Given the success of smedio, I’m often asked on my take on what makes a blog successful. I’ve always believed that there’s no secret mantra to making a blog successful, you just need to understand the basics and religiously follow them. In my opinion, it’s equally important to understand the DO’s and the DONT’s that can make or break your blog.
Today, I’m going to talk about the 7 things that you should never do on your blog.
1. Personal Rants
I’ve come across several blogs which started off on the right note but then lost their way as high-quality content made way for personal attacks and rants. In my opinion, unless you are running a blog about yourself, there’s no place for any kind of personal rants on a blog. If anything, it shows how narrow minded you are.
2. Too Little
Once the blog is live and successful, a lot of bloggers have a tendency to post too little too late. Unless otherwise warranted, you should make it a point to post at least a few times every week. I admit that I’m guilty that I don’t always adhere to this rule in recent times and I realize that it hurts my blog and my reputation.
Several bloggers are never able to find out how much content is enough. They’re not able to work out an optimal posting schedule. If the audience doesn’t get quality content on a regular basis, your blog is likely to be treated as dormant. Strike a balance and know what posting frequency works best for you and your audience.
3. Too much
It’s easy to get fascinated by the early success of your blog and overdo it hoping to cash in on the opportunity. Whether it’s posting too often or killing a user’s feed by reposting your earlier content, you should realize that most readers don’t appreciate an overload of information. Stick to a well-defined posting schedule, make sure your posts are of moderate length and do not spam your readers with excessive content.
4. Compromise on Quality
When you need to scale, it’s a common mistake to overlook the quality in favor of the quantity. I’ve come across several blogs which started off with stellar content but their quality dipped as they began to introduce more writers or increase the posting volume. If you compromise with your blog quality, it’s bound to hit you big time.
5. Ignore your Audience
As a blogger, the golden rule is to be focused on your audience. Know what you audience wants and avoid being focused on yourself. Don’t use complex jargon, rather make it a habit to use simplistic language that can be well understood by your audience.
Your audience is what makes your blog successful. If you chose to ignore them, they’ll ignore your blog in return.
6. Lose focus
Rome wasn’t built in a day and the same principle applies to a successful blog. Blogs often lose focus and deviate from their original vision. This can often be suicidal as you’re targeting a specific audience. If the audience doesn’t find your content meaningful and relevant, they’re more likely to give your blog a skip.
7. Plagiarize
The worst thing you can do is to copy content from other sources and hope that it will make your blog successful. Plagiarism just doesn’t work. It might work in the short term but you’re likely to suffer when your readers find out about it.
What’s your take on the key mistakes to avoid on your blog? Please share your views by leaving a comment.
I really want to enjoy smedio’s & the articles but the social bar blocks the left side on my mobile device.
That’s unfortunate @1d65456278b854d5913c804a3a1f0fb3:disqus . Thanks for the feedback, we are looking into it.
That was an issue for me when viewing Smedio on my mobile device too, I guess you’ve sorted it out now as the overlay vanishes once i begin scrolling within the page.
This could also be a good point on not what to do with a blog, as mobile viewing tends to be far more popular now we often get faced with an unwanted popup overlay asking to rate their site or take a survey… when engagement through discussion instead has far better returns.
Love this, but a good rant is warranted on occasion if you’re passionate, professional, and it is a niche-specific rant. 🙂
The keyword Amberr is “professional” 😉
Cool list..
Thanks @YourDigitalSpace:disqus .
Never do on your blog? Rants is probably number one, unless that is your persona and your market 😉
Great Advice, Doug. I’m noticing that you really dig the number 7. Anyway, it’s very difficult not to lose purpose and direction. Sometimes ideas change, the market changes, and you even change. How do you know when it is the right time to move in a different direction?
This was so informative! We just launched our blog for The Root Salon in Phoenix and this is going to help us take things in the right direction for sure. We are excited to share fun information on having really fantastic hair color. Thanks, Doug for such a great list!
Numbers 2 and 3 are true in the most general sense, but statements like “Unless otherwise warranted, you should make it a point to post at least a few times every week” lack context so they aren’t helpful and possibly detrimental. I, for one, would be wasting my time blogging more than once a week. On the other hand a news, political, or sports web site might need to post multiple times a day to have any kind of relevance.
Very good post. I agree with all 7. # 5 and # 6 are very easy to fall into. If we do not state clearly who our audience is and what is the purpose of the blog, we are lost.
Good reminder! Never plagiarize! I always believe that the essence of blogging is not only about marketing, it is about the freedom to express your opinions and inspire others towards whatever goal that you have in mind. Yes, audience is important but as long as you love what you are writing and you put your heart into it, everything will follow. Your number of audience will rise along with your potential advertisers. So if you really want to start blogging, do it by heart! 🙂
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