Move with it.
Photo by Edumigue.

Every blogger wants people to visit, read, and comment.

Visiting is the easy part. Type in a URL or click a link and voila.

Reading is also easy, especially if the content flows smoothly and is not long.

Commenting has a stigma of being hard. While it’s easy for you to comment, studies show you would rather tweet a link to the article or share it on your Facebook profile than taking time out of your day to type in a name, email address, website, and whatever words inspired you to leave that comment.

But commenting can be very rewarding — especially if the blogger provides ways for other readers to interact with you.

I want my readers to interact with you.

Most commenting systems provide a reply button for anyone to reply to your comment. You’ve historically been able to do that here. You can do it today by clicking the black button that screams, REPLY!

But I want you to do more than reply.

Metrics indicate many of my blog readers are also bloggers and tweeters. I want to help you attract more eyeballs to your blogs and enable other readers to follow your tweets. Additionally, I want to tell search engines that crawl my blog every day to see your links, and, further, contextually link up to three keywords that describe what your blog or website is about. That latter part is what search engine optimization means.

I used to do this for you. I wrote articles explaining the benefits of Commentluv and Keywordluv, two exceptional wordpress plugins that build community. I also set up rules to moderate new commentators to help eliminate spam, and I used a wonderful anti-spam plugin with the G.A.S.P. acronym to clean everything up.

Commentluv Premium is what?

Commentluv Premium is many plugins and features for the price of one.

You get the Commentluv plugin, a KeywordName plugin (similar to Keywordluv), the G.A.S.P. plugin, a trackback validation plugin (to confirm the other site allegedly linking to you is truly doing it), a DoFollow feature to tell search engines to follow readers’ links, the ability to add a Twitter field to the comment form, a feature to eliminate self pings (when you link to another link of yours and you get notified of a new trackback), and a widget sharing the top plugin users.

But I don’t want to sound like a salesman.

Commentluv Premium costs $67 for a license that works on a single website, and for cheap money beyond that you can get a developer’s license for unlimited installations.

I installed it here yesterday.

Try it out below.

Any questions before you buy the plugin yourself?

35 comments

The following is written by Brianna Phillips.

It used to be the way to find a date was going out to the bars, being set up through mutual friends, meeting at the gym, or by merely holding onto the hope of running into a tall, dark and drop-dead gorgeous stranger in the produce section of your local grocery store.

Thanks to the internet, we don’t have to rely on such methods or deal our entire deck of dating cards to the gods of fate. Because of the phenomenon that is online dating, we are now provided with a massive platform for finding that special someone — and we can put the power of dating into our own hands.

If you are a single who has ever considered the idea and are interested in the possibilities (and available matches!) waiting for you on the internet, be sure to check out the following overview of the benefits and statistics of online dating that just might sway you in the direction of the world wide web.

Girl in car
Photo by Anita Patterson.

Why date online?

With online dating you have the opportunity to broaden your horizons, sort through thousands of matches and increase your chances of meeting someone whom you wouldn’t have met otherwise. Here are four reasons why former singles found success and are no longer requesting a table for one:

Online dating saves you time.
Living in a world where we are consumed by hectic schedules, dating often falls last on our never-ending to-do lists. However, one of the perks of online dating is the fact that you can eliminate wasted time. Weed through your matches and based on dating profiles and online communication, you can decide right off the bat if a person is worth taking the time to get to know better.

Online dating is convenient.
Forget about getting dressed up in your best ensemble to head out on the town looking for “the one.” When you date online, all you have to put on your favorite pajamas, curl up on the couch and grab your laptop. What could beat dating from the comfort of your own home?

Online dating saves you money.
Sure, to be a part of a reputable online dating community, you’re going to have to pay a membership fee. But rest assured that fees are often less than what you would spend going out on date after unsuccessful date.

Through these websites, a venue is provided for you to get to know someone and decide if there’s a possible match before breaking the bank to go out with them.

Online dating allows you to define your wants/needs.
Online dating sites come equipped with a plethora of tools, personality/compatibility tests, and features like your online dating profile that allow you to clearly outline what you are looking for in a romantic counterpart.

This enables you to get straight to the point, hone in on real matches and easily determine if there is a connection with another person or not.

How popular is online dating?

Statistics from 2011 suggest that online dating is more than a fad and is here to stay.

Online dating usage across the world: In India there are 15 million singles using dating sites, 40 million in the United States, and China claims a whopping 140 million online singles.

The most popular dating sites: Match.com is home to 15 million members and eHarmony has 20 million.

The dating industry’s earnings: The online dating industry raked in over $1 billion dollars, and it is estimated that by 2013, online dating will reach a staggering $1.3 billion dollars in earnings.

Online dating success: Of the online matches who meet in person, 33% turn into relationships with 17% of those relationships turning long-term (including marriage). By 2019, it is estimated that more than 50% of couples will have found their start through online dating.

Couple strolling in a park
Photo by Matthew Hull.

And you?

Did you find your lover online?

Got any questions for me?

2 comments

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Resolve To Do ____ for 30 Days

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