What is the best comment system to use in a blog?

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What is the role of comments on a blog and why you should activate them

Imagine if it were not commenting on any website. If this option simply not exisitisse, as would your experience on the Internet?

The same exercise of thought goes for social networks: and if you only had the option to like or to share what others write, but without giving our opinion, or do constructive criticism, or tecermos a compliment? Anyway, without any interaction!

It would be somewhat different, right? Not only our browsing experience would change as well as our lives.

A few decades ago, when communication was totally offline, we could only interact in the media with others by sending letters to newspapers and magazines, or call the TV.

In other words, the desire to interact and respond to the content that we take is an inherent part of human behavior. The development of online and social media only potentiated this natural behavior we have.

So if you have a blog or are the administrator or editor of the blog of your company, you need to know to leave this open channel is the fastest form of interaction you have with your player.

Rarely any user, to come across a post on a blog that does not have active comments, will send an email to you to talk about it. And if you write about any topic not wanting there is this interaction with your reader why write? Why talk alone if there is the opportunity of the exchange of information, and a free feedback?

Which system to use?

Basically there are two comments systems that stand out over the others today. We’re talking about Disqus, which is what we use here in the blog Digital Results and Facebook Comments.

However, despite the wide popularity that these two options have, there are other alternatives that can also be used.

Below, we will explore the advantages that each comment system has:

1 – WordPress

This system only works of course if you have a blog on WordPress . We will not go into detail about the other content management systems as WordPress is by far the most popular on the web today , including being what we use here.

In fact, the advantages of a native system are all very similar, with a few variations. So the pros below may also work for blogs hosted on Blogspot or Tumblr, for example.

WordPress has a standard feedback system, which is free, easy to use, fully integrated and can be customized almost infinitely through other plugins.

pros:

Control filter: With moderation and anti-spam automatic filter settings, you can set your own preferences with regard to the way the site will filter content. You can filter users, keywords or IP addresses, for instance;
Control of anonymity: You can decide whether you need to comment with your email, name or with a prior record before. Or let free, allowing anonymous comments;
Moderation Control: You can decide whether the comments should be moderated or will be published immediately after the user publication. And customize it according to the user level, it is already registered or is commenting for the first time, for example;
No barriers: The WordPress system itself does not require registration of other accounts so that the user comment. He does not need to integrate your Google account, Facebook, Twitter, etc. However, by requiring registration or email to confirm before your comment, it may be that the user be reluctant.

How to Install: It is the system’s native WordPress, just enable comments on the options. The same goes for other CMS’s.

2 – Disqus

The Disqus is a comments platform that we use on our blog. It is a system that is becoming increasingly popular in many sites because of its ease of use, power of customization and integration with several other accounts.

pros:

Social integration: The Disqus has an excellent integration with social media. You can comment using a Facebook account, Twitter, Google or creating their own, if necessary. Another interesting detail is that you can @mencionar other users to bring them to the conversation, something very like Twitter;
Profiles of users: Any user who creates a record in Disqus or integrating an existing account earns a profile. In this profile you have access to all the comments you’ve made, in which comments you gave positive or negative vote, and other data;
Control panel: As an administrator, you can make a number of customizations as spam control, blacklist and comment moderation;
Related posts: You can enable the option of recommended stories in the comments box footer. This is a way to encourage your users to read other reviews of other posts from your blog;
Do everything by email: If you leave the comments in the moderate option, you can accept them or deny them all by email. Only adjust notifications and simple answers to “approve” you can manage the comments without entering the panel.

How to install: Just access https://disqus.com/admin/install/ and choose which platform you want to integrate the Disqus. You can insert a html code manually or download plugins for WordPress, Blogger, Joomla, Drupal, Tumblr and other platforms.

