This post originally appeared on the Shareaholic blog and is republished with permission.
As a blogger, I've done (and still do) silly things and have learned hard lessons from those embarrassing experiences.
Throughout my career, I've written hundreds of posts for dozens of publications covering a variety of different verticals (fashion, home & garden, entrepreneurship, technology, marketing, careers, you name it!). Now I would like to share a few valuable tips I've learned that may help you become a better blogger.
...and while I can list a whole bunch of things TO DO, you've probably already heard most of the advice I could offer. This post aims to point out bad blogging habits you might not even be aware of.
Blogger Do Not's
- Aggressive sales promotion. Your content should be about your reader, not your brand.
- Anonymous authors. Readers want to know who you are, so publish under your byline and add a headshot while you're at it.
- Consistently short posts. Need I say more?
- Creating content you hate. Write about things you (and your readers) care about. They'll appreciate your authenticity and passion.
- Editing permalinks. You lose link juice on 301 redirects (if you remember to do them).
- Featuring shady advertisers. Though adult sites may offer you a royal sum, your blog's reputation is worth far more.
- Going text only. Images make a real difference.
- Ignoring comments. Don't be that guy (or gal) who initiates, then abandons the conversation.
- Ignoring your readers' needs. Produce content your readers ask for and they will love you for it.
- Keyword stuffing. Trust me, Google is smarter than you.
- No tagging. When visitors search your blog, they should discover at least a handful of posts that are well worth reading about the topic they are researching.
- Obnoxiously long articles. Readers hate when you pad a post with fluff. Ain't nobody got time for that.
- Press release after press release. Give your readers a bit more substance.
- Post 'uncategorized'. Label your content with a category (or two) that helps visitors better understand what it is they are reading.
- Poor recommendations. Whenever appropriate, link to other things on your site your readers actually care about (and then watch your engagement numbers grow).
- Publishing shoddy guest posts. Be selective about the authors you work with.
- Stealing content (without proper attribution). No one likes a thief.
- The frankenpost. It's easy to copy and paste parts of other posts to create a full article, but that's a lazy tactic that gets you nowhere. Craft original stories, always.
- The monologue. Speak to your readers, not yourself.
- Unnecessary outrage. A public rant does not serve anyone well.
- Writing off-topic. Don't betray your readers who have high expectations.
What are some things you wished bloggers simply stopped doing?
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