Clean It Up-Broken Links and Poor Content are Bad for Traffic

Blogging has been a growing trend and industry for years, 2017 is now one of the best opportunities to start a blog. It is now easier than ever to get your message across while blogging, while also having the potential to make it your business. However, if this is your goal, there are many things that you need to be aware of to ensure that your blog will be a success. These tips will be to make sure that your blog has professional appeal, is approachable to any reader and also being a place of high-quality content.

How to Handle Bad Links

Whether you run a blog about cosmetics, video games, pets or fashion, it is most likely that your blog will contain links. Links are essential to ensure that readers can not only further understand your content, but also to further extend the information that readers can find. If your post neglects to mention a topic in depth, it is normal to link to other sources so readers may extend their knowledge. However, this is very difficult when your links do not work. The most common reasons for links not working are that the link is mistyped, meaning there is a typo or the linked website is down or no longer exists. Most people and bloggers will not consider the effects of a bad link; however, it impacts your blog more than you believe. Having broken links or having them lead to 404 error messages has the potential to affect your blog in search results negatively. This means that people who find your blog or topics in regards to your blog are likely to be reduced. If you use the platform WordPress, then this isn’t an issue as they do provide plug-ins for your blogs to prevent this from happening. If you don’t use WordPress, there is no need to worry, as programs have made locating and removing the broken links and errors easy.

Bad Content Can Be the Death of You

Bad links are not the only fear bloggers should have, as harmful content is just as much of a problem if not worse. Bad content can come off the form of being inconsistent with the topic, not worrying about SEO (search engine optimization) and also not being aware of content silos. Let’s say you run a blog based on fashion. There is no reason to have a post based on gaming or food. This can be a fatal mistake for your blog. Understand these questions: why do people come to my website, how are other bloggers organizing their content and what would people naturally search to reach your site. This is where a content silo is an effect for your blog traffic and also gives a way to climb the pages of Google search results. Search engines will not see your blog as important if it is considered as a goody bag full of topics; it is best for your blog to be seen as a key player in the subject. With the example of our fashion blog, a silo would be in categories such as tops, bottoms, dresses, shoes and accessories. It is best for any topics within these silos to also be linked back to one another.

Blogging seems like a hassle, however, in reality, it is straightforward. Considering plug-ins, help articles and other devices, it is a simple process when ensuring your blog will have a stable future. Ensure your content is seen by an appreciative audience with proper links and sorting of content into categories. With these tactics, a successful blog is now more possible than ever before.