The fact that blog comments can be a great way to get visitors, build branding and awareness and improve your site’s rankings should be a well-known fact. Dave posted a great article on the how to ethically comment on blogs last year; here are a few more tips.

Use a real photo

If you haven’t already done it, get a Gravatar account and upload a picture. To build trust and credibility, don’t use a cartoon, stylized picture or company logo. People want to know who they are talking to and associate the name or nickname with a face. Since avatars are usually very small in size (40 by 40 pixels), a headshot photo is highly preferred.

Have your profile link point to the right place

Linking to an irrelevant site may seem like spam and your comment may be removed, no matter how insightful it is. If you comment on an automotive site it’s not okay to link to bestflowerstore.com. If your link is a completely off-topic link to an About Us or Bio page, that's not okay. Though if you comment as Bob Smith, linking to bestflowerstore.com/about-bob might pass moderation.

It’s alright to promote your content

… just don’t go overboard with it. Your own links placed inside the comment are alright as long as they are highly relevant to the context and are meant to support your ideas. It is common sense to use only one link if it’s on a site you control and not more than two or three for other sites. Yes, you can link three times to Wikipedia and no, a comment like “Nice post, I’ve also written about it on my blog: INSERT LINK HERE” is not alright.

One liners are sometimes alright

If you enjoyed a blog post, it’s considered common courtesy to thank the author. In this case, your comment doesn’t necessarily have to bring more knowledge to the discussion. Just don’t be really brief – explain what exactly you enjoyed about the article and if it’s the case, how it has helped you (Given you better insight on a certain topic, saved you $, etc.). Bloggers enjoy a friendly pat on the back, but make sure you give a few arguments.

All in all, you should use common sense when commenting on other blogs. Put yourself in the owner or moderators’ shoes: if you would approve a post like yours on your blog, then it’s alright to hit the Submit button.