Have a WP site but not for any reason other than my designer said that it was a great way to go ( he is a social meda guy- Dan) anyway I post regular blogs (not sure why I do it but Dan said to do this) I pay someone to do this for me and al is well - I do get some comments but not sure if they are needed? Why would I need to approve or spam a comment? does it help in my rankings?
speak soon
Samantha
Comments make your web site more contacted with your readers, plus google considers it fresh content which is helpful to your site.
I suggest you keep the comments.
Just make sure you got akismet to block all the spam.
Comments are there for reader interaction and sometimes they point out useful stuff or feedback which you could use to improve your site
IMO, comments is also important it just a proof that you have a visitor that pays time to read your content, if someone gives a comment then they also interested in your site and they want to communicate to know more about you and your site.
PR doesn’t have anything to do with the content. You can make a blog and make it PR3 or PR4 without any content at all.
Blog should have comments. Blog and blog post is all about interaction. If there is no comment section then you might want to call it article instead.
BY the comments you can get the idea how much readers like your blog/site.
Its a best way to knw the real value of your blog .
Welcome to Sitepoint!
There’s no reason why you must have comments, it’s really down to you if you want them or not.
Comments are for interaction with your readers. If writing blog entries are time-consuming enough for you, then might as well close the comments section that you won’t be able to monitor anyway.
I don’t provide comments for articles on my site and it works fine like that, not least because I don’t like or use comment sections myself and don’t want to maintain one either. But different sites, with different subject matter and readership, might be…um…different! Maybe you could publish a poll on your blog and see what your readers want. Maybe some of the silent majority will say that they prefer to see comments sections even if they don’t post comments of their own.
I sounds like Dan is helping your rankings by keeping your site active. It is also a form of social media.
I agree that it depends on your site. I have several WP sites that the comments are turned off. But my main sites I always interact with my readers. It is a way to keep my readers coming back to my site.
When I first started my blog I didn’t want any comments because I didn’t want any SPAM. Then I tried needing registration to comment. I didn’t get any SPAM, but I didn’t get many comments either. Then after installing a few plugins I allowed them - but only visible after I moderate them.
This is what I still do. It does take a bit of time to do the checking and weeding out. But most of the comments I approve are OK and many are even helpful for the feedback they give me about my plugins.
True, the SPAM to legitimate ratio is like 9:1, but I have no problem keeping up with it at the present time. And for my blog the good comments are worth the trouble of dealing with the SPAM.
It goes without saying that comments are important, without interaction (read only sites) your visitors do not emotionally connect with what you produce (it’s a case of fly-by visiting). Building up a community of regulars and allowing them to communicate in various ways is pivotal to ensuring your stuff gains some kind of connection to the end user - to encourage returning. Thus, I would say turning off comments (despite the spam risk) risks alienating your audience. 
Yes, you want comments, lots of comments if you can get them. Look at TechCrunch. Think about how much longtail traffic they get from their pages and pages of comments. I did a search today for a longtail keyword and Mashable came up first, and the phrase I searched for was in the comments.
If you have time to moderate them, then yes, w/out a doubt you want comments on your blog.
Lets think beyond SEO - I love the conversations that happen within the comment areas of my blog posts… Sometimes comments are more interesting than blog posts themselves… especially when your readers get into a great debate! Now that’s community and that will get people to come back.
I like the interaction with my readers. I have some who comment frequently and have pretty good things to say. In my case comments are indeed important. With Akismet and an “eagle-eye” of mine on the comments it’s all just fine. I have to say I do see an increase in spam and it really annoys me, but it can still be managed and I don’t have to sacrifice “chatting” with my readers.
Its not necessary but comments show the popularity of your resource. If at any point of time you plan to monetize your blog, the sponsors would like to see the motivation to rent space on your blog. Comments are one obvious factor in showing your success. Also, remember the natural link building factor? people who love to comment on your blog, would refer it to anyone else as well.
comments show how much reader like your site. its a kind of feedback of your site or products. if readers are giving good comments on your website it will attract traffic to your website . so finally its a good way to attract traffic.
The more comments you have the more chance of getting traffic from the search engines. That traffic has a chance to become regular readers or to give you a link.
I say it is worth the effort.
It depends on your blog. If your goal is to have a little community and interaction in it, then comments is the way to go. However if you’re more inclined to just use the blog to back a website, or specifically for SEO purposes only, then disabling comments is the best way.
We don’t really need comments but if we do have some, it shows that people cares for our blog.
The answer for that is YES! =)
It will definitely help you get more traffic.