Promoting Your Blog …. Gravatar Avatar
We are doing a series on promoting your blog, today’s is about your Gravatar Avatar. I would like to tell you that ….. Gravatar comes from the Latin words for gravity and tar. -But you already know that is a bunch of crap. However the gravtar could help you have more gravity on the internet. Sounds impressive doesn’t it …. more on that later. We will cover what a Gravatar avatar is, why you need one, and how to get a Gravatar.
Promoting Your Blog – What is a Gravatar Avatar
So what is a gravatar? It is the small picture that you see next to a comment on a forum, blog post and other places. “G-r-avatar” actually means, “globally- 
recognized- avatar” It is a way for people to be able to recognize you. To put a memorable face with your words in their mind instead of a grey silhouette, or a blank spot. The gray spot is like meeting someone with a bag over their head, …. most people will steer clear.
It is a very good idea to use the same gravatar all around the internet in the places you can have one displayed. That is because it makes it easier for people to recognize and remember you,they see that you are all over the internet. Consistancy can be to your advantage until you get well known. Then it doesn’t matter so much. Ok I know for you creative types that seems boring just do it, and help people get to know you.
Promoting Your Blog – Why You need a Gravatar Avatar
Being recognized is one reason you need a Gravatar. The more that people see you face around the internet the more credibility that you will have. Last I check credibility is a good thing when it comes to promoting your blog. 🙂 …….. Well I should add an “if” about creditability, I am assuming you haven’t done a lot of things that could be seen as mean nasty stupid or lacking in integrity. Then you might want to change your gravatar. Change your name. ….. Move to another galaxy …. well ok you can stay …. I know I have done stupid things before. But hopefully the good out weighs the ….. ah you know ….the other stuff. 🙂 Let’s work on “promoting your blog” the way you “want” to be seen.
Some blogs won’t even accept your comments if you don’t have a gravatar.Others won’t read your comment without a gravatar. Talk about mean and nasty. 🙂 But because we need readers we will have to over look that for now and make them happy.
Promoting Your Blog – How to get a Gravatar Avatar
Getting a Gravatar is very easy and free:
- Go to www.gravatar.com and you will find the intructions they are easy to follow.
- You need to enter your email and a password. Use an email that you want to use for posting comments around. The same one makes it easier.
- Upload your picture from your computer that you have chosen. Than you can crop it to how you want it
- Be sure to go to “your account” and fill in your profile Or edit your “profile”. This always helps. Make sure you enter your web site if you have one in the “link” section of your profile. Some may argue that it isn’t a very strong link, but it is another link.You never know what it can do for you… so make sure to fill it in, and save it. So you will be promoting your blog with your Gravatar avatar.
There you have it. Now we are going to open it up for comments. The what, why and how of Gravatars. Let me know if I missed any thing about Gravatars. Now make sure you have a Gravatar so you are memorable and to get your self known. That is all part of promoting your blog with your Gravatar avatar.
Looking to your Success,
Stephen Peters
p.s.Leave me a comment….. I love to hear and read you thoughts and feelings. Be sure and sign up for my email list over in the side column. Just enter your email and click “sign up now”.
p.p.s. To read the first in this series – Promoting your blog – click promoting your blog – email, Or read about How to get more money.
I am one of those who don’t enjoy approving comments if you don’t have your gravatar set up. The reason is because I enjoy connecting with people over at my blog. I can’t do that if I can’t see the person I’m speaking with.
I do have some that I will let slide though. If I’ve connected with you on another platform and when you visit my blog I learned that you don’t have it set up. I’ll do my best to convince them.
I also have some friends who would rather stay incognito and they have their reasons whether I approve or not. I still like them and want to stay connected so I’ll continue to accept them. But overall, no. I want to see the person I’m chatting with and it free, simple and easy to set up. Really, there should be no excuses Stephen. You’re making it so easy for them here.
Thanks for this great and informative post.
Hi Adrienne,
Thank you for chiming in. And showing the thoughts behind not approving comments without a Gravatar. Your so good at expressing your self.
Come to think of it, when making the decision to approve a comment there is a hesitance when there is no Gravatar. So why leave a barrier when it is so easy to remove it!?
