I write blog posts now and then – you’re actually reading one now. I like writing posts and think I have a good hang of it after a few years. However I also read a lot of blog posts – and I mean a lot.
For my moderation job with Bizsugar I read at least ten posts a day – and share the ones I like.
For my new Managing Editor job with TweakYourBiz I read and sometimes edit two or three posts a day. And recently I was asked to be a judge for Blog Awards Ireland and had to read a lot of posts.
I’m not saying I’m an expert, but from everything I read I have a good grasp on what people like and can also see what works well. So based on posts I have come across in my blog travels here are some tips to ensure you write bad posts that no-one will want to share and they definitely won’t come back to read your posts again.
#1 Bad spelling and poor grammar
Make sure you don’t spell check your post before you publish it. If you know you aren’t the best speller in the world – and I’m sure you are in the majority so don’t worry – then don’t bother asking a friend or colleague to have a quick read. Use your instead of you’re, lose instead of loose, double negatives and commas instead of full stops. Go for it, makes for easy reading…..doesn’t it?
#2 Too much sales speak
You love your product or service and just know that everyone else will love it too so make sure you tell everyone about it as often as possible in your blog posts. You want to sell it so of course you have to mention it with lots of links to it. People will love hearing about it over and over again and enjoy having it rammed down their throats. Buy, Buy, Buy = byebye.
#3 Bad formatting
If you have written a long post ensure you don’t format it to make it easier to read. Don’t use headings and sub-headings, leave a list like it is without bullet points and make your paragraphs really long. Don’t bother using pictures to break up the text and make it look pretty. Use a black background with coloured writing to make it really hard for the reader to focus on the words. Make your post hard to read – great idea, isn’t it?
#4 Too much tech speak or boring content
Write like you’ve swallowed a dictionary and of course everyone will understand the “big” words that you use. You enjoy the topic you’re writing about and presume everyone else will be interested so just write away using words not many people will come across in normal life. Don’t bear in mind that other people won’t understand and certainly don’t explain what you are talking about for new readers. You don’t want people to understand you….do you?
#5 Bad links
Don’t check the links you’ve put in – they may not be correct and just broken links. Make sure the links don’t open in a new page so the reader is navigated away from your page to something more interesting. They have to remember your URL or hit the back button to read more of your post and you don’t want them coming back, do you?
#6 Infrequent publishing
Blogging isn’t very important to you so you just check in now and then, expecting your reader to know when you’ve written a good post that needs to be read. Could be one or two weeks or maybe even more – you don’t’ want to keep your readers engaged right?
#7 Hard to leave a comment
You aren’t really interested in getting comments on your blog so you make it really hard for people to leave a comment. Maybe you don’t even allow comments at all. Ensure they have to log in or sign up to something to leave a comment. Make them go through hoops just to say something on your post. And of course if they do then whatever happens don’t reply, not even a thank you, because that would be bad, wouldn’t it?
#8 Keep your Social Media links secret
Make it impossible for people to follow you on Social Media by not bothering to put your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn links on your blog. Don’t put an RSS feed on your post so people can’t subscribe to your posts. You don’t’ want to connect with them or let them read your posts anyhow do you?
#9 Don’t tell anyone about your post
You’ve only written the post for yourself to see so no point in telling anyone about it. Don’t share it on Social Media or other people will see it. It’s written and waiting there for people to miraculously know about it somehow – you’ve done your bit by writing it. Ensure you keep it secret, you don’t want anyone knowing what you have written now do you?
I hope the above has helped you understand how to create a bad blog. There is one final tip and it’s in the title so I’ll leave you to work that one out – believe me that I’ve seen that a few times. I’d love to hear your ideas for bad blogging too so please let me know below.
Photo: iStockphoto.com
This made me chuckle Sian especially your last point
So much truth in it and you’ve written is so well – were you amused yourself when writing it or really irritated by some bad blogs?
