by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
(The Winner of the $25 Amazon gift card is listed at the bottom of the post!)
(The Winner of the $25 Amazon gift card is listed at the bottom of the post!)
Blogging can be a great way to build a platform and connect
with our audience—if we do it right.
Doing it wrong can often do more harm than
good.
Today I’m going to go over some beginner blogging mistakes we all need to
avoid.
Don’t Make These
Mistakes
1. Not having a focus
for your blog. One of the first things beginners do is write posts about
anything they’re interested in. They assume by having a little bit of
everything, they’ll appeal to a wider audience. Actually the opposite is true.
Blog visibility is built through SEO – search engine optimization. (Meaning
where a post or site shows up in an internet search.) When we write about
everything, search engines don’t know how to categorize the site because there’s
no consistency or focus. So we’ll show up toward the bottom of a search.
2. Not following a
schedule. Beginning a blog is a lot like opening a business. Our readers
are like our customers. They expect us to show up on a regular basis. When our
business doesn’t keep regular hours (posting on a schedule) then our customers
drift away. There are just too many other sites that have regularly updated
content for our readers to stay loyal to one that doesn’t. Beyond that, we
expect our readers to visit regularly. Isn’t it reasonable for them to expect
the same thing from us? One note:
I recommend you begin slowly—posting once or twice a week. It’s easier to keep
a schedule when it’s reasonable and blogging every day is tough to sustain.
3. Not using Your name as
the site URL. I know, you’re reading this on www.thewriteconversation.blogspot.com.
This is an instance of please learn from
my mistake. I should have opened this blog under www.EdieMelson.com. It would have given me
strong name recognition from the start and would have been much easier. Trust
me, this is experience speaking. It’s fine to have a cool blog name, but give
use your name for the URL.
Not spending enough time on blog post titles. |
4. Not spending enough
time on blog post titles. I spend as much or more time coming up with a
blog title than I do writing the entire post. It’s that important. We want our
blog post titles to be as close as possible to something someone would type
into a search engine to find our post. For this post, I could have chosen
something catchier for a title, like DON’T MAKE THESE MISTAKES. But that’s not something
someone would type into a search engine if they were trying to find out what
blogging mistakes to avoid. It’s fine to be clever with your headings or in the
body of the post. When you make sure your post title works with the search
engine, you’ll rise to the top faster.
5. Not having a way to
subscribe. We all want our audience to return again and again to read our
posts. The best (and often only) way to ensure that is by having them subscribe
to your blog. You need a way for them to subscribe through email sign ups and
through RSS. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what RSS is (it’s a way of
reading blogs through something called a reader). You still need a way to sign
up for those who only use readers. Generally that’s about thirty percent of
your audience.
6. Not having a way to
follow you on social media in your sidebar. People like to connect in many
ways—one of the big ones is through social media. This isn’t the little buttons
that often show up at the end of a post. What I’m talking about is a way for
the to connect with you on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.
7. Not including an
image at the top of your post. It doesn’t have to stretch across the entire
top of your post, but every post should have an image in line with the
beginning of the text—like this post does. This gives a welcoming feel to your
post and keeps the page from feeling like an entire page of text. It also helps
to include the title of the post on the image (called a meme). If you’re not
sure how to do that, here’s a screencast on how to add text to images.
8. Not keeping the posts
short enough. We are all way too busy, and that includes the audience we’re
trying to connect with. If we offer them long posts, they’re less likely to
read them. The optimum length is between 600 and 800 words. If they’re longer
than that, consider breaking them into parts.
Not ending a post with an open-ended question. |
9. Not ending a post with
an open-ended question or call to action. Most of us want people to comment
on our posts. It’s our responsibility to start that conversation ball rolling.
By asking a question, we give them something to respond to. If your posts are
more devotional in nature, often a call to action or request to share a similar
experience work just as well.
10. Not breaking up the
text with images, bold headings, bullet points, and lists. People are more
likely to read a post if they can scan it first to make sure it’s relevant to
their situation. Learn how to format posts with the computer and mobile reader
in mind.
- Short sentences.
- Short paragraphs.
- Bold headings, bullet points, numbered lists.
- Sans Serif fonts.
- Images that illustrate, instead of break up, the text.
These are ten common mistakes that will keep your blog from
success. Avoid them and it’s much easier to rise to the top in a world with
millions of blogging options.
What are some things you wish you’d done differently when
you began blogging? Or what are somethings you wish others would do
differently? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
TWEETABLES
And the winner of the $25 Amazon gift card is Linda Lee Williams! Please contact me through email (ediegmelson (at) gmail (dot) com) and I'll get the gift card to you.
Thank you to all who made my book launch a HUGE success!!!
It's always great to review these and make sure I am doing what I need to for my blog to make an impact. I usually find I have forgotten to include something. Thanks, Edie
ReplyDeleteBarbara, thank you! Blessings, E
DeleteEdie, I love your insights and I'm working on my blog. It's been a work in progress for way too long mainly because I have a hard time picking a niche. Thank you for the reminders.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chuckle. I know it was just a typo (I'm not picking - it really cracked me up) #3 - Not Using Our Name - If I had your name I would have a lot more followers. LOL.
Thanks for the smiles. I've been having a fun few days with weird things - my navigation decided she would navigate me to Nowhere the other day. She even pulled up Maps and started plotting my route.
Hope your day is as great as you've made mine. :)
Oh Diane! Thank you for the grace! I'm out of town and I usually give my post a once-over the night before it goes live and I didn't last night. Look what it got me! LOL! Blessings, E
DeleteMy biggest problem has been following a regular schedule. Oftentimes it's because I'm not sure what to write about. I know you've got those "crazy calendar days" every month, but wouldn't that break rule #1 about having a focus for your blog?
ReplyDeleteEllen, it wouldn't break rule #1 if you use them to write devotions about. Then the focus of your blog would be devotional thoughts and that would work! Blessings, E
DeleteThank you Edie. In going to print this off.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn, thank you!
DeleteTeri, I'm glad I was able to help"
ReplyDeleteGreat article. I'm on my way to checking off all these items, however, I'm confused about whether to have a subscription box IN ADDITION to a follow box. Should you have both or just the subscription?
ReplyDeleteToni, without visiting your site, I can't say for sure. Different sites call them different things. What's important is that people have a way to sign up to receive updates through email and RSS. If you have that box that has pictures of people who follow you, (Google Friend Connect) then that's worthless. If that doesn't answer your question, email me, ediegmelson (at) gmail (dot) com.
Delete