Talent and smarts don’t always equate to successful blogging. For example, you could be a great writer and use Twitter effectively to promote your site, but still miss the mark in other critical areas of your blog.
Lists with blogging mistakes are pretty common, and useful, but there are some mistakes that usually are not included. I created a list with 6 of them, and I suspect you might not be paying attention to those, so check it out.
1. Publishing a series of posts consecutively all on the same subject
I have nothing against doing a series on a blog as long as it’s done right. If done wrong, you’ll have created a scenario in which it’s painful to read your blog.
For example, you’re a personal-development blogger and writing a series on positive thinking. If you post five consecutive days on this subject you will have destroyed one of the greatest assets a blog can have, variety.
If you’re planning on doing a series on a single subject, I advise you don’t do it over consecutive days. Publish some posts on a different subject in between your series posts. This way you can still do a series without killing variety on your blog.
2. Not using pictures
While there are occasions when not using pictures is wise, much of the time it’s a costly mistake.
The most obvious benefit a picture provides is that it encourages people to dive into your post.
Another thing you must realize is that a picture is not merely benefiting the single post it’s in; it’s also benefiting your entire blog design.
People are often shallow when they land on a new blog. If they see you include pictures in your posts, they’re more likely to investigate your blog further.
Text without a picture is like a store without windows.
Just think of how many more subscribers you could gain over the long term by taking the time to include pictures with almost every post.
3. Failing to use subheadings
I used to rarely use subheadings in my blog posts because I don’t particularly like them. I later realized that just because I don’t like them doesn’t mean that everyone else feels how I do.
Unlike me, many people scan posts when they read them. If scanners come to a post that isn’t scanner friendly, they’re not going to give you the time of day.
Every post you write that’s not short should have subheadings.
4. Making paragraphs too large
I’m not going to give you a specific rule on what constitutes a large paragraph, but you know it when you see it.
Paragraphs the size of mountains are extremely intimidating to the eye. If I see a blog post with large paragraphs, I won’t read it no matter how good the content may be.
Keep your paragraphs short to encourage as many people as possible to read your content.
5. Not displaying all your content in a subscriber’s feed reader
Some bloggers opt to only provide a link to their posts in the feed reader.
While doing the above will get more people to click over to your blog from the feed reader, you’ll also upset your readers, encourage them to unsubscribe and will end up with a significantly smaller readership in the end.
The fact that virtually all successful bloggers have their entire post displayed in their RSS feed is all the proof you need that it’s the most strategic thing to do.
6. Waiting to do guest posts
If you have a blog with a giant readership like this one, it’s understandable that you don’t feel compelled to guest post.
But for most of us, the objective is to grow our readership so that one day it’s huge like this one.
With a small readership you can publish a remarkable post and receive almost nothing beneficial from it.
In fact, some very talented bloggers will publish remarkable post after remarkable post and never really go anywhere with their blog.
When you consistently publish great posts on your blog and get no retweets, and no new subscribers, it’s time to ensure that a significant percentage of your finest material is submitted to other blogs so that your blog not only gains subscribers, but also gets on the radar of other influential bloggers.
While nothing can guarantee you become a successful blogger, there are definitely things you can do to at least ensure you have a fighting chance.
About the Author: Bamboo Forest created Tick Tock Timer, an online timer that helps you stop procrastinating, get to work, and stay focused.
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