9 Common Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

I’ve been blogging for a couple of years now, and in this journey, I’ve made some terrible mistakes. Though that was a learning curve for me, and to be frank, when I started, there were not so many reliable places where I could head over to gather information about blogging.

If you are a newbie, then there are chances that you might be making the same mistakes that I made in my early days. Therefore, in today’s article, I will be sharing some of the most common blogging mistakes to avoid as a newbie.

So, here we go –

9 Common Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

People consider blogging as a no-brainer job, but when they actually start this journey, they realize that blogging is no cakewalk. It is a rollercoaster ride instead, and there are chances that you may fall multiple times before getting your first blog ranked.

But if you can have a list of beginner blogging mistakes and if you manage to avoid them, the odds of making a successful blog can increase drastically.

So, avoid making these common blogging mistakes that I’ve shared below. Plus, I’ve also mentioned some solutions that you can try instead.

1. Quitting Your Job

If you have already quit your job, you cannot undo that, but if you haven’t yet, I recommend you not to quit your job if you are just starting your blogging journey. Blogging is undoubtedly a great way to replace your boring nine to five, but here, things take time.

Nobody, not even the most famous Blogger you know, can determine how long it will take to get their first blog post ranked, especially in times where the competition is so high in almost every single niche.

I am saying this from my experience – when I started my first blog, I was very enthusiastic and, to be frank, I wasn’t happy with my desk job. So, when I got to know about blogging, I waited till I got my paycheck, and soon after that, I sent my resignation letter to the HR team.

After that, I went broke for almost eight months. That time, I even get thoughts like blogging is a waste of time, and I shouldn’t have quit my well-paying job for this. However, now, I don’t regret the decision I made, but I know that if I could have done things differently, the results would have been better.

Ergo, I recommend you not quit your job until your blogs make more money than your current job. If you have reached that milestone, you can think about quitting your job to become a full-time blogger.

2. Picking Wrong Niches

It is probably one of the most common blogging mistakes that I see newbies make. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t always recommend choosing the niche that you are passionate about.

That said, I am not saying that you cannot make successful blogs in the niches you are passionate about. After all, every single niche can be profitable if you target the right topics and keywords. But it is an undeniable fact that some niches can be more profitable than others. For example, Tech is one of the most competitive niches for blogging, but still, many newbies begin their journey with it, which is a terrible mistake.

So, what is the fix?

The answer to this question completely depends on your current scenario. If you are already working in a company or have a well-paying job and want to start blogging as an additional source of income or share your expertise, go with the niche you’re either passionate about or have expertise in.

Even then, I would suggest you begin with a micro-niche blog (I will talk about this later in this article). This way, if your blog even takes a year to secure a top position on SERPs, you will be happy with it.

But, if you have quit your job or have no other source of income, and you want to blog to make money, then I suggest doing thorough research about the niche you are going with. On top of that, I would say to go with a niche that would help you make quick money.

Now I know that many people say that how somebody can write on topics that they don’t know much about. Well, you can use the internet to gain knowledge about that niche, preferably the micro-niche.

Let me tell you my story. I am a computer science engineer, and I mainly write about Tech and SEO, but I also own a micro-niche blog related to nutrition and science. Why? Because that is a profitable niche, and I make good money from that blog.

But that doesn’t mean you have to spread pseudoscience or wrong information. Many people do that, but I don’t suggest so. Find a profitable micro-niche, do research and share your knowledge through your blog.

3. Picking Broad Niche

Another common blogging mistake that newbie bloggers often make is picking broad niches. Google loves relevancy, and therefore, micro-niche blogs get ranked very quickly compared to broad niche blogs. Plus, even if you don’t have expertise in that niche, you can gain that in no time.

By saying that, I do not deny that broad niche blogs make more money than micro-niche blogs. Plus, there are way more monetization options available for niche blogs compared to micro-niche blogs, and most importantly, you will never run out of topics when you do niche blogging.

But such blogs face tough competition because many authority sites would have already published content on the topics that you are going to write. Therefore, you have to wait for a prolonged period to get visitors organically, and in such a scenario, most blogs fail.

If you are an experienced blogger or already have a stream making money for you, you can surely try a broad niche blog. But most people who want to start blogging either want to quit their current job or those who want to make money online. In both scenarios, picking a broad niche can demotivate you, and you can even give up on blogging afterward.

Therefore, I always recommend newbies to begin their journey with micro-niche blogs. Once they gain enough knowledge of blogging and SEO and start making decent money from micro-niche blogs, they can shift to niche blogs.

4. Picking a wrong domain name

Even though a domain name doesn’t make any direct difference from an SEO perspective, it is still a good idea to have a brandable domain name. However, the biggest mistake that I made during my early days and other newbies often make is picking a domain name that is too funky.

