10 Blogging Mistakes To Avoid
written by John Chow
Blogging Mistake #1 - Not Updating
It never fails. Somebody sets up a new blog and is all excited about it. We see a furry of posts for the first few days, maybe even a few weeks, and then the number of posts starts to go down until the blog is hardly updated at all. Nothing kills a blog faster than lack of updates. If you are going to blog, then pick a posting frequency and stick to it. Whether it’s one post per week or 10 posts per day, make a commitment to keep your blog updated. A non-updated blog is a dead blog.
Blogging Mistake #2 - Blogging Only For Money
If you’re blogging only for money, then you’re in for a shock. Yes, you can make good money with a blog, but despite what that National Post story on me said, it takes a lot more than “no effort.” 99% of blogs on the Web cannot make more than $100 a month. John Chow dot Com makes money because I don’t blog for money. If the only reason you’re blogging is to get rich, you will fail.
Blogging Mistake #3 - Rushing a Post
I am sure we have all been guilty of this - I know I have. A hot story comes up and you want to get it out ASAP, but in your rush to get the post published, you forget to proofread and just hit the Publish button. Whenever I’ve done that, there have always been mistakes in the post. Before you hit Publish, take your time to double/triple check the post to make sure it’s free of errors. If you spot an error after the post, correct it immediately.
Blogging Mistake #4 - Not Being Personal
A blog is not CNN or News.com. People read your blog to get your opinion and your point of view. Give it to them.
Blogging Mistake #5 - Being a Copycat
What makes your blog stand out from the millions in the blogshere? Is your blog unique or is it just another copycat? I am certainly not the first blog to write about making money on the Internet, so what makes my blog stand out other than me posting pictures of my dinner?
You can write about the same thing as the next blog, but you need to add your own views to make it unique. Don’t just copy and paste what another blog posted. Give your opinion because that’s what blogging is all about. The most unique thing about your blog is you.
Blogging Mistake #6 - Not Replying To Comments
A blog is a two-way communication tool, but many bloggers forget that. When readers comment in your blog, please answer them. If your readers don’t leave comments then try adding these Two Plugins To Increase Blog Comments.
Blogging Mistake #7 - Not Giving a Full Feed RSS
Unless you make 10+ posts per day, there are really no good reasons for not offering a full feed RSS. Since turning on my full feed RSS, my RSS subscribers has increased steadily. I expected traffic to the blog to go down but to my surprise, it kept going up.
Yes, a RSS feed is harder to monetize than a blog, but many RSS readers will unsubscribe to a feed if it’s not full. Not offering a full feed when you do only a few updates a day (or week) just makes you look cheap.
Blogging Mistake #8 - Not Reaching Out To Other Bloggers
The best way to get your blog noticed is by saying hi to other blogs in your niche. The easiest way to do that is to comment on their blogs. I check the comments on my blog all the time and I visit the commentator’s site. I discovered many great blogs this way. Other ways of reaching out to other bloggers includes linking to them, sending trackbacks and adding yourself to their MyBlogLog community. If you’re really creative and have a bit of money to spend, you can even try sending a Google IM.
Blogging Mistake #9 - Writing For Google Instead Of People
Some of you may recall that I am taking an Internet Marketing and SEO class. During this class, the teacher talks about stuff like key phases, keyword density, making sure your content is Google friendly, etc. The only thing I have to say about that is; write for people, not for Google.
You can have the most perfectly written Google optimized page in the world and still not ranked number 1 because Google follows people. And people won’t read a page written for a search engine because it makes no sense. I do keep an eye on my keywords and key phases when I’m writing a post, but I also keep in mind that the readers come first, Google comes second.
Blogging Mistake #10 – Not Reading John Chow dot Com
I think everyone here will agree that this is the biggest mistake any blogger can make. 
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Yes, yes, biggest mistake is not reading this site. :-p. I like this guide. But, is it wrong to blog for money? I mean, I intend on creating a network of blogs as my means of profit. Does that mean my network won’t be good because I intend on making money from it?
