Is The Top Commentator Plugin Worth It?

Posted in: 22 Comments
February 1, 2009

The Top Commentator WordPress plugin is very popular. Bloggers use it to reward their loyal readers and encourage visitors to comment. But there are additional benefits as well. Blogs which use this plugin, for example, have increased subsribers, page views, and overall traffic.

But there are some negative things that bloggers have also noticed, which makes us ask the question: "Is The Top Commentator Plugin Worth It?".

Drawbacks to Using Top Commentator Plugins

Some disadvantages to using Top Commentator on your blog include:

1. Increased Spam

There are individuals and businesses that regularly look for blogs containing the Top Commentator plugin so that they can get some free promotion for their own websites. And while this is not bad in and of itself, these individuals do increase spam because they often submit dozens of useless comments just to find themselves in your top commentator list.

For example, we have noticed an increase in the number of comments that are made solely to increase the comment count, such as "Nice Post" or "Good tips!".

2. Comment Surges

On most blogs, the way that the Top Commentator plugin works is that it always displays the top commentators for the current month, resetting to zero whenever a month ends. So at beginning of every new month, these blogs experience what LinkersBlog calls A Race To The Top. What happens is that there is a comment surge as visitors jockey for position within the Top Commentator list.

3. Potentially Bad for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The Top Commentator plugin is typically placed in the sidebars or footers of blogs, and are shown on every page. And while this is not bad, if the links are not nofollow links, then your website is leaking PageRank and could be hurting the overall position of your website in search engines.

Don’t Remove It, Just Improve It

Because of all of the problems that bloggers have observed from using the Top Commentator plugin, many consider removing it.

Jonathan over at How To Blog rants:

I’m considering removing all comment plugins, because if people are visiting my site and commenting only for the purpose of trying to help out their own site, what purpose am I serving? I always get excited when I have a comment without a url attached, because that means they weren’t doing it for their own benefit, but rather were doing it to actually comment their opinion.

And this sentiment is shared by many bloggers. However, removing this plugin is a very drastic move. Instead, it might be better to keep the plugin, but improve it. Here are some tips.

1. Change the way the plugin resets.

The cause for the comment surges mentioned above is the fact that the plugin resets at the beginning of every month. To fix this, don’t let your plugin reset. Instead, create a ’sliding scale’, where the plugin counts the last 30 days, or the last 7 days. This way, there is less of an urge for people to create a lot of comments and then sit idle for the rest of the month. (We use the Show Top Commentators plugin by Nate Sanden.)

2. Don’t show the list on all pages OR add nofollow to links.

Some blogs fix the SEO problems by only showing the Top Commentator list on certain pages. Others simply add nofollow to the links to completely prevent PageRank leakage.

 

So, what has your experience been with the Top Commentator plugin? Have you considered removing it from your blog?

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22 Responses to “Is The Top Commentator Plugin Worth It?”

  • On February 1st, 2009 at 3:52 pm, Jonathan Muller wrote:

    Thanks for the link, and you’re right that would be a little drastic. I really like your suggestion though, to just shorten the amount of days until it updates. That would really help I think. I’m going to change that. Nice post, I appreciate the feedback, and for getting your opinion on this issue.

    Best of luck in February.
    Jonathan

    Jonathan Muller’s last blog post..What Britney Spears can Teach us about Blogging

  • On February 1st, 2009 at 6:16 pm, Kim Woodbridge wrote:

    Hmmm … the things people do. Any site where I’m in the top commenter list is a site that I really like.

    I need to change the top commenter plugin I use - I like it because it has the gravatars but it doesn’t reset. That makes it really hard for anyone but the top people to ever be in the list. The person in the #5 spot hasn’t visited in ages - I feel like he’s never going to drop off the list. I guess I’ll had it to my to-do list.

    Kim Woodbridge’s last blog post..(Anti) Social-Lists 2/1/09

  • On February 1st, 2009 at 8:22 pm, Jen wrote:

    I don’t have the top commentator plug in on my blog yet- I like observing something for a while and reading a few reviews on it before I add something.

    As far as making comments just to get on the top commentator list- if you are making spam comments just to get on the list it really gives an insight into your personality and business practices and I think it will come back to bite you in the a–.

    Jen’s last blog post..Is Your Blog an Effective-or Defective- List Builder?

  • On February 2nd, 2009 at 4:55 am, Velvet Blues wrote:

    @Kim: Yes, I was wondering about that with your Top Commentators list. I noticed that the people in your list never change, and I thought that it was less of a ‘Top Commenter’ list, and more of a ‘Favorite Commenter’ list. :-)

    Yeh, don’t you hate To-Do lists? I takes me ages to get around to the things that keep piling up on mine.

    @Jen: Well, said. I hope karma does work in such ways. Unfortunately, I think it takes a while for karma to work on the web… Meanwhile, the spammer is getting plenty of Google link juice. :-(

  • On February 2nd, 2009 at 5:36 am, Ben Pei wrote:

    Well it definitely attracts spams, but it is also a good way to get more people to comment. I guess there are no win-win situation here.

    Ben Pei’s last blog post..Internet Marketing Professionals - How to Earn Respect from the Online Community

  • On February 2nd, 2009 at 10:05 am, Velvet Blues wrote:

    @Ben: Yeh, I too have considered removing it, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

  • On February 2nd, 2009 at 10:52 am, Kurt Avish wrote:

    I am 2nd on your plugin. I am a spammer. :-(

    Well, I use this plugin on my blog too. I have set up mine to reset monthly. On my blog I don’t think people bother much about it even though its fun to see the data changing from day to day. :-)

    I let mine as dofollow as a way to reward those who are very active and participate in discussions a lot. Concerning encouraging people to comment, I think its true. Well as you mentioned above… the benefits outweight the drawbacks.

