Underwhelmed by your blogs? Here is a list of five common mistakes, and what to do about them
No planning
Platforms like WordPress and Square Space offer you the easy option of creating a new post where you can just start typing. Unless you’re a seasoned blogging pro, the chances are that this technique will encourage you to write posts that are ill considered and hurried. It might sound old-fashioned – Luddite even – but jot down a structure for your post on paper. If you are constructing an argument, what are your premises and is your conclusion valid. Would your post benefit from a few facts and statistics?
According to this source, doubling the time spent drafting corresponds to an 89% increase in the total amount of time people will read your post.
Length
According to blogging specialists Medium, the ideal blog post takes seven minutes to read. That equates to about 1,600 words. Of course some posts do need to be short, but you could aim for 1,600 words in the posts you spend the most amount of time on – because you have a lot to say. (If you start padding out your posts to satisfy the seven-minute rule, that’s probably a bad thing.)
Introductions
The lesson here is simple: define your subject in a line or two, then move on. The chances are that your headline, written for the web, will be a very literal, does-what-it-says-on-the-tin affair. And if you’re reader has clicked on a link containing this headline, it’s a safe bet that they will be looking for the information the headline advertises. You run the risk of annoying people with complex, convoluted cerebral introductions. For this reason you might not need a stand first.
Sentences
Try and keep sentences short. This way, you’ll avoid using unnecessary words and phrases that will annoy time-poor readers. The technique may also help you avoid the pitfalls of things like double negatives and George Orwell’s pet hate – unnecessary foreign phrases.
Formatted text
If you have written a long blogpost, don’t forget to break the text up with pull-out quotes, boxes with key statistics and bullet points. The danger here is that a long screed of continuous text will deter some people from reading your blog altogether. Try to embed links in your text and make sure they are a different colour from the rest.
