Top 8 Blogging Mistakes That Kill Traffic

There are some usability mistakes that bloggers end to make over and over again. We will list them here, so that you can use it as a checklist.

1.  No search box: Internet users resort to the search box whenever they need to find something specific. Some people even use search to navigate around websites. If you don't have a (visible) search box on your site, those users will get very frustrated. Everyone who is interested in content of your blog want the easy way to check out what you have. If you do not have a search box your visitor will be disappointed and he will leave your blog! Search box will provide your visitors to find what they are looking for in few seconds and they will read another post! That`s means you`ll got a constant reader and that is what is blogging about!
2.  No archives: It is essential to have a page where the visitor can browser through all your posts. Apart from improving the user experience, this page will also be healthy for your search engine optimization, as it works as a sitemap. Archives are "the most important part of your blog". Why? Because archive will provide a great overview of your blog to your visitors and give them a list of your posts. They will surely find something interesting and they will continue to read your blog!
3. No contact page: It is very annoying for visitors if they have something to tell you and can't find a way to get in touch. Secondly, you risk losing valuable feedback if that is the case.Blogging is all about talking to people. You have something to share with others and you write about it, why should you not give opportunity to listen what your readers have to say to you? Create your contact page and place your email, facebook or twitter profile and connect to people that are visiting your blog. 
4.  Complex navigation: Try to make your navigation structure as simple as possible. This involves using a main navigation bar, having a link back to the homepage on all internal pages, avoiding drop-down menus and so on. Simple is better! Keep your blog clean and simple and your visitors will love it! 
5. Bad typography: If people can't read your content comfortably they will just head somewhere else. Make sure that your font is big enough, that the letter and line spacing is adequate, that you have enough white space surrounding the content and so on. Be careful when you writing new blog post. If you have something useful to tell your visitors pay attention on how do you present your knowledge. High quality content will not do anything for you if your readers are making struggle to read it!
6. Invisible links: Hyperlinks are cornerstones of web navigation, and they should always be easily recognizable. Try to make your hyperlinks underlined. If you don't like that, at least make sure that their color stands out and that users won't get confused regarding what is clickable and what is not.
7.  Too many ads: Many bloggers tend to assume that in order to make money blogging they need to jam ads all over their sites. This is not true. To make money blogging you need to have quality traffic, and too many ads will reduce your quality traffic over the long term. Start with as few ads as possible, and move your way up consciously, always putting your visitors' experience first. Do not put money at  the first place, if you do that you will never make any money at all. Pay attention that the numbers of visitors on statistics are in fact human beings not robots! Treat them nice and they will make you money with just a few ads. We will talk about this more in next posts. 
8. Badges, buttons and widgets: This is another very common mistake. Since it is so easy to add badges, buttons and widgets, many bloggers fill their sidebars completely with them. Most of those items, however, won't add much value to your visitors, while cluttering your design and possibly driving traffic away from your site. Do not overload your blog with useless widgets like calendar, clock, news feed etc. keep it clean and simple!