A lot of people know that you can get backlinks from just leaving comments on blogs. It is usually a tedious process for those who are trying to build links as it would take commenting on thousands of sites to amount to even a small boost in search engine traffic.
Many businesses that have gotten into incorporating blog commenting as a means to build backlinks have found that it has effected them negatively due to the fact that they may seem like spam or the sites they comment on are not relevant to their niche.
So, after all that effort they are contacting blog owners to ask them to remove their comments.
What happens if you are the blog owner and you receive a request to remove comments? Do you have a comment removal policy?
Sometimes receiving these requests can become a tedious job as some of these requests mean removing dozens of comments. Let us face it, not everyone has the time to do this. While the request may be asked nicely, it is just an inconvenience for the blog owner.
I know from my own experience, I have had these requests, and my policy is that I do not remove comments for any reason. I already carefully moderate comments, so I have already taken the time to approve them.
My question to other bloggers- What is your policy when it comes to receiving a comment removal request?
I changed my niche lot of time for the same blog, all the time I tried to do the publicity on different niche I opted, so you meant that I must remove all older niche comments and directory listings?
You do not have to remove older comments. This article was dealing with blog owners who receive requests from people who have commented on their site that want their comment removed. Truthfully, I would not tell people to request a comment or several comments to be removed from a site unless their site is actually spamming people.
Actually I don’t have any comment removal policy but if ever someone sent me an email for such request. I will gladly remove it though would take time before it happen.
Honestly it would a bit difficult for me to do it, especially if the comment string has grown huge and generated a lot of interest in the topic.
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This hasn’t happened to me yet, and I think it is a mistake to think that this is the solution to any updates.
I could be wrong but it seems to me that blog commenting is still a good way to do well in google. Relevant sites help but it just depends. They key is in not overoptimising anchor text.
I wouldn’t have a problem removing the comments for them, however if it started getting out of hand, I’d definitely consider making some sort of policy or something similar.
I personally don’t ever remove comments for the same reason that you described. If I have already moderated it, I usually won’t remove it. Unless there is something offensive that I missed
I don´t have a comment removal policy yet, but i have to request removal to another websites in the last penguin update, is a really tedious process, the better thing is no comment if you go back and request comment removal, the commenting is an important thing and the people an the bots must be stop doing spam, this is bad for the web
Hi Nile,
Great topic. Having a comment removal policy (especially if you have been running the website for a long time and have a lot of comments –do follow or no follow) in your privacy statement or somewhere visible on the plugin (for the users hoping to make future comments) can save you a lot of time in responding to non-complying removal request. Having a policy online that can explain the rules and regulations to having a comment removed can save you a lot of time explaining it via email and your other visible contacting methods.
This is really an interesting scenario where webmasters are request for ‘link removal’ rather than ‘link addition’. Google’s Penguin is really taking its toll on sites that indulge in link spam.
Thanks.
something different this time actually i mail for such request. I will gladly remove it though would take time before it happen.nice info thnx for share
I never had comment removal policy on my blog but will remove the comment if any one requests to remove his/her comment from my blog..
A very nicely written post..
Thank You..
Hi Nile,
I think that if someone has a good reason for this, other than Google related, it could be considered. Maybe it’s a privacy thing or something else. But as you said, it takes time to read and approve comments so it could become an issue if you get lots of requests.
Mariella
Pretty interesting topic. As a visitor I’ve never requested to remove comments. Its little difficult to remove the moderated comments without solid reason.
I refuse to remove any comments. Instead, what I’ll do is remove the link, which is really what most of them are asking for. I’ve had to have them tell me which one though, because I’m not going through all my posts to find it unless they do.
I never knew there will be people requesting to remove comments. If there is some strong reason for the removal I guess it is alright. But it might get out of hand it there are too many such requests coming in.
As you said ,we approve relevant comments only and always delete the unwanted comments …we don’t allow spammers
I have never had a request to remove a comment link but have had requests to remove a link in a guestblog. I think if someone wanted me to remove a link in a comment I would but leave the comment. I moderate all comments anyway so hope it would be unlikely
I’m a pretty low ranking blog, so I don’t have a lot of businesses commenting (unless they’re obvious spammers). I haven’t had a comment removal request yet – but it’s a good idea to have one just in case. I think if the request was polite and it was easy to find, I’d remove it.
I think if the comments are made legitimately i.e. not as spam, then they should be left up. Adds integrity to the blog if they are, as well as the commentator.
ya its looking great post thank u for u r interest to share this . i think this policy is very informative thank u!
I think it would be good to have a comment removal policy ready because if you get a lot of removal requests, honoring all these requests can get counterproductive. It would be better if you provide reasons when and only when you can remove blog comments.
I think it all depends on the number of requests you get. If the requests are too high, I might be lenient with some comments, but in other case, I can always deal with fewer requests.
It’s better to unlink the commentators website rather than deleting a genuine comment.
I haven’t incorporated a comment removal policy on my website but I probably would remove I comment if someone asked me politely.
I don’t have a comment removal policy yet, as long as the comment not spam its ok..:-)
I agree that it really negatively affected my client’s website in blog commenting because of the fact that I was still a beginner at that time and I kept on posting on different blog sites without thinking that it is already too much. Choosing blog sites that are decent and has a good reputation is the key to not be involved in comment removal policy as a blogger. And as an owner, no need to answer those requests from the bloggers because after all its their responsibility.
This is one of the most incredible post I have read in a very long time. Your post is great for anyone who wants to understand this subject more. Great stuff.
