New bloggers are always looking for ways to improve their blogs, but there are some things that should be avoided.
When bloggers are just getting started, I know it can be difficult at times to come up with crafty ways to attract people to your blog. But you can sometimes do too much.
Overkill on certain things can kill your blog before you ever get the chance to get it off the ground… So be careful.
Bloggers can be too zealous, and mistakenly believe that everything you see on someone’s blog is a good thing to have on yours. I’ve made some of these mistakes in the past, so now… you don’t have to. Check out…
The Top 10 “Don’ts” for New Bloggers
1. Don’t Force-Feed Auto-Music: Guess what… from the surveys I’ve seen, people really don’t want to hear it, and are sometimes even annoyed by bloggers who include it. I enjoy music tremendously… but I promise not to subject you to my personal favorites because they may not be yours. I don’t want to run you away… 
2. Don’t Use Animated Gifs: Back in the 90′s, most bloggers and web designers used these. At that time, they were considered to be pretty awesome. Not so much now. My suggestion is that bloggers leave them out or use them in My Space where they’re more appreciated.
3. Don’t Make Your Fonts Too Small: If your blog fonts are too small, you’re forcing your readers to squint, and they won’t do it. It doesn’t matter how good your blog posts might be. They’ll just move on and not read it at all.
4. Don’t Include Comment Verification: I know that many bloggers will disagree with this one, but I recommend that you install a spam preventing plug-in instead. I use the Akismet plugin which comes standard with most themes. Using this plugin will keep your readers from having to deal with filling out captchas and solving math problems just to leave a comment on your blog. Captchas can be a real hassle. New bloggers want to get as many comments as possible, so make it easy for your readers. Just delete your spam. This will keep your readers commenting process hassle-free.
5. Spelling and Grammar Errors: Don’t publish anything without having it proofed first. Whether it’s proofed by you are someone else… make sure that your post is read through thoroughly before publishing. Even with careful proofing, bloggers sometimes make mistakes. Just do your best to produce an article free of errors.
6. Personal Badges and Awards: It’s okay for bloggers to add a few award badges when you’re just getting started. But once you’ve been around for awhile, you should have better things to put in your sidebar. If you really want to share those accomplishments, create a separate page dedicated just for that. The sidebar cops will thank you.
7. Rehashing Old Content: Don’t continue to write about the same thing over and over again. If it’s that relevant, link to it from a relevant topic. If you keep regurgitating the same content, your readers will pick up on it quick, fast, and in a hurry. And the Google police will penalize bloggers who use duplicate content.
8. Loud, Flashy Backgrounds: Don’t design your blog in a way that hurts your visitors eyes. There are a few cases where flashy backgrounds work, but for the most part, go easy. People are coming to your blog for good content. When bloggers use over-powering designs, it becomes difficult for your visitors to hone in on what they came to your blog for… good content.
9. Fluff and Exaggerations: Be honest about everything you put on your blog. Good bloggers don’t use hype and fluff to get more traffic. Your blog visitors will see through your hype and you’ll end up loosing any credibility you may have gained.
10. Plagiarism: What’s worse than telling lies in your blog posts? Copying from other bloggers. Never copy an article from a blogger and paste it into your blog as your own content. This is one of those “blogging sins” that you don’t want to touch. If somebody says something that you’re dying to share, go for it. But the way to do it is to “quote” and link back to them. Otherwise, you’re considered a thief, and it’s the end of the road for you.
Hopefully, these tips will help you when it comes to starting a brand new blog. Don’t make the same mistakes that I and a ton of other bloggers have made.
Start your blog with just the right touch of flare, but not too much!
If there are certain things that annoy you that weren’t listed here, or you have some ideas to add to this list, please feel free to comment below!
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 Rosalind is the author of this blog and the founder of the 10K Inner Circle. She's an expert trainer on blogging and internet marketing, and a sought after speaker among her business peers. She also builds a successful network marketing business. If you enjoyed reading this post, be sure to get more tips here. |
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