A few months ago, I talked about 7 things or reasons I get put off your blog, and I was surprised to find I was not alone in some of those issues, and trust me when I say that there are thousands, millions of blogs out there sporting things that seriously put me of, so today, I'm sharing another 5 reasons I get put off people's blogs and why I think it's important to look at these elements carefully.
1. Blogs That Don't Believe in Dating Posts
Dates are important. They define occasions and celebrations, they help us plan and schedule and they help us determine how old something is. Blogs that don't include dates with their posts wind the up to no end, and it's all down to the latter. Without a date on your post, I don't know when you posted it, and that's a put off.
I've been picking up a lot of new blogs and adding them to my follow list over the last few months, and you're all aware that every month, I host a Blogger Love feature were I showcase the best posts of the last month for you to check out. Now, imagine the frustration of finding a super awesome new blog with content that rocks, only to find no dates on their posts. I'm left with a dilemma. Sift through the last handful of posts trying to work out a date of posting through the comments, or refuse to feature them in Blogger Love although their content is mega cool. You guessed it. I refuse.
Related: Posts Without Dates Piss Me Off
I don't refuse out of a spite because they don't have dates. In fact, I actually come to follow many of blogs that don't have dates because the content is worth it in the long run, but it doesn't mean I come deal with the annoyance any more easily.
Dates are what shows viewers when your content is posted, and how frequently, and that is extremely important in terms of creating demand, being honest and transparent with your possible followers, and showing that you're serious, committed and want to be involved in blogging. I would much rather come across a blog that had dates showing that they post maybe 4-5 times a month rather than a blog with no dates. I want to know when I can expect you in my feed, and without dates, there's no way of me knowing that.
2. Your Blog Graphics Are Inconsistent
I'm a very visual person, I always have been and I always will be, so it's no surprise that a blog's design is of utmost importance to me. It doesn't have to be an all singing, all dancing design, but your graphics need to compliment it, and each other, and for some bloggers, this is just too much effort, and it shows.
Related: How To Add Value To Your Blog/Business Through Design
Creating graphics doesn't have to be time consuming or stressful, I have two tutorials, one on Picmonkey, and one on Canva, and they show just how easy it is to create graphics that not only look the part, but are siblings with one another. They're attractive and they have impact, but most of all, when you put them all together, they fit together perfectly, look as though they belong together and are consistent.
To get a better idea of just how important consistency is when it comes to your blog graphis, let's take a look at some examples of great looking, consistent graphics, a look at some bloggers staying consistent and what a difference it makes.
Spruce Rd.
Erin E. Flynn
The Branded Solopreneur
Keeping your graphics looking consistent and stylish makes all the difference when it comes to having a cohesive design, and it makes a difference as to whether I stick around or not. Sure, explore your avenues and try out different layouts, but once you've got a few templates down, stick to them, don't go switching up your graphics every 2-3 months, it puts me off, and it puts others off too.
3. It's All About Your Business and Your Products
For some of us, blogging is a hobby, and for other's it's how they put food on the table, and don't get me wrong, I understand that your blog is your way of marketing to your audience, to me, but sometimes, I just want a quality post that doesn't have any gimmicks, any 'join my mail list, get a freebie' and then be inundated with your marketing, with your '50% off special offers' for three days straight, or be pushed and pushed to join your course, buy your product, use your services. Your blog isn't just a marketing tool, it's your front door to potential followers too, and if I knock and you answer with 'hey, buy this from me, yeah?' I'm going to say no.
That's not to say I'm not interested in your product, I might be, but I'm definitely not going to be jumping onto your $200 ecourse before I know what it is you do, what kind of person you are, whether I even like your blog, I need time to get you know you. I'm like a girlfriend that doesn't want to move in a month after meeting you, I want some date nights, I need sweet talking, I need to know you really care about me rather than what I can do for you before I make a commitment, and that's super important to me.
I've followed blogs and subscribed to mail lists, only to unfollow and unsubscribe after message after message, tweet after tweet of being 'sold' to, and it sucks, because I've LOVED their content, but their selling to me irritates me more than what their content pleases me. Maybe it's not salesy if it has value, but I'm not going to give it a go if I'm being swamped with 'this, this this!' every day.
