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10 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

Tue, Mar 17, 2009

Blogging Techniques, Blogging Tips, Link Management, Newbies Starting Out, Search Engine Optimization, Traffic, Website Promotion, Work From Home

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The author of this post is Salwa, a digital artist, web designer, blogger and online entrepreneur from U.K. London. She is a writer and webmaster of blogriffic.com, a blog devoted to Search Engine Optimization, Art, Design, WordPress and Blogging in general. There are more than 100 million blogs up and running today, and millions of them are run poorly. Many bloggers, even the experienced ones, make simple mistakes that cost them greatly in the end. Mistakes can lead to readers leaving your blog, which is a nightmare for any blogger. In order to help out people who are new to blogging, or those who think they may be doing it wrong, I have compiled a list of the top 10 mistakes that bloggers make.

1. Over-advertising

Over-advertising is an instant blog killer. It is fine to run some small, tasteful ads within your content and in the area surrounding it. However, when I see a blog that has 3 Adsense blocks, Chitika, banners, and affiliate offers, all crammed together, I leave. I have no patience for blogs cluttered with advertisements, and neither do most people. Just remember that when it comes to advertising, keep it tasteful, and you will probably see better results anyways.

2. Duplicate content

Duplicate content, or copied content, not only hurts your rankings in Google and other search engines, but it is pointless. Why would someone read your blog if the exact same article was on another site? What would be the point? You should make all your posts original and fresh, even if you are just regurgitating old news, at least put it in your own words.

3. Selling/giving away user information

This is a big no-no. Many blogs have a newsletter or RSS feed that requires users to submit their email address. Emailing your readers personally, even if it has advertisements in it, is fine, as long as you do it sparingly. However, spamming readers, or worse, selling their information, will instantly decrease your readers’ trust in you. People are smarter than you think, and many people will be able to trace the spam they receive back to you and your blog.

4. Including too much personal opinion

Personal opinion is fine, but keep it civil, especially when you are talking about religion or other touchy subjects. Don’t post anything that could offend someone badly.

5. Becoming argumentative

No matter how good your content is, there will always be negative contents. One huge mistake many bloggers make is arguing with the commenter’s. This is not only hurtful to your blog, it is also quite pointless. If you feel that the comment was unwarranted, call the person on it, but again, keep it civil. Ask them why they feel that way, but never attack them personally.

6. Ignoring readers

Blog readers these days want to interact with the blogger. They will often send emails or leave comments on your posts. Your job as a blogger is to satisfy your readers, whatever it takes. Reply to their emails courteously, and if you can help them with a problem, do it.

7. Poorly-written posts

I, along with most of the world, absolutely hate poorly written blog posts. If a post is barely understandable, written in half-English, no one is going to want to read it. Your attempts are futile if you cannot write understandably. Even if you include helpful resources and information, it won’t do any good if no one can read it! If you don’t consider yourself to be a good writer, you have two options: one, hire a writer, and two, allow users to submit posts. The first option is probably the best, but can also be expensive. Opening your blog to the public can work well, but it also lowers your authority sometimes.

8. Boring/generic design

Despite what many people think, the quality of your posts is not everything. If you plan on building a blog for the long run, invest in a good design now. You can find skilled designers online who will design and code a WordPress theme for you, or a normal HTML/CSS design. Alternatively, you could simply hire someone to do a header, and replace the header on a free WordPress theme. If you don’t want to spend money, find a top-notch free theme. There are thousands out there to choose from, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding one that fits your blog.

9. Disrupting normal patterns

When your blog gains readers, those readers expect new posts regularly. Now, I understand that we are all human and posting every day is unrealistic, but I also understand that if you don’t update your blog regularly, you will lose readers. You don’t have to post daily, but try to maintain at least 2-3 posts per week, the more the better. If you are going on vacation or will be unable to post for a while, simply make a post on your blog explaining the situation, and noting when you will begin posting again. Your readers will understand.

10. Pop-ups/malicious code/inappropriate advertisements

Another massive mistake that some bloggers make is thinking that using a few pop-ups or allowing malicious ads won’t affect their blog. The truth is that even one little popup can discourage a reader from ever returning to your site again. I know you want to build your list, but popup asking for an email address is not necessary. If users are interested in signing up to your newsletter then they will take the time to find the submission form. The second part of this is malicious code or advertisements. I have seen only a few blogs doing this, but the ones that were I immediately blocked. Some webmasters allow malicious codes or advertisements on their site. This is a huge mistake. Even if you get paid a lot for displaying a pop under or another shady advertisement does not mean it is worth it. In the end you will lose readers and probably make much less than you would have over time. I should also mention inappropriate advertisements. I am speaking mostly of pornographic ads on a non-pornographic site. If you blog is an adult blog with material related to porn, go ahead and post porn ads. However, if your blog is not adult based, you should never display pornographic links or advertisements. If you like what Salwa has written, do head over to her Blogriffic blog to learn more or simply subscribe to her RSS feed for more updates.

