What Not to Do When Writing Blog Posts
Blogging is a fairly straightforward process that just about anyone can get into. You set up your website, you post your content. It seems easy, right? Blogging well, on the other hand, is not something that everyone can do. It’s easy to get caught up engaging in common mistakes that bloggers make without even realizing you’re doing so. The problem comes when you get trapped in the vicious cycle of repeating these mistakes for too long and it ultimately kills your blog.
Whether you’re just starting out or have been blogging with little success for a while, make sure you avoid doing these things:
1. Don’t lose focus
When you start writing up a blog post you usually have a topic in mind that you want to cover. However then the words begin flowing and before you know it you’ve shifted the entire post into something completely different. If it’s relevant material, this might not be such a bad thing. However a post that starts as one topic and ends with the blogger just rambling on and on can be harmful to the overall quality of the blog. Keep what you want the end result to be in mind the entire time you’re writing your post.
2. Write to readers, not to bloggers
Once you’ve been blogging for a while and you’ve established connections and built relationships with other bloggers it can be easy to start targeting your blog posts to those people. However you shouldn’t be writing to other bloggers you should be writing to new readers who can gain something from your posts, otherwise your readership will never expand.
3. Avoid being too text heavy
Break up your posts into lists and bullet points; otherwise your posts can become too overwhelming to read. Having your paragraphs broken up into a list style gives the reader a break from too much text and allows people to skim easily for the main points. It’s unlikely that anyone is going to read anything word for word and you want your reader to be able to take away the overall gist of the post easily.
4. Don’t shy away from controversy
People love to read a well-written, controversial piece versus something that is just bland information. This doesn’t mean to throw caution to the wind and attack certain people, groups, or happenings without any tact to the situation, but if there’s something you feel passionate about don’t be scared to respectfully share your opinion. This encourages people to also share theirs, and can lead to great discussions in the comments section of your post. The key is approaching controversy with consideration and sensitivity.
5. Don’t skip proof-reading
There is nothing worse than publishing a post before you’ve proofread it only to come back later and realize that you have several glaring errors, or worse have a reader point them out to you. You lose credibility when you publish something that is wrought with grammatical errors, so take the time to edit and then publish.
Successfully writing solid posts takes a lot of time and effort, but is also the best way to draw in new readers and continue to expand. Don’t just slap up a post with no thought, spend some time making it the best post possible. Your readers want to read quality over quantity.
Author Bio
This Guest post is by Christine Kane from internet service providers, she is a graduate of Communication and Journalism. She enjoys writing about a wide-variety of subjects for different blogs. She can be reached via email at: Christi.Kane00 @ gmail.com.
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Hello,
Thanks for this useful info. I, myself, write blogs as well, and i have the problem of not proof reading them, ouch! I guess i dont have much patience for that…
EleonoraEOF recently posted..Are You a Candidate for Bariatric Surgery?
Twitter: trungpc81
says:
Well, as you said, many of us don’t have much patience to do proof-reading before publishing blog post. That is the big mistake I made in the past. And now I thought I would never do it again.
Trung Nguyen recently posted..How to Sign Up Hosting at Dreamhost For Just $1.87 Per Month Instead of $8.95?
Twitter: expothemes
says:
I always couple of minutes before proof reading to fresh up mind. And it helps me lot.
Pradosh recently posted..And We Got Page Rank 2 In 10 Days
Twitter: expothemes
says:
I always take couple of minutes break before proof reading to fresh up mind. And it helps me lot.
Oh, good idea. With a fresh mind you can write faster and hopefully more ideas will come!
Jasmine recently posted..Best PHP Hosting by iPage
Twitter: techwalls
says:
I’m not really sure about the 2nd point, why we shouldn’t write to bloggers whereas bloggers could be targeted readers of many blogs?
Tuan recently posted..Get $25 Amazon Gift Card from Google by Selling your Online Privacy
Twitter: trungpc81
says:
I total agree with you, Tuan. We may write for some bloggers who are a new blogger and want to get more experience to blog better.
