I love blogging!
Since 2017 I am in this game, trying to learn how to produce the best and valuable content for my readers.
Blogging is a medium for writing, communicating, relationship building, gaining a reputation, spreading your expertise, creating awareness, exploring concepts, sharing knowledge, helping people, and many more.
Good bloggers write about the topics of their expertise. Great bloggers are trying to solve one of the problems of the reader.
If you really want to create valuable content, you need to focus on the people coming to your site and how you can help them.
The blogs that do that are the ones you see growing and sticking around.
Blogging is a great means to voice our opinions and communicate with your audience in a periodic manner. Now it is no longer a sphere of the chosen writers only. Today anyone can become a blogger.
Of course, no one guarantees that your blog will be successful.
But you can do everything possible to avoid the biggest blogging mistakes and create a promising blog that in some time, will bring you the desired results.
And there are some ridiculously silly mistakes bloggers should avoid:
Never taking notes
I came up with so many blog post ideas while doing the most random things.
I always thought that I would remember it later when I actually sat to write down.
What happened when I finally did?
I could only hear crickets chirping in my head. I could not recollect anything! I have lost count of the number of good topics I have forgotten just because I did not note it down somewhere.
So many missed opportunities!
Setting high expectations
The biggest mistake of my blogging life.
I set unrealistic expectations for myself and my writing. I tried to compare my writing with the likes of established bloggers and writers and ended up being disappointed in my work.
I lost confidence in my writing skills, even when there was no one to critique it.
I did not need to impress anyone with my writing. But these high benchmarks put unnecessary pressure on me.
I ended up being afraid to write anymore for almost a year.
Don't repeat my failure. If your blog post is not "excellent", but definitely "good" in your eyes, don't hesitate to publish it.
Posting irregularly
If you have come to blogging, you have to maintain a regular posting schedule for your blog.
Not maintaining a schedule casts a negative impact on your blog readership.
If you are a busy person, at least try to take out as low as two hours for your blog.
Whether you post once a week or twice a month does not make a difference.
If you can write quality posts, your audience and readership will increase gradually, and you will be happy too.
So be consistent and regular in your writing both in quality and publication frequency.
Writing about your personal life
A blog cannot become your autobiography.
Your readers will be limited in the beginning since only the people who know you will be interested in your personal life.
It is highly recommended to select a ‘specific' niche that you can base from your personal experience. For example, you can write specifically about your career in IT, coding tips, or perhaps blog about a particular hobby.
Make sure your topics are well-researched in advance and that people are “googling" for them.
If no one is interested in your blog post topics, then you basically are writing only for yourself.
Mixing up the multiple niches
This is one of the common mistakes that a new blogger mostly makes while they are about to start their blogging journey.
Not sticking to your niche and the chosen topic.
99% of the bloggers fail to build a loyal readership around their blogs because they cover too many topics at a time.
There is a technique called “Divide and conquer” to master the blog topics one at a time.
How does it work?
Try to analyze your content strategy and figure out whether you are creating the content that is required for the exact audience or not.
If your topic is about programming, instead of covering everything about programming, start covering just one topic related to programming such as functional programming or programming on one programming language, etc.
And remember, blogging is for the long haul.
It also requires consistency and patience. You have to be very passionate about your subject to maintain a continuous flow of content.
Try to keep blogging and not neglect it.
Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint.
Over 90% of blogs are forgotten and left by the wayside once their owners get bored with blogging. Don't end up like them!
Have you ever tried to start blogging? Do you continue doing it, or did you give up that in the past? Why? What tips could you share for beginner bloggers?
Thank you for reading! 🙏
Ilona helps developers to succeed in their careers without stress via her weekly newsletter. Sign up and grab her networking cheat sheet as a bonus here.
Photo by Pixabay from Pexels
Top comments (15)
I used to do most of the things listed there and I'm glad that no longer I do them.
When I have an idea, I'll write it down on a Google Docs file, so no matter if I'm at my job, home or walking, I'll not forget that idea. In fact, I have more than 50 ideas to write about, so that is no longer a problem 😃
My problem was not being consistent. I used to write when I feel like it and I wrote a lot. Until I didn't and I haven't for months. 2 months ago I re-took it and now I write 1 non-technical post and 2 technical posts every week.
I have set 3 days on the week to write and that's it. Not when I feel like it or when I'm bored.
Now my blog went from 3-7 readers a day to 50-70 a day and I'm starting to get a few readers from Search engines.
So yes, consistency is a good thing. Even if you publish your post and check after an hour just to see that post has 0 views.
You only need time.
Thank you so much for your message! This is very informative and helps a bunch 👍
Wishing you continued success! ❤️
I’ve started writing a lot of posts without planning and decide half way through that I’m just rambling and not really making any sense. I would suggest writing sub headings before writing the content to help steer the direction of your post and keep it on track.
+1 👍
For me the struggle is to keep consistent, I've been blogging on and off for a year but never too consistently. I always get dragged into doing other things. For example a few days ago I had an idea for a webapp and now I'm working on that so I put writing articles aside.
Thanks for stopping by Alberto! That is definitely a real struggle 😅Don’t stress – just have fun with it. Well best of luck with your web app!
Thanks for your post! Actually, I've just started my own blog this month, after toying with the idea for over a decade. Two of the point you made here was one of the major reasons it took so long to begin - to unreal expectations and the marathon. I got over the first, hopefully I'll be able to get over last. Only time will tell...
Thanks for the comment!
Consistency is key, so don’t give up and you will get there.
Best of luck with your blog Zohar!
A great set of thoughts and tips, many of the things you mention I learned the hard way over time. Whilst painful lessons to learn, I'm glad that I did.
Every time I blog something, I feel I get a little bit better. But the one resounding tip that stands out above all-overs is to constantly write things down as they come to you.
For me, most ideas come just as my head is about to hit the pillow for the night, I think this is because that's when my brain is at it's most free from the days activities and demands, so I suggest either keeping a device to capture audio notes quickly or a pad and pen next to the bed.
I try to keep at least 40 things on a list all the time so I'm never short of things to work on when the creative spark hits.
I have written a tech blog about 3 months back. I am trying to complete the second one for the past months. I know I'm not very good at English which stops me further. I would like to improve...
No worries! Practice makes perfect 🙂
Hmm for me I do my best to be consistent with my release of my blog post.
Just some time I'm swarm with work that I will take a week break from it a few times when I'm swarm with work
Thanks Max! So do I from time to time.
Thank you for your words! I appreciate it ^
Pls can you kindly recommend a niche pls that is kinda interesting and acceptable on the public plsss