WordPress blog content mistakes are worth talking about.

But why is that the case?

Because WordPress.org is the most popular blogging platform, according to WPBeginners.org.

And it makes a lot of sense.

Because the setup time is minimal and you don’t have to be a computer genius to have a search engine friendly site.

However, there’s still a learning curve involved in mastering WordPress’s platforms, themes, and special features.

And all it takes is one mistake in the HTML view or a tech screw up for the readability to totally suck.

WordPress blog content mistakes I’m talking about

First of all, I just wanted to disclose that I’m not a web designer.

But I’m a B2C copywriter and editor, and a majority of my work ends up on WordPress sites.

So, what I can identify in detail are…

Formatting mistakes that make the average web page far too challenging to read. 

So…here are the most common WordPress blog content mistakes you might want to look out for.

1) Titles that are too long

As a blogger, your number one goal is to create content that’s engaging for your readers.

And it starts with a title that hooks the readers.

But you know what’s just as important as the words?

The length of the words.

You know how Twitter only allows you to write a certain number of characters?

Same goes for every page title that you select for a web-based article.

Because if you go over the limit you get a “…” symbol that cuts off the rest of your title.

And then you won’t catch people’s eye as effectively as you hoped.

So when you write your next title…

Make sure it’s no more than four or five words so that it is searchable on all devices.

And the same rule applies to content created for any blogging interface.

2) Unintended repetition 

Sometimes, when WordPress is auto-saving your work, sentences and paragraphs will get duplicated more than once.

Don’t ask me why it does this, and yes, I know it’s a pain in the ass, but that’s just the way it is.

And a great way to double check if this has happened to you is to pay attention to the word count, before and after you hit “save”.

If the word count increases too fast, paragraphs and sentences might have been duplicated.

If not, you’ve got nothing to worry about.

3) Photo covering your text

Sometimes a photo will accidentally cover text. 

Or the text will look like the beginning of a Star Wars movie, where the text slants downwards to tell the story. 

This can make it really hard to read your article, especially on mobile, where everything gets squeezed together.

And that’s not exactly something that George Lucas had to accommodate in the 70s (obviously). 

In the text view of your WordPress interface make sure that whatever comes after the image is on a new line, and has the <P> tag at the beginning of the paragraph, and the </p> tag at the end of the paragraph.

And then double check what it looks like in the preview mode, before you hit publish. 

This will make the reader experience a hundred times less frustrating, and save you from one of the most embarrassing, but also common WordPress blog content mistakes.

4) Lack of Paragraph breaks

This one actually happened to me in the new year, when I switch my blogging host from WordPress.com to Bluehost.

Fortunately, it was shortly before Christmas at the time so no one was really paying attention.

But it was still kind of frustrating regardless.

And if it happens to you, it will likely happen to you the same way it happened to me:

With no warning whatsoever.

Switch back to one of the default themes and then that should automatically fix the problem for you.

Because when the line breaks go it makes blog posts look like really bad poetry.

And it’s safe to assume that’s not the look you were going for!

5) Paragraphs that are too long

Web writing is all about keeping it simple.

So you can’t just write your latest blog post like it’s a college academic paper.

And it’s not just about the words you use.

It’s also about keeping your sentences and paragraphs short.

In fact, if you use a tool like Yoast SEO, you’ll be encouraged to use 20-word max sentences and short paragraphs.

And hard to read text might scare away your readers.

Easy to read text that keeps things short, sweet, and simple will encourage them to stick around.

Besides, when you’re reading something on your phone on the way to somewhere you likely want the content to get to the point so you can finish the article quickly, right?

That’s exactly why this is one of the WordPress blog mistakes that you need to immediately address.

And then what…?

Once you double check all of the WordPress blog content mistakes I just mentioned, all you’ll need to do is quickly proofread your content.

Then you’ll be ready to hit the publish button.

And if this sounds somewhat daunting to you all of my content creation services come with WordPress content uploads.

And there’s still time to join this month’s project rotation.

Over to you…

What other WordPress formatting problems have you had, and what did you do about it?

Feel free to comment in the comment section below.