Fatal Blogging Mistakes How to Scare Readers Away From Your Site

Want to alienate readers and drive people away from your work? It’s not difficult. Through these typical and fatal blogging mistakes, you can destroy your influence in no time.

Want to know how? These fatal blogging mistakes will have your readers running for cover.

Endless Self-Promotion

Your entire reason for blogging might be to boost your brand—but don’t let that be all you do online. Readers tire of endless “me, me, me!” talk, and they quickly go the other way when that’s what you provide. Rather than only talking about yourself, talk about subjects that benefit your reader. Always have an obvious answer to the “What’s in it for them?” question. This gives your readers a reason to keep coming back.

Heavy Jargon

Particularly in business-to-business (B2B) industries, avoiding jargon takes effort. You might be used to talking to people in your industry about specialized terminology and buzzwords—in real estate, for example, terms like “REO” and “203K”—but if these aren’t terms your readers will recognize, you need to work around them. At the very least, explain any potentially confusing terms. Remember that your goal is tocommunicate with your audience and build connections, and this only happens when you write to be understood.

Over-Advertising

Look, everybody knows blogging takes time and energy, so it’s only natural that you would want to add advertising to bring in some money. Just be careful—too many ads, and you become a flashy, gimmicky billboard nobody wants to trust. If you choose to display ads, make them tasteful, discreet, and most of all – relevant

Cluttered Design

You know that feeling of walking into a room and not being able to take a step in any direction because clutter is everywhere? That’s how some blogs feel. And if your blog is the cluttered, disorganized type, you send a clear message to your readers that they should stick around at their own risk. Instead of frustrating your fans, simplify your blog’s design. Determine what aspects of your page are necessary (i.e., posts, link to an “about” page, social media buttons, etc.) and cut everything that isn’t.

Poor Readability

When your text is too small, readers have to squint to read it. When it’s too big, they have to scroll after every paragraph. Aim to make your page readable and clean to aid their understanding. Using lots of white space is critical.

Rushed, Low-Quality Content

Too many bloggers fall into the trap of thinking their main goal is new content rather than good content. What happens as a result is lots of sub-par, ho-hum posts that nobody actually cares about. When readers realize this is what you offer, they’re quick to jump ship. If you don’t have the time to devote to truly valuable content, find someone who does—or only post when you have the time to invest in thinking about what you write.

Don’t Make These Fatal Blogging Mistakes On Your Blog

Do any of the fatal blogging mistakes above sound familiar? Are you turning readers away without even realizing it? If so, it’s time to do something about it. Put some intentionality into your posts, and make your site a place people love to visit.