Comments on: Why I’m Choosing To Remove DoFollow

By: Tay

Tay — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 20:05:35 +0000

@bluefrogx - That’s definitely true. I’ve even been guilty of doing that before, using keywords I’d like to be ranked for on dofollow blogs. :| But anyway, yes, you will definitely see a lot more of that.

By: bluefrogx

bluefrogx — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:55:51 +0000

I’ve recently installed the dofollow plugin and while I have not noted an increase of spam per se, I have noticed an increased number of commenters using anchor text links instead of their nicknames to post comments

By: Tay

Tay — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:47:17 +0000

No problem, Forrest. I’m glad I could help! Keep up the great work on your blog. :)

By: Forrest

Forrest — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 03:45:39 +0000

Wow, thanks for the link!! And also for doing the dofollow experiment so I don’t have to. I’ve been leaning against it for the extra time it might take to moderate comments. And you’re right, that viewers ultimately won’t even notice in the long run…

By: Tay

Tay — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 10:08:41 +0000

@Jake - True, it could be outdated, but it was helpful nonetheless. I’m not sure if there is a newer one. The article you linked to was the first I’ve read on the topic. I’ll let you know if I find one. ;)

@Forrest - Yes, DoFollow was a good experience but I don’t think it makes much of a difference for the readers. You’d most likely be better off without it, in my honest opinion.

As for separating trackbacks and comments, that is something I did after reading an article on Pro Blog Design (and I’m glad I did it, it helps keep things organized and the community aspect a bit cleaner). Here it is:

http://www.problogdesign.com/how-to/separating-trackbacks-from-comments/

By: Forrest

Forrest — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 05:11:34 +0000

I’m glad you wrote this … I’ve been thinking about removing the nofollow attribute from my own blog, to encourage more comments and hopefully readers. Judging from your experience and some of the comments above, it seems like spam is a big problem. Which is what I’ve been worried about.

Speaking of comment blogging plug ins, though, how did you get the trackbacks to sort to the bottom, under the real comments? I’ve been wanting to do that for a while on my own site.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:21:04 +0000

@Tay: Still, there’s no guarantee as to whether the article is still accurate. I wonder if there is more updated article anywhere.

By: Tay

Tay — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 08:41:47 +0000

@Matt Ellsworth - I leave comments whether the blog is following or not, as well. For me it makes no difference. The possible passing of PageRank is very low anyway, and I think the most valuable thing you can get from commenting is building relationships, branding, and getting traffic - not PageRank.

@Jake - Thanks for that link, I read the article and it was actually very helpful. :)

@Frank C - I agree with you. I don’t think people should get rewards for free, for their benefit only. Besides, a slight bit of PageRank from comments isn’t much of a reward. Exposure is always better!

By: Frank C

Frank C — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:23:58 +0000

I think that using the Top Commentators plugin and/or the ScratchBack TopSpots are a better ways to give visitors a way to promote their site. Top Commentators usually requires coming back and staying active in commenting on a blog. TopSpots requires a monetary contribution.

By: Jake

Jake — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 17:43:47 +0000

@Matt Ellsworth: Though it is a few months old, Search Engine Journal has a great article that I have referred to quite a few times about how Ask, Google, and Yahoo! treat nofollow links.

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-google-yahoo-askcom-treat-the-no-follow-link-attribute/4801/