The fact that my blog comments are nofollow has been a real bone of contention with some of my readers.
So it was no surprise when I got an e-mail from Anthony of DFWRoofing who asks, “You have CommentLuv enabled but you still give nofollow links out, what’s going on?”
Oh boy. Here we go again.
If you read my blog regularly, you know my feelings on dofollow vs. nofollow and that I believe the average blogger’s obsession with backlinks, dofollow, etc. is getting dangerously near the point of insanity.
For the record, I’m not calling Anthony insane. After a couple of exchanges, he seems to be a very nice guy and admitted that he now understands my nofollow decision. So this is not a bash-Anthony post. I’m just talking in general terms here. This was certainly not the first e-mail that questioned my reasons.
As a blogger who’s achieved quite the following without actively hunting down dofollow links and only posting on blogs that allow dofollow, it’s really hard for me to believe dofollow comments make that big a difference overall. But maybe I’m completely off base here.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I understand why many blogs are dofollow…
1) It encourages more comments and can be a great idea if your blog is new and you want to encourage more discussions
2) It’s a courteous gesture to offer a backlink to people who take the time to comment on your blog
I get all that. I really, really do.
But there is actually a downside to offering dofollow links on your blog. Matt Cutts even posted a video about it. See below.
When you allow dofollow links, you are essentially “endorsing” every link on your blog by giving a backlink. And when you’re in a niche with a lot of scammy, seedy sites, this may not be the ideal scenario.
For the record, links in the body of my posts are dofollow. The same goes for my guest posters. These are links I endorse/recommend so I happily spread a little link love around.
So for me, it’s not that I want to be stingy or selfish by having nofollow comments. You guys know that’s not my style. It’s more about preservation of my own blog’s reputation by not linking out to sites on pyramid schemes, get-rich-quick programs, porn and who knows what else.
My blog comments are nofollow mainly because that was the default when I installed WordPress. And when I began reading about the pros and cons of dofollow, I felt the cons outweighed the pros so I left things “as is.” This is my personal decision and I believe you have to do what’s best for your blog.
Many people know my comments are nofollow, yet they still comment because they know there’s more value to commenting than just the “link juice” aspect.
And when you look at more popular blogs like ProBlogger and CopyBlogger, you’ll see they also have nofollow comments. (Hmmm…. I wonder if they get as much heat about this as I do?) 😉
So Why Use CommentLuv?
Sorry about the nofollow/dofollow tangent I just went on. Let’s get back to Anthony’s original point about using the CommentLuv plug-in when your comment links are nofollow.
Well here’s what I want to know. Whatever happened to people clicking links out of interest and curiosity because you wrote an attention-grabbing title that’s relevant to their needs?
Has this dofollow obsession caused us to disregard that important aspect of Internet Marketing?
You guys have to remember. I got started in Internet Marketing when there was no such think as counting/measuring backlinks and nofollow was unheard of.
There was so much more emphasis on writing powerful headlines that got the click instead of today where it seems to be more about get the keyword-rich backlink.
Call me “old school”, but I still value a good headline and will gladly click on one when it entices me. Don’t you?
That’s exactly how I found Jay of TheAntiSocialMedia (That’s a dofollow link by the way.) 😉 Whether the blog I discovered him on was nofollow or not (I never check or care), he still got the visit (and a few comments) because he wrote a compelling title that I noticed because of the CommentLuv plug-in (dofollow or not).
Anthony told me he thought “the whole point of CommentLuv was to offer a dofollow link to posters who leave useful comments…”
So that’s the whole point of CommentLuv? Do you feel that way too? Wow! That comment really made me realize how differently I view links from many bloggers and how little stock I put into dofollow comments. To be honest, I think the CommentLuv plug-in still provides value to my commenters, but maybe many others don’t feel that way.
Quite frankly, sometimes I feel like I’m stranded on some bizarre SEO island. Just me and my little nofollow links playing happily together in the sand. 😉
Whether the blog is dofollow or not, I’ve always thought the real value of CommentLuv was getting to display your latest blog post and attracting attention because of the headline. After all, I’ve clicked on countless CommentLuv links because the author wrote a compelling title.
Sure, I understand the importance of dofollow links to a point, but things just seem to be blown out of proportion today.
Am I really that old school? Do I need to step out of 1999, eject my “No Strings Attached” NSYNC CD and say “Bye, Bye, Bye” to my antiquated perceptions about links, SEO, etc? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
I know many of you disagree with my stance, but that’s OK. That’s why I love topics like this because they bring out those hearty discussions.
So let’s get to it!
Hey Lisa,
Thought I would stop by and share my thoughts on this topic since you know I still support CommentLuv to this day.
I pick and choose which link I’ll give the love to and which ones I won’t. Also with the Anti Backlink addition a few years ago we have that choice as well as not allowing dofollow links until we feel we want to dish them out. I do this because I want to make sure that the people commenting on my posts are there for the right reasons.
I never really paid much attention to dofollow or nofollow links myself but knowing how others did I wanted to reward those that I felt were deserving. Granted we both know that too many links not in our niche can hurt us both so I don’t give dofollows to some niches that comment.
