10 Dumb Things Most Bloggers Do That Always Leads To Failure
Synopsis: Dumb and amateurish writing mistakes and pitfalls that most bloggers fall into – avoid failure when creating and optimizing your content for the right audience on the web.
Blogging is an ongoing process no matter how talented or experienced you may be.
You will always have to stay on top of your game and keep an eye on current trends and technologies if you want to stay relevant to your audiences – whether it’s your content or the SEO and SERP optimization.
That being said, many bloggers make mistakes that are easily avoidable by thinking before rushing out blog posts just for the sake of staying on schedule.
While calling these problems “dumb” is an overstatement, they can certainly affect your conversion rates and Google’s search ranking, no matter how original or unique a piece may be.
Even if they are writing about a very popular and well-known topic, they tend to use unorthodox words and formatting structures that don’t make much sense to a majority of their readers.
This is because their articles are overly specialized for an audience that has as much knowledge about a topic as they do, making it arbitrary to even write about in the first place.
Writing articles by using the lowest common denominator is always the smart way to do it, whatever the topic may be.
The more people read your article, the more followers and publicity you will have, making your blog popular. On the contrary, you would not only alienate a good portion of your readers but make your blog a desert without visitors in the process.
Unrealistic schedules are among the top reasons for bloggers giving up their hobbies and turning to other professions instead.
Try working out a schedule that makes you comfortable as a writer and a content creator, leaving you some space to relax and think about where you are as a blogger.
Even if you publish two articles per week, your audiences will accept that and ask for more of the same. Don’t commit to schedules you don’t intend on can’t physically keep up with.
Try tailoring your headings and keyword optimization so it caters to a specific audience that you want to attract to your blog.
The mistake, in this case, is to think that the right audience will find you– they might not be able to because your content is buried among other content that doesn’t correlate to what they are looking for.
Writing about topics that are currently trending and apt to attract new readers is exactly what you should be doing.
Yesterday’s news is no one's interest, and as such, it will not only devalue your blog but also make your readers leave for good. Don’t make the mistake of writing content for yourself and ignoring what your audience is looking for.
Sometimes you can even read the comments and see exactly what the readers like and dislike, making your job even easier.
Keep a close eye on how your readers react to your content and track your hits carefully for further analysis – don’t just write for the sake of writing and call it blogging.
What’s important to understand is that optimizing spam and dry cookie-cutter content won’t get you anywhere fast – people are interested in relevant information and quality writing.
Using professional websites such as best writing advisor for your content optimization is always a smarter way to edit the content you have written.
While using relevant keywords and optimizing your website is an important part of the process, it should be noted that pure optimization without any content to back it up will result in your content being flagged as “spam”, meaning that it’s made purely for the sake of your ad revenue.
This is considered the final nail in the coffin when it comes to blogging, since earning back your credibility will be next to impossible.
Programmers, designers, and other creators can help you optimize and create visual content for your blog to make it more appealing and rank better in SERP.
Front-end collaborators can help you by creating collaborative articles, funny group videos discussing certain topics or simply by marketing your blog on their own website. No man is an island, and the same rule applies to blogging.
Once your blog starts growing and the demand for content becomes too big for one person to handle, consider inviting a friend or two to the team to help you out.
Don’t try to be a hero and do everything yourself – the ice will break sooner or later and you will be left stressed and confused.
What separates them from everyone else is their ability to learn from the mistakes of others – one of the most predominant being a lack of the “Subscribe” button.
Blogging is an ongoing process no matter how talented or experienced you may be.
You will always have to stay on top of your game and keep an eye on current trends and technologies if you want to stay relevant to your audiences – whether it’s your content or the SEO and SERP optimization.
That being said, many bloggers make mistakes that are easily avoidable by thinking before rushing out blog posts just for the sake of staying on schedule.
1. Complexity over clarity
Many young and inexperienced bloggers tend to make their articles into overly complex pieces that lose momentum as they go on.Even if they are writing about a very popular and well-known topic, they tend to use unorthodox words and formatting structures that don’t make much sense to a majority of their readers.