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This post was written by:

Peter Lee - who has written 211 posts on Work From Home Business Blog. A Legitimate Home Internet Business researching work at home ideas this blog was started by yours truly, an ex-banker running a home business helping others start and grow their business, finding new ways to make money online. Read More About Me

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  • great tips! i already heard some of them in other blogs. some of them are new to me. thanks for sharing with us.
  • @jackMWU: My pleasure, glad that you could use some of them.
  • damn i think i did a lot of this mistakes :) now i have to post some article to do it better than before :)
  • Yeah poorly written posts can let your visitors to click on the cross button...:) secondly if u are giving links to any affiliate marketing website dont mention it like u are doing marketing for another company...but to write it in a way that reader get some knowledge from it
  • Great post.It really contains valuable information.Thanks for sharing.
  • These are pieces of very useful information that will be of great use for me in future.Thanks for sharing.
  • Thanks for sharing the great worth meaning information with us.
  • I'm really guilty of number 9. I had some recent success with StumbleUpon, but I couldn't really capitalise on it because I didn't have a blog post ready and probably won't until Sunday. I think my best way of covering this up is the depth of my posts though.

    Looking through the analytics data from my site, I may be right. When there's a new post that is the most visited page, but when there isn't people come to the homepage and bounce when nothing new is there. I wish they'd subscribe to my RSS feed!
  • Very helpful tips indeed. Thank you Salwa!
  • Really Great list of mistakes, which is must need to be avoid.
  • @online money earning: Glad you found these tips helpful to you. Stay in touch.
  • I just started a work at home and this information will help alot. Especially the part about ads on your site. Now I know not to overdue it, and I was well on my way to doing just that. Thanks for the information.
  • Thanks. All of us are still learning from ours and others' mistakes to be better.
  • @Work At Home: We are all learning aren't we in this journey. Hope to see you around.
  • Some excellent points there Peter!

    Glad to see that I wasn't guilty on any of them! :-)
  • @Tatoo kits:
    Thanks for dropping by.
  • Well, content duplication is a very popular issues to which people ignore. It is good if you create your own content but still it will be a case of content duplication if someone copies your content and used on another site. Publishing your content on free web publishing sites like squidoo and hubpages or on article directories will lead to content duplication issue. This way if their site is fully optimized then they will get all the profit from your content. It is always better to submit your site only to RSS feed directories as if any vistor will subscribe your site they will get your content directly in their mail box.
  • Very good point, higher authority sites will rank higher with your own content. This is why I always spin my articles before sending them so directories to make the article unique therefore giving out a lot of link juice.
  • As a new blogger these tips are invaluable with regards to pointing one in the right direction..Thank you for revealing this information ..so glad to have found this site.
  • Some very important points highlighted..malicious code?//...a certain no.no ,not answering comment questions,to much monetized clutter...
    Keep blog sticky with relevant content and everying will come together...Thanks for the great info..
  • #1 is the most crucial, because 'the blogger needs to choose a fine line between maximizing his/her profits versus displaying 'eye-sores' on their blogs.
  • Excellent blogging tips, I'm still very much learning so is much appreciated.
    Just out of curiosity, is this your only blog or do you have others?
    Thx again!
  • Thanks for sharing those 10 valuable points. I still newbie in this field, so this guide pretty helpful for me. Keep posting!
  • One should definitely keep these things in mind that they should creat problems and should not be done while blogging. I think # 3 should not be done hardly as if you have duplicate content then there is no value of it and it might be dangerous too for decreasing ranking too.
  • Hi,

    I just dig some great post in this blog. I agree, it makes me feel irritated on blogs that are full of advertisements. I also feel discomfort on blogs that pops up advertising tactics on its page.
  • I don't really think one optin popop would be soo bad, it's just a matter of relevancy. It shouldn't be too obstructive and it should be something that would interest your readers.
  • uhmm, how many post do you have to make for a week?
  • If you are starting out then I would suggest you to make at least one new original article every single day for the first few weeks, then when you get traffic coming in you can start to reduce the number.
  • Those are true! specially to number 5, arguing with visitors kicks them away. Thanks for those tips, very helpful.
  • Very good points here, Peter. I actually don't mind advertising as long as there is useful and helpful content. It helps to have the ads targeted towards what the blog is about, though. I guess it can get out of hand, but it's not a huge issue with me.

