Are you making these Blogging mistakes?

(I'll post a link to the article when it's posted online- can't find it yet: "Lose Blog Traffic and Alienate Readers". By, Monica Bhide. Writer's Digest Magazine. Nov/Dec 2010)

In the latest Writer’s Digest Magazine, Monica Bhide offers 10 ways to make your blog a failure.

As a recent graduate of a blog-improvement class, I thought, surely I am not making blogging mistakes. I nearly flipped the page without reading. People love my blog, don’t they? All, 20 readers and all. Hmm. Maybe I am making some mistakes. So I read on.

The No-No's:

1. Post too infrequently. Me? Post too infrequently. Yes. A good rate for blog posting is somewhere around three times a week. I rarely hit that mark.

2. Post too often. Well. I might be okay there, but, there are times when I’m just so excited about something that I post. And post a p.s. post, sometimes a p.p.s.s. post. That gets to be a little much. And I should just take some time, edit it down and post it once. Sigh. That’s two for two.

3. Turn off comments. I don’t do this. I don’t know about you but I love comments. The only reason I can think to turn them off would be if there was a lot of spam or hateful comments, but there are filters and those funny security words for that.

4. Be overly snarky. Oh, this one’s hard. By nature, I can be pretty darn snarky. And sometimes I think, certain behavior or situations deserve snark, but it can go too far. It’s given me reason to floss my teeth for toe-jam before, so this is one I edit myself for anyway. Good, now we’re even, two things I do wrong, and two things I’m not doing wrong. Phew.

5. Choose poor photos. :insert game show buzzer sound: Guilty. I’ve used really poor quality photos and photos that are just “eh”. Boo, Lynn. Do you know how easy it is to find a good picture?

6. Wax poetic about just anything. Mama mia. This isn’t good. I try to be careful, but sometimes I love the sound of my own voice and… what’s that, you fell asleep? Another point scored for the bad blog.

7. Neglect to read other blogs. This is not looking good folks. Do you know how scarce my free time is? Let’s just turn that around now, Lynn. Do you know how sacred other writers’ free time is- and yet, they take time to read your blog? Gulp.

8. Refrain from comment. If you can’t say something profound don’t say anything… no. You’ve missed the point, Lynn. Read other blogs, find what you like in them and comment on it. Sheesh. What are we going to do with you, Lynn?

9. Get carried away. Now, this one, I’ve tried to monitor. In my blogging class (thanks, Patty), I learned a post shouldn’t get too long- you lose the reader and gain a skimmer, or just plain lose a reader. And break up the big chunks of text with great pictures if you can. I’m trying. I am.

10. Be self-centered. We’ve gone from that game show buzzer to tornado sirens here. Who me? Self-centered? Ouch. This one hurts the worst because it’s one I violate the most. Dear readers, I will make amends. I will strive to find that balance.

Final Score: Bad Blog-8, Good Blog- 2. I've got some work to do.

Thanks to Monica and this timely blog-reality-check. Hopefully, my blog will be the better for it.