1. Challenge your readers to think about something differently
If you can do this well, nothing will get your more quality comments. Either people will refuse to look at something differently, and feel the need to express their commitment to their current beliefs, or you’ll open their eyes to a whole new way of looking at something. Even if you don’t believe in your stance, playing devil’s advocate is a comment magnet.
2. Start a list and ask for additions.
When you’re listing out tools, tips, tricks…whatever. Open it up to the readers at the end to submit their own tips. Hell, take it one step further, and when a reader comments with a good addition, edit your post and add it to the list with credit to the commenter.
3. Keep it short. Ask the questions without providing all the answers.
If you provide both sides to an argument, or answer every question, that’s awesome…just not if you want to get a lot of comments. Your readers want to be part of the discussion, so be sure to leave them something to talk about.
4. Don’t include tweets as comments. People see 72 comments and they’ll be less likely to comment.
If readers think their comment will be lost in the noise, they won’t comment. When I see a comment thread loaded with tweets (especially if they’re not separated) I am much less likely to comment. Also, if you include the “twitter mentions” in the count for # of comments on a post, people will be less likely to comment.
5. Ask for thoughts at the end of the post.
It’s a simple concept. Chris Brogan probably does this best. At the end of every post, ask for your readers thoughts. Sometimes, that’s all it takes to get a reader to share their opinion. It shows that you want to know what they think.
6. Respond to as many comments as possible.
The reason for this is the same reason as #4. People comment with the hope that their comment will be read. No one likes talking to a wall. I try to respond to every legitimate comment I receive so that whether you’re a first time reader, or you’ve been reading since day 1, you know I’m listening, and I care about what you think.
7. Ask for thoughts on Twitter
Everytime I plan to put a post that is meant to provoke conversation, I make sure to ask the same question on twitter before the post. Aside from getting comments, it’s a good way to gather some information and insight for your post. It also gets people thinking and talking about the topic so that when your post goes up, they’re ripe with opinions to comment on.
8. Continue the conversation off the blog
One thing I love to do is quote a comment in a tweet, and ask for thoughts on the comment. Once you get the conversation started on your blog, it can help to spread it to other communities. “Here’s what my readers thought, what do you think?”
9. Respond to a popular blog post that got a lot of comments
If a blogger wrote a great post that hit a nerve with their audience, drawing a lot of comments, you can share your thoughts on the topic in a blog post response. It’s clearly something that people care about so while your post probably won’t be as big as the original post, you can still drive a good conversation.
Make sure to link to the original post, and let your readers know that you’re responding to it. This sends some link love to the originator, gives your readers some context, and will probably leave a trackback comment on the original post leading people to your response.
10. Reward your commenters for commenting.
If all else fails, bribe them. Now this certainly isn’t a long term solution, but giving a prize away can inject a little life into your blog quickly. If you still want quality, say “whoever has the most creative response wins this awesome bag of potatoes!” or whatever you crazy kids are giving away these days.
credit to : http://www.howtomakemyblog.com/comments/10-tricks-to-get-your-readers-commenting
credit to : http://www.howtomakemyblog.com/comments/10-tricks-to-get-your-readers-commenting
