It’s a classic question: allow comments, trackbacks, pingbacks, or not? There really is no right answer; it really depends on your motivation for blogging. Let’s look at some common justifications for answers one way or another, and then I’ll provide my thoughts.
- Dr. Mankiw says, “I don’t have the time to manage comments, so I’ve turned them off.”
- Steve Pavlina says, “sometimes on a post-by-post basis, but generally no.”
- Cash Quest says, “they’re not helping me make money.”
And on the flip side:
- Perfomancing.com says, “allow comments and pay attention to them.”
- The guys at Business Blog Consulting say, “yes, and encourage commentors.”
My thoughts on the topic:
- If your motivation behind blogging is to build a community, then allowing people to have their say-so (within reason) is imperative.
- If you’re a WordPress user, run Akismet. It greatly reduces the amount of comment spam you will have to manage. (Aside: if you value your time, and Akismet saves you time, please consider supporting Akismet financially.)
- Steve Pavlina argues he gets enough feedback by email. Fair enough – but if you’re not Steve Pavlina (or someone equally well known), you probably shouldn’t rely on this.
