Almost all blog platforms by default are set up so that a “dead end” piece of code is inserted wherever there is a link in a comment, so that search engines will not “count” the link as they are crawling the internet. This was originally designed to help stop comment spam, but it doesn’t work. What it does do, is remove some of the incentive for your readers to contribute to your site by commenting. And this is exactly opposite to what you want: make it as attractive as possible for your readers to comment on your posts.
What can you do about it? Turn off “nofollow”. Show your commenters that you appreciate them. How? Depending on the blog platform you’re on, you can install a plugin (like this one for Wordpress), or disable it (see this post if you're a Movable Type user), or modify your template (check this site for Blogger tips).
Turning off the “nofollow” on blog comments has become a sort of “movement”. Well, if we’re going to have a movement, we should have something to show our readers that we’re part of it, don’t you think? Randa Clay Design have created some “I Follow” logos that would work well for a side bar (if you’d rather use CSS, click here to copy the CSS from - you can easily change the colors to fit in with your site).
And if you’ve written a post letting your readers know that you’ve turned off nofollow in your comments, you could link the logo to that post. It may be wise to turn on comment moderation and to publish your comment and spam policy.
This blog has turned off 'nofollow'. When you comment, NoDirectOn (and: NoDirection) follow.
(See this article by Peter van der Graaf for more information on Nofollow)
(zie Marketing•Review voor een nederlandse versie van dit bericht)
45 Comments:
Thanks for the mention!
@Randa Clay: No, thank you for the excellent piece you wrote about this. Before I read that, I didn't have a clue what Nofollow meant. And I like the fact that you've taken all the touble to do this and the logo's. Thanks for your comment, too!
Mines off too. Also, I added you too. Any friend of Ann's is a friend of mine. Nice to meet you. Call me Sandee. :)
@Sandee: Nice to meet you too. Thanks for dropping by. Hope to CU again soon! And I will come and check out Comedy + as often as I need to see something funny. Which is often ;)
Thanks Sandee! Ditto! Mr. Jos I did it! Check out my public thanks! :)
Ann
Actually, all credits should go to Randa Clay and to this wonderful blog called Dummy Guide to Google Blogger Beta... ;)
Hey, I just wanted to say hi! LOL!
Someone is thinking about you! Have a great day! :))
Ann
Thanks Ann, that's nice. I'm feeling a bit better today already.
An interesting concept this one.. On most of the blogs (the Dutch ones in any case), an average of 1% of readers actually reacting is seen as the average. By the looks of it your blog had already far exceeded that ;-))!
Some interesting theories have been defined around here, on percentages of and reasons for (a part of the) readers migrating to commenters to writing themselves..
This 'you comment - I follow' concept for motivating people to react is really new to me... Never figured that as a barriere for making a comment..
In any case, it's a really nice 'bonus' to your commenters, lets them know you appreciate them!! Thanks Jos!!
Thank you, Ellen.
Yes, now at least it may just be a tiny little bit more interesting for people to comment. And use their Name+Link in stead of 'anonymus' ;)
Ahh.. well that's a whole other discussion of course, we've discussed extensively before.. do you reaaally wanna go there again ;-))??
People still will have their reasons to comment anonymously, with or without the additional link.
I'm still not sure if people will comment now if they hadn't before, I'm really curious to know your experiences in a few weeks.
But, as I said, in any case it's a really nice effort to go through for your commenters!
Thank you, Ellen! It is always nice to get comments, specially from you... :)
Thanks I put the this plugin on my site.
@DayJobNuker: You are more than welcome! Thanks for dropping by!
Thanks Jos !
Ik heb gelijk even mijn template aangepast.
Van harte welkom, Leo!
Leuk je hier op NoDirectOn tegen te komen!
Dank voor je reactie.
Groet & tot kijk,
-Jos:)
Its ironic that many bloggers talk about this but then they actually use no follow I have seen many blogs leeching off the dofollow movement claiming to be dofollow sites but actually use nofollow, they are worse than the comment spammers in my eyes.
