Ryan Burgio — June 2, 2017 With every B2B website project, we’re inevitably asked the same question by every client: Should we enable comments on our B2B website? The short answer is NO. The long answer is NOOOOO!
Why? Why would you want to shut down discussion on that amazing blog you just wrote? Because it’s not worth it. The online comment section has become awful. Here’s the rundown on why you should disable comments on your website:
It’s not worth the crazy comments
Your fantastic blog, no matter how accurate or positive, will attract the occasional ridiculous comment. I’m not talking about constructive feedback. I’m talking about batsh*t crazy, off-the-wall comments. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Visit any comment section of a newspaper. You’ll see it full of comments with negativity, anger, and crazy theories.
Don’t think those people will comment on your website? Think again. It’s not just corporate sites that are shutting down comments. IMDB is shutting it down on their site. So is NPR.
And then there’s the spam
The comment sections of websites have also become havens for spam. Before we disabled commenting on our own site, we’d receive a spam post a week. Most had links to online drug stores or promoted some SEO firm. No matter what filter we used, they always broke through. Who needs this barrage of crap in their life? Even if you enable moderation, you have to sift through the bot-driven comments. It sucks the life out of you. And it enables an entire seedy industry of spammers and link-builders.
Use your time and energy on social instead
Your digital marketing team shouldn’t have to spend time moderating this stuff. They could be using that effort elsewhere. By enabling comments, you’re justifying paying a team member thousands of dollars just on moderating. That budget is best served somewhere else.
If you still want to enable discussion around your topic, post it to social media. Let the discussion happen on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. It’s more effective and usually, you’ll get some thoughtful back and forth.
Questions? Comments?
Save yourself the time, money, and grief. Shut down that comment section.
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