So, you have decided to start a blog, have you? Are you looking
forward to writing your first article, building a following and getting
your first comments? Deciding to start a blog, whether as a hobby or for
professional reasons, can be an exciting prospect. I first started a
video game review and opinion blog a few years ago and it was fun to
think of new topics, share articles and count the “likes” that I reaped.
OK, I could usually count them on one hand, but that really isn’t the
point here.
The point is that there are some very common mistakes that people
make when starting a new blog. Some of these mistakes are minor details,
but others can really cause you some issues further down the line.
Never fear though as markITwrite is here once again to deliver you from
the dangers of blogging naivety. Hopefully by pointing out some of the
pits that fresh-faced bloggers often fall into, you can avoid a similar
fate.
What’s In A Name?
I’m sure that your mind is going crazy trying to come up with a
suitable name for your fledgling blog. However, once you have chosen a
name then you may be stuck with it. Therefore it is best not to choose
anything too specific, such as “Gary’s Game Blog” for example. The time
may come when you want to expand or change the subject matter of your
writing and a name that’s too specific will hinder this.
If you get to the point where your blog name is causing you serious
problems, by confusing or alienating your readership maybe, then it is
possible to rename and rebrand yourself. However, consider that this
will involve changing all of your social network IDs and getting a new
URL. Some networks (Facebook for example) may not even let you change
your name, so you will have to start a brand new page and inform all of
your followers to move over to that one. And I guarantee that you will
lose some in the process.
Also, don’t forget to check what other bloggers in the same field are
calling themselves. You do not want to end up sounding like a clone or a
rip-off of an already well established writer.
Divide and Conquer
Keep your paragraphs short. That’s it really. Most bloggers (myself
included) start out writing long paragraphs like they would if composing
an academic paper, or authoring a book. However, writing for the
internet is very different from other writing. Look at Facebook and Buzzfeed, these guys are your competition and they make short digestible pieces.
Just don’t start using those awful clickbait headlines like “He wrote
a blog entry and what happened next changed my life forever. #17 broke
my heart,” as you’ll just look like an awful hack. Buzzfeed may be your
competition, but you are going to want to aim a little higher on the
quality scale.
Remember, people reading things online are often looking for
something quick to read, they don’t have the attention span for lengthy
blocks of text. Break up your writing by making paragraphs no longer
than six or seven lines each and use emboldened subtitles, pictures
and/or bullet point lists to make it an easy read.
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words.
You are going to want to use pictures in your blogs. Humans like
imagery and much of social media is becoming more and more focused on it
(think Instagram, Snapchat
etc.) Pictures are therefore absolutely vital to the success of your
blog. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to use them.
Don’t use photos that are small or of poor quality and don’t wrap
your text around them. Instead you want the pictures to break up the
text and fill the width of your page. If you are taking your own
pictures for your blog then you may want to consider getting a book or
taking a photography course to improve your skills. Be liberal with good
quality pictures and your blog will look all the more attractive for
it.
But…
Be careful what pictures you use. Most people don’t realise at first
that you cannot just go onto Google Images, pull down any picture you
like and slap it on your article. Doing so could land you with a cease
and desist order, or even more serious legal proceedings. At best, it
could damage your reputation as accusations of plagiarism are not easy
to shake.
It is also not good enough to credit the source of the image. In fact
it is no different than if you had not bothered to credit it at all.
The key word is “permission”, and you do not have it.
All is not lost though, there are plenty of places where you can get images that are copyright free. Creative Commons
on Flickr is very good and offers up hundreds of images with a simple
to understand pictorial key to explain the conditions under which you
can use them.
The same goes for text as well. Do not copy and paste other people’s
words unless you are going to put it as a quote and link to the source.
Be Prolific
If you really want your blog to take off you are going to want to
write frequently, especially in the early days. If you only write once
every month then you are not going to attract readers and your blog will
fail to gain any traction. If new readers check your page and find
nothing new, they will give up checking.
You want to be shooting for three of four entries a week in the
beginning. Once you have built up a following then you can slow it down a
little, but you don’t really want to be putting out less than two a
week at any point. Also, make sure that your schedule is consistent.
Upload every Tuesday and Thursday for example and stick to it. It will
benefit you if your readers know when to expect new content.
There you have five pitfalls to avoid when starting out. Let
us know in the comments below if you are starting a new blog and what it
is about. Or maybe you are an experienced blogger? If so, do you have
any other tips for the newbies out there? Again, please let us know in
the comments below.
Oh, and the most important tip for writing your budding blog?
Source: http://www.markitwrite.com/straight-out-of-the-starting-blogs-5-mistakes-that-new-bloggers-make/
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