Comments by readers of your blog can be moderated by you in a number of ways. Your decision on how you will monitor comments will have a large impact on your overall blog. It is important that you keep in mind the pros and cons of your decision.

First and foremost, blogs that invite comments from readers are generally more popular than blogs that do not. Web 2.0 is all about participation on the web and people like to feel part of a blog community rather than just a reader of a one-sided blog.

For some businesses it may make sense to disallow comments, however, for the majority of businesses and personal blogs you should consider allowing comments from your readers.

Unrestricted Commentary

One option you can have on your blog is unrestricted commentary. This allows anyone to post comments on your blog with no moderation. Though this is the most open form of blogging it is also the most dangerous. You will undoubtedly find inappropriate comments and SPAM on your blog which can lead to problems with the search engines.

For the most part it is not a good idea to allow unrestricted commentary.

Registered User Commentary

One small but effective way to restrict the commentary on your site is to require the person interested in commenting to register for your blog with a valid e-mail address. This will prevent most spammers who want to post quickly and move on. It will also help prevent people from posting ridiculous comments on your blog. Some SPAM and ridiculous commentary will still get through.

Once someone is registered you can monitor their postings on your blog and ban them or block them if you find them posting inappropriate comments.

Approved Comments Only

Most bloggers choose the option of allowing only approved comments to appear on their blog. Basically you set up the blog so you are notified anytime someone posts a comment to one of your postings. The comment will not appear until you have reviewed it and actively approved it.

Requiring comment approval is a good way to both allow comments and protect the integrity of your blog at the same time. Most people familiar with blogging expect to have their comments reviewed before being visible.

Allow commentary on your blog in order to keep your readers active on your blog but choose the level of protection that works the best for your needs.