There are now over 600+ million blogs and many of them are finding the 10 ways to make mistakes on their blogs. But after you screw up your blog you can learn how to fix your blog.
A lot of people have blogs these days, but not all know what they’re doing when it comes time for promotion or marketing strategies like SEO (search engine optimization). This can be difficult if one doesn’t understand the basics such as linking back properly from different parts on their site so search engines will find each other!
Here we’ll take a look at some common errors committed by newbies which may lead them down a path toward failure before even getting started:
Table of Contents
10 Ways to Screw Up Your Blog
There are 10 things you must NOT do when you are blogging. These are 10 ways to screw up your blog! So, be sure you are not guilty of all 10 or more than 1 of these ways to make your blog go from good to bad.
Of course, you can sign up for blogging courses from a professional blogger.
Making Your Blog Look Bad is One of the 10 Ways to Screw Up Your Blog
Looking through these tips I see blogging off-topic. I think that is probably the most common mistake many bloggers make, myself included over the years.
Which of these below do you believe is the most common blogging mistake?
I think most of you here reading this are aware of #1 – not to copy other blogs. That is such a no-no.
Have you ever had blog content stolen? Take the poll now ⬇️⬇️⬇️#blogging
— Lisa Sicard 👩💻 (@Lisapatb) August 31, 2022
Answers may be featured in an upcoming post!
What Are The Biggest Blogging Mistakes?
Copying Others Blogs
That is the #1 mistake that Google could penalize you for. Or worse, you could get sued for plagiarism which could cost you a lot of money.
Therefore, be sure to use the original content in your own words. Add unique videos or infographics to your blog posts and find your own blog name to stand out.
Posting Infrequent On Your Blog
If you only post once a year or on a very irregular schedule that will not help your blog to be found today. Google and other search engines love to see relevant and updated websites today.
Not only but update your old blog posts along the way. Your readers will appreciate the updated information and so will Google. It is a win-win situation for your blog.
Lots of Ads on Your Blog
Having too many ads on your blog will cause users to leave your site and increase your bounce rate which hurts your SEO efforts.
Even worse, those nasty pop-ups on blogs or ones that make noise every time you go to a new page can be so annoying.
Having too many ads on your blog website is one of the worst 10 things you can do to screw up your blog.
Moderate Comments to Engage and Fix Your Blog
It’s great to engage with others on your blog via comments if you don’t moderate them for their views. Though, it is good to get rid of the spammers. You don’t want those on your blog.
Furthermore, you could always include a comment rule page so the spammers know you won’t accept their comments.
Notice the email address with this web address, they don’t match. That’s a big red flag on comments that are not real.
Not Engaging With Your Readers
This will make your readers not come back if you don’t respond to their inquiries on your blog or website.
Not responding to comments is a sure way of not having people come back to comment again on your blog. Everyone likes to be thanked for coming by and taking the time to leave a comment.
Don’t disappoint your readers by not replying to comments or thanking them for sharing your blog posts on social media.
Going Off Topic On Your Blog
If you write about something that is not related to your blog readers will become confused. Because of this, some will not return to your blog.
Staying true to the topic of your blog will help keep readers engaged. Some experts recommend you avoid broadening out too much or writing about something not relevant if want them to come back to your blog for more!
Not Editing Your Content is Another Way to Screw Up Your Blog
If you do not proofread your work and edit errors this can surely turn off some readers. If it happens often, it will turn off many and they will stop coming to your website or blog. (And if you find one on someone else’s blog, reach out to them privately.)
You can use tools like Grammarly to check your spelling and grammar.
Too Many Contributors Can Screw Up Your Blog
Where did YOU go? Readers will begin to wonder where you went. Oftentimes, readers won’t leave comments when you have a contributor post.
They typically come back to your blog to read about what YOU have to say. However, it’s okay to have contributors as long as you continue to write on your blog.
Back-Up Your Claims
If you are going to mention a stat be sure to cite it as I did above for the number of websites today.
People may want to know where you are getting your information from especially if it is the first time they are on your website. You can do this by linking out to your source.
