These days, in blogging, it’s so easy to make common mistakes, which we shouldn’t because resources are available online to guide us in the right direction. However, beginners still make mistakes so it’s important to reiterate the importance of avoided certain errors when we can. I work with many clients, testing different things when setting them up online and would like to go over some common mistakes always made. I have written about this topic extensively but would like to go over some stuff I have seen happening very recently in blogging.
Here are some common mistakes you should avoid and how to stop them going forward. Let’s get started…
Complexity
This is one of the MOST common mistakes made by bloggers and it will lower engagement. You have to keep your audience in mind before writing your content. Research your audience and you’ll understand many of them have no previous experience so writing complex content is not going to resonate with them. Always write keeping your audience in mind so you adjust your writing to fit the type of people you want to engage. Keep things simple and make sure you have someone with NO experience read over it before publishing. This way, you can find out how easily it can be understood by someone with no experience.
Relevance
Depending on your niche, it’s very easy for you to go off track and this ends up being a common blogging issue. For example, within weight loss, you can focus on diet, exercise, yoga, etc., and this requires enormous research. This is why many choose to focus on “1” single item, but when it comes time to write content, they end up writing on all of those, confusing the visitor. For example, when people are looking for information, they are very specific and will often write search phrases like “weight loss diet” and if this is your niche, it’s important you provide this content. Jumping around will cause confusion and can push the visitors away so make sure you are well aware of your audience.
Always focus on your “target” keyword before writing content because this will help make sure your ideas are closely related to your target keyword.
Quality
Over the years, we hear about writing a lot of content but I’m here to tell you this no longer should be your first priority. Quality should be your main focus. Provide value to your readers even if this means you have to cut down your posting frequency to 2-3 per month. Search engines are always looking to provide value to their users so they will obviously bump the rank of those sites they determine provide it. Quality content can be provided in the following ways…
- Focus on your keyword and understand your topic
- Always research and write something better than your competitors
- Update older content with new fresh content
- Make sure they include depth
The solution to this problem is simple and it’s focusing on quality over quantity. You have to make sure you always keep the reader in mind and understand what they want to gain out of your blog’s content.
Interaction
Forums have grown and became popular because of the interaction they allow among users. You can post a question and have an answer within seconds. Forums are very targeted and you should apply the same concept into your blogging. By creating user engagement, you’ll be able to build that one-on-one personality with your readers, which will increase loyalty among readers. I know many bloggers who simply publish content and don’t take the time to answer questions from their readers. WordPress always includes a comment box with their platform because they know how important it is for people to comment and receive feedback.
Going forward, make sure you interact with your readers and create your personal brand with them so they feel a connection to you, the blogger.