Are Blog Commenting Services Taking SEO Spam to the Extreme?

Commenting on related blogs is a great way to drive targeted traffic to your website, but has buying blog comments taken SEO and traffic generation too far?

Blog Comments and Drunk College Students

Do you remember a TV commercial that claimed they could cure hangovers?. The product was Chaser, freedom from hangovers. Now to many college students, Chaser is a great product. You have fun, get drunk, take Chaser, and you’re home free. It gets the job done, but fails to educate you on the proper way to cure a hangover. As Dr. F. Batmanghelidj would say, “You’re not hungover; You’re thristy. Don’t treat thirst with pills.”

Chaser provides value in the students eyes until they realize a much easier solution: to simply drink water after a night of boozing. The solution is not only simplier, but much more affordable than going on a late night CVS run for the “anti-booze.” Bloggers can achieve the same effect if they create a consistent habit to leave comments on related blogs. It’s cheaper, performs better, and might open up a door or two. I have initiated several online partnerships with bloggers by just leaving a thoughtful comment.

Of course, PerezHilton.com or Bloggingstocks.com may ignore your comment due to their huge readership, but most smaller niche bloggers really cherish a geniune comment. It sparks conversation, and tells the blogger he/she is publishing the right kind of content.

While chaser pills and blog comments are unrelated, I hate nothing more than receiving an unrelated screaming of spam blog comments. Akismet filters these types of comments from my blog on a daily basis.

Spam Comment Favorites

Here’s one of my favorites:

Sunday I was searching for sites related to Marketing and specifically management seo and I found your site.

This comment has no typos or incorrect spelling, but random blog comments are so damn spammy! I’m definitely not ranked for management seo anywhere on Google. Because this comment included perfect Name, e-mail, and website address, I believe this is the work of a paid blog commenting service.

The Pros and Cons

Pros

• Increase web traffic
• leverage someone else’s time
• Make money from increased traffic

Cons

• Creates irrelevant comments that decrease the value of the web
• Leaves terrible impressions on unsuspecting bloggers
• Offers little to no referring traffic due to the poor blog comment quality
• Attempts to game the search engines through fabricated link creation
• Not my style

Even though I’m against mass outsourcing blog comments, I believe some companies are able to manage weblog comment services well. Honestly, only 10% of these paid blog comments services do a good job. Think about it: Would you take the time to write a well thought out comment on Gardening if you’re allergic to flowers (like me)?

The Solution: Social Media Assistants

We will continue to see a strong trend of Social Media positions within companies both large and small. Unlike the mass outsourcing, Social media assistants have more time to learn about you and your company, spend time creating high quality comments that stand out, and reinforce your organization’s brand.

But I’m a 1 Man Show?

One thing my generation has forgotten is the art of bartering. I can’t tell you how many times I try to barter my services in exchange for goods, and people look at me like I’m speaking Chinese. Humans used bartering as the #1 means of exchanging goods until paper money came around. Try trading tasks with a fellow blogger in exchange for some SEO work or blog articles. Get creative, get traffic, and save some real cash.

Happy blogging and safe commenting,

Tarik Pierce

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