The Engagement Illusion: Why Comments Don’t (And May Never) Equal Conversions

I did some analysis of my blog this weekend to look for a correlation between my search engine results, my most popular blog posts, the posts with the most comments, and the posts that actually resulted in revenue due to consulting or speaking engagements.

There was no correlation.

Reviewing my most popular posts, you’ll find a popular plugin, a couple of controversial topics, and one article about a really cool fact I discovered. Those posts lead the way for search engine results and also carry the most comments. However, those posts have only provided a trickle of dollars (and a couple of cups of coffee) to my pocket.

Vanity Metrics vs. Meaningful Engagement

Measuring success through engagement alone is a misleading practice. Vanity metrics like page views, likes, and comments may create an illusion of influence but often fail to translate into meaningful business outcomes. Corporate blogs frequently fall into this trap, assuming that engagement equates to effectiveness. But unless engagement directly contributes to conversions, it is nothing more than a distraction.

For example, about 1 out of every 200 visitors to my blog leaves a comment. A small percentage of those are snarky, the majority are from individuals I have personal relationships with, and very few, if any, translate into business opportunities. In fact, one of my largest contracts last year came from a post that demonstrated my proficiency in a specific technology. That post ranked well in search but had no comments at all.

Driving Conversions Through Content

The issue isn’t blogging itself. My blog has a solid readership, but I lack the consistency to produce content that drives conversions. Additionally, my site does not have a clear call to action that facilitates the conversion process.

Historically, I measured success by the number of RSS subscribers and engagement through comments. But I am rethinking that strategy. If I want to generate revenue and use my blog as a business tool, I must be intentional about targeting content that ranks for search terms relevant to my industry and offerings. More importantly, I need a structured approach to capture and measure those conversions.

The bottom line is that comments do not equal conversions, and they should not be the primary metric of success. Unless you can directly align engagement with a business result, it is simply a vanity metric. This doesn’t mean I don’t value comments—it just means I won’t use them as an indicator of my blog’s performance. The real measure of success is whether my content drives meaningful conversations that lead to business opportunities.