Comments on: 10 Mistakes that Will KILL a Forum…. or Blog

By: Eskimosik

Eskimosik — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 18:33:29 +0000

Hi all!

What do you think about this? When it happens?

By: Bright Meadow » Sunday Roast: by “Hot Lesbian Sex”, we mean tea. But it’s still hot!

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 12:07:16 +0000

[...] ProBlogger (who I haven’t linked to in a while. I feel bad) has an article on the 10 mistakes that will kill a blog. Whilst I know I’ve been suffering from 6 (slow blog) lately and trust me, it’s annoyed me far more than it’s annoyed you! And I try not to let 2 (cliques) form, I like to think that I’m not doing to badly against that list. Um… You will let me know if I’m starting to go to the dark side, won’t you? [...]

By: Friday Tea Time - 2/23/07 » TheMadHat

Friday Tea Time - 2/23/07 » TheMadHat — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 20:30:47 +0000

[...] * Blog stuff: Problogger has 10 ways to kill your blog and running a blog competition. Dean again on Wordpress adding built-in Digg voting. Search Marketing Standard with keeping old posts alive. [...]

By: Trying To Make Money Online

Trying To Make Money Online — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:29:48 +0000

Thank you Darren for the excellent post. I am relatively new to blogging, and particularily agree with you on #1 and #10. These are both ways of having me run, not walk, away from a blog pretty quickly. Nothing is worse than visiting a blog or site and wondering where the content is, amongst all the Google Ads, etc. This leaves me hitting the “back” button pretty quickly. My blog is less than a month old, but earlier this week I actually deleted the Google Ads on the top of my blog, just leaving the ones on the right sidebar. I thought the top ads were way too intrusive, taking away from the content of my blog.

I have commented on and added a link to this post on my blog. Thanks Darren for the great post!

By: The Wise Turtle

The Wise Turtle — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 18:02:28 +0000

One way of reducing the problems caused by “trolls” is to innoculate your community before they show up, or immidiately after they show up. Give your readers a set of guidelines that gives them healthy options for dealing with “difficult people”. I have some guidelines for one of my sites that remind people that taking the troll’s bait is up to them – they can choose to challenge themselves by engaging in a debate if they want, they can find something else to do with their time and energy, or they can see if they can learn something from the troll (since trolls are people too!). It’s up to the reader to do whatever he or she wants to do with the troll’s offerings, regardless of whether or not a moderator steps in to “manage the situation”.

Admittedly, this sort of tactic doesn’t work well for all audiences, but at least having the guidelines encourages people to consider their options before they get all annoyed and storm out of the community.

By: Gina

Gina — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 14:50:31 +0000

I have to laugh at the first one because it’s a pet peeve of mine, and I think it goes back to the days when I was a stay-at-home mom in the ‘burbs and got invited to a few too many of those home-sales parties. After a while, you begin to feel as if you’re not really wanted for yourself but only for your purchasing potential.

Also, the loading time it takes for some of those ads can be off-putting, and the flashy/blinking/scrolling ads can be visually unpleasant, even uncomfortable, especially for those of us with older eyes.

By: Thursday Thirteen-Top 13 Blog Mistakes | Rose DesRochers - World Outside my Window

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 05:27:51 +0000

[...] Darren Rowse has a post on 10 Mistakes that Will KILL a Blog. Leanne founder and Creator of Thursday Thirteen has commented that this will be the final thirteen that she’ll be hosting. Thank you Leanne, Nancy and Lindsey for hosting Thursday Thirteen. I’m sad to see it end. I have enjoyed taking part the short time that I’ve been doing it. I’ll still drop by past particpants blogs each week, and please feel free to drop by mine. Thank you for visiting. Have a great week. [...]

By: 10 MIstakes for a blog … : New2Blog

10 MIstakes for a blog … : New2Blog — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:00:10 +0000

[...] 10 Mistakes that Will KILL a Forum…. or Blog [...]

By: Gillian

Gillian — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 08:45:51 +0000

Hi Darren, it’s me again!

I can’t find a hugely relevant place to bring this up because this post is about things NOT to do.

