Is CommentLuv the Plugin of the Past?

Party over?

CommentLuv. Easy link building. Increased user engagement. No more?

Is the age of CommentLuv coming to an end?

It must be, since I constantly hear questions and reports from my readers as to why so many blogs, big and small, seem to be dropping the famous plugin that so splendidly allows us to bring traffic back to our blogs by displaying the catchy titles of our last posts.

Let me cut to the chase here: I am still happily using CommentLuv on Traffic Generation Cafe and plan on continuing to do so indefinitely…

Or at least until Andy Bailey, the plugin creator, runs out of funds to keep bribing me to do so.

So what are the factors that might be causing some blogs to stop using CommentLuv?

Switching to a non-WP Comment System

Disqus, IntenseDebate, LiveFyre – the choices abound.

They seem to have all the bells and whistles, the shiny wrapping paper and all, and many bloggers fail for that.

I was on one of the bigger blogs the other day wanting to make a comment on one of the recent posts.

Lo and behold, I noticed that both the default comment system and CommentLuv were replaced with LiveFyre.

Did I leave a comment?

No.

Why?

1. I needed to log into LiveFyre to comment, but couldn’t remember my login info.
2. I wouldn’t get a link back to my blog (yes, link building is important!).

Upon further research, I noticed a post talking about why the said nameless blogger switched the comment systems. In it he said something like:

“You want to avoid filling out form fields, checking boxes, and clicking verification links as prerequisites to sharing your views.”

Well, what he got instead was me not wanting to jump through the hoops and loops of filling out the forms fields, checking boxes, etc, and eventually leaving without ever commenting on his blog.

Why is this blogger remaining nameless?

Because I thought it might be nice to build a relationship with him and commenting is a great way to break the ice.

Of course, now that he is making it difficult for me to comment on his blog… the relationship building might be postponed indefinitely.

Getting back on track.

Here are some reasons to stick with the default comment system:

1. You get more comments (check out Sire’s blog post if you disagree).
2. You get to use all kinds of cool plugins to enhance your comment system, like CommentLuv and many others. (Yes, I know CommentLuv is compatible with some other non-native systems).
3. Your readers get to do some link building – very important, increasing user engagement (see #1).
4. You can choose to be Dofollow or Nofollow.
5. All comments are indexable by the search engines – more opportunities to show up for search results.

The last point was brought to my attention by the fabulous Lisa Drubec, formerly of TheFriendlyBlogger.com.

Take a look at what she saw when she checked out her search engine ranking for the term “Blog Building Basics“:

Yes, that’s her blog in spot #3 for the term and yes, it’s MY BLOG for the same term in spot #4.

All thanks to Lisa using that term as a keyword in the comment section.

Forgetting to “Check the Box”

While switching to non-Wordpress comment systems took some of the bloggers away from CommentLuv, the true big reason you don’t see as many CommentLuv enabled blogs any longer is because the blog owners simply forgot to turn it on.

Allow me to explain.

Not too long ago, Andy Bailey gave CommentLuv a major facelift.

CommentLuv is now enhanced with some cool features like:

• Blog owners now have the ability to allow their commentators to display only their last post, to display their 10 last posts, or to register on the blog to gain the option to choose from the 10 latest posts.
• Customize what the plugin looks like on our blogs.
• The ability to set CommentLuv links to be DoFollow or NoFollow.

However, the very first thing you need to do when upgrading to the new 2.9 version of CommentLuv is to remember to ENABLE it.

I am blown away by how many bloggers overlooked that little button and made the whole blogosphere wonder whether CommentLuv has somehow fallen out of blogging grace.

Forgetting to Update CommentLuv

Here’s another silly reason why some blogs might not be using CommentLuv much longer: they simply don’t keep their plugins up to date.

Hence you see the following message when commenting on such blogs:

Updating your blogging platform as well as all the plugins are the essentials of a healthy and secure blog.

Please enable and update your CommentLuv today; it will only do your blog good.

Speaking of which…

Let’s talk about the benefits and possible downsides of using CommentLuv on your blog.

CommentLuv and SEO

Google definitely keeps us on the edge of our seats when it comes down to constant algorithm changes, sandboxes, penalties – you name it, it’s not pretty.

In light of potential negative SEO affects in terms of authority leakage, etc, why on earth should you still choose to use CommentLuv on your blog?

Good question!

And the answer lies in the fact that both you and Google have the same end goal in mind: to make your readers happy.

If your readers are happy because they find your site relevant to their Google search, then they’ll come back to Google again and again – more money for Google.

If your readers are happy because they love your content, they’ll stay longer, read more, opt-in to your email list, or buy something from you – more money for you.

In the end, what matters the most is not how highly your site ranks in the search engines.

It’s how much money your site makes you as a result of being ranked well in the search engines.

Still don’t believe me?

Take a look at these sites.

• http://comluv.com/ (PR 6)
• http://www.kikolani.com/ (PR 4)
• http://www.webuildyourblog.com/ (PR 4)
• http://www.attractionmarketingonline.com/ (PR 4)
• http://www.stevescottsite.com/ (PR 4)
• http://www.trafficgenerationcafe.com/ (PR 4)
• just to name a handful.

All these authority sites have high PR, well-ranked by the search engines, and have loyal readership… and all of them use CommentLuv on their sites to encourage their readers to interact, engage, and convert.

By the way, don’t miss out on my full list of active CommentLuv enabled blogs – great resource for quality commenting, networking, and links!

CommentLuv Marketing Takeaway

I love it and I am keeping it.

CommentLuv is alive and kicking!

Love it or hate it? Comment to show me that you’re alive!

If you like this post and think it would be valuable to your followers, share the ish out of it for me, would you?