4 Major Crimes Bloggers Shouldn’t Commit

If  you look at the evolution of blogging, you will see that it has changed from being a tool to express your thoughts to a method of sharing entertainment and information. These days, you will see a lot of blogs dedicated to specific topics, including health, home improvement, fashion, politics, and travel.

In fact, there are writers who are highly successful in writing articles on their field of expertise. Being a blogger yourself, or if you’re aspiring to be one, you probably can’t help but wonder how they attained that level of success.

But instead of focusing on how these authors achieved fame online, it’s best to concentrate on yourself and the mistakes that you should avoid. And why is that?

The answer is this—knowing the common pitfalls in blogging allows you to become better at what you do, and through patience and perseverance, you might even join the ranks of successful bloggers yourself.

So, what are the major mistakes you should avoid at all costs?

#1 Ignoring your blog

You might say, “What? I publish several posts each day!”

This does not refer to how many articles you can create in a day. Instead, this pertains to the overall layout of your blog and the way you present your articles.

So you need to ask yourself the following questions:

Is it organised and easy to navigate? Can users find their way around without getting frustrated? Can they locate your archive without any hassle?

Is the content informative and original? Although running out of things to write about is a known issue, it’s never a good idea to copy someone else’s post and call it your own. You can cite your sources, but you should never plagiarise.

These factors play a huge role if you want to achieve even just a modest amount of success. In addition to that, it also pays to do the following:

Link back to old posts. If you want to attain blogging glory, you need to rank highly in search engine results. And one way to do that is through building links. So if you are writing an article and have a previously published one that contains relevant information, then you should not hesitate to link to it.

Create informative and attention-grabbing titles. It pays to be creative because it draws readers in. But there is a way to balance creativity with relevant information. So when creating a title for your blog post, make sure that it contains keywords that you want to be found for and are relevant to the content of your write-up.

Publish posts regularly. Consistency is key in the blogging world. In order for you to gain followers, you need to come up with fresh content. Doing this helps drive traffic to your blog. And once you get a sufficient amount of visitors, it is best to publish articles frequently to maintain the momentum.

#2 Ignoring other bloggers

Another serious blogging mistake is forsaking your fellow writers. If you find an article written by another blogger that is worth sharing, you can provide a link to it in your post.

By doing so, you can build relationships with others and encourage them to browse your content. Moreover, it is another great link building strategy.

If point no. 1 suggested the power of internal links as a way to show up in Google, Bing, or Yahoo, then linking to others stresses the importance of outbound links in obtaining a favourable ranking in search engines.

#3 Ignoring the power of social media

Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Google+—these are just some of the many social networks where you can share your blog posts.

In fact, using these platforms is a very important factor in getting your blog to rank well. So do not hesitate to use these to your advantage. Encourage social shares (e.g. likes, shares, retweets, and +1′s) too, as these help boost the online visibility of your blog.

#4 Ignoring your readers

If neglecting other bloggers is a serious offence, then disregarding your own visitors is an even more heinous blogging crime.

One way to give attention to your readers is to ask a question at the end of your posts. Doing this invites them to leave a comment and start a conversation with you.

Another thing that you can do is to respond to the comments left by your readers. Moreover, if they have a blog, you can also stop by and leave a comment there as well. Engaging with others helps foster relationships and drive traffic to your blog.

Conclusion

The road to blogging success is a long one. But if you are aware of the mistakes you shouldn’t make, then you can slowly build a following and establish yourself as a trusted source within your niche.

How about you? Are there other mistakes that you would want to add to this list?

About the Author:
Jonny Lis is a Digital Marketing Specialist in charge of overseeing over 300 campaigns for Smart Traffic an SEO company that provides quality services resulting in high rankings for their clients.

Accepting Guest Posts: What to Look For

Guest posting is a rather popular method for obtaining traffic to your site and helping other fellow bloggers out by providing a link to their own web page. Unfortunately, many people who attempt to submit guest posts do not think about the minor details; content, quality, topic, etc. This alone could have your submission denied almost immediately.

If you are considering accepting guest posts on your own blog, here are some things to look for so that you accept posts that will benefit your blog, not damage it.

Impersonal

If a person is trying to reach out to many blogs at once they might use a “template” to draft their submissions. In other words, they could have a form that contains their inquiry and they simply replace the name of the company or use the company’s URL address instead of the actual name. If you aren’t receiving pitches that have an actual ‘addressed to’ name and your blog name is included as a URL, it’s a cause for a red flag. Someone who honestly wants to submit a guest post pitch to you will research who to address it to and include your site’s name, not the URL. This is simply copy/paste etiquette. Also known as laziness.

Unrelated Submissions

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to determine if the author took time to do their research before sending you their pitch. If their topic is completely unrelated to your niche or the current content on your blog, it’s a red flag. This is a common mistake many guest posters make because they assume a site will take any guest post in order to increase their traffic. They couldn’t be more wrong. A guest post on a completely unrelated topic is not going to benefit the site owner and the pitch will be denied.

