I often wonder whether I have ‘Comments’ working properly on this blog. The reason is that I seem to get so few comments happening. I don’t know why this should be – the stats are telling me that the blog is getting a lot of visitors (easily over 20,000 each month). Now, whilst I realise not everyone will have the time or inclination to post a comment, I would have thought that – now and again – more people would. There are one or two entries on here that I’m surprised have generated little or no response. Are my readers just not interested in commenting or has something gone astray here? I have a plug-in to prevent comment spam and I’m not aware that it’s zapping legitimate comments. So, if you’re reading this… please do me a favour and comment on this one entry, even it’s just a quick “hi, I’m reading you loud and clear”. Thank you!
Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Daily Telegraph.
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19 Comments
I scan so many blogs to clip items for my blogs that I rarely take the time to make comments. But I can tell you that I rarely get comments on any of my blogs.
The link to my blog (when you click on my name)on my previous comment had a rogue ‘r’ in it. The correct link is on this post. My other blogs are linked to this blog.
Reading you loud and clear Paul!
Aha… that’s re-assuring! Thanks, both of you.
Patti, I corrected that link in your first comment.
Paul
I read you every day on my Google Reader!
Hi Paul,
Don’t be discouraged!
Keep writing,
–Naima
Thanks, Sarita. Delighted to hear it.
I don’t think I’ve heard from you before so I’m intrigued to hear what makes you choose to not comment usually. Is it that you’re too busy, just don’t really have much to say, or something else?
It’s really encouraging to hear from people who are reading the blog. I know there are lots of you out there, but it seems you’re a quiet bunch!
What I’d love to see is the comments sections of each blog entry be used more. Ideally, I’d like it to serve as a community for all readers of the blog, but maybe I’m being a little over-ambitious with that wish.
Paul
Naima… I’m not discouraged, thank you. Not now, at least!
Now I can see that there are a number of you out there reading. It’s only a few hours since I made the blog entry above and already this is looking like it’ll soon be the most commented on post in the 2+ years that I’ve been running this site.
It’s great to hear from you all. I just wish I could work out how to take things on a stage and make this the norm, rather than the exception. I know there are lots of blogs out there that typically get 10+ comments every time they publish an entry, and often many more.
Perhaps someone could give me some tips/suggestions on how that might be achieved. Is there something that makes you more or less likely to comment? If people commented more, would that make you more inclined to comment yourself? Is it the nature of the blog posts that discourages you from commenting? Are you all simply too busy working hard to fund your luxury travel lifestyle to have time to spend commenting on a place like this?
So many questions!
Paul
Paul,
Maybe a lot of people are reading your blog using an RSS reader as they work their way through a number of blogs. Or it could be that your blogs are written in such a way that they don’t lend themselves to comments. To be honest, comments strike me as less valuable than the number of readers or RSS subscribers but if you’re interested in getting more comments, you should check out Problogger.net where Darren Rowse offers all kinds of blogging tips.
cheers, Mark
Hi Mark
Thanks for your post. I have often pondered as to whether it is the style of the writing that lends to a lack of comments. Often the posts are just informational, and there is not necessarily something to add.
I’ll take a look at Darren’s site and see what he has to say on the subject. Thank you for that link.
Paul
Reading you loud and clear! Love the RSS feeds and read them dialy.
Keep up the outstanding work!
Kind regards,
IanB
Paul,
I’ve found that informational blog posts get very few comments, and only have only started to write 1 or 2 really information articles a week.
Discussions that are hot within the press, tend to get the most comments. Look at the blog post I wrote about the airport strikes – 70ish comments and over 5k hits in 10 days for that one post only.
Hope this helps
Darren
Thank you, Ian… good to see that I’m being heard Down Under, too.
Hi Darren… I think you are right with much of what you say. I think it also depends how you write about something. Put a different slant on something, make it a little more controversial, or ask a general question relating to what you’ve posted, and it seems the likelihood of a comment being posted will increase.
Simply asking people to post âhi, Iâm reading you loud and clearâ seems to work, too!
Paul
I’m pretty new to your blog, but have enjoyed the content as of late. I enjoy the fact that you cover luxury travel of all types from all over the world… not just Dubai, beach resorts, exotic locales, etc., it’s very refreshing.
Keep up the good commentary.
Hi Jonathan
Thank you, I appreciate the support, and I’m pleased to hear I’m covering the kind of material that you like to read about.
Paul
Obviously running a competition also increases comments!
I would like to see a section here where you invite feedback and suggestions. There are lots of things I would like to comment on but can’t find an appropriate place to do it – although I’m managing to shoe-horn it in here ;-)
Perhaps you could make a post inviting people to comment about their travel experiences. There lots of places I’ve been to which aren’t covered here.
You could also try asking questions such as:
“What’s your favourite travel destination and why?”
“Have you ever won a travel-related competition?”
“What’s your best tip for getting luxury upgrades?”
“What’s your favourite guidebook for luxury travel?”
“What’s the most spectacular/ exciting/ frightening/ beautiful/ interesting/ funny thing you have experienced on your travels?”
