Social Media 101: Adding a Photo to Your Comments

Social media, online marketing and website design has taken over my life. No really. I eat, sleep, breathe social media. It's my job, and quite frankly, I love it.

One of my main goals when I started my company last year year was to help those who didn't quite understand social media, and show them how it can fit into their busy schedules, marketing plans and lives. I'm not going to say it's easy, because it's not... you just need to know how to be efficient & effective.

One observation I have made is how much referral traffic a blog can receive when a blogger actively takes part in commenting. Commenting is not that complicated - you comment on posts that strikes you as interesting, or if you feel you can contribute something to the conversation. But how do you stand out on a blog that has 20+ comments? Easy. A profile picture. The simple act of adding a friendly profile picture can dramatically increase your referral traffic from the blogs you comment on.

So, just how do you go about optimizing your profile to get the most out of your comments? The first step is to understand the 3 main commenting platforms that run on 90% of blogs: Wordpress, Blogger & Disqus. Each one of these platforms requires you to set up an account. Although the process may be time consuming, you will benefit from "brand" recognition and higher click-throughs if you partake in commenting regularly.

How to Set-Up Each Account
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Wordpress uses a universal avatar platform called Gravatar. The benefit of this platform is you can use it to manage your profile even if you don't have a Wordpress blog. If you have a Wordpress blog, it is very easy to link the two.

When commenting on a Wordpress blog that supports Gravatar (and most do), make sure to enter the email address you used to register your Gravatar account - you will then see the comment contact section auto-populate with your information as well as your photo.

Blogger allows you to comment using several different kinds of accounts, but this is only at the will of the blogger. Most often you will be required to have at least a Google account. Similar to Wordpress, you do not have to have a Blogger hosted blog in order to comment, a simple Google account will work, but the best way to optimize this is to enhance your Google Plus profile.

When commenting on a Blogger blog, make sure you enter the email associated with your Google account. You should see your profile picture and the link to your full profile once you are complete your post.

Disqus is relatively new to the commenting platform market, but it's versatility, functionality, and integration make it a clear winner. Signing up for a Disqus commenter account is simple, you can either sign-up with an email or integrate it with your Twitter or Facebook profile. 

When commenting on a blog that uses Disqus, simply sign in using the credentials you entered upon account creation or use the Twitter/Facebook option.

Photo Tips:

• If you are representing a personal brand, use your own picture.
• If you are representing a company, use your company logo.
• Keep it simple!

*this post was originally published on June 18th, 2013 on my GroupTalk blog... I re-posted here because I thought you might find it interesting!

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