9 Common Blogging Mistakes Harming Your SEO

Blogging is not about writing and publishing content. It is about sharing valuable knowledge and ideas with your readers.

It is in many ways writing out loud, says Andrew Sullivan, a British-born American writer, editor and blogger. He is one of the pioneers in the field of blogging and he believes that this new form of writing provides the opportunity to put one’s thought process on display.

Sullivan’s idea is to learn from your own mistakes and figure out what works best for you. But a lot has shifted since the inception of blogging; it has given a whole new perspective to writing. It has become an essential part of any business when it comes to marketing since it is inexpensive, easy to run and connects with the market.

Trends keep changing and the same applies to blogging. Presently, it’s a highly rewarding marketing and PR tool.  The usefulness of a blog is now calculated by its ability to drive traffic to its associated website.

People now research online about any brand, product, or service before making a buying decision. Consequently, blogging for SEO becomes a crucial part of your company’s marketing strategy. Studies have shown that a blog can increase your chances of ranking high on search engine results pages (SERPs) by up to 434%.

You need to understand that now your blogging efforts are directly proportional to your website’s SEO. And making common or silly bogging mistakes can harm your SEO badly. This article will explain some common blogging mistakes that are affecting your SEO. Read on to learn how to avoid these mistakes whether you are a pro or a beginner in SEO or content marketing.

1. Not Picking the Right Topic

If you are writing without thinking much about the topics your readers are searching for, chances are you will not attract any audience at all.

If you have recently started blogging or starting a new blog, you need to first understand your audience’s interests in order to build an authority to succeed in the long run. Understand your readers and the issues they are dealing with, and then respond to them with the best possible solutions. This will help you attract a laser-focused audience and stand out from the crowd.

You can also use Q&A platforms like Quora to find the best topics for your next blog posts.

2. Lack of Keywords

Keywords are the most significant part of SEO. Selecting the right set of keywords will help you in improving your rankings in Google SERPs.

Often, in quest of finding the most unique keywords, most bloggers end up with a list of keywords with no search volume. This means nobody is searching for those key phrases and including them will not help you in getting any traffic.

Moreover, not using long-tail keywords is another mistake done by bloggers. Presently long-tail keywords are really beneficial as compared to the short ones. They will help you to rank in voice searches as well.

3. Inconsistency

A lot of new bloggers start with passion and zeal. They expect to break the internet right away, and when this expectation is not met, they either discontinue writing or lack consistency. Remember, if you want to be taken seriously and leave an impact, be consistent.

That is why it is important to focus on creating a consistent blog posting schedule and stick to it instead of only looking at the results. If you’re posting once a week, keep that schedule until it becomes a routine for you. Inconsistent bloggers miss a lot of opportunities to interact with their readers.

At the same time, maintain the quality of the content. Keep it engaging, fresh, and detailed, and publish consistently, because quality beats quantity.

4. Leaving No Space in the Text

You don’t want your readers to bounce away right after they land on your page. Make sure you don’t scare people away with too much text. Use enough space, an easy-to-read alignment, break paragraphs, and keep only 4-5 lines in a paragraph.

The content should not only be rich but visually appealing as well. A well-presented blog attracts more audience than a wall full of text.

5. Not Creating an Email List

Email turns out to be the most useful marketing channel, more than social media. Emails are easy to create and bring a good amount of traffic to your blog. About creating an email list, yet another world-famous blogger John Chow says:

“The biggest blogging mistake was not starting my email list from day 1. Because John Chow.com started as a personal blog, with no intention to make any money, I didn’t apply my normal Internet marketing methods to it. As a result, the list didn’t start until a year down the road. Had I started the list from day 1, my list would be twice the size it is now, and my income would also be twice as high. This is a mistake I hope you don’t make. Start the list TODAY.” 

6. Your Blog is Too Personal

Your blog should not lack personality but at the same time, it should not be too personal. Remember that as a blogger and a content marketer your job is to help your readers, guide them, and inspire them. If you only blog keeping your preferences in mind, then you might leave an impression of being narcissistic.

Consider adding stories from others, data from case studies or examples from a wide range of places to present it as genuine rather than arrogant. Always double check whenever you mention something about yourself before posting.

7. Not Editing the Blog

One of the most common yet genuine mistakes bloggers do is not revising or editing the blog and its posts. No matter what the level of your blog is, your editing and proofreading abilities can make or break it.

Basic errors such as spelling, sentence structure, lengthy sentences, and grammatical mistakes are avoidable and convey immature and irresponsible behavior to the readers. Always double check for these and use proficiency tools to ensure flawless content. Ask someone to read it before you post so that you have an unbiased opinion on the post.

8. Lack of Media

It has already been mentioned that no one wants to read a wall of text. Use visually attractive media such as pictures, GIFs and videos into your article.

A blog with only text will not interest readers. Adding media will bring a colorful vibe and readers will look forward to your future posts. Including images in your posts make your content (and your business) more attractive, engaging, understandable, memorable and relatable.

9. You Forget to Promote Your Blog

Do not sit still after posting an article; in fact, the real work starts after posting. Go out there and promote it. Promote it everywhere, and ask your family and friends to review it and share it. Even if a post is quite old and has received good feedback, repost it or keep promoting it. You never know when it might start trending.

Also, automate the posting of new articles or blog posts into your social media profiles such as Facebook and LinkedIn. This will not only help you drive traffic but also improve your search rankings.

Conclusion

These are just a few examples of mistakes that bloggers can avoid with easy fixes. Making mistakes is natural and normal but making sure that you learn from each mistake is what matters the most. You may still stumble upon a few of these mistakes; now you are aware of how to correct them in the future.