Blog Comments Criteria Question

[bigeyecreative]

When I am commenting on blogs to get links, what criteria should I use to make sure the blog is valuable and wont hurt me in the long run?

[goodlegaladvice]

I usually find that blogs/newsites found through google news work better even though most are nofollow

[OlegKorneitchouk]

1. Not auto approve - those are usually spammed, if posts have 7934 comments that read like "great site, thanks! bookmarked!" and link to their own sites with keyword anchors, its a bad site

2. Niche related - content on site is related to your website, don't contain illegal/porn/gambling/pharma related content

3. Switch up anchor text - don't over optimize, make your linking text varied. use real name, brand name, keywords

4. Make sure the blog is indexed & ranking - if its penalized, your time is better spent elsewhere

5. Social signals - the more tweets/shares a blog post gets, the better the website typically is

I'm sure there is more but having these elements is almost guaranteed to be a good blog.

[KyleChamp]

"When I am commenting on blogs to get links"

Stop right there!! You should not be commenting on blogs for the sole purpose of gaining links. This in no why helps the community that you’re participating in as I am sure the comments being left are of low value. Commenting on blogs to get links back to your website is a tactic people used 5 years ago and should not be used this day in age.

Now, Blog commenting does come in handy when you actually have something with value to contribute and can show a community you know your stuff on your given Nitch. I definitely recommend using blog commenting this way to gain more exposure for yourself / brand but only if your comments really do add value.

[KeriMorgret]

I agree. Don't leave blog comments just to get links. The ones that will let you do that easily are not the blogs you want links on. The good blogs will have humans reviewing comments and systems put in place to make sure that you don't sign up for an account and drop links.

[JustDucky]

As a Penguin victim, I believe what you're recommending is not enough to be safe.   I was even penalized for using my name as the anchor text.  Some of the sites where I used my name might have been unrelated and a few might have been moderated too loosely but the high degree of danger greatly outweighs any benefit.  Whatever you do, do NOT point the links at your homepage!  Other people seem to believe there is a benefit but it's probably too marginal to be worth the time required and the risks.

[KJ-Rodgers]

I also agree. I had a boss a few years back that demanded that I do this. I had to keep a spreadsheet of all of the posts, what I said, and the link I used. I fought tooth and nail against it, but I had to. I left a short time later. But on a side note, that is how I found SEOmoz and  other awesome blogs.