This post was promoted from YouMoz . The author’s views are entirely his or her own (excluding an unlikely case of hypnosis) and may not reflect the views of Moz.
Blogging is a lot like fishing. Some people do it all the time and never catch anything…while others catch everything.

1. Crafting cute, clever or confusing headlines (or really bad ones)
Your headline is going to appear in many places. At the top of your post…
In search engine page results…
Feed readers…

2. Never linking to old posts
In the example above I linked to four older posts of mine. I did that for several reasons.

3. Never linking to other bloggers
A long time ago I wrote a post without any links. It was an important topic…I was busy and just wanted to get the post out. I actually intended to go back and put in links when I had more time.
However, an influential blogger who had started reading my posts commented almost immediately. He said, “Don’t you want others to join the conversation?”

5. Creating clunky URLs
Having the worst domain name is one thing . Creating clunky URLs for each post that people can’t read or search engines can’t index is another thing.


6. Plagiarizing other bloggers
Listen: one of the keystone elements to successful blogging is consistent content. In fact, in one study HubSpot proved that the more you blog the more traffic you will get .
But ask any blogger, doing that over time and the well will eventually run dry. That’s why there are so many blog posts about creativity and overcoming writer’s block.

7. Publishing less than one post per month
Okay, I understand that you are very busy…and that churning out one blog post a month is not easy. But really, the less you post, the less chance your newest post has any chance at gaining traction.

8. Writing big blocks of copy
On an article for Optimizing Marketing Copy for Mobile I found these paragraphs intriguing…especially the one with the arrow pointing at it:
I understand the author isn’t writing for mobile. He’s writing for Mashable. But the same rules that apply for mobile marketing copy…well, pretty much apply across the web.

9. Zero presence on any social media platforms
When blogging was the only game in town (see points 3 and 4 in that article I linked to)…well, all you really had to do was blog. There weren’t other social media sites you could leverage like Twitter, Facebook or Google+.
That has all changed.


10. Never inviting readers to leave comments
A post without comments is like that abandoned house down the end of your street…creepy and not to be trusted.
Of course if you are just launching a blog, it may be a few weeks before you get your first comment. But follow all the steps above and that comment will come.
You also have to encourage people to comment. That’s why I end every post I write with a question:
I do this on my blog and every guest post I write.
You will also get comments when you write detailed posts on advanced topics. You may cover a complicated issue that needs a little more explaining…or somebody wants to know how you did something.
That’s okay… you want that .

11. Writing about a topic nobody cares about
It’s this simple: your post will fall flat on its face if you do not write about what your audience cares about.
The same is true if you try to write about a topic that somebody else is already doing a good job writing about. For example…

12. Giving up
In a wonderful post about 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic, Rand Fishkin ends with the tactic of being consistent. He points out that the SEOmoz blog, his personal blog and his wife’s popular Everywhereist blog didn’t really take off until two years had gone by.
Sadly, most people quit about nine months in.
Blogging is hard work…and commitments like job, family or other reasons can overtake your blog. That happens. This is why it is so important to count the costs before starting a blog…because in the end giving up on your blog will kill every post you’ve ever written…and success will not come.

Conclusion
None of what I shared…except the part about social media presence and Google+…is probably new to you. But it’s true…and it has been for years, which means it’s probably not a bad idea to follow, right?
Fortunately, blogging is a level playing field…so anybody can apply the basics and succeed. I mean, if you want a blog that grows year after year…you have to start with the basics…namely, writing a killer blog post. And do that non-stop.
That’s it.
What are some other things that people do that kill blog posts?

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