I recently mentioned in a comment over at Derek Semmler dot com that I was considering making a post out of this and from the discussion that has been going on over there in regards to this topic, it just might be a good idea.

In his most recent weekly “Speedlinking” post, Derek posed the question “what does everyone think of using SEO keywords in the display name on comments?” and many of the comments on that post have been related to that topic. It has been interesting to note that the main people weighing in on the topic are people who do use keywords instead of nicknames when leaving comments as they are trying to defend their actions.

As stated over there, my personal opinion is that the purpose of a comments section is for community building, networking, and things of that nature. Due to this, I don’t feel that you should use the comments section of a blog (especially someone else’s blog) for SEO purposes. I feel that people should limit the display name they use in comments to their name, a nickname, or a site name with the first two being most preferred.

Even though people using keywords may be contributing to the site and leaving relevant comments, it just does not feel as personal when communicating with them as it would if they were to use a name or nickname and takes away from the experience a bit. Also, from personal experience, I am more likely to click-through to the site of a commenter (on my site and other people’s) after reading an interesting comment if they have a name rather than a keyword. In fact, there have been times I have read a comment and was going to visit the person’s site but upon seeing a keyword for the display name decided not to. I guess it makes me feel like I am going to get spammed with ads and pop-ups even though I know this feeling is unjustified.

One final bad thing was brought to my attention by one of the proponents of keyword display names over at Derek’s site. One individual said that they have to change the keywords on a regular basis because having a lot of links with exactly the same keywords can actually have a negative effect because it appears unnatural. That being said, if someone is continually commenting on the site using different “names” (keywords) it makes it that much harder for that person to become a known part of the community and for people to recognize who they are.

What are your thoughts on the practice of using keywords for your display name versus a name or nickname?