Everyone has a blog these days or so it seems. And if you believe all the cyber advertising, a lot of them are making good money. Yet the truth is most bloggers fail or lose interest within the first six months. The reasons vary. Some fail because writing is not fun for them and once they discover that they will not be pulling in big money within 30 days, they move on to other endeavors. Others fail because they make some novice mistakes. So let’s take a look at the most common mistakes that new bloggers make.
- Posting Copied Content. Novice bloggers are often afraid of their own voice. So rather than post original content, they copy and paste from material they find on the internet. The problem with this is twofold. First, it is blatantly illegal. Can you say “plagiarism.” Second, it is boring. Why would a reader come to your site when they can get better information from the original. The lesson, trust your own voice.
- Lack of Visuals. Novice bloggers often believe that words are enough, that great writing and great ideas will recruit droves of readers and subscribers. What they forget or perhaps don’t realize, is that the internet is a visual medium. Readers need something to draw their eye in. They need a visual hook that will bring them back to your blog. The lesson, spend time on the design of your blog and add visuals to your blog posts.
- Infrequent Posts. New bloggers write when the muse taps their shoulder. While that might make for inspired copy, blog readers have a short attention span. Infrequent blogs post, lets your readers forget where you live. The lesson, post regularly—once a week at a minimum.
Blogging really isn’t for everyone. But anyone can blog successfully by avoiding the three most common mistakes.