Hello Nile,
I haven’t got a policy I must confess. Better shape up, so far I have not been asked to remove a comment by anyone else either. I’m you I am able to not approve a comment before it appears, though unless it is blatant Spam that is not something that I do. What kind of issue have you experienced Nile?
You have a big readership and because you are a known face within the WordPress community do you thing that brings with it people who make ‘special’ demands?
Hi Nile,
This post peaked my interest – I’d never really considered it and never had a request to remove comments from my site.
Interesting thought though.
I think my approach would be exactly as you suggest at the end of your article, i.e. I’ve already carefully moderated the comments in the first place so shouldn’t have to worry about this.
(perhaps that’s also why no-one has ever asked me to remove any!)
interesting stuff…
take care & best wishes,
Alan
thank you for this wonderful post, the blog comments are a means to generate excellence of traffic to my blog.
Hi Nile,
Honestly, I think people who are going around trying to get their comments removed are wasting their time. They should be putting all that energy into making their site better by putting out more high quality content. Most blog owners aren’t going to reply to a request (unless you offer them money to remove your link).
If you’re manually approving comments, then there shouldn’t be much need for anyone to request removal. After all, you don’t approve any spammy comments so there’s no reason a legitimate comment should hurt someone’s ranking.
I think there’s a misconception out there that all blog comments are bad and hurt your rankings which is totally not true. Spammy blog comments are bad. Legitimate comments are the exact social interaction with your visitors that Google likes to see on a quality site.
If Google ever starts punishing ALL blog comments then they essentially shut down the entire nature of the Internet and people’s ability to share and communicate with each other. That’s not what Google wants and that’s why Google is never going to punish real, legitimate comments.
Hello Nile! I am now blogger of blogs-pot blog, WordPress and weebly.com so I know I will not help you anything but I am thanking you for searing this meter that is I don’t know.
I too believe that people trying to get their comments removed are a waste of time.
my policy, dont make a spam and just leave a short comments to build a backlinks.
My policy resembles yours. If a link was approved by me, I already spent valuable time moderating it, and I do not remove the link – as you said, who knows how many we are talking about here. In my experience, you need a clear policy and can’t make any exceptions, because people will start to feel unjustly treated if you start removing some links by request, but not all.
On my site I approve every comment before it goes live, whether I agree with it not. The only reason I stick to approvals is to help deter spam. If someone has a link in the comment they post, it’s fine with me as long as it’s not spam.
I’ve not got any comment removal request on my blog yet, If i receive, i would be willing to remove it as per their request
Hi Nile, this is a great topic. I have received requests to have links removed but not entire comments.
I was in contest last year and one of the requirements was to post banners and links to all of the sponsors. I was contacted by at least three of them so far and I’m not surprised based on the keywords they were using as anchor text.
In those cases I removed the links, and I will do so for commenters. But like you said, the comment stays.
My notion about comment policy is that bloggers would not allow those comments do not meet the criteria.Because these are a permanent record of who the author is and what the commentators stand for–so take care–be gracious – make sure they add value to targeted blogs.
I do not have one but many do fall into the spam if they are questionable. I haven’t had anyone ask yet. I would go case by case basis.
Till the date no one contacted me for the link removal ! Infact we as a blogger are so much busy that we cannot see each and every link and remove them..
I will suggest that never ever use any automated software for making backlinks.
I haven’t heard of this before. Do you have a lot of people wanting comments removed? Why would people even care that a comment stays posted?
I sometimes wrongly commented on some blogs by whic blog owners did not approve them.However I even did not get the option to remove them. After reading your article I understand how to make request to them. Thanks for posting.
Seeing that I was just asked this by someone that snuck a link in for SEO, I said I would happy to charge a fee for removal 🙂 Don’t spam my site and think I’ll be okay with it is my thoughts.
I need one. I get some of the worst comments you could ever imagine, then slapped with a link out of nowhere to go along with it lol. I often don’t get my comments accepted and I write legit comments on peoples blogs. Half of the comments i get i dont even think are from real people.
I don’t have a comment removal policy as each comment is thoughtfully reviewed before publication. Comments that add to the discussion do not typically deteriorate in value as time passes. While commenting on blogs with your own niche is always best – people have various interests and may wish to comment on something that is not tied in to the primary topics they blog about – individuals in mind , not companies and SEO firms. That being said to this day I have not received a single request for removal of a comment .
I sometimes wrongly commented on some blogs by whic blog owners did not approve them.However I even did not get the option to remove them. After reading your article I understand how to make request to them. Thanks for sharing this article.
first of all awesome articke and then blog comment spam is now a days very rare.
btw, awesome and stylish written article with userfriendly interface.. just “WOW”
This kind of removal request can come only from a spamer, a normal person will not check so closely his backlinks and would have no reason to remove an honest comment made long time ago on a blog. Let them in their mess, just put a clear message on your blog that no approved comment will be never removed. Sure you’ll get less spam!
I don’t really have a comment removal policy, unfortunately I get a lot of spam on my blogs. People that literally use it as an outlet to just stuff with promotional keywords for their site. Those comments are instantly removed.
But, if it’s someone who has obviously read the post and added to it then it stays put.
i don’t have a comment policy – i just delete the unwelcome ones. maybe when i get a little more traffic, i’ll need one! 😉
Hey Nile,
Nice post and Thanks for sharing this post. I learned lots of good things from this post and I don’t have comment removal policy on my blog but if someone request me I will surely gonna remove it.
I think if the comments are made legitimately i.e. not as spam, then they should be left up. Adds integrity to the blog if they are, as well as the commentator.