This is because their articles are overly specialized for an audience that has as much knowledge about a topic as they do, making it arbitrary to even write about in the first place.
Writing articles by using the lowest common denominator is always the smart way to do it, whatever the topic may be.
The more people read your article, the more followers and publicity you will have, making your blog popular. On the contrary, you would not only alienate a good portion of your readers but make your blog a desert without visitors in the process.
2. Unrealistic schedules
Writing one article per day may seem like a dream come true, but as soon as you start doing it, you will notice that the curtain began to fall. No one is able to keep their energy and creativity high enough to write original pieces day after day without getting burned out.Unrealistic schedules are among the top reasons for bloggers giving up their hobbies and turning to other professions instead.
Try working out a schedule that makes you comfortable as a writer and a content creator, leaving you some space to relax and think about where you are as a blogger.
Even if you publish two articles per week, your audiences will accept that and ask for more of the same. Don’t commit to schedules you don’t intend on can’t physically keep up with.
3. No target audience
Writing whatever comes to your mind might work for keeping an online journal or testing out the waters on your new blog.- However, if you intend to keep your blog alive over a longer period, it’s important to localize your target audience.
Try tailoring your headings and keyword optimization so it caters to a specific audience that you want to attract to your blog.
The mistake, in this case, is to think that the right audience will find you– they might not be able to because your content is buried among other content that doesn’t correlate to what they are looking for.
4. Writing for yourself
Blogging becomes a full-time job as soon as your ad revenue starts flowing in. By that time, it’s too late to write for passion and personal satisfaction and start thinking with a corporate mindset.Writing about topics that are currently trending and apt to attract new readers is exactly what you should be doing.
Yesterday’s news is no one's interest, and as such, it will not only devalue your blog but also make your readers leave for good. Don’t make the mistake of writing content for yourself and ignoring what your audience is looking for.
Sometimes you can even read the comments and see exactly what the readers like and dislike, making your job even easier.
Keep a close eye on how your readers react to your content and track your hits carefully for further analysis – don’t just write for the sake of writing and call it blogging.
5. Optimization of content
Optimizing your content for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Result Pages (SERP) is an important part of what blogging really is.What’s important to understand is that optimizing spam and dry cookie-cutter content won’t get you anywhere fast – people are interested in relevant information and quality writing.
Using professional websites such as best writing advisor for your content optimization is always a smarter way to edit the content you have written.
While using relevant keywords and optimizing your website is an important part of the process, it should be noted that pure optimization without any content to back it up will result in your content being flagged as “spam”, meaning that it’s made purely for the sake of your ad revenue.
This is considered the final nail in the coffin when it comes to blogging, since earning back your credibility will be next to impossible.
6. Flying solo
Blogging can be a one-man show only for so long – you will need collaborators if you intend to keep your blog alive. This goes for both back-end and front-end of your content.Programmers, designers, and other creators can help you optimize and create visual content for your blog to make it more appealing and rank better in SERP.
Front-end collaborators can help you by creating collaborative articles, funny group videos discussing certain topics or simply by marketing your blog on their own website. No man is an island, and the same rule applies to blogging.
Once your blog starts growing and the demand for content becomes too big for one person to handle, consider inviting a friend or two to the team to help you out.
Don’t try to be a hero and do everything yourself – the ice will break sooner or later and you will be left stressed and confused.
7. Lacking a mailing list
The most popular and successful bloggers have started from scratch, just like everyone else.What separates them from everyone else is their ability to learn from the mistakes of others – one of the most predominant being a lack of the “Subscribe” button.
You will want to establish a clear channel of communication between you and your readers as soon as possible. This will allow you not only to get relevant feedback and get in touch with them whenever a new piece of content is published but also market certain sponsored products by using their e-mail addresses.
Every full-time blogger needs to pay the bills and eat, and ad revenue sometimes doesn’t do the work.
