In case you’re interested in the latest on how Google views the comments on your content, Google’s Gary Illyes (a webmaster trends analyst) provided some insight in a conversation on Twitter.
Hat tip to Search Engine Roundtable for highlighting the conversation between Illyes and Jennifer Slegg of The SEM Post fame:
@methode The same applies to comments on blog posts, correct? Esp since we do see content in comments ranking (and helps show authority).
— Jennifer Slegg (@jenstar) April 27, 2016
@jenstar yep. In general if we see that there's a healthy, thriving community on a site, that can help a lot
— Gary Illyes (@methode) April 27, 2016
@methode Are there any other SEO ranking benefits for comments / thriving community beyond "quality content" aspect?
— Jennifer Slegg (@jenstar) April 27, 2016
@jenstar it feeds into general quality. Say, there's good content, 5 points, great links from great pages, 2 points, thriving community, 1pt
— Gary Illyes (@methode) April 27, 2016
Of course a “healthy” and “thriving” community in comments means good moderation. Too often, spammers and trolls ruin this, so if you can’t keep things “healthy,” there’s a chance your comments could actually hurt your pages in Google’s eyes.
Like Illeys said, it “feeds into general quality”.