It is often more helpful to know what NOT to do. Here are five common blogging mistakes that you should avoid (but most will not):
Sloppy Writing
u don’t got to be a wurld CLass writer butt u do gotta not be a slob whin righting.
The biggest turn off with content is not a lack of professional writing skills. Good stories and ideas can overcome a lack of writing style. However, it is always a turn off when we lack of diligence concerning those things we CAN control: punctuation, captilization, avoiding those “texting” abbreviations, and generally typing like an adult rather than a scatterbrained adolescent.
Clean up your typing. Use capitals and punctuation. Take advantage of your spell checker. Write in short sentences and short paragraphs just to be safe. Avoid cutesy cultural “texting” words unless they clearly add to the style and message.
Crappy Photos
The best writing, best design and best content ideas in the world are quickly ruined when we put no effort into making our photos and images as good as they can be. Not everyone can have worldclass, fantastic images but pretty much anyone can avoid putting up lousy photos that show very little effort or concern.
Here is a recent post about good image work: http://www.mcklinkyblog.com/200909/six-tricks-for-great-photos-on-your-blog/ and the next issue of SeriousLife Magazine will be dedicated to teaching you and showing you how to have great photos on your blog. Be sure to get your free subscription to SeriousLife and we’ll let you know when the issue comes out next week.
Widget and Gadget Dementia
Many bloggers, especially those with more personal blogs have an obsession with miles and miles and miles of endless gadgets and widgets lining the sides of the blog. If not an obsession, maybe they’ve seen it so much they think it MUST be the right thing to do.
This widgetpalooza is bad for several reasons: it slows down the blog from loading; it’s ugly; it’s often useless; it runs the risk of something incompatible causing problems on your blog; it’s a design nightmare and it is distracting from the REAL treasure on your blog – the posts.
Group widgets and badges tastefully. Get rid of gadgets that don’t add value for your readers. Don’t extend 20 ft of widgets down your page miles past the last blog post.
Eye Gouging Mind Numbing Style
This one is a little more hard to describe but it goes something like this. If one of the following reactions is common upon visiting your blog, then you might want to get some graphic design help:
- The urge to gouge your eyes out
- An overdose of Oxycontin to numb the mental chaos
- An overwhelming desire to strangle yourself
- An instant decision to leave your blog and never come back
You don’t have to be a professional graphics designer. But ANYONE can employ some general design rules AND ask for the opinion of designers. There are LOTS of designers out there and chances are someone reading your blog is pretty good at design. Ask their opinion.
When in doubt, find a blog that is well done and mimic their style. There is no excuse for a blog design that runs people off, or worse, makes them want to shove their head through a monitor.
Not Learning
I’m always amazed at people who spend zero or less time learning about blogging. If you are going to do it, why not be educated about it? Maybe it’s just my personality.
Learn about good writing, how to do great photos. Learn about good design, navigation and how to interact with your readers. Blogging is a lot more fun, not to mention more successful, if you actually know what you are doing. It’s not rocket science. Anyone can learn the ins and outs of good blogging.
The fact that you are reading this blog post is a good start…
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There’s probably a hundred of these “mistakes” we could list but this short lesson on these five will hit most people right between the eyes. Crawl before you walk…
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I would be very grateful if you
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for the useful tips. I must try to remember to not use the same style of writing I use for internet chatting as I do for my blog.
Also, my photos always come out not as sharp and crisp as other photos I see on blogs so a really good camera can help but how does a novice know what makes a great camera?
Hi Brent, I just found your website from a mention in a friend’s blog. She was hosting a ‘show and tell’ type event using a MckLinky. I’ve been learning the tips you mentioned in your article and I’m pretty sure I’ve blown it on most of the points listed. But…I am learning! I hopped back over to my blog and changed the code so my playlist doesn’t play automatically. (Yipes!) I knew I hated that feature on other people’s blogs. Funny that I didn’t think of it for my own.
A good friend and great photographer gently encouraged me to get rid of the ‘floofy’ blog stuff and to take better photos. She sent me a link to Ruffles and Stuff which had great photography tips. I’m so embarrassed now, to think how bad my blog was..and how sloppy! The only thing that saved me was my content. I have lots and lots of good content (according to friends). (Not to brag..I just love to teach and share.) I’m a how-to type person and have been teaching workshops for years. Now I have a place to share without traveling so far! I’ll never ever run out of ideas!
Well, I’m off to remove a few gadgets, thanks to your advice. I really did think I was supposed to do that since everyone else was. Thanks for the heads up! I plan to spend a lot more time reading your blog. I want all the advice I can get! I plan to talk about you and share this post and your other one on blog content tomorrow.
By the way, if a fourth of your visitors (out of 2500) spend an hour or more on your blog..is that a good indicator of content? I don’t know what’s ‘normal’. I’ve been blogging as a place to record projects for two years or more but got the vision to really ‘blog’ in late October of last year.
All very valid points. Thanks Brent!
Brent — saw your email and came over to say thank you for all the hard work you’ve been doing. I can’t give much, but hopefully it will all add up!
Great tips on the what not to do items too… couldn’t agree more!
Blessings and thanks for your great resource. It’s been wonderful!
Thanks for sharing. The ‘eye gouging’ made me lol
Thanks for all the tips. I love to read your helpful posts.
Brent, good stuff. I especially agree with the “using cap” and “not using texting short hand” points.
Not using caps worked for e.e. cummings but he knew the rules before he (successfully) broke them. I went to a blog recently and there was not a capital letter to be seen. And yes, I did shove my head through the monitor before vowing to never return.
Thanks again for taking the time to spread your knowledge to all the blogger folks out here!
Very interesting. I always appreciate it when other, more experienced bloggers share what they’ve learned. Thanks for posting!