5 Mistakes You May Be Making On Your Blog

Blogging, although a pretty saturated term, is pretty much still a new frontier as a medium. Compared to its counterparts, blogging is the newest forefront that we use to share information and express ourselves. And while there are no rules for blogging per se, if you want to take your blog to the next level or become a professional blogger, there are things that you should be doing to achieve that goal.

There are power in your words and your voice as it pertains to your blog, but you could also be making major mistakes with your site—mistakes that may be costing you the opportunity to advance as not only a blogger, but a source people rely on for information.

Here are 5 mistakes you may be making on your blog:

1.Not having your own domain: We at Show Me the Blog are big on branding and setting your blog apart from the rest. Purchasing your domain is one of the most important things you can do to make a name for yourself with your blog. Years ago, domains used to cost upwards of $25-100 but now cost less than $10 with most providers. Invest in your blog by purchasing a domain and say goodbye to suchandsuch.blogspot.com, et al. It’s good for your branding, good for your blog, and will overall improve your traffic and your SEO. (Also, get on WordPress if you aren’t already! SEO loves WP blogs!)

2. Not being consistent: There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to how often you should blog, but being consistent goes a long way. Not only does consistency help maintain and acquire readers who are thirsty for your information, but it also helps your page rank. Google and other search engines show favor to sites who are updated regularly (at least once a week). Make it a habit to post on your blog weekly and watch your traffic grow.

3. Not engaging your readers: If you are not engaging your readers on social networks or in the comment section of your blog, then you are losing. Engaging your readers is a great way to thank those who read your blog and it creates a sense of community within your niche and site. If you only “broadcast” and not “engage”, then you need to shake it up a bit. Your readers will thank you and you may just make some new friends along the way.

4. Not having your contact information on your site: If you are a blogger who wants to work with brands or blog professionally, people need to be able to contact you. It shouldn’t be a chore to try to find contact information on your site. Have an ABOUT ME page on your blog with up-to-date information about you and your blog including your email address. Will you get spam? Probably. But you may also get the opportunity to work or cover some great stuff, all because you could be contacted.

5. Having all over the place content: Depending on your blog site or type, you probably fit into a niche. Having a niche is great because it gives you a subject to blog about and can make you an “expert” or “guru” in a particular area. But when you don’t have a defined niche or your content is all over the place, you could confuse your readers before they’ve had a chance to really get to know you. Sit down and think about what it is that you want to say; define your voice, then post your message. Doing so can improve the readership of your blog.

Blogging is an awesome thing—we love it! But with a few tweaks here and there, you can take your blog to never before seen heights. We hope posting these 5 mistakes you could be making on your blog help you and your quest for worldwide domination!

Written by: Danyelle Little, Founder and Organizer, Show Me the Blog Social Media and Blogging Conference; The Cubicle Chick.com

6 Comments

• 
  Patrick Donovan June 28, 2011 at 10:41 am

  Great information, Danyelle! I strongly agree with these points.

  I look forward to the conference this fall.

  Reply
• 
  Michael A. Jones June 29, 2011 at 12:26 am

  Before starting my blog -’Watches of the Night’ at http://watchesofthenightblog.blogspot.com- I used the success of ‘The Sartorialist’ as the best example of why my own domain wasn’t necessary. But that blog is definitely an exception, so you’re right.

  Reply
• 
  saydie July 3, 2011 at 8:50 pm

  Why do you feel that wp is the ultimate blog platform?? Just curious. It seems that google may have more to offer…I am new to this and just interested. I am interested in selling products too, can this be done on the wp blog??
  Thank you

  Reply
  • 
    admin July 3, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    Saydie, we prefer WordPress over Blogspot because it gives you so many options to run your blog. It is also more SEO friendly and design wise, offers better looking sites. It also gives you the opportunity of being self hosted—on Google, none of the material on your site is your own and can be used at their will, according to their Terms of Service. Google can also shut down your site without warning.

    On WordPress, you can have a store if you want as well. WordPress sites can look like a blog or look like an actual site depending on the design. We hope that answers your question.

    Reply
• 
  Vicki Bensinger July 12, 2011 at 12:52 pm

  Hi Danyelle,

  Great information. Yes I can’t stand the length of my blog address. I know that I can change it to a .com on blogger but at the cost of maybe losing information and since I’m not as tech savvy as maybe many of you the fear of losing that information bothers me.

  If I were to change over to WordPress how easy is it to transfer all the information I currently have and also for my current viewers to find me and continue to get the RSS feed?

  In the past month I have noticed a huge decline in those that post comments on my site and I believe it has to do with so many issues that blogger was having. I’ve had to change so many things so that I could even post comments again on my own blog. It’s been since that, that everything seemed to go haywire.. I’ve been reading just about everything I can to figure out what might be wrong. Maybe I’m not keyed into SEO as much as I should be so I’m trying to make modifications now.

  Any advice would be appreciated.

  Reply
  • 
    admin July 30, 2011 at 3:24 pm

    Vicki, can you send me an email at info@showmetheblog.com? I would be happy to give you some tips there, as I don’t want to get too wordy in the comments section. Thanks

    Reply

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