If you have just started a blog using WordPress, then the comments are enabled by default. However, for a long period of time, the functions haven’t been developed enough in my opinion. Yes, there is a better option. That’s why I’ve done a Thrive comments review.
Table of Contents:
What is Thrive comments
Thrive comments is a WordPress plugin dedicated to creating a good user experience for the visitors and focused to bring engagement, generating more leads and sales for your blog. Best used along with other products from Thrive suite as all of them can communicate with each other.
Thrive comments features (to get more engagement)
Imagine a situation when real people are writing comments. If people engaged, then most likely they could go one step forward and make another move just after that. There are several concepts of what happens after the visitor leaves a comment:
- Sharing option pops up there is a separate option to enable single specific comment sharing.
- Relative posts appear- if your goal is to keep visitors as long as possible on your website.
- Redirect visitors to a custom URL- you can redirect people to a specific landing page, sales page or affiliate offer.
- Offer commenters to subscribe to your mailing list. The opt-in form can appear just after comment submission,- you must use Thrive leads in order for this function to work.
- Simple “thank you” message- just like WordPress default comments work. Yet even that is better and can be customized.
- Another great feature is for returning visitors. You can set a completely different experience. Let’s say the first time someone left a comment saw an opt-in box, but the next time a visitor can see sharing buttons or relative posts.
The main plugin set up options
You can allow and disallow for commenters to post website URLs.
Use their Facebook or Google account to log in.
Customize color scheme to match your website design.
Enable/disable showing gravatar- Gravatar is a globally recognized image associated with an email address.
Comment voting and badges- you probably saw some big projects like Reddit, Facebook groups utilizing this feature, as well as forums.
Customize notifications- must use a compatible email autoresponder. Notifications will bring visitors back every time they get a reply.
There is a system in place to combat spam messages- all comments will and should be under moderation first and continuous conversation can be left without moderation as visitors are treated as trusted users. Bad words filter may be applied in order to get rid of junk.
Auto linking when specific words are mentioned in the comments. In order to keep visitors engaged with other blog posts. You can link to other relative blog posts when a specific phrase is written. It will appear as a link automatically.
Another great feature is visual reports. Now you can track which blog posts are most popular over time and who are the most active people.
As I mentioned before, Thrive comments work best when used along with other Thrive suite products. E.g. If you are using Thrive Ovation, you can use comments as testimonials to display anywhere on your blog.
And if your goal is to get more contacts for email marketing, then you need to use Thrive Leads.
Thrive comments plugin price
| Product name | Thrive Comments |
| Price (a year) | $49 |
| Trial | No (30 days money-back guarantee) |
| Websites used on | 1 |
| Updates | Unlimited |
| Support | Yes, 24/7 unlimited |
| Access to Thrive University | Yes |
P.S. If you want full functionality I would highly suggest getting a full bundle. You can read my Thrive Suite review here.
Should you use comments on a WordPress blog
As a website owner and administrator, it is completely up to you if you want to use comments at all. Here are some benefits and downsides of it.
Pros:
- Visitors can engage with the content directly on your website
- People can have conversations about the topic
- Increased visitor time staying on the website (Google and other search engines loves that)
- Some comments may add even more value along with your blog content
- If you use Thrive comments plugin, then you can get more attention, leads, and sales
- More returning visitors- e.g. when the comment gets a reply they will be notified via email and come back to the website
- Lazy load comments to improve website loading speed for Core Web Vitals
Cons:
- As a website administrator, you have to moderate the content (review and approve/disapprove)
- Once the comments are enabled you will get spam comments (be sure about that)
- Many people leave comments just to mention their own brand name or leave a link back to their website and not because they are honestly excited or want to have a conversation.