Your business is important, as are the services or products you're selling, damn, I get that hunny, I do, but for little old me, I'm selfish, I don't want your selling story or you telling me I need something you're selling, I want to make that decision for myself. I want your content, I want to see you, the person I'd be working with, I want to see more on the little things you do and use, teach me the basics so I'll want more, but please, stop making it all about your business and your products. I'm never going to become a customer if all you see are dollar signs above my head. I'm an interested party first, a customer second.
4. When none of your content is actually.. yours?
Some of the best ways to drive traffic to your blog is through guest posts, and when you're busy, guest posts seems like a pretty good route to go, but if you're always letting other peoples content infiltrate your blog, where the heck are you on YOUR blog? Blog Tours and Spotlights are also fine and dandy when you're busy or short on time, but while guest posts can be made to look helpful to others, spotlight and blog tour posts can sometimes come across as fillers, and while fillers are a topic for another day, when none of your recent content has actually been written by you, what's the point?
Image if I didn't post anything by my own fair hand for two weeks. Imagine if every post was written by somebody else, or prepared by a company for me. I suspect that imagining you're doing is a little bit sucky, right? Now imagine you didn't know who I was, what I did, what Nellie and Co. was like, imagine you knew nothing, and then had posts written by other people and spotlight posts for two weeks. Doesn't look good.
If I can see that you're high for guest posts, I might give you chance to impress, but I'm not here to see content I can see on 20+ other blogs, I want YOUR words, YOUR opinions, YOUR experiences, all on YOUR blog, and surely that's not too much of an odd request. If you need a break, take it, it's your blog, you call the shots, and if you need a full on hiatus, go on one, don't risk your content being of lower quality or nothing like you just for the sake of looking like you're still around. I'm not falling for it, and neither is anyone else.
5. I'm blue da ba dee da ba die...
Wait a second, you know don't know Blue (Da Ba De)? I insist you go and check it out IMMEDIATELY.
Now, if you did actually go and listen to Blue, you'll notice that everything is quite a bit, blue. I like the colour blue actually, I think it's a very mature, very universal colour, and sure, when I see people dressing their little boys in everything blue, I feel a bit sorry for them, but generally, blue and I get along. In blogging, we get a long a lot less, and that's an issue.
One of the biggest trends in blogging and business this year as been the colour blue. To me, what feels like every 4-5 blogs I stumble across are sporting a blue design, and as I said before, I like the colour blue, I really do, but there is only so much blue a girl can have if I'm honest. Your header is blue, your :hover actions are blue, your graphics are blue, it's all a bit like going for a swim in the ocean, coming up for air and realising that, god dammit, you're still in the middle of the ocean and you're surrounded by blue.
In colour psychology, blue is perceived as being about trust, loyalty, dependability and serenity. I don't know about you, but when I check out a blog, I want trust, loyalty, dependability and serenity, but every colour has adverse feelings too, and while blue's positives are great, it's negatives; creating feelings of sadness or aloofness, are really not good. For somebody suffering depression and seasonal affective disorder, blue is more likely to trigger negative, cold emotions in me than it is to make me motivated and more productive, or create calm.
Alas, it's not all doom and gloom (although it definitely sounds that way!) as, believe it or not, there are actually a few blogs I follow, love admire that sport a blue design, or a design with quite a few blue elements that show you can be all about blue and still win me over 100%.
Lost In Literature
Lisa and Becca recently went through a redesign, and much like their old design, blue was their primary colour, but take a look, it's not their only colour, and that makes a difference. The light touches of purple, green and brown dotted within their design, especially in their header, give a me a sense of wilderness rather than the ocean, and the use of whitespace really breaks up the blue's and makes them more manageable.
Kory Woodard
Kory's blog not only uses blue sparingly (something I really appreciate) but she uses a lovely ombre style with it in her header, and uses blue as pops of colour in her white style design, and it looks beautiful. It's elegant and classy, and the blue doesn't work playfully like it does with Lost in Literature, but creates a sense of serenity and calmness, a very rare feeling I get when experiencing blue designs.
Blue is not a bad colour, if it were a bad colour, it wouldn't be the most popular colour used this year, but it's not always a positive, learning colour, and for some people, it's a tough colour to digest and deal with, and could be a deal breaker when it comes to sticking with your site, and saying goodbye. Still, that tune is good?
Do any of these things put your off a blog?
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