Is Your Blog Bleeding Readers?
At the end of the day, your blog should be
about producing quality content that is relevant to your readers. If you’re
giving them what they want, they’ll come back. But sometimes other elements of
your blog can be causing frustration as well.
10 Reasons Your Blog Could Be Bleeding
Readers
If your content is strong and you are still
losing readers, you may want to analyze some of the following aspects of your
blog site.
Awkward Layout
Your blog is your virtual home. So, like
you would with your real home, make sure that it is warm and presentable for
visitors. In other words, your layout should be both aesthetically pleasing and
organized. If it looks as though you threw your blog layout together within two
minutes (as in, it looks sloppy and haphazard), then your followers won’t want
to look at it long.
Do you have too many ads? Are there too
many things going on? Is it difficult to find your navigation menus? Consider
simplifying your layout so readers focus on the content.
Overkill
While it is important to remain consistent
with your blogging, avoid posting more than 5 or 6 times a week. No more than
one post on a day, either. Posting more than this can make your followers feel
as though you’re blasting them with too much content. Of course, this is very
dependent upon the type of blog you’re running. News blogs, of course, will far
surpass these limitations. The point here is to remember that too much content
can be frustrating. If readers are following your blog and getting updates, you
may be flat out annoying them with too many.
Unreadable
Choose fonts that are clear. Don’t make
your readers work too hard to read what you’ve written. Additionally, don’t put
your font in a color that is difficult to see. Legibility is a key factor in a
pleasant reading experience.
Consider balancing white space as well. If
your paragraphs are too long, you can cause readers to lose interest. This goes
for content that is too wide as well. Therefore, balance your white space (the
blank space in between text and graphics) by creating more readable width.
Offensive
If your posts are, on average, overly
slanderous and offensive, then you will more than likely see a higher rate of
no-returns. It is okay to be opinionated, but there is a way to word your
opinions in a respectful manner.
We all like a strong voice that makes us
think, smile, laugh, or generally incites an emotional response. But too much
negativity just frustrates. So if you have a strong voice and find yourself
losing readership, consider toning it down a bit.
Ignorance is Not Bliss
If you are an opinionated writer, make sure
you know what you’re writing about. As a silly example, imagine you are
ultra-anti-Twilight series. You write all kinds of posts bashing on various
aspects of the movies and books. However, if you have not read the books or
seen the movies, then you are an uninformed reader and will be viewed as such.
While others may agree with your general view, your lack of expertise will
eventually result in lost readers.
Length
Keep a balance in the length of your blogs.
If they are all over 1,000 words, then you have a problem. You will overwhelm
your followers. Occasional long blogs are okay, but make sure to separate them
into paragraphs.
Various studies show various results. But
generally speaking, posts over 1,000 words will take too long for readers to
get through. Look at your metrics and see if you can find a trend in longer vs.
shorter posts and adjust accordingly.
No images
People want to read blogs for
entertainment, so entertain them. It is not necessary to post an image on every
post, but an occasional shot of your post’s subject is appropriate and will add
interest to your post. Images also help with search engine optimization,
especially if you title your images with the main keyword of your article
title.
Grammarly Misuse
See what I did there? Raise your hand if
you cringed a little bit. So will your readers. If you are a person who
struggles with grammar and spelling, then write your blog drafts in Microsoft
Word or other word processing systems that will check grammar and spelling for
you. Sites with poor writing and grammar are likely to be unfollowed.
Too touchy feely
We do not need to hear the nitty-gritty
details of your life. A blog is not your diary, and it should not be treated as
such. Of course, there are exceptions, but balance personal drama with valuable
content. A good story requires some personal backstory so we can all relate to
it. But keep the personal stuff focused on the point you’re trying to drive
home.
Unemotional
Yes, this feels antithetical to the
previous reason, but it is not. There should be a balance between personalizing
your posts and gushing your deep, dark secrets. If readers wanted to read
straight-up dry information, they would read the newspaper. So don’t write like
a robot; give your blog a flavor of your personality and life.
Eliminate these 10 frustrations and your
quality content will have even more power to keep readers coming back to your
blog.
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