Just like a baby who stumbles and falls before taking his first step, every blogger makes some mistakes while starting the journey. It takes time to understand that what will and will not work for a particular blog. But there are certain mistakes which should be avoided right from the beginning; otherwise the blogger will see the end of the blog very soon. Somewhere I feel that we all know what are the basic mistakes to be avoided while blogging. We have been taught those lessons earlier in life- the lessons which are applicable to the real world as well as to the blog world. Have we forgotten those early lessons?
Do not STEAL
Stealing in any form is bad. Stealing content, publishing it in your blog and calling it as your own is a sure way to make you a “pirated blogger”. Pirated CDs and DVDs work but no one likes “pirated blogs”. A blogger looses the credibility and originality and the viewers lose faith. Why should the audience check your blog when they find the original content somewhere else?
Do SHARE
So what if you wrote a good blog (and an original as well!)? You are not a celebrity writer whom people will follow the moment you put up a post. Nowadays even celebrity writers too understand the importance of “sharing” on social platforms. Putting up a post in your blog and silently waiting for the audience to read it will definitely stop the growth of the blog. To capture your audience, share your post on the prominent social platforms and make it visible to the world.
Give RESPECT
Give respect to a fellow blogger. You read a blog and you do not agree to what the blogger says. Be respectful while commenting. If you do not show respect to the blogger community, do not expect for yourself. When someone comments on your blog, acknowledge it with a counter comment. Your audience can judge you through your comments. And to enhance your blog growth, interacting with visitors through sensible and reasonable comments is a must.
Do not DISTURB unnecessarily
Please keep in mind that disturbing your audience in form of spamming will not make your blog popular. Spamming in any way is not desirable at all. What is our own reaction when we find someone spamming our blog and inbox to promote something? Sharing on social platforms is a must but attempts of unnecessary promotion through spamming will work against the blog. Spamming is a bad stunt which will lead to negative marketing for any blog.
Do not count your chickens before they hatch
There are two more things which I feel that a blogger should avoid, especially at the beginning. Do not start a blog with only aim of money-making. A blog is a means to express one’s knowledge and creativity and share it with the rest. This is the basic thought that built up the blog space. Earning from the blog comes later when the blog has established with a decent number of followers. If earning is the only aim while starting a blog, I think blogging is not the best option. I have seen some people giving more priority to get higher ALEXA rank or Google page rank for their blogs, and not concentrating on the blog itself. The excitement to get a higher page ranking for a blog is understandable. But the excitement will be short- lived if the ranking has been achieved through wise use of putting key search words in the blog. If the blog itself is not as useful to the visitor as the higher page rank, the blog growth will come to an end soon. The rule is simple- A blog is read if the visitor finds content interesting.
Image courtesy of Flickr, opensourceway
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