Update : Due to abuse of this feature, as of June 2009, we have removed the Do Follow attribute from our comments.

We have decided to join the “U Comment, I Follow movement” and implemented the change on our blog this weekend.

Most blog platforms default to a “no follow” setting for comments.  In other words, when you leave a comment on a blog, even though you may leave the URL to your website, the blog is coded to advise search engines not to follow the link.

This was initially implemented to combat spam, but with spam programs like Akismet, which we use on our blog, the spam comments are automatically removed.  We want to encourage readers to leave their comments and allow links back to their sites for those who participate.

To implement the change, we installed the Do Follow plugin for Wordpress and then used one of the cool U Comment, I Follow badges developed by Randa Clay design and Moshi and Kibo-ized it to let our readers know.

If you are on Blogger, as our friends at Bloggers Widgets and Plugins advise:

Go to Layout, edit HTML, click Expand Widget template, and then search for
<a expr:href=’data:comment.authorUrl’ rel=’nofollow’>
We found the easiest way to find this was to copy and paste the code into Notepad and then search for it (make sure you get the right line of code).
Next, remove the no follow by changing the line to
<a expr:href=’data:comment.authorUrl’>

So - there you have it.
You may not be able to teach an old dog a new trick, but you can learn one from a couple of old dogs!

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