This is a community effort to write down all the ways there are to increase comments on blog posts. This post is going to live just as long as people keep writing helpful comments. Feel free to start writing your comments right now. Be brave and be the first!
I am starting this list pretty short so I do not fill it only with my own ideas. Your efforts are the key here.
Million Ways to Get People Commenting More on Blog Posts 
1. Ask a questions at the end
Ask what do your readers think of the ideas presented. A simple “what do you think?” may do the trick.
2. Answer people’s comments
People do not like to write comments on blogs where nobody answers. When you answer to other people, they feel special and appreciated. People that feel appreciated will probably comment again.
3. Comment on other people’s blogs
People get interested in you personally when you comment on their blogs. These people probably visit your site and if they find something interesting, they just might return the favour. (Thank you @BLOGitse from blogitse blog)
4. Networking with your readers
Tweet with your readers and ask them how are they doing. It’s bound to get people interested in your blog. ( Thank you @DaneBlogger from Money Making Blog )
5. Having a dofollow blog
When your site passes link juice and in essence PageRank, people are more keen to write comments to your blog. Many people find dofollow blog commenting even a good SEO technique. ( Thank you @DaneBlogger from Money Making Blog )
6. Create a personal story that people can relate to
When people can relate to your story, they probably will have something to comment. Give your readers feelings instead of just simple ideas. ( Thank you @TheInfoPreneur from The Info Preneur Blog )
7. Having a list of top commenters
Listing the top commentators of your blog can give a bit of fame to the people who deserve it. It will inspire some people to be more active. On the downside, the value of the comments may go down, because people just chase for the top ranking. ( Thank you Gordon from Knowledge Reactor’s Blog )
8. Contests and Free offerings
Have a contest where all commenters have a chance of winning something. Offer something free for all people that comment, for example a free template, free hosting, free coupon on a vector graphics store. Same downside applies with item number 7. ( Thank you Gordon from Knowledge Reactor’s Blog )
What do you think? What are in your opinion the best ways to get people commenting? Thanks a lot in advance all you great people!
Questions are good, but sometimes it would be great to get all those people who’re just sneaking say Hi! that would be great!
Some bloggers get comments because their commentors get fame commenting on somebody’s blog who has 500 followers… or
meme’s (autch!) you get traffic, you get comments but people are not really that interested of your blog or you.
Cheers!
ps. why don’t you leave a comment on my blog? Yes, that’s a good question!!!
Thanks for the comment. The last point you make about me not commenting on your blog is a great one. Commenting on other peoples blogs is a sure way to get others to comment on your blog!
create a personal story, Like my dealing with negative comments post http://www.theinfopreneur.net/2009/11/how-to-deal-with-negative-comments/ People can relate to it and give their opinion. Or create a post like this! Good idea mate!
Thanks for the comment. You’re probably right. Personal story and relating with your readers will atleast increase the chance of someone commenting…
Great idea on this
1. The call-to-action at the end of each post definitely encourage people to do a comment (as you mention)
2. Network with your readers, if you are tweeting your readers, like “how’s your day going”, they remember you like. Okay that’s Mikkel, “let’s comment on his blog, he cares about me.”
3. Having a dofollow blog, that will make people do more comments, because they get some share in your pagerank for it
That’s all for me, now – go to my site and comment lol!
Great list man. Just added your excellent ideas to the post.
Comment on other people’s blogs and being part of a community is key, IMHO!
A blog is about sharing, and if the company or writer of a blog only publishes posts and doesn’t engage as part of a community, people are not likely to take the time to do so on their blog.
What goes around, comes around!
Great to read your comments, thanks. The whole interaction with the community seems pretty vital. Just the same things apply with Twitter. No interaction and nobody will be interested.
dofollow!? yes, I’ve read about it but…I don’t know enough to change the settings…What if something goes wrong? I’d get traffic I didn’t want to?
personal story. Yes, I’ve noticed how the comment boxes get filled…
but
what is the point to get once a zillion comments but rest of the week/month/year it’s dead silent?
Why is it so difficult to say just ‘Hi!’ or ‘Visited here, have a nice day!’ – much better than silence…
I don’t understand why ‘personal’ is so f… interesting?
If I had a dinner with president xxxx – how would it change your life? (reader’s life I mean)
Or
I met Oprah and xxxxx – what’s that got to do with your (reader’s) life?
You (the reader) can spread around the gossip that SHE/HE knows X who met the president/Oprah…
Oh, my…
Have I miss something relevant? important?
Okay guys. It’s your turn to comment on my blog! You first and I’ll follow you….after you gentlemen!
Dofollow means that your site provides value for the links that point out of your site. In essence google counts them as votes towards the site that you link to. Read more about the Difference with dofollow and nofollow links
I myself do not appreaciate the hi, visited here comments. Why not use twitter for it or something else. I see a blog beign about specific subject and I like that people stick to the content of the site. The comments must provide value for the actual post. But on the other hand for a more personal blog like yours the “Just wanted to say hi” comments are probably great. They just do not fit every site.
Beign personal does not mean that you tell what you ate last night. It should be personal, but something that relates to the blogs topic.
Hope this clears things out, feel free to ask more if you are still puzzled.
There are many ways to do it. You can organize posts like these where you are doing research. It is also a good move to directly ask people to comment like you did on Twitter. Plugins such as CommentLuv and DoFollow Top 5 Commentator lists are also a great idea. A contest where every person that comments has a chance to win something, a free template, free hosting, free coupon on a vector graphics store. People love freebies.
There are my 2 cents, just things off the top of my head I could remember at the moment. Cheers!
Thanks for your comments Gordon. The top commentator-list and the free offers sound great, thanks for the tips.
ooh, Gordon, you said it!
WHY people love freebies? We have enough everything. (Now I don’t mean help, hosting, template etc) but other stuff. I’ve noticed how a blogger gets huge traffic during freebie time but is mostly empty of comments after that. Is that really the point of this all?
To be active > only leave a comment if you get something free?
Shouldn’t this all bee interaction between people? To find new worlds, ideas, perhaps nice human beings?
Asking a question (or even asking your readers to do something) at the end of a post is very powerful and yet often overlooked. Asking your readers to do something is your call to action, sometimes you really do just have to ask!
Great collection of tips.
Karl
Karl Foxley´s last blog ..13 Ways To Encourage Blog Comments
Thanks for the comment and welcome to the community.
Many people have been talking about the “call to action”. I have been trying it for sometime now, and it seems to work great.