Blog commenting is becoming an increasingly popular tactic for traffic generation, as well as link building. However, there are many people who are using blog commenting to spam other blogs. Over the years, such people have perfected the art of bypassing spam protection programs with spam comments which appear legit.

Here are some tips which will help you determine which comments you should mark as spam or trash, and which ones to retain.

• Ambiguous comments

“I enjoyed reading your post….very insightful and concise. I also love the design of your blog. Keep up the good work”. Such a comment appears to be very genuine. It is very easy for people who are starting out in blogging to buy into such flattering words. However, the problem is that this same comment can be used on any blog and any post.

• Comments from the same IP

In many cases, blog owners or administrators are able to see the commenter’s IP address. At times, a number of comments might come showing different sites or blogs, different emails and different names, but having the same IP address. In such a case, there is a high possibility that all the comments are spam.

• Copied comments

One popular strategy of spammers is copying sections of several approved comments and putting them together to appear like a new comment. By constantly keeping track of your reader’s comments, you will be able to sense when someone submits a copied comment.

• Off topic comments

“Indeed, social media is a great strategy for promoting your blog. Thank you for sharing”. This would be a great comment – if the post was actually talking about promoting blogs using social media. However, if the post was on a totally different topic, then such a comment should be trashed immediately.

• Outright advertising

You need to determine if the information being offered in a comment is meant to be helpful, or if it is just outright advertising and self-promotion. For instance, a comment like “To learn more about freelance writing, you need to purchase my new e-book”, seems to be an attempt at self promotion.

• Personal attacks

It is okay for a commenter to criticize the post’s content. However, the problem is when a commenter starts insulting another commenter or the blog owner. Such abusive comments should not be tolerated.    
So how can you avoid the pitfalls above and increase the chance of your comments being approved?

• Adhere to the rules

Before submitting a comment, take time to read through the comment policy of the blog. If such a policy doesn’t exist, you could look at the kind of comments which have been approved. Are the comments short or long? Do people use their actual names? This will give you an idea of how to submit your comment.

• Be relevant and offer value

Your comment should be directly related to the post and should offer value. Don’t just say “Awesome post!” Explain exactly why the post is awesome and how it has helped you personally.

• Be real

Being real helps distinguish you from spammers and bots. Make sure you use an active email address through which you can be reached. In addition, use a gravatar so that people can put a face to your name.

Author Bio: Charles Mburugu is a professional blogger who likes sharing tips for internet marketers and bloggers. Currently, he is writing for web design library.

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