Signatures are links to your own blog or website that make it easy for people to re-visit you after you comment on their blog. If you don't have one, people have to click on your name, and that either takes them to your Google+ profile, or your Blogger profile (or nowhere at all).
Is that a bad thing?
Well, if you are like me, and have multiple blogs (and not all of them are in the Challenge), there is nothing telling people on your Blogger profile what they should be clicking on. If you don't share your posts on G+, once again, it seems like a dead end to visitors. If you comment on blogs anonymously, you are essentially invisible.
And here is the thing:
We WANT to visit you back!
Visiting back is common courtesy during A to Z. You might not have the time every day to do it, but it is polite to catch up and visit back whenever you get the chance. Leaving sigs in comments also brings new people to your site!
In order to make it easier for people to visit you, you are encouraged to leave a clickable link to your blog at the end of your comment.
You can just copy-paste your blog's URL if you want to.
But if you want to be even more smooth, elegant and helpful, you can create a signature.
Signatures are HTML coded, which means they show up as clickable links. Mine looks like this:
@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary
In the HTML code, it looks like this:
@TarkabarkaHolgy from
<a href="http://
<a href="http://hungarykum.
You can just copy and paste it, and swap the links and titles for your own!
Make sure you save it somewhere handy (I have it as a Draft in my Gmail box) so you don't have to re-type it every time you go on a visiting binge! You can just Copy and Paste, easy peasy.
Most commenting systems allow HTML, which means your sig will show up nice and clickable. Some might make it show up like the second example (Google+ does that sometimes) but the links are still clickable, and that's what matters.
Happy Visiting!
61 comments:
I started doing these for Insecure Writer Support Group a month or two ago. I haven't done it for A to Z much because both my blogs are in the challenge.
Such a useful post ! incidentally my post for today is titled Signature http://www.poojasharmarao.blogspot.com
This is such a helpful post. Please consider adding this info in the FAQ. A single clickable link in the comments makes return visits so much simpler.
Best wishes,
Nilanjana.
Madly-in-Verse
Yes, completely agree. I did this last year and this year as well, with my blog, especially when commenting on Blogger Blogs. With sites where I can use my Wordpress id, I use that, because it links directly back to my blog when you click on the name. Most people don't make the effort, I think. That's the unfortunate bit.
*Shailaja/Alternate Angles/A-Z*
Hi, I would need more direction than that on how to leave a link. However, all a person has to do with mine is just type the name of my blog into a browser and it takes them to a link. That's pretty simple. BTW, my post this morning is on "Social Media". Best Regards, Ruby aka Blabbin' Grammy.
I just realized yesterday that my Goggle + info was outdated.
and I dont always put in a signature so this is timely advice
A Song for Liberia is my "S" Today.
Happy A to Zing
I keep meaning to add the blog link but then move on and forget about it. Very good advice that I might even follow today, lol.
Thank you for this post. ~~~ Too often I just get the A to Z participants Blogger link, which too often takes me to more than one blog. Then I have to play a guessing game as to which one is part of A to Z. Or, in the especially annoying scenario, I'm taken to their Google+ page, where I have to scan through their Google+ posts to try and find a link to their blog. ~~~~ Oh, and while I'm on a complaining streak, let me also say that it's RUDE for bloggers participating in this challenge to not visit back. That's why I ALWAYS visit back and leave a comment. The ONLY times I don't visit back and/or leave a comment is because A) the blogger has left me zero information as to where their blog can be found, or B) the blogger has not left a way for me to leave a comment on their blog, or C) after scanning through multiple Google+ posts I failed to find a link to their blog, just links to other people's blogs.
Precious Monsters
Thank you for the copy and paste link! I am awful at coding and was wondering how this was done.
Reading through the comments, I agree with Jolie...going to their Google + page (which still confuses me) means I don't leave a message on their A to Z Blog. I can't ever find the link!
Apologies for the mess-up. Hank is here:
http://imagery77.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-s-word_22.html
The clickable link is very handy, especially when there are tons of blogs to visit. Saves time.
Hi there - I learned something new today! Thanks! FictionZeal
Ah! I always wondered how people have links in their comments. :)
Trying it out right now. Learning every day - thanks so much!