Thanks Lorna, truth be told I get a bit irritated but do a lot of shaking my head at the same time
Re last point not sure if you mean no.9 or ?? I once read a post that was titled six of something and only five points – had to count again. Not as if it was 60 or 50 lol. And no.9 – read a few lately that had counters on them with no tweets or shares. Maybe the counters weren’t working but if not then that’s another point to make….I could go on 
You are spot on! And you’d know, reading so many blogs. If I see one misspelling, a warning goes up. If the content is junk, I leave. If it tries to sell me, I’ll never be back. People don’t realize that there is an art to a good blog post. It shows when I see writing gigs where they’re willing to pay $5 per post. What??
Susan
Hi Sian
This morning I saw someone asking for suggestions on “how to dial up the value” in their service offering. What a silly phrase, it goes with “overarching objectives” and “going forward” in the piffle bin! It all comes under your #4, technical or boring content.
Your post is very witty, made me smile. It also is very true!
Thanks Sian, nice post, I’ll be back!
~ Helen
Thanks Helen, I’m glad you liked it.
[...] The bad blog. You may have heard from gurus and others trying to encourage every entrepreneur and small business owner to get started with this highly effective self-branding and communications tool, that there really is no wrong way to do a blog. But blogger Sian Phillips disagrees. In this overview, Phillips looks at the things that will seriously hurt your blogging efforts. CorpNet [...]
[...] The bad blog. You may have heard from gurus and others trying to encourage every entrepreneur and small business owner to get started with this highly effective self-branding and communications tool, that there really is no wrong way to do a blog. But blogger Sian Phillips disagrees. In this overview, Phillips looks at the things that will seriously hurt your blogging efforts. CorpNet [...]
I’m with you, Sian!
That first point about bad grammar, spelling & punctuation mistakes resonates so strongly with me. I won’t retweet or share an article even if the substance appears good.
Even worse are the ones which are so obviously created by article spinning! Makes the skin crawl!
So witty, and I love it; thanks Sián!!!
Very entertaining AND great series of absolutely critical points.
And, you know, making something entertaining increases the learning of your readers, so well done; we learn better when we are having fun
This is an absolutely hilarious post. I loved it. Very well written and so TRUE. Thanks for making the blogosphere even more entertaining
Ti
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Good post. I study one thing tougher on completely different blogs everyday. It would at all times be stimulating to read content material from other writers and practice a bit one thing from their store. I favor to use some with the content on my weblog whether or not you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a hyperlink in your web blog. Thanks for sharing.
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Hi, Sian-
Thanks for pointing me here (from my post at http://www.e-marketingassociates.com/blog-writing-a-different-beast/)! This is great — I love the spin you took on this!
Question about #3, regarding long posts:
Sometimes I have a ton of info to share on a particular post topic. I’m loathe to do a series — as a reader, I’m not inclined to follow along to each installment of said series, so then what’s the point of the series?!? — but will I lose people if the post is too long?
Which do you think is preferred — one long post (nicely formatted and easy to read, of course:) or a series?
THANKS!!!
-Erin Larson, Socialot.com
Hi Erin
Thanks for your lovely comment.
Long posts are fine if formatted well – here is a good post to explain how to format http://tweakyourbiz.com/growth/2012/02/28/pimp-your-business-blog-with-headlines-structure-formatting-images-and-research/
You may also find that you can break down the post into shorter ones – doesn’t necessarily have to be called a series – you’re just writing on a similar topic but different parts of it. If you have categories on your blog they could all be in the same category.
Hope that is some help.
Sian
RE: breaking down into shorter posts… YES, certainly! I guess I’ve never thought of it that way. See, that’s why you’re the expert
Thanks for Niall Devitt’s link — I’ll definitely be implementing some of his tips.
[...] 10 Ways To Create A Bad Blog [...]
[...] there is no point writing it if people don’t get to read it. I have previously written about how to create a bad blog so just do the opposite and that will help. Add it to sites like Bizsugar.com to get the most [...]