Starting a blog is an exciting venture! Much of it is simple, but there are caveats everywhere, and so many little complexities that can add up to an overwhelming degree eventually.
There are many commons mistakes that bloggers make from the very beginning, and I want to help you avoid them! Please, avoid them.
Writing without defining your audience
Your entire blog should be focussed on one specific audience. Hopefully you’ve chosen a niche that is already specific enough for you to know this.
It can be tempting to try and write your posts in a more general sense to be applicable by a wider audience.
Don’t do it!
Solution: Always think about who your target audience is, and stay in that lane throughout your writing.
I suggest thinking about it before you start a new post, and reminding yourself as you edit your post!
Pulling photos from Google
As a new blogger, it may be your first instinct to use Google Images to find great images to use in your content.
You may have even thought you would be safe using the “usage rights” filter to sift out copywritten photos. This is not enough!
Photos can sometimes get tagged wrong, and this could lead you into heavy lawsuits in the future. This shortcut can cost you literally thousands of dollars in the future.
You may think, “What are the chances the author would ever even find out I used their photo” and you’re right, there’s definitely a chance that they won’t.
Ultimately, if your blog grows as much as you and I both hope it does, you will most likely get caught eventually.
And either way, would you really want to do something unethical? Even if it was by mistake?
Solution: Always use reputable stock images! My favourite website for FREE stock photos is Unsplash.
Get creative with what you’re searching, you can try vague or specific searches and you should find exactly what you’re looking for.
Only writing revenue-generating posts
You want to make money with your blog, that’s fine! Maybe you ever started blogging specifically to make income from it.
Regardless, you need to please your readers – that’s why they read your posts! If you’re constantly trying to sell them on something, they’ll see right through you and you will lose their trust.
If you find the occasional opportunity to slip an affiliate link into most posts, that’s fine – as long as you’re not basing every post around trying to make a sale!
Solution: Always think about who your target audience is, and stay in that lane throughout your writing.
Solution: For every one “salesy” post you write, add at least two “free info” posts… At least.
Paying for ads before having fulsome content
Paying for advertising is a great and reputable way to increase your traffic. There are many simple, effective, and cheap ways to advertise your blog – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google Ads, the list really could be endless!
If you’re investing in advertising for your blog, but don’t have much content posted, people are not likely to trust you yet.
A blog without content is like being a doctor’s first patient. Sure, the recent med-school graduate is likely very smart and knows exactly what they’re going – probably very eager to succeed, too! But knowing you are their first patient is sure to make you implicitly weary.
If you don’t have much content on your blog for your readers to read, you’ll be out of their mind in seconds.
If you’ve promoted an amazing and valuable post, they will want to see more!
Solution: Have at least 25 blog posts, and a mobile-responsive website before paying for advertising. This will provide a much better return on investment.
Not focussing on content first
This has to be the biggest mistake I hear about. Honestly, I’ve been guilty of it myself!
Personally, I love playing with marketing tactics, social media, customizing WordPress Themes, finding new plugins, etc. That’s the fun stuff for me.
Writing the content sometimes can be kind of – blah.
(I say that, but I actually enjoy writing most of the posts I write – it’s coming up with new posts that I find boring, personally!)
As you learned from the last point, advertising before having content is a waste of money. But also, spending most of your time tinkering with your website layout, or perfecting the small visual parts of your online persona, are all useless without content.
Solution: Just write some darn content! Get your website up, slap a half-decent theme on it, get a logo, and get to writing those first 25 posts!
Once you’ve spit out those first 25 posts, you can shift your focus on changing your theme, tweaking the small details, building your social presence and gaining traffic!
BUT, don’t forget, you still need to keep writing content!
