No Comments: Are You Sending Conflicting Messages?
As a child through to now, how many times have you seen warning signs telling you not to do something?
‘No Entry‘
‘No Swimming‘
‘No Climbing‘
I know for a fact that when I see a sign telling me NOT to do something, being a law-abiding citizen, I don’t.
So why am I telling my visitors:
‘No Comments‘
If you visit a post on this site that has yet to receive a comment, you are greeted with a message that says ‘no comments’.
I know it says ‘leave a comment’ underneath but, as a visitor, what do you do?
It may just be me, but no comment sounds too much like ‘no comments are accepted here so please keep your opinions to yourself’. 
Now, regular bloggers and blog visitors will know that you can add a comment but what about a person visiting the site for the very first time?
I’ve now changed the phrase to say ‘be the first to comment’ as I think this is much more inviting.
Whether this gets me more comments or not, ‘be the first to comment’ looks nicer and sounds much more inviting.
What do you think?
What would you say?
Let me know by leaving a comment below.
To your success,
Karl Foxley
photo credit: markhillary
17 Comments
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- Keith - RT @fmsseo: Are You Sending Conflicting Messages? http://bit.ly/80zlx0
Thank you all for the feedback.
Wow nice one man. Being one that always “got it”, I never looked at it that way. I would probably make mine funny or snarky, but that’s me. LOL
And yes, it is the little things that make all the difference.
I actually like the comment opening thing, how is that done?
It is interesting to find out how the result of this changes. I never thought that no comment meant we can not comment — but yeah — I am a blogger as well — so I am familiar with it.
.-= Dana @ Blogging Update´s amazing last blog ..Robots.txt for WordPress Blog =-.
I didn’t even think of this before reading this post. You know, on my own blog I don’t even know what it says so I will have to check that out and if it says ‘No Comments’ then I’m going to change it.
That’s definitely a small thing that could be over looked and taken the wrong way by the right person.
Thanks for the tip here!
.-= Eric´s amazing last blog ..The Way I Blog With Ease =-.
I would have to agree it looks much better if not certainly more inviting to make a comment.
.-= Extreme John´s amazing last blog ..Largo Tanning Salon =-.
Ha ha ha. Quite funny but true. No comments. I am checking my blog now, I need to correct that.
.-= mk akan´s amazing last blog ..6 Reasons Why You Need To Take Blog Commenting Seriously =-.
Yes, I agree to what you have said. The visitor feels as if the post is not worth reading so no one has commented and he leaves the blog without commenting.
Be the first to comment is an invitation and will motivate the reader to comment.
Very informative post. Thanks.
Karl,
I think this is a good idea. My template doesn’t have anything. But then again, I am using Intense debate commenting system. I’m thinking about changing that and try a custom quote saying be the first to comment as you’re suggesting.
.-= element321´s amazing last blog ..What is Creative Commons =-.
Karl this is very interesting…. “Be the first to comment” looking more interesting than “no comments”…
@Deepika,
I think so.
@Mitch,
It’s amazing how very small changes can have a positive effect on things.
I had to go check mine out to see if it said “no comment” like yours did. Luckily no, but it does say it on the post if one comes to the main page & sees multiple posts. Never had thought about that one before; freaky!
.-= Mitch´s amazing last blog ..Leno Vs. O’Brien – I Called This One =-.
Couldn’t agree more! I often change that bit of the template – especially when I know the readers aren’t blogging-savvy.
.-= Anne Moss´s amazing last blog ..Keyword Synonyms and Google =-.
Thanks Anne,
It’s only a small thing but, like you say, people that aren’t blog savvy may get the wrong message.
Personally I never thought the way you have to click the plus sign to see the comments was good either.
Yes I agree “be the first to comment” would sound much more inviting though.
Maybe Keith but that’s a separate issue, the comment form is always visible.
Karl this is pretty funny. I wonder if it will work and help you get more comments. You will have to do a follow up article in a few weeks letting us know if it in fact increased your comments being left by readers.
Time will tell Brian but I certainly will do a follow-up.