Turn it off.  Please, turn it off.  Ok, I totally get why some people enable word verification on their comments.  And maybe you don’t know yours is, it’s Blogger’s default setting… BUT,  and that’s a huge BUT (yeah, yeah… not that kind of butt…) BUT, it really decreases the number of comments you will receive.  I cross my heart, pinky promise on this.  It’s just one more step in an already somewhat long process.  This is the age of quick and simple. 

We are all very busy people and, I personally, don’t have five minutes to spend leaving a comment.  When you add that up on say, 10 comments, that’s almost an hour!  Sorry, guys but I don’t have that kind of time.  Most of my blogging happens during naptime and those two hours are precious!  I’m not going to spend them leaving comments, not when I don’t have a post written for tomorrow, I need to get the chicken marinating for dinner, and a handful of projects half-finished.  Oh, and we’re going out of town next week and My Mr. Right has an in-the-field Drill this weekend.  Go Army, right?  What that translates to is I get to do ALL the packing, with a 21 month-old ball of energy fighting for my time.  And no time for commenting.

All of your comment setting can be found and changed in the Settings tab, under the comment option.

If you want to keep an eye on what comments go up on your blog (and I don’t blame you a bit), have them sent to your email.  This is super convenient if you get your email on your cell phone.  If not, Blogger has a super easy platform where you can view all your comments in one place.  If you’re worried about comments going up before you see them, turn on moderation.  Nothing will post publicly unless you tell it to.

If you would like to leave your guests a message before they comment… There’s a spot to do that here too.  Say whatever you would like.  Also, you can set how your comment form shows up.  Personally, I like it when the comment form is embedded below the post.  That way I don’t have to wait for a separate page to pop up and load.  I can just go to town with my commenting.

Ok, the MOST IMPORTANT PART!!!  By default, Blogger turns word verification on.  Take the time to turn it off, and I guarantee your comments will increase. 

A lot of people, myself included, will compose a comment and then see the word verification and close the window… no comment.  And if the page reloads and I don’t realize you have word verification… no comment.  Your time is valuable, you know this.  Make your blog as reader-friendly as possible.  Ok, now go do!  Let me know… I’ll leave you a comment.  =]

Krista

In order to get this up and going… Features will be added later today.

And, GO!

You may think you have done this, but you may be wrong.  I was.  My awesome friend Kyra at RACKS and Mooby clued me in one day.  I thought I had allowed access to my email so that other’s could get my email address.  In fact, not so much.  You may be thinking, “Uhm, I don’t think I want others to be able to access that information.”  Guess what though?  You won’t get spammed like you think.  And most email providers filter it.  What are the perks?  Well, if you enter a giveaway and don’t leave any contact info, how do I get your prizes to you?  Or how do I let you know you even won?  But, my favorite thing about enabling your email is that if you ask a question, I can email you back the answer!  I’ve met some awesome people this way.  It’s the best way to connect personally and individually with your readers.  I highly recommend it.  By the way, if you have never gotten an email in response to a comment you left, you probably don’t have that option enabled.

Here’s the how:
1)  From your Dashboard, choose the Edit Profile option on the left hand side, next to your picture.  If you don’t have a picture, add one.  It makes you more personable if people can see what you look like.

2)  Make sure you check the “show my email” box.  You have the option of setting which email address you would like to show.  The address I have displayed is not the same address as the one I log into Blogger with.  You may want to have a separate address solely for your blog.  I do, otherwise I’d be totally lost and confused.  If you choose to do this, it’s wise to make the address the same as the name of your blog.

3)   Here is where you can set some of the things mentioned above.  Click the photo to enlarge.  If you want people to see a different email address than the one you use to sign into Blogger enter it in the “Email Address” box.  I’ve also pointed out and explained some other options that you might be interested in, such as your display name.

4)  And, most importantly, when everything is to your liking, SAVE! 

I thought I had this enabled, and turns out I didn’t.  Kyra was my hero and clued me it.  If you would like to test it out and see if yours is enabled, leave me a comment.  I will reply to all of them, just so you know it works.  If you don’t want a reply, either don’t leave a comment or don’t enable your email…  If your email is not enabled, I see this when I try to respond to your awesome comment:

I want to get to know you all better.  I know the time it takes you to leave me a comment.  I don’t respond to every single comment I get, but if you ask a question or something, this is the best way to get an answer.  Promise.  And you will make more friends too.

Krista