3 Important Mistakes that could bring “THE END” of your blog

Who would have ever thought about it? Blogging, which started out in 1994(source:Wikipedia) as random rambling by a few internet users who considered them nothing more than online diaries. But not anymore…

Blogging is not only commonplace but it can also be a key component in online business success.

Why has it become such a phenomenon? No doubt the convenience plays a major role. Blogs can be easily be set up and used. Also unlike traditional website building, blogs require mostly very less technical expertise which means no fooling around with HTML and PHP codes and the like.

Blogging is that powerful tool which gives people the voice to be heard by others. On Blogs you can post your thoughts on any topic from around the world you wish and can instantly have a worldwide audience to read it. You will get to know about their opinions if they comment on it. Not only this is more interactive than the traditional website but search engines also looks at comments on your blog as fresh content.

However like everything else in life, there is a flip side of this. To make blogging work for you there are some things you need to keep in mind always which I have listed below:

1. Respecting Your Audience

Your main goal is to attract as many readers in your targeted niche to check out your blog, so try your best to avoid offending them. For example you may have a blog about politics. This is a good way to attract an audience and have spirited discussions and debates on your articles. The key is to make sure that you don’t cross that line which will make your readers feel that you are not respecting them. It’s easy in a politically charged atmosphere to let your emotions get the better of you. As the person who runs the blog you must keep a check on what’s happening. Don’t let a first-class debate collapse into name-calling and verbal abuse. By losing control of their emotions and or their comment board, a number of bloggers have wound up losing a potential loyal audience.

2. Stop Over Designing!

There are many blog layouts to choose from but do not overdo it. Your priority should always be to provide good unique content to your audience. The blog design should complement your writing not compete with it. Your text should also be clearly readable. Don’t put your content on a background that’s going to strain the eyes of your blog visitors. If you want to experiment, It’s fine but you can never go wrong by starting out with a basic design.

A Real Example:I see many blogs which are hosted on blogger platform that they have many useless things on their blog sidebars like they have a glitter text,or a scrolling bar and dozens of such scripts and widgets. And the bad thing is that they take lot of time to load which many people(INCLUDES ME!) absolutely don’t like. So try avoiding it.

3. Hello? Anybody there?

Blogging is easy but one thing that separates a good blog from the rest of the pack is how often you post information on your blog. You may have been on a couple of discussion forums and heard people say they do not post to their blog if they have nothing to say. That’s all well and good but what predictably happens is the amount of time between having something to say gets longer and longer. They start out with great enthusiasm and post daily, than every few days, followed by once a week which then turns into a couple times a month. That’s a good way to lose an audience hungry for information. So try to update your blog atleast twice a week.The point is to not let your blog sit idle for long periods of time.

A suggestion for those who can’t blog due to some problem may also write a short blurb about an article you saw online and then give the link to your readers so that they can check it out. It will atleast make your readers feel that you are somewhere there.

It also does help you with the search engines who love blogs that update frequently. Since the majority of your internet traffic will come from places like the Google, Yahoo and MSN or Bing(really?) it’s best to give them what they want. I am saying this because my 46% traffic comes from search engines.

Blogging is a phenomenon that will continue to grow on and on. While it’s effortless to set up and operate never lose sight of the fact that you must respect your audience first while giving them quality frequently updated content in an easy to read format. So what’s your opinion on this article? Have you ever got close to any of this mistakes?

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60 thoughts on “3 Important Mistakes that could bring “THE END” of your blog”

  1. Very good article….another blog killer is “too many guest posts” and “too many ridiculous contests.” (Dennis, are you listening?)

    1. Who is dennis though? And why you feel too many guest post and and contest are a blog killer. I would love to hear about your opinion on it.

    2. As long as you publish something useful to your audience, it doesn’t matter how many guest posters or contests you have. Also, not encouraging guest posting and not having contests on your blog is definetly the blog killer.
      .-= Adam @ Selling Manager Ebay´s last blog ..10 Most Effective Ways to Sell Your EBook =-.

  2. I would definitely like to hear what Matt has got to say cos from my own point of view, guest posts are the best things that can happen to a blogger. It keeps the blog fresh and with many content.

  3. You are right typhoon and I agree with you on some points .
    yes over Designing harm you blog traffic but if you write quality articles then visitor comes again and again but in timely manner means they not come regularly on your blog if your blog is over design.

    2.Anybody there situation happen when the blogger not earn sufficient money through blogging or they are too lazy to post and not interested in blogging

    1. @rky, Agree on some points?
      On which point you don’t agree? I think it will be the 1st one because you didn’t wrote about it in your comment.

      1. no no 1st point Respecting your audience is first most important
        then other.but the 3rd point in which you said that update your blog
        atleast twice a week .i think it depend upon your targeting
        audience there is many blogger who updates his blog once a month
        or they never loose their visitor.Respect your Audience then
        Audience respect you and never stop visiting your blog for more info.
        For Example your blog if you update your blog once or twice a month
        then it never loose search engine traffic.

  4. Yes I am very close to the mistake of not posting enough on my blog. I am sure there are lots of ways to figure out what to post about. I just need to organize myself and come up with some ideas. I want to head in a little different direction on my blog to make it more interesting to people. So I am really glad I read this information. I think I am all right with the rest of the mistakes.
    .-= Margaret Elmendorf´s last blog ..The most faithful dog =-.

  9. I’d like to comment about letting your blog stay idle. Before, this is my priciple too. Never let your blog stay unupdated. Then, I read a post on dosh dosh where Maki said that “most bloggers just post for the sake of keeping their blogs fresh.”

    He feels that it shouldnt be this way and that sometimes you just have to post for the sake that you really have something valuable to share.

    Just a food for thought though. All in all, great tips!
    .-= Liane YoungBlogger´s last blog ..It’s Blogger Tag Time! Come On Join the Fun! =-.

    1. Yup, I agree to Dosh Dosh. But here Maki’s Dosh Dosh blog is a very reputable blog, high traffic and many people have subscribed to it. So if he even update his blog twice a month(which he do right now) he would get enough traffic which could be equal to many new blogs combined traffic.

  10. I agree with over designing. I don’t just see blogger themes but many others with loads of banners, glitter images, different stat images. I can understand that the owners wants to display these things, but there is a limit. This also sometimes slows down their site as the images have to be loaded every time.

    I have come across some sites that posted only last year or very little this year (once of twice so far) and this makes me close their site within seconds of opening it. I think people are just lazy now days when it comes to posting. My site supplies info I have come across and for personal details as well, so if I have nothing to post about then I could always post about something personal in my life.
    .-= George Serradinho´s last blog ..Thesis and my Traffic Sources =-.

    1. Those blogs who update a year back or only few times this year; you can consider them as dead. You can assume that those bloggers have said that they Give up!

      1. @Typhoon, Depend on the article. If it’s updated only a few in a year (lets say 5-6x update in a year) but the article is very great, it’s OK. Maybe the time is spend by the owner of that blog to research and then make that article. I ever find 1 blog which rarely updated, but when it updated, i find the article is so great.

        And it’s still better than blog who updated 2-3x per day. I ever subscribe on blog like this and get my email inbox full. And also, the article is so bad.

        So what do you choose, a few update but great article or oftenly updated but the article is so bad.

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