What are the Benefits to Using the Disqus comments plugin?

[Torono]

As a blog owner and blog commenter please share what you feel are great benefits to commenting on blogs that using Disqus comments. I realize that not all bloggers use the Facebook comment or google+ plugin for their comment system, if they are using disqus, what are the Benefits to Using the Disqus comments plugin?

 

[elfgirl]

people can use their disqus account to quickly log in and leave a comment. It also allows them to insert a link to their website (although limited I believe) and it also helps prevent comment spam (which is probably the main pro).

 

[ITMDB]

I have heard though its not recommended for blogs with a large amount of commentators. Ill try and dig out where I read it but if I remember correctly it was something about carrying a large database of disqus comments which was blowing some website bandwith quota.

 

[seoking]

Disqus plugin is a beneficial plugin that who used on their website and they have much more traffic from search engines.

 

[QueenMaa]

It literally makes spam obsolete. Also, I like that if I make a mistake I can go back and edit it.

 

[ulterios]

One downside that I have personally experienced and have been told is that people don't like having to register with disqus before they can post. I know that as a poster, I don't like using it. However, from a site owner I do like it's purpose.

What I have found that is a happy medium for helping with spam is to add a captcha, an easy to use one and NOT one of those PITA captcha's. One that I like for a wordPress site is called "Slider Captcha". It works awesome and doesn't cause the user experience to suffer by having to register for anything.

 

[SEOPub]

SEOPub

That is true, but at the same time it eliminates a lot of the useless one-liners that are not necessarily spam, but just provide nothing of value. If someone has to go through the process of registering because they don't currently have an account, you can be pretty sure that they truly want to participate in the conversation.

From an SEO perspective, I like Disqus because it uses an iFrame, so it is basically hiding all that useless content in the comments from search engines. Search engines won't see it, so it doesn't screw up your rankings.

 

[Ron Killian]

Ron Killian

Exactly, better quality comments. Even with capatcha, you get like you said, the crap one liners, or comments that make little to no sense. Plus not all spam is automated.

I've tried using default wordpress comments with different anti-spam options over the years and nothing has ever lasted for long.

Least with Disqus, it's quite popular with so many users.

Something else I like about Disqus, every user has a profile and it shows their activity, good or bad. Shows how many comments they've made and how many times their comments have been marked as spam. With the profile you also get to showcase your stuff, something I don't think any other comment option offers. And it works, like I said, I am seeing traffic.

Not to mention, when some one drops a comment, they are automatically subscribed to the post and get emails when there is a new comment or reply to a comment. Traffic back to your blog. Since the emails come from Disqus, which is a trusted source, those emails have a better chance of getting through. And no need for a separate plug-in, like subscribe to comments.

 

[ulterios]

ulterios

Some good info I didn't know about it, thanks.

I have always kind of looked at it like it would be a PITA from a posters standpoint and not from the site owners side. I think i'll have to try it out on a site of mine and see how it works out. Run a test to see if I should add it to all my sites.

Based on your experience, have you seen any negative affects with it's use? Certain types of sites it's not good for, etc.?

 

[Ron Killian]

Ron Killian

Have yet to see it broken it, I have yet to see it go down or anything.

Only drawbacks I can think of...

As already mentioned, those wanting to comment do not need a disqus account, there is an option to loin with disqus, facebook, twitter and google. So that it not exactly a deterrent for getting comments. Suppose you'll lose some because they don't want to sign in through anything. Never a 100% perfect solution.

Only other thing I can think of is that you might lose some comments because, as I mentioned before, some bloggers prefer to comment on blogs that use commentLuv, for that extra latest post link. I am one, but i will also use disqus. But that might cost you some. How many I don't know.

But honestly, as I sit here and think about, from what I've been seeing, I am probably getting more traffic using Disqus (actually somewhat limited) than the small amounts or no traffic from blogs that have commentLuv, that I've commented on. I'd have to track it better to say for sure, just a thought.

Those are the only things I can think off the top of my head right this minute. Of course it's not perfect for every one and I am not trying to talk any one into using it, just giving my opinions.

I should claify something... when I was talking about each user has a profile and it shows their stats, comments, spam, ect, I should have said that is available right in the dashboard of your comments. So when your going through comments that are pending, you can click on the user name and their stats show in the side bar. It's all right there in your comment moderation dashboard. I don't think other commenting systems have that.

 

[Dionte]

Dionte

I agree Disqus will protect your blog posts from spamming and increasing quality comments but your blog will not have more comments if you don't have organic traffic.

In other words, Comments on Disqus box are not cached and indexed by search engines hence it has limitations for bloggers to post comments on your blog. I removed Disqus on my blog.

