Firstly before I delve into this post, I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Adnan and I primarily run a blog over at Blogtrepreneur.com and recently have just started a golf program called GolfChum.com. I’m glad to be a part of this growing blog, and hope I can help it reach new heights!

Allowing commenting on your blog is a must. Back in the early days when the blogosphere was just created, the main reasons for starting a blog were to jot down the daily happenings in your life, and also to connect with other people on the net who shared the same attributes and interests as you. Therefore, retaining the feature to leave comments on your blog is essential.

Let me tell you this…readers love being able to voice their opinions on someone elses webpage. It gives them a sense of authority. What’s more, by leaving a valuable comment (not spamming!), they might even be able to pick up a few unique visitors along the way. As usual there are a few up and downsides to having a comment feature on your blog:

The ups:
• Comments encourage a user to return to your blog to see whether anyone else has replied to their comment or suggestion.
• Readers may praise you for your article or generally which can definitely raise your morale and encourage you to continue blogging, even in the dryest of writing spells.
• If a person continually leaves valuable comments on your blog, you may end up building a relationship with them. This has happened to me, and it resulted in the commenter (Matt) designing and programming my whole new site at www.blogtrepreneur.com!

The downs:

• Spammers clog up your comment moderation management with tons of links back to their sploggy and misleading sites. I conducted a poll here which shows the growth of spamming.
• Some readers may react badly to what you’re saying in your articles, and may hurl abuse at you and behave in a threatening way.
• Responding to comments and moderating them can take up a huge chunk of your internet time.

Despite these problems, there are of course simple solutions that can prevent you from disabling comments, and that will help sustain your blog traffic levels, even when you don’t post everyday.

With the spamming problem, there are a number of plugins available especially for Wordpress Users at Spam Karma 2 and Akismet.

If a reader behaves in a threatening way, don’t stoop down to their level. Instead respond to each criticism with authority and dignity and make sure you voice your views clearly and in a peaceful way, to prevent a major row disrupting your blog’s reputation.

Finally, you should always make time to moderate your readers’ comments, as they are the people that are sustaining your blog, and that are bringing in your revenue everytime they click ads. Look after your readers well…and they will look after you! Comments anyone?!