Hi Bape, Yes, I agree with you.
To be honest, your first reaction to this post was seen by me as comment spam (though I wasn't sure of that;) because your link leads to what seems to be a commercial site :)
It's a really great movement, and I'm going to support it at my blogsite.
Thank you, Lotus Siva Caroll. It is indeed. It shows your commenters that you appreciate them! Good Luck,
-Jos:)
I've had the nofollow removed from my blogs for some time now. I haven't included the 'i follow' logo yet but I'm going to do it now.
Coaster, your name link lead to an unavailable blogger profile, and your comment contains two active links to sites -- therefore I have had to remove it as 'spam'. Please make your profile avalaible next time?
The more I read about it the more I realize I might as well jump on the bandwagon as well at some point. I can delete anything spammy on my own anyway that gets through my auto spam filters.
I can fully recommend you do that, Jack. I didn't have too much trouble with spammers anyway - the one s that came I just deleted.
i blog hopped from entrecard a few days ago. i came here and read your post. i like the idea. so i supported it. thanks very much for this information.
Nice...I like it
I have started disabling the nofollows on my site. http://toppstraders.org
This information has been very useful to me as I am only new to blogging. It certainly is a great concept offering your loyal readers the DoFollow attribute deffinitely motivates them to comment. Thanks for the info!
I have also seen more blog owners make the DoFollow claim only to find out in the View Source that it isn't.
I have a shoes blog and wanted to add the commentluv plugin and was curious how it might work in conjunction with the Spam Karma plugin. Seems like that combo would provide the best of both worlds.
Many Thanks for the Comment Love!
Steve
I just read somewhere that there is a Firefox plugin that will tell you "at a glance" if the blog you are posting on has a no follow in it. I personally am not a Firefox user but that information may be helpful for some. Thanks for joining the movement !
just want to say that your blog is very informative. And it gave me an idea how to help my blog. I just want to thank you for that. If you visit mine, it just shows that I only write whenever I feel like it. Somehow, it’s just doesn’t work that way. Your is really helpful in a way. So, keep it up…. GOd Bless …
Manish
I find a dofollow blog more interesting. We all need to have some love and actually blogging is about sharing and giving comment to each other. Dofollow makes people feel more appreciated when the post comment on your blog.
As long as you are the decider for which comment is true and have value to your blog, you are safe. Keep the approval rate low, yet the quality of the comment must be very good. Thus giving back as a “thank you” by a dofollow comment link gives the commentator a loved feeling.
It’s just my personal opinion. Let you be the judge of it.
very few on the web today doing this and you are one of them....congrats
What does the d o follows really used for? Only serp?
hey bravo attempt there...
i am eager to see Dummy Guide to Google Blogger Beta now :)
Cheers
@ dizi izle : yes, do-follow links are the ONLY links counted/crawled by search engines. No use of collecting no-follow links besides the one sought out on highly trafficked sites/forums .. that might bring a bunch of traffic!
Thank you So much.
Thank you so much for disabling that attribute.
This is always the catch-22 of do follow. With do-follow you get more comments=more visitors=hopefully more money. However, you will also get some spam within comments like funny sms jokes guy above me, but hopefully not so many that it blogs you down.
Stop by often...
Manish
hanks for this post. Now I know where to get the badge as I’ve removed the nofollow in my blog. At least with the badge. it would be easier to spread to my friends about this and let my readers know.
Thanks! When I launch my website's blog, I will do the same.
(Gabriel Bianconi)
nice blog & very informative, i'm bookmarking this blog & visiting again for updates.
Very interesting post. I’ll be spending more time with certain areas. Well done and good luck with your work.
Dear Webmaster,
Isn’t there a big risk in doing a nofollow / dofollow blog. I mean, how long will it really take for Google to notice this and issue penalties for such un-natural commenting and linking?
You have done a nice job by enabling DoFollow in your Blog thereby helping poor bloggers to get free inlink's.
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