All successful blogs have two things in common – the first being that they all have their own loyal readers and the second being that all successful blogs are also laden with quality comments from site visitors and readers. Intelligent comments are vital in elevating a blog’s popularity as it helps keep the blog post active and fresh while also creating an open dialogue between the readers and the bloggers.
The interesting thing is that what most bloggers are oblivious to is that their blogs might already be receiving hundreds of blog comments on a daily basis. The reason why these comments are not too noticeable is simply because it has been caught by anti-spam plug-ins which works at processing, identifying and filtering out all spam comments from being published on your blog.
The good news is that having these plug-ins means that you won’t ever have to wake up one day and discover that all your blog posts have been flooded with a mother lode of spam messages. The bad news though is that processing hundreds (or perhaps even thousands) of spam everyday requires plenty of processing power.
When Should You Turn Off Your Comments?
If your blog has been loading noticeably slower for no justifiable reason, it could be that spam comments are overloading your server, which will then cause your site to subsequently load at a dawdling pace. Of course, if your site has already become a victim of human and bot spamming, then you should also close the comments to your blog postings.
Comments versus Spam
The biggest opportunity cost to closing off all comments is that your faithful readers will not be able to leave any feedback on any of you blog posts. To free yourself of spam, have your server running faster while also keeping your readers happy, you might want to only close off comments on older posts.
Generally, a good rule of thumb is to only close comments for posts over one week old, although this also depends on how often you publish your blog posts. On the other hand, there are also bloggers who practice selective comment closing, where only posts with obvious expiry dates (such as posts about contests) have closed comments once it’s past its prime date.
The reason why you wouldn’t want to completely close off the commenting option on your entire blog is because it tends to put a limit on your blog’s popularity, particularly if it is an epic post. A well-written, interesting blog post will be evergreen, regardless of what date it is. Hence, by closing down the comments section, you are essentially ending the discussion and hence stumping the growth of said blog post before it had a chance to go viral.
Occasionally, you might also come across odd comments left on old posts which would have been helpful when it comes to writing your next new blog posting or to help you improve your overall blog site. For example, a blogger who reviews food will benefit from helpful readers who report about the current quality of the food or revised opening times by leaving a comment on the old blog post.
Similarly, those who review products on their blogs will also be able to build on the quality of their posting by asking their readers to leave their own opinions and comments regarding the product being reviewed.
The Final Word
Having a steady stream of comments is essential when it comes to creating a popular blog. However, if you are plagued by spam and have no choice but to optimize your site by closing down the comments on most of your blog posts, do try to establish another form of communication with your readers, either via e-mail, Twitter, or Facebook. This way, you can still keep your blog running smoothly while you receive feedback on your postings.
The author is an experienced web hosting professional who has been building websites since more than 10 years ago. She shares her hosting knowledge and research at Top Web Hosting, a hosting review and resources website. Check out her website for latest hosting deals and discounts.
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Article by Jasmine
Jasmine has written 3 articles .
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BloggersPassion was started on Jan 01, 2010 on the world’s most awesome blogging platform- WordPress. This blog was started to share blogging tips and for helping you become a successful full time blogger. Blogging is an art and the more you do it, the more you perfect you become.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
that is a great idea then maybe you get more of a response on your newer posts and keep spam down.
Hi Hilary, thanks for your comment. Yes, generally this will greatly reduce spam and at the same time make your blog load more quickly and thus helps in getting more readers.
Have a great day!
Great post Jasmine…..It is the best way to reduce the comment…
It is always useful to close comments on older posts so that there is not much outer linking.
I have never though to turn off blog comment on my blog even it was an older post. I just think they may have interested to the post and willing to spread it among his friends. And I think it is possible to get additional visitors from.
Lukman, you are absolutely right. Thanks for your comment.
I agree the point,The reason why you wouldn’t want to completely close off the commenting option on your entire blog is because it tends to put a limit on your blog’s popularity, particularly my product industrial fan is fit for the Point.
Thanks for your comment, Wayne jiang.