The most amazing aspect of the internet is that it allows communication between people that otherwise would not have that option. You are able to contact someone that is half a world away either in real-time or text, being able to share your thoughts and ideas as well as providing valuable information. In sharing your blog site with the world, you give people the opportunity to give their comments on your content and start conversations to express their views. It is important to encourage those conversations so that your readers will continue to come back.
Be sure that you continue to post new, good quality content. Readers look for blogs that are current, and if your content is old you will not get any site traffic or comments. Remember to delete low quality or spam comments, using active moderation. Not only does this show readers that you monitor your blog comments, but it can also discourage blog spammers and improves the overall quality of the conversations.
A conversation has more value if the there is mutual respect between the participants. There should also be respect between the blog author and potential participants. Good blog comments can be just as valuable as the content of your post, so encourage links in the comments. A direct link for the commenter is a small bonus for taking the time to contribute to the conversation. In addition, allowing readers to rate the comments encourages a higher standard of commenting and helps the readers to find the most popular comments.
By encouraging conversations on your blog or other web presence, your readers will keep coming back. This creates more traffic to your site, and may also help you get backlinks for even more traffic, with readers returning the favor of being allowed to leave their link on your site. This also creates the potential for higher sales of your product.
There are other ways to encourage conversations on your blog site, and sharing your ideas here will help us all.
