Every so often we participate in a commentathon where a group of bloggers get together and read, comment and share each others posts. It’s a lot of fun because we get introduced to new blogs and new readers are introduced to our blog. But I’ve noticed that people seem to have trouble putting together an epic post so the last time I participated, I wrote down all the good and bad things my blogging friends and I noticed about the posts we were reading. I’ve grouped and summarized these tips for writing so you can write an epic post and get the most out of a commentathon.
Things You Should Do
- Write a unique SEO friendly post. No posts older than 30 days. No guest authors.
- Include a short “get to know me/blog” at the bottom with links to your top/favorite/fun posts. Don’t forget to remind your new reader how they can connect with you. Push those mailing lists!
- Ask a question or at least nudge the commenter about what to say.
- Turn off all pesky extra comment spam prevention junk. No one wants to create a login, check two boxes, enter a captcha and think of a brilliant comment. Keep it simple.
- Give something to your readers. Giveaways, free ebook, free printable, special discount, etc.
- Pay close attention to those deadlines. Write them down and manage your time appropriately.
Things To Avoid
- Writing about extreme or sensitive topics. Stick to things that apply to a wider audience. Remember this post is the first impression new readers have of your site.
- Including a lengthy introduction is not interesting to your current readers. New readers are likely to hop away faster than you think.
- Stay on topic. You want new readers that will stick around. If you’re a tech blog, writing an article about you favorite dog breed doesn’t set the right expectations for new readers.
- Keep your current readers in mind. Don’t write a post that you wouldn’t have otherwise written.
- An abundance of affiliate links can makes you look bad to your new reader. Remember the point is to convert new readers to regular readers.
And whatever you do…
Please don’t title your post with Commentathon, Blogelina, or other nonsense stuff. An epic post is one that you would have written anyway so don’t nullify that by announcing that you’re only posting this because of the commentathon. And yes, I have been guilty of doing this and will keep it in mind going forward.