Nothing wrong with blogging for money. But if money is the only reason, then you’re in trouble.
Well, my passion for the topics I write about is an underlining factor in my posting. I’m a science major, so when I do build my network of science blogs, it’ll be about a topic I am passionate about. But, my intentions are to profit from them so that I can pay for medical school. More is explained in my personal blog.
If there is an opportunity to profit from something you love (i.e. science), I think you can be successful at it providing you have the right direction, work ethic and support network. I don’t know many people that wouldn’t want to get paid to do something they loved.
I blog for money, but also because i like it.
One of my first driving factors to start blogging was to blog for money, but I had to choose a topic I was mildly interested in Writing daily about something you have no interest in can be extremely tiresome in the long run.
You nailed it on the head. Many MFA (made for adsense) blogs do badly (both in terms of traffic and in revenue) because they were created SOLELY for making money. The long-term value of any blog is the amount of PASSION the owner puts into his online property. This passion translates to 1) finding blog-relevant news daily and commenting on it 2) networking with ‘trusted sites’ and ‘experts’ in his blog’s area of expertise and 3) becoming a de facto resource and reference material for his blog’s subject matter. Greed, acting alone, cannot produce these. Passion and dedication are what’s needed.
Thanks for your comment on my site John!
I definitely agree with point #9 in your post….how do you tell when a blogger has just learned about SEO? You can’t understand a word they’ve written!
Kumiko
Point number 10 sounds hillarious. =D
thanks jhon. nice article
Heh heh. Number 10 is by far the most important
Great post, I agree that if you are blogging for adwords, i guess you call it “BFA” blogging for adwords than you are doomed, just have fun, relax, try to build traffic and the money will eventually come, its just a matter of time if you work hard and stay consistant.
I agree this is a useful post. In addition, I think what adds value to a blog is how each person has a chance to distinguish him or herself in creative expression. Each of us has the power to inspire, empower and enable other people to gain insights and learn. This to me is part of how I would define the success of a blog.
Great post, John. It’s digg-worthy, but unfortunately we know the story behind that. :-\
Ever think of taking up a different persona John to submit some stuff on Digg(different computer and IP address ofcoarse)? That might be below you though…not sure that you need to.
Just saying hi! I figure lurking for too long is rude.
Seriously though, great list. Not writing in lists should be mistake number 11. Crowds seem to like them.
#9 is huge. Many people are guilty of writing headlines that are full of keywords and don’t make any sense.
A tip for bloggers that do want to incorporate as many keywords as they can into their permalinks, but still want a headline that is written for human beings is to use the slug editting feature found in WordPress. You can pump the slug full of keywords so the URL is keyword rich, while the actual headline reads normally.
I’ve also been guilty of #3 a few times because I was too anxious to publish (for no good reason).
Another excellent post John!
“many RSS readers won’t subscribe unless your feed is full”
How does anyone know what kind of feed is offered on the blog unless they subscribe to it first?
I think saying that many RSS readers would unsubscribe if the feed is partial would be more appropriate.
You are right, and I have corrected the article. Thank you.
You’re welcome
hello john.. thats a nice post.. i too hope i will make blogging a habit.. im a medical student. I have poor technical knowledge. hope i get sometime to learn some html and do some blogging in my field.
Your originality is the key to your success.
Nice writing.
Great list of mistakes, I agree with all of them. Especially number 10
[...] Chow posted his 10 Blogging Mistakes To Avoid… great advice, especially #10, Not reading John Chow dot com. *hehe* Good [...]
that was a very interesting and inspiring “how to do it” in blogging. this will clear anything about blogging, the interesting part is you can do blogging by yourself with a unique distinction of what’s inside you as a blogger.
thank you john for being a leader at hand.
