Dreadful blogging mistakes!!??
For a blogger, the biggest challenge is to get the reader’s attention and have them spend much time on the blog. Given the current state of internet, where content sharing is too easy, you cannot afford to make any mistakes.
But I have committed few during 2013 and have learned the hard way. So here I am, sharing them with you all and giving sermon on what should not be done.
5 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid
1. Inconsistency
No one wants to read a post that was written 3 months back. I found that by not being consistent, my readers found the next best blog and moved there.
I also found out that I cannot write a daily post. Because it takes loads of efforts and the quality of writing suffers. And I do not want to waste my readers time by taking a look at some crappy content.
Actions planned: I am trying to push my writing and have the editorial calendar filled up for the entire month. The intention is to schedule posts early and stay ahead.
2. Bad blog design
The blog theme that I used earlier was good when the blog was launched. But over time, people wanted to read on devices and they hated to scroll. So I needed to adapt and I did during the later part of the year.
Lesson learnt: Change your blog design to a responsive design. The key trend in 2014 is going to be ‘Mobile’, adopt now!
3. Less Social Sharing
Earlier during the year, I just looked at 2 channels – Facebook and Twitter. I thought these channels are enough for me to get the required visibility and readers. I was so wrong. People are everywhere and you also need to be. I agree with Derek Halpern’s 80/20 rule. You need to be promoting your content at every possible place to gain maximum visibility.
4. Proper Headlines
One thing that hits the reader and compels them to look further is ‘headline’. I often missed the trick on having a ‘catchy’ headline and was not able to entice the readers, inspite of having some good content. And Jon Morrow’s Headline Hacks was a perfect help in that. Do not miss reading that when you want to craft that perfect headline.
5. SEO
Finally, the biggest blogging mistake. Lack of proper SEO techniques.
I had always listened to few experts telling write for humans and not search engines. I agree to that statement, but we all need some degree of SEO. Reason -> With content scattered around the web, applying proper SEO techniques will make your content discoverable. Irrespective of rankings, when people see your content on the search engines, the probability of them clicking it increases.
Actions taken: I have started using WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin apart from following basic SEO steps.
What other SEO mistakes did you notice on my blog? Please use the comment below and let me know.
