As bloggers we all seem to make the same mistakes so I thought I’d address them all in this post. Some of these are mistakes I’ve made in the past and some are ones that my followers on Twitter shared with me. This is a no-judgement zone so if you do any of these things I’m not saying you have to stop or follow my methods. These are simply the things that I feel I’ve done in the past and I don’t want anyone to make the same mistakes I have.
1. Publishing a blog post and expecting traffic
What I mean by this is you hit publish on a great blog post but then don’t post about it anywhere else. How are you expecting people to read it if you don’t shout about it from the rooftops? I’ll be honest, I stopped scheduling promotional tweets as I felt I was spamming my timeline but I have got back into the habit of posting at least once when I publish a new blog post. I also try and post on Instagram at the same time with a CTA in the caption sending people to the link in my bio to read my new blog posts.
2. Buying the “wrong” theme
Wrong isn’t necessarily the word I was wanted here but it’s the one that makes sense. by wrong I mean a theme that doesn’t do what you need it to do or it doesn’t look like the demo. How many of us have spent too much money on differing themes because they didn’t behave the way you thought they would? I know I have. I think I’ve finally found a theme that does what I need it to but I know it won’t be long before I figure out there’s something that could change.
3. Not installing GA straight away
If you want a genuine and up-to-date idea of who’s been looking at your blog and when then you need to install Google Analytics. It’s not as hard to install as you think and I even have a whole blog post that can walk you through the entire process. The reason this is classed in blogger mistakes is that the in-built stats in either blogger or WordPress aren’t a true representation of the actual views of your site as they often include spam views that GA filters out.
4. Buying into blogger stereotypes
I go into this in a bit more detail in my blog post titled “are bloggers too quick to buy into the hype?” but for me, it’s the idea that as bloggers everything we own must be marble, rose gold and from Oliver Bonas. Ok, maybe that was a bit of a stretch but you get my point. It’s the concept of a uniform for bloggers or that we can be identified by the type of handbag or camera that we’re carrying. The bloggers I love are the ones that are individuals and don’t follow the same trends as everyone else.
5. Having a niche
I know the concept of a niche is one which should make blogging life easier but it can actually be a mistake for some bloggers as it means they feel pigeonholed and unable to write about whichever topics you feel like when you feel like. I like having a blog which has multiple content pillars as I can write about pretty much anything. These pillars also cross over into my Instagram account so I can post lifestyle, beauty, travel or even some blog tips without alienating my audience.
6. No defined niche
while it’s ok to not have a specific niche – I don’t – there can be confusion if a blogger writes about every topic under the sun. I’m a big believer in content pillars and taking up to 5/6 topics that you can cover on your blog and instagram without alienating your readers. I’ve seen some with some tenuous links to the sponsored content they’re posting and as far as I’m aware it’s nothing they have any knowledge of. it would be like me covering joinery topics on here. My husband does it for a living but I’m not about to start writing about it.
7. No research into keywords/SEO etc
There are people who blog as a hobby and don’t care about pageview figures and impressions and all of that stuff but if it’s something that you want to work on then knowledge of SEO and keywords is a good place to start. It’s not a huge part of blogging and doesn’t have to be but it is something worth knowing if you want people to be able to find your blog and your posts. You never know who you might help without even knowing it.
8. No personal brand
I’ve had other bloggers recommend me for campaigns based on what they know about me and what I blog about. For example, my personal brand is a French food loving, tea drinking blogger from Glasgow who loves shopping in London. You can find this out by the content I post on the this site and on Instagram. It’s the content that my followers have come to expect from me and it works for me as well. I may play it up more than I should but it’s a natural extension of who I am.
9. Quantity over quality
I’d rather write one amazing post that I’ve SEO’d to the eyeballs (yes Vix I’ve knicked your saying) than 5 posts that can be described as mediocre at best. Listicles like this one seem to be a favourite of mine and it’s because they’re easy to write. I pop the headings in and then add the paragraphs later. I like to spend plenty of time getting my posts to be amazing and maybe longer than lots of shorter posts. Are short posts ok? Yes. Are long posts ok? Yes. Do what works for you just make it amazing.
