Do You Make These 10 Mistakes When You Blog?

Mistake #1: You dont post enough. Hobby bloggers may go weeks between posts. But frequen y is what separates the men from the boys. You annot build solid traffi without frequent posts. ! ha"e seen time and time again #"ia $oogle %nalyti s& that there is a dire t orrelation between frequen y and traffi . 'he more ! post(within reason(the greater my traffi . Mistake #): You post too mu h. Yes* this is possible* too. ! dont need to hear from anyone more than on e a day(unless it is a group blog or a news site. You would do better to fo us on writing one really great post a day rather than se"eral medio re ones. 'he tri k is to find your frequen y sweet spot. +or me* it is four to fi"e posts a week. !f a post starts getting too long* onsider breaking it up into se"eral posts. Mistake #,: Your post is too long. -eth $odin is the master of the short* pithy post. His are usually in the )../0.. word range. ! shoot for less than 1.. words. But ! often post 21. words and sometimes more. You an get away with this if your posts are 3s annable4(that is* you make use of subheads* lists* and other de"i es that keep people mo"ing through your ontent. !f a post starts getting too long* onsider breaking it up into se"eral posts. Mistake #0: You dont in"ite engagement. 5hen ! talk about 3engagement*4 ! am referring to a ombination of page "iews* reader omments* and so ial media mentions. 6ostrank. om is a great tool for measuring this kind of engagement. 'he posts that generate the most engagement for me are those that are ontro"ersial* transparent #espe ially about failure&* and open7ended. 'his is why ! try to end e"ery post with a question. Mistake #1: You dont parti ipate in the on"ersation. 5hen bloggers dont parti ipate in on"ersation by ommenting on their own posts and responding to their readers* it is like hosting a party at your home* making a brief appearan e* and then disappearing. !n any other onte8t* this beha"ior would be per ei"ed as rude or odd. 'he same is true in blogging. 6eople want to ha"e a on"ersation(with Y9:. 5hen you use subheads* lists of bullets or numbers* it draws readers in by making your ontent a essible. -horter paragraphs also help. Mistake #;: You dont make your ontent a essible. -in e ! am in the publishing business* ! often get asked if ! think people are reading less. 'he simple answer is 3<o.4 !n fa t* ! think they are reading more than e"er. But they are reading differently. =eaders ha"e shorter attention spans. 'hey are s anning ontent* looking for items that interest them. 5hen you use subheads* lists of bullets or numbers* it draws readers in by making your ontent a essible. -horter paragraphs also help. Mistake #2: You dont reate at hy headlines. % ording to Brian >lark* who runs the must7read site* >opyBlogger* 3on a"erage* ? out of 1. people will read headline opy* but only ) out of 1. will read the rest.4 'his means your headlines are the most important thing you write. +ortunately* Brian has an entire series of posts alled 3How to 5rite Magneti Headlines.4 ! suggest you read e"ery post. Mistake #?: Your first paragraph is weak. 'his is riti al. %ssuming that you ha"e written a great headline* people will ne8t read your first paragraph. You must use this paragraph to pull them into the rest of your blog post. -tart with a story* a promise* or a startling fa t. 'he idea is to grab their attention and hang onto it. Many bloggers spend too mu h time trying to setup the post or pro"ide onte8t. @ust get to the point. Mistake #A: Your post is off7brand. ! ha"e often been guilty of this one. !f you are a hobby blogger* you an get away with the o asional post that strays from your primary message or brand. But if you are trying to build traffi * you need to find an editorial fo us and sti k to it. % tighter fo us leads to higher traffi . 'his is why ! ha"e tried to narrow my own fo us to three areas: leadership* so ial media* and publishing. !f ! want to write on something else #e.g.* fitness&* ! do so through one of these three lenses. Mistake #1.: Your post is about Y9:. :nless you are a mega7 elebrity* readers dont are about you. <ot really. 'hey are about themsel"es. 'hey want to know whats in it for 'HBM. Your personal stories an be a doorway to that* but in the end* the best posts are about your readers needs* fears* problems* or on erns. %lways ask* 35hats the take7away for my readerC4