There are lots of blogs today, which means that people have many places where they can go to learn new things.

If you don’t make people feel welcome, they may read and dash without leaving a comment.

Here are 7 ways you can encourage your readers to leave comments.

Tip #1: Check your blog comments settings

Do you make it easy for someone to leave a comment?

That might sound like a crazy question until you look closely at the comments settings available in the two most popular blogging platforms, WordPress and Blogger. Both platforms give you options for limiting who can post comments on your blog without really explaining the impact of your choices.

Every business has a unique situation, so you need to consider your business blog comments options carefully. In general, I recommend that you make it easy for people to comment and (nearly) impossible for spammers to comment.

So how do you do that?

On WordPress blogs:

• Make it easy for people to comment by only requiring commenters to provide their name and email address.

The WordPress comment settings appear on the Discussion Settings page.

This WordPress comment option makes it easy for people to comment on your blog.

• Make it difficult for spammers to comment by turning on comment moderation for first time commenters. This option requires the blog administrator to approve the first comment from everyone. WordPress automatically approves any other comments posted by the same person.

This WordPress comment option requires the blog administrator to approve the first comment from everyone.

On Blogger blogs:

• Make it easy for people to comment by selecting the option to let anyone comment.

This Blogger comments setting makes it easy for people to add comments to your blog posts.

• Make it difficult for spammers to comment by turning on the word verification setting. People must type a word displayed on the screen to successfully submit a comment. Because most comment spammers are computer programs, they can’t complete this typing test.

This Blogger comment option requires everyone to pass a simple typing test before posting a comment to greatly reduce comment spam.

Tip #2: Ask for comments

At the end of your blog post, always ask the reader to leave a comment. It’s like telling someone a story and then saying, “Well, what do you think?”

I recommend that you write a customized comment request statement at the end of each blog post. Rather than writing a generic statement (“Post your comments below”), be specific. Write a unique comment request based on the blog post content.

An example of a blog post asking for reader comments.

Tip #3: Write a blog comment policy

It’s your blog. You can set the rules for what makes a safe conversation zone for your community. What you choose depends on your business and your community, along with your own sensibilities.

For example, the blog for a pub might allow more colorful language than a blog for home schooling.

When defining your comment policy, think about these factors:

• Do you allow people to promote their own businesses?
• Do you allow negative comments? And where do you draw the line?
• Do you allow people to disagree with your opinions?
• Will you correct language and grammar mistakes?

Check out other people’s blog comment policies while you are writing your own conversation zone rules. See how they handle challenging situations to inspire your own solutions.

Tip #4: Provide comment instructions

Do you moderate comments from first-time commenters? Do you have a blog comment policy? Why not include this information right next to the Submit button for your comments?

This type of just-in-time information helps a new blog commenter to get the information she needs to feel confident before placing her first comment.

An example of comment instructions added to the blog post page template.

You may need to get technical support to get your instructions added to your blog post page template. However, once it is in place, it appears automatically on every post, even the ones you have already published.

Tip #5: Respond to comments

While building your blog community, you should respond to every blog comment. It shows people that you are paying attention and that you respect your community.

You want to reply to comments quickly after they post. Most blogging software allows you to set up email notifications when new comments appear. You don’t have to respond immediately, but you should respond within one business day.

Conversations build relationships. Your reply to a comment continues the conversation and builds the relationship further. The more you build relationships within your community, the more they care about you and your business. It’s human nature.

Tip #6: Make people feel good about their comments

What you say when you respond to a comment makes a huge difference in how that person feels about your online community. Your attitude and opinion of their comment leaks through in your word choices and the points you make.

An example of replying to a comment so the person feels good about her comment.

Welcome divergent opinions. To build a community around your blog, you need a thick skin to protect you from people who don’t agree with you. But it goes even deeper than that. You need to welcome divergent opinions. You need to appreciate that everyone has a unique life experience that leads him or her to different conclusions. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t mean that anyone is wrong or right. It just means you have different opinions.

The commenter criticized my decision to highlight a company in my blog and found fault with their Facebook page. I didn't argue over his points or defend my choice.

I’ve talked to bloggers who complain about “blog trolls,” these bloggers’ label for people who disagree with their opinions. There are real blog trolls out there—people who argue, make nasty comments about people rather than debating ideas and always want to prove you are wrong and they are right. But someone who merely expresses a different opinion isn’t a blog troll. It’s an important distinction for you to make.

Tip #7: Build community with your replies

Bring a sense of appreciation to your blog comments and to your commenters. They didn’t have to read your post. They didn’t have to leave a comment. In fact, they don’t have to be part of your community. They chose these things.

Always look for something smart in every blog comment, a great point that you can reply to even if you don’t agree with the commenter’s opinion. You’ve had your say in the post. Now, listen to their opinions and leave a reply that makes commenters feel good about you, your business and your online community. You do that by making them feel great about their comment.

Building community through blog post replies is a skill, and it’s something you can learn to do better. Read a lot of blogs and pay careful attention to the comments and replies. When you find bloggers who excel at making the commenters feel good, study what they say. Hang out on their blogs. Engage them through Twitter or email to ask them how they think about their blog comment replies. They might tell you something that changes the way you reply to everyone.