Avoid the pitfall of becoming broke just because you love blogging and avert it by building a strong email list as soon as possible.
Readers have a very hard time finding anything relevant to what they are looking for if the content creators don’t optimize their content for SERP.
Creating content without paying attention to the keywords you are using or if they are relevant to your topic and audience at all will result in your content being buried in one of the many search result pages with no hope of ever being visited.
Look for ways to integrate visual content into your article writing without it looking tacked on or unrelated to the topic.
But how do you make people act on what they have just read? Optimizing your content for a more psychological effect for the readers takes some practice to get just right.
This is what is formally called “a call to action” and it involves punctuating an article with a proper intro and a conclusion. People often neglect the importance of these two elements and focus on creating a detailed body instead.
What most people forget is that you don’t start a book based on its title – you do it by reading the actual content. If your title, intro, sub headings and synopsis look like they have been written by force, no one will bother reading the rest.
People like content that looks catered to because their time is short and they want relevant information as soon as possible.
Allow them to follow-up on what they read on your blog by including a proper conclusion and a call to action to whatever topic you have just written about.
Once you have your blog set up and the content starts flowing out, try paying attention to these mistakes and avoid them whenever possible.
While they won’t result in your blog being abandoned or hated, they will make your job much harder and recover from them will take weeks if not months.
Every full-time blogger needs to pay the bills and eat, and ad revenue sometimes doesn’t do the work.
Avoid the pitfall of becoming broke just because you love blogging and avert it by building a strong email list as soon as possible.
8. Poor keyword selection
We’ve mentioned SEO before and how too good of an optimization can harm your blog. But what happens when your optimization is poor and your keyword selection is bad or nonexistent?Readers have a very hard time finding anything relevant to what they are looking for if the content creators don’t optimize their content for SERP.
- Google is a machine, and machines work under a very strict set of rules.
Creating content without paying attention to the keywords you are using or if they are relevant to your topic and audience at all will result in your content being buried in one of the many search result pages with no hope of ever being visited.
9. Using plain text
Today’s generations are used to multimedia content in their articles. Using plain text to make your statement and hope that the audience will be kind enough to read the entire article you have written is a very risky move.Including images, videos, audio files or even create animations or web presentations is a good way to spruce things up and make your articles more interesting.This is another aspect of Google’s search engine optimization that you should be aware of. Having no multimedia content will rate your site very poorly while having too much uncompressed and large content will also do the same thing – finding a balance between the two is the key.
Look for ways to integrate visual content into your article writing without it looking tacked on or unrelated to the topic.
10. No follow-up action
Writing an article about a certain piece of technology, about a scientific breakthrough or listing top websites for a certain service seems simple enough.But how do you make people act on what they have just read? Optimizing your content for a more psychological effect for the readers takes some practice to get just right.
This is what is formally called “a call to action” and it involves punctuating an article with a proper intro and a conclusion. People often neglect the importance of these two elements and focus on creating a detailed body instead.
What most people forget is that you don’t start a book based on its title – you do it by reading the actual content. If your title, intro, sub headings and synopsis look like they have been written by force, no one will bother reading the rest.
People like content that looks catered to because their time is short and they want relevant information as soon as possible.
Allow them to follow-up on what they read on your blog by including a proper conclusion and a call to action to whatever topic you have just written about.
Conclusion
As you can see, the mistakes made by bloggers across the world are nothing to be ashamed about but they are easy to avoid and learn from.Once you have your blog set up and the content starts flowing out, try paying attention to these mistakes and avoid them whenever possible.
While they won’t result in your blog being abandoned or hated, they will make your job much harder and recover from them will take weeks if not months.
Guest contribution by: Troian Robinson a creative writer and photographer from the west of United States – Utah. She was born in Norway and moved to the USA in the age of ten. She has graduated from the University with a master’s degree in web design and got her second degree in programming. Her clear mind and wide imagination helps her to write in details and cover different topics. Follow @TroianRobinson on Twitter/X.
