Blogging can be great fun…until it isn’t. Oftentimes when things get out of control it is due to little blog mistakes that have been piling up while we were looking away. You may not even realize it is happening until it’s too late! Here are three unconscious (or not) mishaps to look for.
Not Promoting Your Work
If you have been in the blogging business for awhile, you are hopefully going through a “feast phase.” Things are going great, so you think it is okay to sit back, relax and let others take over the promotion. Not so fast! The only person responsible for your success or failure is YOU. That means you are in this for the long haul. Look around. You will probably see the biggest bloggers in your niche are still actively promoting their sites. They are out there commenting, guest posting and participating in online conversations. Always stay active. You often don’t notice things slipping until things have been awry for too long.
Distracted By Design
Is blog design important? To a point. (As long as you don’t have falling stars, auto-audio and white text on a black background, you are probably good.) If you ask most bloggers that have been around for a few years how their sites looked when they started, I would venture to say many will tell you they started with a $10 domain and a dream – a pretty ugly dream looking back. How can they still be here when they started with ugly blogs? Because rockin’ content was the priority, as it needs to be.
Blog design can be the biggest distraction (excuse) under the sun for not moving forward. If you have something awesome to share, no one is looking at your design. Google has not once returned me a result and said, “There really isn’t any useful information on this site, but it is super cute!” No one in my social communities has ever said that either. Don’t let design distraction take away from what really matters – your posts.
You Wait For Inspiration To Strike
In all honesty, if I would have waited for the writing bug to hit this past month, you may not have seen a single post here. There are going to be times when you have to forcefully work through blogger’s block. It’s something every blogger experiences, but not every blog will suffer from with a little intervention. When the well has run dry, these ideas may help:
- Open up a few Word documents and start making “idea outlines.” These outlines may never become posts, but you may find at least one takes off and practically writes itself.
- Use a template. When even an outline seems difficult, try a template. EzineArticles has a number of free templates available with instructions and inspiration for each.
None of these mistakes are insurmountable. Very few things in blogging are. What can you start working on making better today?
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About Angie Nelson
One other point you could have made, Angie is… don’t get distracted by worrying about SEO. Sooner or later most bloggers get distracted by it, start researching it, apply out of date ‘tips’ and stop blogging! Am I right or am I right?
Thanks, Angie, for the reminders. I tend to focus so much on content. I need to branch our and write that first guest post. Thanks for the pointing me in the right direction.
Submitting that first one is the hardest, Tracy. You can do it!
I had no idea EzineArticles had that info! Thanks for sharing. Will most likely will be using it in the near future. I get stuck for blog posts all the time.
You are welcome!
I agree with you Angie. When a blogger ignores blog promotion and the quality of their content, it might destroy everything they worked hard for. Being consistent is always the key for maintaining your site as well as your online reputation.
Consistency is one of the most difficult things over time. You can’t allow yourself to stall. Keep moving forward.
Sounds like good advice. I had to go through 2 blogs before I finally started one that completely suits me
it’s hard to know what to do when you have no experience but I guess that’s the best way to learn. Stopping by from SITS
http://myfroley.blogspot.com
I’m currently obsessing over blog design trying to get my website moved to a self hosted site that is not so sloooow! I can attest to the distraction/detriment to adding content this causes. I’m close but fearful of the time it’s going to take to make the jump, lol! A perfect excuse for not getting the things I need to be doing done!
I just went through a stint of that myself, Patti. It’s the main reason design distraction made it into the post. I talked myself into thinking as long as I was messing around in there I was blogging. I wasn’t.
Umm … did you write this blog post for me!?!? Haha! Thanks for writing this – a great reminder!
Oy.. I’m afraid this may be one I wrote for me! lol
I’m am so guilty of #1 and #3. Mostly because I’ve spread myself too thin at times. Lately I’ve decided to focus on 2 or 3 projects so that I can move them forward more.
When it comes to site design, I used to fuss over it more than I do now. I take more care with customer sites (I develop sites for local businesses as well) but my own sites I don’t spend as much time as I used to. The important things to remember is that navigation should be as user friendly as possible (use the words people expect in the places they expect them) and it shouldn’t look too crowded or cluttered.
I can relate to all three! Thanks for this..
Anyway, came back to say that I gave you a Blog Award!
http://thejourneyofawoman.com/2012/09/03/the-lovely-blog-award/
Hi Angie,
Yes – I do agree. Especially on the last point you’ve mentioned. As most bloggers (who actually blog and or post on a regular and constant base) can’t afford to wait for inspiration to strike them. And if you are a professional writer that depends on the profit of your work, then you most definitely can’t afford to wait for inspiration.
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “If you build it, they WON’T come.” Taking a new site live and sitting back to wait for traffic and to wait for people to find you doesn’t work. Once your site goes live, your job as a website owner is to market and promote it consistently and constantly — and create new fresh content regularly to provide value for your visitors. If no one knows you exist, they can’t give you any money!
I’m totally guilty of number two! In fact for a while, I think I was addicted to making major changes to my blog all of the time. But there comes a point when you just need to make the leap and do it. Plus, you can’t start making money and building an audience until you put yourself out there.
I agree with your points except I do think that design is very important. If you analyze consumer behavior, many a visitor will hit the back button on their browser if they come to a site that is not well branded. I’ve seen too many sites with only text in their banners. Investing in branding helps you attract readers. Of course your point is well taken about the quality of the information presented. So true. Suzanne
You’re right that design is very important Suzanne. But I remember spending hours and hours trying to get a random header display working on my first blog. It looked fantastic when I was done. But I doubt that it brought me a single visitor. That time would have been better spent writing and reaching out.
But it is important to have a good design. Don’t reinvent the wheel – see what works on other sites. Keep things more or less in the places that people expect them to be. Keep the design uncluttered. Make sure that your navigation is clear and standard. Creativity is fine as long as people can easily do what they need to on your site. If they have to work to figure out where your About page is or how to work the menus, then they’ll be gone.
The main thing is to figure out which parts of the design are important and don’t spend too much time tweaking the rest. That lesson I learned the hard way 8=)