Now, please allow me to clarify before we go into this topic. Much has been discussed / argued in cyberspace about the effectiveness of closing blog comments in order to speed up your blog. Personally, I would prefer to leave the comments on regardless of how old the post is.
After all, enabling comments on older posts shows that I still care about what my readers think and that I value feedback from them. It’s also about online community. Imagine having a post that is generating hundreds of comments and that all these queries and answers were from your readers alone.
You just sit back and watch the interaction between them. Wouldn’t that be great? And more comments mean more traffic. A dream comes true for many bloggers.
Oh and the fact that search engines regards posts with closed comments as stale helps too. We would still want search engines to index these posts for traffic generating, wouldn’t we?
So why Closing Comments then?
If you notice that your blog is loading slower than usual or that you now have time to make yourself a cup of coffee before it finishes downloading a page, then you may want to do something about it. And one of your actions should be to close comments on your older posts. Why? Because these older posts (in fact, all your posts) might be generating tons of spam comments.
I know I know. You don’t see them in your blog right? Well, you’ll be surprised that your blog does get that popular with comments. But before you start telling your significant other that you have finally made it as a top blogger, the comments I am referring to are spam comments. And the reason why you don’t see them is because the anti-spam plugin that you have is doing a good job blocking them.
Another good reason to close comments is because the posts are outdated. Take for example a closed contest post or an article about an application that is no longer available or has been upgraded.
Yes, getting spam comments on these old posts do take up precious space, bandwidth and the server’s resources. But of course, it is suffice to mention that if you do not experience any slow response on your blog, then by all means, keep the commenting option on.
How do I close comments?
By default, new posts are comments enabled. But you can easily change this for published posts as well as future posts. There are a couple of simple ways to close posts comments:
- Individual posts manually.
Open up the relevant post for editing. For WordPress blogs (for those that has already been published), uncheck the “Allow Comments” and “Allow trackbacks and pingbacks on this page”. For Blogger blogs, check on “Don’t allow (readers’ comments), show existing”. - Automatically.
For WordPress blogs, you have the option to specify the number of days your blogs are open for comments. Just go to Settings -> Discussion -> Other comment settings. You would see “Automatically close comments on articles older than xx days.” Just fill in and save changes.For Blogger blogs, you have the option to moderate comments either “Always”, “Never” or “only on posts older than xx days”. Remember to save the changes made.
As I have mentioned in the beginning, comments are essential in cultivating a healthy blog. And by closing on comments even for older posts, not only does it give the impression that feedbacks are not valued but also many ideas and suggestions are lost.
So how do we make the best of the whole situation, i.e. to combat slow blog and yet lessen the impact of disabling comments?
Well, my suggestion is when you think you should close the comments option for your posts, do leave a note to indicate so. It may not necessarily be for each and every post. That would be too tedious. A short remark on the side bar would be sufficient and do leave a contact mechanism e.g. through your contact form, so that communication between you and your readers is maintained.
About jasmine
I allow comments on all blog articles, no matter how old, and comments are set to DoFollow to boot.
Astro Gremlin recently posted..Walt Disney Biography
I knew that people closed comments but I never knew why! This is a really interesting post because I had no clue that simply shutting down old comments could improve the performance speed of your blog and its loading times! This is something I plan to implement. You DO learn something new every day, huh! :P
I agree with sara but if you delete comments or comments are closed after some time how you will be able to interact with other after that ? That is a question.
Twitter: rapidleech2day
says:
I really appreciate your post. It gives an outstanding idea that is very helpful for all the Webmaster
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Twitter: Taruhan Bola
says:
Hi Jasmine,
I enjoyed reading your posts. Previously, I had never thought to close the blog comments to speed up loading. There are many ways you can do to make your blog load faster. I agree to close the comments, but if indeed there are a lot of spam comments on one article. But if it is used to speed up loading blog, it will probably be the last alternative. Thank you for making a new idea about it and share it with us.
Mas Gie recently posted..Betwin188.com Agen Bola Terbaik Dukung Anti Rasisme EURO 2012
Twitter: internetdreamof
says:
Although it may not seem sensible at first if one of the goals of a blogger is to get as many comments as possible, closing comments makes perfect sense. First off, old blog posts are still read way into the future, but the blogger probably isn’t monitoring the posts. A busy blogger is on to newer and fresher posts. Secondly, as you correctly pointed out, old posts are breading grounds for spammers. It’s easy to miss spam comments on old posts. I’m going to have to think more on whether or not I want to close some of the comments on my old blog posts. It may be a good idea.
Samuel recently posted..How To Write A Good Article!
