Strategic commenting refers to the practice of leaving thoughtful, value-adding comments on blogs, forums, and other online platforms in order to build relationships, promote your brand, and drive traffic to your website. Unlike spammy comments that only aim to increase backlinks, strategic commenting focuses on providing genuine value to the community.
Why is strategic commenting important?
Strategic commenting is important for several reasons:
- It helps build relationships and connect with influencers, potential partners, and customers in your niche.
- It positions you as an expert and thought leader.
- It drives referral traffic back to your site.
- It improves your site’s domain authority by gaining high-quality backlinks.
- It increases brand awareness and recognition.
In essence, strategic commenting allows you to organically integrate yourself into relevant online conversations, provide value, and subtly promote your brand at the same time.
How to get started with strategic commenting
Here are some tips on how to get started with strategic commenting:
- Identify relevant platforms. Make a list of blogs, forums, LinkedIn groups, and other platforms where your target audience hangs out online.
- Set a goal. Be clear on what you want to achieve through strategic commenting. Do you want to get exposure, generate leads, build relationships, etc?
- Create a content calendar. Schedule times each week to spend commenting on relevant blogs and forums. Consistency is key.
- Craft value-adding comments. Read the article/discussion first, then leave thoughtful commentary that provides unique insights.
- Monitor conversations. Set up alerts and monitor conversations related to your niche so you can jump in early with relevant comments.
- Follow up. If your comment leads to further discussion, make sure to follow up and continue the conversation.
- Comment on different sites. Don’t just focus on one site. Leave comments on a variety of platforms to increase reach.
- Include CTAs. Occasionally include Calls to Action in your comments to drive traffic or generate leads.
Best practices for strategic commenting
To maximize the impact of your strategic commenting, here are some best practices to follow:
- Provide genuine value with your comments – don’t just post meaningless platitudes.
- Relate your comments specifically to the content being discussed.
- Respect the community and engage in a professional manner.
- Craft unique, personalized comments – don’t mass copy-paste the same comment.
- Add your expert insights and experience when relevant.
- Ask thought-provoking questions to spark deeper discussion.
- Reply to other commenters to continue the conversation.
- Have a clear CTA in your comment when appropriate.
- Include a link to relevant content on your site when it adds value.
- Monitor and respond to replies and engagement with your comments.
Strategic commenting platforms
Here are some of the top platforms where strategic commenting can be highly effective:
Industry blogs and magazines
Commenting on blogs and magazines related to your industry helps position you as a subject matter expert. Try leaving thoughtful remarks on recent posts to get exposure.
Forums and communities
Active forums and communities where people ask questions present opportunities to provide helpful answers while promoting your brand.
Commenting on LinkedIn posts and participating in Group discussions is a great way to connect with professionals and decision-makers.
Facebook groups
Engage with your target audience by commenting in relevant Facebook groups and building relationships.
subreddit channels related to your niche are full of discussions to contribute valuable insights to.
Youtube
Videos related to your industry attract a relevant audience. Commenting helps boost visibility and backlinks.
Quora
The Q&A format makes it easy to provide thoughtful answers to questions from your target audience.
Industry influencer blogs
Commenting on influencer blogs positions you as engaged in the community and drives referral traffic.
Dos and don’ts of strategic commenting
Here are some dos and don’ts to keep in mind:
DO:
- Provide genuine value and insights
- Keep comments relevant and on-topic
- Share personal experiences when applicable
- Ask thought-provoking questions
- Reply to other commenters
- Use proper grammar and spelling
- Stay professional and respectful
DON’T:
- Spam or over-promote
- Post meaningless one-word platitudes like “Nice!”
- Copy and paste the same comments everywhere
- Comment just for the sake of backlinks
- Reply in a rude or condescending manner
- Break the community rules
Strategic commenting templates
Using templates can help give you an idea of how to structure your comments. Feel free to customize and adapt these based on the specific discussion:
Providing insights template:
[Author Name], great points in your article! As someone who [your experience], I’d add that [provide unique insight, data, or additional perspective relevant to the topic]. Looking forward to hearing others’ thoughts on this.
