So you’re blogging, building a following and generally trying to stand out from the swarming sea of other “me too” lawyers out there.
Do you turn your blog comments on, or off? On, of course. Any marketer will tell you that.
Except, of course, one in particular. A legal marketer who, oddly enough, has comments turned off and invites the reader to “Read through and enter the discussion with the form at the end.” The form, of course, is one of those that lets you email the post to someone else.
This is a guy who clearly knows everything there is to know in the entire world. The rest of the industry may now go home.
Don’t be a dummy like that marketer. Turn on your comments.
And in case you waver, here are my top 6 reasons why you must keep them on.
- Because you look like an elitist snob if you don’t. It’s like going to a cocktail party and standing in front of some blowhard who doesn’t let you get a word in edgewise because they’re oh-so-brilliant and have thought of absolutely every salient point in the conversation. Hey, I’ve got some advice for that jerk – go talk to a wall and stop wasting my time.
- Because other readers may have some value to add. Maybe I’m writing about a bankruptcy discharge violation and one of my visitors has an angle that involves the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. I probably want to hear about that because it may help my case, my level of understanding, and my other readers.
- Because it isn’t legal advice if someone asks a question. It just isn’t. And if you think it is, add a disclaimer onto your sidebar.
- Because if someone can’t add their two cents on your blog, they probably won’t think they can speak freely at all. And when people feel muzzled they don’t feel like they can trust you very much.
- Because more comments on your blog are better for your search engine optimization. There’s the elephant in the room – SEO. You blog to get to the top of the search engines for multiple long-tail keywords, right? Right. So when someone adds a comment they invariably are going to talk about the same stuff you’re talking about … including the same keywords. So if there’s more keyword-rich content on the blog, that’s better for your SEO. Your blog commenters help you in your quest for search engine domination.
- Because if you’re talking to yourself, you’re pontificating. And that’s cool for static websites, but not blogs. It’s the nature of the beast, friends. Blogging is social media – that means you gotta be social. Conversations and all that. Back and forth. Build relationships.
Oh, and if you’re worried about spam comments – don’t. There are a bunch of terrific ones out there to cut down your spam volume so it doesn’t bug you.
Do you have comments turned on? Turned off? Why? Let me know in the comments section below!
Image courtesy of Search Engine People.
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