One of the biggest issues in the corporate blogging world is whether or not you should allow readers to comment on your blog posts. There are two main schools of thought to the issue, basically yes and no. However, we believe that it is important to allow your readers to interact with you, and comments are one of the best ways to do this. You just need to make sure that you are handling the issue correctly for the best results.

First, you should make your decision about comments at the beginning of your blog and then stick with them. Don’t flip flop, allowing comments and then changing your mind. It will give a bad impression of your company and make it seem as though you are trying to hide something from the public. That’s not the image you want to project.

Next, you should think about allowing some not so flattering comments on your blog. No one likes controversy, but the fact of the matter remains that it can increase your page views. Don’t be afraid to allow some bad comments on your blog, just as long as you can answer the issue calmly and appropriately. Obviously, if a comment is just vitriolic and damaging, you should not approve it, but sometimes, bad comments and your response can lead to greater reader loyalty and they will want to back you up.

We’ve mentioned approving comments because we believe the best of both worlds in blogging is to allow comments, but on a moderated basis. This means that all of the comments will go into a queue where you can read and approve them. This is much safer and helps cut down on comment spam as well as people who are just looking to start trouble. It takes a little bit longer, but you will be able to have a lot more peace of mind.

Next, you’ll want to set some ground rules for your comments and make sure that you enforce them fairly. For example, you can state that no profanity or hate speech is allowed, and that some posts may not be approved based on their overall content. If people know this going in, you can cut down on the amount of people that are screaming censorship.

You’ll never be able to please all of the people all of the time, but allowing comments on your blog can be very good for your company. In fact, sometimes the blog comments can be more interesting than the blog itself in some cases. You’ll also be able to increase your page views as your readers keep coming back throughout the day to follow the comment thread.

Used wisely, comments are very powerful and can be beneficial to your business. You may want to hire a blog management company to help you with this process so that you can free up your time to actually work for your company instead of having to babysit your blog.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-06-18 05:08:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• Is Your Blog Compelling Enough? Time and time again, if you are a corporate blogger, you’ve probably heard about the importance of compelling content. What you may not know however is what constitutes this type of content. If you’re not taking the time to craft posts that your readers will find compelling, you may be......
• SEO Success With Corporate Blogging One of the main reasons that many companies begin blogging is to help them attract new customers. With the use of SEO or search engine optimization, you can dramatically increase your overall discoverability on search engines and you should see an increase in the amount of traffic that your site......
• 3 Topics to Not to Write About on a Corporate Blog So many advice columns, tips and books focus on what you should talk about on your corporate blog, but few ever go into things that you should not talk about. While it is important to focus on the positive, you also need to be aware of some common mistakes that......
• 5 Tips on Corporate Blogging for Companies Right now, one of the best ways to reach out to your customer base and increase brand recognition is through the use of a corporate blog. However, many companies aren't sure where they should start and how they can take advantage of this trend. Here are some tips that make......
• The Downsides of Free Blogging Platforms for Corporate Blogging (Blogger, etc... focus on how posts may be deleted forever without warning, lack of professionalism, etc...) In a lot of different instances when it comes to blogging, making use of a free blogging platform can really come in handy. If you are writing a personal blog or a blog that......

• Gaining Easy Blog Traffic Do you want to spend every day smashing the previous day's traffic record? There is no reason why you cannot achieve this, but it is going to take some work. Write and publish a new post every day. New content is vitally important. It makes search engines come to your......
• Jobless rate falls to 9.7 percent in January [/caption] The unemployment rate in the U.S. unexpectedly dropped to 9.7 percent in January, indicating the labor market may be poised to climb out of its deepest slump since World War II. More than half a million Americans found work, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington, helping push......
• Why SPINdustry Is Not PR & Wrongly Portrays the Industry #fail You need 'experience' to pass out bottles of water, short black mini-skirts topped off with neon pink jackets, the keen ability to know not to put mustard in your boss' sandwich and 4-inch stilettos to work in public relations...that is according to the ghastly new E! reality television show SPINdustry...
• The 3 W's (Wares) in Security Management 1. Introduction1.1 A reputable state-owned Security company in my country advocates the emphasis on the 3 Ms - Man, Methods and Machines, in its security management practice. In my view, another way of putting it is: the 3 Wares - (1) Hard Ware - access control system and CCTV......
• Do You Need More Blog Readers? Do you feel as if your blog could use more blog readers? You are certainly not alone, as most blog authors are constantly looking for an increase in more blog readers, though not everyone is sure quite how to attract the readership levels that they are looking for. If you......