Keeping Info Current is One of the Top 10 Ways to Screw Up Your Blog!
Don’t display old and updated info on your blog. Readers will disappear. I have been going through my orphan content and updating old blog posts like this blog post from 2014 as I fix the internal link structure of the blog.
Updating old blog content is a never-ending job so save time for this one! Always think before posting a new blog post:
Can I use the info to update an old post instead of starting a new one? (Especially if you have hundreds of posts on your blog.)
Bonus: Not Keeping Track of KPIs
Having blogging KPIs will help you to keep track of your blog’s success or lack of it. You can’t get somewhere if you don’t have a road map or a plan on how to get there.
Making KPIs for your blog will help you do that and make it more successful.
In Conclusion of 10 Ways to Screw Up Your Blog
How many of the 10 ways to screw up your blog have you done? Have you corrected any yet?
I’d love to know more in the comments below about what errors you have made and what you have done to fix your blog.
FAQ: 10 Ways To Screw Up Your Blog and How To Fix Your Blog
1. Why is posting irregularly a bad idea?
Posting irregularly confuses your readers and makes your blog seem inactive. Stick to a consistent schedule to keep your audience engaged.
2. How can ignoring SEO hurt my blog?
Ignoring SEO means search engines won’t find your blog easily. Use keywords, meta descriptions, and tags to improve visibility as you fix your blog.
3. What’s wrong with having a cluttered design?
A cluttered design makes it hard for readers to find what they need. Keep it clean and simple to improve user experience.
4. How does neglecting social media affect my blog?
If you don’t promote your blog on social media, you’ll miss out on potential readers. Share your posts to reach a wider audience.
5. Why should I avoid writing overly complex content?
Complex content can alienate readers. Use clear, simple language to ensure your message is understood.
6. How can inconsistent branding harm my blog?
Inconsistent branding confuses your audience. Use the same colors, fonts, and tone to create a cohesive brand identity.
7. What’s the issue with not engaging with readers?
Ignoring comments and feedback makes readers feel undervalued. Engage with them to build a loyal community.
8. Why is poor grammar and spelling a problem?
Poor grammar and spelling make you look unprofessional. Proofread your content to maintain credibility.
9. How can ignoring analytics hurt my blog’s growth?
Without analytics, you won’t know what’s working. Use analytics to track performance and make informed decisions.
10. What’s bad about not updating old content?
Outdated content can mislead your readers. Regularly update old posts to keep your blog accurate and relevant.
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She has 30+ years of experience in marketing/advertising with 12 years of experience in content marketing, social media, blogging, and SEO.
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Hello Lisa,
Fab Post as always. Blogging needs consistency. Keeping up the consistency is very important to keep your blog alive. Content also plays a great role in building good user engagement. Thanks for sharing these helpful tips to grow a blog.
Regards,
Vishwajeet Kumar
Thank you Vishwajeet. Consistency is one of the keys to great blogging. It shows you are in it for the long haul too. Have a great day.
Hard to argue with any of these, but of course we both know I’ve violated 1.8 multiple times over the years on all of my blogs, except the financial blog I had for about 9 years or so. My main “fun” blog needed lots of different comment; after all, how many new ways could I share information about blogging and writing over the course of almost 15 years without always repeating myself.
Hi Mitch, yes it is. I’ve done them all as well. How many blogs do you have now Mitch? I like your point about repeating yourself though now updating old posts would be a great idea for you. Thanks for your input and have a great day.
I have 3 blogs of my own, a medical training site and I write articles for my accountant’s blog.
Hi Mitch, I thought you had more than that. Did you eliminate some? Thanks!
I turned my medical billing blog into my training site. I sold my finance blog to a lawyer who dealt with financial issues. I was spread way too thin to keep up with all those blogs, especially when Mom moved in.
Hi Mitch, oh yes, I think it’s a lot for anyone especially if you do other work like consulting or have clients. Thank you for letting us know.
