5 Blogging Stunts That Lead To Nothing But Embarrassment

blogging tipsBloggers, especially when starting out, have a tendency to go to great lengths to get themselves noticed. Of course, getting noticed is important, but going about it the wrong way can spell disaster, especially for first time bloggers.

So, for those of you out there who are wondering what steps your should steer clear of while seeking fame in the blogosphere here is a simple, but by no means comprehensive list of stunts that will most likely lead to humiliation and shame.

Comment Stuffing

As I’ve said in previous articles the comments section of your blog is the perfect place to get to know your readers, network and build relationships. The comments section is also a great way to get a sense of how people feel about your blog, and to that effect, there are a number of bloggers who think that if they leave comments on there own blogs it will make their blogs look more impressive.

A slew of “great post!” comments from “anonymous”, not only looks incredible suspicious, but also makes it impossible for you to connect with your readers. Silly, right?

Literary Pyrotechnics

At it’s core, blogging is about getting your ideas and opinions out there into ether for others to see. The best way to achieve this is to inject some of your personality into your writing, and the best way to do that is to keep it simple and honest. Write in the first person. Keep your paragraphs short. Avoid the 25 cent words – again, keep it simple.

DIY Branding

If you want people to take you and your blog seriously, you have to look and act like a professional. That means getting a logo.

Now, no doubt there are some of you out there who can design and produce your own eye catching logo, but not everyone has the photoshop chops to make a top notch logo. Hiring an illustrator or graphic designer to make a logo for you isn’t as expensive as you might think, and will do a world of good for you branding.

CAPTCHA

Why don’t we go back to the comments section for a second. Like I mentioned in the first section of this little article, the comments section is a great way to get a sense of who your readers are and the perfect place to interact with them. Logic would follow that you want to keep your comments section safe from the influence of dastardly spammers and robo-self promoters.

Enter CAPTCHA: a plugin you can add that requires people who want to add a comment to pass a simple writing test. You’ll save yourself a lot of grief and people will feel more comfortable adding their own comments.

Test Everything

One thing that most first time bloggers overlook is the need to test any changes you decide to make your blog, and posts you intend to publish before they go live. All you have to do is copy your blog onto a sub-domain on your site, and use this copy to test any changes to your theme, logo or any pictures to make sure that everything goes according to plan.