Do Blog Comments Help SEO? (And What Works Instead)
Not for backlinks. WordPress tags comment links nofollow and ugc by default, and Google asks sites that accept comments to tag them. Comments with optimized links are on Google's link spam list.
Still useful for: getting a blogger's attention before you pitch them.
Do instead: ask for a link in the article itself.
Of the publisher pages that linked to MentionAgent users, 17% had a comment section or form and 4% showed any comments. All 27 outside links in those comments were tagged nofollow and ugc.
Where our users' links sat: in the article body, on 94% of pages.
Pages fetched 8 October 2026. Method at the end.
Are blog comment links followed?
Not on a WordPress blog with default settings. WordPress core tags both kinds of comment link:
| Link in a WordPress comment | rel value added | Source in WordPress core |
|---|---|---|
| The commenter's name, linked to the website they entered | ugc external nofollow (ugc if it points to the same site) | get_comment_author_link() |
| A link typed inside the comment | nofollow ugc, added when the comment is saved | wp_rel_ugc(), since WordPress 5.3 |
That is what Google asks for. Its guide to qualifying outbound links says: "We recommend marking user-generated content (UGC) links, such as comments and forum posts, with the ugc value." The SEO starter guide tells sites to "make sure every link that's posted by users has a nofollow or similar annotation automatically added by your CMS." Google generally doesn't count tagged links for ranking; see do nofollow links help SEO.
One exception: Google says a site "might remove this attribute from links posted by members or users who have consistently made high-quality contributions over time." That is the site owner's choice for trusted regulars, not something a commenter can ask for.
Can blog commenting hurt your SEO?
Commenting to plant links can. Google's spam policies list "Forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature" as link spam, and list "Comment spam on blogs" as user-generated spam. If you bought a "blog comment backlinks" package, see link building scams and how to disavow backlinks.
What publisher pages show
MentionAgent's placement checker records every page where a user's outreach ended in a live link. On 8 October 2026 we fetched those pages and checked their comment sections:
| What we found | Share of pages |
|---|---|
| With a comment section or comment form | 17% (most using the WordPress form) |
| Showing at least one comment | 4% (26, 17, 1 and 1 comments) |
| Outside links inside comments | 27, all nofollow and ugc |
Most of these sites give you nowhere to comment: 83% had no comment section or form. All 27 comment links were on one travel guide, whose 17 comments linked to karaoke bars in Seoul, an online casino, a magic mushroom shop and an ID-checking service. On 94% of pages, the link our user earned was in the article body. How those in-article links were tagged is in do outbound links help SEO.
When commenting on blogs is worth it
When the link isn't the point. A specific, useful comment on a blogger's recent post is read by the author, and gives you something real to mention when you pitch them later. See how to collaborate with bloggers. Leave links out of the comment text unless one answers the discussion.
Do comments on your own blog help SEO?
Google hasn't said comments are a ranking factor. Its page on preventing user-generated spam warns that "Spammers often take advantage of open comment forms", recommends "adding a nofollow or ugc rel attribute to all links in untrusted content", and notes that moderation "can decrease spam on your platform considerably." Keep comments open if readers add to the discussion and you can moderate them; close them if they mostly attract spam.
What to do instead
Get a link in the article, placed by the person who wrote it:
- Pitch a page that fits the article. Offer a resource that backs up a point the post makes. See relevant backlinks and link outreach.
- Write a guest post. See our guest posting guide.
- Trade links with relevant sites. In moderation; see link exchange.
To see how a page tags its links, comments included, use MentionAgent's free nofollow link checker. For how many links you need, see how many backlinks do I need.
Get the link in the article, not the comments
MentionAgent finds blogs that write about your topic, pitches the page that fits each post, follows up, and checks the live link on the publisher's page. From $99/mo.
Start Getting Mentioned On AutopilotMethod
- Pages. Every page where MentionAgent's placement checker saw a user's link live between 26 September and 8 October 2026 (MentionAgent's own sales outreach excluded), fetched once on 8 October 2026 without running scripts. All but one loaded.
- Comment section. A standard comments container (such as
#commentsor a WordPress comment list) or comment form (#respond,#commentform, or a form posting towp-comments-post.php). Comments counted as WordPress or wpDiscuz comment items. - Comment links. Links inside comments to a different domain, avatars excluded, with rel read from the HTML.
- Limits. Comment systems loaded by script are not seen. WordPress behaviour is read from its core source (
comment-template.php,formatting.php) on 8 October 2026; plugins and themes can change it.
Frequently asked questions
Do blog comments help SEO?
Not as a way to get backlinks. WordPress tags comment links nofollow and ugc by default, and Google recommends the ugc tag for comments, so those links generally pass no ranking credit. Commenting can still get you noticed by the author and the page's readers.
Are blog comment backlinks dofollow?
Rarely. WordPress adds rel="ugc external nofollow" to commenters' website links and rel="nofollow ugc" to links inside the comment text. Some site owners remove the tag for trusted regulars, which Google allows, but that is the site's choice, not something a commenter can ask for.
Can blog commenting hurt your SEO?
Commenting to drop links can. Google's spam policies list forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature as link spam, and list comment spam on blogs as user-generated spam.
Do comments on my own blog help SEO?
Google has not said comments are a ranking factor. Its documentation treats them as user content to moderate, with links tagged nofollow or ugc. Keep comments if they add useful discussion and you can moderate them; close them if they mostly attract spam.
What should I do instead of blog commenting for links?
Ask for links that sit in the article itself: a resource that backs up a point the author makes, a guest post, or a link exchange with a relevant site. Those are editorial links, which carry no ugc tag by default.