    Kurt Avish’s last blog post..Joyshan on Blogshot with Kurt!!

  • On February 2nd, 2009 at 12:50 pm, Dennis Edell wrote:

    I have it as well…

    1. Big changes coming to my comment policy, and it WILL be read once folks start not seeing comments showing up.

    2. I have mine set to auto-renew every 30 due to the contests.

    3. Auto-ticked as no follow. I give more ten a fair share of comment/link love. ;)

    Off hand, I’m not sure which one it is, but mine has lots of handy dandy 1click settings in the admin. :)
    Dennis Edell’s last blog post..D.S.W.M. Monthly Article Round-Up Is Back!

  • On February 2nd, 2009 at 4:13 pm, Velvet Blues wrote:

    @Kurt: Yeh, won’t you stop spamming! ;-)

    It does seem like your visitors aren’t concerned at all with the plugin, which is great. And yes, I don’t know which is more of an encouragement to comment - commentLuv or Top Commentators - but ever since they’ve been added here, the comment count per article has increased.

    @Dennis: Haha. Wow… I will have to read the new policy to make sure I am not acting up. :-)

    Hmm. You must be using this one: Top Commentators Widget. Mine requires some degree of manual editing. But it is lightweight, so that’s a plus…

  • On February 2nd, 2009 at 4:26 pm, Dennis Edell wrote:

    Yep that’s mine.

    Dennis Edell’s last blog post..D.S.W.M. Monthly Article Round-Up Is Back!

  • On February 2nd, 2009 at 8:26 pm, Ajith Edassery wrote:

    Shirley, you are right on the reset mechanism (as we discussed at linkers’ blog once). As for its pagewise listing, I seriously considered it in the past and figured out that most people wants it on the homepage which is your highest ranked page. There’s nothing much I can loose on the sub pages (well, not completely)…However, since you reminded me of this, I am going to try it out till the next PR update to see how much of impact it has.

    Ajith Edassery’s last blog post..SEO Challenge ‘09 - Week 4 Update

  • On February 2nd, 2009 at 8:30 pm, Nihar wrote:

    You are absolutely right. In last week of Jan, I was hardly getting comments. From Feb 1st - till date. I have got lots of comments and have see same commentator commenting on different posts. I now know why they i get lots of comments during the beginning of the month. I have to either remove the plugin or put nofollow

    Nihar’s last blog post..Top Entrecard droppers in January 2009

  • On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:22 am, Binaryday wrote:

    I will not be worried about pagerank leakage. I would have linked out to more than 200 blogs in the last 1 month and my rankings have gone up if anything.

    Rather I would worry about some spammer getting a link from the page through the top-commentators page.

  • On February 3rd, 2009 at 5:22 am, Ben Pei wrote:

    I mean if you look at it positively, it is just a good way to reward the readers who have been commenting often on your blog, trust me, they do keep coming back!

    Ben Pei’s last blog post..What To Put In The Resource Box For Your Article Marketing

  • On February 10th, 2009 at 4:32 am, Donace wrote:

    As mentioned I think the widget is more of an incentive to some to comment; however I feel it is just a reward for commentators.

    I have actually do-followed the links from my site but restricted it only to my PR4 homepage. So the SEO value is significant and as I am now working to optimize the actual posts that I post, it does not really deduct from the SEO value of the overall site.

  • On February 11th, 2009 at 12:14 am, Velvet Blues wrote:

    @Ajith: Let me know how this works for you. It’ll be interesting to have a case study.

    @Nihar: Yes, there is a set of bloggers who regularly fight for top spots. However, as long as the comments are good, there’s nothing wrong with that. However, to spread out your comments, just update your ‘reset’ settings.

    @Binaryday: Well, good for your with the free linking. Apparently, I am a bit stingier than you. :-) And yes, a spammer getting a link is serious trouble.

    @Ben: Indeed. It is a great way to reward your regulars. I know that I enjoy getting something when I comment on the blogs that I read.

    @Donace: Yes, I see that you realize the value of these links. Many people who do have ‘dofollow’ links throughout their entire website would realize significant increases in PR if they simply ‘trapped’ their pagerank.

  • On February 16th, 2009 at 1:17 pm, stratosg wrote:

    i have the widget myself as it’s the main way of me giving back to my readers. fortunately there are rarely meaningless comments so i think i’m good just because i am lucky ;) nice post!

    stratosg’s last blog post..Member Of The Month: January

  • On March 30th, 2009 at 11:46 am, Simon | Teenius wrote:

    Great post, made a good read. :D

    Personally I’m still a big fan of the Top Commentator Plugin. It might attract a tiny bit more spam, but I find the genuine commentators often compete to get to the top, thus giving me more comments ;)
    Simon | Teenius’s last blog post..Tips For Commenting On People’s Blogs

  • On July 26th, 2009 at 3:45 pm, CharlieC wrote:

    At the end of the day, it’s all about numbers. If you get bigger numbers to your site as a result of the plugin, then you have to expect a payoff, and that is giving some PR away to those who are making an effort on both of your behalves.

  • On October 18th, 2009 at 7:40 am, Website Design UK wrote:

    I think that the top commentators plugin is great. I’ve added it to my blog as well and have seen an increase in comments. It really does encourage people to leave a comment. Of course there is going to be some abuse but you can control that a bit. I just need to figure out how to add the top commentators to just the home page because right now it is showing on every page… If you know how to keep it just on the home page let me know.

  • On November 22nd, 2009 at 1:35 am, oes tsetnoc wrote:

    the top commentators widget is a great tool for creating backlinks but webmasters should beware of spam with it.

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