Whether or not you are an experienced blogger there are some pitfalls that are easy to fall into when creating posts for your blog. Some of these are easy to avoid, such as duplicating content, not adding links and not allowing for comments.
Duplicate Content
When you are writing a blog on a consistent basis, the pressure to come up with unique content can be overwhelming at times and the temptation to copy an article from somewhere else can be tempting. You might be thinking, “It won’t hurt anyone, no one will know.” While this might actually be true for your human readers, search engines are very smart and are programmed to search for duplicate content. While your site will not technically be “penalized” for it, you will find that your site will be filtered from the search results. So instead of copying and pasting the article, take a few minutes to gather your thoughts and write a short summary with a link to the original article.
Little to No Links
In the same way the search engines use inbound links to determine the credibility of your website in the indexing process, your readers see the use of relevant links to additional information a way to determine how accurate or relevant your information is. Where did you get the idea for the post? Did you read an article about the extension of the First Time Home Buyer Credit on CNN that inspired your post on how that will affect buyers in your town? Add an link to it! If you are you introducing a concept that your readers may not be familiar with, linking to an eloquently written definition or explanation will not only provide you with the link but the credibility you are looking for.
Too Hard to Read
It is a known fact that the attention span of the average person is short and even shorter when it comes to reading online. Long paragraphs of text without visuals to engage readers can be paramount to torture! There is a great article online that asks “Is your website ready for the 5 second attention span challenge?” The fix to this one is easy; include pictures and keep your paragraphs short enough to keep your reader engaged.
What’s in it for the Reader?
We must never forget when writing every single blog post that readers will be asking themselves “What’s in it for me?”. Incorporating value to your reader comes in many forms including education (like this post), amusement or entertainment, or some sort of offer that has something in it for them.
Missing You
Think about the blogs that you like to read. What keeps you coming back? More than the information, there is a personality behind the words that speaks to you, that keeps you engaged. One of my favorite blogs is written for women geeks, www.GeekSugar.com and more than satisfying my addiction to the latest and greatest in technology, the writer(s) make you feel at ease with the information. That and I don’t feel so alone loving my gadgets!
No Comments No Go!
Blogs are an interactive medium by their nature, designed to create a dialog between author and audience. To refuse to allow comments makes your blog a one-way communication medium where it feels more like you are on a soap box than being open to engagement with your readers. Most blog platforms have the ability to require that you approve or reject a comment before it goes live on the site. You can use this feature to weed out spam or otherwise harmful or irrelevant comments.
The Ultimate Sin – Not Blogging Frequently Enough
I am the first one to admit that I am guilty of this. I get caught up in all the things that I have to do and blogging goes to the back burner. I am going to work on writing more frequently in 2010. Effective blogging means that there needs to be a consistency to your posts. Not only is a regular posting schedule good for your SEO, it keeps your readership engaged. There is however a balance between writing so frequently that your readers can’t keep up, get frustrated and stop reading all together, and writing so infrequently that your readers lose interest all together. A couple of times a week would be ideal, but once a week also works.
One last thing to remember, there is no one perfect blog so don’t that you have to be perfect to blog. Keep writing.
