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Experienced bloggers tend to have an unwritten list in their heads of things that pinpoint when someone is a brand new blogger. Some of you have probably had those moments where you think to yourself “I can’t believe they…!” But typically people just don’t know why those things are bad ideas. Here’s my quick top ten list of common mistakes when you’re just starting out in blogging (and yes I’ve made most of them myself!).
10. Light Text on a Dark Background. Yes, it looks cool, I know a lot of web designers who love it! The problem is that it’s harder for a lot of people to read. You want people to spend as much time as possible on your website, if reading it causes eye strain or headaches, they’re not going to bother.
9. Click Here. If you’re going to link to something, it’s important to have your link actually say what it’s going to. Above are some examples from real websites. You can tell which links say exactly what they are linking too. This isn’t just to make it clear for your readers. It’s also to make it clear to search engines, which is important for SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
8. Begging for Comments. Don’t assume that if people aren’t commenting they aren’t reading your blog. You can use a program like Google Analytics to see how many people read your blog. Usually only a small percentage will leave a comment, so don’t get discouraged if you’re not getting the flood of comments you hope for. I have people come up to me all the time saying they read my blog even though they’ve never commented. If you want to encourage comments, finish your post with a question for people to respond to rather than saying “Please leave me a comment!!!!!!!!!”
7. Obscure Post Titles. I was going through some old posts on my blog and cringing not only at old photos, but also at the amusing yet obscure titles I used to use. Guess which of the above posts gets more search engine traffic? Amusing titles are fun, but really I want people searching for salmon recipes to end up at that post. A great option when you’ve got a dynamite title that isn’t the best for SEO is to use a plugin like the All in One SEO Pack which lets you have a different title for search engines than what displays on your blog.
6. Using a Default Theme. This is really just a little pet peeve because there are so many really cool free templates out there. To me using the default theme says you don’t really care that much about your blog, at least not enough to put in the effort to find a theme for it. You can find a ton of free themes on WordPress or go to a site like themeforest to buy premium templates for different platforms.
5. Leaving Posts Uncategorized. A lot of new bloggers are unsure of how to use tags and categories (which is the topic for another post!) and so don’t bother to put anything. But if the default category is uncategorized, it means every post is now labeled as uncategorized. It’s a quick tip off that you’re new to blogging and not sure what you’re doing. Just make sure to uncheck that box, or add a category called general if you’re not sure where it fits.
4. Huge Images. Did you know that the bigger your images are the slower your page will load? I’m not just talking about dimensions (You don’t want your image to be wider than your column though) but the actual file size of your image. Most people using the internet have a short attention span, if they have to wait for your page to load they’re likely to click away instead. The forums have a great discussion on resizing images to help you out!
3. Not Using Permalinks. If I want to send someone a link to my salmon cream cheese sushi roll recipe, or maybe post the photo on a site like Tastespotting, I need to give them the permalink to that specific post. If I simply link to my blog, that post may no longer be at the top when someone clicks on the link. Make sure the link you give someone really goes to what they want to see.
2. Cluttered Sidebars and Giant Headers. Have you ever been to a blog and been so distracted by the badges, links, ads and pictures in the sidebars that it takes you a few seconds to figure out what the blog is even about? Or maybe seen a header or title image that’s a beautiful but full sized photo, so big that you have to scroll down to get to content on EVERY PAGE? This goes back to the attention span thing. If people have to work to get to your content, you’re most likely going to lose them before they find it.
1. Auto Loading Music and Video. I know, I know, Single Ladies is stuck in your head and so you want to make sure it gets stuck in everyone else’s head too! But an auto-loading music player is not the way to do it. When music or video automatically starts playing people usually either look for a way to turn it off, or simply close the page. If you have a song or video to share, go ahead and post it but give people the option of pressing play.
I know that’s a long list, but hopefully it will help those of you who are new to blogging to avoid some common mistakes that can drive away traffic.
Bloggers – tell me what else you’d add on this list!
