How to Create a More Addicting Commenting Experience With the Comments Leaderboard

We all want more comments on our blog posts.

More comments means more popularity and a quality community of commenters adds immense value to our writing.

A way to reward readers for leaving a comment (and encourage them to keep coming back) is to let them link back to their own blog.

This pushes a little traffic back to their own blog in exchange for a quality comment on yours. It’s a win-win.

But a community isn’t built on a few comments here and there.

It’s built on connection, on familiar faces… and even a little competition.

It’s just human nature after all…

We’ve all seen the “community idiots” who think they’ve achieved a higher status by screaming “First!!” when they beat everyone else to the comments box.

…but who amongst us takes those kinds of comments seriously?

If you’ve been blogging for a while, you’ve probably dealt with these kinds of comments before and may have even deleted them.

However, they are very revealing to the true nature of readership.

They show that there are those who seek status and recognition for that obvious selfish reason of getting the link in their name clicked.

And who wouldn’t want more of that?

Luckily, the majority of your readership knows that to get more clicks, they should actually write something useful.

It can be hard to standout in a crowded comments section though, and that’s where commenting can become discouraging for some.

The new Comments Leaderboard plugin aims to solve this problem by creating a more engaging comment experience for your readers that intensifies that selfish desire for recognition and gets your blog a boatload more comments.

Let me show you how it works.

Spark Competition, Get More Comments & Build a Closer Community

First of all, the Comments Leaderboard is a simple Widget that lists the top commentators of your blog.

Each month the 5 most active commenters on your blog are listed and ranked from most comments posted to the least.

The Leaderboard shows their avatar, name, and the most rewarding of all: a link back to their blog.

…but simply ranking on the Leaderboard isn’t enough.

The lower their rank, the less visible their name will appear on the Leaderboards beautiful color spectrum (tip: you can even set a custom color to match your theme).

For their name and website link to get maximum exposure, they must outrank the competition by posting the most comments.

The overall leader gets a medal next to their name at the top of the list for the highest amount of visibility and prestige throughout the community.

But sadly, there is no comfort at the top.

The total amount of comments each leader posted for the month is displayed next to their name, making it easy for other commenters to overtake the top spot.

The Comments Leaderboard is the perfect way to reward your most engaging readers and fits perfectly in your blog’s sidebar.

Simply drag the Widget into place, write a title and description text, pick a color and your blog is ready for some serious comment action.

Just remember, keep your posts quality and you will attract quality comments.

At the end of each month, the Leaderboard resets and the competition for the top spot is back on.

Let the games begin!

The Comments Leaderboard is a free plugin and can be downloaded from the WordPress Plugins Repository, or by searching for “Comments Leaderboard” in the Plugins menu in your WordPress admin panel.

If you like this plugin and my other work, I ask for just one thing…

Now, it’s within my own selfish nature as someone who’s releasing something for free to ask for something back from you. It doesn’t hurt to ask, right?

If the Comments Leaderboard, or any of my other plugins have helped you in some way, it would mean a lot if you could send a small donation my way.

While I choose to work full-time building WordPress tools, your donations help keep me going and further validates my decision to not go to college. 😀

On a more serious note, your donations allow me to keep making and improving these plugins as well as work on my flagship product, Marketers Delight. “Help me help you” is the theme I’m going with today.

If a donation isn’t something you can offer, I’d appreciate if you could take a minute to leave a 5-star review. Reviews help me make the plugin better and show to others that the plugin is legit.

You can also let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Yes, your comment will contribute to your ranking on the Kolakube Leaderboard, which should be incentive enough for you to leave a comment anyway. 😉