I also know that comment links don’t hold as much juice as they once did. I mainly have CommentLuv still because I can follow their post back to their blogs when one really stands out to me. I’m with you, I go for a great headline and a post I might want to read.
It surprises me to this day that people are still so hung up on the dofollow links but I guess if you’re just starting out and want some then you’re probably a lot pickier about it than I am.
Thank you and Gail for the mention in the comment section by the way. I really appreciate that. Hope you’ve had a great day and thanks for updating this post Lisa.
~Adrienne
Thanks for the update Adrienne. Didn’t know about those features since I don’t use the plugin anymore. I agree about the fuss over all this dofollow/nofollow stuff. What about commenting just because you love the blog and you can still get traffic from people interested in your link. To me, that was always the best benefit anyway. If you write a catchy title, people will click! Chat with ya later!
I like using Commentluv on my site as I can easily see links to posts from those who comment and click though to any that interest me. I didn’t originally realise they were all ‘follow’ links though and now I’m trying to find information on how to make them ‘no follow’. How did you do that, do you have to have the paid version?
Hi Toni,
No by default your links are already nofollow unless something has changed. I no longer use this plugin anymore so not sure what the defaults are.
Comments in WordPress are nofollowed by default unless the code is manually changed or a plugin is used to make them dofollow. In the early days of CommentLuv, some of us used a Dofollow plugin to make the CommentLuv links dofollow OR more complicated plugins that would allow commenters with a certain number of links to change to dofollow.
It would still be true that your comments are nofollow unless you use a plugin to change them. The CommentLuv Premium plugin has that capability. Click on CommentLuv specific settings and under Enticements for 10 posts and dofollow you can enable dofollow (or uncheck to leave disabled). This setting is for the CommentLuv link.
In CommentLuv Premium, if you turn Keyword Name on there is a separate setting to make the keyword portion of the name field dofollow. Originally this could benefit bloggers and small business, but I no longer recommend it because regular commenters could end up penalized for using it.
Have you ever thought about publishing an e-book or guest authoring on other blogs?
I have a blog based upon on the same topics you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information.
I know my subscribers would value your work.
If you’re even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e mail.
Over the years I’ve noticed a gradual slide in ctr as users become increasingly ad blind, however, this is negated by a gradual rise in bid rates as more and more people use online advertising.
Hi! I just added the widget to my site and it works well. Thank you so much for providing this info. Keep it up!
My programmer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.
I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses.
But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on a variety of
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I may be totally mistaken about this, but I have heard that the ComLuv blog itself has gone nofollow. Is this accurate?
I just checked the ComLuv blog again and comments are turned off. Most likely Andy does not feel up to moderating them. That is unfortunate, as comments are what creates community and loyal readers who will share your content.
Although I was originally a huge proponent of dofollow comments, I no longer recommend them because regular commenters could end up penalized because of them. The value in CommentLuv is in the shared links that build community – not in the links being dofollow. Focus on real relationships and not search traffic which can be taken away any minute on a whim.
Thanks for coming by Gail. I noticed a lot of people don’t seem to use CommentLuv as much as back in the day. Not sure if that’s because we’re out of the “build backlinks with comments” era or what but I uninstalled it because it was hampering load times a bit and it seems Andy doesn’t really support the plugin much anymore. Didn’t I read he had been ill? Can’t remember. Hope all is well.
Hi Lisa,
There are many reasons some bloggers have left the CommentLuv community. Some are worried about SEO penalties; others are using G+ or Facebook comments. I switched mine to nofollow to reduce the likelihood of SEO issues.
Nothing keeps a strong community as well IF you go out blog walking like we used to do. (Visiting other CommentLuv bloggers, commenting and sharing.) Bloggers who do that have the largest readership and the most comments. AdrienneSmith.net is a good example of that.
I haven’t been commenting much, but it is on my list to get back to doing it. I know I can easily double my traffic if I visit other CommentLuv blogs.
True, the SEO paranoia definitely played a role.
Re: Adrienne…. You got that right! I’m an affiliate of Adrienne’s course and she’s a great example of a person who knows how to foster a strong community. Bloggers can learn a lot from her.
Thanks for coming by, Gail.
I forgot to say that Andy does have a serious health issue, Multiple Sclerosis (M.S.). Sometimes he feels better and works and other times he doesn’t. He did a video which is on YouTube he named 05-Mar-2013 Prepare to Tell the Masses #multiplesclerosis
He does still update CommentLuv Premium, made the spam protection stronger, and added more features to it.
That’s right! I do remember getting his email a year ago or so. Hope all is well with him. Gonna check out his vlog.
Excellent website. Lots of useful info here. I am sending it to several buddies ans additionally sharing in delicious.
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Hi would you mind letting me know which hosting company you’re working with? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most.
Can you recommend a good hosting provider at a fair price?
Thanks a lot, I appreciate it!
I’m using LunarPages. Just switched to them and I LOVE them. I’m on a dedicated server so I’m paying quite a bit per month.
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several emails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove me from that service?
Many thanks!
At the bottom of that email, there is an option to unsubscribe.