~Stephen
Hey Stephen,
Gary Vaynerchuk in this book “Crush it!” highlights on the idea that every single person on the internet should think of themselves as brands.
And your Avatar is your logo (your own very unique logo) like the partly eaten apple for Mac. 🙂 . Put it everywhere you can with a nice content (comment) attached to it, let people know that you ARE.
Excellent share!
best
Akos
Hi Akos,
I agree that the “Avatar is your logo”. Thank you for making that Point. You have a great way of wording it.
My Best,
Stephen
Hey Stephen I was writing a “Gravatar” post when I got your comment and saw your last post. I of course had to head over to read it! 🙂
Another benefit (Which is what prompted my writing) is that a Gravatar can actually “Save” your comment rather than having it go to waste (along with the time you invested to write it).
Akismet seems to be on a rampage lately and spamming legitimate comments and I’m having to go through my spam folder daily (which is a good idea anyway) and rescuing the valid ones while ignoring the bogus ones.
A comment that has a Gravatar attached to it stands out clearly when I’m doing this process and has a 100% chance of being rescued while the ones without have a better chance of blending in with the spam comments.
I wanted to say thanks for visiting my site, and also for introducing me to yours!
Hope you have a great week!
Hi Warren,
Good point about non Gravatars getting lost in spam when using Akismet. that really helps.
I recently quit using Akismet and switched to G.A.S.P. plug-in. It is part of the CommentLuv Medley of plug-ins. Wow has way simplified the spam folder for me. Way less time involved. More accurate to boot.
Thank you for comming to my site and leaving a very thoughtful comment.
My Best,
Stephen
I’m using Gail’s plugin also, but recently my spam jumped through the roof so reactivated Akismet. So right now you’re only using G.A.S.P and not getting slammed with spam?
Right! Only G.A.S.P. I had to go over and check my spam folder. 🙂 Only one spam there. You have a higher PR than I do. Maybe it has to do with ranking for the keywords that spammers are looking for?!
What kind of spam went up? You got me wondering what to look out for. I would love check any other differences.
I’m not using Premium yet, but I see there are some great advantages to having it.
Keep me posted. I am really interested.
Hi Stephen,
The reason the GrowMap Anti-spambot plugin exists is because Akismet blacklists all our best commenters. Even when you delete it and use GASP, WordPress sometimes STILL puts some comments into spam (including my own on my own blog!!) – but at least by blocking all the spambots you can FIND the real comments in your spam folder.
Just to clarify, GASP is part of CommentLuv Premium and is also available as a standalone free plugin. I’ll put a link to additional information about it in the regular Website field which will link to it from my name.
Hi Gail,
Wow I am so pleased to have the main guy over at G.A.S.P. commenting on my blog. Thank you Gail for dropping by and letting us know what it is that GrowMap Anti-spambot plugin is designed to do.
I am delighted with how GASP has gotten rid of all my bot spam. You are always welcome here Gail, love to here what you have to say.
Just to clarify Gail’s link for addional info on GASP is on his Logo image above.
~Stephen
Hi Warren,
The usual reason your spam can jump is because you got pagerank on posts and those end up on lists that spammers trade and sell OR they put you on one of their DoFollow lists – again, that spammers trade or sell.
GASP blocks most bots but not human spammers. At least if you use Akismet with GASP you can FIND the real comments among the spam. When GASP first got released I was getting 1000+ spam PER DAY and it dropped that to ~40 so ~960 of my comments were left by bots.
Some bot programmers are making a point of trying to crack GASP so if we see that happening let me know you think a bot or plugin is hitting you so I can let Andy know and hopefully he can lock them out again.
Hey Gail, great to see you. 🙂
I think G.A.S.P. should have a feature that allows us to say “Block this website” I find myself unapproving the same people daily (though I add them to my wordpress blacklist)
I love using G.A.S.P
I hate using Akismet! LOL
Like yourself when I first switched to GASP (Back when you first wrote about it) my spam dropped to a handful from hundreds. It’s only the last few months that it came back. (I’m now using GASP and Akismet) and Akismet seems to have finally figured out that I’m not spamming my own blog! 🙂
I’m getting slammed with the exact same comments from certain sites (Like Prefrd dot com) so I don’t think they are manual.