Lisa, thanks for sharing..! I just went JustRetweet, and I found your post over there..! )
I have tweet the post, and clicked on your link, and arrive here. Honestly, the above is really infographic about blogging mistakes, and how it screw up our blog.
I would admit that I did the mistake of copy other article, when I was a newbie bloggers. You know..? I feel like I did a silly mistake, and why I did it. I don’t. However, the first experience tell about what the wrong is.
Another, mistakes I did is that I don’t what niche is. I tried to write a lot of article, because I want to fill my blog with information. I went off the topic, and I am not able to get more traffic.
Thanks for your above 10 tips.
Hi Kimsea, you are welcome. Don’t you love JustRetweet? I love finding new blogs and posts there. Did you every go back and change that post that you copied? Have you narrowed your niche down yet? Sometimes it can be hard. Thanks for coming by and taking the time to comment here. Have a great day.
Sure, I love JustRetweet because I think that it is wonderful platform for Twitter social media marketing.
We could get more traffic, and build relationship with other blogger in same time. I would admit, I didn’t change any blog post that those I copied from other because I have deleted my first. Every mistakes was gone with my first blog.
I learnt a lot after start blogging, so why some time I think that my mistakes are really amazing for life.
Thanks for responding..!
There are some great points here and I have to agree with some of the others who have noted how good these infographics are. They really make the information easy to digest and are a great example of infographics being used appropriately.
can you shed some details on posting frequency i.e. how often you post an article and does this have impact on your rankings?
Hi Akshat, welcome to Inspire to Thrive. Yes, at least 2x per week is what I recommend. 3-4 is good too if you can. It’s a tough choice because if you post more it will help in the rankings but then you will have less time to promote and comment at other blogs and you will get less comments and have less of a community. So it really depends on your “WHY”….How many times do you post now?
Indeed too many ads is a factor that make any reader hit the EXIT button.
Guest posts can literally screw a blog, and here I’m talking about quality.
Kind regards,
I. C. Daniel
Hi Daniel, that would make me hit the CLOSE or EXIT button for sure. Interesting about guest blog posts – I seem to always have more comments and share on my own than contributors though my contributors do post some awesome content. I’ve never been sure what that is. Thanks for coming by and have a great week ahead there.
Hi Lisa,
It’s been a while since I’ve been here. I think I’m okay. But I have a question on #9, what is that mean? Don’t back up stats. I’m not backing up any stats except UpdraftPlus backsup everything for me on my Dropbox.
Angela
Hi Angela, nice to see you back here. Stats for your blog, how many visitors, etc. So you can keep track of any fluctuations in your blogs traffic. I hope that answers your question. Have an awesome new week too Angela!
Hi Lisa,
I agree with the infographic for sure.
The point I would like to focus on is #5 Not interacting. It is very disappointing when you go to a great post and see awesome feedback in the comments with out a response. I know it’s difficult when you get tons of comments but depending on the feedback of the comment, The general “Thanks for the comment” or “Glad you liked the post” responses are not enough IMO.
Great infographic! hope you are having a good weekend.
Hi Steven. I’ve seen that too Steven and just yesterday too and it still took me by surprise. I don’t understand why a blogger would have open comments and yet never respond to the comments. If they don’t want to interact maybe they should close the comments. I think comments are vital to a blog and a great way to get to know other bloggers. Thanks for your input on this Steven. Enjoy the rest of your weekend too.
Lisa, really nice infographic you have here. And thanks for sharing. I think am a bit guilty of posting content consistently these days but am doing something to get out of this bad habit as I no its affected my traffic a little. Hopefully I would do better from this week. Thanks for the reminder
Hello Lisa ,
Its really nice infographic.I like the point of too many guest post and I experienced it too many guest post will surelly screwed you blog.
Not editing the post is another major mistake which newbie bloggers made.
Hi Lisa,
Nice infographics! The points you’ve mentioned here are really important to keep in mind and I make sure that I follow each and every thing. Writing everyday sometimes make it a really tough job with the promotion part also to be done, so I prefer publishing at least twice or thrice a week. Also, I do moderate comments, otherwise there’s a lot of spamming. And the best part I love is following up with the readers and interacting with them.
