Sep 8

Written by:
2009/09/08 08:46 AM 

1. More Ads than content.

Your Blog is laden with Ads and Affiliates links.This is a common problem. Too many ads for too many things with no focus. Sure ads are there to make money. But get the traffic first and create the readership. Then the money will come.

2. No original Content

Your blog posts are either copy ‘n paste of posts that are found on the  internet or reworded articles of news or blog items that are currently popular. You have heard of the phrase: “Content is king”. But original content is king.

3. No focus

You are not focused on a particular topic or theme. You do not write for a particular niche. Yes some niche markets can be broad, but they still have a theme. You write about celebrities, then pets, then technology, then space, then about your personal feelings. Do I need to go on.

4. No Authority

Akin to the pervious point. You have no authority. People won’t or don’t believe or trust you. Even though you’ve been blogging for a long time, you are a jack of all trades and master of none. You do not have any authority over any particular subject or niche. Your posts do not reflect any expertise.

5. Your last post was written 3 weeks ago.

Yes, this is a biggie. If you want people to come back frequently, then you need to post frequently. The web is all about freshness. All your posts are stale and old. Nothing new to report. So why should anybody come back. They’ve seen it all before.

6. You have no passion for your blog.

Blogging is just an experiment to you. You don’t really care about your blog or it’s readers. We can tell this by the content and the writing style. If you do not have a passion for blogging and for your niche market, why should I bother reading your blog.

7. You do not promote your blog

People think that if you put it up their they will come. This is not true. How do I know your blog is out there if you do not tell me. Use blog directories, social media like Twitter, Gatorpeeps, Friendfeed, Facebook. Make sure you have an RSS feed of your blog. Use other blog promotion sites like Pimpthisblog, SheToldMe, ShoutDotNet (.NET), or similar.

8. Your blog only has one reader everyday: yourself.

Perhaps two, your mother might read your blog as well. What mother wouldn’t? I fear this one myself. But this is probably as a direct result of not promoting. You won’t gain thousands of readers overnight. But patience and persistence will pay off.

9. Your colour scheme hurts the eyes.

Nobody likes bright green on a bright blue background. Even though you like shocking pink, no one else does. Your blog must be easy on the eyes, a pleasure to behold, or else I will leave.

10. Bad design

Your blog is badly designed. Your navigation sucks, your font is too small to read. You colour scheme hurts my eyes. You are using too many widgets, ads, blog bling to jazz up your site. No focus to the actual post.

11. No relevant content.

The content on your blog is of no use to me. It is not relevant to your chosen niche market. Its just words put together in a hap hash way to make content. It is disjointed, badly structured. Your blog is too cluttered, nothing fits together.

12. Ignoring grammar and spelling.

You may not have the skills of Grammar Girl or passed English literature with flying colours, but pay attention to grammar and spelling. I am somewhat dyslexic, that's why I try to use every tool and opportunity to help my situation. Some semblance of professional writing furthers your blogging career. Get someone else to proof read before posting.

13. Not enough variety.

Readers like variety of content. Learn about the different types of posts that you can write while you’re still learning a niche. Don’t use the same style. Don’t write about the same topics. You can still stagger your topical writing within your niche.

14. Not linking out.

You are shy with your link love. Link out, give lots of link love, and be relevant with your anchor text and to wherever you’re linking. Linking out shows authority and maturity. It’s not all bout you, you know!

15. Irrelevant links.

Linking to irrelevant sites from your blogroll / navigation or articles in general is a bad idea. And not just because Google said so. Relevant links improve the reading experience.

Study your blog. See where you can improve. Come up with some ideas. Then don’t be shy to share them. If you have isolated a good point of improvement, share them with us so that all can benefit from your great ideas. Share them in the comments below.

Related reading:

5 Great tips to improve your website and blog.

10 Easy Tips to Fix a Bad Site.

Top 10 web design mistakes.

Is your skin horrible to look at or a pleasure to behold?

Improve your site Improve your business

The 3 most important things for a Successful Blog – or you’ll fail

A successful blog takes hard work

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