Mila Joshua Yona
Want to start a blog? Well, newbie bloggers often get carried away with the excitement of starting a blog and forget to take caution while making big decisions that come with potentially long-lasting consequences leading to the failure of their blogs.
In this article, I will go through some of the blogging mistakes you should avoid or fix if you already made them.
Below are some of the most common mistakes newbie bloggers often make that you can avoid.
1. Not responding to your blog readers
If you just post all the time without responding to your blog readers through emails, messages, and tweets, it will make them feel less valued, discourage them from commenting the next time, and also you will not be able to know what they want exactly.
But here’s the thing, if you respond to your blog readers, it actually helps your blog build a relationship with its audience, encourage people to comment more often, and also give you time to visualize what people actually want from your blog.
You may not have to comment at dial speed each time but whenever you get free time, do your best to respond to the comments.
2. Not researching topics you blog about
You may not know enough about your niche as a newbie blogger but you can bridge the gap by researching. You should research your blog posts thoroughly before and during writing.
Do not post fake information just to trick your audience to click on your links. The moment your audience realizes that you are feeding them with false information, they will leave your blog and never return.
Deep research gives credibility to your blog and its contents since you will be sharing accurate information all the time.
3. Selecting bad hosting company
A lot of newbie bloggers often rush to host and buy their domains without carefully assessing the hosting companies and this makes them prone to selecting bad hosting companies.
As you may be aware by now, hosting allows your blog and its contents to be public and readable online. Without it, finding your blog and its contents online is impossible.
When searching for a good hosting company, some of the factors you should consider include: Speed, pricing, security, support, track record, and additional features that come with your hosting package.
If you want to buy web hosting, I highly recommend that you choose either Bluehost or Dreamhost as they are recommended by developers of WordPress.
4. Inconsistent writing and publishing
So many successful bloggers will reveal to you that being consistent is the secret to the success of their blogs. However, it doesn’t mean that you should be posting almost every day on your blog to get to that level of success.
When it comes to blogging, quality content is king. However much you focus on quantity, you can never beat a blog that posts quality articles.
Don’t take ages (weeks or months) to update your blog. Always update your blog regularly if possible with fresh content and ensure that your content is extremely detailed.
At least publish 2-5 posts per week if you can.
5. Lack of originality
If you’re creating your content by yourself, try as much as possible to be original. Don’t copy content from other blogs and post on your blog. That is actually called plagiarism.
Try to always create your own content from scratch.
6. Forgetting to plan for your posts
A lot of newbie bloggers often make the mistake of forgetting to plan for their posts.
Don’t just post something because you feel like posting it. Apart from the topics you scheduled to post right away, always plan ahead for your next posts at least 2-3 days in advance.
This will give you ample time to do research, edit, amend and proofread your articles before posting them.
7. Ignoring best SEO practices
A lot of newbie bloggers often ignore the aspect of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). They don’t realize that without SEO, they are losing free search engine traffic to their blogs.
If you need lots of organic traffic for your blog, you need to organize your content in such a way that you write for your readers then optimize the content for search engines. Hence before writing any post, you should first do adequate research.
Find out which topics are trending (that people are searching for) in your niche and which specific keywords are ranking high for similar topics. This will allow your content to appear on search results when relevant searches are performed on search engines.
Some of the best SEO practices you should consider as a new blogger include;
- Search for good keywords before writing your article
- Understanding your target audience’s intent in search query
- Creating SEO friendly headlines that attract readers
- Using both internal and external links throughout your content
- Writing compelling meta-description
- Optimizing your page URL
Ignoring any of these SEO practices can render your blog a no-go-zone
8. Picking the Wrong Niche to Blog About
Selecting the right niche for your blog from start is extremely important. If you start blogging while in the wrong niche, things can get messy for you in the future.
You should select your niche based on these factors;
- What you’re passionate about
- Your experiences
- Popularity of the niche
- Clarity of the niche
Anything less will render your blog a failure.
9. Choosing the Wrong WordPress Theme
So maybe you decided to develop your blog on WordPress. Still, newbie bloggers often make the mistake of selecting the wrong theme. Instead of opting for a premium theme, they end up using the free themes.
While you can never realize the downsides right away, free themes and premium themes are never equal.
Free WordPress themes are so limited and difficult to customize making your site extremely load very slowly.
So it’s best to eliminate this blogging mistake by starting with a premium theme right from start.
10. Picking a Difficult to Read (or Understand) Domain
Choosing a domain name for your blog is one of the decisions you have to make even before ever launching your site. It’s not such a big decision but it’s very important.
You have to put the following in mind while choosing a domain name for your blog;
- Its availability
- It should be easy to remember
- It should be easy to write
- It should be unique from other brands
If you choose a domain name that you don’t like or is hard for people, it will be very difficult to progress with your blog.
11. Using Other Platforms Instead of WordPress
Starting your blog on other platforms like Wix, Squarespace, or Weebly instead of WordPress is a great blogging mistake. As much as these platforms provide affordable and free hosting plans, they have so many disadvantages.
