The ten mistakes listed
below are all very common mistakes, and if you are a blogger then you will be
hard pressed to honestly say you have never made at least one of these
mistakes. Each mistake also has a possible solution underneath it.
10 the Most Popular Mistakes All Bloggers Make
1 - Writing very long paragraphs
Doing this will make the
blog posts very difficult to read. It is not like reading from paper where text
may be squished into tiny areas. Digital text needs to be purposefully easier
to read, which means smaller paragraphs.
Just
don’t do it
Don’t write long
paragraphs. Split up your paragraphs when you are finished and either make the
content more concise, or use transitions between paragraphs so people can
follow the thread as if the paragraphs were still long.
2 - Not adding images to their blog posts
People don’t do it
because they do not think of it or they do not think it matters, but it really
does as it gives life to a blog post. And, an image is often what people use to
judge the content, so you need to make sure you have images.
Add
at least one image to each blog post
Make a point of adding at
least one image. It can be an image you took yourself with your own camera, or
drew onto your computer. It can even be a public domain/creative commons
license picture if you wish.
3 - Not using a scheduling tool
A scheduling tool is
something that all bloggers need. It makes it so that a blogger can plan posts
weeks in advance, and ensures that the blog is always posted at the correct
time and on the correct day. Not having one will rob the blog of a regular blog
posting frequency.
Find
a scheduling tool you can use
Make sure you find a good
one that does its job perfectly and allows you to schedule quite a few in
advance.
4 - Forgetting to update their RSS feed
This is a common mistake
that people truly make by accident. They will update their blog but forget to
write a line in their RSS feed and update it. This leads to RSS feed
subscribers wondering what is going on and not visiting.
Find
a scheduling tool that updates your RSS feed when it posts your blog
When you find your
scheduling tool from tip number 3, you should also find one that updates your
RSS feed too. When you upload your blog post to the tool you also add your RSS
feed description line, and the tool updates and posts on your behalf when the
time is right.
5 - Running out of ideas so they become boring
This is classic and the
mistake that all bloggers truly make. People start to slowly run out of ideas
or burnout, so they either quit or they go searching on Google for a new topic.
They often find one that is sufficient and create a twisted rewrite or
re-imagining. It makes for very boring reading and the blog often loses its
edge.
Plan
your blog posts weeks in advance
Doing this is going to
help identify when you are running out of ideas. You are then forced to deal
with your lack of ideas weeks before it actually becomes an issue; by which
time you will have probably come up with hundreds of new ideas.
6 - Changing the tone and style of writing
This often happens over
time without the writer even realizing it, and sometimes this is okay. It is
not so good if the writer does it every week, or every fortnight. It makes the
blog harder to follow and builds a very weak blogging brand.
Create
a blogging structure that you stick to
Set up a set of blogging
conditions or a blogging structure that keeps your style more uniform. For
example, if you are the host of a funny blog then vow to have at least every
third sentence say something funny. If you set up conditions such as this then
it is harder to deviate from a certain blogging style.
7 - Being apologetic for your opinion or content
This happens when a
blogger writes a post and then gets a lot of negative feedback from people on
social media or people on the comment section. The blogger starts to apologize
for comments or content and becomes increasingly conservative and apologetic in
the future (which makes for dull reading).
Know
that it is your blog and set your rules accordingly
You are the lord and
master of your blog because you are doing it for free. You are the boss because
you have no boss, which means all rules are your own. If your viewers do not
like it then they can go read the My Little Pony blog instead.
8 - Trying a little bit of black-hat SEO
It is very tempting to
try and stuff a few cloaked keywords into your blog, or to solicit for links.
It is even easier when you see how many people are advertising things such as
links for sale and Facebook “like”s for sale. But, the results are always the
same; i.e. the blog is penalized by Google.
Forget
shortcuts and work for long term goals
Remember the fact that
getting higher up the Google search engine results is going to take a long time
and that Google are well aware of all the ways people manipulate search
engines.
9 - Adding affiliate advertising and scaring off loyal viewers
Bloggers do this because
it is a way of monetizing a blog. They see that they are getting traffic and
see lots of adverts for how affiliate advertising makes a lot of money and how
exciting and fun it is, so they give it a go and scare off their loyal viewers.
Consider
your audience before you make your decision
Is there no other way
that you can make money with your blog? Does it have to be affiliate
advertising? The money you get for affiliate advertising is very little and
probably not worth scaring your loyal viewers off for.
10 - Changing the focus/topic of the blog
This often happens after
a blogger has run out of ideas and has started to push the limits of his/her
blog topic. It also happens when the blogger’s enthusiasm for a certain topic
starts to die off and he/she wants to try new things. He/she starts to dabble
with other topics, leaving the original blog topic out to dry.
Define
your blog topic and stick to it
You can always write
guest blog posts if you have other ideas that you want to spread around. You do
not have to put your newer off-topic ideas onto your own blog.
Author: Sonia Jackson. She provides unique and well-written posts for
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About Jimmie Luthra
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