By Ari Herzog
Photo by lemort.
Have you ever visited a blog, scrolled through the comments, and wondered how people’s pictures appeared next to their names? Did you ever try to add a comment yourself and get frustrated that your comment didn’t get that picture but an enigmatic wavatar, MonsterID, or identicon instead?
It amazes me how many people add comments on sites ranging from the Harvard Business Review to Quora and on blogs powered by WordPress and Tumblr, to name just a few, but don’t have their headshots next to their names.
Curious how?
You need to create a globally recognized avatar, register an email address (required for comment systems), and upload a photograph to connect to that address.
Your gravatar will then be shown beside every comment you make on systems powered by WordPress, Disqus, and Intensedebate, and even Mailchimp newsletters.
3 benefits of a gravatar
- You will have an identity.
- You will be branded.
- You will evoke trust from the community.
Tips to a great gravatar
- Use the same picture from other online profiles. If you already use the same avatar on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, you should replicate that photo as your default gravatar that will follow you across the web wherever you comment.
- Use a real picture or cartoon caricature of yourself. Be personal. Logos and pictures of pets or kids are not you.
- Use different photos for different email addresses if you want. You can choose to register different addresses and associate different avatars to each one.
Use a gravatar now
Sign up right here, register your address, and upload your picture.
Then… start commenting!
About Ari Herzog
I think many people who do not use a Gravatar prefer to maintain a veneer of anonymity with their comments.
Hi Ari, Gravatar helps you get recognition in blog community, other readers and blog owner start recognizing you with your avatar. I think it also makes your comment look normal not spammy…… as spammers just drop their link anywhere no matter if it’s approved or not.
Regards
Paul
Thanks for the comment, Paul. Please note that per the comment policy, keywords in your commenting name are not allowed. As such I removed them this time.
Ok. Thanks for concerning me about this issue. I will try my best to maintain this.
Regards
Paul
Ta-dar…
You should now see my [improved] Gravatar…
I had always liked the logo, but here is my face now
I may swap around every so often.
I’ve recently gotten my own gravatar but got frustrated with it. I’m doing SEO for several small business companies using only one computer. So whenever I visit blogs the gravatar follows me around and I cannot use the website or company I represent at that time. This frustrates me since if I update the website on my gravatar profile to reflect the company I’m trying to do SEO on, every post I previously make shows the changes. This basically leave me with backlinks all pointing on the last site I put in. Is there a workaround for this? TIA