Using comments on a … WEBSITE.

One of the great things about blogs is their ability to make your site interactive with comments. People love to be able to participate in things, they don’t like to feel like they are being left out. And if it is a topic in which they hold a lot of passion about, either negative or positive, then they have a great desire to share.

Comments also allow you to get feedback. Using the ability to add a forum, or to have comments enabled on a page so people can tell you how they feel about your site/product/service is a great tool. (Of course you have the authority to approve the comments you want others to see, this is not what I am focusing on here).

My focus is to try to present to you how important it is to hear other peoples views regarding what you have to offer.

But this must be kept in mind:

“You can please some of the people all of the time, All of the people some of the time, but you can NEVER please all of the people all of the time!”

So, it also takes a balance to know what comments are important in your growth, and  which opinions will or will  not affect how you deal with customers/visitors. Which suggestions will or will not make your site more user friendly. Which remarks will or will not make your product or service better.

Let me give an example:

Lets say I have a site in which I sell Personalized Key Chains. On one of my pages I suggest people leave there comments about my site and my product/services.

For this demonstration I’m going to say my site has a lot of links on the home page, and it comes across as confusing. Lets say that I have received comments detailing how it was hard for others to navigate through my site. Now lets say I receive a new comment that explains how some one does not like the colors of the stones I use. I receive another comment in which someone suggests I put my contact information on the home page, because they were unable to find it…….

Out of that example there were only 2 clear things, in which as the site owner, I would focus on:

1- Making my site easier to navigate through, eliminating some of my links by categorizing better.

2- Make sure my contact information was easy to find and easy to read.

The person that left a reply about the color of my stones would not be relevant to anything, except their preference to what colors they like.

That was an  example of how the feedback from comments can help me in my growth.

Another great thing about enabling comments is that it instantly makes your site interactive. This is a great way to get people to stay on your site and also a great way to get people coming back. Which equals Traffic!

If you have a good topic, not only will they remember your site longer, they will be more inclined to  tell others.

You can also add a feature in which they are able to “JOIN”, this gives you access to a vital bit of information, their email address. **Now I caution that you send only an ad for discounts on your products or services, maybe once a week, maybe twice a week. People do not like to get spammed! But they may like an occasional coupon now and then!**

So I suggest strongly allowing comments on a designated page. The feedback from your comments could be crucial to your online presence. I also suggest participating in any discussions that may arise. Show that you are there, show it is your site…. And in your replies to posts, remember you are there to represent AUTHORITY! Give clear, educated, well thought out responses.

Teach whenever possible and learn whenever possible!

Sincerely,

SiteSires