Blogging Mistakes to Avoid as a Beginner for Guaranteed Success
I’m sure that you’re excited to start your blog, or at least considering starting one.
Blogging is a great way to share with the world what you love and connect with like-minded people.
But before jumping in head first, there are some things you should know about blogging mistakes so you can avoid them.
As a blogger who has been at it for over 10 years, I have learned from my own mistakes and those of others.
In this post, you will learn about five common blogging mistakes to avoid as a beginner.
Avoid These Blogging Mistakes
Here are some of the most common mistakes bloggers make, especially when they are just starting out and how to avoid them.
Posting Frequency
The number one blogging mistake to avoid as a newbie blogger is posting too infrequently.
I know that there are many bloggers who want to write blog posts on a regular basis, but they are unable to because of their busy schedules.
People often think that blogging is an easy job that does not require much time or effort. However, I am here to tell you the opposite! It takes time, dedication and patience to create quality content on a regular basis.
The truth is, even if you have a lot of free time during your workday, it is hard to find the motivation to sit down and write blog posts when you get home at 6 pm.
After spending 8 hours sitting in front of a desk working, it’s just too exhausting for many people!
If you don’t post on at least a weekly basis, then you will fall behind quickly.
When it comes to frequency, you don’t want to overwhelm yourself and the audience by trying to create too much content at once either.
Start out by posting 1-2 times per week and then adjust as needed.
The importance of posting regularly cannot be overstated. It’s the only way to build your audience and maintain your authority in your niche.
Writing About Too Many Things
When you blog about too many things at once, it becomes confusing for readers because they don’t know where your blog is heading.
This is why it’s important to focus on one topic or theme and write about that topic in depth.
If you’re not sure what your blog’s main topic or niche should be, then start by thinking about the topics you’re most passionate about.
What are the things you like to talk about most? What do you have a lot of knowledge in and what do you want to share with others?
Once you figure out your blog’s main focus, stick to it. This will help your readers find the content they want because everything on your blog will be related to one overarching theme.
When bloggers are not able to stay on topic, they are not only confusing their readers but they are also making it hard for them to grow in their blog.
There are many reasons why bloggers might stray from their topic.
The most common one is that they don’t know what the readers want. They often start writing about what interests them and forget about what the readers find interesting.
They write about all sorts of topics in their posts without any rhyme or reason.
However, this is a big mistake for newbie bloggers because it makes them look like they are not sure about what they are writing about.
If you want people to continue reading your blog post, then you should always stay on topic and consistently deliver quality content.
Staying on topic is also important because it establishes credibility for the blogger and makes their posts easier to read.
Not Having a Plan
A plan is vital for any business to be successful. It helps you stay focused, ensures you are able to achieve your goals, and makes sure that your time is not wasted.
The same is true for blogging. You need to have a plan in order to succeed online. A blog with no clear direction will most likely fail.
A lot of people start blogging without any plan in mind. They never think about what they want to blog about or how to make their readers come back for more.
Having a plan for your blog includes having goals for your blog, as well as a content strategy and editorial calendar.
Without these things in place, you’ll find yourself scrambling to come up with ideas for posts last-minute or posting without a cohesive plan.
Not only will this confuse your readers, but it will also make it difficult for you to grow your blog.
Your editorial calendar should include the types of posts you plan to write (e.g., list posts, how-to posts, personal essays, etc.), as well as the topics you plan to cover.
This will help you avoid writing about the same topic twice and ensure that you stay focused on your theme.
Focussing On What They Can’t Do
Focusing on what they can’t do instead of what they can do is another blogging mistake beginners make.
It’s so easy for beginners to be so focused on what they can’t do that they forget about their strengths.
They get caught up in “I can’t do this” and it turns into “I’m no good at this.”
For example, beginners might think that they need to have a certain level of writing skill in order to blog, or that they need to be an expert on the topic they plan to write about.
However, this isn’t always the case. In fact, many successful bloggers are just everyday people who share their unique perspectives and experiences with others.
That’s the beauty of blogging! Anyone can do it. You just have to write what you know and share that knowledge with others in your own way.
It is important to be realistic and highlight our strengths while we work on getting better in areas we don’t find easy.
There is a lot of pressure to keep up with the latest trends and compete with other bloggers for attention, but it is important not to forget about ourselves and our readers.
The more you reflect, the less you will worry about the competition and what others are doing since you’ll know exactly who you are and what your blog offers.
The key to success is to focus on what you’re best at and then find the right people or tools for the things you need help with.