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was curious what all is needed to get set up? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
I’m not very web smart so I’m not 100% positive. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Hi there are using WordPress for your site platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying
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Watch my WordPress tutorial video. No coding needed at all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jexUS43sdeQ
I never check for dofollow or nofollow attributes before commenting. I read what I like and then comment on my favorite posts.
Hey there! I know this is kind of off topic but
I was wondering if you knew where I could find a captcha plugin
for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m
having difficulty finding one? Thanks a lot!
Hi Kristina,
I use the Contact Form 7 plugin. It has one built-in.
Hello! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog.
Is it very difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about making my
own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Thanks
Hi Selena
Super easy, watch my video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jexUS43sdeQ
Infact I would say with the advance of Disqus and facebook commenting system you can no longer get any backlinks (or very few) from comments. However, comment luv does make the person commenting feel appreciated somehow, maybe because they see their post on some stranger site.
I’m not sure I complete understand the whole dofollow/nofollow thing. I thought no follow means that the link is not considered as a backlink, but when I check my backlinks with Google webmaster, it lists quite a few that are definitely nofollow. Because of this, I’ve stopped worrying about this altogether and have started just leaving comments whenever I have something to add.
Sounds like a plan. I think people spend too much time worrying about backlinks today, whether they are nofollow or dofollow. Google has clearly made a statement in the last few months about links and a lot of the methods people used (article submission, link building services, excess comments, etc.) No longer have the value for SEO anyway. I would rather spend my time working on unique content and video.
Well I suppose it all depends on how you look at it. some people are commenting not for click thru’s but for back links. which if they see commentluv they will expect to get a back. Until they realize the blog is no follow.
However if a post interests you enough that you feel the need to comment then naturally dofollow nofollow is not even a factor.
As for commentluv if you are surfing commentluv enabled blogs then you had probably better stick within your niche if you are looking to build traffic and not necessarily back links. this way you will have a much chance of getting noticed.
If on the other hand you are only after the backlink it’s simple enough to determine if the blog is nofollow before you waste your valuable minute or two posting.
oh and hi Lisa, i’ve been earning my keep online since 2006 as well guess that makes us sisters.
I endorse anything a blogger decides to do with their blog as it is “THEIR BLOG” shame on those who chastise for someone choosing Commentluv, Livefyre, Disqus, IntenseDebate or native WordPress commenting system.
DoFollow or NoFollow the choice is yours. There is no doubt that DoFollow breeds comment spam, but NoFollow doesn’t help too much either. I found that when I did use CommentLuv originally 6 months NoFollow, then 6 months DoFollow that the amount of spam comments (for links) didn’t change.
With the latest penguin updates penalizing links from sites without related content and such I am not sure DoFollow provides as much value as people think it does anymore. I completely agree with your statement about showcasing the commenters article and NoFollow or DoFollow I click if I see an interesting title article in someone’s content and this alone is the biggest benefit of CommentLuv.
I am a huge CommentLuv supporter and purchased the premium version and use it on a few of my blogs.
Hi Justin
I JUST posted this exact same point about the post Penguin era in response to someone else here. This post was written when dofollow was more of a factor with SEO. Today, I don’t even think it matters and I’m so over the dofollow obsession. Although, Penguin/Panda has silenced a lot of the dofollow noise…. thankfully. The best thing any online business owner should focus on today is diversification outside of Google.
Matt said it MIGHT affect your blog IF you approve spammy comments. Even if you are nofollow you don’t want to be approving spammy comments so even if you are dofollow you don’t do that.
I am REALLY old school. The purpose of links is to make it easy for your readers to get additional information. The purpose of links in comments is to make it easy for a community to spring up around your blog and between the commenters.
Do we really want to hand Google power over who link to and what is important to us? Are we going to kiss up to them and just do whatever we think will keep them from slapping us? It is about time we stop handing them a monopoly and do what is right instead of letting them control us.
Using proper anchor text lets the search engine know what a post or page is about. That is a GOOD thing – not bad – and that is why I offer both dofollow keywords in the name field and dofollow CommentLuv in my blogs.
Because dofollow CommentLuv bloggers care about others enough to risk having Google slap them I know they have their hearts in the right place. That is why of the millions of blogs out there theirs are the ones I share, read and comment in. There is not enough time to read every blog so we have to decide who our community will be. That is how I choose to do it.
There are many high profile blogs that are DoFollow and still have PageRanks of 4 or more so if it really was a bad thing you would think we would be the first to know. Kikolani.com is PR5 and they’re DF and there are many PR4 DFCL blogs.
I hear your point — especially about letting Google control us, Gail, but now that we have no idea what the heck Google is up to and what they like/don’t like (post Penguin/Panda), I don’t even think dofollow/nofollow is even really much of an SEO issue anymore. Not sure it matters much these days as this post was written quite some time ago when dofollow was a bigger factor with SEO.
I stand by the fact that no matter if your blog is DF or NF, there is still a benefit to being able to post a link. Not everything is about SEO and I am still over everyone obsessing over whether or not a blog is DF or NF. Today, I’m not sure it’s that big a deal.