Content nowadays is all about engagement. A visitor on your website might read the entire article and leave, but that’s not enough. You want them to engage with your content and with other readers on your website.
A comment section under each post provides a good platform for your readers to talk about the article and generate conversation. It’s basically a place where your readers can hang out and chat. Despite the fact that comments increase the worth of the content, many people tend to disable them on their posts to avoid the hassle of moderating them. As a blogger myself, I can say that moderating comments is time-consuming, but it’s totally worth the effort.
If you’ve made up your mind on implementing a comment system on your website, then these WordPress comments plugins will ensure that you have an active comment section that drives engagement.
WordPress Comments Plugins To Make The Most Of Comments In WordPress
Disqus
Disqus is probably the most popular WordPress comments plugin around. It seamlessly integrates with your website and allows readers to comment with ease.
Readers can not only comment but can recommend other comments from different readers. The plugin also allows readers to sort comments by “best” “newest” and “oldest”.
Disqus also recommends other articles on your website to your readers that allows users to explore your website even more.
Since Disqus is a third party plugin, your content getting tons of comments won’t affect your web page load time.
Also, readers can comment on different websites from a single account. This allows them to receive notification of replies on their comment on your website while they are on another website. Neat, right?
Get Disqus
Facebook Comments
It’s almost impossible to find an internet user that doesn’t know what Facebook is. The comment section is one of the defining features of the most post popular social media network.
Facebook Comments bring the same interface to your website. Users can login with their Facebook accounts and comment immediately.
Most of your users might already have Facebook logged in which makes commenting all the more easier.
Readers can tag their friends on your article and create conversations that will help boost engagement on your website.
The plugin also makes the users to comment using their actual name and profile picture. This can help build a better connection among users and generate deeper engagement.
On the downside, there is not customization to the Facebook comments so it is highly unlikely that the comment section blends in with your website design. On many websites, it looks unprofessional as well.
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wpDiscuz
wpDiscuz offers all the functionalities of Disqus, as you must have guessed by the name of the plugin. You can moderate comments in real time and get live comment updates through wpDiscuz.
Just like Disqus, this plugin also allows users to sort comments based on “Most Voted”, “New”, and “Oldest”. Users can also comment anonymously just like in the native WordPress comments.
However, if you do choose wpDiscuz over Disqus, you will have to let go the aesthetics as the design is not as clean and easy on the eye.
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Jetpack
Jetpack comes with a bundle of upgrades to address the various shortcomings in the WordPress system. It is not a comment plugin, but upgrades the already existing WordPress comments feature.
It allows users to login from their social accounts in order to comment on your posts. Users can, however, still choose to be anonymous while they are commenting.
Users can also choose to receive email notification of replies on their comments. This will increase your repeat visitors and engagement.
Jetpack is also easy to install. All you have to do is login with your WordPress.com account, sync the plugin and you are good to go.
However, if you decide to use Jetpack, you must know that the plugin puts quite a load on the website as it comes with a lot of functionalities that you might not even need.
Get Jetpack
Replayable by Postmatic
Replayable is the most interesting WordPress comments plugin in this list. It allows users to comment on your article without even visiting your website. Readers can comment directly from their email inbox.
This is how it works:
Replayable is not only a comment plugin. It also provides email optins, pop ups, and slideins. Once a user subscribes to your email list, your new article will be emailed to them right after it is published.
The plugin converts your article into HTML and emails it to users in full so users don’t have to click on a link to view your content.
Users can simply comment by using the reply function in their email. The reply will automatically be posted in the comment section of your article.
You might be thinking that this won’t help in increasing your website traffic. Which is true, but your users will be consuming your content one way or another and engaging with ease, resulting in brand recognition.
Get Replayable
Simple Comment Editing
Just like Jetpack, this plugin is not a comment plugin but offers a little upgrade to the existing WordPress comments system.
As the name suggests, it allows users to edit their comments after they have posted them. However, the editing window is active only upto 5 minutes.
Get Simple Comment Editing
Lazy Load for Comments
Lazy Load for Comments doesn’t add any new feature in the existing comment system but it ensures that your website performs well. It makes sure that the website loads quicker so that your visitor doesn’t leave out of frustration.
The plugin slows down the loading of the comments while your visitor is reading your post. Because the comment section is below every post, the delay in loading won’t negatively affect user experience.
Get Lazy Load for Comments
Final Words
Engaging content is hard to create. From idea generation to the final execution, it takes days to create original and unique content that drives engagement. But that’s not enough. You must provide your readers a place where they can express their feelings about the content you just produced.
The plugins I mentioned in this article are perfect for integrating a comment section on your website. If you happen to come across more WordPress comments plugins, let me know in the comment box below.
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