Does your business website include a blog page that allows comments? When it comes to the management of blogs, the toughest task that business bloggers face is managing the comments. The comments section is where you will get feedback from the readers of your blog posts. Ideally, the comments will also result in a thread of discussions from the readers. As a marketer, one of the most important tasks would be reading the comments left by readers on your blog posts. You, therefore, need a comment hosting service for your blog. This is one that allows you to easily determine the comments that are valuable and the ones that are spam.
A question that we need to answer is which is the best blog comment hosting service for business bloggers? Disqus is one of the common blog comment hosting services that we have identified. Through Disqus, as a business blogger, you will have the ability to identify the valuable comments from the ones that are spam. This gives you an edge in your marketing! This is simply because you can easily monitor the readers’ comments and identify what they say.
Statistical data shows that Disqus currently handles over 50 million comments every month. There are over 17 billion monthly page views and sites in over 191 different countries are using Disqus hosting service. In addition, there are about 2 billion monthly unique.
In this article, we will focus on how to use Disqus which is the blog comment hosting service for marketing blogs. Therefore keep reading to find out how to get started with Disqus and the different features to focus on.
Getting Started on Disqus
If you are a regular reader of blogs from major websites like Mother Jones, Fashionista, ABC News, Search Engine Roundtable, and TMZ, then you are familiar with Disqus. However, for those who might not be familiar with Disqus, it is a service designed to improve web comments and discussions. The Disqus blog comments hosting service was originally created by Daniel Ha and Jason Yan in 2007. This indicates that Disqus Comments hosting service has been around for over a decade now.
If you already own a business or if you are trying to figure out on what business to invest, Disqus is a powerful tool to take into consideration. And it’s pretty easy to start with. You can create a free Disqus account through your e-mail service, through Facebook, Twitter or even Google+ profiles. Basically, this blog comment hosting service allows social integration, making it easier for the comment moderators to create a free account. Once you have created a free Disqus account, you can then get started with the Disqus blog comment hosting service.
With a free Disqus account, you will receive notifications through e-mail whenever a comment is left on your blogs. This includes notifications on comment likes and replies to your blog’s comments. If you are a business blogger, follow the following steps to create a free Disqus account.
Step1. Free Disqus Registration
By now, you have probably registered for dozens of web services. This, therefore, means you have gone through different registration steps. These registration steps are also the same when it comes to registering on Disqus. Visit the Disqus registration page here and fill the required details. Here is a screenshot of the fields you need to populate to register on Disqus.
Ensure that you have filled these fields with accurate information as you would like your profile to appear. To make the work easier for you, you might choose to signup using your social media account details. As illustrated above, Disqus is great when it comes to integration with social media. In case you choose to import your social media account details, click on the authorization tag that appears to authorize the process. Once complete, you will be ready to proceed to step two below.
Step2. Loading Your Profile
This is a step that many people choose to skip especially when they import their social media account details. However, it is important that you add a professional profile picture. Remember that the primary objective is using the Disqus account for business blog comments moderation. Therefore, you would like to ensure you add your business name to ensure the profile looks as professional as possible. You might choose to include personal information or the business information on your blog post.
Remember that you will also be using the Disqus profile for engaging with your customers and also business accolades. Therefore, professionalism would have an added advantage in this case. People will be willing to engage with you provided they can see that you are a real person. Adding a faceless or a grey head is considered unprofessional and doesn’t send an inviting message. Therefore, it will be great if you consider adding a complete profile and one that is to the point.
Step3. Survey What Disqus Comment Hosting Service Has to Offer
As you would do with other platforms where you have created your profile, it is important to take a survey first. Therefore, you would consider surveying the Disqus landscape to get enlightenment. Luckily, there is plenty of blog information on the Disqus website that is helpful to the first-timers. As a business blogger who is getting started, check out the Disqus blog to understand the different Disqus features.
In addition, check out other Disqus enabled blogs where you will come across smart, informed ideas. These ideas are from already experienced business bloggers using the blog comments hosting service. Focus on meeting other “giants” with similar interests as you. Follow and connect with these giants as some of them might also facilitate you to meet a bigger audience. There are various features of Disqus that will enable you to see what other people are saying and the posts they comment on. Now, this is where you will realize real magic. This is because Disqus allows you to view all the comments in one place.
