I’ve often talked about just how important comments are in the make up of a blog, most recently as part of the Business Blog Design series - indeed you could say that they are just as important as the post itself because they are what actually facilitates the communication element of a blog.

Anyway, Mashable has published a nice list of plug-ins for Wordpress which relate to comments which is well worth having a look at. Pick and choose a couple from there which are particularly relevant to you and try them out on your own blog - I’d suggest concentrating on those which encourage your readers to contribute or make it easier for them to do so.

Another one not mentioned which I also think would be worth including is Subscribe to Comments which allows those who have already left a comment to receive notification when additional comments are made on the post - great for encouraging them to return and develop the conversation further.

In the same vein, this might also be a relevant time to remember that services such as CoComment, Co.mments and Commentful exist which all allow you to follow the conversation on the blogs and posts where you have left comments yourself.

All of these plugins and applications are designed to make the conversations in the blogosphere more “joined up” and that can only be a good thing. Have fun!!

Was this post useful? Then please share it!