By Yvette Valencia

Comments on your web content are a sign you're doing something right! Whether they're good or bad, receiving comments on your blog is an indicator that people are finding, reading and being influenced by your posts. Because your readers are taking the time to comment on your content, you should return the favor by responding to their web comments.

Responding to Positive Comments Increases Client Dialogue

Everyone loves to get a personal thank you note after giving a gift. Consider comments gifts from your readers and your response a thank you note.

Even if somebody writes something short like, “Great info!” take the time to acknowledge the comment, especially if you don’t get a lot of comments. A simple, “Thank you!” could suffice for these short comments. If you get hundreds of comments, you might choose to write a single note to all the readers who commented thanking them for their kind words if you don’t have time to respond to each one.

When you get longer comments that go in depth about your content, take a bit more time to respond. If you get dozens of these longer comments, you might have to pick and choose which you respond to. But showing commenters that you read and respond to their thoughts will help promote a dialogue between the readers and your site. This, in turn, may foster a stronger relationship with your potential clients.

Responding to Negative Web Comments

While words will never hurt you, you should discourage outright harassment on your site, especially if it attacks your law firm or the clients your law firm serves. Sometimes negative comments come from clients using your blog as a public sounding board for issues with their cases. In these situations, it's best to add a public follow-up comment briefly addressing their concerns while mentioning that you will be contacting them privately to discuss their issue further.

In other cases, you'll get general harassment from non-clients just out to bother you. Always remember to keep calm and civil when responding to these negative comments. You don't want to create the impression that a few negative comments from strangers can ruffle your feathers. Address their comment with respect. If the commenter took issue with something you wrote, calmly explain your reasoning.

The last thing you want to do when responding to negative web comments is encourage hecklers. Responding with animosity will only make the matter worse.

Never Turn Your Back on a Comment

Even spam comments deserve your attention. If your site is receiving too many spam comments (nonsensical words or ads for unrelated sites), talk to your webmaster about anti-spam measures. Fixing spam can be as easy as adding the Akismet plugin for WordPress-based sites or adding a Captcha or other human vs. robot check mechanism. Letting spam get out of control will hide relevant comments and can hinder discussion or engagement with your readers.

Remember that you can't get quality comments unless you have quality content. Let We Do Web Content fill your blog and website with quality, engaging content that will inspire your readers to talk about and share your posts. Just fill out our contact form or call us at 888-521-3880 to inquire about all the services we offer to help grow your web traffic and boost your Internet presence.

By Yvette Valencia

Obtaining website comments about content on your site is a sign that you're writing blogs and articles that make people take notice of what you have to say.

There are many types of web comments that could be submitted to your web content and each type should be handled differently. The one similarity is that comments should never be ignored; even writing a simple "thanks" can let readers know you're paying attention to what they have to say.

Responding to Positive Comments

Positive comments, even brief ones that just state how much a reader liked your article, should be acknowledged and responded to in a timely manner. The purpose of web comments is to engage your readers in dialogue to show that you're not an automated content farm. You're a business that truly cares about what its customers or clients have to say.

In most cases, a simple "thanks for the comment!" will do as a response. But try to respond with something relevant and insightful once in a while, especially if a commenter took the time to leave a long and insightful comment. You can also use positive comments as an opportunity to find out what you're doing right.

In your response try asking questions like these.

• What part of the blog/article did you like the best or was most helpful?
• Was there anything I didn't talk about or explain that you'd like to see covered in a future blog post?
• Is there anything I can do to help you with (topic of article)?
• What other similar topics would you like to read about?

Your positive commenters can be a great source of inspiration for future article and blog topics if you take the time to respond and track their comments.

Responding to Negative Comments

The first thing worth mentioning about negative comments is that you should almost never delete them to hide them from your page. The only time you should do this is if they are full of inappropriate language or content. Otherwise, they should be handled just like positive comments by issuing a full and engaging response.

If the comment brings up a specific issue with your web content or company, address that issue as fully as appropriate in a public forum. If the comment is sensitive or personal in nature, ask the commenter to send you a private email or call your office to discuss his or her grievances.

Above all, be civil. Getting angry at rude or childish commenters will do nothing but harm your reputation. Responding with dignity and patience and asking what the problem is rather than yelling, is a much better response in the eyes of other readers.

Responding to Spam Comments

Believe it or not, you should respond to spam comments, just not on your actual site. If you're using a platform such as WordPress to post your web content, you should install an anti-spam measure such as Akismet. If you do not manage your site, talk to your webmaster about automated spam controls.

If you manage spam manually, keep your comment queue clear by deleting spam comments every few days. If you receive a high volume of spam comments, you may want to implement a comment approval system where you must approve the comments before they appear on the site.

Comments on your web content are a great sign for site owners. It means that human readers are coming by and engaging with the content they're offering. Google picks this up by tracking the time spent on pages and uses that as a ranking factor in the search results. If you have quality, relevant content that's easy to read and gives readers something to talk about, you should be getting comments worth replying to!

At We Do Web Content, Inc. our goal is to provide our clients with the kind of quality content that inspires readers to share and comment. Just give us a call or fill out our contact form to learn about our content marketing services and ghostwriting options. Your comment sections will thank you! Call 888-521-3880.