It has now become really tough and often unknowingly we end up screwing up our blogs, yet we have to try our best to follow some things and avoid it.
Thank you for sharing such lovely information.
Mainak.
I can especially relate to number 10. My first real website was a general technology blog – not only was it not nearly focused enough to keep visitors coming back, but technology is one of the fastest evolving markets in the world. Therefore, most of the stuff I wrote was irrelevant after only a few months, or even weeks.
With a few of my more recent sites, I’ve really focused on creating evergreen content that will last forever. It’s nice to see traffic slowly building up, without any extra work to make that happen.
Thanks for sharing, Lisa! I always look forward to your newest posts.
Hi Lisa
It is good to see your views in infographics that helped me a lot to understand the whole post in lesser time without reading lengthy paragraphs. This is the beauty of image that speaks louder than words.
Your all points to screw up a blog are really awesome. It is right if we don’t put value in our contents people won’t eagerly wait for our next post. Competition is so stiffer. If we just add another blog post it won’t bring huge traffic.
Thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful post.
Hi Mi, I am with you on lengthy paragraphs. I don’t do too many of those kinds of posts though I want to try to do another 2,000+ one someday this year. As long as I can create value and something for someone to learn from I continue to blog. Thanks for your comment.
Hello Lisa,
It’s been long since I gave a comment in your blog. Sorry for this and I’m glad I came across your interesting and factful post today. Great work and thank you for this !
Well, coming to the topic, the ten points are thoughtful and wait ……. what I saw ? 25 ads in a blog ? Is that for real. I never imagined that one can do that. I thought only 5 to 6 ads are the max ! And I never thought that including too many guest posts would harm our blog. Thanks for the note. Writing unrelated content and not interacting with the readers are some of the worst practices that would for sure drown the blog (just like you mentioned).
I will be looking for your other coming posts, but please (if you could) provide an email subscription option for readers like me to subscribe to receive direct mails. By the way the infographic was simple yet super cool.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Bhanu- nice to see you back here! You are welcome. Wow, I can’t imagine having 25 ads in one blog. I think 2-3 would be my limit. Oh yes , you can subscribe here: http://inspiretothrive.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=4f725dfc6d0b0dfcd3c5f65be&id=9135eb0583 Have a great weekend Bhanu.
Interesting infographic there, Lisa.
However, I am guilty of leaving comments go uncensored after a reasonable amount of ‘great’ approved ones. Believe me, it fosters the spirit of a community and helps you better in saving very precious time.
I think I’ve religiously followed the rest…but heck, 9/10 is allowed, right?
Always,
Terungwa
Hey Lisa,
I think I’m good girl! Yay!!! The only thing I would say is that I might not always blog about the current stuff. I blog about what I’ve learned and found and I guess at times it still could be “old news” to some. You know me, I don’t necessarily stay on the hot trending topics stuff. There are too many other bloggers doing that for me. But I think I’ve done my part from time to time.
Besides that I don’t believe I’ve done any of the other 9 you mentioned so I’m think that’s pretty cool right!
As Ashley mentioned in my post yesterday I’ve probably given some bad advice during the time I’ve been here having learned it from others and thought it was good advice. Man oh man, I can look back at where I’ve been. But it’s a learning process right!
Great share and I hope no one else is doing any of these. Yikes!
Have a great week and hope you’re doing okay.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, thanks. Oh yes you sure have Adrienne. You have introduced new things to me at least several times. It certainly has been a learning experience along the way. It never stops either. I hope you have a great week too. I’m doing okay most of the time – not sure if it’s really hit me yet been busy with back to work and spending time with dad and other relatives who have been in the hospital. I do have a week in July off from my day job and with no plans. I think I’ll need that time. Thank you Adrienne for asking.
Screwing up your blog is a rite of passage ;).
I’m always going over older content, refreshing and updating it so that new readers who find it know that the site is cared for and the advice is good. I’m also a big advocate of writing evergreen content, as why constantly work, when you can have the content do the work for you?
