Our goal as bloggers is to get readers to our website (ultimately). However, it can be difficult to keep readers on our site once they get there. Sometimes it is the smallest errors or mistakes that make it difficult for readers to stay on our sites. Things that seem so insignificant can really make a difference in our blogs traffic.
We’ve all been there, we clicked on a blog post to read and just couldn’t bring ourselves to finish it. Building a blog can be hard and the best way (in my opinion) to improve a blog is to research other bloggers. I don’t know about anyone else, but I for one have started reading a blog post and ended up not being able to complete the post for different reasons.
I just want to clarify before I continue, I am NOT PERFECT. Let me repeat, I AM NOT PERFECT. I am not writing this post to be rude or critical to anyone out there. I am writing this post because I want to help others. It is hard enough as is to get people to visit your blog. Once you get them there you want them to stay there. By making grammar errors, making it impossible for them to find what they want, etc. readers are not going to want to stay on your blog. They will simply look somewhere else for what they are looking for.
I have created a list of my top 3 irritants that drive me to stop reading other blogs. As I go through this list and you notice something that you have, I’m going to ask you, “Is my blog traffic where I want it to be?” If you say “Yes” then that’s fine, don’t fix what isn’t broken! 🙂
Irritant #1: Multiple Grammar Mistakes Can Prevent Readers From Staying on Your Site
I will be the first to admit, it can be hard to find every little grammar mistake in a blog post. However, when you have 5-10 grammar mistakes it can become distracting to the reader. Going back to try and figure out what the blogger (you) were trying to say can be not only confusing but also frustrating to the reader.
Having two or three grammar mistakes is fine. Nobody is perfect and it can be easy to skip over mistakes. However, there is something to be said for reviewing your blog post before publishing it.
Irritant #2: Having Every Affiliate Link You Can Think Of In A Post (Especially When They Don’t Belong) Can Prevent Readers From Staying On Your Site
Before you start getting mad at me- here me out. Yes, we are all trying to make money here and one of the best ways to accomplish this is via Affiliate Links (I’ve said so myself in a separate blog post). However, putting affiliate links in a blog post that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the other is simply annoying. It makes the blogger seem as though they don’t care about the reader and they just want to earn money.
For instance, don’t put a link to buy a romance novel in a blog post about increasing your Pinterest Traffic. One has nothing to do with the other and therefore doesn’t belong in the same post. Now this is a extreme example, but none the less you get the idea.
If the affiliate links are strategically placed and still allow the reader to have a good flow while reading your blog post, then that’s fine. It is when the links disrupt the flow that is can be frustrating to the reader.
Irritant #3: Not Being Able to Find Your Way Through a Post or Website Can Prevent Readers From Staying On Your Site
I’m sure that everyone reading this post at some point or another has left a website because you were getting so frustrated trying to find what you were looking for. As website creators and bloggers, we all have to be accountable for our website! It is important that your website is easy to maneuver so people can find what they are looking for.
I hope that no one took offense by this post. I simply want to help you build your blog and blog following. Sometimes with all of the other things we have involved in blogging it can become easy to ignore the small (yet important) details on our blog. Doing this every once in a while is not going to affect your following, however I feel that doing this constantly on every blog post can start to become detrimental to your following in the long run.
These might be minor details but they can be incredibly important in the long run! And just to remind you, if it is not broken then don’t fix it. If you are happy with where your blog is and how fast it is growing, then don’t worry about changing anything!
What are some other mistakes that you find drive you away from blogs? I’d love to hear what your thoughts are!
Happy Blogging!
