Skip to content

5 Beginning Blogging Mistakes You Can Fix

beginning_blogging_mistakes

Congratulations! You’ve decided to join the ranks of bloggers. You’re going to love it! Before you get too far into it, though, I’d like to help you avoid some common beginning blogging mistakes. These mistakes are almost a rite of passage, but why waste that time with mistakes you can easily avoid?

1.  Auto-loading music.

Please. I beg you, your readers beg you: ditch the auto-loading music! Auto-loading music is not only annoying and surprising, but it’s a bandwidth hog. It makes your blog load slowly. Do you really want to lose a reader because she couldn’t wait for your site to load? And if she waits for your site to load, will she be annoyed because she didn’t know there would be music, accidentally had her speakers on high, and a sleeping husband (or child) right beside her? I can tell you this: She won’t be back.

2.  Using a design with a dark background & light text.

This issue is less about your aesthetic (though that is part of it) and more about usability and readability. Reading online is harder on our eyes than reading traditional paper. Using a dark background with light text makes it even harder on your readers’ eyes.

3.  Too much sidebar clutter.

A sleek, uncluttered design goes a long way with readers. The less clutter, the more white space you have. You can use this white space to help lead your readers’ eye toward specific content. Your images and headlines will stand out more.

Are you proud of your awards, badges, and various trinkets and show them off on your sidebar? That’s OK, those things are a rite of passage too. You don’t have to get rid of them, but why not put awards on their own page and link to it from your main page? You’ll trade 20 links for just one link and de-clutter the sidebar. De-cluttering your sidebar eases navigation for your reader. When there are fewer items competing for your reader’s attention, they’ll be drawn to what’s important.

TIP: Want to learn more about how light backgrounds & clearing clutter affect how your audience uses your site? Blog Design For Dummies is a great resource. I highly recommend it.

4. Accidental plagiarism (even with photos).

Very few legitimate bloggers plagiarize on purpose. Most likely a new blogger won’t realize what they’re doing (but that doesn’t make it OK). Plagiarism applies to using any content that isn’t originally yours, whether it’s words, photography, music, pictures, or anything else.

Many new bloggers will Google a picture, then save it and use it in a blog post. That’s plagiarism — even if you cite where you found the picture — because you haven’t asked the owner if you can use it.

The U.S. Copyright Office bluntly says: “Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.”

So take a minute to find out about and understand the issues of plagiarism and copyright. You may also want to know about Creative Commons.

What about your words being used without your permission? You can check to see if anyone has copied your content with Copyscape. And if you find that someone has used your content without your permission, click over to What to Do When Someone Steals Your Blog Post.

5. Using “click here” instead of keyword phrases for links.

Choose your link words carefully. When you are writing a post and need to insert a link, consider how you are going to write that sentence and where you will include the link. For example, which of these is more effective (potential links in bold)?

We can help you find information on the most popular blog hosts.

For information on blog hosts click here.

The top sentence is more effective because it has a keyword phrase that helps with SEO and is more descriptive for readers. The words “click here” or even just the word “here” linked to other files or pages are everywhere on the web. When was the last time you did a search for “click here”?

Wait, there’s more! Here are five more beginner blogging mistakes to avoid.

What would you add to his list?

48 thoughts on “5 Beginning Blogging Mistakes You Can Fix”

  1. Pingback: Understanding Creative Commons

  2. Max Alvarez

    Thanks for your tips. They’re really useful.
    Now, I wonder what the scientific basis that back up tip No. 2 are.
    Wouldn’t a dark background with light text involve less tension on the iris making the reading experience less demanding and tiring?
    Then, what about the font?

    2. Melanie Nelson

      Thanks for your question, Max! There are cases made for both white backgrounds and black backgrounds. For usability, my experience over the last 20 years has been that most readers complain vehemently when they see a blog with a black background and light text. That alone is enough for me to endorse using a white background with dark text because I want my readers to stick around. 🙂

      I’ve also had many a discussion that people usually click away from a blog that has a black background because it simply doesn’t look professional. That, of course, can be debated. I think the exception to that rule is photography sites. I see many photo sites with a black background and they do well. However, most of their content isn’t text based.

      Here’s an article discussing when to use white or black backgrounds (though, when Googling, as I said, you can find a case for both options): http://uxmovement.com/content/when-to-use-white-text-on-a-dark-background/

      Thank you for taking the time to comment!

  4. Pingback: Keys to Responsible Journalism: Understanding Creative Commons | Life Outside My Box

  5. Pingback: 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Blog « martinaict

  6. Pingback: How do I start a blog

  7. Tebogo "Gypsie Gyal" Ramagaga

    Gracious,just what I needed to know as i’m about to embark on this blogging platform.It has been long over-due.Thank you a million times,one of the reasons I haven’t published my blog was that I wanted to take time and do it proper.It’s either you do it 100% or don’t do it at all,hence I opted to do research first then create a blog.You have been very helpful,so now I gotta put what I have learnt here to practice.Let BLOGGING BEGIN…1 more question,which blog site would you recommend that can handle uploads of videos and pictures?I feel most blog spots(free) have lots of limitations and restrictions,eg:limited number of pictures to upload,no video uploads,designs and themes,etc.

