Deleting Blog Comments? Proceed with Caution

1. Comments make your blog look more authentic.

Have you ever looked at customer reviews on Yelp or another online review forum, and wondered if that long string of glowing reviews was really planted there by the owner/his employees/his family/his friends? Of course you have! And the same is true for those who read your blog. When every comment is positive, every time and all the time, readers are bound to question the authenticity of those comments at some point. An unfavorable comment here and there can only help reinforce the idea that your blog is the real deal.

2. Feedback can give you a wake up call.

If someone points out a discrepancy in your facts, don’t despair; they could be right, and if they are you may want to thank them for pointing out your mistake so you can fix it. Or, they could be that nudge you need to do a little extra fact checking. Just like all areas of life, there are times when a blog commenter is there to give you a much needed wake up call.

3. Comments help you face problems head on and demonstrate your commitment to your audience.

Throughout the social media agency community, “Address the issue publicly and privately” has become the best practices response to bad customer reviews. The same is true for your blog. If your blog is an extension of your business and a place for people to discuss your product or services, send the offended commenter a private message with your apologies for whatever the problem was and offer him or her something nice. Then, address the matter publicly in the comments as well. It can actually give you a boost by showing the audience your commitment to customer service.

4. Comments show the audience that others are reading, too.

You want to show people that others read your blog, right? If so, keep those mean comments in there (unless they become the majority, but that’s an entirely different problem). Now, a note of caution: We’re not talking about keeping spammy, URL-planting comments of the “I just met my boyfriend on millionaireman4u.com” variety. Those comments do nothing to help you at all. We’re talking about comments that are relevant to the content of your blog and/or your business.

5. Interaction can help your faithful followers become more faithful.

If the majority of your audience is faithful to you, then an occasional bad comment may encourage them to rally to your defense. And who doesn’t love that?

If your web developer or SEO company tells you to delete bad blog comments, consider these points before proceeding. Our Los Angeles social media agency believes you may be doing yourself a favor by keeping them.