The philosopher, G. K. Chesterton, once said:
“Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.”
The above can be considered one of many common blogging mistakes.
What he meant was that most of the necessary work in the world that needs to be done is done by the average person who doesn’t necessarily do a good job – but does just enough to keep the world going.
While true to a large extent, if you’re a blogger, you DO NOT have the luxury of running your blog poorly. This is especially true if you want a profitable blog that makes money.
Action is the foundational key to all success, but you’ll also need to iterate the process and take the right actions if you wish to see a profit. In this article, you’ll discover 8 common mistakes made by bloggers. Steer clear of them and you’ll be ahead of most.
1 – Hating to Write is one of the common blogging mistakes
It’s a HUGE mistake to get into blogging if you hate writing. The only exception here is if you have a budget that allows you to hire freelance writers to do the writing for you. Many successful bloggers do not write their own content, but they have the money to hire others.
If you hate writing, and you don’t have the resources to pay others – blogging is not for you. Unless you have immense self-discipline and can force yourself to write.
2 – Choosing the wrong niche is another of the common blogging mistakes
If you want to make money from your blog and you enter a niche like minimalism, how will you sell your audience products when you’re telling them to live a minimalistic lifestyle?
Another scenario is if you’re in the ‘remove skin tags’ niche and selling an info product on your blog. What happens once your reader removes their skin tags?
Your blog is not going to be able to grow because it’s a very narrow niche. You’ll then need to start a new blog in a different niche. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you need to be aware of it.
Other niche mistakes include picking a niche where there are no products to sell. The lack of monetization opportunities will adversely affect the profitability of your blog. You’ll also not want to pick a niche where there are very limited opportunities for you to drive traffic.
3 – Boring content
If your writing is more boring than watching paint dry while you wait at the DMV, your blog is not going to be popular. Your content has to be entertaining and informative at the same time.
4 – Not building a list is one of the biggest common blogging mistakes
Cutting costs by not investing in an autoresponder software is akin to shooting yourself in the foot. You MUST build a list from your blog.
This will enable you to form a relationship with your readers and you can point them to new blog posts in the future and also sell to them. Monitor the traffic to your site. The moment you’re getting 100 unique hits a day, sign up for an autoresponder such as ConvertKit or Aweber and start building your list. This is a necessary cost.
5 – Not providing a good user experience
Your blog must be easy to navigate. The font size should be big enough to read without a microscope and the font itself should be legible. Forget fancy and cursive fonts. Stick to proven fonts like Arial, Tahoma, Georgia, etc.
6 – Being Inconsistent
Aim to publish at least one new blog post a week. This will keep your blog fresh and updated. There will be something new for the readers every time they visit.
Some bloggers disappear for months at a time and their audience gives up on them after a while. You must be consistent.
7 – Using a free blogging platform
Own your own domain and build your site on it. Do NOT use free platforms such as Wix or free WordPress.org or Medium to build your business. Never build your house on rented land. If these platforms decide to give you the boot, you’ll lose your business overnight.
8 – Not using the correct focus
Your goal should ALWAYS be to provide value to the reader first. Avoid appearing to be a salesman and don’t make your blog all about you.
You must deliver information that the reader is looking for. Your readers must feel like you have their best interests at heart. Then they’ll trust you. Selling is always done after you build trust, never before.
These 8 common blogging mistakes have sounded the death knell on thousands of blogs that came before yours… and thousands that will come after. But you know better now. So, avoid them and be excited about your blog so that your readers are too.
“Blogging is a conversation, not a code.” – Mike Butcher
[avatar user=”mike” size=”thumbnail” align=”” link=”file”]Mike Gaudreau is the owner of The Wealthy Boomers, a site devoted to helping seniors make money online. Mike resides in Montreal Canada.[/avatar]
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