Twitter: rumblinglankan
says:
I also close comments in 30 days. Because people commenting in older posts are more likely to be people who are just looking for a back link.
Nishadha recently posted..Copying FOREX trades for free
I would concentrate of building links to pages that you think are going to convert well or that you think that you can rank for. I try to pick one or two blog posts a week to build backlinks to. This way, I make sure that much of my content is ranked.
Tracy96 recently posted..Remanufactured Power Tools?
Twitter: howareyou_us
says:
same with me I’m using close comments after 14 days
I would prefer to move the blog to faster hosting. Another option is optimizing the database.
I don’t have 100k visitors per hour on none of my blogs but if I have I would think about comments for registered users only. That’s what the big boys does. Closing comments will be for me the very last option.
Smarty recently posted..Do as much work as possible
Twitter: ukbabymonitors
says:
We personally had to close our blog comments as we were seeing too many spam comments appearing.
Kerri recently posted..Win a Goldbug Mummy Clip & Prince Lionheart Baby Bottles
Twitter: n00balert
says:
I never thought about closing comments as a way of speeding up the site. But the spam comment filter definitely makes sense. thanks for looking out!
matt recently posted..The Walking Dead Game – Debut Trailer
I agree with this. Closing comments on older post may speed up your blog because as I had observed to other blogs comments are still available on older post which gradually speeding your blog.
Danyelle Franciosa recently posted..Bifold Doors
Twitter: theapptimes
says:
Hi Jasmine,
I’m glad I got the chance to read this post. This information is actually new to me and I wasn’t aware that leaving comments on for older posts would slow down my site. I’m going to fix this right away.
Adeline recently posted..Lucid Meetings Integrates Collaboration and Web Conferencing Solutions for Better Meetings
Twitter: larbincretin
says:
I never really thought about closing comments on older posts as an efficient way of speeding up my blog but a few weeks ago I’ve got a problem with my anti-spam and was surprised by the impressive amount of spam incominvg :-/
But would’nt it be a good idea to just force people to become a member before they can comment ? What do you think about it ?
Laurent recently posted..« Tout Sauf Hollande » : François, l’ami gauche de la Gauche
I was about to say the same thing as RJ, but you got me thinking now. I guess it’s not an easy thing to do, but simply has to be done.
Mona recently posted..Brain Supplements – Remember Better, Think Clearer, and Focus Faster
Nice tip. Many established blogs do the same. It makes your blog faster and also saves your time to answer the comments.
Ankit recently posted..Download Standalone Skype Offline Installer
I do believe that it is also necessary that you have a fast loading blog so that your readers will be more appreciative to read your niche. And if one of the best ways a blog to load faster is to close some of old comments many blogs should do it now.
So that explains why other blogsites turn off the comments for older post. But for me I think upgrading to faster server is still the best way. :)
Teresa T. Bruce recently posted..SEO Agency
Twitter: sahaali1
says:
Most people want to speed up my blog but not by closing comments. I think it’s better if comments remain open for older posts. Because some time after reading old posts, people want to share their knowledge.
techne recently posted..iPad3 tips and tricks
this so nice .thanks that you sheared…
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This is a nice and unusual article.I mean I don’t read often post about commenting, and I liked it very much.In my opinion the whole thing can’t be placed in a general rule.Here is what I mean.I have a blog about gardening.I simply can’t stop allow to people do comments in my older posts because these posts are still valuable for them and maybe they want to ask something or tell their opinion about an issue.If I do that, I cut the connection with these people.In the other hand, If someone has a blog about tech and software and an older post of his blog, has passed to history, it’s obviously that he may want to stop conversations around this particular post.Thank you for sharing!
Sara recently posted..Wood Arbors
Twitter: Taruhan Bola
says:
Hi sara,
I agree with what you Think. If we close the comments then it implies that we have severed ties to the reader. What if they want to ask about what we write. Might be better if done by deleting the spam comments only. But Jasmine had given a brilliant idea that I never Think before.
Mas Gie recently posted..Betwin188.com Agen Bola Terbaik Dukung Anti Rasisme EURO 2012
Twitter: freesoftdaily
says:
I know if the deletion would reduce the load of the site. But I will never delete it commented. By the comments on my site, I always respected
Free Soft Daily recently posted..Wallpaper High Quality Part 2
Do you always open comments? I have turned off comments on my website, because all I was seeing was spam. I hate to cut off the social aspect of my website like that, but I was spending too much time just deleting spam.
What are your thoughts about sites that do not allow comments?
