Common Weblogging Mistakes

A weblog is a compilation of thoughts,ideas,facts or news that someone has decided to put online. One of its greatest benefits is that it frees us from ‘Web Design’. You write what you want, click a button and its posted on the Internet. The need for page design in the case for blogs is not compulsary. All you have to do is to install a new theme and your sites design is done. As a result the number of bloggers on the web has exploded.

The survival of your blogs in the blogosphere are ensured by the links that you get from other blogs. The best postings gets more links which results in more readers.

To reach new readers and keep your existing readers you have to avoid making the following mistakes:

• No ‘About’ section:

  A ‘about’ section on your blog is a must as your readers may want to know who they are dealing with. So not including this section on your blog is a mistake.

  You can write about who you are, your hobbies, what you do for a living, etc

• No Author Photo:
  I often find blogs omit the author photo, even if they have an ‘about’ section.A photo is important for two reasons:
  1. It offers a more personable impression of the author. You enhance your credibility by the simple fact that you are not trying to hide. Also, users relate more easily to somebody they have seen.
  2. It connects the virtual and physical worlds. People who have met you before will recognize your photo, and people who have read your site will recognize you when they meet you in person

  For many readers, faces work better than names, so not putting a photo is a mistake.

• Bad Titles:
  When publishing posts in your blog, make sure it has a good title that describes the contents of the post well. Avoid humorous headlines that make no sense out of context.

  Descriptive titles are especially important for representing your blog in search engines and newsfeeds. In such cases, readers often see only the title and determine whether or not they should view the full post. They read only a few words of a title even if there is a short abstract of the post.

  It’s not good to use ALL CAPS in your titles as reading speed is reduced by 10% and users are put off by the appearance of shouting.

• Not using link titles:
  When you link to something on your posts, remember that you have to describe to your readers what they will find on the other end of the link. This is something that I sometimes forget to implement, which is a mistake

  Bad examples of linking:
  You can find more info here and here

  You should provide descriptive information in either the anchor text itself or the immediately surrounding words. You can also use Link Titles for this purpose.

  Good examples:
  Good Reads: Common Web Designing Mistakes

  What do you think about the above example? Is it descriptive enough?

  Use a period (.) at the end of your link title.

• Not linking to your old posts:
  By now you may have noticed that your old posts are burried in your blog archives making it hard to find. Those old posts may contain some good posts that you want your new readers to read.

  I had written an article earlier on WordPress Archive Promotion which will help you solve this problem. The article explains about a few WordPress Plugins namely popularity contest, related posts and ultimate tag warrior (utw) which you can use to bring out the old posts.

  For better understanding please read my post on WordPress Archive Promotion

  Check the sidebar of this page to see two of the plugins in action: Popularity Contest and Related Posts.

  Popularity Contest lists out the most popular posts on my blog. The posts are selected based on the number of comments and views it has.

  Related Posts lists out the related entries to this post.

  Ultimate tag warrior (UTW) can be used to tag your posts helping your readers to find posts on the same topic easily.

  To see it in action check above the Technorati Tags of this page.

  Remember to link to your older posts that fits with the newer posts.

• Not properly Categorizing your posts:
  Most weblog software provides a way to categorize postings so users can easily get a list of all postings on a certain topic. Use categorization, but avoid the common mistake of tagging a post with almost all of your categories. Be selective. Decide on a few places where a posting most belongs.

  Categories must be properly detailed, but at the same time they should not be so detailed that users face a category menu that’s very long and difficult to scan. Ten to twenty categories are appropriate for structuring many topics.

  You may add parent categories for your Categories.

• Not Publishing Frequently:
  For a blog, readers must be able to anticipate when and how often updates will occur. For most weblogs, daily updates are the best. If you usually post daily but sometimes let weeks or months go by without new content, you will lose many of your regular readers.

  Certainly, you should not post when you have nothing to say.To ensure regular publishing, hold back some ideas and post them in the right time.

• No Search Bar:
  Search is a fundamental component of any Weblog and not including it is a mistake. So provide a search on your homepage if you have not.

  Powering your blog with Google Search is a good idea.

• Badly written content:
  No one wants to read any post that is poorly written, difficult or boring to read. The average reader only comprehends 60 per cent of what they read. To ensure your readers get what you are saying you need to make it clear by using some of the following techniques:
  1. Use simple language. Avoid technical jargon.
  2. Don’t introduce too many ideas in one post. You can always add another post later.

  Not sure what to post? Write about what you love. A weblog is a place for strong opinions, whether about technology,music,gardening or your profession.The more engaged you are with your subject, the more interesting your writing will be.

  Write about something that’s currently popular. Take a look at Technorati’s Top Searches This Hour and choose a topic and write about it

  At last check, Gmail was one of the most searched for on Technorati.

  Also, don’t forget to tag. I recommend using Ultimate Tag Warrior which supports Technorati tags. Installation can get a bit complex, so moving to a WordPress theme that has support for UTW, such as K2, is a good idea.

• Not linking to the source:
  Link to your sources. The Web allows a transparency that no other medium can duplicate. When you link to a news story,an essay,a speech or another blogger’s entry, you allow your readers access to your primary material,empowering them to make informed judgements.
• Not linking to other blogs:
  Link to other blogs. Your readers may enjoy being introduced to the weblogs you most enjoy reading. The Web is a democatic medium and bloggers amplify each other’s voices when they link to each other.

  Generously linking to other blogs enlarges the grassroots network of information sharing and social alliances we create together on the Web.

• Not visually pleasing:
  A blog is akin to a Web Site for written materials, and just like the design of a Web Site, care should be taken to make the blog visually appealing and friendly for readers. Some easy pointers here are to avoid jarring colors and links that go nowhere or photographs that take too long to load. Make the entire visit an unforgettable experience and your repeat visitors shall soar.

  Choose a good theme like K2 (for WordPress), that has a lot of good features like AJAX commenting and live search.

  Design your own header (with your site’s name and logo in it) to make your blog look unique

• Not having your own Domain Name:
  Don’t have your own domain name? Well, its time to get one. It only costs around $8 per year to get your personal domain name and own your own future.

  Having a blog address ending in blogspot.com or typepad.com is almost the equivalent of having a Geocities website.

  Letting somebody else own your name means that they own your destiny on the Internet. They can degrade the service quality and increase the price as much as they want. They can add atop your content as many advertisements as they want.

  As soon as you realize you’re serious about blogging, contact me for a domain

What other mistakes do you know that a blogger can make?

Good reads:

• Common Web Designing Mistakes
• WordPress Archive Promotion