There is today an increasing phenomenon, most bloggers are not getting enough comments on their blog.

However, there are always some lucky people who appear to have no trouble getting comments. They seem to have comments coming out of every orifice. They could Write the minimalist of posts and still get loads!

But for the rest of us, this is not the case. A distinct lack of comments on your posts can be very demoralising. Some bloggers see this rejection as a kick in the teeth, and that nobody loves them or their blog.

The distress factor

Not getting enough comments can have a big effect on bloggers, especially those who put their heart and soul into what they write. They have probably spent a lot of time on their posts, thinking, researching, perfecting and goodness knows what else.

This results in making you think nobody is reading your posts. The blogosphere seems to be completely devoid of readers! Your posts float about where they just aren’t noticed!

But it’s not worth totally blaming the readers. There is a possibility it could be you and your blog that is at fault. If you’re prepared to consider this, read on.

Time to take a good look at your blog

I have created a quiz for you about not getting enough comments. However, I want you to be brutally honest about your blog and you attitude to blogging when you do it.

This is important. The answers presented to you may appear to be appealing, but if they aren’t exactly what your situation is, the result will be skewed.

And if you manage to remain truthful throughout this quiz, I want you to focus on the percentage you’ll get in the results page. If it’s high, well done! But if the percentage is low, you will have some work to do.

Take this quiz to find out why you’re not getting enough comments:

So let’s go through some of the issues this quiz brings up:

How are you connecting with your readers?

Finding the right niche or subject is imperative. If your blog is about something your potential readers aren’t interested in, they will never bother to stay and read it. What you write about needs to resonate with the right kind of readers if you want your blog to succeed.

Then you need to look at your writing style. You don’t have to be a whizz at writing, or even an expert at language. But you do need to be able to converse with your readers.

Blogging is like having a conversation with your readers. If you are naturally garrulous person, this will be much easier than a more academic writer. Think if blogging as a transcription of what you want to say to your readers written down in your post.

It’s true that talkative people tend to draw a crowd (as long as they’re not boring). They know all about communicating. They know exactly what to say that is attractive, what their readers want, and what makes them feel special, welcome, part of a community.

What can you provide for them?

It’s worth taking a look at how popular bloggers work, think and perform if you want to stop not getting enough comments on your blog.

For example, my daughter loves to watch various vloggers on her smartphone. Vloggers have become popular because they tend to avoid anything serious. And if their chosen subject is deep or meaningful, it is presented in an easy to understand way. There is no jargon or intellectual language, and instead they use examples their readers can relate to, to maintain their connection with them.

Have a look how your posts come across to your readers. Do you use the same sort of words they would use? How well do you understand your readers so that you can write the kind of content they really want to read?

Are you entertaining enough?

Make the experience of reading what you write fun and entertaining. Give your readers a good time by livening up your posts with your personality and passion. Start expressing your point of view in relation to yourself or the people around you. Give them a story or an anecdote to back up what you say.

Loosen up and go a bit mad with your blogging. Shorten your sentences by swapping commas with full stops (periods). Start sentences with ‘And’ or ‘But’ (just to annoy your English teacher). Take out superfluous words like ‘that’ which makes your writing more difficult to read. Reduce your paragraphs down to a maximum of four lines.

All this will come more naturally if you are able to write conversationally to your readers. Imagine talking to them, and even responding to their answers. No, this won’t result in you being dragged off by men in white coats! Better communication is more likely to prevent you not getting enough comments.

Are you giving too much away?

It’s not necessary to include absolutely everything in your posts. You may spend many hours doing research to make your posts worthy, but not everything needs to be included in one go.

The possibility of overloading your readers could result in not getting enough comments. Too many points could be making your posts too complex. Sometimes less is more is the answer here.

This is because if there’s nothing more to add, or you’ve covered every single point, what is left to be counteracted? There’s no room for argument. Or even disagreement. Your readers will love a well-balanced discussion in the comments, but this will only happen if you leave enough room for more.

What do you know about you readers?

What kind of readers does your blog attract? The more intellectual they are, the less likely they will provide spontaneous chitchat-like answers similar to on Social Media. These readers tend to be more reserved and mindful about what they do or say.

It also depends on how your posts are written. Various kinds of content are better suited to occupants of social media, who are quite happy to respond at a drop of a hat. Whereas others would prefer to reach for the like button, rather than spend the time and inclination thinking of something suitable to write.

And then there are time-poor readers, who prefer to dip into their RSS readers via their smartphones and skim read multiple posts in one sitting. These readers may not be in a suitable position to write a suitable comment your post deserves.

And some things get in the way

Blog comments aren’t designed for instantaneous feedback. There is that infernal delay while you wait for moderation, and the exasperation of the CAPTCHA barriers positioned to combat spam. Even logging in to comment immediately evaporates any desire that may have arisen.

Unlike commenting on social media, blog comments tend to require a more considered and comprehensive response, with good spelling, grammar and sentence construction, etc. There is also a need a proper beginning and end, almost like mini-posts themselves.

And some blogs are badly designed to prevent readers finding the comment box easily, or hide it underneath other call to actions. Unless the process to comment is simplified and made more attractive, the lack of incentive will mean you’re not getting enough comments.

How about looking elsewhere?

If you want to measure your posts’ success through comments, do they have to come from your blog? You could be getting sufficient feedback on social media instead.

Ironically, some readers see blogs as too public to leave a comment on. This is because comments stay forever with the post they are attributed to. Whereas on social media, comments are readily superseded by new content, even though there is the potential of them having a much larger audience.

Social networking may be freer, easier and more instantaneous, without any spam moderation, but it doesn’t stick around for long. The conversations there tend to be shorter, bittier, less considered, but they do generate more discussion. Perhaps you’re not getting enough comments on your blog because they are being left somewhere else instead?

Can your readers be bothered?

Some readers don’t feel compelled to comment. In fact only 10% will feel the need to leave a response, and of those, only 1% will be worth publishing. You may need a massive and regular readership to guarantee getting enough comments in the first place.

Many are just happy to read what you’ve written, acknowledge it silently to themselves, and then continue with their daily lives. They may act upon what you have given them, or even spend a bit of time thinking about it. You may even transform their lives. But they still won’t leave a comment.

Many readers are information gatherers, who obtain what they want and then leave. They will rarely bother to leave a comment, even for appreciation purposes. And many will be skim readers, who quickly glean the subject before rushing off to the next post. Even if they have the time, they will not have read enough to leave a comment.

But never give up just because you’re not getting enough comments

A blogger’s life is hard. However, why not form a tribe of like-minded bloggers to help you. Make an effort to get connections, form relationships and even spend time commenting on other blogs. This is not only for links back to your blog, but because you care about what other people write and they deserve something in return.

It’s important to carry on writing in spite of not getting enough comments. Once you’ve written that necessary viral post, your commenting dry-spell will cease. One day your lack of comments problem will be a phenomenon of the past.

61% of bloggers get personal satisfaction from just knowing they write good posts, regardless of whether people read them or not. It should be the joy of writing, the ability for self-expression, and the chance to educate and entertain your readers that should keep you going.

What do you think?

Now’s your chance to have your say. Why do you think you’re not getting enough comments? Does anything I’ve said here resonate with you? Let me know in the comment box below.

And have you done the quiz yet? Remember you need to be honest with your answers if you are to benefit from the results. Go on, have a go – what have you got to lose?

The post Why are you not getting enough comments on your blog? [Quiz] appeared first on Fairy Blog Mother.