Great list Diana! I would also add 1) anything that smacks of excessive self promotion when you leave comments on other people’s blogs, 2) using a photo from another source (including other bloggers) without permission, 3) copying another food blogger’s recipe word-for-word without writing it in your own words and crediting the source with a link, 4) adding people to an email list without their permission, 5) asking others for reciprocal links.
But here’s the number one mistake I think new food bloggers make. They don’t link out enough to other bloggers. The best way to encourage attention to your food blog is to give attention to other food blogs.
I’ve got a few of those obscure titles floating around myself (not to mention awful starting-out photos) *cringe*. I think between you and Elise, it’s all covered… hough I do encourage comments (with a question)
Elise hit some good points. Used to make a lot of those mistakes my self. been fortunate no one has ‘stolen’ any of my content, ‘course there could be a reason for that….
I get frustrated with bloggers who try to cover too many topics in the post. If you have 3/4 things, do 3/4 posts.
Thanks.
Uh! Oh! I’m a new blogger…I have to go and make sure I don’t make any of these big mistakes…although I know that I am slipping into the “obscure titles” problem. I think this was a great post! I’ll think of more….
I am a brand new food blogger too! Only about 2-3 weeks old. I literally only have 3 posts on my blog so far. I am trying to make a professional try at this, so I eat up any information I can find about what not to do. The technical piece of blogging is daunting for me. I am currently brushing up on html and css files since a poorly formatted post looks really elementary! This is a great piece…and very helpful for us!
Great post Diana! And ditto 1000x about the audio music!
Another one I would add is having the recipe as the only written content of the blog post. People need at least a little context I think.
Agree with all of the things mentioned as well as the comments. Something I would add is not adding a picture of your final dish – I want to see what it looks like before I decide to make it! Adding to that though, dark, blurry photos are even worse…
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This is such a great post, so helpful, but down to earth, at the same time. I got to point 2 of your list and had to switch to my blog to fix a couple of “click here” instances, such power you have over new bloggers like me. I could really relate to each and every one of the points you’re making. Now off to my dashboard to check the “All in One SEO” plug-in and see how I can be changing these titles you’re speaking of. Thanks you very much for this great list.
Great suggestions… but I’m keeping my dark background/light text!!
I don’t use stark white text on flat black. Instead, I use shades of gray that make the text vibrate less, something you might want to look into if you’re stubborn like me.
Oooh, I just thought of another one, too — some blog templates have background images that compete with the text on top. Big pet peeve, especially if the text scrolls but the image remains stationary.
I’ve gotten lazy about those click heres but I like to think I’ve given the context for the click here, so maybe I’m not too bad on that.
My pet peeve is thinking you need to show EVERY step of recipe. I really don’t need to see salt stirred into flour! Also if you do present your info with step by step pix, please have a way for someone to copy or print the recipe without all the pix.
I’ve a blogging vet now, but I can’t thank those who helped me out by explaining things such as how to find out what my permalink was when I first started.
This list and the comments are all very informative and helpful. Thanks!
I am curious about using a default theme, and the negative connotation that seems to have for you. My blog is less than a year old, and I use one of the TypePad-designed themes. I tried for weeks to figure out how to design my own, but I’m not very savvy when it comes to web design, and my efforts never looked as good as the preset themes TypePad offered. I wanted my blog to look as beautiful as a lot of the more established, custom-designed blogs looked, but honestly, my idea of “perfection” just led me to frustration. Although I care very much about my blog – it’s a deeply personal endeavor – I also work full time at a job that is totally unrelated to food, and I have three young kids to take care of. For bloggers who have the time, a custom-designed theme is great. For bloggers like me who are lucky to get in one post a week at 10pm on a Sunday, pre-set themes are a blessing. So in the end, I opted for a “default” theme and have tried to put my caring into developing quality writing and photos.
I will check out themeforest, though. Didn’t even know sites like that existed.
