Moderating blog comments
Part of the idea behind a business blog is to build an atmosphere of community within your website. You want your users to get involved. To post comments and questions on your blog as they relate to your product or service.
But what about those naysayers and haters? The people that post negative comments on your blog. How do you handle the moderation of comments that you don’t particularly like or agree with?
It’s easy to take the high road when it comes to handling negative comments and questions on a company blog. To simply decide to eliminate them all together. One quick click and they no longer exist in your comment cue. However, you may be doing a huge disservice to your blog, your users, and your overall search performance in the search engines.
First of all, if they have a question or a complaint, it might be legitimate. Also, it might be a concern for other potential new users that read your blog. How you handle their problem will show other new clients that you are ‘on top of things’. Even more, it shows your loyal readers that you are willing to take on this type of blog challenge, in public. Building more confidence in you and your website. Because you didn’t run from the problem. You allowed the comment and handled it in front of their very eyes. It can be very impressive to lurkers on the fence about trying you out.
Secondly, it builds more search traffic. Today it’s extremely common for surfers to search for your company name with negative keywords. Words like ’sucks, screwed, scammed’, etc. If they come up with your site they can read both sides of the story and how you have handled the situation. If your users resort to going elsewhere to post their complaint you don’t get that same damage control most times. It’s smart business to own both the positive and negative terms for your company if possible. Because you get to respond. You get to clean it up for all to see.
Even more, you get more content. Remember that the whole goal of a business blog is to create more content. Consistent, gradual site growth to please the search engine gods. With an active user community commenting on your blog, it goes even faster and is much more natural.
Lastly, the problems or concerns of your clients or customers might just be valid. Learning about their problems or answering their questions helps you become a better business person and to provide better products or services online. Becoming even more of an expert and a better asset to you and your company overall. Don’t toss out the chance to improve your performance. Fix their problems, answer their questions, change a policy if you have to. Give them the service and quality that they are looking for.
So before you delete that blog comment, think about it. Is it something that will benefit your business and your blog community? If so, you might just want to approve it.
All content is good content. Keep your blog and your company website growing. Keep your business growing. And you keep growing with them.