... and how you can help! With millions of comments posted on Disqus across 191 countries, it should come as no surprise that not everyone using Disqus speaks the same language.

Welcome the Chapter 4 of our Ultimate Guide to Increasing Reader Engagement on Disqus! Catch up on the most recent chapter on hosting events. Thanks! If you want readers to start commenting on your site, it's not enough to just add comments and expect them to figure it out on their own. In this chapter, we’ll share five solutions to improve your readers’ commenting experience by addressing common barriers to increased engagement. Let’s get started.

Welcome the Chapter 3 of our Ultimate Guide to Increasing Reader Engagement on Disqus! Catch up on Chapter 2 on turning comments into engaging content. Events bring people together around a shared experience, creating a powerful sense of community. An event could be anything from a Q&A forum, a live video stream, or simply a place to hang out. As long as it involves a group of people gathered together by a common purpose, you have an event.

One of our favorite things to do at Disqus is talk with publishers about how we can help them grow. Frequently publishers tell us about their desires to grow their email subscription lists as a way to distribute their content directly with their readers. We took these insights and turned them into a new feature within Disqus. Starting today, publishers on our Disqus Pro and Business plans can now enable an email subscription prompt directly within the Disqus comment embed to allow their most engaged users to seamlessly subscribe.

Welcome the Chapter 2 of our Ultimate Guide to Increasing Reader Engagement on Disqus! Catch up on the latest from Chapter 1 on listening to your community. In 2015, New York Times Community Editor Bassey Etim was speaking on a panel about community building and moderation when he said: “We have to treat comments as content.”

You’re reading through your favorite site in the morning before starting your day. It's a normal part of your routine. You recognize the topics, content, articles and even the authors. But this time you see something new: a subscription prompt. It could be as simple as a kind request for you to support the site, maybe it's entirely optional, maybe it’s not. Or perhaps you’ve now been given 10 more articles to read free of charge, until being forced to pay or find a source of content.

When I first started my career in analytics, Data Analyst was declared the “Sexiest Job of the 21st Century.” Buzz around “big data” was on the rise as the most successful companies were increasing their investments in data and striving to foster data-driven cultures. This led to a high demand for data analysts and scientists who were needed to sift through that data in search of value. However, due to the lack of widespread data accessibility and transparency within companies, too often analyst work becomes frustrating and monotonous, consisting of one-off requests for stakeholders, data-validation, running similar queries over and over, and having co-workers compete for resources and prioritization. These inefficiencies keep companies from getting the most out of their analysts and make achieving the benefits of a data-driven culture more difficult.

Listening is the essential first step and establishes a framework for building strong relationships with your audience. Reciprocity is critical. A strong community includes both you and your readers. By listening to your audience from day one, you align the goals and expectations of both parties and ensure that you remain an embedded part of your community.

Your comments section provides a space for readers to participate in the conversation, learn from different viewpoints, and engage directly with you, the publisher. Whether you’re an aspiring movie critic or a growing local news destination, your publication’s success is driven directly by the relationship you have with your readers.

Over the summer we had our annual Disqus Hackweek. We already wrote about the projects that our team hacked away about. Now we want to hear from you:

At Disqus we have the privilege of supporting many of the web’s diverse communities. Today, we wanted to shed some light on one of our personal favorites, The Avocado, and share some insights that are applicable to all publishers.