It’s easy to start a blog, but getting people to read that blog is a different story.
Most blog owners don’t realize that they’re warding off readers. Here are just several big blunders that could preventing people from engaging with your content.
Blog Blunder #1: Not blogging regularly enough
If you sometimes go for weeks on end without posting content, you could find that this causing your posts views to plummet. A busy blog gets higher search engine results and gives people more fresh content to peruse through. Loyal readers may also stop checking out your blog if you take too long a break from blogging, as they may think you’ve stopping blogging altogether. Try to publish at least one new post per week – this will show people that your blog is very much alive.
Blog Blunder #2: Blogging too much without caring about the quality
On the flipside, you don’t want to be posting five times every day just for the sake of it, especially if each post takes five minutes to write. Putting some time and effort into each post will ensure that it’s well written and well thought out.
Blog Blunder #3: Being too self-indulgent
It’s okay to share personal stories on your blog, but ideally your content needs to be of some use to other people. Being able to turn your life’s experience into advice or an informative piece can make your content a lot more engaging as people can relate to it more.
Blog Blunder #4: Being overly promotional
You can similarly make the mistake of being overly promotional. Many blogs accept promotional content but you don’t want almost every post to feel like an advert. Try to write unbiased reviews and keep things fun in tone so that your blog is still entertaining.
Blog Blunder #5: Focusing too hard on SEO
Incorporating keywords into your posts can help to improve your search engine rankings. That said, you should be careful of stuffing each post with keywords. Not only will this make your posts feel spammy, but it could have a negative impact on your rankings if you make it too obvious – most search engines now negatively rank content that relies too heavily on keywords.
Blog Blunder #6: Not sharing your content elsewhere
Relying on people to stumble across your blog won’t get you many readers – especially loyal readers. Keep people in the loop about new content by giving people the option to subscribe via email. You can look into email newsletter designs, set up a mailing list sign-up plug-in on your site and then start sending people notifications on new content via email. Social media is another great place to share you content. Set up a Twitter and Facebook page and allow people to follow these pages by adding social media buttons directly to your site.
Blog Blunder #7: Failing to build a brand for your blog
Every blog needs to have a consistent brand. If you post about everything and anything and don’t have a certain style to your posts, your blog won’t feel as it’s got its own identity. Find a theme for your blog and stick to it.
