3 Common Blog-Writing Mistakes –– And How to Fix Them!

Make no mistake, blogging is tough. Not only is blog-writing an exercise in self-discipline, but it’s also a highly competitive field that solely rewards the most prolific and dynamic professionals. And since blog-writing is a public activity (i.e., outsiders can and will read your posts) it’s especially important to limit the number of goofs and gaffes in your work. The good news is, you can learn to solve common blogging issues by studying them. Indeed, here are three writing mistakes typical to blogging, and how you can correct them:

Run-On Sentences

Blogs, whether professional or diversionary, need to be easily digestible. The average attention span of a reader online isn’t long, and if you’re going to hook interested parties, your blogs need to be sharp and concise. Therefore, flabby, meandering sentences are a veritable poison to your blog. Eliminate run-on sentences by reading your work aloud –– they’ll stick out like sore thumbs if you take this extra step. (Note, the semicolon can be your best friend when separating related phrases.)

Unclear Explanations

Most blogs are expository in nature. By that, we mean that bloggers often write about a subject, product, service, or recent event in order to explain it. Unfortunately, few bloggers manage to properly educate their audience through their efforts. In order to make sure your blogs don’t fly over your readers’ heads, follow these three simple steps:

• Define Everything –– Writing about specifics is great. Not only are in-depth blogs fantastic resources, but they also provide websites with an opportunity to rank for low-volume keywords. However, if you don’t take the time to define industry-specific terms, you’re likely to lose big parts of your audience.
• Add a Video –– Videos are useful because they increase engagement and enable bloggers to show what they could not tell. What better way to show off the subtle intricacies of equipment like reaction tubes, or display the effects of rust on iron than through a quick video? When words fail you, go visual.
• Misleading Headlines –– Even if you didn’t mean to, writing a misleading headline is akin to breaking a promise to the reader. Avoid this practice like the plague.

Dull Content

As mentioned above, for a blog to stand out in the modern landscape of the internet, it has to go above and beyond. And this is true from the opening sentence of your article until the very last word. So while it’s all well and good to crank out multiple blogs per-day, quality work takes time. Only write a blog post when you’ve got something meaningful to say. Otherwise you’ll be wasting your readers’ –– and your own –– time.