Comments what am i missing.

[ronnie]

Originally Posted by HotwivesOnline

I would recommend the Akismet plugin to filter your WordPress comment spam. It's already blocked 74,953 spam comments for me already. Ugh.

Folks that have their own blog that leave comments on yours are likely going to be aware that there's no link value (though I didn't figure that out for months). Still, a lot of the time they're trying to engage you (or your readers) in a conversation with the hope you'll notice (and blogroll) their blog...or comment on it.

Actually your blog is a great example of how a blog can and does get readers involved.

[HotwivesOnline]

Originally Posted by ronnie

Actually your blog is a great example of how a blog can and does get readers involved.

Wow, thank you! I think there are a lot better examples out there, but generally when I do post something substantial there is a core group of fans that want to make their voices heard in the comments.

The blog actually generates more direct fan mail than comments. So, the fan mail gets handled one of 3 ways:

--I ask the sender to consider posting it as a comment.
--Sometimes it's a great letter, and I ask the sender if I can blog about it.
--Or, a polite thank you is in order (or no thank you, depending on the email).

I do try to respond to everyone--though sometimes it takes a couple of days.

[walrus]

If your talking spam, it's totally useless get rid of it. Askimet is great but there are others available that work well.

If they are legit comments, as has been stated, the link juice isn't there.

I think comments help in a couple different ways much like ronnie said but I also think it is a measure of popularity. Whether it's just a thing to feed your ego or if any of the SE's take notice, I see that as valuable.