Twitter: IreaProperty
says:
Wonderful! Just one tweet gave you all that traffic from an article you wrote long time ago!. I have learnt great deal of lesson from reading
Excellent tutorial i am new to blogging(currently have a blogger account) and i have always wanted to know how to close comments.
thanks
Luke recently posted..Kony 2012 Exposed: Literally?
Nice Saying Sir…. Let me Check my Blog Is it working that way.
Such a great information by you on this topic. I want to learn more about it. It seems like very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Please keep posting.
Microsoft Word recently posted..Credit Card Use Log Template
Twitter: ForteProperties
says:
This is a great idea and I had never thought of doing this. My site has been loading slow lately… gonna give this a try and see if it helps any.
Chris recently posted..Save Money With Owner Financed Homes In Austin Texas
Twitter: ForteProperties
says:
I never thought of this… Thanks for sharing!
Chris recently posted..Save Money With Owner Financed Homes In Austin Texas
Twitter: devjosephite
says:
Thanks for the post Jasmine, I never thought of it in this scene, but I would still prefer to leave comments option for all my posts open.
Dev recently posted..Job Hunters Look in Social Networking Sites Instead of Job Sites
Yes closing comment is an option to speed up your blog but you might loose significant amount of traffic and reviews for some posts. It should be used as the last option.
Deep recently posted..Protect Yourself From Identity Thefts and Internet Scams
Twitter: richescornercom
says:
I’ve never actually thought about this issue. I do get a lot of spam comments that show up on older posts. At this point it’s still manageable as I can trash and delete them. But It didn’t even occur to me that they would eventually slow down my blog, but that totally makes sense. Great tip!
Richard recently posted..How to Boost Your Creativity by 200 Percent or More
Twitter: salman1507
says:
Though closing comments on older posts might lower the page loading time but it may also put a not so good remark as the readers cannot speak their mind. I agree with “Ditesco” on closing comments on time sensitive posts as it makes no sense to leave them open !
Anyways a great share …
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For fast loading there are several other options such as optimized image, content etc. Closing comments on older blog is a worst option to improve loading time of the site. Comments are the most valuable part of the blog which helps for good interaction.
Twitter: TechTricksWorld
says:
yes closign comments is the best way to enhance the page loading speed. Nice post.
Atish recently posted..Norton 360: Advantage To Protect Your Computer
Twitter: PMStudyCircle
says:
there are few posts which never get old….and in fact those might be real juice of your blog. Never blindly close comment on old blog; however, selective you can close comments for some non-responsive blogs…
Mohd recently posted..Input, Tool & Technique, and Output (ITTO) for PMP Certification Exam – Memorize, Remember, or Understand
You are right. When a blog become older there created a pressure of huge comments. Then the page become slow. Moreover the website may be slow also.What is your opinion about forum posting?
Thanks,
Alexander recently posted..How To Get A Girl To Like You
Hey guy what are you saying…….Please select other alternative for making blog faster to load.
I do not agree with the suggestion that comments on older posts should be blocked. As a matter of fact, all the posts should remain available to the readers for making comments / opinion. This is the way you can keep your whole blog vivid and current all the time
Remy Kelvin recently posted..Health Protective Measures During Overseas Travels
Twitter: trungpc81
says:
I’ve never thought about this problem, did your blog load faster after closing comments on the older post???
Trung Nguyen recently posted..How to Start a Blog: The Ultimate Guide for The Beginner
Twitter: wpwebhost
says:
I think it does help in some speed over here. It’ll use less time to load fewer comments.
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Twitter: WPRoadie
says:
Yeah John, I should think before I speak. Comments don’t get loaded on posts where comments are turned off, therefore you will get some improvement. And for posts that are date sensitive, there’s no real point in keeping comments open, because the only people that can possibly benefit are the comment spammers.
Twitter: issuesEthical
says:
I would have to do more research on this topic. Thanks for the post. I want to continually speed up my blog but it is tricky.
Michael Belk recently posted..Dexter gets an interview, Amber’s dad comes by for a visit.
Twitter: WPRoadie
says:
It’s an interesting tip Jasmine. I just wonder how much of a speed improvement you’re actually going to achieve. It won’t change anything in the sense that the load is all ready there (the comments are in the database). You just won;t be adding anything more to the load since no further comments can be added. It still doesn’t solve the problem if your site is slow right now.
Twitter: harleenas
says:
This sure is news to me!
Yes, I have read at many places and seen many blogs that the comments remain closed, but is it because their blog/site was loading slow or for some other reason is not known.
Yes, we all do love comments and the more we have the better as they say, for traffic and other reasons. But, if you have evergreen content on your blog that anyone and everyone can relate or refer to anytime, I don’t think you should close comments at all.
