A Webmaster‘s Guide to Getting More Comments on Your WordPress Site

With over 15 years of experience running various WordPress sites, I‘ve learned a thing or two about building engaged communities through comments.

Lively comments sections separate thriving websites from the rest. They showcase your active readership, boost SEO, and provide social proof of your value.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share 11 battle-tested tips to get more comments on your WordPress posts. I‘ll draw from expert data and my own hands-on lessons from motivating thousands of readers to comment.

Let‘s dive in and transform your website into a discussion hub!

Why You Want More Comments

Before jumping into tactics, let‘s highlight why you‘d want more comments in the first place:

• Increased engagement – Active comments make your content feel alive. They show you have an invested audience.

• Improved SEO – Higher engagement metrics like comments and time on site signal to Google your content provides value.

• More pageviews – Commenters drive additional visits to keep up with discussions. Subscriptions and email updates lead to repeat traffic.

• Builds credibility – Comments add social proof and third-party validation that you offer insightful content.

• Creates community – Discussions build personal connections with readers that cultivate loyalty. Fostering community pays dividends long-term.

According to research by Social Media Today, article comments can increase clicks by up to 124%. Driving participation through your comment section should be a priority.

Let‘s look at proven techniques to make that happen.

1. Allow Users to Subscribe to Comments

By default, readers have to bookmark your pages to keep up with new comments. This means lots of great discussions are lost as readers forget to revisit.

You can increase engagement by allowing comment subscriptions. This notifies readers of new comments via email.

Here are the steps to enable comment subscriptions in WordPress:

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Settings > Discussion
2. Check the box next to "Allow people to subscribe to comments"
3. In the dropdown below, choose how often emails should be sent (daily, weekly, etc)

Once enabled, a "Notify me of new comments via email" checkbox will appear below your comment form.

According to data from HubSpot, email subscribers are 3 times more likely to share content. This drives even more participation.

Comment subscriptions are hugely beneficial. But don‘t stop there…

2. Notify Commenters of Direct Replies

Beyond just new comments in general, you can really amp engagement by notifying commenters of direct replies. This keeps discussions thriving.

When someone replies to their specific comment, they‘ll receive an email update – but only for that comment thread.

Here‘s how to enable comment reply notifications in WordPress:

1. Install and activate the Subscribe to Comments Reloaded plugin
2. A checkbox will now appear below each comment: "Notify me of follow-up comments via email"

You‘ll need to enable comment notifications in your settings for this to work. But it‘s worth it – back-and-forth comment discussions will make your content feel dynamic.

According to Convince&Convert, articles with comment engagement can generate up to 534% more pageviews. Reply notifications are an easy way to spark ongoing conversations.

But higher engagement comes with risks…

3. Moderate Comments to Maintain Quality

More comments are great – but only if they add value for your readers. The openness of comments means you‘ll get spam and low-quality remarks.

Aggressive comment moderation helps maintain standards and shape positive discussions. Don‘t be afraid to filter and delete as needed.

Here are the steps to enable comment moderation in WordPress:

1. Go to Settings > Discussion
2. Check the box next to "An administrator must always approve the comment"
3. Check your pending comments daily and approve quality discussions

Approving comments shows readers you‘re listening and paying attention. This fosters community.

According to research by Disqus, websites with comment moderation see 60% higher visitor engagement.

Yes, moderation takes work. But it pays dividends in comment quality and relationships with readers.

Speaking of relationships…

4. Highlight Your Star Commenters

The key to ongoing engagement in your comment section is developing a core group of loyal commenters. You can reward them by highlighting top contributors.

This public recognition makes readers feel valued. It incentivizes future participation.

Here are two ways to showcase your top commenters in WordPress:

Spotlight in sidebar

1. Install the Top Commentators Widget plugin
2. Add the widget to a sidebar area of your site

This displays a list of users with the most comments.

Call out commenters in posts

In each post, you can also add a section like "Comments Appreciated" and link to a few of your top commenters. Not only does this recognize them, but it shows others the types of comments you‘re looking for.

According to Social Media Today, recognizing contributors leads to 33% higher user engagement.

Reward your loyal commenters. Once you identify them, engage and build personal connections to keep them coming back.

5. Show Newer Comments First

WordPress displays comments in chronological order by default, with oldest on top. For active discussions, this forces readers to scroll way down to see latest.

You can fix this by showing newest comments first. This lets readers immediately see the latest activity.

Here are the steps to show newest comments first in WordPress:

1. Go to Settings > Discussion
2. Under "Other comment settings", choose "Newest" from the dropdown

Seeing the most recent comments first allows readers to quickly join active discussions. They‘re less likely to miss key points.

