1. Visit/Hit Counters

Yep, I know you got one and I’m not trying to hurt your feelings but…….

No one really cares if you’ve had 20,000 visitors since June or 300 hits today. They care about your content, site usability and how your site can help them.

Use a hidden one, and stay away from visible stat counters. Eeeeeek!

2. Animation Overload

Animation can be effective in small doses, but you don’t want your site to look as if an Adobe Flash program threw up on your homepage.  Besides, it’s SOOO teen.

3. Fake Testimonials

If you want to gain credibility from your testimonials, either get permission to add the person’s e-mail address or add a website link after the person’s name. (Be sure to get their permission!)

Don’t make up people and add a city after their name. It’s the oldest testimonial trick in the book and it doesn’t fool anyone. If anything, it makes you look less trustworthy and this is amateur work at its best.

4. Too Many Ads

Web surfers are savvy.  They recognize Google ads, ignore banner ads more and more, and can tell when someone is more interested in getting paid than offering good information.

Work on building your content and reputation first, then display ads, but don’t over do it.  You’ll be surprised at how much you can make with little ads and quality content!

5. Inconsistent Layout

Have you ever gone to a site, clicked around and wondered if you are on the same site?

Well, if I just described your site, you’ve made a common mistake that screams “amateur.” Your site should have the same layout on each page.  Use the same fonts on every page, keep link colors the same and be sure your navigation remains consistent.

Tags: blog mistakes, blogging amateur, blogging design

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