Many bloggers complain about the use of keywords for comments names, claiming this makes their web site look spammy. I can understand the sentiment for those outside of SEO. You know the ones who use a blogger or typepad subdomain account, or may use Wordpress but don’t even bother to change default theme. But those who optimize and then use some form of dofollow plugin to encourage comments shouldn’t complain.
Yet they do. Sigh. Usually with a big rant about spammy keywords in comments and a big declaration that they will no longer allow keyword comments. That real names must be used, but real names have not been used since the advent of the Internet. I argue that a tad bit of link juice for a thoughtful comment is an acceptable trade. Still, the trend continues and will only grow.
To find out if a web site wants names or allows keywords just check what was approved for other comments. Sometimes this takes some digging but it will become apparent what the site wants/allows.
So, what is a SEO’er to do? Well, for one these same bloggers often do not turn off the dofollow plugin. So, finding names that relate to blog posts/web pages is needed.
The best use is to develop pages or posts about celebrities in your niche. Most people will not put 2 & 2 together if you stay off the A-list celebrity list, so write about a celeb or noted person in the niche, then post comments with that persons name. Now, I am not saying post as that person, I am saying post as yourself and just using that name. Doing a bit of keyword research should unveil a large number of possibilities for good search engine rankings.
John Wayne’s real name was Marion Mitchell Morrison. Do a phrase search for John Wayne and you find over 33 million results. Do a phrase search for Marion Mitchell Morrison and you get just over three thousand hits. Not only could you rank for these with some on page SEO, but your dofollow commenting can use all kind of name variations Marion Mitchell, Mitchell Morrison, Marion Morrison, Morrison Mitchell, etc. Few would put it together and if the did would they care? Most bloggers would glance at the name but focus on the content of the comment when deciding to accept it.
Then there are noted individuals, in all fields there are top dogs and few get any web press. Watch Oprah on any day, and if her guest is not a regular ala Dr. Phil, you will probably find few results for the name. But that day, I guarantee search requests will spike for that name. What if you already had a page optimized for that name?
Every niche also has lingo and terms that could be utilized. Technical terms, acronyms, etc. You want to look for terms that are not typical words, and could pass for one’s name. Or what could also pass for an Internet handle (but not obvious keyword phrasing). I have a site for Native Americans. Using tribal names is a good way to optimize that site- after all Dakota was a popular name in the early nineties.
As another example, one could be have a fishing or fish site and use the names angler, betta, bigmouth, chum, or stink bait. While none of these could pass as given names, they do come off as clever Internet handles. But try catfish stink bait and your name screams spam. Searching for a fish site the American Sportfishing Association is ASA. Write a page or post reviewing the American Sportfishing Association and post comments using Asa as your name. It just takes some time and thinking to find what you could utilize.
Order the web sites you comment on, I sort by niche for my primary sites I keep pushing. Then I have a long list of dofollow sites that allow keyword names. Then I have a list of sites that dofollow but only want names. The nice thing about the names list is that I don’t hit them as often, so I don’t feel I would be burning them out. Besides I use them primarily for microsites anyway.
