So you’ve started a blog and are excited about the possibilities. However, you perceive a problem: despite having an admirable amount of traffic, you don’t seem to be getting much in the way of comments. Comments can help to sell products and retain traffic on a long-term basis.

What can you do differently?

First of all, understand that most web surfers prefer to “lurk.” It takes a certain amount of emotional or logical provocation to inspire them to comment. It is important to choose topics that people are passionate about and provide original content that is coherent and opinionated.

No one is going to argue or support a statement like “blogs can help increase traffic!” So analyze your blog for content and determine if there is enough excitement going on.

Next, invite comments. This is a rather obvious technique that is often ignored. Never assume that strong statements alone will bring on a barrage of comments. It definitely helps, but if you conclude on a strong note of finality without asking for comments, your audience may feel there is nothing else to say.

For the best results, finalize your new blog with a question or even title it as a question. Random web users love answering open-ended questions, so avoid statements of finality and leave some issues up in the air.

Finally, interact with the users who are generous enough to leave comments. Be humble and kind to everyone who posts. This doesn’t mean retracting any statements you feel strongly about; after all, two minds debating the facts is always entertaining to watch.

Just stay clear of personal attacks, treating each commentator like a customer in your store. It may also help to ensure that your blog has a professional appearance. Deleting spam and “trolling” comments gives the appearance of a well-managed blog.

If you leave the comments unsupervised then new commentators may be scared away by all the nonsense.

What about you? What strategies have worked for increasing your number of blog comments?