Why Steemit Needs A Lot More Comments
I tell all new people to comment. This is a great way to gain a following as you get to know other people. Newer people are often dismayed when they write an article which only receives a few cents (if anything at all). They fail to grasp the concept that nobody knows them. Unless you come over with a following like @jerrybanfield did, or have a rather large family, one is going to have to interact to get a following.
Therefore, I will state it in clear terms for newcomers:
Of course newcomers are not the only ones who need to comment. Steemit is in dire need of plenty more comments for a few different reasons. The first obviously is the interaction. Without comments, articles are dead. However, once commenting occurs, conversations can arise. Suddenly, the article has life to it.
There is another, more pragmatic reason for comments. Comments help to drive traffic.
Please take a look at the latest Alexa.com ranking.
The other night I wrote a post where Steemit ranked #1000 in the US; it moved up 55 places in a little more than 48 hours.
That said, there are some stats from Alexa which are more telling.
There are many on here who spend a lot of time scouring Facebook, Youtube, and Reddit in an effort to drive traffic. Yet the stats tell us that Google (along with India) account for more than 20% of the referred visitors. Google still controls the Internet and who sees you.
Why do I bring these points up?
Google has a bot that they send out to comb the Internet. Part of the ranking system is how big you are and what keywords you align with. Certainly, with so many people posting on such a variety of topics, Steemit ranks with many different topics. At the same time, the more articles that Steemit has, the bigger it gets. Think of it as a glacier. The more often Google bumps into Steemit, the better it ranks.
Article size is important for Google. One of the big reasons is that Google likes to rank links that answer a variety of questions at once. Consider it one stop shopping. If an article can cover a couple different areas providing the answer the searcher is looking for, that is more valuable to Google. Therefore, a well-written article of 1,000 is better than one of 75.
Another interesting fact is that Google does not know when the article ends nor does it care. How often did you click on one of the trending articles and scroll down to the comment section to find a comment you left a few minutes before? You keep scrolling...and scrolling...and scrolling. To you this is tedious; to Google, it is nirvana. Google loves that and will give that article a higher ranking.
To Google, it is all about information. Articles that have a ton of information end up with the highest ranking. This is why Wikipedia is almost at the top of every search. A Wikipedia page tends to be long and cover a variety of topics. It hits on two major areas for Google.
Facebook tends to do the same thing. The sheer size of Facebook in terms of pages means that Google is running into it all the time. Like here, someone posts something on Facebook and 500 people comment on it. While many of them might be dopey, there are usually a few well-written, longer comments. That adds to the size of the post in Google's eyes.
The best thing we can do for the growth of Steemit, as posters and commenters, is to do more of it. There are people handling the marketing on the other social media sites which is yielding an impact. However, combined those efforts are not even netting the results of the Google spider. If we can take each post and an 33% more to it by commenting, this will lift all of Steemit's rankings higher. Obviously, after 20 months, this site is finally getting big enough, from Google's perspective, to be moving up the ranks.
Let us all do our part by leaving a few extra, pertinent comments today. A paragraph or two can go a long way to catching the "eye" of the Google bot.
If you found this article helpful, please give it an upvote and re-steem.
Picture by Google Images.
For me, commenting is my primary interaction with Steemir right now. I actually believe I'm a better commentor than I am a writer.
This is fine with me because it is the way I can contribute most for now. And who knows, commenting might lead to a post idea.
Great post.
Keep Steeming!
Problem with comments - often you don't know how and what to comment. If you comment - then people don't comment back. How do you deal with it?
Yes that is a problem...that is why I mentioned conversations. Often you leave a comment to hear nothing back.
It is the way it is...however well all can look to improve in this area.
We can not always expect an answer, but I agree, leaving a comment that goes unanswered sucks!
Lest's stop unanswered post to be produced. Some posts get 100 comments+, but most posts get zero, and statistic show that on average 2 comments per post. WE don't look often to "Replie" section.
I agree, most of the time we only look at the top comments... but the author of the post should rank the comments to his/her liking!
Whether I'm replied to or not, I feel like making comments are good for Steem on the whole. When I do something for the benefit of Steem , I'm helping lay the foundation of something that is going to change my life and the world.
I thy to make thoughtful comments that are pertinent to the discussion. If I can't do that, I keep quiet. If nobody replies then I feel like at least I did my part. Hope this helps you.
When it comes down to what to comment - just write what's on your mind! Ideas are meant to be shared. You may not get a reply but even one person reading it is worth it, you know? Eventually, the more we individually comment the more discussions start to grow. It has to start somewhere so why not people like you and me?