According to Convince&Convert, 68% of blog readers scan comments before reading the actual post. Satisfy that curiosity by putting new discussions up front.

Now let‘s talk about commenters on older posts…

6. Keep Comments Open on Older Posts

By default, WordPress closes comments on posts after a certain time period (usually 30 days). But many posts have long tails and continue driving traffic.

Turning comments off just because time has passed means you miss out on potential engagement. Keep the conversations going by allowing comments on older posts.

Here‘s how to enable comments on older posts in WordPress:

1. Go to Settings > Discussion
2. Uncheck the box next to "Automatically close comments"

Valuable discussions can happen on posts of any age. Timeless evergreen content especially should always have open comments.

According to stats from Social Media Today, the average blog post continues generating traffic for 300 days. That‘s a lot of missed engagement if you shut comments down too early.

Having open comments does invite spam risks. But proper moderation balances engagement with quality.

7. Show Recent Comments Prominently

Your lively comment activity won‘t attract engagement if readers never see it. Make sure to showcase recent comments prominently.

Visibly displaying your recent comments benefits new readers in two ways:

1. Shows your content drives discussions
2. Lets readers preview conversations before jumping in

Here are two ways to effectively showcase recent comments in WordPress:

Recent Comments widget

Add the default WordPress "Recent Comments" widget to your sidebar. This displays snippets of recent activity.

Excerpts in posts

Within your post content, include blurbs like "Recent discussion on this topic:" with snippets of related comments.

According to Convince&Convert, posts previewing discussions can lift engagement by over 500%.

Flaunt your comment activity front and center. Social proof of existing discussions will organically attract more.

8. Level Up Discussions with Ratings & Sharing

Plain linear comment sections have limited engagement potential. You can take discussions to the next level by adding features like:

• Comment ratings
• Social media sharing
• Activity notifications
• Commenter profiles

The wpDiscuz plugin adds these features and more – turning your comment section into a thriving online community.

These gamification elements give readers incentives to comment and return. The added interactivity keeps them engaged.

According to Buffer research, content with social sharing buttons receives 2.5x more clicks than content without. Make it easy for readers to react and share.

Functionality like wpDiscuz does require a more robust hosting plan. But the engagement payoff is worth it.

9. Send Notifications Upon Comment Approval

When a reader comments on a post, they see a "Comment awaiting moderation" message. And then…silence. The black void of the moderation queue.

This confusion frustrates readers and discourages future comments.

You can increase engagement by sending notifications when a comment is approved. This feedback loop shows readers their voices matter.

Here‘s how to enable comment approval notifications in WordPress:

1. Install and activate the Comment Approved plugin
2. Customize the email template by going to Settings > Comment Approved

Now commenters will receive an email when their comment goes live.

According to Social Media Today, 72% of customers prefer personalized notifications over generic auto-replies.

Take the extra minute to configure notifications. It reassures readers and recognizes their contributions.

10. Allow Users to Edit Comments

You‘ve surely seen comments with distracting typos or errors. Once a comment is live, there‘s no editing it.

Allow readers to edit their own comments within a certain timeframe before locking them in. This creates a more polished discussion.

Here‘s how to enable comment editing in WordPress:

1. Install and activate the Simple Comment Editing plugin
2. On Settings > Discussion, set the editing window (e.g. 5 minutes)

Now users can edit comments after posting them.

According to research by SmallBizTrends, 42% of people will comment more knowing they can edit and correct mistakes.

Comment editing capabilities lead to higher quality and engagement. Just be sure to limit the editing window to prevent misuse.

11. Get Blazing Fast Hosting

As your community grows, more comments mean more load on your server. Lots of dynamic requests can slow your site to a crawl.

Make sure your hosting can keep up. Invest in an optimized WordPress host.

Here are two top platforms capable of handling a comment-heavy site:

WP Engine

• Optimized for WordPress sites specifically
• Built-in caching plus CDN for speed
• Handles traffic spikes seamlessly

SiteGround

• Fast worldwide data centers
• Free CDN plus SG Optimizer caching
• Managed WordPress hosting expertise

I currently use SiteGround. Their infrastructure handles my high-traffic sites without issue.

Don‘t let poor hosting dampen your hard-earned community growth. Performance issues turn readers away, stifling engagement.

Plan ahead and ensure your servers can scale.

Turn Readers into Commenters

Growing your WordPress site‘s community starts with active commenters.

Leverage tools and features that encourage participation while maintaining quality. Recognize your loyal commenters. Optimize performance to sustain growth.

Stay focused on building relationships through moderation and engagement. Reward your community members for making contributions.

Now it‘s your turn… which strategies have worked to increase comments for your website? Share your insights by leaving a comment below!