Pitch Submission before Discussion

Most blog owners that accept guest posts will work the writers to determine the right topic, etc. First and foremost, they will inform the writer if they are willing to work with them. Receiving a guest post that is short and sweet with a file attached that the writer already created is not likely going to be a good submission. Do they know if you want this content? Did they ask you? No. They simply sent you an article and hoped you would accept it without even knowing what it is you’re looking for. A professional writer will take the time to discuss this with the blog owner first.

Copyright Content

Luckily we have the ability to check content before we accept it and publish it. Unfortunately, this does not prevent some from thinking they can out-wit others by submitting stolen content. By stolen content, I mean content that is exactly word-for-word from another site on the web. This will only ruin the writer’s reputation and is a big red flag for any site owner. Before you publish a guest post make sure to run it through Copyscape or a similar program to ensure it is in fact unique content.

Poor Grammar and Spelling

Nobody wants to publish content that they can’t even read. You would be surprised at how many people will send you a pitch without running a spell check or checking for proper grammar. If you receive a pitch that is filled with errors, deny it. You might think there is hope in having them correct these issues, but in reality if their first submission to you was filled with errors, the remainder of their ideas and submittals will likely be as well.

Link Overload

Because guest blogging is a great way to drive more traffic to your own site as well as the author’s, you shouldn’t be surprised if you receive submissions filled with links. Many companies accepting guest posts will allow up to two links, at the most. If the article is overloaded with links then you can be assured they are only looking for backlinks and most likely won’t follow up on any submissions they make. (Interact with readers who comment, etc.)

Guest posting can be very rewarding when both parties know what they are doing. Weed out the negative posts by following the tips above. Eventually you will be able to automatically detect the quality of a post and whether or not it is acceptable, by your standards.

Dan Ripoll is the co-founder and CEO of GuestBlogGenius, a link building service and content marketing platform for SEOs and eCommerce site owners.

Blog Through Retirement

On January 1, 2011, the first baby boomers turned sixty-five. As baby boomers head into retirement age, many are choosing to stay in the workforce longer. Some are choosing to do so because of financial difficulties (often stemming from the recent recession) while others are doing so because they enjoy working. The rewards, both financially and professionally/personally, are immense.

While many retirees are staying with the current roles, others are using their retirement years as an opportunity to try something new. From volunteering on a golf-course (for free golf), to mentoring younger workers, retirees are finding rewarding opportunities. While these are certainly great opportunities, there is another opportunity that provides the same personal enjoyment, engagement and an income stream… blogging.

The Sky’s the Limit

Believe it or not, many popular bloggers can make hundreds of thousands of dollars from their blog each month. Keep in mind that none of this happens overnight. Blogs at this scale have spent years generate value for their audiences and have thousands to millions of visitors a day. Building up these types of high-trafficked blogs can often times take years to complete. However, a positive is that there is hardly any investment involved and you can work on your blog on your own time. There are plenty of free blogging platforms out there to start out with and if you’re feeling adventurous, buying a domain and hosting aren’t very expensive.

Content Rules

Want to know the key to creating a successful blog that will allow you to make tons of money that will allow you to retire as young as you wish? You need to create absolutely awesome content. This content shouldn’t be something no one cares to read. You need to provide value to your readers that will allow leave them wanting more or viewing you as an invaluable resource. Many bloggers early on think that all you have to do is simply create a website, put up a single article that sells something, and then you’re making thousands a month. This type of plan is garbage and even if you start making money, you’ll eventually be penalized by every search engine out there for having a low-quality site.

One of the best things about blogging, is that it enables you to leverage your passions. Don’t blog about something you know nothing about, or about an impassionate vocation, blog about something you love! Your passion will generate great content and will make blogging a pleasure and not a chore.

How do you Make Money?

Adsense

Now that you understand how people who create these blogs can be so successful at it, let’s take a look at how these sites actually make money. The first and most popular way that various people make money off of their blogs is by displaying ads on their blog. This is usually in the form of implementing Google Adsense. Through Google Adsense, bloggers are paid every time someone clicks on an advertisement presented on their site. There are other programs that offer a similar deal.

Banner Advertisements

If Google Adsense isn’t your cup of tea (or doesn’t work well with your niche), many highly-trafficked blogs will also sell banner ads directly to companies. These companies will either pay a set fee each month or they will pay to have their ad displayed for so many thousands or millions of impressions. The best part about this method is that it can be extremely stable if you can keep those advertisers each month.

Affiliate Marketing

Another way that bloggers make money is known as affiliate marketing. Through affiliate marketing, bloggers are paid a certain amount of money each time someone buys a product through their custom affiliate link. They’ll normally advertise these products through either ads on their blog or by writing up a blog post advertising the product.

While a blog isn’t for everyone, it can be a wonderful opportunity for people with a passion for something and a desire to share that passion with others. The hours are flexible, the costs to begin are minor and you can do it indefinitely. If you have a passion for something or a desire to share your knowledge with others, blogging throughout your retirement may be just the ticket!

By-line

While most technical know-how to begin blogging can be garnered through information that is readily available online (bloggers love to talk to others about how to blog), you may benefit from a more technical approach. The team at www.technology-colleges.info is there to assist you with all of your technical educational needs, from web-development to information security.