Ive just gotten used to it, long before. Just throw your views out into the void, and hope for the occaisonal connection. But don't go in expecting a high conversion rate.
Same problem.) We are wondering in a void here. We stranded to find somebody interesting or interested in us.
I think it just bothers me less than most, it fits my personality type. In real life I like to be in groups, but I spend the time half thinking, half listening and only occaisonally blurting out my musings. If it gets traction in the conversation, neat. If it dies, I'm already back to thinking and listening.
That is a very smart approach. It is how people will get to know you.
Plus, I have seen some upvotes in the comment section get reward more than the actual post itself.
Hello @taskmaster4450,
Interesting article and thanks to talk about this point.
I think the comments bring a lot of richness to the platform, because users can help to bring more clarity to each post or add more value.
What I find really difficult sometimes is to find topics from my interest (IT Security, Martial Arts, etc) because there are people who post random posts or spam with topics that has nothing to do with "Technology" just as an example.
I think the platform has a lot of potential and make sense to keep writing high quality content, but I think the use of Tags should have some improvements or filtering.
I comment because it is entertaining, it is fun to interact with people from different parts of the world, in Steemit I have spoken and met people from all continents of the world
Sometimes it's a little monotonous just to post, interact is quite important, I do not think many spend hours in Wikipedia simply reading articles, but many people spend hours on Facebook which is basically: comments.
Comments are not just important but necessary to keep a social network alive. That´s why I set myself the mission to reply to any single one of them on my posts as well as to spread some around myself :)
Without Interaction Steemit will die, so write comments people & most important reward others for doing so to encourage them to keep going ;)
The conversations on here are wonderful, and I love the fact that you can vote on comments as well - it acknowledges that great information can arise from a thoughtful discussion.
Plus, most of my highest valued posts started as comments that I decided to expand into full articles. I so rarely know what I'm going to write about on a given day until I sit down and start reading.
A point I had not considered but very astute. Thanks for bringing it up @winstonalden.
Comments provide multiple benefits....this is something we all should keep in mind.
My first post that got upvoted by a whale, giving me my first big payout, was because I mentioned something in a comment and hadn't yet learned how to put photos in comments. So, I made a post about it.
I was SUPER grateful that happened, and would never have thought of making a post about it otherwise!
Yeah, same thing here.
It makes sense that people would want to read about the stuff they're talking about. So, getting involved in the comments is the best "market research" you can do!
Yes! More comments, more conversations! This is social media afterall.
On another note, I am thinking of starting a contest to help out our SEO/Google rankings, but since it will cost me a bit of money I'm going to wait until my account is a bit more built up.
This is a great explanation as to why it is so important to comment on Steemit, not just for personal gain, but to grow the community. I’ve noticed the quality of commentary is better on Steemit. That is an added plus. Blessings!
Thank you for your comment @gatorlynne.
I agree, it is one of the rich benefits of Steemit. I like that there are some articles that have robust conversations. The back and forth is wonderful.
yeah ..i earn 95% of my earning on steemit through comments and 5% may be through my posts(through my own vote)...because i'm new here and nobody want waste vote on my posts...so i'm completely agree with @taskmaster4450 ..its good to comment in your starting day...i read
@taskmaster4450 's posts and comment on his post daily ....i get lot of of good information and some reward too...thankyou @taskmaster4450
I am not sure that people do not want to waste their votes on you since you are new...I think it is more that it takes a while to get to know and understand a person on here. One or two comments in an article arent going to cut it. There are some people that I have been commenting with for the past 4 months and rarely do they vote any of my stuff.
It is a big site with lots going on especially without communities..Hence it is all one big stream. It is easy for any of us to get lost in the mix.
Great info as usual. Thanks for steering us noobs in the right direction! I have heard from other posts how the power of comments can help build up a following but I never considered how it helps steemit with Alexa ranking. I plan on doing my part by leaving at least five comments a day.
Thanks for this @taskmaster4450
I joined this community this month and am finding it so interesting, am still taken my time to learn about how things work here and iv'e started seeing that the best place to build relationship is through commenting on people's post. Is a means of appreciating them for taken time to do a post. I learn that the major motive is not all about reward but rather to make friends and have fun things we go on well and we will not be tensed if we didn't get anything.
I look forward to reading more from you.
Much love @funkylove
Thank you for the comment @funkylove. It is always wonderful to see new people come on here and jump right in.
It is a community and we need to remember that. Yes money is a factor on here, we cannot deny that. However, doing what is best for the community will ultimately lead to greater heights for all of us.
The influx of people is just starting. Everyone on here is an early adopter.
This is pretty true @taskmaster4450
You are the best