I’m currently deliberating whether or not to move all of my Wordpress blog comments over to a third-party comment system called Disqus. I have to admit, I was totally against such a thing a few months ago – I couldn’t understand why sites like Mashable, and many others, would choose Disqus over the perfectly functional native comments system in Wordpress!
From the outset the perceived disadvantages were:
- The idea of giving comments away to someone else – seriously, that on it’s own is a HUGE roadblock.
- Possible SEO disadvantages – if the comments are on someone else’s server, the SEO value of comments left on my sites would disappear.
- Risk – how safe is the importing process IF I do decide to go with Disqus
- Change of heart – if I change my mind at any point, would I be able to deactivate Disqus and use the good old native Wordpress comments system at the click of a button?
And then i started reading more glowing tributes about Disqus and the benefits their commenting system can bring to a blog, namely:
- The Social Media aspect – Disqus makes it a lot easier for people to comment on blogs because users can automatically sign in using Twitter, Facebook, OpenID, etc.
- User Profiles – those with Disqus accounts receive a profile, making it easier for them to track and edit their comments (including via email) as well as follow other people’s comments across various Disqus-integrated blogs..
- SEO value remains intact since recent updates have ensured that comments are in your source code instead of Javascript which nullified any value.
- Guests can still leave comments in the same way as the native Wordpress system – there is no requirement to have a Disqus account to leave a comment.
All in all the community and viral benefits are what stand out to me as a prospective Disqus publisher. I’m not completely sold on the idea just yet, but I think it’s at least worth giving Disqus a try on one of my newer blogs (which has fewer comments – i.e. less can go wrong!).
I’ll post an update in a few weeks once I’ve had more of a feel for Disqus – detailing my experience and the pros and cons it brings to me as a publisher and those who leave comments on my blogs.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey there — I’m curious, why did you decide against Disqus after all since it doesn’t feel like I’m writing this comment on Disqus’ platform.
Hi Ayush – I haven’t made the jump to using Disqus on this site just yet, although I am trialing it over at one of my other blogs – FlashForwardBlog. I’m hoping to install Disqus on this blog in the next day or two, if they address a few of the problems with their comment load times.