Trung Nguyen recently posted..15 Best Ebooks Every Blogger Should Read
Twitter: tweakandtrick
says:
I think the author is referring to blogs which do not target bloggers as their readers.
Akhilesh Sharma recently posted..Recover Deleted files, Undelete Files in Windows with Freeware
Hello,
Very straightforward and informative post that every blogger should follow.I am also a blogger and try to engaged with my visitor to provide what they want to read in my blog. Your “Write to readers, not to bloggers” is a very important point for me.
Thank you
Smith recently posted..http://www.hostgator.com-Get Unlimited WebHost Space & Bandwidth With Unlimited Domains
Very informative, sometimes i loose interest in the middle of a post and when i get back to it am already bored, i think focus is what i really need.
Another great post.But I think we can also write to new bloggers and teach them new blogging tips and tricks.
Lakhyajyoti recently posted..Does Google Plus Have The Business Advantage
Loosing focus is a common problem. i too have to face it from time to time.. i guess thats how it it. but we should try not to lose it..
From my opinion these two things are so important when you want to make nice and solid blog post
Don’t lose focus : This is one of difficult part of writing often what happens when we are try to focus more on a topic then other unnecessary topic comes in mind.
Write to readers, not to bloggers : Second important think from my opinion which is one of the best part while writing for blog we should keep one thing always in our mind which is “”Niche”" of our readers.
Twitter: Mix Twist
says:
Focus gets away when ever I get a call or somebody hits heavy horns out side of my window. Some times I switch off my cell phone to write article.
Jass recently posted..In-Image Advertising: Turn Your Images into Revenues
Twitter: netchunks
says:
How does one hit horns. You mean blow horn, the cars? I just got confused. Anyways yes, its quite hard to keep focus most of the time and nowadays it has become more hard due to social media.
Twitter: Jajodia_Saket
says:
Really all mentioned points are good and impotent, sometimes when I loose focus while writing it become hard to get back that focus.. Sometimes it just become so hard to get, once because of this I couldn’t able to write for few days.. And you should always do proof-reading after 15-20 min of writing, because by that time your mind get refresh and able to do a btr proof-reading..!!
Saket Jajodia recently posted..How To Embed Tweets In Your Blog Or Website
Generally,I fear writing on controversial things.I think I should throw some light in that direction.Thank you.
Solid points. For blogging or article writing these five points are very important. The post has to be focused on a topic, creative and engaging. People love to read about on going controversies so it is okay to write about it.
Twitter: webmaisterpro
says:
For sure consistency and good discipline are the keys to successful blogging. I think most bloggers loose passion and may be that’s the main reason why most fail. Another thing is choosing wrong niche.
Carl recently posted..The Different Types Of SEO Reseller Plans And How They Help Marketers
I read this post and started following it while posting on my blog based website. I think this is the right way of blogging. I like it very much.. thank you very very much for sharing it. Good Job.
#4. Point is great. It happend with newbie bloggers and the bloggers who don’t have faith what they write. So I suggest write only those things about which you are expert in. If you are not an expert then try to do more and more research before writing the post.
Great post buddy. Thanks for sharing.
Atish recently posted..Shoot Out At Facebook: Angry Father Shot Daughter’s Laptop
Controversy is a very sharp double-edge sword, if you go over the line without realizing, the whole thing can blow up in your face and turn into a full-fledged scandal. Don’t make your content bland, but don’t push it either, or you’ll regret it later
I’ve tried many time to write guest posts or article writing for High pr article webs.
But didn’t get success i don’t know why.
Whats your suggestions for me?
Best Way to Advertise Online recently posted..Online Advertising Statistics
Twitter: vijaychauhan007
says:
Along with grammatical errors, it is important to check for the spelling errors. There was a time when i was using Internet explorer for writing posts. And IE does not have a dictionary as such. SO many times i used to go wrong in spellings. Now i have started writing my blog post in MS word. After the post gets finished i edit it in word itself and then i pasts it in WordPress editor. By this, i have almost solved the problem of errors..
