How to use blog comments to promote yourself and your blog

Are you feeling frustrated because no one is reading your blog? Do you really want to spend hours researching, writing and re-writing your articles if nobody is ever going to read them?

When your blog is new it is hard to get traffic, but if you market your blog in an efficient way, you can quickly build a readership by writing comments on blogs in your niche.

A common tactic amongst bloggers is to comment on other blogs in order to get traffic to their own. Many of the current list of top bloggers also followed this route, but when a blog reaches a certain readership the blogger only occassionaly leaves comments on other blogs as there is less need to do so. The traffic and reputation are in place. They do however, use other ways to communicate with their readers, outside of their blog, Twitter and Facebook are the most popular methods.

For people new to the blogsphere, however, it is an uphill struggle get a blog off the ground. Getting traffic to a blog is not an easy thing to do, especially during the very early days (which can last up to 12 months and sometimes beyond). For this reason it is important to get yourself noticed and indulge in a little self promotion.

There is no need to feel shy about it. Everyone is doing it. Just like the offline world, luck doesn't come knocking on your door.

Think, for a moment, about the daily life of a salerperson. If he/she stayed at home every day and never knocked on any doors or made any phone calls, he/she would never make any sales. A blogger can stay at home all day and write some amazingly insightful blog posts, but, if they don't promote their work, no-one is likely to read a single word they have written. It’s a hard life being an unread blogger, but the destiny of your blog is ultimately in your own hands.

A popular method of getting attention for your blog is to comment on other blogs in your market. This is a tried and tested way to build incoming links, but, it is also a great way to build a reputation for yourself and attract readers to your blog. If people like your comments, there is a good chance they will click on the link in your signature and visit your blog.

Writing comments on other blogs is good It can help build your network and gain traction for your blog. However, there are guidelines to follow. If you follow a few simple blog commenting rules your comments stand a good chance of being published and you stand a good chance of building a readership.

Thomas Wilkinson is an editor and contributor at The Blogging Academy, a site offering blogging tips for new and experienced bloggers.