Asking a thoughtful question:
Really enjoyed this post [Author Name]! It made me think about [share a related experience or insight]. I’m curious what your thoughts are on [ask a thoughtful question that adds value to the conversation]. Appreciate you sharing your perspective.
Sharing a resource:
Fantastic tips here! This reminded me of [a report/tool/other resource] I came across that’s highly relevant to [topic of article]. Readers may find it useful: [link to resource]. Looking forward to more content like this!
Connecting with the author:
[Author Name], I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed [this article/video/post]. As a fellow [niche industry] professional, I found your insights around [key point] especially interesting. Keep up the great work! I’d be interested in [connecting on LinkedIn/discussing more sometime/etc.] if you’re open to it.
Follow up comment:
Following up on my last comment, I wanted to add [provide additional insights, data, or resources that build on your previous remark and the ensuing discussion]. You bring up a great point about [topic mentioned by another commenter] – I agree that [expand on this with your thoughts]. Thanks for the thoughtful discourse!
Measuring the impact of strategic commenting
Here are some ways to track the effectiveness of your strategic commenting efforts:
Referral traffic
Use Google Analytics to monitor traffic driven to your site from sites you’ve commented on. An increase indicates your comments are leading people back to your content.
Backlinks gained
Check backlink tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to see new backlinks from your strategic commenting gaining domain authority.
Engagement on comments
Responses, upvotes, and discussion generated by your comments show you’re providing value to readers.
Relationships initiated
Keep track of new LinkedIn connections, email subscribers, and other relationships started through thoughtful commenting.
Leads/sales generated
If your strategic comments contain CTAs, monitor any resulting leads or sales activity.
Brand mentions
Use tools like Mention to monitor brand name drops resulting from your strategic commenting efforts.
Tools to manage strategic commenting
Some helpful tools to streamline and automate parts of the strategic commenting process include:
BuzzSumo
Discover trending content and influencer articles around relevant topics to target your commenting.
Mention
Get alerts when your brand name or keywords are mentioned online so you can jump into the conversation.
FollowUpThen
Schedule reminders to follow up on comments and continue engaging with discussions.
Buffer
Use Buffer to pre-schedule comments so you can keep the conversation going over time.
Linkody
Linkody helps you discover relevant blogs and influencers to target with your strategic comments.
CommentLuv
This plugin scans sites for comments and helps you connect with commenters to build relationships.
Common strategic commenting mistakes
Some common mistakes to avoid with strategic commenting include:
- Commenting solely to promote your content vs. provide value
- Mass spamming the same comment on multiple sites
- Not personalizing comments for each site/discussion
- Aggressive self-promotion or sales pitches in comments
- Automated, bot-generated comments
- Comments unrelated to the actual content
- Attacking or criticizing others’ viewpoints
- Breaking community rules or terms of service
- Inconsistent commenting leading to lack of sustained relationships
- Forgetting to include a CTA when appropriate
Avoid these by always putting the community first, providing authentic value, and building connections through thoughtful discussion.
Strategic commenting case studies
Here are some real world examples of strategic commenting success:
Moz
SEO software company Moz boosted referral traffic by 56% and gained hundreds of backlinks by consistently engaging in relevant Reddit channels and providing valuable expertise.
Unbounce
The landing page builder grew its organic search traffic by 175% in under a year by having employees actively take part in LinkedIn Groups and forums related to their content topics.
Help Scout
This customer service software company got featured by industry influencers by strategically commenting on their blogs with useful nuggets others had missed.
Neil Patel
Blogging expert Neil Patel accelerated his early growth by commenting on other blogs with tips and insights. This positioned him as a thought leader.
These examples demonstrate how consistent, value-focused strategic commenting in the right communities can boost authority, relationships, and traffic for brands.
Conclusion
When executed effectively, strategic commenting provides an organic method to connect with industry leaders, position your brand as an expert, and drive referral traffic. The key is genuinely engaging in communities and providing thoughtful remarks – not just spamming links. With a smart, consistent approach focused on value, strategic commenting can become a powerful channel in your overall content marketing strategy.
