When your blog readers leave you a comment, how do you read them and respond to them? Do you go to the actual blog post, read the comments, then click on that person's profile, find their email address or try to comment on their blog?
or...
Do you respond to it directly under the comment with the "Reply" button, because that only replies to the comment on THAT post and it doesn't get "sent" to that person. They have to return to your blog and see if you've responded. Most people are so busy blogging and commenting, they forget to go back and check.
One quick and easy way to respond to a comment is to have the comments sent to your inbox at your email address. That way you are sent any comment that is left on your blog like an email. This is perfect for people who are leaving comments right now on posts that are 2 years old. You can see the new comment in your inbox and respond to it.
Blogger, however, doesn't automatically send your comments to your email address. You have to tell Blogger to do it!!
So let's get started...
Go to your dashboard and click the drop down arrow to SETTINGS.
On the left, towards the bottom, click "MOBILE AND EMAIL".
There will be a box in the middle. Add your email address that you want the comments sent to.
This is a perfect time to suggest opening a separate email account just for blogging. I use Gmail. It's great and free. Having a blog email account keeps your blogging and personal emails separate.
Don't forget to click SAVE SETTINGS after you've added the address...
Here is a screen shot of the post I do for "Ask The World A Question". People ask all kinds of questions and my readers help out and answer the questions using the reply button under the comment.
The reply button under a post works great in this situation or if you want to answer a question under a comment so everyone can read it too.
However, if you want to respond to a comment one on one, using the email system is so much easier and more personal.
To help with blogging, emailing and responding, your email address has to be enabled in your blogger profile, so you're not a "No Reply"...I know double negative there, but can't help it!
Click HERE to see if you might be blogging and commenting as a "No Reply".
I hope this helps make your blogging experience a little better.
Have a great day,
~Karen~
I remember when I first started blogging and I had no clue how to do this. It really does make blogging a lot simpler! And how fun to see my quilt up there! :0)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this! It bugs me that I usually don't know if a blogger has responded to my comment unless I got back to the blog and check. I've been emailing responses for a while plus I copy and paste my reply on to the reply section on the comment on the blog post so others can see that I do respond to comments.
ReplyDeleteThank you Karen, that what I have been missing so long, so great!
ReplyDeleteUnfurtunally I don´t have enough time to reply to every comment, but I look forward to reply to comments with questions and so on.
Liebe Grüße
Bente
A great easy to read tutorial for bloggers setting their profiles. Unfortunately replies only work if other people set an email to their profile. If THEY haven't set an email, then when you hit the "reply" button in yours it directs the reply to "no-reply-comment" and I consequently goes no where. Please everyone enable your email if you would like to have replies. Read more about how to do this here which directs you to a couple of step by step tutorials http://suburbanjubilee.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/enable-email-movement.html
ReplyDeleteGreat tip! I love replying via email and sometimes it turns into a series of emails where I learn so much from the back and forth. The only time I reply on my blog is to a no-reply blogger who asks a specific question or if answering there clarifies something in my post that is getting several questions, and in case I will always reply via email as I'm assuming no one is coming back to look.
ReplyDeleteI never go back to read replies on blogs where I leave comments.
THANK YOU! Just got this done thanks to your great instructions.
ReplyDeleteA separate email account is great so you know anything in it is a comment on your blog. No reply bloggers miss out on our responses. Thanks for your great blogging tips!
ReplyDeletethank you Karen..I really appreciate all of your helpful tips..they are a big help....
ReplyDeleteMona
Great tutorial! I had never thought of replying directly to a commenter by email, but it's such a nice personal touch! I'll definitely start doing this from now on - thanks!
ReplyDeleteI opened up a separate email account just for blog comments and I think it's a great way to keep track and respond to everyone. Now if we could just get every commenter to NOT be a No Replyer, we'd be set. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat tip! I was frustrated with the blogger commenting system (the reply was the most annoying), so in the end I implemented the Intense Debate service which I really like - every comment generates an email unless the commenter disables the option themselves.
ReplyDeleteWonderful info. I went in and changed my settings right away. I was in a blogging class and they suggested replying to every comment you receive but did not share how to make it this easy. Would you mind if I share a link to this post with others from that class?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip Karen. As soon as I implemented the setting, I went to my email and found that a previous post had not only the three messages from people I know, but 180 anonymous comments mostly regarding meds like hydrocodone, valium and viagra. None of these were readable ... just code that I couldn't click on or access in any way. I hope this is just a one time glitch because I really like the idea of being able to read comments on my old posts. Otherwise, I will go in and reverse the setting.
ReplyDeleteThank you thank you thank you. And by thank you I mean thank you.
ReplyDeleteOh i love your blogging tips. I am quite knew to it and you are so helpful. I am so sharing this today! Could I ask, though. Is it possible to include a label when you are replying to a comment, also if I have forgotten to include a label do I just go into the post and update it? Thanks. Off to share.xx
ReplyDelete