Starting Another ‘Make Money Online’ Blog
This is another mistake most newbie bloggers make. Every second blogger wants to start a blog that teaches ‘how to make money online’.
I am not sure how people can teach others about making money with blogging when they are still starting out themselves. It’s like teaching others to drive a car when you don’t even know how to start a car.
That’s the wrong way to approach blogging.
You need to start a blog about something in which you have knowledge and passion.
Start blogging seriously by creating content that is unique and engaging. Once you start earning some money yourself, you can then think about starting a blog in the make money online niche.
Trust me. Finding success with your blog isn’t a get rich quick scheme. It is going to take a lot of time. And only when you see success with your blog, can you start teaching others how to do it.
Focusing on Quantity Over Quality
Focusing on quantity over quality is another mistake made by beginners in blogging.
This means that they try to write as many posts as possible, without taking the time to make sure each post is well-written and informative.
It’s understandable that as a beginner, you want to post as much content as possible to learn and grow your audience. But this is not the best strategy.
The best strategy would be to focus on quality over quantity. Posting more often won’t make you any money without getting the right kind of eyes on your content.
Instead of releasing five low-quality posts, publish one amazing post every few days.
When you focus on quality, it becomes easier for readers to trust your content and see you as an expert in your field.
So, be sure to take the time to write well-informed and well-researched posts. It will pay off in the end!
Trying to be a Perfectionist
This is another mistake to avoid as a beginner blogger. Many newcomers want everything to be perfect before publishing their content.
But the harsh reality is that there may not be such a thing as a perfect blog post.
Perfection is a relative term.
A blog post that is perfect for one person may not be perfect for another.
So stop being a perfectionist and publish your content as soon as you have something good to share with others. You can always improve on it later.
So, don’t wait for everything to be ‘perfect’.
If you want to write a ‘perfect’ article, it may take you forever and never get published.
Focussing Only on Search Engines
Writing only for search engines is a mistake made by many newbie bloggers. You should focus on the readers, not search engines.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t put the right keywords in your articles or write them well for search engines, but don’t focus only on that.
Write for your readers.
One way to do this is to write articles that will help your readers solve a problem or teach them something new.
Another way is to write in a way that engages your readers and makes them want to keep reading.
Not Being True to Themselves
We should not try to be someone we are not. We should write about what we know and care about.
The important thing a beginner should do when starting a blog is to figure out what they want to write about.
They need to be honest with themselves and write in a way that comes naturally to them.
A blog is a reflection of its author and their personality. When you don’t put any real thought into the content, it will show in the end result.
When you write like you’re someone else, people will eventually catch on and they won’t be reading your blogs. It’s important to be true to one’s self and speak from the heart.
The blogging world is huge, and it’s easy to get lost in the noise. The general advice is to blog about what you know about.
What do you know about? What are your hobbies? Your passions? Your interests?
You are unique, so your blog should reflect that. Again, it should be a reflection of who you are and what makes you different from everyone else.
When getting started with blogging, you might do too much research on what other bloggers are doing that you don’t really put yourself into the mix.
You have to decide who you are and how you want your blog to be.
Not Enjoying The Journey
One of the blogging mistakes to avoid as a beginner is not enjoying the journey.
When you’re just starting out, it’s important to take things one step at a time and not get frustrated if you don’t see results right away. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your blog won’t be either.
It’s important to enjoy the process of blogging – from researching and writing posts,to promoting and monetizing your blog.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different strategies and see what works for you!
When you blog for yourself, it doesn’t matter how many followers you have, if you don’t enjoy the process then there is no point in continuing with it.
If you don’t enjoy writing content for your blog then why would your readers want to read it?
To enjoy blogging, all that you need to do is to focus on what makes you happy in life and this will show in your writing.
It’s important to take a step back from time to time and ask yourself whether or not blogging is still bringing you joy. If it’s not, then it might be time to reconsider your priorities.
Blogging is a lot of hard work but it’s also a lot of fun. Be creative, be yourself and have fun with your blog!
The moment you start to enjoy the process, you will find that your blog has started to grow.
Conclusion
These were some of the most common blogging mistakes to avoid as a beginner. As a newbie, it can be easy to make mistakes.
Mistakes can be a good thing.
After all, if we only did the things we knew how to do and never tried anything new, life would get very boring indeed.
The mistakes you make as a blogger are just that – mistakes!
You’ll learn from them and grow into an even better blogger than before.
So don’t worry about making that occasional faux pas; instead, focus on getting back up after falling down and try again tomorrow for your next blog post idea.
We’ve all been there!
The important thing is to learn from these mistakes and keep moving forward in your blogging journey.