    My pet peeve is blog owners who don't take the time reply to comments left by others. It shows a lack of appreciation towards their readers.

    One thing I could argue is over duplicate content. Yes, for the most part, duplicate content will only hurt your blog and serves no real purpose. However, I know firsthand that if you are in a certain niche, then duplicate content isn't an issue at all. Good rankings, targeted traffic and revenue can come from it, but as I said, it depends on the niche. The make money online niche... no way!

    Great post as always.

    Alan
  • Dan
    If you want people to keep coming back to your blog, these are great ideas. Most people need to be reminded that you need to build a relationship with their blog readers before they start trying to monetize to much. If you give your readers a lot of valuable free content that will help to build trust with them first.
  • Salwa, great top ten list! I see you say NO to duplicate content but so many others today say there isn't anything behind it and we shouldn't worry about it.The thing that gets me is if duplicate content is nothing to worry about why did Google come out with a duplicate content meta tag?
  • If you have duplicate content on your blog, the search engine ignores your post and ranks the site with the higher rank. Just say I post a post on my blog, and I put that same article on EzineArticles, then google will rank EZA higher than mine even though it was the original content, this is because EZA has a higher PR.
  • Medical Billing Trainer,

    Thank you, glad you like my list and yeah you are right with your question about the meta tag plus they is so much different opinions and information going on all over the blogosphere If you should use duplicate content or not but if you ask me It is better to be safe than sorry so just stay away from it!

    Thanks for your comment, appreciated!
  • Pop up is a real killer for me and I am surprised the so many so called 'popular' bloggers like JohnChow use it. He even says how these obnoxious things improve his subscriptions and stuff. I know I've never subscribed to anything that used a popup. I don't even read them.

    <abbr>Sires last blog post..Rewarding Top 10 Members Of Cool Blog Links</abbr>
  • Some great advice here. It is annoying to go to a blog and you have to search for the article in between all the ads! I'm all for monetizing a blog bit come on! :-)

    Poorly written posts and posts that seem to have been "rushed" hurt a blog too. I think people do that sometimes trying to keep up with what they've read somewhere that you have to put up a post every single day.

    Thanks for the article! Good stuff!

    <abbr>Keiths last blog post..16 Symptoms Of A Successful Person</abbr>
  • Thank you Keith for your comment. It is much appreciated!
  • Hi Peter,
    I've just checked my blog stats and I've had a few visits to my blog from this post.

    Comments do bring in some traffic.
  • @James: Well that's already a known fact and you get even better responses if you're seen to be always contributing good quality comments.
  • Exactly, if you get in some quality posts, then readers will most likely want to find out more about you, thus clicking on your link.
  • Wonderful post. Gives good idea about what not to do on a blog. Thank you so much for sharing. I will keep in mind these point for future.
  • Peter,

    You welcome! and thanks for commenting :=)
  • Good ideas, I should take them to note.
    Thanks for sharing!

    I have several blogs and this info will help me in future.

    See you!
  • Wisp,

    Glad I could help!

    Thanks for commenting :=)
  • Great list of blogging mistakes, thanks for sharing!

    <abbr>Latest Gadgetss last blog post..Microsoft Releasing Internet Explorer 8</abbr>
  • That's an excellent post. A lot of people forget that blogging is first and foremost about writing and content. Good content should guarantee a lot of visits.

    <abbr>Make Money Onlines last blog post..ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income</abbr>
  • Make Money Online,

    Thank you for commenting. Much appreciated!
  • Very nicely written post! Poorly written posts are probably the number one reason I would stop reading a blog. Spelling and grammar are really important to me, and on top of that, some people do not bother to write with any sort of style or personality.

    Thanks for the awesome list.

    <abbr>Corey Freemans last blog post..30 Post Ideas for Writing Pillar Articles</abbr>
  • Thank you Corey!
  • Hi Salwa, look nice when see your comment at here and at my blog ^_^

    <abbr>clickktdotcoms last blog post..How To Optimize For Wordpress Blog</abbr>
  • Salwa, you did a nice job with this top ten. I would say duplicate content is definitely a big no-no. As you said, it is useless and will destroy your google ranking quick. The inappropriate advertisement mention is true as well. My brothers joined an ad-network, though I can't recall its name off the top of my head, that was working out great only to start featuring very racy, sexual ads, which really turned off a lot of users because they were accessing the site while at work. Talk about trouble with the boss.

