For those of you who tuned into my discussion with Mr. Internet Poker yesterday I thought it would be helpful to understand why I do not put nofollow tags on links to commenters. My good friend, Mr. Andy Beard, puts it best in his post Why You Should NoFollow Your Blog Comments?
So if you want to comment about designer cufflinks, blisters or shipping franchises go ahead, but I am probably going to have to get a bit heavier handed on the spam button.
18 Response Comments
Nofollow or Dofollow doesn’t matter =P Just make sure you combat spams properly by moderating posts before it gets published. Those annoying spammers.. *roar*
Yup, I’m agree with that moderating posts before it gets published. It may take a little effort from your side but a least u can filter out the spammers.
It is an added programs to reduce spammers.
Where’s my Herbal Viagra commenter?
And Mr. Designer Cufflinks – I have been looking for a new niche to dominate and you may have just given me a reason to live.
The question is, do you want to get people trying to come up with witty comments, or even just acceptable comments, just to get a spot on your site. We’ve all seen the “good article” nonsense spams; if we didn’t all do nofollow, wouldn’t these guys just work a little harder to try to get the slightest bit of meat in their posts to merit inclusion?
I use Akismet, but before I had it, I basically just had to turn comments off. Even with it, I get plenty of posts looking for links.
Thus far I have had a pretty easy time of it. Most of the spam has been caught automatically. This recent postings are the result of another SEO putting me on a dofollow list which I think should die down shortly. And while I am not crazy about spammy comments maybe I can get a pair of designer cufflinks out of it while treating my blisters at the same time. 🙂
I’m not saying it’s a bad thing I just think you should let people know that they run the risk of losing credibility in the eyes of google..
when ever I leave comments I sign it DaveN.. once dave naylor lol, but I think you run a risk if you have people linking out with UK SEO, IHeartTits or Cheap Webdesign Yorkshire.. etc and I hate it when I see people leaving comments and they can’t even be bothered to have a blog so they link to their ecommerce website instead.. ggrrr
DaveN
I see your point Dave. If all of my commenters have keywords for names then my site starts to look spammy to G – maybe.
I usually comment with my brand name – Local SEO Guide – not so much for the SEO value but more to brand myself and get my brand out there. I have been thinking about switching to using my name to avoid it looking like I am a comment spammer. And besides there’s more to me than just SEO. IHeartTits too.
Thanks DaveN.
I think it is a case of delicate balance, on one hand you should give credit where credit is due, and on the other one does not want to be taken advantage of. So you have the authority and the responsibility of filtering out the good from the bad.
I think at times it is a fine line but it is not hard to separate a quality response from a cheese ball tongue and cheek remark looking for some quick SEO credit.
If it does become too time consuming then at some point lets get additional moderators, but for now I for one feel a BL is something you earn and if you earn it then you deserve the :”credit” that comes with it. Also it allows other to find a good sites like this one…
Not putting nofollow tags on commenters is actually a real good idea. Great post.
And if anyone is looking for Southwest Rugs out there you now know where to find them.
We recently made the move to be a “Do Follow” blog. One of the reasons is it encourages comments and conversations on our site. (or at least we hope it will).
We do filter all posts though. Just part of doing business.
I find dofollow is a great way to build community among bloggers. Although we would have problems with comment spam but for me if the comments are good and in some way helpful, then Dofollow is lovely.
I think creating the nofollow attribute was the worst thing to ever hit the enter. Not only does it NOT curb SPAM it gives less encouragement for people to comment. I think it should be up to the discretion of the blogger whether to give follows or not to the comment poster.
We do not put nofollow on comments because it forces us to read them.
And when the comment add value or isn’t spamm we simply leave it. Not reading the comments simply cut short any possible meaningful conversation.
Well put Martin.
Use nofollow can attract more visitor to comment on your blog post. Also can drive spammer to come to your blog 😀