Savusavu Fiji
Beware.
Grievances have already been aired.
I fired up the old back office to promote your blogging success not to blow fellow bloggers out of the water.
I care less about complaining; been through that phase years ago.
Being compassionate means sharing truthful feedback even if it bruises an ego or two.
I am open to all feedback but only follow guidance benefiting our collective blogging community.
Do the same to be truly helpful.
Before we dive in, bloggers can and do maintain a respectable bounce rate despite making the blogging errors below. Some get away with it for any number of reasons. But that is not the point here.
I want you to keep readers glued to your blog for as long as possible. Referral traffic and referral business increase when people hang out on your blog. Everything dwindles when people bounce.
Scour your blog.
Do you send readers to the cyber hills by making these mistakes?
1: Closed Comments
I usually exit blogs if I cannot share my thoughts through comments but I am a rare bird I reckon.
Most readers care less about dropping a comment.
Some do, though.
Consider keeping comments open to:
- lower your blog bounce rate
- build relationships with bloggers
- develop a sense of community
- rank on page 1 of Google with user-generated content
Comments actively establish your blog to be a two way street.
Open ’em.
2: Broken Bot CAPTCHA
Slamming into 3 Broken Bot CAPTCHAs today inspired me to write this post.
I dropped a genuine comment. The Bot CAPTCHA thingee popped up. I waited 7-10 seconds for the form to manifest. I entered the code and doubled-checked it for accuracy. I submitted. 3 seconds later a broken link popped up.
I would not use this strategy unless hundreds, thousands of 10,000 plus spammers assault your blog daily.
Or test yours today and fix it.
Make your blog sticky. Remove another reason why readers bounce from your blog.
3: Broken Comments Submission
As noted before, I enjoy dropping genuine blog comments.
I put most blogs in the rear view window if the submission process fails.
Fix the problem to enjoy the sugary sweet benefits of running a lively comments section noted above.
I get it; nobody has submitted a comment on your blog for months. But perhaps this is the reason? Check. Never fall asleep at the blogging wheel.
Test your comments today to ensure a smooth user experience.
4: Instant Pop Ups
Instantly greeting blog visitors with a pop-up snags some subscribers.
But placing any barrier between the visitor and your content is not a good idea.
Some readers exit stage left because you promised content but broke the promise by asking for their email before following through with the initial offer.
The argument for instant pop-ups: this strategy nabs a high ratio of email subscribers.
The argument against instant pop-ups: at what cost?
The goal is to keep people on your blog not to send people away.
Embedding barriers turns people away from your site. Removing barriers invites a heavy volume of people in; some stick around for a while. Good things happen in these scenarios. People who stick around a store might buy something and tell their friends about it.
At a minimum, delay pop ups for a bit. Let readers breathe before popping up in their grill.
Never use pop-ups for each new page visited. Would this be different than being pestered repeatedly by a pan handler?
5: Slow-Loading Ads
Dynamic ads net some income but potentially kill the user experience.
I quickly leave blogs plagued by slow-loading ads. I am there for the content and comments not advertisements. A fair percentage of readers share my sentiment.
Ditch heavy advertisements for fast loading embeds. Trusting readers click on targeted ads because credible bloggers – not bells and whistles – motivate readers to take action.
6: Covering Multiple Niches
A jack of all trades masters none.
Feel free to run a multi-niche blog.
But understand that the world trusts specialists freely. Generalists tend to confuse readers who expect one thing out of you and see another thing.
Confused readers hit the road.
Stick to a single niche.
Develop topical authority.
7: No Contact Form or Email
Do you want to know something shocking?
I come across multiple blogs every day with no way to contact the blogger. Can you imagine running a business for human beings but not giving people a way to contact you?
“Here’s this content. Trust it. Don’t bother reaching out to me. I don’t want to hear from you. I don’t care about your feedback. Don’t alert me to the fact that my blog is falling apart at the seams. Don’t give me blog post ideas. I’ll just do things my way without any of your feedback. Have a nice day.”
Jokes aside, embed a contact form or link to your email.
You are in the people business.
Give people a way to get in touch with you.
Blogging is not a broadcasting platform.
8: AI-Generated Content
Readers want original content.
Publishing AI-generated content breaks this most basic blogging rule.
Mailing it in with AI content tells readers to go away and stay away. If they get the same advice in similar or almost identical wording on thousands of blogs…..you my friend are in big trouble.
Successful entrepreneurs stand out by being genuine and truly helpful.
Struggling entrepreneurs get ignored by being copy cats to get as much traffic as possible with the bare minimum effort.
Write your blog posts.
Give readers a reason to stick around your blog.
9: Affiliate Frenzy
Everyone has to earn a living.
But nobody should desperately overwhelm readers with a dizzying volume of affiliate opportunities.
Be subtle not forceful.
Make practical, detailed content the star of your blog.
Pepper affiliate products into blog posts sparingly.
Truly helpful, free content earns blogging income not bludgeoning readers to death with a tidal wave of affiliate products.
10: No Practicality
Readers generally follow blogs to solve problems.
Lacking practical posts turns off anyone hellbent on getting beneficial solutions.
Bloggers succeed with all types of niches. Knock yourself out.
Practical content rules the web, though.
My blog took off because I built posts around practical tips. Bloggers seize and use my actionable advice to solve their blogging problems. That’s pretty much how blogs work, for the most part, at least.
Publish practical content. Step readers from problem to solution.
Glue eyeballs to your blog.
Visualize Flypaper
Correct your errors from the above list.
Make your blog as sticky as flypaper.
Related posts:
11 Tips to Build Your Blogging Network
Blogging for a Living: 7 Tips
7 Reasons Why Using AI to Write Full Blog Posts Is a Bad Idea
1 Warning Sign that It Is Time to Build Your Blogging Tribe
What Factor Protects Your Blog from ChatGPT Gemini and Google in General?
Do You Overwhelm or Inspire and Inform Your Readers?
