I wrote this recently for someone and thought it would be valuable to share with everybody:
Blog Length. I've found that 500 words is just about right. Too few, and you won't inspire them to respond. Too many, and you have strained their attention span.
Asking for comments.Do you simply ask for a comment at the end of your blog?That surprisingly helps!(The more specific the question the better.For example, “What do you think?” won’t get as many responses as “Do you like the new chat feature Facebook just implemented?”)
Is your blog designed for comments?In an informational blog, sometimes the blog itself just doesn’t lend itself to comments, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t highly valuable.
How controversial is it?A controversial blog post that inspires a strong opinion will get more comments.
Is it fresh and interesting?This is similar to being “controversial”, but it simply asks whether people actually care about what you have to say.
Who is your audience?If you wrote a blog post designed for only CEO’s, you would get very few comments, if any.The higher up the food chain you go, the less comfortable they are with commenting.
Do you have an audience that knows you?This is all about the consistency over time where people comment to YOU just as much as they are commenting on the blog itself.So if you haven’t established an audience yet, you won’t have this type of commenting until later.
Are you commenting on other people’s blogs to establish reciprocity and for them to get to know you in the community? This may just be the most important aspect. If you post on other people's comments, they are MUCH more likely to read (and hopefully comment on) yours.
Did you share it with your existing network, as those are the type of people who are more likely to comment on your blog and get the ball rolling? Every blog I write I generally share with my network on Facebook and other places. These are the people that know me best, which means they are most likely to comment and start up the conversation!
Ok, I didn't quite have 10 tips! How about you all share your best tip to round out our list of 10?
I wrote this recently for someone and thought it would be valuable to share with everybody: