10 Things That Could Better Your Blog!

Do you wonder why you are not getting the types of responses you had hoped for? Why is your total number of followers standing still? Why are people not engaging with your content? Why have you not gotten to work with more brands? It could be your blog, but don’t worry. There are some easy fixes ahead.

I look at blogs all day. It is sort of my job. So, here are some of the most common mistakes I have come across. Even some of our most professional Influencers, with large followings make some of these mistakes.

1. Social Media Links:

   Bloggers often place these in a hard to find location or forget to put them up at all. Even worse, the links are broken! If someone stumbles onto your blog and wants to be able to follow you on social media, you should make that easy for them. Make sure your links are cleaned up, easy to find, and working.

2. Contact Information:

   Do you have a contact page? Get one! Or, at least add your contact information on your “About Me” page. How are Brands that want to partner with you going to reach you if you do not make it easy for them. Believe me, they will not hunt this information down. They will move on to the next Influencer.

   

3. Too Many Ads or Popups:

   Selling advertising space is a great way to monetize your blog. Having a banner or pop up to subscribe or follow is not bad either. However, if they are getting in the way of your content, you are doing more harm than good. I have stopped visiting one of my favorite cooking sites because I cannot even get to the recipes anymore without having to close a few windows and turn off videos playing in the background. Make sure to check out your site as if you are a guest. Ensure that your page is easy to read and clean. 

4. Grammatical or Spelling Errors:

   Edit, edit, edit. You should spend just as much time proofing your content as you do creating it. Have a friend read it through. It is too easy to overlook errors, especially ones spelled correctly but used wrong (their, there, they’re). Readers like to believe that you are an expert in your niche. It is hard to believe that someone is in expert if their page is riddled with errors.

5. Sloppy Layout:

   Think of your page as a binder where you store all of your work. Is it all just thrown in there or do you have color coded dividers that are clearly labeled? It is hard for your followers to find their favorite blog post if you have just tossed things in there. It helps to sort your blog and make it easy to navigate. Also, Make sure your landing page is clean and easy to understand. You want people to enjoy their visit to your page, click a few links, and stay a while. They will be more likely to do that if it is easy for them to navigate.

   

6. Photography:

   Images can make or break your blog. You want your page to be visually dynamic. At a glance, you should pull readers in and make them want to read what you have to say. In this visual focused world people are too quick to over look even the best copy if the images are poor or too sparse. Try researching current trends and looking at blogs of people you follow for inspiration. Be sure to put your own unique spin on it and creating your own photography is always great.

7. No Clear Niche:

   Make sure you find your passion and you stick to it. If you are not sure what your niche is, try this: for one month, write down the one thing that made you happiest about that day. You can do this on a piece of paper or on your phone, it does not need to be fancy. At the end of the month read your list. Is there a common theme? Turn your joys and interests into your niche. If you already have a niche, does all of your content line up with it? There should not be a review for the best snow tires on the same page as this year’s hottest video game trends and which shade of lipstick goes best with your skin tone. Your followers expect you to be an expert in your niche, not a jack of all trades. Focus and remain true to you.

8. Inconsistent Posting:

   Pick a posting schedule and stick to it. You will lose followers by having too large of gaps between posting. We all have times where we are extra creative and have tons of ideas followed by periods of drought where it is hard to get the simplest post out. If you have a set schedule, you can build a stack of amazing posts during your creative times that you can pull out of your back pocket to post when you are too busy or distracted to focus on your page. Use a posting schedule for social media too and reach more potential followers. You can always adjust your schedule if you can’t keep up or if you have more content than you know what to do with. Make it work for you.

   

9. Be Professional:

   You have made yourself public now. You will be interacting with a lot of people. Not all of them will like you. You will come across haters or trolls, and it is how you respond (or don’t) that defines you. Keep your tone in your blog professional and keep your responses that way too. Not all comments warrant a response. Remember, it is hard to take someone seriously if they use too much profanity or are rude to their followers.

10. Spammy Titles:

    Do not get this confused with catchy titles. This blog is titled “ 10 Things That Could Better Your Blog!” and it is about 10 things that could better your blog. That is fine. However, spammy or misleading titles are a big no no. Google is cracking down on spam and one of the ways they are doing that is by discrediting sites that are spam. Consequentially, if you have too many titles that are something like “Best Lasagna Recipe Ever!” but it is actually just a bunch of links to casserole dishes, then Google will flag your page as spam. If people can’t find you on Google, you basically don’t exist.

Now, take a look at your blog and see if you accidentally fall prey to any of these common mistakes. Fixing them could make your blog better.