From NoFollow To DoFollow
Posted by Charles on September 13th, 2008
Image by dnheys
We’ve started a series on developing effective comment strategies which got me thinking about our own policy towards blog comments. We’ve always had the NoFollow plugin installed from the start but with PiggyBankPie having a strong focus on guest blogging, a way for new and established bloggers alike to gain visibility, the thought crossed my mind that perhaps we should switch to DoFollow, allowing those who take the time out to read and comment on articles to receive more benefits than they currently do.
The Pros and Cons
When it comes to the benefits of removing NoFollow the main one is naturally that by allowing your links to pass PageRank and count towards your SEO efforts more people are encouraged to leave comments. Conversation flows and a sense of community develops, with both the blog where the discussion is being held benefiting along with those blogs of all the participants.
Allowing DoFollow comments can also work well as a way of attracting inbound links, in a similar way to how a free website amongst a host of paid alternatives does. Think PlentyofFish.com in the dating scene. There are numerous lists published online which link out to DoFollow blogs - removing the NoFollow plugin opens up this link building opportunity.
The disadvantages are widely talked about. The time it takes to moderate the extra comments, deal with spammers, and what to do with the shallow generic comments - ‘Nice post - thanks!’ - that you inevitably end up receiving.
Switching to DoFollow
However, my feeling is that the benefits greatly outweigh the disadvantages so we’ve removed NoFollow from all comments. Leave a comment here and you’ll now get a small SEO boost.
Also, as part of our series on blog comment strategies we’ll be putting together a list of blogs which allow DoFollow comments. If you’d like your blog to be included feel free to mention it below.
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September 18th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Life of a Writer (http://mistisandefur.blogspot.com) is a DoFollow blog. I’d appreciate it very much if you’d include my writing-related blog in your upcoming list of DoFollow blogs. If there’s every anything I can do for you, don’t hesitate to ask.
October 5th, 2008 at 7:11 am
It makes completely sense to not nofollow blog comments. Your users (commenters) are part of the succes of your blog, you should at least give them some credit for that.
It’s typical classic discussion. Before you would quote something (with a link) from another site and comment on that from your own site. Now you can have live discussions but the link should remain in place.
October 10th, 2008 at 12:47 am
I have been debating if I should remove nofollow from my blog posts. Know what? You convinced me to do it. I want to reward good comments and this along with promoting the most prolific commenters on my sidebar should really help.
October 11th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
David - that’s a very good idea about rewarding regular commenters with a link in the sidebar. I’ll definitely keep that in mind for future.
November 8th, 2008 at 5:56 am
thnx 4 the juice charles! but I use nofollow on my blog anyway, although you made me think and am sensitive to your arguments.
Steve
January 6th, 2009 at 10:01 am
[…] value of comments is one of the main reasons why I changed PiggyBankPie to a DoFollow blog as the flow of PageRank back to the commenter’s site acts as a small thank you. In fact, when […]