The 5 Deadly Sins of Blogging: A 6-Part Series for Newbies (Part 5)

Once you start getting the hang of it, you will probably enjoy blogging. However, there are a few things you want to be careful about. Avoid the things on this list, and you'll be golden. Don't panic, though, if you commit a faux pas or two. You're a newbie - it's how you learn! Just get back on the horse and keep riding!

1. Sending mixed messages - and failing to stay on topic. Yeah, this is a big one. Think about email for a minute. Have you ever had someone send you an email on one general topic, and then tuck in a sentence or two at the very end on a completely unrelated subject? A couple days go by, and they ask you about the email they sent, and you can't for the life of you remember seeing anything on that subject. Because it was at the BOTTOM of an UNRELATED email. You weren't looking for that data, so you probably just inadvertently missed it.
   
   The same thing can happen in your blog posts. So make sure your post is about one subject, and that you stick to the topic at hand.
   
   Trust  me - we're all guilty of this every once in a while. I did it not too long ago - combined what should have been 3 different blogs into one post and confused the heck out of my readers! Want proof? Take a look at this post! After I broke it into these three posts, it finally made sense!
   
   

   A. Rock Springs Café & Saloon in Rock Springs, AZ -  Enter Contest to be the Next Honary Banana

   B. Rebecca Gaujot, of Lewisburg, W.Va., is BananaTude's First Official Honorary Banana!

   C. Rock Springs Café & Saloon Hosts Black Canyon City Chamber Pie Networking Mixer

2. Making it difficult to subscribe to your blog. This one is taken care of for you with an ActiveRain membership because the SUBSCRIBE button shows up automatically at the upper right-hand corner. On an outside blog, or your own blog that's hosted on another platform, though, you must make sure to get a Subscriber button installed ASAP.


3. Posting on an inconsistent or irregular schedule. OK - we've already covered this one in Part 3 - Create a Blogging Schedule. Write regularly. Post regularly. And make sure your readers know when to expect your posts to show up.  


4. Failing to interact with your readers - and neglecting to respond to comments. The single biggest benefit of blogging is getting to "meet" so many people and create dynamic relationships with them. That can only happen, though, if you take the time to get to know them by interacting. ActiveRain is awesome for this, because comments are a built-in facet for point-building. But I encourage you to go for more than just the points. Really read the blog posts, and write thoughtful feedback. "Thanks for the great post," is almost worse than writing nothing at all, because your motives are transparent.


5. Missing the boat on keywords for your SEO. Because the ActiveRain community is so large and, well, active, we get great SEO just by participating. But if you want people to find your posts for the topics you're writing on, you need to be strategic with your keywords. This means tagging EVERY post for the terms your readers are using when they search Google, MSN, Twitter, etc. It also means taking the time to plug in all the right information under Localism, Channels, Groups, and Categories. Trust me, understanding this takes a little time, but it's worth it to do the research and figure out the right places to put your specific posts. It will make all the difference between landing on Page 1 on Google or showing up on Page 21.

So get busy. And remember: stay on point, make subscribing easy, post regularly, interact with as many people as possible, and use good keywords! Nail all of these and you will soon start hitting your blogs out of the ballpark. And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! That's why we're all here, in this together ... to help and support each other on this fantastic journey!

Anna Banana

Miss any segments in the series? Catch up now!

Part 1 - Making the Most of ActiveRain

Part 2 - Be Strategic With Your Blog

Part 3 - Create a Blogging Schedule

Part 4 - Deciding What to Write

Part 6 - Perfecting Your Active Rain Profile

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