When you said “reply to comments,” do you mean replying through this comment section or through emails?
thanks
#11 - Getting banned by Digg
Haha, you’ve got him there
However, I don’t think Digg has a very big impact on the amount of returning visitors, most Digg-users don’t even return to your website (neither do I most of the time).
thank you for your very interesting and inspiring topics about blogging. it learned me so much about the importance of “how to do it” blogging. the importance about it is how to express oneself as a unique blogger different from the rest.
thanks so much. this is truly great advice to follow. and thanks for the plugin suggestions in #6.
hahaha…. I like your tip no 10.
I am one of those who is guilty of Blogging Mistake #1.
[...] John Chow gives us his top ten blogging mistakes: [...]
Great advice - I think I avoid all of these, but it’s easy to get complacent.
This post may not be ‘Digg-able’ but I ‘Stumbled’ it instead
Talking of offering full feeds, I’ve just read on JohnTP’s blog that if you use the feature in your posts in WP 2.1 it will also cut off the RSS feed at the same point.
JohnTP points out a plugin that will fix it:
http://www.johntp.com/2007/02/12/wordpress-plugin-full-text-feed/
OK, that didn’t work, that should have read:
“Talking of offering full feeds, I’ve just read on JohnTP’s blog that if you use the [!–more–] feature in your posts in WP 2.1 it will also cut off the RSS feed at the same point.”
Stupid HTML tags…..
Right, I’ll stop spamming your blog John, and return to my own….
Good article john, It makes me awake again
Correct! During my initial days, I used to blog like hell.. 4 posts a day, 100 comments, talking with readers, but now I have burned out. Thanks for reminding me!
[...] Quem o diz John Chow: 1 - Not Updating 2 - Blogging Only For Money 3 - Rushing a Post 4 - Not Being Personal 5 - Being a … [...]
Excellent guide John.
// Andreas Bard
Great post John, it’s given me lots of tips for how i should run my blog!
Dam it!!! #10 got me
Good list…. and #10 is even better
Guilty as charged on #3 and #7. Will fix #7 and have been improving on #3
John,
Although many have said that offering Full RSS Feed will increase RSS subscribers, I can tell straight on that IT IS NOT TRUE for certain niches.
Ironically, doing the opposite (offering partial feed) will increase RSS subscribers on a tortoise pace, better than having the adverse effect (switching partial to full).
Secondly, on your mistake about not replying to comments is subjective. Depending whether your commentors wanted a conversation or a quick solution! If is the latter, your chances to turn that commentor to a regular commentor is very slim. You will have a better shot to convert him/her to become regular reader. Again, I have to say this is largely depending on your niche.
Hey, thanks for the excellent reminder. I think # 1 and 4 is really important. Also, I think i need to work on number 6 and start rsponding to more of my comments.
[...] 10 Blogging Mistakes To Avoid highlights ten points that bloggers should keep in mind while writing posts and maintaining their blogs. (No Ratings Yet) Loading … [...]
The order have to be reversed, John, so #10 should be the first.
John,
I have too admit that i’m guilty of being a “copy cat and rushing posts” …but I’m working hard on developing my own writting ideas and take time out to proof read very post 3 times before publishing …..Once again John you’ve hit the nail right on the head.
Rushing posts. I must be getting closer to not doing this anymore since I have advanced to the getting a bad feeling stage as I am pressing Save.
One I would add - posting too late at night. But, that might merely be a subset of “rushing posts.”
Good list, John. Appreciate it.
Great post, John. I think that to be successful you obviously can’t be doing it for the money, but it’s even more important for the blog/topic to mean something to you. If you’re enthusiastic about a specific topic and write about it well then the visitors/readers will come.
Another major one you forgot is use the sepll cehcker! There is ntohing wrose than readnig a psoting that has seplling eorrrs in it!
–C8j
While that’s definitely a lot of words make it through a spell checker and still won’t make any sense. Good old fashion proof reading is the best strategy.
Thanks for a great post. I just started reading your blog and I love it. So, I am doing #10. Overall I am trying to do all the things you point out in your list. My biggest challenge is writing interesting posts on a consistant basis without rushing the post or being a copycat!