5 Common Blogging Mistakes Most Bloggers Make

In today’s world, it’s virtually free to publish your thoughts or share information through your blog. And with the number of people in the blogosphere, it’s easy to lose track and commit mistakes that will result in your blog being ignored. If you’re using blogging platforms to share information, promote your products or simply express your thoughts, avoid making the following common blogging mistakes and make your blog stand out.

1. Not having a target audience

Probably the biggest mistake a blogger can make is creating posts with no specific target audience in mind. When you write without knowing your audience, you can’t expect to keep your readers for long because of a lack of focus.

Blogging is not about writing anything for anyone but it’s creating content that is valuable to your readers. Here are the ways to correct this mistake.

• Before writing, think about the kind of people whom you want to share the information with – this is your target audience.
• Consider what your target audience would like to know and choose topics to write about with your audience in mind.
• Research well about the topic before writing and make sure that you create helpful and interesting content for your readers.

2. Set an impractical posting schedule

If you’re just starting out or if you naturally have an endless flow of ideas, it’s so tempting to post all of your ideas and get them out of your system right away. So you start publishing posts every day thinking that you can keep this schedule. But after some time, you slow down, let the laziness take over and you end up not following a posting schedule at all.

A common blogging mistake that bloggers commit to is being unpredictable with their posting schedules. Keep in mind that your audience prefers predictability with the help of the following tips.

• Commit to a posting schedule that makes sense for all your obligations.

• Publish content consistently and set a pattern that your audience can follow and stick to this schedule.

• Space out your post and avoid posting multiple posts in a day. Instead, reserve the others for posting on your scheduled times and keep your audience coming back for more.

3. Lack of whitespace or headers

Presenting your post as a big, boring wall of text is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Relevant and interesting content is just half of the battle in making a reader stay on your blog – the other half is about its presentation. Here are some tips to follow in making your post more reader-friendly.

• Break up paragraphs using headers to give your audience some anchor points.

• Keep the paragraphs to a maximum of 5 sentences with each sentence under 30 words.

• Ensure that you add a space in between paragraphs.

4. Lack of images

You share information using words, that’s right. But presenting ideas using all text makes your post boring and scary! It’s sad to know that the average visitor is expected to read less than 20 percent of the text you present. But the good news is that you can use the following techniques to improve the readability of your blog post.

• Use infographics, charts, or clipart to break a dull wall of words.

• Use these images to share information visually, letting you streamline your ideas and cut straight into the heart of your content.

• Whether you use your own images or from somewhere else, ensure that you credit the owners to avoid copyright infringement problems.

5. Ignoring comments

If a reader has taken his time to comment, the greatest mistake you can do is not leaving a response. Ignoring a person’s effort to talk to you is bad manners and a sure-fire way to drive away readers. Here are some reasons why you should respond to comments whether they’re negative, positive or just plain inquiry.

• Promote engagement. When your readers leave comments, they’re looking forward to a substantial exchange of information. Leaving a response encourages them to continue the conversation, which will more likely attract more blog followers. 

• Establish authority and credibility. When people leave questions, they expect you to give answers. Although some of them may disagree with you, responding to them is the perfect way to share your knowledge and establish your expertise on the topic.

• Provide new material. If people have been asking you the same questions over again or if a follower raises counterpoint that you may have missed, it can be the topic for your next post.

Closing Thoughts

Whether you’re just starting as a blogger or you’ve already gained some experience, it’s typical to make a mess of things now and then. Don’t fret if you think you’re doing all the mistakes found in this list – they are called “common” after all. Now that you’re aware of these blunders and how to address each one, it’s time to step up your blogging career.