This entire article is republished from an earlier time, with a few minor changes. All comments/links have been kept in-tact and should be skimmed by previous readers to avoid comment content duplication.

All readers are encouraged to check back periodically. Anything could change at any time.

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As the title implies, this is the official blog commenting policy for DEDC. As mentioned previously, after the eventual launch of the network, this same blog comment policy will govern any/every blog within.

Blog Commenting Is At The Heart Of Blogging

If you’ve been a blogger for ANY amount of time, you realize how important blog commenting is; any comments other then SPAM that is.

You could say blog commenting is THE differentiating factor between blogs and static websites, and you’d be right.

To those that never reply to comments, or worse, shut off comments altogether, I ask, why not just create a static website with pages of content?…..that’s all you have now anyway.

They know a search engine will take a blog over static any day. Just another form of greed if you ask me. But I digress…

I LOVE Comments

Let me start by saying, I LOVE comments. It truly makes me feel like I’m doing something right. Positive or negative, constructive-consistent comments are always welcome.

I honesty believe, good commentators with their thought provoking, article broadening opinions make the article above it even better.

Truth be told, you’d be really surprised how many ideas are derived from a really good garbage comment. After deleting the comment of course. ;)

Doing My Due Diligence

With all that said, I feel it prudent to write something official with regards to blog commenting. We all need to be on the same page, to make sure the comments stay on the up & up, as it goes.

I think you will find me more then fair, and even more lenient than most who have been around as long as I.

This blog commenting policy is quite long and as detailed as humanly possible. It is meant to teach as much as anything else. Please read it at least once in it’s entirety.

You’ll see, as long and drawn out as it may appear, it is 99% simply common sense, common courtesy, and good blogger etiquette.

A Different Sort of Blog Comment Policy

I’m doing something differently here.

You’ll notice this blog commenting policy is written in post form, not page.

This may be something to think about for your own blogs, as it enables some cool abilities…

Save Space In The Navigation Bar

The blog comment policy will be linked eventually in two places, starting with, right next to the comment submit button in big bold red letters, and eventually in page navigation in the sidebar.

If you miss it, please Google “Optometrist” immediately.

Seriously, what’s the real percentage of visitors that click it in the Nav. bar?

Comments

Ironic perhaps, but follow me here.

If you don’t understand something, comment right here. It’s a heck of a lot easier then using the contact page, and I reply quickly enough.

Enough comments could also make it a decent F.A.Q. page for others that actually read it.

Check back periodically, as I’m sure I’ll find other nifty reasons for this. :)

NOW, let’s get down to some simple yays and nays…..

Blog Commenting Policy Start

From here down are the rules and regs. As mentioned earlier, it is in your best interest to read it all at least once in it’s entirety.

Comment Fields

First and foremost, be sure to fill out the 4 fields properly. Name, Email Address, URL, Twitter (if applicable).

Name Field

A real name, real (one word) Nickname, or Initials MUST be included. And I’m pretty sure your nickname isn’t “Traffic”.

I have enabled the Keywordluv plugin. If you wish to add your keyword anchor text with your name, there is one way to type it…..Name @ Keywords.

Your allowed a maximum of THREE keywords for anchor text – John @ how to maximize an articles potential through proper SEO – is not the way to get your comment approved.

Email Address

A legitimate “used daily” email address only.

It is not published publicly.

I do not spam, nor do I give/rent/sell, or any of the crap others do. Your all mine! Muahahahahahaha.

I may however need to contact you, and this address is what I’ll use. I will not hunt you down after a bounced email, and may even ban you altogether for pissing me off.

URL

There is constant drama regarding what is acceptable, and what is not as far as the comment backlink; especially surrounding “bad neighborhoods” deemed by Google, so I’ll clarify.

Acceptable URL’s are as follows…..

A. Legitimate blogs – If I get the slightest whiff you’re a scrapper or MFA (made for adsense) or similar, you’re eliminated.

B. Legitimate e-Commerce - This refers to physical products.

C. Legitimate Small Business/Organizational Websites – You don’t have a blog. You don’t sell products. You have a “company website” – Real Estate Agents and United Cerebral Palsy make great examples.

Unacceptable URL’s (whether in blog or static form) are as follows…..

  • Sales pages
  • Affiliate pages
  • Squeeze/Landing pages
  • MFA’s (made for adsense)
  • Get-Rich-Quick schemes
  • Illegal sites Gambling sites
  • Pornographic sites

You get the gist, right? These will be at my discretion. If you think it may not pass, don’t waste your time. Feel free to contact me if you REALLY think it should pass; but don’t waste my time either.

Twitter

Just read the blue box, it’s self explanatory.