    <abbr>Hip Hop Musics last blog post..Cookin’ Soul - Notorious B.I.G. Tribute NODJ Tracks</abbr>
  • Hip Hop Music ,

    With the "inappropriate advertisement" yeh thats what usually happen so one has to be very careful. Last thing you want is to offend your readers/visitors and getting them into trouble by just visiting your blog.

    Thanks for your comment!
  • Blogs can be a piece of art, or they can a concrete jungle. your photos are superb, and suggest alone ... that your content follows that format. This blog post wasn't a disappointment.
  • Restoring Property,

    Thank you! Glad my post wasn't a disappointment :-)
  • I agree with you Peter has done an excellent job. Blogging is not easy, but Peter has a lot of heart to get out of the ratrace, just like most of us here.
  • @#4...well you know what they say about opinions..

    @#2 as far as the duplicate content is concerned, whether it's copied word for word or slightly changed the internet especially a lot of blog sites seem to become like the regurgitated mess from within side a momma bird's beak...lol

    <abbr>Melodys last blog post..Win a Free Logo Package Worth $78</abbr>
  • Melody,

    Thanks for your comment. Appreciated :-)
  • @Melody- Thats an interesting concept, lol. I know what you mean about PLR´s. I guess it´s better to use them on MFA sites only, in a good blog that may look cheap.

    Luis
  • Hi Peter,

    Well done for another successful guset post.
  • @James: Thanks James, that's probably following your footsteps. You wrote a good post too. Looking forward to working with you again on another.
  • Hi Peter,
    I've got a few ideas in the pipeline. I've shared a little link love, just wrote a post on how to be a top commentator, and linked to ur blog.
  • hmm i must be carefull in no.1,4,6,7.ugh i am trying to get the point of this.thank you peter for showing me about 10 blogging mistakes

    <abbr>joe comps last blog post..Make Your Elegant Uniforms</abbr>
  • @joe comp: Good to see you again. This post was written by Salwa who was my guest poster. Glad you like it.
    ****
    Peter
  • Hi Salwa,

    Very good writing skills and of course great tips. When I got started in my blog I use to have a pop up window asking for subscriptions to my Newsletter, but seems to be very annoying even for me when I got into my own site to answer any comment, then I understood how a new visitors may feel, needless to say that it has been removed.

    BTW, but still got me more subscribers than now for my newsletter, weird things of life, I guess, lol.

    Congratulations again Salwa. And to you Peter to have this great Poster.
    Hope someday you also want to guest post on my blog, lol.

    Luis

    <abbr>Marketing Business Reviews last blog post..T3leads Pay Per Lead Affiliate Program That Works</abbr>
  • Marketing Business Review,

    lol, Yeah weird things happen sometimes and even thou you got more subscribers than now for your newsletter, important thing here is to make your readers/visitors happy in whatever way possible and not to annoy them!

    Thanks for your comment :-)
  • Yes you are right, but some marketers seems not caring for this, since they know they got more subscribers with a pop up, thats why I put a pop up when I were a beginner, I just followed the Big Marketers, but they can afford annoying a lot of peple since they still got a lot of subscriptions,but the not so successful email builders like we are, need to be careful not to make people unsubscribe, right now they are like a Jewel or pure Gold, lol.
  • Hey Salwa,
    Thanks for commenting!

    <abbr>clickktdotcoms last blog post..Building Links To Successful Tips</abbr>
  • clickktdotcom,

    You welcome!
  • Excellent tips ... you're so right. My pet hate is flashing ads. quality counts and always will. Good post

    <abbr>Wisdom Blogs last blog post..Pilot fly with out arms, Inspirational young Lady!</abbr>
  • I hate flash banners too. Most people don't like pop-ups cause they are annoying.
  • Wisdom Blog,

    Thanks for your comment. Appreciated!
  • Boring design is something I must also comment on. I've seen several blogs online with the same template and you can't tell them apart. So an original design and branding is important to stand out from the crowd.
  • James,

    One time I went to this blog, commented than left. On the third day I stumbled another blog that had the exact same design as the one few days ago and first in my mind I thought It was the one I saw few days ago so yeah it can be hard to tell them apart especially on blogs that has no popularity yet.

