A quick note for all you out there: I’ve now installed Lucia’s Linky Love to my blog, so that after a certain number of comments your URL will become a DoFollow link, adding linkjuice to your blog, website, etc.
From the Linky Love website:
This is a variety of “dofollow” plugin. It’s main function is to strip “nofollow” tags from links in comments. The purpose is to encourage comments by rewarding commenters with “dofollow” links which boosts their rank in search engine. However, this particular plugin also has features that thwart human’s who are paid to visit blogs and leave insipid comments simply to boost their companies back links.
Why Did I Do This?
For many of us, blogging is about improving SEO efforts. So I wondered why commenting shouldn’t be the same. The answer, of course, is spammers. Lots of people — and bots — will bombard comment sections in an effort to draw more traffic to their own blog.
There is the “right” way, by actually participating in the blog and offering new insights to a topic. Then there is the “wrong” way — leaving quick comments like “Great Post” and adding your name as “Low Med Prices”. Unfortunately, these black hat commenters have forced WordPress and other blogging software to implement “NoFollow” as the default.
My hope is that this plug-in will reward people who participate, and thwart the efforts of those who are looking for a quick and easy way to get links to their websites. (And yes, I do actively delete those…)
Share the love yourself! Find out more about this nifty app at:
http://money.bigbucksblogger.com/lucias-linky-love-a-dofollow-plugin-to-foil-human-comment-spammers/
~Graham
Like this post? Tell the world!
This entry was posted
on Sunday, September 21st, 2008 at 9:35 am and is filed under Freelance.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Kelly (31 comments.) says:
Graham,
That is a cool plugin! I don’t like the ones that just get rid of nofollow, but this I’m going to check out. When I upgrade WordPress and do all the other icky stuff later this month, I think this will be on my list.
Thanks for pointing it out!
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..I’ll Never Fall in Love Again
Graham Strong says:
Hi Kelly,
Glad you like it! I’m mostly altruistic about using it — I really do want to “reward” people for commenting. But I’m also hoping it will help build the blog community.
Actually, I’ve been on a bit of an app kick lately. Haven’t actually installed that many, but I am reviewing several to see what might be useful. (I’ve decided to be judicious about it now rather than later — I don’t want to be overwhelmed with app maintenance and upgrades all the time!)
~Graham
Jamie Simmerman (6 comments.) says:
Thanks for this post, Graham! I REALLY like this idea and will be installing it as soon as I have time to tinker with my site. I never liked the no-follow rules, but I understand the necessity. This seems like a nice compromise.
I just love logical products! Ones that are free are even better! 
Jamie Simmerman’s last blog post..9 Steps to Clearer Writing: Cutting the Fat and Choosing Words Carefully
Graham Strong says:
Hi Jamie,
Not a fan of the no-follow either, but in a perfect world… Well hey, this app gets us one step closer to that perfect world, doesn’t it?
~Graham
Tom Chandler/Copywriter Underground (9 comments.) says:
This is very cool; I continue to use the “dofollow” plugin on my blogs, but admit to getting cranky when I get spammed by somebody who scores a little of my google juice as a result.
Handy toy for sure.
Tom Chandler/Copywriter Underground’s last blog post..The “Top 10? Writing Blogs Contest Concludes
Graham Strong says:
Hey Tom,
Yes, I looked at those, but this one seems to give you a bit more control. For example, spammers need to comment x number of times before the link juice kicks in, so either you or Akismet should catch them before that point. It’s just so simple and straightforward — my kind of app!
~Graham
Graham Strong says:
P.S. to all - Just confirmed — it is working!
~Graham
Harmony (1 comments.) says:
LINKY JUICE VS COMMENT LUV…
I obviously have some homework to do to figure out the difference.
I do thank those of you who are able to enable comment luv to your sites…if nothing else, if no one else cars, it just looks good to see your title somewhere other than your own head. 
I have seen you around so much Graham I decided I needed to come and see what you are up to!
PS…I will wait just that extra minute after I push submit…YOU KNOW WHY>>>>>>
Harmony’s last blog post..The Art Of BEING in My Own Business - Part 1
Graham Strong says:
Well thanks for dropping by Harmony — I’m glad you came to take a look!
Although CommentLuv and Linky Love are kind of related, they do two different things.
Essentially it comes down to this:
- CommentLuv is a link for people to follow back to your latest blog post.
- Linky Love tells Google spiders to follow the URL you entered (i.e. http://goldenzen.wordpress.com/), which gives you “link juice”.
Link juice is a term used to refer to the number and quality of the links coming into your site. For example, if CNN links to your site, Google will see that as a sign that your site is fairly important. If CNN, Microsoft, and the NY Times link back to your site, then it is a sign that your website is even more important.
However, most blogs have a “NoFollow” tag in place, telling the Google spiders ignore the link. This is so spammers won’t go around making fake comments simply to get link juice. So if CNN put an actual physical link to your site (inasfar as a link can be “physical”…) but added a NoFollow tag, then Google wouldn’t recognize the link, and you wouldn’t get a boost in importance.
Linky Love makes it more difficult for spammers because they have to comment a certain number of times before they start getting link juice. Normally, a blog owner would find and delete these comments long before they got any ill-gotten benefits…
Hope this clears things up for you!
~Graham
Cath Lawson (19 comments.) says:
Hi Graham - I have a Do Follow plugin installed but I might switch to this one. I like giving link love but it would be nice to reward folk who comment often rather than those one of commenters.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..17 Ways To Stand Out From The Crowd
Graham Strong says:
@Cath - Yes, it does give you the best of both worlds. I think it also gives you the ability to block certain spam commenters — in any case, you do have much more control with Linky Love than you do with a simple DoFollow plug-in.
~Graham
Leave a Reply
