Business Blogging Question: Hey J.P. what do you make of this? I got this email notification of a comment posted on my blog. I wish I knew more. I guess this is the way I will learn.

K

—–Original Message—–
From: Keyword Queen [mailto:noreply-comment@blogger.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 12:34 PM
To: “”
Subject: [Relationship Rescue] 9/20/2005 03:32:12 PM

I skim a lot of blogs, and so far yours is in the Top 3 of my list of favorites. I’m going to dive in and try my hand at it, so wish me luck.

It’ll be in a totally different area than yours (mine is about seo toolbar tools) I know, it sounds strange, but it’s like anything, once you learn more about it, it’s pretty cool.

If you don’t mind, I’d really appreciate being able to come back and get a few tips and suggestions from you, if that’s alright, alright?

Thanks,
Tiffany Burrell
Keyword Queen!
ps. I confess, that’s not my real picture!

–
Posted by Keyword Queen to Relationship Rescue at 9/20/2005 03:32:12 PM

Advanced Business Blogging Answer: K, this is what we call “comment SPAM.” Meaning Spammers post comments like this to get inbound links to their URL (for SEO,) or to lead people to their site.

Here are three ways you can identify comment spam:

#1 - the point of origination is Blogger, and most blog-and-ping software programs as well as comment Spammers take advantage of their lax security features.
#2 - the comment doesn’t directly refer to anything in your post
#3 - and it has a URL in it that is link to a bogus sales page.

You’ll get the hang of identifying these as time goes on.

To quickly ID comment spam, you always want to check the URL provided to see where it leads. Also, always check for a valid domain for the email address supplied.

Approving these type of comments is not a good thing for your business blog. That will reduce the ranking and credibility of your blog for a number of reasons. Here are two big ones to start:

1. RANKING: You’re providing outbound links to a URL/site that is not related to your topic/niche. Search engines count this against your ranking since you’re not staying true to your keyword focus.

2. CREDIBILITY: You’re approving comments that add nothing of value for visitors. Remember comments are supposed to add to and expand on your articles/posts, enhancing your content and increasing the interest for people reading your blog.

To take care of this type of comment spam, here’s what to do.

Using Blogger (as you are): I checked your blog and they DID post a comment to your Blogger business blog. Unfortunately, you only got an email as a notification of a comment automatically posted. You should immediately change your comment settings.

To do that, just login to your Blogger admin area. Click on “settings,” then on “comments,” and then in that screen make sure you have the following settings:

- “Who can comment?” - set to “Only registered users”
- “Show word verification for comments?” - select “yes”

This should help cut down on some of the Spam comments for you on Blogger (although it will not eliminate them totally. Blogger has a lot of security holes that marketers use to “comment Spam”.)

When using WordPress, things are a lot easier.

In your comment moderation area, mark the message as Spam and then click on “Moderate Comments.” WordPress will store the message for reference and help to reduce the future amount of comment spam your business blog deals with.

Follow these suggestions and let us know how these tips work for you in our next Marketing With Business Blogs™ bonus Q&A TeleClasses.

Enjoy!

J.P.

Learn how to unleash the maximum marketing power of business blogs, podcasts, and RSS (in any industry, profession, or niche) with Marketing With Business Blogs™.

John-Paul Micek is a published author and weekly columnist for the business section of the Honolulu Star Bulletin. He’s known as the “Click-and-Mortar Business Coach” by business owners around the world thanks to members of the Business Owners Coaching Club™.


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