    Thanks for the comment!
  • Lol Salwa, you're dearly missed on my blog!
  • owww you say the sweetest words! and since your blog miss me "dearly", I am coming now!
  • Yup I got you. Thanks =P
  • Hi salwa,

    Totally agree, this is a good opportunity for us web designers to offer our services to a global audience.
  • Hi Salwa
    If someone replies to one of your posts and is offensive in the process do you remove their post, or do you post it and respond to the comment adding your own thoughts. Also is it ok to include content from your own site to highlight other areas of your site or posts that may have been missed, or would you again rewrite the content so that its the same message but original.
  • Khaled,

    Thanks for your questions. To answer you with your first question, I suppose it will all depend with someone but I would definitely recommend to post and respond to the comment adding your own thoughts on what has been raised. In most cases I have found to be or think, well unless its a straight up offensive but I like to think of such comments as just little of "constructive criticisms". Like I said on my post "No matter how good your content is, there will always be negative content" and I believe everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion so definitely will make their comment public.

    With your second question. You can do both! Whichever is easier for you I guess.

    Regards.
  • Awesome post, now I have some points to think about
  • Best CSS Gallery,

    Thank you, Glad you like it!
  • Excellent post. I like 2. Duplicate content and 10. Pop-ups/malicious code/inappropriate advertisements

    <abbr>clickktdotcoms last blog post..Building Links To Successful Tips</abbr>
  • clickktdotcom,

    Thank you for your comment!
  • Excellent article! I have seen a lot of blogs and most of them are over advertising in some way.This makes the reader confused and leave quickly.It makes more sense to promote 1 excellent affiliate program and build an income in it before moving on to the next.If you promote 10, you will not be able to promote them efficiently.

    When it comes to ignoring readers, many bloggers completely forget to reply to comments left on their blogs and this is a big mistake.

    <abbr>Tom - Home Business Marketing Tipss last blog post..Creating An Internet Home Based Business</abbr>
  • Tom,


    You are absolutely right. For example, the use of flash. I always say never use flash and animation unless it’s necessary. It can be distracting and usually slows down your site.

    Advertising one, or two affliate program would probably make you more money than having dozen of them crummed up at one place only because as how you put it "you won't promote them efficiently" and of course ignoring your readers comment especially when they ask you question is a big no no or even a little appreciation of saying "thank you" for taking their time leaving a comment on your blog.

    Thanks for your input!
  • Thank you so much Peter Lee for this great blog post. These 10 mistakes are great to know. I wasn't aware of some of these mistakes so I will take note of them. Again, thank you.
  • @Truby: Good to see you here again. This is a guest post by Salwa so credit goes to her for writing this excellent post. Glad you liked it.
    ****
    Peter
  • Wow thats kind of a unique point of view from Salwa. New the usual kind of blogging mistakes that we always read. Good one my friend!

    Ben

    <abbr>Make Money Onlines last blog post..Some Joint Ventures Ideas You Can Use</abbr>
  • Thank you Ben!
  • You're welcome!
  • I have to agree with you on the part about ignoring readers. I find so many bloggers who don't interact with their audience, don't listen to what they want, and don't help them find what they need! I find myself logging onto my webtop often to check in on my reader's comments. It's important to make sure nobody is upset about a post, and it's great to interact with them regarding the topics I discuss.

    <abbr>GoEverywhere Teams last blog post..Web downtime, GoEverywhere uptime</abbr>
  • Interaction will cause a reader to return to the site, which is key when it comes to driving long-term success. I will say that Peter is excellent at doing so, and Salwa is holding true to her advice as well in this post!
  • Yup exactly what I love to do too..
  • GoEverywhere Team

    It is absolutely very important to reply to your readers, or atleast in my book and many other I am sure :-D

    Thanks for your comment. Appreciated!
  • Great point. I guess I have to be careful on #4, 5 and improve on #7

    <abbr>Vinh Nguyens last blog post..How Yellow Pages Can Stop Wasting Money from Businesses and Save Trees</abbr>
  • Thank you!
  • Hi Salwa,

    Some excellent points here. I've been blogging over 6 months now and one of the most critical things you can do is reply to your comments.

    Poorly written posts are annoying. Although, my English may not be the best in the world. There are many resources that help. A good course in English will help from a book or an e-learning course. I am certain that there is plenty of free English courses online.

    Thanks for a great post.
  • Replying to comments helps encourage conversation and discussion. Its a good way to increase no. of comments you have and your readers would probably love you more.
  • James,

    Exactly, they're many resources available online that could help improve your writing skills and if that does not work or you just don't have the time for it than hiring a writer might not be such a bad idea.

    Thanks for your comment!
  • Hi Salwa,

    I went to Waterstones and got a book called "Improve Your Writing Skills" by Collins. A great useful book that'll help with grammar ,spelling and more.
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