 

[Ron Killian]

Ron Killian

What are the limitations? Most blogs, good ones that don't use Disqus, are nofollow, so not really a benefit for bloggers when it comes to SEO anyways.

 

[SEOPub]

SEOPub

You are looking at it the wrong way. In most cases, the comments being hidden from search engines is a good thing. The comment text is just diluting your content.

 

[ulterios]

ulterios

Good points!

I didn't think about the SEO perspective and the benefits. That's definitely something to take into consideration.

 

[Ron Killian]

Actually it depends on your target audience. If your audience is say internet marketers, then Disqus is a good choice as many of them have and use it.

If it's every day people then a facebook one might be the better solution.

Depends on what your audience uses most in their internet travels.

I kind of fought Disqus in the past, but I've come to really like it. About a year ago I was debating on what commenting system is best, I even put together a blog post with some bloggers weighing with their opinions. I ended up using Disqus on everything.

For me, Disqus completely eliminated my spam. And you can even set it to moderate every comment to add more protection. But you can whitelist people you know and trust. So both worlds. Well, other plug-ins offer that. The other thing i like about it is that each comment has social share buttons built in.

One last thing, I recently noticed I am getting a fair amount of traffic from my Disqus profile. And I don't even comment with it that much. So I might do more and see if it translates into money

Only other thing to think about, many bloggers who comment (myself included) do like blogs that use CommentLuv. That extra targeted link is very nice.

No perfect solution.

 

[ulterios]

For me, Disqus completely eliminated my spam.

That's what the slider captcha did for me. I really like that an average visitor can post without having to have any special requirements or extra accounts. Many people are not disqus users so it makes it something that people have to sign up for and a lot of people would rather leave then comment because of this.

And you can even set it to moderate every comment to add more protection. But you can whitelist people you know and trust. So both worlds. Well, other plug-ins offer that. The other thing i like about it is that each comment has social share buttons built in.

Those are some nice features from a site owners standpoint. Nice to have something to help make some tasks easier, especially when you have many sites to deal with.

One last thing, I recently noticed I am getting a fair amount of traffic from my Disqus profile. And I don't even comment with it that much. So I might do more and see if it translates into money

That's definitely something to think about. Any extra way to drive traffic has to be considered.

No perfect solution.

Exactly right there Ron!

 

[FreedomBlogger]

I think the only benefit would be to give the visitor more options to log in to leave a comment.

I dont see many, of any, very good benefit from using the Disqus commenting system.

I would just stick with the simple WordPress Commenting System.

 

[SEOPub]

SEOPub

No offense, but if you run any sites that get hundreds or thousands of visitors a day and allows comments, you would see the value in using something like Disqus over Wordpress's basic commenting system. It cuts down on 99% of the spam and almost all of the useless comments.

It also keeps from screwing up your onpage SEO, which Wordpress's system does not.

 

[commtel]

I Agree with you but disqus is mostly used by bloggers and internet marketers so this is beneficial but other people they only use Facebook , twitter and some other popular social sites.

 

[Hawker]

As a blog owner and blog commenter please share what you feel are great benefits to commenting on blogs that using Disqus comments. I realize that not all bloggers use the Facebook comment or google+ plugin for their comment system, if they are using disqus, what are the Benefits to Using the Disqus comments plugin?

Hi Torono, the benefits are that you can tap into a wider audience and provide more ways for people to comment on your blog as opposed to them just using the standard WP comment form. If most of your users are Facebook users for example, they can login to your Disqus comment form with their Facebook account, twitter account, google+, disqus account etc etc, as opposed to just using the standard WP comment form. As others have mentioned here, it does also reduce a lot of spam that the standard WP comment form is notorious for getting and not really strong at defending (on its own). So if they are already using disqus as you ask then these are the benefits in that they are already signed in and and can comment using their own personalized disqus account/profile.

Disqus is more of a social network than just a bog standard alternative WP comment form. It can merge together with your WP comments database so even if you decide to remove it later your comments will still remain on your blogs posts in the dtb. To many WP users making the switch to Disqus over their standard WP comm form has resulted in better comments and more engagement as users can follow other Disqus users, reply to them personally and or report them easily if they offend someone. These are in my opinion the benefits of using Disqus over WP comms.

That said, it doesn't come with no downsides/drawbacks either. Everything has its "pros & cons". But if the pros outweigh the cons then crack on I say! :ertery:

 

[djone]

I am using both Disqus and Facebook comment options but I suggest you to go for facebook comment just because you can get the profile of that people which he/she regular use. So you can check whether the person is genuine to comment or not. While in Disqus comment, users who really interested to comment then they sign up on disqus. And we may not hget any other further details with disqus account profile of user.