    1. Melanie Nelson

      Tebogo, definitely start with WordPress. It’s the industry standard. Blogger does have limitations and TypePad is really out of the running these days. Thanks for commenting and good luck with your new blog!

  9. Hamlet

    LOL! I already made some of these. And still doing some of them like number 4.

    This post will help new bloggers. Hope i will not use any Google picture in Future. Thanks.

  11. kimberly persyn

    I haven’t started a blog… I am a real newbie on the computer. I am on a journey to a healthier life. I am about to embark on a world with out tobacco. I thought that doing a daily blog could help. I want to do this in a humorous way. I also thought I could slip in a bit of drama … just my drama of course.
    I am a bit limited on funds 1: reason for quitting. so buying your books may be a bit hard.. are they available at the library? Of course I may not be ready for the library till my carvings and side effects dissipate a bit.

  12. Pingback: thejessicatuck.com » Blog Archive » What I’ve Learned About Social Media Management, SEO, Blogging, Writing and Getting Paid

  13. Fran Casselman

    Melanie, as someone who is barely thinking of thinking of starting a blog, even this “beginner’s guide” is a bit ahead of where I am at the moment. However, I always think it’s helpful to know what I don’t know so this is a first step, and I appreciate it.

    Since I’d like to return the favor, I’ll mention that the correct spelling is “rite” of passage, not “right.” Other than that, kudos as well as thanks from a former editor.

  15. jil

    This is such a helpful guide. Re: #4 are we able to post other peoples photos, from Flickr, on our blogs? Or do we need permission as well.
    Thanks for any info you can provide!

    1. Melanie Nelson

      Jil, that’s a great question. Flickr allows people who post pictures there to attach a Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/) designation to their photos. Many people choose to attach a CC agreement to their photos that allows you to use the photo on your blog as long as a) you provide attribution with a link back to them and b) aren’t profiting from the use. However, you’ll need to check each photo you use. If it doesn’t have CC attached to it, you’ll need to ask permission from the owner. If it does have CC attached to it, you’ll need to double-check with permissions they allow. There is a plug-in for WordPress called Photodropper (http://www.photodropper.com/wordpress-plugin/) that you can install (if you use WordPress.org) and you’ll be able to search Flickr for CC-enabled photos right from your post dashboard. It’s pretty handy.

  21. Pingback: The Blog Checklist – Part 1 «

  24. Jamie

    I disagree with #1. I have added music & had positive comments & I enjoy going to blogs with music. If you don’t like it, simply click stop.

  25. Antique Mommy

    Excellent excellent advice. I also hate blogs where the header is so big you have to scroll down half a page to get to content. And posts that make you click “more” to finish reading. Apparently I’m lazy.

  27. Andrea @ Mommy Snacks.net

    Hi there 🙂

    I have a question. On tip #4, wouldn’t both examples be valid for SEO word strings? Even with the “click here” and “vendor guidelines” – both are keywords strung together, right? Are you saying because it says “click here” there are millions of others that do that and I am cataloged with those when I have that as well. But, if I’m also cataloged with the keyword string like “vendor guidelines” AND “click here” is that just better because I’m in both searches, right?

    Seriously, I really want to better understand this one 🙂 Thanks!

    1. admin

      Andrea,

      It doesn’t do you any good to be cataloged with the “click here” crowd because a) no one is going to search for that and b) there is no context to put with that keyword string. No one will find YOU when they are trying to by searching “click here”. Using keyword strings that mean something to your audience serves two purposes: 1) it tells the user what they can expect when they click on a link and 2) search engines have a usable context for your search terms.

      When I attended Blog World Expo last year, I listened to Dave Taylor discuss how search engines find you. Essentially, SEO (or Search Engine Optimization) finds you via semantic and contextual analysis to figure out the themes and topics of your blog and its posts.
      * Semantic Data is concerned with what are you writing. The search bots look at which words you are using, how frequently certain words occur, etc.
      * Contextual Data is concerned with who links to you. The bots want to know what other blogs or web sites link to you and how they link (what words they’re using, etc.).

      It’s that semantic data and keyword density that you are going for when you use keyword strings with relevant words.

  33. Melissa

    Love these tips! Thank you so much for posting #1- I really can’t stand sites with music since many times my kids are near the computer or I’m listening to my own music. I don’t think I’ve gone back to many sites with music, either, so if people are trying to gain new readers, it isn’t the best option.

    I’ll add that there are a few sites I’ve gone to with talking ads and those are just as intrusive. It is similar to watching a tv show and having random commercials interrupt you watch (read) your program (blog).

Comments are closed.