DoFollow Blog Comments Advantages
June 21st 2009 10:49 PM
Categories: 
The debate between dofollow blog comments vs nofollow has been healthy since the nofollow attribute was introduced by Google and Jason Shellen of Blogger in 2005.
Recent changes made public by Matt Cutts in the way Google handles PageRank have added another advantage to having a dofollow blog. Page Rank Sculpting, which involves nofollowing comments for the purpose of directing link authority, has been revealed as ineffective for about a year so far.
In light of these recent changes, I have decided to make my blog’s comments dofollow. Here are the reasons for and against dofollow blog comments I evaluated in reaching my decision:
DoFollow Advantages
Dofollow blogs can attract more loyal visitors to your website, especially if it is relatively new. If someone adds relevant content to my website that adds value, I owe it to them to dofollow their comment. As long as the destination website is also relevant to my blog and adds value to my visitors following it.
By being selective in the quality of comments you approve on your website, you will attract and link to the quality visitors and links that you should be after.
DoFollow Cons
Spam. A key reason the nofollow attribute was created in the first place. Many blog systems and content management systems have nofollow enabled by default.
What I’ve found is that even having nofollow enabled in the comments has not prevented a lot of spam from reaching me. There are some great programs that automatically deal with the issue of comment spam, I use Akismet which is a free WordPress comment spam plugin.
Another disadvantage is that nofollowing comments no longer directs more link juice to your other links. With the recent changes announced by Matt Cutts of Google, page rank sculpting (the manipulation of nofollowed and dofollowed links) is no longer effective.
Conclusion
I have made my blog comments dofollow because I see no disadvantages in doing so. I get comment spam anyways, and the comment spam plugin for WordPress I use will handle any increase in spam as a result. I will be more selective in the comments that are posted, because they have a large impact on my site’s reputation. They must be relevant and add value to be approved, which helps everyone.
What are your thoughts about nofollow vs dofollow comments?
Great post, Omar
Dofollow hunters suck and are pretty easy to spot. You’ll see a new visitor popping in via an online dofollow blog spam list of some sort, followed by a comment from someone named ‘Profesional SEO company’ -which is a pretty weird name, even for a misspelling-, leaving a comment that barely says anything… Yuck!
It’s stupid not to mention your URL when you’re commenting on a blog while you’re building links, but it’s even more stupid to just drop your link because you’re building links…
That’s a wise decision (from the view of commenter). I don’t really understand the new no follow policy much. Somehow, from what I know (it might be incorrect) if anyone don’t make their blog do follow they should close comment. No follow might reduce spammer, but it don’t help about link juice.
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Dofollow hunters suck and are appealing simple to stain. You’ll observe a novel guest popping in through an online dofollow blog spam record of a few sort, followed by a comment from a big shot named ‘Profesional SEO company’ -which is a cute bizarre name, flat for a misspelling-, departure a comment that scarcely says something… Yuck!