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When we decide, we will periodically publish our posts with topics that, based on the knowledge we have of our audience, we think will be of interest to them and that will attract them to visit our website and, by extension, have a good image in their memory.
Although we can use web analytics tools to evaluate the behavior of users and thus detect which are the areas that produce the most interest (it can be by number of visits to a post or the time spent, among other metrics). In this way, we can learn a little more about them.
However, this method is indirect; From some numerical values we must deduce (assume) that a certain topic is of interest to users.
But, on the one hand, the user adopts a passive attitude (mere receiver of information), and, on the other hand, we have no way of knowing if he has other concerns.
So when we allow a user to comment on a post, we are giving it a greater prominence.
You can now adopt a more active attitude when interacting with us, extending your visit time on our page but, fundamentally, you can leave your opinions and doubts, which allow us to get to know you better and help us improve our publication strategy.
In this article we are going to see how we can improve the comment system that WordPress includes by default, with a selection of the best plugins to manage comments that make it easier for users to leave their comments and improve our relationship with them (and, therefore, more engagement).
Why do we need a WordPress comment plugin?
As we have seen in the introduction, a comments section add real value to posts of our blog, and WordPress facilitates these comments with a default system.
However, its functionality is quite limited and plugins improve or replace it to get even more user engagement.
We must not underestimate the importance of feedback. Not only for users, but for ourselves.
It’s disheartening when we put effort into creating quality content but don’t get the recognition we expect. For this reason, the comments represent a kind of confirmation of the quality of the content, expressed directly by the users.
Comments can also improve content, as users often leave comments that elaborate on a particular aspect or provide another point of view.
In fact, many readers often find even the comments section as useful as the content itself, for all the additional information provided and the possibility of exchanging opinions with other users, not only with the owner of the website.
However, for a blog to receive many comments, it is not only necessary to publish quality content, it is also necessary to offer a comment system that facilitates this interaction and that offers more features than the default WordPress comments.
Next, we will review the advantage and, yes, it also has them, the drawbacks of the comments in WordPress, so that we are clear about what they bring us and what it means to have them on our blog.
Advantages of comments in WordPress
- SEO positioning. I put it first because the impact that comments can have on positioning is rarely taken into account.
When users make useful comments (for example, that are not spam, as we will see later), they expand the information of the article, using related keywords with the main topic, which reinforces the positioning of our post for those keywords and that theme.
- New content. Again we refer to useful comments (yes, I insist a lot on this concept, but you will see that it is transcendental).
With their comments, users can refer to the content, either to expand on some aspect or ask a specific question.
Everything can be used to choose a topic for a new post, to delve into points that have generated the most interest or to deal with other related topics about which users have asked the most.
- Community feeling. Through comments, users create a link not only with the website, but with each other.
Regular users of a website, who leave comments with a certain frequency, end up interacting with each other, through the comment threads, debating on the topic of the post, and that we can stimulate with our own comments.
This feeling of community increases the loyalty of the user, who will tend to visit us more times.
- Evaluation of the post. A post with few comments usually means that this topic, or the way it has been raised, is not of interest to users and that we should not repeat too much.
On the other hand, a post with many comments means that it is a topic that has interested users a lot or that it is exposed in a very attractive way. This allows us to determine if certain formats are more suitable for our audience than others (for example, if we have included several short videos and the comments skyrocket, we should consider making posts with that layout).
Disadvantages of comments in WordPress
- Comment moderation. Perhaps the part that for many bloggers can be more negative: spending time reading and answering the comments. It is not necessary to answer all of them (although it is necessary to read them), but we do have to maintain a fairly active attitude in this regard.
There is nothing more demotivating for a user than to leave a comment with a very specific question or doubt but that the blogger does not read or answer it.
Having a comment system implies a commitment on our part: interact with users.
- Link “seekers”. Many, many, users leave comments that do not add anything to a post just to leave their name and a link to their website, in a vain attempt to get some benefit in their positioning through that link (as if Google were fool).
They are comments that do not provide any of the advantages of having comments and that can even discourage other more committed users, who see too many comments that do not contribute anything.
The blogger can moderate them, of course, but at the cost of spending valuable time.
- Spam comments. These are comments that add absolutely nothing to the post, that have nothing to do with its content or with a clear commercial nature.
They are usually generated automatically by bots and are relatively easy to distinguish (a plugin like this can help us control them) because they are comments that could be used for this post and any other post, due to how neutral and inconsequential they are.
Link “seekers” could be considered spam, but there are some that do, they search for links, but they don’t do it automatically and at least make an effort to leave a useful comment.
The comment system in WordPress
WordPress does not need a plugin to include comments on posts, as it includes its own comment system. It is quite basic but it allows a first approach to comments and many blogs include it with the default configuration, fulfilling its function in an acceptable way.
The biggest advantage of the WordPress commenting system is its ease of use. To leave a comment, visitors only need to leave their name and email address, and optionally the URL of your website. In this way, users will be more likely to leave a comment.
However, there are quite a few drawbacks to using this system which, on the other hand, has hardly changed since its first versions.
For example, users who comment are not notified of replies, user comments cannot be voted on, and they cannot be shared on social media. The spam filter is also not very effective.
Despite these limitations, it may be enough for small blogs, so before we see which are the best plugins to manage WordPress comments, let’s see what the WordPress comment system is like and how we can use it.
The comment system is activated in WordPress through the option “Allow comments to be published on new articles”, within the Settings->Comments menu in the control panel:
Once activated, we can configure various aspects of its operation, related to user registration and comment moderation, such as:
- Whether or not it is mandatory for the user to register to leave a comment, as well as leave their name and email (this measure usually limits spam a bit).
- Receive email notifications when someone leaves a comment on our posts.
- The possibility that the posts of known users are published automatically, without the need for us to moderate them.
- Indicate some conditions for the moderation of comments; for example, limiting the number of links (to avoid link “seekers”) or including a blacklist of words that should not appear in a comment (such as “sell”, “viagra” or “gambling”).
When a user leaves a comment on one of our posts and we must moderate it, either to publish it or reply to it, WordPress indicates it in the menu with the number of comments pending moderation:
To moderate the comments that are pending, WordPress offers us the following possibilities:
For each comment, we can do the following:
- Approve or reject it, depending on whether or not it is relevant to that post.
- Answer it. If it is still pending publication, it will be automatically approved.
- Edit the comment, for when there is a typo or we want to eliminate a word (for example, if it is on the blacklist but it is not a spam comment).
- Mark it as spam, so that future posts from this user will be considered spam.
- Delete it, when the comment does not contribute anything but we do not consider it to be spam either.
We can’t do much more with the WordPress comment system, but if you think it’s enough for your blog, you can see a much more detailed description of how to configure and .
The 6 best plugins to manage comments in WordPress
Perhaps you are doubting whether the WordPress comment system is enough for your blog and you are not sure what a comment plugin could offer you that you do not get with the default WordPress installation.
So that you do not go crazy reading and comparing the main features of WordPress comment plugins, here is one selection of the 6 bestwith a list of its most outstanding features, so you can decide which one best suits your blog.
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