Today we have our first guest blogger on A-list SEO! Let’s welcome Marcos Azaro. Marcos writes for SEO Consulting - Social Media Optimization and Linkbait Services.

Mark Laymon from A List SEO wrote about User Generated Comments on Blogs and their key importance on developing the community engagement amongst blog audiences. I think we all agree with Mark. If you don’t, I’m dying to know why. But for those of us who do agree with him, how do you make your busy readers take the time to write a post in your blog?

Make an intentional (obvious) omission

Leave something out. Make it obvious. There will be more than one reader happy to call you on it. By doing so you are allowing them to build credibility in front of the rest of your audience. And since many of your readers are bloggers themselves, it’s usually on their interest to build credibility by posting legitimate and useful information.

Take sides on a heated debate

This is one isn’t hard at all. Most successful bloggers have used this resource. You could, for example, claim that the sandbox doesn’t exist (big one in 2006), argue that Matt Cutts is a schmuck, question the lack of transparency and credibility on Digg’s algorithm, support the claim that global warming worries lack credibility. The list could go on and on.

Pick a fight with a character that your audience is familiar with.

Be careful on this one. Don’t take up more than you can chew or you’ll choke fast and miserably. Don’t start as a blogger who no one knows and expect your audience to back you up when you fight a heavyweight. However, when done right this can be very effective. Most of your readers will naturally tend to take sides with you and agree on your claims (mental note: make a post about cognitive dissonance)

Ask for feedback.

Brain dead simple and yet very effective. Want something? Ask for it. Ask for general feedback, or ask for a piece of information that your readers may have. Just ask your readers what they think about something. They’ll be happy to play along.

Post about something personal.

We all make fun of the fact that bloggers blogged so much about their cats, but there is a good reason for it. Personal posts allow bloggers to introduce themselves to their audience. Not what they know about whatever topic they are blogging about. But themselves, and their personality. And guess what, readers are happy to get to know the person behind that wordpress interface. It makes complete sense for your audience to want to know something personal about you, the same way we are always happy to know about some intimate details of the private lives of those actors, musicians and writers that we enjoy.

Make a mistake

Screw up. Don’t be afraid of making a mistake. You are human and your audience will understand that. You don’t need to know it all. Who does? To make mistakes is human, but the beauty is that it gets people talking. So make a mistake and get people to talk about it. Sure, some will be happy to shove it up your face: measure your risks, don’t go ahead and make a silly mistake that could affect your credibility in your core business. I trust you will use this one carefully.

Fix your mistake

By all means: fix your mistake. Show your audience that you can acknowledge your own mistakes and are willing to course correct when it’s necessary. This will increase your overall credibility on all those situations where you disagree with other people. The reaction you are looking for is the following: "If this guy realized he was wrong about Blue Widgets and acknowledged it publicly, it means he is not biased, so I choose to believe what he says about Red Widgets."

Make up a game

This may not be the smartest one of the block but it has proven to work. Silly I-Post-You-Post games have been popular in forums for a reason. So get creative and come up with a silly game for your readers to play and post.

Propose a plan

What do your readers want? Why are they reading you? They must be looking for something. Think about it. When you know what that is make a comprehensive, complete, A to Z post on how your readers can get what they want. You’ll have them right where you want them.

Reveal a secret

Two kinds of people will get all worked up. Those who are mad at you for unveiling the secret, and those who are grateful at you for unveiling the secret.

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