The Different Disqus Features that Improve your Experience
With the above steps, you already have a complete Disqus profile. In fact, you also know that you can follow people with interests similar to yours. Therefore, ensure that you have completed the above steps to complete the creation of your profile. In the following section, we share important nuggets of wisdom when it comes to using Disqus. We will highlight some of the best Disqus features that you should focus on using. Through these features, you can supercharge engagements in the comments section. These will ensure that you follow the high potential individuals and that you are also getting a decent following on Disqus. Keep reading to find out the special Disqus features to focus on.
Adding Disqus Comment Hosting Service to your Website
The first feature that Disqus allows business bloggers is the ability to “add Disqus to Site”. This feature means that you will be having the comments published on your website. Therefore, follow the following steps to successfully add Disqus to your website.
- Login to the already created Disqus account
- Click on the Gear icon on the top right side of the Disqus website
- Select “Add Disqus to Site” and scroll down on the page that pops up until you see “Get Started”.
- Click on “Get Started” tab and the following page will appear:
- Select “I want to install on my Site” and enter the website you want to have Disqus installed. This will serve you with a Disqus short name, and you will also be able to pick a category for the website. Here is an example screenshot. Enter the website URL and categorize as per the options available under the drop-down menu.
- Select the Plan you would like to subscribe to. Disqus offers you different plans that give you access to different features. There is the Basic Plan where you have to cope with ads; there is the plus plan and the pro plan.
- Configure Disqus on your website. Depending on the website platform, follow the appropriate steps to complete configuring Disqus on your website.
Those are the steps that you need to follow to complete adding Disqus blog comments hosting service on your business blog. This, therefore, means that the comments shared directly through the Disqus platform will appear on your website comments section.
Focus on Increasing Reader Engagements and Growing Base of Returning Visitors
Now that you already have the Disqus blog comment hosting service on your site, it is time you focus on increasing reader engagements. This is through the Disqus comment hosting system. Therefore, start by publishing content that will attract readers to your blog. Check out the tips on how to generate high-quality traffic for your blog which will help you come up with engaging content. Note that for you to attract engagements through comments, you ought to ensure you have relevant content. Therefore, depending on the interests of your target audiences, come up with engaging content.
On Disqus, it is important that you recognize the top commenters so that you increase the possibility of retaining them. Therefore, you would also want to promote comments on external channels. There are different strategies for fostering loyalty from new readers. For instance, featuring a comment by pinning it to the top of the discussion is a good example of how you can foster loyalty on Disqus. Disqus will notify commenters whenever their comments are featured on Disqus. Featuring top comments shows that you recognize their contribution whenever they read your blogs. In fact, this boosts their willingness to engage with your content.
Adding Top Commenters to Trusted Users is also another important strategy for increasing engagements. As your readers ascend the ranks into becoming the highly engaging readers, you can empower them by adding them to the trusted user’s list. In a nutshell, you would like to do the following to increase user engagement.
- Experimenting with different content
- Showing comment counts on articles
- Promote the most active content
- Recognize the top commenters
Now that you have the above done, it is also important to review the performance. Let’s now discuss further on Discus analytics.
Disqus Audience Analytics
This blog Comments Hosting Service offers its users a metrics and analytics platform. This platform is important in that it allows you to measure how well your blogs comments feature is performing. Therefore, through this feature, you will not feel like you are running on guesswork. Through the Disqus content analytics; you will be able to understand the stories and topics that are generating higher engagements. Also, you will have the insights on the actions you can take to increase engagements. Disqus analytics is available to Pro and Business Customer Plan subscribers.
Disqus analytics is a sure way of gaining visibility into how your blog website community is growing. It also gives you insights on the impact created by your engagement strategy. You are also able to find the most engaged readers. Head over to your Disqus analytics to discover how well you are performing.
To Sum Up
Disqus is one of the best blog comment hosting services available for business bloggers. There are various features that make Disqus the best platform for engaging readers of your blog through comments. As a business blogger, you can easily get started on Disqus. All you need to do is ensure you have an account with Disqus. The account can be created easily by following the steps we have shared above. Remember that being a business blogger; you would want to ensure that your account has a taste of professionalism. This will encourage other users to engage with you and has the possibility of earning you more followers.
Make sure you are sharing content that will earn you more followers on Disqus. In addition, it is important that you ensure you use the Disqus analytics platform. The Disqus analytics gives you insights on how to better performance of your blog comments.