@Door2LoreSue
PowerofStoryBlog - Every Hero Has a Story
Thank you! This has come in very handy today as I am not on my home computer.
J.L. Campbell | A-Z Challenge Co-Host
This is GREAT to learn! Thank you!
Trying it here...
Story Crossings - Story Slams & Storytelling from A to Z
See you soon!!
I just tried commenting for the first time with a signature, and I wasn't allowed to use http: in that particular blog's HTML. When I took out the http:, my hyperlinks were all messed up, and included the visited blog's url joined with mine. That's never happened before when I've left a hyperlink when leaving a comment.
I am not sure that I understand how to do this but I will try it out and see.
@TrinaONeil from
Walking My Own Path - from A to Z
Let's see if this works...
Ninja Captain
I've seen many people doing it. I didn't think to do it because I recently read that not all bloggers like people to leave links in the comments section... but of course I should have known that if this is normal etiquette for the challenge, people would have accept it.
I think I'll do it for the rest of the challenge :-)
@JazzFeathers
The Old Shelter- Roaring Twenties
Thanks for the good suggestion!
http://katheworsley.blogspot.com/2015/04/a-to-z-2015-challenge-s-is-for-sabroso.html
Thank you thank you thank you! That was a good lesson! Lisa, co-host AtoZ 2015, @ http://www.lisabuiecollard.com
I use it about half the time I visit a blog, I tend not to use it if I visit a blog on a regular basis.
Rob Z Tobor
How strange! I was literally just wondering how to do this the other day! Thanks for sharing :)
Rachel
Rachel's Ramblings - full of writing, tea and cake
Wow, it worked! Thanks @jeancogdell at
Jean's Writing
Thanks for the tip! I should have been using this, especially when I visit Wordpress bloggers.
Elizabeth @ Liz's Random Ponderings
:) Good job, everyone!
I keep mine in an open word doc on my computer all Challenge. Copy-paste!
It always makes me sad when my signature doesn't work. It looks so messy haha
~AJ Lauer
an A-Z Cohost
@ayjaylauer on Twitter
Thanks for the tutorial, I've always wondered how people did that!
OOPS! I left before trying it; how exciting! THANKS
@simcarter from
Sim Carter Memoir - Past Tense: Perfect Imperfect
RevisionistHistoryg
So I screwed that up somehow! Here's my old fashioned link if anyone still has the patience. With apologies for the clutter! http://simcarter.blogspot.com/2015/04/revisionist-history.html
Okay, now I feel like I can hang with the cool kids. I had no idea how everyone was creating their signatures! Trying it now....
@ShonnaSlayton from
Shonna Slayton YA Writer -1940’s from A to Z
I saved my signature from last year and the modified it to include another site I was participating in and the fact I'm a minion. =)
~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author
Brilliant post! You quickly realise how important a signature is when you do the commenting rounds :)
Fee | Wee White Hoose
Scottish Mythology and Folklore A-Z
Hello there.
I used to admin for my hubby's blog back when he was a regular blogger & it's one of those things I learned to do very early on. Even though I know how to use it, I keep my signature in a stored word doc to alter, copy & paste as needed. Saves a bunch of time, especially during the challenge when there are so many blogs to visit. I use my signature every time I visit another blog. Makes it much easier for the blogger to find me should (s)he wish to return the visit. I've noticed that some platforms don't convert the link into a clickable one so it just shows up as the entire a href.....
Very helpful post all the same.
Thanks for sharing.
Entrepreneurial Goddess
Good to know. Thank you!
I have mine saved in a sticky note. That way I don't have to open anything to copy each time I sign on my PC.
Visit me at: Life & Faith in Caneyhead
I am Ensign B of Tremps' Troops
with the A to Z Challenge
Go girl!
Wow this is so helpful. I have recently updated my gravatar with my new blog on there but every time I comment on a blogger blog it gives a signature that leads to my old blog :( I really don't know where it comes from. It said Google next to it, but my Google+ info is up to date too. Anyone got any ideas? I will use that signature idea though. Thanks so much. ironically this will lead to my old blog lol.
