Are you frustrated with the lack of comments on your WordPress blog posts? You‘re not alone. Many bloggers struggle to encourage readers to engage with their content and join the conversation in the comments.
Comments are extremely valuable for blogs for several reasons:
- Comments keep readers on your site longer, increasing engagement metrics
- Readers who comment once are more likely to become return visitors
- Active comment sections make your blog appear authoritative and popular
- Search engines view comments as fresh content and user engagement signals
But knowing the importance of comments doesn‘t make getting them any easier. That‘s why we‘ve put together this list of 11 proven ways to attract more comments on your WordPress posts.
From technical tweaks to your comment system to engagement-boosting content strategies, these tips will help make your WordPress comment sections more lively and active.
1. Allow Readers to Subscribe to Comments
One of the best ways to keep readers coming back to your blog posts is by allowing them to subscribe to new comments. Instead of hoping they‘ll remember to check back later, readers can opt to receive email notifications of new comments.
To enable comment subscriptions, you can install the free Subscribe to Comments Reloaded plugin. Once activated, readers will see a "Subscribe to comments via email" option below your comment form.
When a reader subscribes, the plugin stores their email address. Each time a new comment is posted, the plugin automatically sends an email notification to all subscribed readers containing the comment text and a link back to the post.
Comment subscriptions are a powerful way to bring readers back to older posts and encourage them to re-engage with the discussion. The email notifications serve as reminders and make it easy for readers to jump right back into the conversation.
2. Implement a Comment Moderation Policy
Not all comments are created equal. Low-quality, spammy, or abusive comments can quickly sour an otherwise productive discussion.
To maintain a positive environment and encourage more comments in the long run, it‘s important to moderate your comments. Implement a clear comment policy and only approve comments that contribute meaningfully to the conversation.
Some key criteria to look for in comments before approving:
- On-topic and relevant to the post
- Adds value, opinion or new information
- Respectful of other commenters
- Not containing any links (unless highly relevant)
In WordPress, you can enable comment moderation by going to Settings » Discussion and checking the box labeled "Comment must be manually approved."
[Screenshot of WordPress comment moderation settings]With manual comment approval turned on, you‘ll be able to review each comment before it‘s publicly posted. If a comment doesn‘t meet your moderation standards, simply delete it.
Moderating your blog comments does require some extra work. But the effort is worth it to maintain a high level of discussion that will attract more thoughtful comments.
3. Display Newest Comments First
By default, WordPress displays blog comments in chronological order with the oldest comments first. As a result, the first comments readers see are from when your post was first published.
However, the most recent comments are usually the most relevant and engaging, especially on older posts. Changing your comment display to show the newest comments first brings more attention to active discussions.
To display newest comments first, go to Settings » Discussion in your WordPress dashboard. Scroll down to the "Other comment settings" section. From the "Comments should be displayed with the older/newer comments at the top of each page" dropdown menu, select "newer."
[Screenshot of WordPress comment order settings]Be sure to click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the page. The most recent comments will now appear at the top of your comment sections, followed by older comments in reverse chronological order.
4. Don‘t Close Comments on Older Posts
Many WordPress blogs automatically close comments on posts after they reach a certain age (such as 30 days). While this may slightly reduce spam, it also blocks real readers from engaging with your older evergreen content.
Imagine someone discovers your blog post from several years ago via search. They read it, find it incredibly useful, and want to thank you or ask a question. But they can‘t, because comments are closed. What a missed opportunity!
As long as you‘re actively moderating comments, there‘s no reason to disable them on older posts. Evergreen blog content is one of your most valuable assets, so don‘t let commenting expire.
To make sure comments stay open on your older WordPress posts:
- Go to Settings » Discussion
- Uncheck the box labeled "Automatically close comments on articles older than X days"
- Click "Save Changes"
Now even your oldest posts will continue attracting new comments and discussion.
5. Highlight Your Top Commenters
Recognize and reward your most active commenters by featuring them prominently on your blog. Seeing their name and avatar highlighted in the sidebar or footer encourages readers to engage more to achieve "top commenter" status.
To showcase your top commenters, install the free Top Commentators Widget plugin. After activating the plugin, go to Appearance » Widgets in WordPress and add the "Top Commentators" widget to your desired location.
[Screenshot of Top Commentators Widget]The widget will display the names and avatars of the readers who have left the most approved comments on your blog. You can customize the widget title, number of commenters shown, avatar size and more.
Featuring top commenters demonstrates that you value community engagement. Readers will feel motivated to join in the discussion, leave more comments, and see their own avatar rise through the ranks.
6. Show Recent Comments in the Sidebar
In addition to recognizing top overall commenters, it‘s smart to feature the most recent comments in your blog sidebar or footer. This makes it easy for readers to see the latest discussions happening across your entire site.
The core Recent Comments widget in WordPress offers a quick way to add a list of the newest comments to your sidebar. Go to Appearance » Widgets and look for the Recent Comments widget.
[Screenshot of WordPress Recent Comments widget]After adding the Recent Comments widget to your sidebar, you can customize the widget title and number of comments to show. The widget will display a list of the most recently posted comments along with the post title, comment author, and an excerpt of the comment text.