I think this will be an ongoing fight (Spammers vs. us) for some time to come, but I think it should be a simple thing to add a feature that allows us to a. whitelist our regular commenters, and b. blacklist spammers.
Hope you had a great week Gail
Spam that went up was not related to me at all! LOL
Coach bags, NFL jerseys, etc. Mostly junk stuff. I kept adding urls to my blacklist, but each day I’d have about 50 new ones and it was taking up too much time. Now I’m rescuing the legitimate ones (hoping Akismet figures it out soon) but even that only takes a few minutes in the morning.
I even went and check if there might be a new version of G.A.S.P (mine is V 1.1)
Akismet will NEVER figure out the difference between real comments and spam because bloggers have no idea and they click spam for all kinds of reasons. I’ve had them tell me they think spam is:
1) Any comment they don’t like
2) Comments from people they already know
3) Any comment that has a link
I’ve even seen blogs with KeywordLuv installed that will flag you as spam for using it. So there is no way that we are not all going to end up flagged as spammers.
That Akismet was letting so much objectionable bot spam through makes me wonder if they weren’t getting paid to do that. Hard to believe they couldn’t block that kind of stuff if they wanted to do it.
Warren, 50! That is a lot! My G.A.S.P. version is 1.1.1
I was checking around and Ana Hoffman is a pr4 and she say’s she only uses G.A.S.P. and has very little spam. She uses Premium CommentLuv. Don’t know if that is a difference or not.
I just tried turning Akismet back off, (hour ago) and have ten spam comments already that G.A.S.P. approved.
Ana gets a ton of traffic too! Hmm, I just assumed you all were getting slammed as hard as I am, but it looks like not. I wonder if I have a defective G.A.S.P.
Going to try and reinstall it and see if it helps.
I’ve been hearing some great stuff about Premium Commentluv, are you using it yet?
Hi Stephen,
I also wrote a post how to create your own brand avatar.
If I don’t know the person without a face I don’t see it as a real comment.
When I see faces in the comment area it just make me curious what they have said.
Thanks for sharing,
SANDY
Hi Sandy,
I really appreciate you coming by. You refered to the avatar as “your own brand avatar” I like that. I often think the avatar as a logo which is the same as your “brand”. Great comment!
My best,
Stephen
Here is a question for you Stephen, or Sandy. (Or anyone else for that matter)
One thing I’ve struggled with decision wise is do I use my logo (as I’m currently doing) in order to help brand my blog, or is it smarter to use my actual picture?
I’ve read and can relate to both sides of the argument and realize the benefit of wanting to connect with a “real” person vs. a brand but just thought I’d see what you guys and gals thought!
Hey Warren,
Yeah, there really isn’t a one size fits all that tends to touted out there.
It all depends on what is the most important for you to promote. What is most important for people to recolonize? You or a company?
I prefer the personal touch with the picture for blog commenting. Is the comment coming as a company memo singed by the management? Or is it from someone that I can relate to and have a conversation with and care about?
If the personal touch isn’t as important then the logo rout would seem better to me.
Well there you go my thoughts. It boils down to what is the most important to you and your business model.
My Best,
Stephen
The usual advice is to use a photo – but as I often am I am the contrarion on that. I remember logos but very few faces register with me. Many places they use tiny versions so in a sea of tiny faces none stand out – while a well designed logo can’t be missed.
I personally do not want my photo plastered across the Internet for many reasons and I also prefer to judge a person by what they accomplish instead of appearance. Few realize how much we are affected by conditioning regarding how someone should look.
I often VERY surprised by someone’s appearance when I finally come across their image somewhere because pink hair on women, super short spiky bleached hair on men, revealing clothing – none of these will ever be “normal” for me.
The most brilliant and talented programmer I know shaves his head, often has a full goatee, ear rings, and rides a Harley while I was picturing a clean cut guy in a suit because he is in management with a major corporation.
First impressions DO affect what people think. I prefer to know someone by what they care about, what they’ve done and how they write – not what they look like.
