I spend a lot of time looking at blogs and websites and seeing common blogging mistakes. Maybe too much time. Sometimes I feel like if I have to see one more watercolor Facebook icon or read one more About Me page, I will just flop over, dead from too much Interneting.

But 95% of the time, I just love it. It’s fascinating to see the front end of a blog or website and then talk to its owner and find out how they rank on the 5 most important analytics for bloggers. I guess it’s sort of like seeing how the blog sausage is made. (“Blog sausage” sounds wrong. In a hilarious way. I will now have to dedicate my remaining years to proliferating this phrase.)

ANYWAY. It’s become so incredibly important to have a strong online author platform before you launch a book that it’s impossible to overlook the power of a well-done website or blog. Yet the most common blogging mistakes are so incredibly rampant that it’s hard to miss them, if you’re looking.

But if there’s one thing I’ve seen from speaking to hundreds of bloggers, it’s that very few of them know what the heck anyone else is doing on the back-end. Sure, there are plenty of online courses you can take that could help you build traffic and avoid common blogging mistakes, but there’s nothing like seeing how that traffic converts into book sales to show you how important certain overlooked areas are.

There are 4 common blogging mistakes that I think are especially overlooked, and where I think many people are stifling their engagement, throttling their traffic, and overall slowing down the growth of their businesses. Here are the common blogging mistakes I see most often:

4 common blogging mistakes that kill traffic:

1. Ignoring Your Email List. This is a huge one—it’s a very common blogging mistake for bloggers with millions of page views per month to have just a few thousand email subscribers. As Joel Friedlander says, this is the biggest mistake you can make in your business.But it’s also an incredibly easy one to fix—just set up your list through a service like MailChimp or Mad Mimi, then set up a campaign so that new posts get sent to readers who sign up. (Many of my clients see the most success with sign-ups when they add a pop-up or scrollbox to their home page that prompts visitors to sign up for the email list.)

   There’s no need to make extra work and write an original newsletter each week–the email list is just about making it more convenient for readers to keep up with your existing posts. (And to learn the 2 steps for converting blog readers into book buyers, download this free printable!)

2. Holding Back Your Voice. I know so many funny, sweet bloggers who clam up when they write their posts. And I get it—it’s takes so much work just to create recipes, or projects, or photography, that when it comes time to actually talk about it, it’s hard to get all the words out. This is a super common blogging mistake. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in publishing, it’s that information is available anywhere for free, but voice is what brings it to life.Every time a visitor stops by your site you have the opportunity to share a little facet of your life and what you care about with them. So don’t be just another bland, packaged writer! The people who are on the same wavelength with you will become your true fans, and the others will at least get the information they need before they move on.

3. Posting Too Often: I know, I know. For years the credo in the blogging world was to post every single day, or as frequently as you could humanly muster while still showering and feeding yourself. This was the only way to build your blog, we were told.But as the blogging world has changed and evolved, there have been far too many success stories that poke holes in this theory. Leo Babuata of ZenHabits posts just once a week, and his blog is one of the Top 25 blogs according to TIME. Michael Hyatt is also a perfect case study—he started out posting 5 days a week years ago, and now posts only 2 times per week. He’s seen no negative effect on his traffic.

   The truth is that we all have limited hours and energy in the day, so every hour spent creating new content is an hour taken away from spreading the content you already have. And that is a huge and also common blogging mistake. Instead, adopt the 80/20 rule for content, and you’ll finally be able to grow your author platform in an easier, simpler, less stressful way.

4. Not Evolving Your Site Design: As I’ve written about on Jane Friedman’s blog, you should think of your website as your online home. Is it welcoming, attractive, and functioning? Just like your own home, it should evolve as your tastes evolve, as trends evolve, and as the way you need it to work for you evolves.However, many bloggers set up their basic, straight-out-the-box template and then don’t touch it for years. This is a more common blogging mistake than you think. It’s hard to quantify how many potential fans you could be losing if they don’t find your online home to be welcoming and attractive. But I think we’ve all felt that shudder when we stumble upon a particularly unkempt online property.

   My recommendation is to reevaluate all your branding every two years or so. Does your logo still reflect your style? Is your tagline still relevant? Does your website still look appealing and easy to navigate as compared to others in your space? If not, it’s time to create a space you’re excited to show off. Here are the 7 things the best author websites designs must have.

I’m sure other people have things that turn them off when they arrive at a blog or website. What sends you running for the hills when you’re browsing online?