Is allowing comments a good idea?

[Jingo01]

One (in fact a couple) of my sites is built using Wordpress so I could take advantage of things like Related Posts widgets, etc. However, the layout and navigation of the site is set up more like a traditional website rather than a blog and from the beginning I removed the comment box from the template.

I am wondering now whether allowing comments would actually be a good idea for SEO, or if I should leave it as it is. The content of the site doesn't really offer opinions (aside from a few product reviews) so to my mind comments dont really fit.

Thoughts or opinions readily welcomed...

[Netboost]

most of the time comments are good if you are willing to moderate them as it draws users into your site more by providing a means for interaction.

It really depends on the purpose of your website: if it was an informational site or review site then comments would be great. If it was a business's website then comments may not be a good idea as they may take off the professional edge unless they are constrained to a blog section.

[MarieHaynes]

I think comments are great as long as you have a thick enough skin. 

If you use comments be sure to have Askimet installed.  It works well to combat a good amount of spam.

Also make sure that you have it set so that you have to approve each comment.  This is where the thick skin comes in.  I have some pages where I have 10 comments singing the praises of my article and then I get a comment that says, "What on earth are you talking about?  You don't have a clue about this subject".  Those don't get published. 

Each of the comments you get adds keywords to your content, so this is good.

If you find that you are spending too much time moderating comments and you're not enjoying it then you can always turn comments off afterwards.

[EGOL]

From an SEO perspective and from a webmaster's perspective I would love to have comments on my website and blog.  I would enjoy seeing the search engines get all of that content and I would enjoy the community of friends that would develop around the topics that I publish.

However, I don't have comments turned on for the following reasons:

1. Comment spammers would stink up my site with linkdrops, product mentions, beggings and trollings.  I know that there is software to guard aginst these but some will still get through and it will make your site a target for the underworld of the web.   The more successful your blog becomes the bigger this problem gets and it can easily get to a point where you can't scale it with enjoyment or profit.

2. A blog or a website on almost any  topic will require a certain amount of moderation as there will be a small number of errors, petty disagreement, and other problems that require attention.  Again the busier your blog the greater these minor problems become.  Volunteer moderators could help a lot with these problems.

3. Saved for last is the one that in my opinion can be the greatest problem - people who have a personal jihad against the topic or the industry that you cover.  If you blog is about kittens this will probably not be too big of a problem, however, if it is about one of the more controversial political, social, environmental or religious issues your blog, email, telephone and more could be placed under heavy attack.  If you like this type of challenge it could be a great way to get links and traffic - it might scale profitably. But if you don't care for this type of engagement you better turn the comments - you will still get some of this but it will be at a much lower level.

[EGOL]

I think comments are great as long as you have a thick enough skin. 

This made me laugh... Thanks!   It's very true!

[MarieHaynes]

LOL...I do blog about kittens sometimes.  And this is still a problem!

[EGOL]

Phooey... I knew that this would happen as soon as I tried to pick a mellow topic.

[Jingo01]

My content is pretty uncontroversial, so hopefully allowing comments will just allow a bit of useful discussion to happen on each page (fingers crossed...)

Being spammed to death was/is one of my main concerns. I will of course use spam filters but, as EGOL suggests, this will still require moderation and therefore my time (which is already in short supply...)

I think I will give it a try and see how things go. Thanks for your input guys