Hi Gail,
Thank you for your input on the Gravatar debate. You have some great insight and perspectives. What it really boils down to is that there really isn’t one answer that will fit every one. None of us are the same (thank God 🙂 ). Nor should we be. That is one thing that is so delightful about people. You just don’t know what to expect.
I think what we really want to achieve is to stand out. And to show why people should pay attention to us. Whether that is done with a picture with spiky hair ….. a logo with green slim that gets all over you if you touch it. …… Oh wait….. our technology hasn’t got that far has it?! 🙂
So the question is how can you stand out without losing the people you want to attract? Or is it how do you lose the people you don’t want to attract?!
I would love to hear or see more questions, answers,
perspectives on this.
~Stephen
Great advice. I’ve got one! Not sure I’m too happy with it, might change it but then again then would go against what you are saying as it is already out there. Do you know if I changed the Gravatar image, would it update in previous places that it appears?
Hi Alan,
So glad to connect with you. You have it right. Change your Gravatar and it will be updated every where. It might take a little while where some sites are cached but as soon as the are updated it is all your new picture. Kinda cool to be able to change as needed.
I have no problem with changing your avatar every so often. The problem is when people want to change to a new one once a week. That is more of a “no no” until you are well known, then you can change more often without the dramatic affect of “who is this person?”
Thank you for coming by and commenting.
My Best,
~Stephen
Stephen
Gravatar is one of the cost free and very effective way of branding yourself online, yet many are unaware or just not tapping into it. As there are countless numbers of people on the internet, Gravatar makes it easy to be able to put faces to names.
Thanks for sharing this post.
Remi
Hi Remi,
So glad to see you here. I recently lurked and commented on your blog. You have put in a lot of work there and it looks like it is paying off.
That is kind of cool that the Gravatar is freee isn’t it. It seems like it could cost to have….. glad it doesn’t. Thanks for your comment!
My Best,
Stephen
Hi Stephen, a Gravatar is no guarantee that a person is on the level, but I sure like to see one before I approve a comment. All I use is GASP, so I only get “human” spammers, but I have been getting some weird ones lately that are getting blocked by something called STBV. I’m glad they get blocked because these are really out there, downright, full on spam.
Hey Astro,
What is it about a picture that makes it easier to approve? Oh well -most of us are affected by it, the pictures that is.
So sorry your getting hit by weird human spam. So far I have been fortunate on a low spam count since using CommentLuv / GASP.
My Best,
Stephen
Hey, Stephen, it’s not so much the picture, it’s that the person has 1) taken the time and made the commitment to make a Gravatar, and 2) most spammers don’t. I had robot spam like crazy (and was so green I was replying to it!). GASP stopped it cold. Before that I had installed a captcha, a simple math problem. The really weird ones started about the time my site ranked PR2. So you have something to look forward to!
BTW thanks for the compliments and stopping by my site. This funny Irish toasts post (below) got 774 hits in one day, and now my traffic is back to about 100 a day. Now I have to write something new!
Hey Astro,
I’ve responded to spam also. When your new your delighted that any one has read your stuff. Well actually I still am delighted, …and sorta new…….but don’t tell any one…..OK? 🙂 It might ruin my image!
Glad to give you kudos and visit your site. That Irish stuff you did is hilarious. Congrats on getting all the traffic.~Stephen
Great post, Stephen. I think it’s very important to have a Gravatar so people can see what you look like. I have one registered, but for some strange reason it doesn’t show up when I leave posts. I’ll have to figure out why. Thanks for sharing.
Chuck
Hi chuck,
Yes the Gravatar is really important for getting noticed. As far as your Gravatar not showing up. ……..The first thing I would look for is to make sure the email address you registered your Gravatar with is the same one that you are commenting with. You can register a Gravatar for each email if you chose. If that doesn’t clear it up let me know.
My Best,
Stephen
Great post Stephen.
I am currently working on a different Gravatar for my site but I am not sure where to go. I just got done working on my new Facebook Timeline so I want to put more work into my site before I take more time trying to figure out what kind of Gravatar I want.
I have thought about using a simple face shot, similar to yours. Being that most people would not recognize me, would you still say that a face shot would be a good idea?
