NoFollow, DoFollow, and CommentLuv

Recently I made a post about CommentLuv. I received some comments on that post that mentioned that a DoFollow plugin should be used along with the CommentLuv plugin. I knew that and use a DoFollow on by blog. Just didn’t think of it at the time I wrote that post. Comments are always appreciated by anyone that is involved with blogging. They gave me an idea for another post.

So, I thought I would write a post about NoFollow. What’s going on here? Why use another plugin? Many times when a person makes a comment on a blog a reference will be made to another blog, and a link will be provided to that blog. By default this link will have the NoFollow tag attached to it since it is in the comment section of the blog.

Let’s define these concepts first.

I’ll start with NoFollow. NoFollow is a bit of HTML code that is included with a link so that the search engines will not use that link in determining the rank of the link.  In other words, the web site or blog targeted by the link will get no credibility or influence in the search engines ranking process.

In case you are curious, it looks something like <a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://www.website.com/”>website</a>

When the search engines see this code, rel=”nofollow”, they will not use the link to determine the rank of the referenced website or blog.

This does not mean that the search engine will not necessarily follow the link, it just means that they will not count the link as an inbound link to the website that follows the NoFollow tag.

The different search engines apply the NoFollow tag in the way that they want to. For example, Google will follow the link but will not attribute any credit to the link as an inbound link to the targeted web site.

NoFollow came into existence in an attempt to stop spammers from using multiple links in comments as a means to artificially increase the search engine rankings of their sites.

When the NoFollow code is used anyone can still click on the link and get to the website. In addition search engines can still get to the site also. However, the presence of the NoFollow code will keep the search engines form increasing the rank of the referenced website.

The NoFollow tag, which is generally the default, is a problem for people who want to comment on blogs. It discourages the use of commenting as a means of participation and interaction on blogs.

The purpose of the comment section is to add value by making legitimate comments about the content of the post or maybe a comment left by someone else. The comment section can also be use to start a dialog with the blog owner.

But since the NoFollow tag is used there is no value gained by using a link to your website since the search engines will use the NoFollow tag as a code that tells them not to reward the referenced site with any so called link juice.

If someone takes the time and effort to leave a good comment on your blog, why shouldn’t they get some link juice for it, i.e. search engine reward.

That is where a DoFollow plugin comes into play. It disables the automatic NoFollow tag attribute. Now links in the comments section will receiver consideration for ranking by the search engines.

By using one of the DoFollow plugins, you will be able to allow your visitors to comment on your blog and get link juice, or Luv, to their blogs. With CommentLuv they can even select a particular post from a list of current posts on their blog that want to receive the Luv.

By a like token, if you comment on a blog that has CommentLuv activated, you will receive link juice, or Luv, back to your blog.

SEM DoFollow and Wordpress Plugin: NoFollow Free  are two commonly used DoFollow plugins. These will allow you to give and receive true link Luv. You give LUV to those that comment on your blog and you receive it when you comment on someone’s blog.

It’s a good thing to reward people that comment on your blog and to receive rewards when you comment on other people’s blogs. Therefore, adding the CommentLuv plugin and a DoFollow plugin to your blog should just be a natural thing to do – maybe even a priority action. Add these to your blogging efforts now and start sending and receiving Luv.

To Your Online Success,

Lonnie Minton

Technorati Tags: blogging, CommentLuv, DoFollow, Nofollow, plugins

Want More Comments For Your Blog? Try This Free Tool.

Are Your Using CommentLuv? A Review.

CommentLuv is a plugin for blogs. I use it on a WordPress blog, but it is also available for other blogging platforms. Why would you want to use it?
One reason is to help you get more people to comment on your blog.

It’s kind of implied in the title, but CommentLuv starts to work when someone starts to comment on your blog. You can watch the action by following along and commenting on my blog.
When you go to the comment area you will find some boxes or input areas that you will need to fill out in order to leave a comment. The number of boxes that are displayed depends on how the blogger has set up his blog.

You will always find two input boxes that are required. At least I have not yet run across a blog that does not require your blog visitor to enter their name and email address. The email address will not be displayed so it is ok for your visitor to enter these two items.

The next box that I have always seen is optional – it is generally titled:  website. You visitor will enter his website/blog URL here. This produces a clickable link to his web presence. This is an opportunity for someone to click through to his site.

However, as you will see later, more than that happens if you have the CommentLuv plugin activated on your blog.

There may be other boxes that your visitor can fill out – like entering his Twitter username.

However the next box that is required in order to leave a comment is the comment box itself. This is where CommentLuv comes into play.

As soon as someone clicks inside this box to start entering a comment, CommentLuv starts working. It will start looking for the website associated with the URL entered into the website box.

When  CommentLuv finds the web address that was provided, and if it finds that it the website is a blog, CommentLuv will check the feeds of the blog and collect the titles of a selection of the last few blog posts on the blog. I think it will select all the posts that are on the home page.

It will list the title of the latest blog post below the submit button as the default post. However, there will be a little arrow beside the post name and the person commenting on your blog can select another post if they want to send the Luv to some post besides the default post.

There is also a checkbox there that can be un-checked in case the person making the comment does not want to sent any Luv to his site for this comment. Don’t know why he would want to un-check this box, but the option is there.

What is happening here is that CommentLuv is going to generate a link from your site to a post on your visitors blog. This link will appear under their comment after they hit the submit button. Someone has commented on your blog and CommentLuv has produced a link to a post on their blog,

How cool is that? Very, and it is very beneficial to the person making the comment as the search engines will detect this link to their blog.

You can see this process in motion by leaving a comment on this blog post and you will see the link back to your blog post.

So, as you can see your visitor will get rewarded when they leave a comment on your blog if you have CommentLuv installed. Same for you if you comment on a blog that has the plugin installed and activated.

Thus, a good reason to install CommentLuv on your blog is that it could increase the potential that someone will comment on your blog. And you do want people to comment on your blog. This is a win/win situation for both parties.

An addition benefit comes to you if you register your blog with the CommentLuv site. The owner/developer of CommentLuv will provide you with several benefits. These include rankings, tracking, and more.

So, Want More Comments For Your Blog? Install CommentLuv and that will encourage more of your blog visitors to leave a comment, because it also helps them by giving them a link back to their site. In the end this will enhance your blogging efforts.

To Your Online Success,

Lonnie Minton

Technorati Tags: back link, Blog, blogging, CommentLuv, comments