Blog Commenting Rules

Here’s the meat of my blog comment policy:

Comment On Topic

I know how easy it is to get sidetracked, I’ve done it plenty of times myself. It tends to get worse with the threaded comments option.

Banter between readers is a GOOD thing; blogging = community. However if it goes to far OT (off topic), no longer adding value to the article, please take it off the blog.

There it is. Universal Blog Commenting Tip Number ONE. All comments must add value to the article and be useful for ALL involved.

This means to cut down on certain things…

A. Banter - as I said above, banter is an OK thing; it promotes community. Span it as long as you want on topic, just don’t span it 20 replies if it’s off topic.

B. Keep compliments to yourself – Did that sound harsh? Sorry, it’s the best way to get the point across. I’m not simply referring to “great post!”; we all know those get deleted outright.

There are some legitimate ones, but to be perfectly honest, a pure compliment does no good for anyone except maybe stroke the authors ego.

Compliment alone = Unacceptable. “This is an awesome article! Keep up the good work!” – Useless, even if sincere. More often then not thought of as an attempt to game some sort of comment count.

Compliment+Thought = Acceptable. “This was an excellent article Bill, good job. I especially like the point you made on…..” and launch into another paragraph with something useful.

Do you really want to compliment the blogger? Go out of your way to shoot over an email. Make sure it’s not an empty compliment and I GUARANTEE you will now be on his/her radar.

C. Keep Thank You – You’re Welcome to a minimum – As with compliments, the same applies to excessive “Thank You” “You’re Welcome” type comments, to either the article author or another commenter. It means very little to the general community and really aggravates those that subscribe to comments.

Notice I highlighted excessive.

Two many 2nd string thank you’s, towards me or other commenters through threaded comments hit my radar real fast, and not in a good way. These are additional totally unnecessary thank you’s after the first “you’re welcome”.

I love to be thanked, most people do, and it is after all common courtesy. However, I and other bloggers need to think of the community as a whole.

ONE Thank You+Thought=Acceptable.

Do you really want to thank the person? Again, shoot over an email. Thank them for the thought/idea/whatever, and tell them what you did with it.

To put it simply – Community value stays, everything else goes. A good measure for blog commenting is to ask yourself: Would I want this comment on my blog?”.

The final judgment is mine; use your head and you should be fine.

Watch Your Language

Keep it between G and PG13.

If you feel a wee bit too high spirited on a certain subject; ya really wanna tell someone to piss off, it may be better to blog about it yourself and provide a trackback. WIN-WIN.

No Personal Attacks

Disagreements are welcomed and encouraged! Whether it’s with me or another reader, just keep it intelligent.

External Linking Within a Comment

Perfectly OK with me, as long as it’s relevant to the article topic. We’ll both catch the attention of the blogger you’re linking to. WIN-WIN-WIN.

Linking back to a relevant article on your site is OK to, just don’t get too clever. If the links are good stuff, I’ll add them to the article too, with the appropriate courtesy links. WIN-WIN again.

If the article in question is within Commentluv’s reach (last 10) use that instead.

Too clever = Putting a read more link in a comment is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.You get the gist. Getting too clever may result in even your relevant comment getting deleted. LOSE-LOSE.

No affiliate links allowed

EVER. They will either be deleted outright, or changed to mine. Heh!

No signature links allowed

EVER. You already have TWO with anchor text. Don’t get greedy.

Action Taken on Rule Breakers

This is where I have some fun:

Those that blatantly break any of the simple rules of my blog comment policy for their own selfish gains or merely too lazy to read this page, may find 1 of 3 things happen to their comment.

1. Delinked URL – If the comment is half-decent I’ll keep it. However you will get no credit whatsoever. A non-clickable name with Commentluv link erased.

2. Deletion – A plain ‘ole crap comment will simply be gone. POOF.

3. Spammed – Keep it up and see what happens. If I truly feel you’re  flippin’ me off, I have a very handy dandy spam button. Trust me, a few of these and your blog commenting days ANYWHERE are DONE.

This is the worst possible scenario for YOU.

Some of this may sound harsh, but it is all in the best interest of everyone. We have a truly awesome community here, I’m sure we can all get along just swell.

Aside from the automated link spam (porn, pharmaceuticals, etc), I’ve only had to SPAM or delete a handful (maybe two) of comments since I started blogging (several years ago).

I’d like to keep it that way. Dedicated readers/commenters are the lifeblood of this or any blog. Never however consider yourself immune from my wrath. Muhahahahahaha.

Any questions?

*****

This blog and any other I launch are Do Follow, CommentLuv, KeywordLuv enabled. Be good, and we’ll all have fun!

Your comment is on my blog. I reserve the right to do pretty much anything I want to it. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

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