Welcome here Adam!
There are different things that get attention. You can do it with an eye catching logo or photo.
Some people prefer a logo because there aren’t as many so they can stand out. There are those that do well with a logo. I prefer a picture because it gives a personal touch and the more you use it the sooner people will start to recognize you.
As far as pictures go it seems that many are dark and are predominantly brown in color. I would suggest that you make sure the picture be light and easy to recognize as exclusive to you. W heather that means changing the background adjusting the lightness of the picture. what about useing the colors of your blog or face book page. If you aren’t comfortable changing those things use someone who is.
Hope that helps,
Stephen
hey Stephen! its about time i must change my Gravatar Avatar after reading your cool and amazing post. i generally dont approve comments of people who actually dont have a Gravatar. Gee how can one speak to a person without a picture? fascinating post.
Thank you for stoping by Sunil. I understand what your saying. No Gravatar can be like talking to a vague gray cloud…. now that could be interesting …… never tried that. 😉 Thank you for the kudos. ~Stephen
Thank you for sharing this very helpful and interesting post with us, it is going to help a lot of people promote there blogs including me. I really enjoyed reading your post.
Your welcome Andrew. That is what is about. To make sure that when we take the time to comment that it has it’s best chance to be interesting and engaging. My Best ~Stephen
Real pictures make you real. Logos make you, well, a logo. Logo’s are good for companies but pictures are best for people.
Enjoyed the article. be well.
Hey Morris,
I agree. It all depends on what you need to promote. I think the personal touch has the edge that most bloggers need. But there are others that are very successful using logos. A logo is way better than a gray silhouette and could be better than a picture. It all depends on how engaging it is. My Best ~Stephen
Stephen
Your tips are on point dude. I find that comments that don’t have the gravatar attached just don’t hold the same weight as those with a pretty mug next to them. Thanks for the post !
-To your Success
Benaiah
I think the same way Benaiah. My Best to you. Stephen
Great job on this post, Stephen! Thanks for sharing!!! Karen
Your welcome Karen.
Great post, Stephen!
Thank you Doug
Glad you shared this, Stephen. I always learn something new from you!
Great post, Stephen! Thanks for sharing. I’m bookmarking! ~ Sandy
Awesome post, keep it coming Stephen
Terrific post, Stephen!
This is some terrific content once again Stephen! Thank you for giving back to the community! – Akos
Stephen killer article thanks for sharing Promoting Your Blog â¦. Gravatar Avatar
Wow, good stuff! Appreciate you sharing this onehttp://www.blissful-adventures.com
Great content in this article thanks for sharing Promoting Your Blog â¦. Gravatar Avatar
Thanks for sharing!
Awesome content,Stephen! It is always a pleasure to read your informative posts, my friend!
Having a gravatar is kind of like having a business in a building with a sign on the door as opposed to doing business out of the trunk of a car. Not saying there aren’t legitimate business deals available from the trunk of a car. But the odds seem better when you’re dealing with someone who’s made a modest investment in some semblance of permanence.
Astro, good comparison. ~Stephen
Stephen Thanks for posting. Nice Article
Valerie….. nice to see you here! Thank you for taking the time to comment. I assume you made the move to Florida and hope all is well with you, … been a while sense talking to you. ~Stephen
And the pic that promotes this post, the scrunchy old dude, is hilarious.
Thank you for noticing David. I think change that one to my Gravatar. 🙂
I’m really surprised when I see that most bloggers don’t have their gravatar on. I’m the word go I simply loved the idea of showing up your gravatar (best with your personal picture as a blogger) on the comments. It’s really a great way of branding yourself and making more meaning.
Great article, really. I have just taken my Gravatar. Thanks Stephen!
Good for you Shiful, your Gravatar look really good…. ~Stephen
Cheers Stephen!
Yup, absolutely gotta get the ‘gravatar’ sorted! Nice simple step-by-step article about how to do it! Ideal! 🙂
~Robin~
Hi Stephen Peters!
Very informative article on Promoting blog smartly!
Really, it is very effective to build good relationship with others in online having good looking real profile!
Thanks a lot for sharing!