Hey Dawn, thanks for commenting. The only negative connotation for a default theme is that people who are online all the time looking at blogs will immediately recognize it as the default theme. I totally understand the time crunch thing! It’s just a matter of where someone wants their blog to go. If it’s simply a personal hobby the default theme is fine, but if they want to catch readers’ attention and stand out from the other tens of thousands of food blogs, a unique theme is a good idea. Hope that helps!
Thank you from a newbie. I think that there is a lot to be learned just from reading the blogs of other foodies – the good and the bad! I find some of the very well written ones so inspiring.
Well, I changed the black background to a white one. It does look cleaner as well as easier to read, but a little boring. I’ll check back in to let you all know if the readership increases.
This is such a great list Diana! It’s depressingly comical to go through the list and check off how many I’ve been guilty of over the lifetime of my blog…
[...] Top 10 Mistakes New Bloggers Make – Guess I need to work on my titles. We’ll start after this post. [...]
eek! i think i do at least 5 out of 10 of these as a new food blogger. i really appreciate this post! its very helpful and clear.
Diana, what a GREAT post. If only I had access to an article like this back when I started! I could have used it! I made all the mistakes you talk about…And then some! Thanks for breaking it down for us (even if we’re supposed to know what we’re doing, it’s good to be reminded again!)
xoxox,
Brooke
Another newbie mistake I see (and have done): more than one recipe per post. You might as well maximize page views, and make it easier for search engines, by putting each recipe in its own post with its own title, and linking back and forth.
Hi Guys… well first day of changed background my google analytics was down by half, second day it went to zero. Can anyone help me here? Not the results I was looking for!
Turns out that even though Blogger claims all your data will be saved when you change templets, not so with Google analytics. Working again now thankfully.
Another hallmark of a newbie blogger is insufficient attention to the craft of writing up posts. Here are some errors that I see frequently in new blogs: too many exclamation marks (“I’m so excited!!”); opening paragraphs with stream-of-consciousness blather (I’m so excited!! Yesterday I went shopping with my best friends John and Beth and while we were…”), too many opening paragraphs with too much extraneous detail for readers to wade though before getting to the recipe, and inadequate attribution when posting recipes developed by other bloggers (“Here is a recipe that I got from here”). We new bloggers are forever being told to “find our own voice.” But we need to balance that with the reader’s desire to get to the #$@* recipe.
OK, OK… I will try to get out there more to post comments on others’ blogs.
Great advice – fortunately, I’m not guilty of all of these! Looking into All-in-One SEO pack for my non-searchable witty titles and have to start leaving more comments and linking to the food blogs that I read. Thanks, Diana
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Thanks for this list. This is just the kind of thing I looked for when I first started my blog. Can I add one more to it? If you’re going to approve comments before they’re posted, please don’t make me enter a nonsense word.
Your point about the music is also a good one. One of my (ex-) favorite blogs had music. Not my music, though…
I am a new blogger. It took a lot of gumption to jump in and do it. I waited for years, perfectionist that I am, but I took the chance. I didn’t have the time to learn everything I needed to avoid all the mistakes, but i keep my Google up and alive. My cousin is a masters candidate in chess. I could never coax her into playing me. But, I asked her, how would I learn, if I don’t play with people who are better?
That is my dilemma. I waited for years to start a blog, afraid that I would not be able to work everything out, even though I saw thousands of people taking the challenge and swimming with it. I was completely stumped by tecnology.
So, my question is, how do you start a blog as a novice, without learning by mistakes? I studied languages, linguistics and literature in college. I typed my essays on a typewritter – not even an electric – and no, I am not 85 years old. Permalink? Y tu mama tambien…
My husband worked for days on establishing my blog. And now it’s up to me to learn how to set categories, permalinks, and other links… It’s going to take time, I know. I love learning new things, but for a while I am going to be a new blogger. I will approach this new challenge as learning another language.
I really appreciate all this info. I am still going through initiation process, while you have mastered the skill of blogging. Reading about mistakes of newbees opened my eyes and got me the insight form the other side. I just have to revive the little grey cells and acquire the necessary knowledge.
Any shortcuts for the techno-peasant? Thanks.
Lana