There’s a call to action in asking questions. If you want your blog to be more interactive then you need to make it easy for people to interact. Just my tuppence worth.
hey
think you are now getting many comments and a lot of appreciation for your blog/site. always great to be kept up to date with the travel market – great escapes – thanks!
Thanks for those suggestions, Kay. I have tried similar things in the past but to no avail. Now that the site has built up a healthier following, though, I think it might be worth trying again.
Hi, I am reading you Thankyou..
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I scan so many blogs to clip items for my blogs that I rarely take the time to make comments. But I can tell you that I rarely get comments on any of my blogs.
The link to my blog (when you click on my name)on my previous comment had a rogue ‘r’ in it. The correct link is on this post. My other blogs are linked to this blog.
Reading you loud and clear Paul!
Aha… that’s re-assuring! Thanks, both of you.
Patti, I corrected that link in your first comment.
Paul
I read you every day on my Google Reader!
Hi Paul,
Don’t be discouraged!
Keep writing,
–Naima
Thanks, Sarita. Delighted to hear it.
I don’t think I’ve heard from you before so I’m intrigued to hear what makes you choose to not comment usually. Is it that you’re too busy, just don’t really have much to say, or something else?
It’s really encouraging to hear from people who are reading the blog. I know there are lots of you out there, but it seems you’re a quiet bunch!
What I’d love to see is the comments sections of each blog entry be used more. Ideally, I’d like it to serve as a community for all readers of the blog, but maybe I’m being a little over-ambitious with that wish.
Paul
Naima… I’m not discouraged, thank you. Not now, at least!
Now I can see that there are a number of you out there reading. It’s only a few hours since I made the blog entry above and already this is looking like it’ll soon be the most commented on post in the 2+ years that I’ve been running this site.
It’s great to hear from you all. I just wish I could work out how to take things on a stage and make this the norm, rather than the exception. I know there are lots of blogs out there that typically get 10+ comments every time they publish an entry, and often many more.
Perhaps someone could give me some tips/suggestions on how that might be achieved. Is there something that makes you more or less likely to comment? If people commented more, would that make you more inclined to comment yourself? Is it the nature of the blog posts that discourages you from commenting? Are you all simply too busy working hard to fund your luxury travel lifestyle to have time to spend commenting on a place like this?
So many questions!
Paul
Paul,
Maybe a lot of people are reading your blog using an RSS reader as they work their way through a number of blogs. Or it could be that your blogs are written in such a way that they don’t lend themselves to comments. To be honest, comments strike me as less valuable than the number of readers or RSS subscribers but if you’re interested in getting more comments, you should check out Problogger.net where Darren Rowse offers all kinds of blogging tips.
cheers, Mark
Hi Mark
Thanks for your post. I have often pondered as to whether it is the style of the writing that lends to a lack of comments. Often the posts are just informational, and there is not necessarily something to add.
I’ll take a look at Darren’s site and see what he has to say on the subject. Thank you for that link.
Paul
Reading you loud and clear! Love the RSS feeds and read them dialy.
Keep up the outstanding work!
Kind regards,
IanB
Paul,
I’ve found that informational blog posts get very few comments, and only have only started to write 1 or 2 really information articles a week.
Discussions that are hot within the press, tend to get the most comments. Look at the blog post I wrote about the airport strikes – 70ish comments and over 5k hits in 10 days for that one post only.
Hope this helps
Darren
Thank you, Ian… good to see that I’m being heard Down Under, too.
Hi Darren… I think you are right with much of what you say. I think it also depends how you write about something. Put a different slant on something, make it a little more controversial, or ask a general question relating to what you’ve posted, and it seems the likelihood of a comment being posted will increase.
Simply asking people to post âhi, Iâm reading you loud and clearâ seems to work, too!
Paul
I’m pretty new to your blog, but have enjoyed the content as of late. I enjoy the fact that you cover luxury travel of all types from all over the world… not just Dubai, beach resorts, exotic locales, etc., it’s very refreshing.
Keep up the good commentary.
Hi Jonathan
Thank you, I appreciate the support, and I’m pleased to hear I’m covering the kind of material that you like to read about.
Paul
Obviously running a competition also increases comments!
I would like to see a section here where you invite feedback and suggestions. There are lots of things I would like to comment on but can’t find an appropriate place to do it – although I’m managing to shoe-horn it in here ;-)
Perhaps you could make a post inviting people to comment about their travel experiences. There lots of places I’ve been to which aren’t covered here.
You could also try asking questions such as:
“What’s your favourite travel destination and why?”
“Have you ever won a travel-related competition?”
“What’s your best tip for getting luxury upgrades?”
“What’s your favourite guidebook for luxury travel?”
“What’s the most spectacular/ exciting/ frightening/ beautiful/ interesting/ funny thing you have experienced on your travels?”
There’s a call to action in asking questions. If you want your blog to be more interactive then you need to make it easy for people to interact. Just my tuppence worth.
hey
think you are now getting many comments and a lot of appreciation for your blog/site. always great to be kept up to date with the travel market – great escapes – thanks!
Thanks for those suggestions, Kay. I have tried similar things in the past but to no avail. Now that the site has built up a healthier following, though, I think it might be worth trying again.
Hi, I am reading you Thankyou..