Amateur Blogger Mistakes You Should Never Make

We all had that day when we started our blog for the first time. In our life, we had that moment of enlightenment and realized our mistakes. Some of these mistakes were quite common and some were silly. However, if we were not able to get rid of those mistakes we would not be able to become what we are now.

We still make mistakes but it is true that at one point in life we all were beginners. So being a newbie is not a bad thing rather it is good for us so that we can learn from our mistakes and blog like a professional.

If you are a beginner blogger and have a passion for blogging, do not become sad if you are not getting enough traffic and thousands of followers immediately. Instead, be glad that you have become part of the wonderful world of blogging. One day you will be able to get rid of all those crazy mistakes that you make now and become a person with millions of followers. Now let’s get straight to the point.

Ten Silly Mistakes Every Beginner Blogger Make

1. Using Free Domain & Free Hosting

This is among the most common and foolish mistakes beginner bloggers make. It is understandable that initially, bloggers become reluctant to invest and use a free domain (like .blogspot.com) and hosting. However, that is a major no-no. Remember, it’s not bad to use free tools, but your foundation must be solid.

As a blogger, your content is your top priority. If you take your domain from sites offering free domains out of the blue, the chances are these domains have a bad reputation (spam score). Remember nothing is free in this world. So don’t threaten the reputation of your blog for only saving a few bucks.

The same goes for your hosting. If you host your blog on free WordPress or any similar platform, you will suffer in the long run. Why? Because migration is a nightmare. Suppose you have created your blog on Google Blogger. After some time, if you decide to switch to your own domain and hosting because you want to run ads or build an email list, exporting your content is messy and you will lose your SEO rankings.

Solution: Start with a relatively cheap hosting provider who offers a free domain with hosting packages like Hostinger or Bluehost. When your blog starts getting a good amount of traffic, then you can switch to a higher performance hosting package later.

2. Lack Of Consistency

This is probably the most critical mistake every newbie blogger makes. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. So, if you have just begun your blog and expect visitors to flood in immediately, you are doing it the wrong way. Blogging requires a lot of planning and working. You must plan your contents, write them, edit them, and then promote them.

If things go south, don’t quit. Put your best effort and see if things change or not. If not, then find your mistakes, learn from them and rectify them. You will soon see the changes and will see the gradual increment of visitors. You must also remember you cannot pour water into a cup that is already filled. So, be flexible to learn and be consistent in your publishing schedule.

Another thing you must remember is to update content regularly. Don’t let your content die. Search engines love “freshness.” Updating old posts keeps your content alive for a long time and you will see a steady increase in visitors.

3. Ignoring The Importance Of Analysis (Analytics)

You can say that you use analyzing tools and you know how many viewers you have and from which country. Well, you certainly are using analyzing tools but in a wrong way. This bunch of data is by no means sufficient for you, especially if you are a blogger and you want to increase your traffic.

If you see that people are just entering and exiting from the landing web page then see the search query and see what content is missing. Include them and see if that increases your audience staying time.

4. Not Prioritizing Designs Based On User Experience (UX)

This is just one of the mistakes that new bloggers commonly do. The majority of new bloggers just set an average-looking theme and forget what comes next. It is not wrong to put an average-looking theme on your blog. The key thing is to know whether the theme is functional for the user.

Both the look and the performance (User Experience) are important. You need to understand how your visitors are interacting. If you see that visitors are escaping from your landing pages, then you should think about implementing better navigation so that your visitors can see your other posts or articles. Adding related posts on the sidebar might help for better navigation. A clean, fast-loading design always beats a cluttered, “fancy” one.

5. Reluctant To Adopt New Techniques

Lack of adaptability is another newbie mistake. Many people who are new to blogging usually face this issue because the web is an ever-changing world. What is working now might not work tomorrow. So, we must be more adaptable and brave enough to try out new strategies and technology.

Allow me to give a straightforward but real-life example. In the early years of blogging, people used their full focus on writing text. Gradually bloggers understood that visual promotion is also a necessary factor. Then bloggers started to explore many tools and techniques for promoting their blogs. Now, if you think that you will create your blog without a single video or infographic, you will be on the losing side. Videos became so popular that video blogs got another name that is Vlog and people who create these video blogs became Vlogger.

6. Underestimating The Power Of Headlines

Headlines: that is what makes your blog visible to others. When you search, which result do you actually click? Here comes the power of a headline. Among so many search results, you click only what you think is relevant and intriguing for you. How do you decide which one is important? Obviously by reading the headlines.

Most of the beginner bloggers tend to ignore this part and instead of a carefully curated headline they just put whatever headline comes to their mind. Furthermore, they forget to check how their blog is performing. So never ignore the power of your blog headlines. If you see a lot of views (impressions) but very few clicks in your analysis data (CTR), then it’s time to make some adjustments in your headlines. If necessary, use online headline-generating tools. Most of these tools are free so use them as you need.

7. Ignoring The Power Of SEO

Search Engine Optimization is another area where beginner bloggers struggle most. Either most of them purely ignore the search engine marketing strategies or do it in the wrong way.

Only a handful of beginner bloggers do it with carefully planned SEO strategies. SEO is not hard and it’s not too easy. It needs planning, research, continuous study, and work. This is called a bit hard for beginner bloggers but if you can stick with it with patience then you will get the sweet return for all your hard works (flow of visitors).

Warning: A number of beginner bloggers tend to do another dangerous mistake when they attempt to build backlinks for SEO. Instead of creating value for the back-linking site; they create unusual links which are more spammy and actually hurt their blog ranking. If you focus more on high-quality content then you will naturally get some backlinks. If necessary do some guest-blogging. One more thing you must remember, always write for your readers, not for search engines.

8. Touching Multiple Niches (The Generalist Trap)

A very common and silly mistake as it is really tempting to cover all the niches where you are a pro. However, that is among the most threatening mistakes new bloggers make. You may be a pro of many niches and want to cover all of them in your blog but instead of covering all of them in the same blog, why not break them down?

Google evaluates “Topical Authority.” If you write about fishing today and cryptocurrency tomorrow, Google doesn’t know what your site is about, and neither do your readers. Your readers will bless you for niche focus as they wouldn’t become confused about what the blog is actually about. It will also bring some loyal readers who will read your blog regularly.

9. Writing Without Any Content Strategy

The content strategy is a vital part and most of the beginner bloggers fail to realize it initially. It’s always better to create a content strategy and schedule ahead for your content. With a good content strategy, it will become easier to create meaningful, engaging and sustaining content which will create a steady flow of visitors. A content strategy will also help you to get the targeted audience relatively faster and for a longer period of time. So never overlook it.

10. Not Engaging With Readers In Comment Section

Well, not properly replying in the comment section is a very common mistake and beginner bloggers are very efficient at doing this. The tendency that works here is “Will reply later” and that later never comes.

Sometimes, new bloggers fail to properly reply to the unwanted questions which might be another reason for not replying. Whatever the reason is, not replying to the comments will never do any good. Experienced bloggers always welcome comments and reply regularly because it is among the best ways to engage with the audience and helps relationship building.

Conclusion

Well, these mistakes are not all. There are a few extras but it’s very easy to overcome them with patience and practice. If you have passion, if you enjoy blogging then it will become easier for you.

One thing you must remember: never think that you will start generating money out of your blog initially. So don’t waste your time finding advertisements and don’t get disheartened if those ads aren’t getting clicks. Everything needs time and as a newbie, it is your duty to keep patience and keep writing. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.