Green Media Toolshed’s last blog post discussed how to overcome blogging roadblocks like engaging readers and procrastination. This week’s post will focus on some of the common mistakes that bloggers make when starting out. Mistakes can happen in any circumstance whether at school, work, or home; there wouldn’t be funny blooper reels without them! Having an “oops” or forgetful moment is part of the learning process; however, there are a few common mistakes that many bloggers make that can easily be avoided.

• Inconsistency The first and second post in this series briefly mentioned posting on a consistent basis. Consistency is important when trying to build a brand or communicate with supporters via blogging. Erratic posting schedules are one of the largest complaints loyal readers find with blogs. Yet, it’s a simple one to address. Create a schedule for your blog posts and aim to post at a minimum once a week.
• Not Defining a Purpose The reason that an environmental advocacy group writes a blog is going to be different than a green technology company has for writing theirs. Blogs can be used for different purposes whether to inform, provoke discussion, or promote products but whatever your purpose is in writing your blog it needs to be defined.
• Poor Content The content of a post is the vital part of any blog so the content that you post should be relevant and insightful. The content that you post could be good well-written advice but if it doesn’t pertain to your audience it won’t be well received by your audience. Be sure that the content you are posting is well thought and will encourage your readers to engage with it. For some other tips on overcoming issues related to blogging content and engaging readers look at our previous blog post. 
• Not Listening Effective blogs have loyal readers and promote conversation. However, readers won’t come back and conversations won’t be had if you are the only one talking. Encourage comments is important. Use a blogging platform that makes it easy for readers to post comments. Also, reply to the comments that your readers provide. It will show them that you value their readership and input.
• Complexity Bloggers want their readers to feel that they are offering knowledgeable advice. Due to this, bloggers will often use complicated language and make their blog too complex or long. Keep your posts streamlined and simple. That doesn’t mean you can’t tackle a complicated topic, just do it as simplistically as possible. It is also helpful to break your post up using bullets and headers as many readers quickly scan rather than intently read blog posts.
• Not Proofreading Occasionally small grammar errors and typos may occur in your writing; however, there is a difference between a post with a small error and one that clearly was not proofread. A post that is filled with many errors looks rushed and sloppy leaving a reader thinking that the writer didn’t really care about their post. If the writer doesn’t care about the post then why should the reader? Be sure to re-read all of your blog posts before you post them. It is also helpful to read posts out loud to find out if any of your sentence structures sound a bit off.
• Lack of Citation Blogs are a less formal form of writing but the rules of plagiarism still exist here. If you get an idea from another blogger or find facts and statistics in another article or report be sure to mention this in your post and provide links to this information. It will also display to readers that you dedicated time to researching your ideas and that you make an effort to share good information with them.

For more information on some other common mistakes check out these other good blog posts from “We Blog Better” and “ProBlogger-Blog Tips”. Also, DailyBlogTips.com has a helpful blog post checklist that is useful for new and veteran bloggers alike.

Be sure to check out our post next week on “Ways to Increase Readership”.