This is the perfect blog post almost as if I asked the universe to send it to me and Shazam, I clicked on your link. I've had this problem for a really long time because a long time ago I added Disqus to my blogger blog, for comments. I've wanted to switch back for so long, but I can't figure out how to do it without losing all of my comments. So when people leave me a comment, even if they take the time to log in to Disqus, it doesn't take me to their blog or anywhere else where I can find them. I realize that this is my problem because I chose to add Disqus to my blog. At least when people sign into Disqus, I can figure out how to find their blog, but most people don't log in or create an account and so all I have is their name or a made up user name they use for Disqus comments. It is so frustrating. But, I've noticed during the challenge this year that a lot and I mean A LOT of people are including signatures, with links to their blogs in the comment and I can't tell you how happy that makes me, because you are right ... WE WANT TO READ YOUR BLOG. I will make every effort to find a blogger who leaves me a comment, but sometimes it is a tough job and yields no results. Then, what I do, I search for the commenter, somewhere else that they've left a comment. But still, like you said, when people have multiple blogs and the photo or link takes me to their blogger page, often I don't know what to do next.
This was a much needed post. Very helpful. I never thought about the fact that I wasn't leaving signatures with my own comments. I do leave a signature for all non blogger blogs because sometimes I am logged in though Wordpress, even though I don't use Wordpress, but others times I am just a blank photo. So, I leave me name, email and blog url. But, your post has shown me that I need to do this even on blogger blogs. Thanks. Now, if only I knew how to write code so I could make my own signature that is a link to my blog. I will work on that with the instructions you left. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Melissa Sugar
Twitter: @msugar13
sugarlaw13@live.com
http://fictiontoolbox.blogspot.com
Perfect! So frustrating to WANT to leave a comment in return and not to be able to. Thanks for your html too. I'll be giving it a try. http://www.inspirationtolivewell.com
I haven't used my clickable link this year because it seems if you click my name it goes straight to my blog anyway. Or it did.
Ohhh, so THAT'S why! I really wondered. Since I only have the one blog, I figured just clicking on my name would do it. But, just in case for any of our viewers watching at home...
http://alpenwasser.blogspot.com
Hmm, would that work? Maybe not. I'll keep trying.
Thanks!
That's a really good tip! I've seen a few people doing that and - in the back of my mind - was like, wow that makes it a lot easier.
What a simple, thorough and useful post. It should have come at the beginning :)
@SunitaBiddu from
Crazy Social Media & Blogging Coach & Entrepreneur - A to Z challenge Taker
I have not been able to follow & read all the posts this time but so glad I found this one. This is one of the reason I love comment luv but sadly can't have it every where.
Thanks for the tip.
@ Inderpreet Kaur from
Eloquent Articulation - Incredible Indian Authors
Very informative and educative
Will try it for sure
thanks
http://serendipityofdreams.blogspot.in/
I shall definitely try out that one. Thanks!
I have not left a signature on wordpress blogs, as my gravatar links directly to my blog, but maybe when I comment on blogger I should make use of a signature.
I'll try it here :)
Solveig Werner - eclectic, multilingual ...
and it did not work :(
I have so far failed to get this to work .. but must give it another try before another year rocks around .. cheers Hilary
I always try to visit back to someone who has left a comment on my blog. But sometimes there is no link. Then I do a little search on the other blogs to find a link!
PS: thanks for leaving a comment on my blog.
Greetings
Peter
This is a great example of what I love about the A to Z each year, meeting new people, learning new things and keeping many of the great new contacts whom I would never have found without the A to Z. Now I can do signatures too A HUGE THANK YOU TEAM A TO Z
Oh wow, this is so good. I've gone through the month of April, wondering if it's okay to put a link in my comments. Every now and then I have done so (just typed it in) and each time someone has followed the link. I wish I'd known this at the beginning of the month! Thank you! I'm working through this blog and loving it! Now to try the signature and see if it works! @Shirley Corder from
Out of Africa - Topics from A to Z
YES it did! Thank you! Thank you!
Shirley Corder from
Out of Africa - Topics from A to Z
Great tip but I'm confused..I am going to have to research this.
http://justlittlecajunme.blogspot.com
MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary
I have to say, I am a little disappointed places like Disqus does not have the option of leaving a signature, considering blogs use them.
ailyn
http://honesty-virtue.com
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