In reviewing many blogs, these are the most common errors I find:
- Not setting up the blog theme and posts in a professional manner that would encourage you to provide a blog link on your resume or Web site.
- Not having posts that build on another or the overall theme of your blog. There are some blogs where the posts seem to be tacked on just to show you are posting. 🙂
- Failing to enter a blog title and leaving “Just another WordPress.com site” or “Smile! You’re at the best WordPress.com site ever” at the top of the page.
- Failing to insert content into the “About” section of the blog.
- Copying and pasting excessive amounts of material from other sources. This is plagiarism. You can use a brief quote, give your own insights, and then LINK directly to the source for the full article. You cannot just copy and post. Even if you use a small quote or summarize information found elsewhere, you should always cite (reference) the original source.
- Not adequately referencing photos. Give credit to the source of each photo; where possible, provide an embedded link in the photo.
- Having too few posts.
- Not setting up blog categories– consistent with the theme of the blog — and categorizing each post.
- Not showing clearly enough YOUR value-added contributions to the posts in the blog and indicating why the posts are important within the context of your blog’s theme.