I'm trying to find the best words to motivate visitors to comment on my website (IT based blog/portal). Commenting rate is ~ 0.1% (1 comment per 1000 visitors).
This is the default one (for Drupal):
Add new comment
And these are the ones I think I can use instead:
Your comment?
Any comment?
Make a comment:
Which is the most motivator one or any other idea?
Commenting is all about context. A few examples of websites encouraging people to generate content
So, summarising:
Edit:
As pointed out by Chris, A/B test various options. Sometimes, you never know what might work (and why)
If the internet has taught us one thing it's that everyone has an opinion. It has also taught us that attention spans online are short so unless I feel that sharing my opinion is worth the effort I'll pass.
Here are a couple things you can do to remedy this situation and increase reader engagement...
You could end each article with some variation of the following...
Your opinion is very important to me. I personally read every comment and respond when appropriate. Help me improve future articles by telling me what you like or dislike about this one.
Allowing users a way to provide feedback in a single click should greatly improve your reader engagement. Clicking Like or +1 next to an article is about as simple as it gets for letting a user tell you that what they just read was helpful. You could also do things like create a specific poll (with not too many choices) where visitors could quickly give feedback with a single click.
I think people are getting off topic here, essentially you've asked 'which of the options out of my choice of 4 is best'. In which case the current option you are using is best as it's the most common and clear. The ones with questions could help as they are leading people in, but frankly if 1/1000 visitors is commenting at present I'd said switching to one of these 4 options isn't going to be a game changer.
As Chris pointed out, of your choices, you're using what seems most appropriate. It's common language (good for scanning) and clearly states what the action is about.
But there's more to it than language. If comments are what you're after, have you considered position, scale, and styling? Take StackExchange for example: The big push here is for answers. The answer box takes up a nice chunk of real estate and closes with a big action button. They've done a bit of pre-qualifying by placing it at the bottom (they could have placed it above other answers). But once you're there, you can't miss it.
Consider using an exposed multi-line text input (not just after clicking 'add'), contrasted from the background (white on some background color), with your call to action in a clearly styled button. And if it is your primary action as your question suggests, make sure other elements on the page aren't competing for that valuable attention.
Going back to our StackExchange example, imagine they decided that comments would be their new focus (God forbid!). Applying my recommendations here could look something like this. The comments input is persistently available, it gets an engaging header, and the text link CTA becomes a button.
Test the "improved" solution against your current design and see what happens. If that doesn't generate more comments, you can probably start looking into something other than the UI.
You might also find that as comments go up, other areas are impacted. For instance, more comments from a small group of users may lead to lower overall engagement. There are usually more factors in play than you at first appreciate. Testing has a way of bringing those to the surface.
It's hard to know what copies work best without any user profile in mind... I mean, it took us a lot of research on emotional needs of users to understand the tone in which they needed CTA's or other written content, make sure you understand if your users like to feel smart through commenting or if they are more prone to commenting out of fun... Even if they are programmers and very smart people, perhaps they are bored of the conversation and need a different emotional motivation. I'd analyse a bit on their behaviour towards the tone of the site and maybe experiment with a change of tone... A/B test is definitely what I would start with.
I agree with Chris... you should focus on your content more than just figure out which of these options will work, and content strategies begin in defining your tone, are you readers engaged with the way you're talking to them? Go deeper.
Check out the Mailchimp Tone/Voice Page... I find it very engaging as a typical user. http://voiceandtone.com/
I'm not saying your solution lies within the fun tone of Mailchimp, but it does with figuring out the right one.
In order to motivate your users and increase the user engagement for comment section, you need to show them that you need their comment. Among those 3 options, "Your Comment" makes more sense about this issue.
Also you can check 45th guideline of this list
Find out what could be a reason to comment there, maybe the microcopy isn't the problem.
If you are looking for your visitors opinion then ask for it. What is your opinion on that?
If you want an answer check if there was a question right before the comment section.
If critique is what you want you can provoke. You know I'm right.
For approval, use something else like likes.
A reluctant commenter might be "lured" into commenting. For example, it's easy to press a button and cast a vote. Attaching a comment dialog to a voting button might capture some additional portion of visitors who basically decide "oh well, I'm voting and I've got this dialog open now, so I might as well put in my two cents."
Consider bespoke CTAs. Ask a specific question or make a challenge that's tailored to this post.
This drives a few behaviors:
So, do you really want to see that cat land an airliner?
Its a case of "whats there in it for me. It depends on the context that you have set up before the user reaches the comment section.
Motivation is an emotional response out of
Like on UX.SE I am motivated to see the new questions, issues faced by UX designers, and the responses make so much of learning, its absolutely priceless. Hence I comment, to help out there, to have my say and if I get voted up, it gives me satisfaction.
Similarly, in your case, based on types of users consuming the information from your website, you can build up strategy to get comments.
I believe that mere choice of words are not sufficient to motivate users to comment. Real motivation is when you answer your users' question "whats there in it for me".
A recognition system can really motivate your users to comment more and more. A blog is read only once but it lives because of comments, as users jump in with their views.
Consider Developing a motivating system. Feature the user who commented first on home page. He will be thrilled to see and others will get motivated instantly. Continue with the same system and keep featuring them, under some heading that recognizes their contribution. Like Active Users for example.
Though, to answer your question, it should be simple enough like Add Comment or Have your say etc. But Do you really find them motivating enough to comment? Its the backbone that motivates and not the words.
It's a question about affordance, ryt?
Note that the style of invitation must be referenced to the communication style of the whole resource. Also make sure that your target audience are interested in comments.
And, of course, the best way to raise a discussion - had already published 3-5 comments.
It depends on the emotion you want to create. In the case of technical site like IT portal/blog I would go for something like Say your word which can give the user the feeling that his opinion is wanted and matters while keeping short and simple.
