One of the purposes of a blog is to encourage some interaction with the readers. This is usually in the form of comments which is why so many WordPress themes come with comment forms already setup.

However there are some plugins that can improve the likelihood and value of commenting. Here I give some details of the more common comment related WordPress plugins including the ones I have used to date.

Better WordPress Recent Comments

This plugin displays lists of recent comments at specific locations on your blog. The list is updated when a visitor adds a comment or when a comment is approved by a moderator. The list can help stimulate discussion and encourage readers to explore parts of your blog they may not otherwise have visited.

CommentLuv

When someone leaves a comment on one of your posts this plugin visits the site of the comment author and finds their own latest blog post. It then creates a link to that post at the bottom of their comment on your blog.  This enables commenters to showcase their own posts, which is a great way to encourage comments.

You can also offer the commenter the opportunity to register to your site and unlock advanced features. These include being able to choose which of their own ten most recent posts their comment is linked to.

I used CommentLuv on this site till recently and definitely found that it encouraged comments.

KeywordLuv

It is generally accepted that a variety of  keywords in the anchor text of backlinks to your site can improve the search engine ranking of the site. One source of backlinks are comments on DoFollow blogs, but often the anchor text is just your name. While this can help you rank well for your name, it does not help you rank for any other keywords.

KeywordLuv enables a commenter to include keywords in a backlink and so is another way to encourage more people to comment. It requires a DoFollow plugin to be effective.

Facebook Comments by Alex Moss

Created by 3 Door Digital, I have seen a number of internet marketers recommend this plugin, though I have not used it myself. It requires an app and can be inserted automatically or manually within any page, post or template.

Facebook Comments by Fat Panda

This also needs a Facebook app, but it’s so easy even I was able to set this up. The plugin replaces the default WordPress commenting with the Facebook Comments widget. One feature I like about this plugin is that it keeps all of your previous WordPress comments and displays them below the Facebook box.

Jetpack Comments

This comes as part of the Jetpack plugin and enables a commenter to use  their WordPress.com, Twitter or Facebook accounts to post a comment.

Akismet

This plugin checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not and lets you review the spam it catches under your blog’s “Comments” admin screen. It needs an Akismet.com API key to use it. These are free for personal blogs and paid subscriptions are available for businesses and commercial sites.

Spam Destroyer

This plugin stops automated spam and is really easy to set up and use. I have used it for a while and to date it has caught every spam comment that has tried to darken the pages of my blog.