An Important metric for a blog’s success is the amount of feedback it gets from its readers via comments. Blog comments are also considered as major blogging milestones.
It is not a difficult task for established blogs like Problogger to get comments, mainly due to their readerdship. But if one has started a fresh blog then it becomes a tough job to get comments. There is not a sure shot method to get a comment train(large number of comments), but there are some ways to increase the number of comments one gets.

How to increase comments on your blog

Here are some tips to boost comments on your blog:

1. Killer content:

Complete and well written posts always have an edge over others and are a hit among blog readers. Always remember “Content is King”, after all blogging is about sharing information and knowledge. This means that you should add value to each and every post. Make sure the posts are descriptive and try to cover each and every aspect of topic you are writing on.
Resourceful articles like lists and roundups can get you lot of comments.

2. Debate

Start Debates like Tweetmeme vs Twittley.
You should choose topics which are quite popular or are in the news and are quite debatable.
In a debate there are readers supporting one of the two sides. And they try to comment on your blog to support their side. Some debates may be never ending and you might see a continuous surge in the number of comments you get.

3. Be Controversial

Being controversial can get you a horde of comments. You can say something like “bloggers are freaks!”, anything view which different from the view of the masses. I personally don’t use this technique, but this technique is a comment attractor. The only negative point about this type of post that you might get a lot of rude comments from readers.

4. Bring Traffic

There are many posts that are really good but they don’t get the required attention or exposure and that is why they don’t get enough comments. Boost traffic to your blog by following these simple tips.

5. Reward Commentators

One way very easy way to get commentators on the block is by rewarding them.

There are many ways one can reward their commentators, i would like to list a few:

a. Commentluv :
Commentluv is a relatively new concept where commentators can add a link to one of the recent blog posts. The advantage of commentluv is that it can become a good traffic source for commentators. And thus, it helps bloggers who use commentluv get more comments than bloggers who don’t.

b. Dofollow Movement:
Bloggers are always looking for ways to increase backlinks so that they get a higher search engine ranking and Page Rank. You can make your blog Dofollow by removing the nofollow tag/attribute from your comments and rewarding the commentators with a free backlink.

c. Commenting Contests
This is one of the easiest ways. Just start a commenting contest. Award the the top or the best commentators with prizes such as cash or vouchers.
It is a super easy method to increase comments.

5. News

Post about the latest news and be the first one to do it. Bloggers who posted about “Remembering Michael Jackson” got a surge of reactions from his fans.

6. Add Social Media Connect

Social media is a rage nowadays. Each and every one is using social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Adding Facebook and Twitter connect (These services allow users to login directly through their social media accounts) to blogs can tremendously increase comments. You can also use Alternative Commenting Systems such as Js-Kit. These commenting systems, have built in options to login via various social media accounts.

These methods will surely help you gain comments on your blog.