Because the Recent Comments widget highlights comments from a variety of posts, it helps pique readers‘ interest in older content they may not have read yet. Someone may click through to an active discussion they didn‘t know was happening and decide to chime in.
7. Enhance Comments with Ratings and Social Sharing
Basic WordPress comments work fine, but they can be a bit dull. Adding engaging features like comment ratings and social sharing buttons make your comment sections more dynamic and interactive.
With comment ratings, the most insightful and well-written comments will rise to the top based on reader upvotes. Social sharing buttons make it easy for readers to quickly share interesting comments and discussions on their social media profiles.
A highly rated, shared comment then becomes a powerful form of social proof, attracting even more readers to join the conversation.
To add ratings and social sharing to your WordPress comments, you can use a plugin like wpDiscuz. In addition to ratings and sharing, wpDiscuz also supports nested comments, comment editing, user mentioning, comment searching, and more.
[Screenshot of wpDiscuz enhanced WordPress comments]These enhanced comment features encourage readers to actually read the existing comments, not just post their own thoughts. By upvoting and sharing, readers feel more involved in curating the discussion and are inspired to contribute higher quality comments of their own.
8. Alert Readers When Their Comments are Approved
After someone leaves a comment on your WordPress blog, they usually have no idea if and when that comment will be approved and publicly posted. Unless they remember to manually check back later, they may never see their comment appear.
As a result, many commenters will post once and then move on, not realizing there may be replies to their comment waiting for them.
You can fix this with a simple plugin like Comment Approved. After you approve a reader‘s comment, the plugin automatically sends them an email notification letting them know their comment is now live.
[Screenshot of Comment Approved email notification]The email includes the text of their comment along with a link back to the post so they can easily check for replies and re-enter the conversation.
Readers appreciate the closure of knowing their comment was approved. The notification reminds them about the post and pulls them back to your site to engage further.
9. Let Commenters Edit Their Own Comments
We‘ve all posted a comment and then immediately noticed a glaring typo. Or wished we could revise some wording to clarify a point.
Unfortunately, the default WordPress comment system doesn‘t allow commenters to edit their comments once they click submit. The only way to fix a mistake is to post an entirely new comment.
For a better user experience, allow your commenters to edit their comments for a short window of time after posting. They‘ll appreciate the chance to quickly fix any errors before replies start rolling in.
To enable comment editing in WordPress, install the free Simple Comment Editing plugin.
[Screenshot of Simple Comment Editing timer]After activating the plugin, commenters will see an "Edit" button next to their comments for a limited time period (the default is 5 minutes). Clicking edit allows them to modify the text of their comment and re-submit it.
Readers are more likely to leave comments when they know they can revise them if needed. And comments with typos or mistakes fixed improve the overall quality of your discussions.
10. Make Sure Your WordPress Hosting Can Handle the Load
As your WordPress blog grows, an increase in comments can start to strain your web hosting. Every time someone posts a comment, it executes code and queries the database on your WordPress server.
If you have an especially active comment section with dozens or even hundreds of comments coming in per day, the additional load can slowly bring your site to a crawl. You may also start to see your site go down during traffic spikes.
The solution is to upgrade to a WordPress hosting plan built for scale. Look for providers offering robust resources and performance features like:
- Generous RAM and CPU allocations
- Server-level caching
- Fast SSD storage
- Content delivery network (CDN)
- Automatic database optimization
For growing WordPress blogs, high-performance managed WordPress hosting is usually the way to go. Plans from providers like WP Engine and Kinsta are specifically optimized to keep WordPress sites with heavy traffic and commenting loads running smoothly.
11. Write Comment-Friendly Blog Posts
Finally, don‘t underestimate the power of your own blog post content to attract more comments. The way you structure your posts and the topics you write about can have a big impact on comment engagement.
Here are some types of posts and writing techniques that naturally encourage more comments:
- Take a strong stance – Don‘t be afraid to express a strong opinion in your posts, even if it‘s controversial. Readers will be motivated to chime in with their own views.
- Ask questions – Posing questions to your readers, either throughout your post or in a dedicated section at the end, invites them to ponder and respond.
- Write about timely topics – Covering newsworthy or "hot button" issues in your industry leads to more discussion as readers want to react to the latest developments.
- Publish in-depth content – Long-form, comprehensive posts tend to attract more comments because there‘s simply more to discuss and react to.
- Get personal – Injecting your post with personality, personal anecdotes and unique perspective makes readers feel more connected and comfortable commenting.
- Respond to comments – When you reply to comments yourself, it shows you value the discussion and encourages more people to join in to talk directly with you.
The more your post content resonates with readers, the more they‘ll want to continue the conversation in the comments.
Start Boosting Your Blog Comments Today
Attractive, active comment sections don‘t happen by accident. With some proactive optimization and community management using the 11 tips above, you can turn your WordPress blog comments from ghost town to bustling hub.
Remember: More comments aren‘t just vanity metrics. Highly-engaged readers become loyal fans and customers, so give comments the attention they deserve.
Yes, managing blog comments is extra work on top of publishing great content. But the rewards of an engaged audience and booming blog are well worth the effort. So implement some of these WordPress comment boosting tips today and watch your comment counts climb.