One of the disadvantages is that you will not be able to monetize your site or even switch to WordPress in the long run. They are only good if at all you want to practice your writing skills.
So if you want to build a business in the future out of your blog, I highly recommend that you choose a self-hosted like WordPress from start.
12. Using the Wrong Name for Your Blog
Your blog name and domain have similarities. Your blog name should be able to stand out against any competition.
It should be easy to recall, relatable with your readers and your blog niche, and also offer something unique from the rest of the blogs.
Your blog name doesn’t have to be similar to your domain name but it’s recommended that you get the same for both to make it easy to remember and create a cohesive brand experience.
13. Forgetting About Social Media Promotion
A lot of newbie bloggers often ignore the aspect of social media promotion. This makes them miss on free traffic and fail to get people interested in their blogs.
If you can create an interesting social media presence, you can receive organic traffic to your blog. It’s also a gateway for people to reach you, comment on your content, and send messages.
14. Not Networking Early Enough
Newbie bloggers often make the mistake of not networking with other successful bloggers and people they share the same interests and passions with.
Networking doesn’t only give you the opportunity to learn but also to connect with interesting and influential people in the blogging community.
A great way to network and grow your blog is by;
- Speaking at conferences and events in your niche
- Social media connections
- Niche focused online communities
- Guest posting
So it’s very important that you start networking early enough.
15. Taking Too Long to Start Email List Building
Start building your email list of blog subscribers from day one.
Underestimating the power of email marketing is a great blogging mistake. I recommend that you use MailChimp for building your email list.
With this tool, you can reach as many subscribers as possible and send them emails on additional content, free giveaways on your blog, or simply updates.
16. Not Thinking About How to Monetize Your Blog Early
A lot of newbie bloggers think they have to accumulate tons of traffic first before they can monetize their blog which is a great mistake.
While it may sound vague to turn on monetization while few people are visiting your site, it’s actually the best strategy to grow your blog.
It creates an opportunity for you to generate leads and start learning monetization technics right away, and a loophole for your content to make money if it goes viral.
17. Not getting technical with your blog
While it’s not a necessity to be a tech wiz in order to start a successful blog on WordPress, learning some of the technical aspects of blogging is vital.
It allows you to easily troubleshoot problems and fix errors that may arise while blogging.
If you can acquire some skills like SEO, basic coding, and customization of your blog, you definitely won’t need help dealing with issues that arise on your blog from time to time.
18. Not investing money on growing your blog
A lot of newbie bloggers are often reluctant to invest in their blogs right from the start. They have a false belief that the blog will generate enough revenue in the shortest period of time without much effort.
So instead of investing in reliable Webhosting, email marketing, and SEO, they end up opting for freebies like free WordPress themes, free templates, free email marketing providers, free SEO tools, and so on.
While there’s nothing wrong with opting for free tools, they also have their pros and cons. Some of the disadvantages that come with them is lack of support in terms of updates and also they don’t provide much value to your blog.
19. Not sticking to One Niche
A lot of newbie bloggers make the mistake of tackling so many topics on their blogs. If you’re running a new blog, you have to first establish yourself as an authority in order to succeed at later stages.
People don’t listen to newbies, they often like to listen to experts.
If you write about technology today, you should never write about fashion or politics the next time you post unless if you want people to stop visiting your site.
Sticking to one niche will allow you to focus all your energy and time and also boost your blog traffic and grow your audience.
20. Writing misleading Headlines
A lot of newbie bloggers often make the mistake of writing clickbait headlines with thin content in the body. Other times the headlines don’t actually match the content in the body.
Headlines that clickbait readers often leave them stranded and eventually increase the blog’s bounce rate.
When your blog’s bounce rate is very high, its reputation is definitely compromised.
21. Writing Very Short Posts
A lot of newbies often make the mistake of writing very short articles with thin content in the body. They are not aware that the posts that rank in the first 10 positions of search engine results are usually lengthy with over 2000 plus words.
With that, an average post should be at least 1000 words maximum and about 750 words minimum.
So ensure that you write long-form actionable content that can benefit your readers.
22. Not making your blog user-friendly
As much as you may have purchased a premium theme, still you have to make your blog user-friendly.
Without the right design, cross-device responsiveness, and easy navigation through your blog (i.e. for phones, tablets, laptops, etc.), people will avoid your blog with passion since it will be difficult for them to use it.
So always ensure that your content is correctly formatted because a bad blog can hurt your credibility and reputation.
23. Getting Discouraged Easily (and Giving Up Early)
Every blogger has those high and low moments. If you compare your blog to other successful blogs in your niche all the time, you may get discouraged wondering if you will ever reach their level of success anytime.
Such feelings of doubt and discouragement often derail so many new bloggers to the point of giving up.
Just do your thing and be patient.
Note
- For your blog to become successful, you need patience and perseverance.
Conclusion
It’s very common to make mistakes here and there especially when you’re just starting out. With the tips above, we hope that you will make informed decisions throughout your blogging journey and see your blog prosper. Thanks for loving Milasona!
