 |  | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
“Guru’s” are telling you to get a blog because it will help your business, or to start blogging to make extra money, but if you are making one of these mistakes your blogging efforts will be counterproductive. 1.You have your own domain name and web hosting but you decide to host your blog elsewhere. Why? If your website is www.anythinghere.com then your blog should be hosted at www.anythinghere.com. There is no reason for you to use an external blog service. First of all you are putting the control of your blog in their hands- what happens when they decide to erase it? - Believe me, it happens. The second reason this is silly is because you should want to brand yourself and your business. Using another company’s domain is great for their branding but not yours. 2. Long blog entries bore people. Don't be afraid to break up entries, you don't have to post the whole story in one day. Also, make use of bullet points, numbered lists, and pictures. 3. Save the long words for your doctoral dissertation. We know you are smart, we know you have a nice vocabulary but we don't want to read "magnanimous" when "noble" will do. Keep it simple. 4. A RSS subscription option is very important. Don't be afraid of it. Don't run from it. If you want people to read your blog on a regular basis then you have to make it easy for them to do so. Having an "enter your email here" box is a nice start. But if I have 25 blogs I read, I am not going to want 25 different emails coming to me each time someone updates. 5. Writing for search engines and contextual advertising is not the best way to make money. Sure, you may get a few adsense clicks here and there but do you really think that people will come back for more if your sentences read like "I think you should make money with your financial payday loan so you can work at home and be rich with this banking information that I will give you for more money." To put it simply, write for people-not for machines. | |||||||
Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of Gooruze.com Pty Ltd. View our House Rules for more details. | |||||||
Related Articles No related articles available | BookmarksNo bookmarks available | ||||||
Related keywords: blog, blogging | |||||||
ARTICLE RATING   from 23 votes | |||||||
Thankyou for your vote (you can change your vote at any time). Please leave some helpful comments about this article using the box below. | |||||||
Add a comment | |||||||
Add a comment on this article. | |||||||
Comments | |||||||
Vote:
January 5th I'm a victim of your first mistake. My first blog was a free wordpress blog, and when I wanted to add plugins I couldn't - unfortunately that was after it had a bunch of good content and great links pointing at it. Live and learn.
 Reply
Report
4.00 (Good) Vote:
November 2007 Hello..thanks for sharing this. I'm perfectly agree with # 2. Long blog entries bore people.
Reply
Report
4.00 (Good) Vote:
November 2007 Sometimes the simplest advice is the best advice and bears repeating. Great post!
Vince Reply
Report
5.00 (Excellent) Vote:
October 2007 I absolutely agree with everything that has been said thus far, and I would like to add my 2 cents.
One of the first mistakes I often see is a publisher wrapping the copy of a blog with too many ads or exit links. Often times publishers don't realize that, though the advertising on their site is a good source of income, too many ads or ads in the wrong places actually distract a reader and can take them away from the original reason you wanted them to come to the site... to read the content. A second mistake is not defining a clear call to action. Often times the ability to share or forward the information on to a friend or colleague is left out of the post or message, leaving the reader at a dead end. Using a clear call to action leads the reader to the next step, increasing the likelihood to come back, subscribe or share your information. Lastly deals with the the actual design of the website/blog. Though it is important to keep things fresh, I believe that it is more important to stay consistent with the look and feel of website, and limit website design changes. The design often times becomes a part of the branding so blog image becomes just as important as the content. With that said I could start a huge conversation around branding and position, nonetheless consistency and a "familiar place" is important to a readers experience and loyalty. I know that there are tons of others, I just believe that these are common mistakes and are things to consider especially when considering a redesign. Just my two cents. Great article! Reply
Report
3.00 (Average) Vote:
October 2007 Very interesting article. Thanks for including it here.
Reply
Report
3.00 (Average) Vote:
October 2007 i am using blogger and with a dedicated domain name, you tend to be able to promote your blog better that i have to agree with andy beal!
Reply
Report
5.00 (Excellent) Vote:
October 2007 Great advice! 5 stars!
I had some thoughts to add. 1. When you have a blogspot or wordpress.com set up you're stuck with it. Neither option lets you 301 redirect should you change the location. If you really can't afford hosting, at least buy a domain name and point it to the site. 2. Gotta agree with all your points. People skim through blog posts look for the top points. Also, a great title it key to get them to look at your post. 3. Sound smart enough to earn respect, but I agree, don't lose readers by using language that intimidates them. 4. RSS is great if your blog is very tech focused, but email is preferred by many readers of "non-tech" blogs. I've seen many popular blogs that have more than 50% of their subscribers use email. 5. Keywords in your post title is often enough. Sprinkle a few keywords in your post, but don't overdo it. If in doubt, read your post out loud. It will sound odd if you've used too many keywords. Reply
Report
| |||||||
 |  | ||||||
(October 2007) (
