4 Simple but Crippling Blogging Mistakes (& How to Avoid Them) 2020

Editor’s note: We all make blogging mistakes. Even editors of blogs like WritetoDone occasionally mess up! Often this is because we forget to KISS. KISS stands for ‘Keep It Simple, Stupid’. It’s not meant to be derogatory, as the first article in the series explains. Instead, it’s meant to be a way to check if you’ve built your foundations on solid ground, before you start getting all fancy 🙂 So here are 5 simple, but crippling, blogging mistakes to avoid…

Blogging is one of the effective ways of content marketing. Poor blogging can never generate great leads and thus your online business will suffer. In fact, your entire content marketing strategy will fail if you make these simple blogging mistakes:

1- Inconsistency

Blogging can give you some tremendous benefits but those who have generated thousands of leads through blogging have worked hard for it. Blogging can never give you the desired results if you are not consistent with your posts. Regular posts can bring back readers time and time again and will show your professionalism and dedication.

Regular posts mean a high number of visitors and thus there are more chances of generating high leads. Consistency in your blog posts is also imperative for high Google ranking.

We all know that besides having high-quality content, frequent posts are also essential for getting high traffic. Frequent posts do not mean that you need to post every day. You can post once a week, or two to three days a week, depending on your audience.

Selecting new and unique topics for your blog requires time and effort. If you are unsure about the best topics you can also use tools for generating blog ideas. One of the best is Hubspot. Hubspot helps thousands of content marketers generate great blog ideas automatically, thus saving hours of research.

2- Boring content

Many times readers start reading a particular blog post but then switch to another because they find the content boring. You need to keep in mind that readers are the main drivers of your blogging career. They have plenty of options on the internet. If one post doesn’t answer their question, they can easily switch to another. Thus, you need to give them meaningful content.

Make sure that the content is actually answering the problem the reader came to solve. Remember that a reader will only spend around 30 seconds on your post to see if it is worth reading or not. You need to grab, and keep, their attention immediately.

Freestyling is not usually the best way to achieve this. Instead look for proven formulas used by professional writers and bloggers. These techniques help in keeping the reader engaged from the beginning. One of these techniques is the APP (Agree, Promise, and Preview) technique for starting your article.

Start by agreeing with a problem you know your reader has, such as lack of time to write for instance. Then promise a tantalising solution, and finally give them a preview of how you are going to deliver that promise.

3- Writing short posts

In the past many successful bloggers wrote short posts. They are easier to write but can’t cover everything in detail. Today, readers want to read one post that answers their problem completely, rather than searching for other blogs and spending more time online.

If we look at today’s top bloggers, we can easily see that they write long content, around 2000 words or more. Google wants its readers to get maximum information, so it wants a detailed post with plenty of information. Thus, it gives a higher rank to detailed content in comparison to short content.

To make your content highly informative, you need to cover every angle of your reader’s problem. In a shorter version of your blog post, you can only state a problem and then jump to the solution directly. You do not even have enough space to give examples and screenshots of what you are talking about.

Try, instead, to provide a step by step solution to a problem. It’s ideal to use examples in each step and screenshots will make your post even more attractive to read and actionable.

4- Not knowing your audience

Many bloggers are well versed in writing unique and informative posts but they do not know their audience in detail. Content written for professionals is entirely different from that written for amateurs. Knowing the demographics of your audience is essential.

Similarly, the age group of your audience plays a key role. You can easily use Google Analytics to find out this vital information, and a lot more besides.

5- Adding irrelevant information

Keep in mind that your blog should be highly informative. It should be a place where readers can find maximum information in minimum time.

Many bloggers pad out their site by adding irrelevant posts. Remember, if your readers aren’t interested in it, it doesn’t matter how interesting, or important, it is to you. Don’t post it.

This is one of the mos common blogging mistakes, and one that can loose you a lot of readers. If you are struggling to find relevant topics to write about, you can use different online tools like Hubspot, Ubersuggest and Buzzsumo.

Avoid those crippling blogging mistakes

So, the next time you plan to write an post, make sure that it addresses a problem that your target audience is facing. Completely, and effectively.

It’s never too late to convert your blog into a conversion machine. Whether you are writing your own blog or freelancing for another, make sure you avoid these blogging mistakes.

If you write meaningful and comprehensive content by keeping your readers’ needs in the forefront of your mind, you will see a huge improvement in your online business.

Do you agree with the 5 tips above? Do you know another simple. but crippling, blogging mistake that you think should have been included?