Many bloggers make their blog look cheap, without even knowing it. Often, they will be turning readers off, by making some easy to avoid, innocent errors.
Here are 3 things I see literally every day:
1. Blogs that use images, without crediting the photographer
I always recommend you give attribution (name mention and link) to the photographers, whose work you use on your site. If you use creative commons images from sites like flickr, you are required to abide by the terms of the license. In most (if not all) cases, this includes giving attribution to the photographer. (To see how I do this, look at the bottom right corner of this post.)
If you have bought the images, and thus have no legal requirement to credit the photographer, consider mentioning you own the images, somewhere on your site. When people see unattributed images, they wonder why and the automatic assumption is not that they must all be bought and paid for.
2. Bloggers who hide affiliate links in their posts
If you include affiliate links in your blog posts, I strongly recommend you let your readers know. This kind of transparency ticks every box, as it develops trust between you and your readers and thus, will help you make more affiliate sales. When we see bloggers hiding affiliate links in their posts, it’s natural for readers to wonder what else the blogger is failing to disclose. Anything that causes a reader to question the integrity of the blogger is bad. In this case, it’s completely unnecessary too.
If you are only an affiliate of products that you genuinely love, use and believe in, you should be transparent about your partnership with them. Look for the affiliate link and disclosure below!
3. Blogs that look ugly, when there’s absolutely no need
If you run a commercial blog and you want people to take you seriously, invest in a premium blog theme or hire a professional designer! It’s hard to take a blog seriously, when it looks amateurish or dated (or both). A free theme that looks like millions of others may be OK for a hobby blog, but if you own a commercial blog, you really should invest in a premium theme.
If you use WordPress, I very strongly recommend the amazing Headway WordPress theme, which I use on this site (and all my sites!) You can see a video of Headway in action here (affiliate link). It allows you to build a great site, with no code, just drag and drop – And all for around the same price as an Xbox game!
Over to you!
So, what would you add to that list?
Photo: Hokkey
I was only talking about this this morning Jim. I noticed some time ago that you always link to photographers and always thought it was a nice touch.
I also feel a lot more positive about clicking your links because I know I can trust them. That has to make marketing sense too doesnt it?
“I also feel a lot more positive about clicking your links because I know I can trust them. That has to make marketing sense too doesnt it?”
Yes Keith, it sure does!
Once you have earned your readers trust, you are able to connect with them on a far better level.
BTW: Thanks for the kind words, Keith!
Another one I’d add to that list is adding banner ads all over the place.
Adverts should be relative to your niche you are blogging about and limited to particular areas that fits into the overall design.
Stu
Hi Stuart,
I’m OK about banner ads, but like you say, not when they are all over the site.
I like to see bloggers getting paid. (Including myself
)
I have recently started a business blog, I posted a review of Keith Floyds autobigrapy. The picture I used came from a google search, and was one someones web site, and I am sure it is not their photo, so how can I find who I should credit it to.
As Keith was a fan of France I thought it was relevant to my site, which was a tip I picked up on this great blog. Although it is a very new blog, I had double the hits on it yesterday, mostly to that post.
I am trying to take on board all I read from Jim and others. I am impressed with the look of WordPress, but have found that many people prefer Blogger, even for business. The main reason is to add adverts.
I do realise that I need a lot of hits to make money from affliates, and for what I might gain, it is not worth it to have an unprofessional looking site.
After all, my blog is to direct people to my real buisness site, where adverts, do not look out of place.
Hi there Steve,
I’m not a lawyer, but I believe you almost certainly can’t use that image legitimately.
Many of the images found on Google search belong to photo libraries and the only way to use them, is to pay!
Personally, I would advise you not to get images via Google search. Instead, use the search box in the link below and check the Creative Commons usage:
http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/by-2.0/
Hope that helps!
Hi again Jim
You have convinced me that wordpress is the way to go for a far more professional looking blog. However the day I go to look the headway links are down.
So it seems I need wordpress.org so as to allow adverts, and a good theme from headway.
I have also read that I can copy my old blogger straight onto wordpress, which will be handy.
Hi Steve. Not sure why you can’t access Headway. You left your comment 4 minutes ago, I just tried the link and it’s working fine. I’ve never seen it down.
Yes, if you want full control, you need self hosted wordpress. not wordpress.com.
As you know, I use and endorse (very openly) the Headway wordpress theme.
Working perfect now Jim! Thanks for the quick response.
I should really be out in the garden, not sat at my pc on a day like this. Its 25 degrees in sunny Brittany today.
You’re welcome, Steve. If you decide to get it, let me know when your blog is live.
I’m new to blogging and to having my website and to using photos. I use Fololia and I buy them. Never even considered that I should note that on my site. Thanks.
BTW – I find your blogs helpful. When I post a blog I genuinely want it to be helpful, so I always appreciate reading the helpful blogs of others. Thanks!!
Great timely post Jim! Just had our weekly team blogging meeting and photo credits was on the agenda. Now I have my homework done!
Always happy to help, Chris.
Welcome to the blog and thanks for chiming in
Another nice touch is to let people know when following a link will take them away from your blog. I add a title attribute to these links that says, “External link to another site”. This text then pops up when the cursor moves over the link. When you add a link in WordPress, there is a text box for the title just under the one for the link URL.
That’s an interesting addition. Thanks, Greg!
Great advice Jim! I have an addition to your list…register a domain name for your blog so you can direct people to that rather than giving them the “…wordpress.com” URL.
Good point Dawn.
Also worth thinking REAL hard before putting a business blog on wordpress.com. Your blog can be deleted / removed, if they consider you violated some very vague guidelines.
Thanks for the feedback and welcome to the blog.
Text that is too small or too fancy to read would be my addition to your list. Good to know about the images.