3 – Livefyre

The Livefyre is very similar to Disqus, with a system also quite popular. For this reason that the pros are also similar. It is the system used by Mashable , for example.

pros:

Flexible login options: You can comment using Facebook, Twitter or creating a separate account in the Livefyre;
Social integration: To be logged in Livefyre, you can also use @ mentions to join other users in the conversation. Also, you can share these comments in social media;
Control Panel: Administrators can track the activity of users who comment and know who is actively participating in the conversation.

How to install: On http://www.livefyre.com/install/ you will find all the instructions to integrate your blog to Livefyre.

4 – Facebook

The most popular social network in the world has a feedback system that is also truly popular. You’ve probably went to a site where the comments were all integrated to Facebook. The reason? Most people not only have a Facebook account as often surf the internet with the logged social network, which facilitates the interaction.

pros:

Real people: When someone comments using your own Facebook profile, that person usually has a higher careful what you write, while you’re tying the comment directly to your image. This avoids, in parts, spam and personal offenses. Yes, there are still fakes on Facebook, but they are very specific profiles and that are generally denounced quickly;
No barriers: As stated above, almost everyone has Facebook. Moreover, the no need to log in to integrate an account or a new registration can influence quantitatively the number of comments;
Increased traffic coming from Facebook: When you integrate Facebook to your comments, the likelihood that the post be shared in this particular network is higher. This is because the person can check the “Post also on Facebook” share and comment on your timeline.

How to install: You can be manually or via a plugin. In WordPress there is the Facebook plugin , which makes it much easier. To manually enter there is a job a little more time consuming, and you need to follow some steps that are in https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/comments .

5 – Google+

The main reason for the relevance of Google+ comments platform is Google itself. Comments on this system also appear in organic results and is a factor that can improve rankeamento your site.

pros:

Less anonymity: The associated comments are associated with the user ‘s Google account. Although it is not difficult to create a fake account on Google only for comments, it remains a barrier to more;
No barriers: As a Facebook account, most people also have a Google account. And, likewise, most people surf the internet with the logged account. Thus, it is much easier one comment, because all she needs is to comment, without the need for records and integrations;
Increased traffic from Google+ (and Google too!): Shares are very important social evidence for a post. Google also understands this and the amount of shares and comments in a post on Google+ can influence in the organic results.

How to install: There is no plugin to the Google+ platform, which should be done then it is to access the Google Developers and manually insert the script, which can be quite laborious. Another way is to use third-party plugins like GPlus Comments . This difficulty in implementation is one of the reasons why it is a very little – used system.

How to avoid spammers and maintain a high level in the comments?

For all goods there are evils. What about the reviews on the internet, two evils are: spam and abuse.

To avoid spam in your comments you must activate some filters. And in this respect the comments that are not social excel, since you can block that have URLs, block specific words, to place users in blacklist, etc.

Not to have comments of offensive nature, as destructive criticism, the work is a little longer. The level of the comments from your blog may be related to the audience you’ve built.

It is true that once your site is ranked on Google, there is no way to understand exactly how the behavior of this new user who just read your post. If your site is public, anyone can access it. However, if you already consolidated in the market and has a quality follower base (and returning!), The chances of discussions constructive happen is much higher.

After so many options, how to decide?

It’s not as simple hammer out and say, “this system is the best.” It all depends on variables such as layout, purpose, audience and niche. It is common that some websites work better with the comments of Facebook while others work best with Disqus and others work better with a native system.

In Digital results, we opted for by Disqus have a dashboard for easy use and customization, and allows login to several different social networks (not just one).

Ideally you analyze your audience before. If your traffic is mostly coming from the Facebook, it may be an advantage to use this comment system on your blog. The same goes for Google+. If there is a variety of traffic channels, the ideal may be a more hybrid system, like the others mentioned.

It is strongly recommended that you do some tests and that the document to understand what system does a better job for you. A / B test can work in this case and you can learn more about it in our “Test Kit A / B”, available here for free download .

Knowing all these options, tell us: what system you use on your website / blog and why?