In fact it’s better if it remains open for commenting so that new people coming to your blog or researching through Google are not disappointed if they want to share their views or ideas as well.
Thanks for sharing :)
Harleena Singh recently posted..How Can I Be a Better Parent?
Twitter: ditesco
says:
I agree on both counts, although I am guilty of not doing anything about it. Let me explain :) I second your opinion about leaving comments open for those blog posts that actually (still) generate lively discussions.
Older posts, specially those that are “time sensitive” does not make sense to leave it open. One example is a post about “Christmas”. Discussions for that post should be closed already. This is where the “I’m guilty” part comes in. I have not yet done that and I have to admit that it makes a lot of sense and I thank you for putting this up. I am definitely working on it..
DiTesco recently posted..Best WordPress Security Plugins, Protect Your Online Business
Twitter: collegeocontent
says:
it was always assumed that keeping blog comments open for any blog post was good, so that you, as the blog site owner, could capture as much [unique content] as possible. never had a clue about “closing comments for older blog posts” could speed up the loading time of any blog. Is there a WordPress plug in that helps to accomplish this?
College of Content recently posted..College of Content Establishes Official Presence on YouTube
Where Is your College…..Plz
Yes you are right if we close the comments on the older posts then the site will respond faster for sure. thanks for the tips.
Jasmine
I dont agree with this I see alot of bloggers close comments to certain articles, what is the point of that. I mean you have a blog to get your readers feedback get them chatting, and that results in more people being interested in your site.
even if an article had a million comments I would still keep it open because thats the beauty of blogging, people must have their say
Kenny Fabre recently posted..On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO
Twitter: valadams014
says:
On second thought, you’re right Kenny. I agree with that. More comments, more happy people. I don’t care if it takes longer time to load due to the long list of comments, as long as the comments are not spam.
Val
yes here is a plugin I use it helps my blog load up super fast. It was made to help any blog have fast loading speed no matter how much stuff you have in your blog http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/quick-cache/
Kenny Fabre recently posted..On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO
Twitter: valadams014
says:
WOW! Thanks Kenny.
Val Adams recently posted..Small Businesses Can Still Get Bad Credit Loans
Val
most definitely my friend
Kenny Fabre recently posted..On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO
Quick Cache seems like a great plugin. I myself is using W3 Total Cache on a couple of my blogs, this plugin works really well.
Jasmine recently posted..Free Website Speed Test Tools
Jasmine
I love quick cache, its the best
Kenny Fabre recently posted..On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO
You are right that it is not necessary to close comments for every post. I think it can be done to the most unpopular ones which are hardly visited by anyone else in the blog. Comments make a blog alive and keep it working.
Twitter: davelucas
says:
Hi! While Blogspot allows users to close comments, it is not a good idea – besides a built-in “spam trap” that re-directs spam comments to a specific folder, I have blogger set to hold comments until I see them. I get about 5 comments per day on older posts going back to 2006 – and there is NO impact on blog loading time (at least not on Google’s blogger/blogspot)!
Dave Lucas recently posted..Add Pinterest Button to Blogger
Hmm, I think you are right. Google’s servers should be able to take on a large amount of traffic. Should be OK to get thousands of comments a day I suppose. :)
Jasmine recently posted..Best Web Hosting Uptime Bluehost
Twitter: valadams014
says:
Hi Jasmine, I agree with closing the comments only, and if only your blog is loading slower than usual. I think you don’t have to close comments directly, you need to observe it first for how many days until you decide to close it. The more comments, the more happy people. :)
Val Adams recently posted..How Does an Online Pawn Shop Work?
Hello Jasmine
I was very intrigued by the title of your article! Great tip, thank you! It’s a tough decision, choosing between the precious information that there are in the comments, and the speed of the blog. In my opinion, if a blogs needs desperately to speed up, erasing old comments is necessary because a slow blog tends to turn away new visitors! So delete moderately and if it’s needed!
Thank you for sharing!
Sara recently posted..White Window Boxes
Great idea, Sara. Delete old comments moderately and fine tune, perhaps can also use a caching plugin!
Jasmine recently posted..Free Website Speed Test Tools
I agree with turning off old comments, but removing valid – no spammy – old comments, I dunno if I can agree with that. If people take the time to post a comment, I’d feel pretty rotten deleting the effort they put into it.
I see your point and I partly agree with you! On the other hand if you knew that by keeping the old but valuable comments you would jeopardize your future progress and visitors what would you do?
Sara recently posted..White Window Boxes