7 Signs That Your Blog Post Idea Is A Dud

There are times when blog owners either want to desperately write on a topic or that they just run out of ideas. This happens, at one time or another, to nearly every blogger and can happen for several reasons. Maybe you see others having success with a topic you want to write about or you are unmotivated to write about your website’s topics anymore. Maybe your website’s niche doesn’t have much in the way to blog about.

It happens to the best of us. Sometimes bloggers (myself included) make the mistake in attempting to write about something that they shouldn’t. What do I mean by ‘write about something they shouldn’t’? Continue reading to find out.

Recommended Reading: 25 Common WordPress Mistakes to Avoid Making

1. You Don’t Have Enough to Say/Type

This is the most obvious reason why you shouldn’t be writing about a given topic. If you can’t fill a page with, at least, 600 or so words then you probably shouldn’t waste your time writing about said topic. Why? Simple, if you put low quality or thin content on your website then it won’t have much if any traction. In other words, it’s a waste of time.

You should want nearly every (or every) blog post that you type to have the potential to make it in the top 10-20 results in Google and the other search engines. You also want your readers to share your articles via social media. Both of those things won’t happen if you slap together a few hundred word article.

After all, the average top ten results in Google are over 2000 words. Also statistically, the more words your article is the more it will be shared on social media. If you can’t say a lot in your blog post then not only will it not make it high in the search engines, your readers (most likely) won’t respond well to it and thus not bother to share it (image via okdork).

For the record, on this blog I try to have all of my articles be at least 850 words in length. If I can’t figure out how to make them at least 850 words then I typically move onto a different topic.

2. Your Headline is Like A Hundred Others

If your potential reader types a search phrase into Google, what is the chance that they will click on your article? If your headline is like a hundred other headlines then chances are they won’t be visiting your website.

Instead of picking an overused headline for your blog post (“Top Ten Free Responsive WordPress Themes”), try to think up a more appealing headline that will catch the potential reader’s eye and get them to click onto your website.

3. Your Headline Is A Lie

What do I mean when I say your headline is a lie? Simple, it means that you may have chosen a great title, but your article content doesn’t fit that title.

If you display your title as: “The Beginners SEO Bible” or “The Ultimate Guide to Google Webmaster” then your content should probably be lengthy, in-depth, have plenty of screenshots and make people want to share your post.

It’s not difficult to gain a rep for writing Salon.com type titles (click bait in other words). You should aim to write great headlines that reflect the content below those headlines.

4. Your Content Is Like Everyone Else’s

If you are trying to rank for such an unoriginal article as: “Top Ten Responsive WordPress Themes” then don’t even waste your time. Content like that is so over-saturated that chances are your readers will have already seen a dozen different variations of it and won’t even bother reading your article.

It also makes it extremely difficult to rank for that keyword phrase. Instead of typing up an article that is already printed a few hundred times on other websites, try to make your content a bit more in-depth.

For example, my recent Google Adsense alternative article is a bit more in-depth (thus link worthy) than many other articles of the same topic. That is because I listed 38 Google Adsense alternatives, instead of doing what a few dozen other blog owners did and posted a “top ten” list.

5. You Are Having Trouble Knowing What To Type

I’ve done it before, we all probably have. You get excited about writing something because you think it will be a hit, then when you go to type it up you can’t think of much to say.

Don’t fall into the trap of wasting time (hours even days) trying desperately to find out what you should be saying on the topic. Instead of wasting time on that post, a post that you will probably end up scrapping, why not just type up a different article. Then you can go back to the previous topic and incrementally add to it.

6. You Don’t Have Enough Or Any Research

Notice that I gave some statistics in this article on content length vs social sharing and where you rank on Google. You should try to do the same. If you are going to make statements like: ‘Content length affects how many social shares you get’, then you better be able to back it up with something.

Blanket statements, especially from a newer blog are a bit annoying. They hurt credibility too. People (readers) want to know where you are getting your info. If you say: “Content length affects where you rank on Google”, cite your source. If it’s an image source (such as a graph) then be sure to include it in your post.

Adding to the ‘research’ aspect of your blog posts can be as easy as including statistical info or quoting someone. For example, on my recent WordPress and New Bloggers article I quoted Matt Cutts (the guy who runs the anti-spam team at Google) to back up my statement that WordPress blogs are great for SEO. Simply including a quote for a reputable source/person can be enough to back up your statements.

7. You’ve Already Written Something Like It

Blogging weekly or daily can result in similar (even duplicate) content. This is especially true for bloggers who post every day or multiple times a day. You start to post articles that are very similar to each other. That’s not something you want to do.

If, upon looking at your previous articles, published a blog post months or years ago that looks suspiciously similar to the one you plan on writing then do yourself a favor and move on.

Actually you don’t even have to do that. If the post you plan on writing or have already started writing is similar but more in-depth than one you wrote previously then feel free to get rid of the previous article and post your new one. Just be careful not to delete an article that has backlinks pointing to it.

 

Care to share any other signs that your blog post is a dud? Comment away with your thoughts below.