Seattle Mom Blogs

A few weeks ago, I started the conversation about responding to comments. I asked how you (as a blogger) respond to comments on your blog, and how you (as a commenter) like to be responded to when you leave comments on other blogs.

What you may not know is that I had an ulterior motive in asking these questions.

I am currently in the middle of a Comment Crisis.

When my blog was new, I waited in breathless anticipation for each and every comment.  When one came in (hallelujah!) I would read it, respond to it, and quickly click over to the commenter’s blog to read through her latest posts and archives and leave witty and interesting comments there.  I was only getting 5 comments (or less) on a post, so I had plenty of time to do this.

But, as the number of comments grew, I had a more difficult time responding in this immediate and thorough way.  So, I came up with the following strategy for my comments.

1) Read every comment (they are delivered to my inbox via email)
2) Go to every single commenter’s blog and leave at least one comment there.
3) Subscribe to the RSS feed of frequent commenter’s blogs.
4) For comments that ask a question or that make a point about my post that needs to be responded to, I respond in email and in a comment on my post, in order to clarify for future readers.

For a while this worked wonders.  Every week my traffic and comment numbers grew, and I felt I was getting to know the people who were reading my blog.

But, alas, as my numbers continued to grow my strategy started to feel cumbersome and overwhelming.  I was posting 5 days a week, with upwards of 60 comments on each post.  You do the math (I’m afraid to)!  I was spending EVERY SPARE SECOND trying to keep up with my comments, and failing miserably.  Not only that, but I had over 100 blogs in my feed reader, many of which (if I’m honest) I didn’t actually enjoy reading.  I had removed many of the blogs that I do enjoy because I didn’t have time for anyone who didn’t comment on my blog.

Comments had taken over my life!

It was around this time that my blogger pal and hero, Kathryn, did a comment intervention.  She saw the strain and anguish in my face and the fear in my eyes as I detailed my comment craze.  I can’t keep up!  I moaned.  They’re taking over my life!

Just stop!  She told me.  You can’t respond to every single comment… so stop trying!  And for PETE’S SAKE, stop reading blogs you don’t enjoy!

So I did.  I went through my blog feed with a hedge trimmer- deleting every blog that I didn’t love.  I narrowed it down to a handful.  I completely stopped replying to my commenters (this isn’t what she recommended, but I think I needed to go cold turkey for a while).  I got some time back.  I re-introduced myself to my family.  I could breath again.  My comment numbers plummeted, but I didn’t even mind.

After a month of this self-imposed BREAK from comment-responding, I felt I could see clearly.  I need a new strategy!  I told myself.  Something that shows my readers that I do read… and appreciate their comments… but that keeps me from going crazy!

Because after all, if you’re going to have a blog, you DO have to respond to comments.  A blog is a conversation, an interactive forum by its very essence.

If you want readers to talk on your website, you need to offer them the one unique feature that no other blog or discussion board can – the opportunity to talk to you.

At the same time, the honest truth is that I make very little money from my blog. Primarily it is a hobby, a passion, something I do because I love it.  I do NOT blog because it’s making me rich (sadly).  This makes a strong case for me keeping my blogging manageable and enjoyable.

So, I need a strategy.  And it needs to fit within the following criteria:

1. Manageable.  Shouldn’t take more than 1 hour per week, or be something I can do in short increments of time.
2. Effective.  It needs to get across to my commenters that I hear them and I appreciate them.

Oh, and there’s one more thing.  Those of you who use Google Blogger will already know this pain, I’m sure.  Many of the comments that I get do not have an email address to respond to.  So my ONLY options for responding are via their blog or an inline response on my own (heavy, weary sigh).

So here’s what I’m thinking.  The NEW and IMPROVED strategy. 

1) Continue to read comments as they come in. 
2) For comments that have an email address to respond to, I will respond in email.  (unless it’s one of those “LOL” or “Totally, me too!” type comments, which really don’t merit a response.)
3) Make a point of leaving a comment on my own blog after approx 10 comments have been left, responding to the general theme of comments.  This is more for the benefit of future commenters than for ones that have already visited, since most of you agreed that you typically don’t go back to check for a response once you’ve left a comment somewhere.
4) Visit 5 randomly selected blogs of my commenters every week, leaving a comment on their blogs.

I have to admit that there’s a part of me that worries that this isn’t enough… that I need to do MORE!  But I will give it the good old college try, for the next month, and then I’ll report back.

Now it’s YOUR turn.  What’s your strategy for dealing with your comments?  And do you have suggestions for me in my comment crisis situation?