@kaitlynbaker
For over twenty years, blogging has been an incredibly popular way for people to connect and share important messages with internet users worldwide.
Blogging in 2021
The practice of blogging has evolved dramatically since its invention. Today, blogging creates unprecedented economic benefits for business and creative professionals. According to blogging guru Jon Dyskstra, there are proven methods to create a solid income completely from blogging.
Every successful blogger develops their technique. Dykstra isn’t shy to share his own best practices; check them out on his website fatstacksblog.com. No matter what your blog’s message or purpose is, it needs to be communicated effectively to grab and hold the attention of readers or customers.
Knowing the secrets of successful blogging is incredibly helpful, but it’s also essential to understand bad habits.
Whether you are a beginner or a veteran blogger, it’s easy to fall into traps that will affect your content’s quality and potential.
Here are some of the most common mistakes bloggers make.
1. Content is Too Broad or Too Niche
What is your blog about? Who is its audience?
These are the crucial questions to ask when starting a blog and throughout its evolution. If an audience is too small, it will be tough to drive traffic to the site in both the short-term and long-term. If you are writing about things that are only of interest to you, the number of people that will connect to it will naturally be lower.
Likewise, if your blog’s subject matter is too broad, it can get lost among thousands of similar competing sites or blogs.
Specificity is key to being discovered online via search engines. Striking a balance between niche and broad is the key to successful blogging. This balancing act applies to both the overall theme/brand of the site and to individual posts.
2. Inconsistent or Infrequent Blog Publishing
In the world of blogging, more is… more. The more you produce for your site or blog, the better. This means more than a high word count per post. It means regular, almost constant posting.
How can you expect to build an audience if you don’t come across as dedicated to or excited to blog?
The more content you have online relevant to your industry or subject matter, the more reliable you are to those seeking information or advice. Also, posting blog content regularly will increase the odds of higher visitor traffic to your site.
3. Unoriginal Blog Content
This refers to your blog content’s uniqueness and also whether it has been taken from other sources. To grow and maintain traffic to your blog, it should have a fresh perspective, even for a popular topic.
More importantly, blogs should never consist of stolen content from other material online. This plagiarism plain and simple. If you use other online sources as research for blog content, they should be linked or sourced in the post.
4. Content Edit is Rushed or Carless
A blog post full of grammatical errors and typos instantly reduces your site’s credibility. Unfortunately, it’s easy to make errors when writing. Luckily, there are plenty of free tools and apps available to help with the editing process.
In addition to spelling and grammar, you should edit a blog for clarity and readability. Reading a post to yourself aloud can identify any glaring or more subtle issues. There are some tools that assist with stylistic edits and word choices.
5. Poor User or Reader Experience
Writing content for the web is about more than just words. Blogs must follow formatting styles that appeal to the medium itself.
Large blocks of text will often turn off readers or casual site visitors. Headings help a reader skim the blog article to see if they want to read it in its entirety. Bolded text can help emphasize key points and clear objectives of the piece.
Using images or graphics also helps draw in the interest of site or blog readers. The blog should attract the reader visually, illustrating simplicity and clarity.
6. Content Has Neglected SEO
Anyone writing content for the web must be on top of the valuable SEO trends relevant to their subject matter or product. A simple keyword search will allow you to maximize the SEO of your blog content.
Incorporating keywords in a meaningful way will only help your posts stand out against so many others. If you feel stuck for a topic for your next post, a keyword search may give you some inspiration. This is a strategy prolific bloggers like Jon Dykstra employ regularly.
Blogging is an exciting and challenging way to grow as a creative or entrepreneur. It is fulfilling but can have its share of pitfalls. If you’ve committed any of the above offenses, don’t worry; you’re not alone. There is always room to grow from errors. Learn from others’ mistakes or your own, either way– it’s learning! Adding this brief list of worst practices can pair nicely with all the best practices you’ve sought from others or created yourself.