It’s Your Turn

What do you think? How do you encourage people to leave comments on your blog? Have you posted comments on a blog where you felt appreciated and welcome? Share your experience and insights in the comments box below.

Want to make it easy for readers to share your great content with their tribes? If so, keep reading as I share six social media add-ons you can effortlessly integrate into your blog today. Your immediate result: much better engagement with your readers. And by the way, I’ve used them all—many on this very site.

An aside… The key to encouraging social activity is making it easy for people to act. The less friction there is between desire and action the more likely people will share your content or reach out to you. Fortunately these six excellent tools make encouraging activity easy—and dare I say, fun!

#1 TweetMeme—The Ultimate in Social Proof

In times past it was said that comments were the currency of bloggers. But far too often outstanding content only attracts a comment or two. What if there was a better way to determine if people like your posts (while also driving traffic to your blog)? Well now there is. Introducing TweetMeme’s Retweet Button.

TweetMeme’s button provides readers an effortless way to share your post on Twitter (and much more). Readers simply push a button and your post shows up on their Twitter feeds—driving more traffic to your page! But the real power is in the number it displays on your page. Every time anyone tweets about your article, TweetMeme tracks and displays a number on the page (whether they used the button or not).

This is one of the most powerful social barometers I have ever seen. The bigger the TweetMeme number, the more others feel compelled to read your content and share it.

You can add the TweetMeme badge anywhere on any page (blog or not). I like to display it at the top of the page. The higher the number, the more likely it broadcasts to readers, “Others think this is important, so you need to read this too!”

I really like the WordPress plugin (note that other platforms are also supported) because you can substitute your own Bit.ly account (a URL tracking service) and include your own Twitter ID in any retweets.

Here’s an added bonus. If one of your readers has a TweetMeme account (not required to use), when he or she clicks the “retweet” button, TweetMeme publishes the page to their Twitter account without leaving the page, a really powerful feature.

#2 DISQUS Comment System—The Ultimate in User Engagement

DISQUS is a VERY powerful comment system that takes over your existing blog’s comment functions and adds very powerful features. For example, with DISQUS readers can add video comments or leave comments using their Twitter or Facebook ID, and you can have multiple individuals moderate your comments.

I was a bit critical of DISQUS when I first reviewed it.  However, the service has since increased its features.

A few of my favorite capabilities include an indented comment stream (see image below) and the ability to add and display new comments without the page reloading. The experience is so user-friendly that I found people leaving a lot more comments after I installed DISQUS.

Also, if you have a free account with DISQUS, it recognizes you whenever you visit a site that uses the service. This means no need to type in your name and email, simply leave a comment.

A few pointers: As a commenter, you should register yourself with DISQUS. When you do, set up your name and website address so it will display properly when you leave a comment (under Profile | My Settings). So instead of non-identifiable ID I was assigned (like MikeS22) I can customize it to say “Michael Stelzner” and link to my site. If you do not do this, your name appears abbreviated and will not link back to your site, making it hard for folks to discover more about you based on your brilliant comments. While you’re in there, add an avatar or link to one from your Twitter account.

#3 Gravatar.com—Faces Make Comments Come to Life

Gravatar is a universal platform that displays a reader’s picture based on the email address he or she enters into a blog’s comment form. Thus, when you visit a blog and leave a comment, your email address is matched against the Gravatar database and your picture displays (see sample below). This only works if you have registered your email address with Gravatar and added a picture.

I’m pretty sure the latest versions of WordPress work automatically with Gravatar. However, if you are hosting an older WordPress blog, you’ll want to install WP-Gravatar for Gravatar support.

A few tips.  If you have multiple email accounts, set them all up under your Gravatar account to ensure your mug shot always appears, regardless of which email address you use.

#4 Sexy Bookmarks Plugin—The Easy Way to Share Great Content

There are a number of tools that allow your readers to share your post on different social networks, but none come close to Sexy Bookmarks.

This WordPress plugin allows you to display the social sites of your choosing and is visually appealing.  When a user “mouses over” an icon, it animates on the screen.  And yes, you change the “Sharing is sexy!” text.

The backend of this WordPress plugin is exceptionally sophisticated. For example, you can enter in your Bit.ly API code and the plugin will use your account to create tracing URLs.

#5 Twitter Follow Badge—The Simple Way to Grow Twitter Followers

Twitter Follow Badge creates a nifty little button that always remains on the page as users scroll through your content, making it easy for them to follow you on Twitter. You also can customize it to match the color scheme of your site and determine where you want it to live on the page.

The main benefit of this little widget is folks can easily follow you on Twitter.

#6 Meebo Me—Adding Live Chat to Your Page

Ever been to a website that said, “Click here to speak to a live agent”? How would you like something like that for your blog (or any web page for that matter)? You can with Meebo Me, a simple embedded chat system you can place on any page (or all pages) of your site.

This free service allows anyone to chat with you immediately. What’s cool about this is it integrates into all your other chat accounts. So now you can have them all in one interface AND still answer live questions from your readers.

This chat capability is very powerful and should also be used on your product landing pages.

So what do you think? Do you use any of these tools with success? Do you have others to share? I’d like to hear from you. Just type in your message below.