rumbaho What you said about the IndiBlogger community is true. Even today I can't believe that I had found IndiBlogger only after a long time after I knew what blogging is. The network should expand. The comments made on an IndiBlogger's blog seem to come only from other members in this community.
Comments are what keep keeps you gois in the initial phase. It feels good to be know that people read you and bother to engage with you.
But after a while, when you have travelled further down the blogging journey comments are just a method of social proof.
and even further down, they dont matter :)
maybe. i dunno really. I'm still in the "good-to-know-that-people-read-what-i-write-and-bother-to-engage" stage.
@Aditya: You are kind of right. When I started blogging, I used be so happy whenever I would see a new comment on my blog. But today after two years of blogging, I know comments are not everything. I've learned a lot in these two years. There are people who just comment on your blog for the sole purpose of getting you to comment on theirs. Then there are people who comment just for the sake of it. This is not a good practice in my view(That is what I feel.Don't know about others. To each his own). I read many blogs, but I don't comment on all of them, I only comment on those where I have something to say.
I would prefer one sincere comment on my post rather than 100s of present sir/madam or I-commented-on-yours-now-you-must-comment-on-mine comments.
@ Aditya Well said
@ Arti You may realise that after five more years. If you have hundreds and thousands of readers (who simply read and not comment) you can still be happy by looking at your Google Analytics account: the average time spent ona page by readers.
I wonder if girls get more comments than guys. hmm.
+1 to that thought.
I too have felt it sometimes but not always the case.
@Rumbaho yeah, its a long debated topic at IndiBlogger.. if you dust trhough old discussions, you may find many such issues raised by the "male member gang" about the side treatment we are receieving. 
Well said. We need to take the suggesstions given by our readers seriously. After all it is for them that we write.
Hey Ranjith, Nice topics man..love the initiative u're taking out here - many of ur topics really made me rethink a lot about many forgotten aspects of blogging :D
Good one here too..think comments give a blogger tht reassurance tht his posts r being read n r being appreciated. I know some bloggers who revert to comments by commenting back and I think that's a real cool thing.. I'm trying to do the same :)
One 'strategy' which I used was this, which I temporarily discontinued cos somehow didnt like the way it later turned out.. :D
Good job, Ranjith :)
@ RAJ Thank you. never thought that one can give so many awards for commentators (Regarding the link)
I remmeber one joke: There was an award ceremony being hels to give away titles to the best perfrmances in serials. And the award list goes in this way: Best wife, Best husbanmd, Best 2nd wife, Best 3rd wife,.....Best 100th wife, Best maid, and so on.......
@ Arti: A small doubt: Why don't you reply to comments on your blog?
yes...comments are the treasures a blogger can get!! its hard to get genuine readers to the blog and some of them even if they read may not prefer to comment!!
lately i have been getting some good comments on my blog posts...earlier i was not so much into blogging!! but these days i spend more time reading other blogs and commenting on the posts that totally impress me!! and i try to make sure my comments are more than "nice post" "good read" etc.. i try to go deep into their content and comment with my whole heart!! now thats helping me get more people to read and comment on my blog too. 
its a give and take relation when it comes to blogging friends
there are few of my friends who are not into blogging..they do comment about my posts too but mostly through mails and chat box...they dont usually prefer to comment in the blog!!
U're so right Cinderella :)
I so agree.."its a give and take relation when it comes to blogging friends" :)
As stated, therelies the problem. Real readers read but do not comment. Co Bloggers read (I'm not sure) and comment only if you do it. A perfect balance between these two things is necessary.
good read, nice post, and certain two worded comments are a turn offs really, and to add to that, a request to visit them back and comment on theirs makes things go a lill far too much..
Comments are important, IMO. I've seen many blogs where people post dozens or comments. I am talkibg about individual personal blogs, of course. The kind of readership that it requires must be very high though. I suppose once a person frequently reads someone's blog, they ultimately start commenting on something. But I'm sure it is a slow process that builds up enough of a connection with readers that they feel compelled to speak up.
I have no strategy. Mine is a new blog, barely a few days old. Am open to intelligent imitation though. So, who's got the strategy? speak up, NOW!
Go to a school where children are not much aware of blogs and comments. Teach them something about blogging. Ask them to visit your blog and keep commenting. Loyal readers. Trying to do something like that for my own blog.
err, am I one of your "students" too? hehe
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