13 Mistakes Authors Make on Their Blogs

I'm prepping for a presentation to about 100 authors at the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference later this week. As I was looking at author blogs, I noticed quite a few were missing key elements that would make them a lot more effective so I put together an article for the group about some mistakes authors make on their blogs...

Are you getting results from your book blog? Is it getting harder for you to spend time on your blog because you're just not seeing how it is going to pay off? If so, you're not alone. Hundreds of blogs are started each day and many of them are abandoned after several months because it takes time and energy to keep a good book blog going.

Make no mistake, blogs are a great tool for building community, interacting with readers, and marketing your book. And, it's not enough to set one up and post occasionally. You have to use it effectively to drive traffic and attract readers.

I've discovered several common mistakes authors make with their blogs. Most aren't using features available with blogging software. Many authors' eyes glaze over with the mention of RSS, pinging, trackbacks and permalinks. Does this describe how you feel? You may be ignoring these things, hoping you don't really need to know.  But you do if you want great results from you book blog.

Here's a list of what I found on a recent trip around the author blogosphere:

Content:

1. Not posting frequently enough.
2. Content is not focused or optimized for the search engines.
3. Articles are too long.
4. Not linking profusely to sources. Links are the currency of the blogosphere.

Design

5. No name of author on the blog home page.
6. No author photo.
7. No subscription form; no way to get blog updates through RSS or email.
8. Readers can't leave comments or have too many hoops to jump through.
9. Too many categories or none at all.

Marketing

10. Blog isn't listed in the 200+ blog directories.
11. Blog posts are not being syndicated to social networking sites.
12. There's no call to action to buy the author's book.
13. No contact information.

If you're using a blog to build your online visibility, optimize it by taking time to learn how to leverage your content to get the widest reach.  A blog is like any other marketing tool - you've got to use it effectively to get positive results.

I'd love to hear your tips for creating a fabulous author or book blog.  I also welcome links to author/book blogs you think stand out so we can learn from those who are doing it well. Post in the comments below.

You're invited to claim your free instant access to a 5-part video course on how to get the best out of your blog.

Comments

[Sally Ferguson]

Olin Miller said, "Writing is the hardest way of earning a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators." (found in "Writers on Writing," ed. James N. Watkins)
Some days, I think I would like to try my hand at alligator wrestling...it might be easier than squeezing words out of my pen!

[Yogesh Malik]

Those were great tips, i was doing a few mistakes. Thanks for this.

[Free Websites]

I find like coming up with great new content all the time is the hardest part about having a website or blog. There are just some days where I am like "eh" and don't want to create content.

[Walter]

Your right on your observation. I will do my best to avoid those mistakes. :-)

[internet marketing services]

Great advice. Im glad i dropped by your blog.

[Pay per click formula]

Ya i am agree with u, this is the true. Really i was searching for this type of suggestions, because i am going to publish my blog, Thanks a lot.

[Consult Avalon]

Thanks for the useful advice. I do blogging quite often & have been so eager to upload it asap that often ignore most of the features that you have mentioned above. I think its the quality not the quantity.

[randi3003]

its really good to make out your own blogs, blogs can be used to publish your products or about you or even worthy cases like charity work, nowadays there are many sites provide coupons and promo codes for domains and web hosting and also provides discounts/promo codes for providers like yahoo domains, Godaddy, and 1&1.

[articlescreen]

I was waiting for a new post from you and at last got an useful one. After reading, a lot of things get cleared about blogs.Keep up the good work.