Sometimes, when I tell people that I blog for a living, they roll their eyes. “That’s so easy,” they say. “You get a paycheck for sitting on the internet all day and writing. A monkey could do your job!”
That’s when I roll my eyes. See, people are quick to deem blogging as a no-brainer job. But when they actually sit down to write their first couple of posts, it hits them: This is way harder than I thought. Like any person starting a new job, they mess things up.
That’s okay — it happens to pretty much every new blogger. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to avoid these roadblocks if you know they’re coming.
So for all of you beginner bloggers out there who are looking to get up-to-speed quickly, keep on reading. Below are common mistakes most beginners make and some tips on how to avoid them.
Why do bloggers fail?
Bloggers fail because they don’t realize that blogging is a business that requires effort, time, and attention. Some bloggers fail because they don’t research their audience, they don’t tailor their content accordingly, they blog inconsistently, they don’t use SEO best practices, or they don’t promote their content.
Anyone can start a blog, but many will never give blogging the attention that it needs to be a successful part of a business.
A hobby blog is one thing, but when you want to grow or monetize your blog, there are several things you need to focus on. Namely, you need to identify the goal of the blog, know your target audience and what moves them, build a blog site that is easy to navigate, and choose a writing style that resonates with your audience.
Blogging Tips for Beginners
- Create blog posts that serve your larger company goals.
- Identify what resonates with your audience.
- Write like you talk.
- Show your personality; don’t tell it.
- Make your point again and again.
- Start with a very specific working title.
- Specific posts should still tie into the bigger picture.
- Use a specific post type, create an outline, and use headers.
- Give your audience something to walk away with.
- Use data and research to back up the claims you make in your posts.
- Use examples to back up why what you’re saying is important.
- When drawing from others’ ideas, cite them.
- Take 30 minutes to edit your post.
- At a certain point, just publish it.
- Blog consistently with the help of an editorial calendar.
- Focus on the long-term benefits of organic traffic.
- Add a subscription CTA to your blog and set up an email newsletter.
- Refresh old content while writing new content.
- Vary the mediums where you share your content.
- Promote your content.
Most of a blog’s traffic is driven organically — in other words, consumers will search for something on a search engine and click on your blog if it matches their intended topic. However, there are a lot of organizations competing for your audience’s attention, so it’s important to avoid common blog mistakes to stand out.
Here are the most common blog post mistakes (and their solutions), according to HubSpot bloggers.