Loved the infographic by the way.
I like that one Sarah. Great idea to keep updating old content, I have on occasion but not enough for sure. Some niches I think are hard to create evergreen content but I do agree, why work harder than you have to? Thanks for coming by Sarah and enjoy the rest of your week there.
Hi Lisa
I have never done any of these as they are stated but degrees of them. For example I was very irregular in my posts a couple of times in my life when things were happening. You pay for that.
I also have posted off topic at times just to throw some of “me” in there and I am not so sure that hurts.
I have heard advice by some people I respect to write trending topics to build up your traffic. I get that it will become irrelevant and I have never done it but have heard people teaching it.
I totally agree with the list and love the infographic.
Thanks Lisa
Sue
Thanks Sue. I’ve done that too -it’s hard to keep up when other things are going on outside of the blog. I’ve heard that one too. It surely can’t hurt if it’s relevant to your niche. You are welcome Sue and I hope you have a great rest of the week.
Hi Lisa,
At first, when I read your headline, I was thinking that I was probably doing most of the 10 mistakes. But, after reading your list, I’m probably just doing a few of them. The main challenge is to stay on topic. I try to be personal, and I write what I find interesting to write about and what’s happening in my life. I’m doing my best to relate it to marketing and business, but I can understand if both Google and my readers will find some of my posts to be off topic.
-Jens
Hi Jens, I’ve been guilty of that too. I also haven’t backed up stats, I back upblog regularly after almost losing it to a plugin once. We know no matter what we can’t always please Google Jens. Do have a wonderful day there!
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for sharing this infographic with us. I think when the mind is focused on only making money and taking short cuts, it’s these mistakes that pop up and ruin what their going for.
It’s easy to spot the ones who are serious about their blog to help others from those who are in it only for themselves.
Great share Lisa! I hope you’re having a great Monday.
Hi Corina. You are welcome. True, those short cuts can get you anytime! I think you are right Corina because they are in it only to make money. Glad Monday is over and on to Tuesday. Hope your week goes well there.
Hi Lisa
It is amazing how many ways there are to screw up your blog, and how many people manage to do it.
But then, with so much bad advice out there (as Adrienne’s post mentions today) it is hardly surprising.
I also try to write on these kinds of topics occasionally, also to help get better sites out there, but it is an uphill battle
The infographic helps though, and I have shared that on Pinterest!
have a great week
ashley
Hi Ashley. Oh yes, I’ve been there and done that. Live and learn! Almost lost the entire blog to a plugin was the worst mistake. (And not backing up often enough). Thanks for the input Ashley and for sharing on Pinterest. I hope you have a great week too there.
Awesome infographic Lisa! Thankfully, I don’t think I’m guilty of any of those, surprisingly enough. I do however still visit a few blogs that just have way too many ads and gosh darnit, I hate popups!
Thanks for sharing this. Gladly passing it along. Happy Monday and have a fantabulous week!
Hi Bren, oh yes I’d agree with too many ads and those pop ups. Thanks for your input Bren and for taking time to comment. I hope your week is fantastic as well. At least we are past Monday now.
Hi Lisa,
Lovely infographic indeed.
Yes, this is exactly what will screw up your blog if you don’t take care, and once that happens, you have nothing more than sit and wonder why it happened. I guess it makes sense to be careful right from the start, though as they say there is always a time for learning things, perhaps the hard way, but then you are sure about it the next time, isn’t it?
Copying others, not editing your work , and not being consistent are things you have to be so careful of, and of course, write helpful posts so that your readers keep coming back for more.
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead.
Hi Harleena, thanks. I’ve certainly learned many of these things the hard way and almost lost the entire blog one time to a plugin. Thanks for your input and have a great week as well. Hard to believe we are now in June.
Seems like I’d agree to all points in the infographics and they are of course true. I believe the common thing we could generally notice on some blogs are updating the blog and don’t backup stats.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Samir, true – I’ve found many blogs dormnant for months. I’m guilty of not backing up stats, something I need to work on too. Thanks for coming by and have a great day!