Comments on: Five Surefire Ways to Drive Readers Away

By: Alan Johnson

Alan Johnson — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:13:28 +0000

Sure, writing on a controversial topic every once in a while can generate quite a lot of buzz around your website, but going over-board can and will do more harm than good in the long run.

Alan Johnson

By: Kevin Ott

Kevin Ott — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 05:19:30 +0000

If a blogger publishes a controversial post, it doesnâ€™t mean his readers will run away.

Fair enough. But I'm sure David Neiwert could have done without a lot of the repeat visitors he got after he started running posts critical of Ron Paul. Not that I think a guy as classy as Neiwert would ever write a deliberately controversial post simply to drive up his numbers. But if you're trying to create an online community, and you do violate that rule, you run the risk of attracting the wrong kinds of visitors, which might be worse than attracting nobody at all.

By: Alan Johnson

Alan Johnson — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:02:16 +0000

As a webmaster, you have to understand that your visitors value their time and you have to make sure that going through what your website has to offer in terms of information represents time well spent on their part if you want them to return. If you just publish content for the sake of it, worthwhile results are out of the question.

Alan Johnson

By: Ruchir

Ruchir — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 15:27:34 +0000

“Write posts solely to generate hits and/or comments.”

I don’t really agree on that one. If a blogger publishes a controversial post, it doesn’t mean his readers will run away. Creating a controversy is technically solely done to generate exposure and hits, it doesn’t provide any value to the reader. But that doesn’t mean they’ll hit the unsubscribe button.

By: Misti Sandefur

Misti Sandefur — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:21:56 +0000

“And Santa will know. You donâ€™t want to make that guy mad.” Thanks for the laugh… I really enjoyed the way you added a bit of humor to that tip.

Another way to drive your readers away is constantly posting pay per post advertisements. Yes, many bloggers make a little extra money from these and that’s fine, but you will turn your readers off if your blog is filled with them.

By: JoLynn Braley

JoLynn Braley — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:34:36 +0000

I love the cartoon you linked to re: apostrophe use, that is sooooo true, makes you wonder if some of these people went to grade school.

I’m sorry, but I just can’t take a blog seriously when it’s filled with bad grammar and misspellings. Maybe I’m uptight and this doesn’t bother other people, but I pride myself on putting out the best copy that I can (and I use spell check )

By: Jim Smoot

Jim Smoot — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:58:47 +0000

Remember when the internet was considered the “information superhighway”? Now it seems the highway is jammed with bad writing and old information. That’s why it’s so important that the ones who do have a clue continue t do what they can to provide good content for their readers.

I wish more people would learn the lessons from your post. Thanks.

By: Sharon Hurley Hall

Sharon Hurley Hall — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:12:25 +0000

Great advice, Kevin. Once you’ve written a post, it’s good to look at it as objectively as you can and see if readers will get what they expect from it.

I don’t mind people making negative comments, though I tend to avoid flamers.

I would also say that over reliance on recycled content will also drive readers away. It’s good to see something original from time to time.

By: James Chartrand - Web Content Writer Tips

James Chartrand - Web Content Writer Tips — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:10:39 +0000

Thanks for the link!

I’ll add one: Do not use your blog as a personal journey towards better writing. No one wants to see you learn how to move beyond kindergarten grammar and punctuation while you work towards achieving your goal of becoming a professional writer.

Another one: Do not blog about your journey of becoming a professional writer, period. Come to think of it, I really don’t like journey blogs, unless they’re about something cool like writing your memoirs while you walk across the Yukon in your skivvies during winter in less than 30 days.

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:44:22 +0000

I think some of those ideas can be basically be distilled down to the instruction: “Be a good guy”