Leaving a link in a comment: Spammy or Good Networking?

[Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf]

Obviously if a post requests for one to link up blogs or similarly themed posts...it is a no brainer.

But what about leaving a link in your signature on all the comments that you leave on other blogs?  Like this:

 

♥ Melissa @ Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf

 

I started doing this after:

 1. Realizing what a pain in the neck it was to click on someone's name in the comments, go to their profile, find their web page, and then go there to check them out or return the comment favor. 

 2. Seeing blogs about networking recommend it.

 

I do not link up random posts or talk about my blogs or posts in the content of the comment.  I leave a meaningful comment pertaining to their post or site.  And I love when commenters on my blog include their links..it makes it so much easier for me to visit them.  I'd say that about 1/3 also do this. Lately though I've seen a few posts calling this spammy... and as a new blogger I want to network and find other blogs as well as help people find mine...but I certainly don't want to be a spammer!

 

So what's the verdict?  Spammy or Not?

 

[Sugarmoon]

I feel exactly like you. I like it when people leave their link. I don't think it's spammy at all. I mean what does it hurt and who does it hurt. People are just so uptight sometimes.

[Paul D. Dail]

I agree with RYCJ (maybe because I do it also).  I always try to have good, solid comments that actually pertain to the post (in fact, usually my comments are some of the longest of the list.  Brevity isn't my strong suit :)  And then I leave my link.  I think it's two fold.  One, I'm honoring the blogger with a response to their crafted words.  But two, I'm advertising myself.  If someone thinks my comments are especially insightful, I would hope they would see what other things I have to say. 

 

And I would never care (so long as the comments were good) if someone left their link on my blog. 

 

Paul D. Dail

www.pauldail.com- A horror writer's not necessarily horrific blog

[Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf]

I am glad to see that there seems to be an agreement that leaving a link is ok as long as there is a thoughtful comment made.  Of course, we are all on this site to network so it follows that most of us would be fine with this! lol

 

♥ Melissa @ Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf

[Mac Campbell]

    It's an exchange. You leave a decent remark and they look at your sig. But you have to leave something relevant, not just 'Kewl, lol! cheggout my blog, dood! 

    Besides, most of us bloggers like to think our blog has some value. A blog is promotion, exposure, pressure valve, idea template, and not necessarily in that order.

 

      -Mac Campbell

      http://iwritehorror.blogspot.com

[Grace]

With the Book Blogs forum, I tend to link to my blog in my posts, because it's a bit of a hassle to find someone's blog by clicking on their profile and all of that nonsense.

In comments on blogs themselves, I tend to view it as spam.  I use my Wordpress OpenID when I comment on other people's blogs, so there is a link back to my own blog if you click my name.  Anything more than that is redundant.  An extra link tends to make me think that the person commenting cares more about self-promotion than anything else.

 

______________________________

Books Without Any Pictures

[Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf]

I can understand that and when commenting in wordpress from my personal blog I don't usually leave a link since you can get to my blog simply by clicking my name.  However, in blogger it is a multistep process to get from a comment to a blog.

[Joss Arden]

My general feeling is that it depends. Like Grace, I have a wordpres blog (I'm not sure about Grace's blog, but mine is self-hosted) and visiting a commenter's blog can be done simply by clicking on their name. A link like what you describe on a blog like mine seems a bit redundant and it can feel like the person cares more about promoting their blog than saying anything meaningful. That said, I'd be more forgiving of something like this if the person also left a meaningful comment that was relevant to the post. All my comments are moderated and I'll delete comments along the lines of "kewl post, come check out my blog!". Also, I understand that this is probably different for the folks on blogger...I can't comment on that since that's not what I'm using.

[Simcha Lazarus]

I don't mind if a commentor leaves a link as long as it doesn't seem as if their only purpose in leaving a comment was to promote their blog.

[Amanda Wesley]

I like when people leave where they can be found/followed as part of the signature.  Otherwise I find it a bit difficult to track them down.  Everyone has a choice to click on it or not and it's good networking, in my opinion.  I see it more often now as part of a signature then I did before.

It's also different then going onto a post and saying something like, "good point... just like here!" and trying to hijack a convo. My vote: Not spammy if done correctly.

~Amanda @ behindtherows.com  <----- see what I did there :)