If you’re a new blogger, this post is for you! Some of us start off and we’re just like okay all I have to do is write and publish and then I’ll gain views. NO! If only it were that easy. Blogging is much much more than that and you have to work a little harder than you think. But here are my 15 major blogging mistakes to avoid making so you can also become a successful blogger.
MISTAKE #1
Trying to be perfect. A ton of bloggers, especially new bloggers, make this mistake. You worry too much about every little detail, especially the way your blog looks. If you worry less about these things then it’s going to be so much easier and simpler on yourself because trying to be perfect only stresses you out more than you even need. Blogging isn’t supposed to be completely perfect, blogging is all about doing what you love and treating it like you would your dream career (if it’s not already like it is mine). Don’t worry so much about the way your blog looks, if everything works, you have everything you need for your readers to share and read your full posts, and it looks good enough and calming enough for your readers, that’s all that should matter. Don’t worry about so many little details because honestly there’s no point. People don’t come for looks, they come for the great quality posts you write.
MISTAKE #2
Not planning ahead. If you don’t plan ahead then what are you going to write or do? In blogging the key is always to plan ahead. This is going to make it so much easier for yourself and your blog because you’re not randomly spontaneously just writing random out of nowhere posts. To be honest, I used to do this and it made my blog and myself a mess. It was so stressful and so hard to keep up with because I didn’t know what I was going to write and I would start writing something messy and sloppy because it wasn’t planned and it came out of nowhere and it was a complete MESS!
MISTAKE #3
No email list or way for people to sign-up. This is something I’m still trying to figure out how to do but you guys, you have to do this when you start blogging. When people come to your site often and like reading your posts they usually want to be able to read them again each time they come out. When you have an email list or people signed up you can send out something to all of them notifying them of a new post! If you don’t do this eventually they are going to forget about your blog because they don’t know when you’re posting anything and if they are signed up, they can be reminded in their email to go check out your new posts.
MISTAKE #4
Treating your blog as a hobby instead of a business. Sure, most of us bloggers we blog because well we love to! Honestly, it’s my favorite thing to do. But we can’t treat it as if we’re just using it as a hobby. Blogging is something you should treat like a business because if you plan on it becoming your full time career, then you should treat it as if it’s your job not just your hobby.
MISTAKE #5
Too much comparing. Something I also used to do, I would sit there and read other people’s blogs and I would compare it to mine constantly over and over again. It only lead me to feeling bad about my blog and just trying too hard to constantly improve my blog. Honestly it drove me insane in the end from all the stress of trying to be like others. Now, I focus on working on my own blog and improving it constantly to the way I feel like it looks best.
MISTAKE #6
Bad blog titles. This is something a lot of bloggers mess up with. Now this doesn’t have anything to do with your main blog title because that’s something that a lot of people have to just pick whatever they can get that is available. By bad blog titles though I mean post titles, if they aren’t good with keywords and very catchy you’re not going to get anyone to your site or your posts! Make sure you have a great and clear title on your posts.
MISTAKE #7
No images. Images are such a big deal in a blog post and so important. The more images the better the post honestly. If you just have a plain boring post without any images, how are you supposed to expect people to want to read it? Readers love images. I cannot stand reading a post that doesn’t have some images attached to it. Posts without images are just so plain and boring and not only that but pictures explain a ton of things that others don’t. They show what you’re talking about in your post where words can’t describe it in those type of ways so always, always, and I mean always add images to your posts because your readers will greatly appreciate it.
MISTAKE #8
Paying too much for your website. This is honestly such a terrible mistake to make because you’re wasting so much money on a site that could be cheaper. Maybe you’re adding things too often or buying too many things or maybe your payment on your site is too expensive, don’t do that to yourself. Blogging takes time to earn all of that money back and if you’re doing this you’re just wasting your money honestly. Blogs shouldn’t be based off of how much you can spend on them it should be based on how much hard work and dedication and passion you put into your blog. Don’t waste your time doing this like most bloggers will end up doing.
MISTAKE #9
Too much thinking, not enough doing. If you’re always thinking more about what you want it to look like or what you want to write about, you will NEVER get it done. Instead of thinking, just do it. Test out new templates and brainstorm tons of post ideas and just start writing. Don’t sit there and just think and think until it comes to you. Look online for ideas and topics and just work as hard as you can but don’t sit there and waste you or your blogs time only thinking of what you would like to do. Just get it done.
MISTAKE #10
Not monitoring your traffic. As a blogger you should know monitoring your traffic is extremely important, but especially if you want to keep them coming back. Monitoring your traffic can show you where you succeeded and where you failed and also can show you where your main audience comes from. Like for example, mine comes from Pinterest so I try to pin new posts to my Pinterest every single time I publish a new post. Because most of your traffic comes from these places you want to always make sure that you’re sharing your posts in the places your traffic comes from most.
MISTAKE #11
Not having enough content in posts. If you’re writing extremely short posts then no one is going to want to read them. You guys, no one likes those short posts with only a couple sentences. That’s not a post or telling your readers anything. That’s not even considered blogging or hard work. Make sure you have tons of content in your posts. I aim for 1000-900 words at the least that I can write because I remember I used to write those lame short posts that no one wanted to read, once I started writing more content my views increased dramatically. So I definitely recommend writing more content than you were if your posts are super short.
MISTAKE #12
Not being real and 110% you. Don’t blog and act like someone you’re not and don’t lie to your readers about things just to make a quick buck. Be real with your readers and act like you, not a robot, your readers and audience will appreciate this so much more than you even know. You never ever want to lie to your readers blogging is about building trust for your readers so they can trust your posts and ideas and you.
MISTAKE #13
Not using keywords and SEO. If you’re not using keywords or SEO then no one can find your site as easily as they should be able too! Using keywords in your posts and in your titles is definitely helpful for traffic to come to your site. The better the keywords and SEO the sooner your blog is going to show up at the top of Google’s search engine whenever someone searches something related to that with your keywords included. These steps are crucial for blogging and getting traffic to your site.
MISTAKE #14
Not having categories. Those things on top of my blog in the navigation bar? That say Fitness, Travel, etc. those are my categories. If you have them it helps your blog get and stay organized so much easier. Not only does it help organize your blog it also helps your readers get to posts much easier and lets them read what they are most interested in.
MISTAKE #15
Not having a blog post ideas list. Whenever you’re out of ideas of what to write and post, this list will be your best pal. That list will help you tons on finding ideas whenever you have no clue what to write about. I’ll be honest with you guys I have about 3 front and back full of nothing but ideas. One thing you always want is blog post ideas to help you figure out what on earth you’re going to write when you have no clue at all what you want to write.
So those were my 15 Major Blogging Mistakes to Avoid. I hope you guys enjoyed reading and don’t make these mistakes and use my advice to help you with your blogging journey. Thank you guys as always for reading! Check back for more posts soon.