Prithvi recently posted..How to share an internet connection over wi-fi without a modem or router
Twitter: ajacwebdesign
says:
It’s such a fine line to try and walk. You try to keep your content relevant and to the point but then you also don’t want your blog post to read like Cliffs Notes.
Good advice on the controversy tip. Sometimes you need to stir the pot a little to create some buzz.
Thanks!
Thanks that was a useful piece of information. I will try proofreading my posts now and see if it improves the quality!
Ayush Agrawal recently posted..13 Ways in which Windows 8 Will Be Different
Nice list with a good approach. Most bloggers tell you how to blog and not how you are not supposed to blog. This way you can choose which approach helps you more.
I know how often I commit typos and I make sure to perform several proof readings before posting. I know how much a single error can ruin the image of a blogger.
Twitter: theapptimes
says:
Good points Christine. I usually try to follow these steps but sometimes rush with my publication without doing a proper proof read, always to regret it later.
Adeline recently posted..The 5 Best Mobile Apps for Sports Info on the Go
I fall foul to two of theses points the first being Don’t lose focus I can find by the end of a post I can have completely gone of track and have to start again. Secondly has to be not proof reading and as you say both can be bad for your blog must improve Lol.
ryan recently posted..Best Xbox 360 Games of 2011
Twitter: HollyJahangiri
says:
These are excellent tips. I’m often guilty of #3, and often have to be reminded to add images to my posts at all. But that’s the only one I have major problems with – and it’s only to be expected, since I’m a writer first, and a blogger second. (In fact, I am pretty sure that blogs didn’t even accept images back when I started blogging.
———
The CommentLuv link, below, is to a friend’s contest entry post. It’s also on some important do’s and don’ts of blogging, and I think you’ll like it. I’m sure he’d appreciate any feedback you might have to offer in comments, and if you like his post, he’d be grateful if you’d share it. Or as a friend of mine says, “Do the button dance on it.” Thanks in advance!
Holly Jahangiri recently posted..Good Blogger And A Good Blog: What Are The Signs?
Thank you, good tips. Do not repeat your old post again. you should have a powerful search for your articles. before you start to writing new article, have a search and be sure, there is not same article already.
Try to use your old article as a link in your new post for more explanations.
Twitter: loans4tenants
says:
Nice post, I especially like point #4 regarding controversy. I think a lot of bloggers worry to much about upsetting their readers, however it is often controversy that sparks good conversation, you only have to look at the daily newspapers to see that its the controversial stories that make the front pages.
Jason recently posted..Bank of England Base Rate Announcement | Unsecured Loan Finder
Thanks, these are good tips. My web person also thinks controversy works. She writes about scams in her blog and gets tons of traffic.
Twitter: Luxwaterfront
says:
Interesting article. I really like the fact the you brought up checking spelling and grammar. It’s just such a simple task to do to ensure your communication is coherent. I always use spell check!
Sean recently posted..Abacoa Real Estate | Amenities & Buying a Home
I think the point you make about not shying away from controversy is very important. What makes blogs ‘different’ from newspaper articles or other non-interactive media is exactly this: the reader is encouraged (sometimes provoked into) reacting, giving feedback and, ultimately, making the whole process blog-comment-reaction into the unique concept that it is. If there are no thought-provoking or plain provocative staements then this process cannot take oplace.
Great Steps For Following When Writing Blog Post, I have Followed Not All Steps, Till Now.But This Post Is Very Beneficial For Me For My All Blogs…
manish sharma recently posted..Volkswagen Beetle 2.0 AT Price And Mileage
My favorite blogs are those where the publisher writes with an attitude and a controversial angle. As a blogger is also important to take the debate with readers even if you do not agree. It makes the readers to come back and it’s the most important. And by the way thanks for a great post
It’s true about keep it in point form. Basically the shorter and to the point, the better. And the don’t lose focus part, is SO true!! Sometime you’d be reading blogs that diverts to grandmother stories before getting to the point. Geez!
Thanks! Good post!
Alicia recently posted..Whitelight – Best Portfolio Theme from WooThemes
dont get lazy.. thats the biggest disadvantage..so.. you should always prepare yourself for blogging.
Twitter: Wilson
says:
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