Seth Godin’s excellent list of “How to Get Traffic for Your Blog” includes lots of things I was taught to do when I worked as a newspaper reporter:
- Use lists
- Break news
- Include polls, meters and other eye candy.
- Point to useful but little-known resources.
- Write about a never-ending parade of topics so you don’t bore your readers.
- Don’t be boring.
And on and on. Godin’s list includes two recommendations that contradict each other. Number 27 says:
“Include comments so your blog becomes a virtual water cooler that feeds itself.”
Number 34 says:
“Don’t include comments. People will cross-post themselves.”
He doesn’t allow comments, by the way, and explains why: he doesn’t want want to write in anticipation of the commenters, and he doesn’t want to discipline himself to ignore comments. Rather, he’d be inclined to respond to every one of them.
I love the comments function and allow comments here. Comments, anyone?
Love your newsletter and blog! Re: comments: I welcome them on my blog, Madam Mayo, but I have it set so that I can approve them before they go onto my site. If they are welcome, yes, if not, I zap ’em. Pretty simple.
Well, Seth does allow comments, sort of.
Although he has no “traditional comments,” he allows trackbacks. A trackback allows you to comment on one of his posts on YOUR blog, and automatically a snippet is placed in the comment area of his blog along with a link to your blog/comment.
Although I love comments, trackbacks are a reasonable feedback mechanism, and really, what is important is that they allow having a conversation. Oh, and Seth DOES follow trackbacks and sometimes leaves comments on those blogs.
I allow comments on my blog — Stop the Abuse — as I feel its important to let visitors not only add their own experiences, but to create healthy dialogue as to the meaning of what’s been posted and the news items that are being reported.