HOWever, I wonder if you could rustle up a post about one of the powerful things people CAN do — viral marketing — using this activist blog as a case study:

http://spiritsdancing.typepad.com/vigil/ (Author is Hilary Talbot, a Canberra-based puppet maker.)

The blog comments on the David Hicks controversy using the power of creative visual expression. It’s worth giving it a kick along — yes?

The blog is not about making dollars, but it IS about influencing readers – and isn’t that what making money is about too? This is discussed on ‘Passionate Users’ — http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/

I know that you’ve probably already touched on viral marketing a hundred times, but here’s an opportunity for a fresh slant.

(Oh, BTW I blog about the Vigil site at: http://www.schoolstjude.blogspot.com, of course!)

Gillian

By: Your Blog’s Reputation: One Sure-Fire Way To Kill It!

Your Blog’s Reputation: One Sure-Fire Way To Kill It! — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 07:59:24 +0000

[...] Want to know what else will kill your blog–head over to Problogger for Darren’s list of 10 mistakes that will kill your blog. [...]

By: IndianPad

IndianPad — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 12:20:38 +0000

10 Mistakes that Will KILL a Forum or Blog…

10 Mistakes that Will KILL a Forum or Blog posted at IndianPad.com…

By: Nancy Montague

Nancy Montague — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 03:35:55 +0000

Darren I think I am spending more time reading your blog than thinking about my site and blog. Then that is a smart thing on my part because every day I learn something. Being new to both websites and blogging, this is a very good thing.

I appreciate all the information you are willing to share. And this article “10 Mistakes that Will KILL a Forum…. or Blog” has given me much to think about.

By: Rose DesRochers

Rose DesRochers — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 01:33:12 +0000

I agree with this. Funny I commented on Cliques just last week and I had several bloggers state that they didn’t see Cliques forming in the blogosphere. I’m glad to read something on your blog regarding it.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 21:15:29 +0000

I must admit, I never know when I’m over-posting or under-posting (not that it really matters with my blog…I think….I guess). It depends on what you classify as over-posting.

A great list . Thanks :)

By: Puredoxyk

Puredoxyk — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 20:17:12 +0000

Maybe it’s just me, but a HUGE blog-killer for me is poor editing. A mistake or two is no big deal, but when the posts look like they were written by a fourth grader, or originally intended to be a text-message, I’m outie.

Yes, it’s partly because I’m a grammarphile, but also in large part because I feel that I can’t trust the information I get from someone who can’t be bothered to edit and format. If you can’t put the effort into *that*, then what quality is your content?

(Some of the blogs I read are even artistic / fiction / non-informational, and this still applies. I need to feel like the person I’m reading is *trying*, at least. Am I just stupid picky?)

Thanks for a(nother) helpful post!

By: James Britton

James Britton — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:58:58 +0000

As for #9 Slow Site…Is it possible to have too many widgets/plugins in WordPress, i.e. will this negatively affect performance? Anyone have tips for optimizing speed? My blog seems to lag slightly at times.

By: Mike Schinkel

Mike Schinkel — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:29:17 +0000

For some time now, I’ve been thinking that *this* blog violates #7. I have numerous times *almost* unsubscribed and probably eventually will if the post level stays at 2-3 per day. 2-3 per week would be much better, cut out of posts that are just fluff and focus on the really good stuff. Then I can give more attention to each post.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 18:31:51 +0000

I am fairly new to blogging and find this list very helpful.

By: Philip Liu

Philip Liu — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 18:27:00 +0000

I remember when you had a “discussion” with Aaron Wall when he once called out your network of blogs as a “bad neighborhood”. A lively discussion ensued with some back and forth but in the end it all ended amicably because it never got personal. That was a good example of your No. 4 that was well handled and I think it benefited your blog a long way and reflected well on you. I wish I could find that post again though.

By: Maki

Maki — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 18:18:58 +0000

I definitely think over-monetization is a huge no-no when you’ve just started a new blog and plan to build a strong reader base and niche authority. Excessive ads can even make a good linkbait look cheap.

Great post, Darren. Definitely some points to remember for any blogger out there.