There is nothing wrong with having a funky domain name, to be honest. But think from the perspective of a reader. I cannot trust the information provided on a blog that looks too funky. I prefer something that looks more professional and reliable.

So, the question is, how to pick the right domain?

Well, you can find the right domain by following the below-mentioned guidelines –

  • Make sure your domain name is easy to remember.
  • Your domain name should be easy to write and not confusing.
  • Make sure that your domain name represents the niche of your blog. For example, if your blog is about nutrition, you can go with domain names such as NutritionScience.(TLD) or Nutrition101.(TLD)
  • Avoid using names that represent other brands.
  • Go with gTLD such as .com, .net, .co, or others unless you are specifically targeting a particular area.

These are the few things that you have to keep in your head while buying a domain name for your blog. That said, I am not saying that you have to spend days to find a perfect domain name. After all, your domain name will not give you any advantages for SEO.

5. Using the wrong platform

Many new bloggers don’t want to spend much money, especially at the beginning of their journey. I made the same mistake, and I went with Blogger.com as I found that Blogger was the best free solution to start your blog with back then.

That was not a bad choice, but when I started learning about blogging, SEO, and other things, I understood that free platforms come with a lot of limitations and drawbacks. If you use free platforms such as Wix, Weebly, or Blogger, you have to deal with brand ads.

Plus, you will be restricted from accessing a few features, and in the long term, that’s not a good choice. Also, there you will have a lot of disadvantages from an SEO standpoint that can stop you from growing your blog further.

This is the main reason I always advise new bloggers to start with a self-hosted WordPress blog. Contrary to popular belief, WordPress blogs are not too costly to run, especially if you are just starting. You can begin your journey in less than $50 a year, and when you feel that you need to upgrade, you can easily do that with WordPress.

The best thing about WordPress is that it gives you the freedom to control your blog fully. You can use it to monetize your blog without any restrictions, install plugins to add new functionalities, customize your blog endlessly, and do literally anything that you would have thought of.

6. Your writing is too stiff

If you have come so far, you would have realized that I rarely use complex words when I write, and I further try to simplify things as much as I can. Do you know why I do that? And why do other successful bloggers do so?

That is because you have to write for your readers, and most of the time, if they find that your articles are way too complex to understand, they will leave your page. If you want them to stay on your posts, you have to write in a way that keeps them interested.

The easiest way to fix this thing is by writing in a more conversational way. Write the way you talk with your friends. Start using metaphors to illustrate abstract ideas or create a simple story to explain complicated concepts.

Yeah, you can craft a fake story, but that is what most writers do. Your main motto should be how you can convey your message to your readers very easily. So, loosen up your writing and write like you are a real human, not a robot.

7. Not doing keyword research

Keyword research is an essential thing if you want to rank higher on SERPs. Therefore, if you are not doing proper keyword research, you can never grow your blog.

When I started writing blogs, I started writing on topics that I enjoy reading. I published over 30 posts in the first four months, but I didn’t receive a single organic visitor. Later, I realized that I am making a big mistake because I was writing for myself, but I should be writing for my visitors.

Keyword research can help you know what people are searching for. Once you know that, you can write articles around that search term so that those people can come to your blog. The best thing about keyword research is that it also helps you find the least competitive keywords.

Once you make a list of low-competition keywords in your niche, you can start publishing articles targeting those keywords. Low competition keywords are easy to rank, especially for new blogs, and help you drive initial traffic to your blog. This is the main reason not doing keyword research is one of the biggest blogging mistakes newbies can make.

8. Your articles are not comprehensive enough

This is another one of the most common blogging mistakes newbies, and even many intermediate bloggers make. I meet many bloggers who come to me telling me that we have been doing everything right, from keyword research to answering questions on our blog, but still, we are not getting any traffic. What is the reason behind that?

When I review their articles, I often find their articles very short and lacking essential information. And I am not talking only about length here (even though search engines prioritize lengthy articles) but also about user satisfaction.

For example, if you are writing about what Android rooting is, then instead of writing only about the terminology of the word “Android rooting,” you can talk about the advantages and disadvantages of rooting, who should root their device, and your opinion about Android rooting.

This way, you are helping your readers to get detailed and related information about rooting. So, they don’t have to go elsewhere. With that, I am not telling you to write garbage to make your articles lengthy. That will not help you at all. Instead, focus on offering relevant information that will be helpful to your readers.

But here, the biggest question arises, and that is, “What length should I target?”

The answer is, it all depends. A 600 word comprehensive article can even beat articles with 1200 to 1500 words of garbage content. So, it is not always the length but also the relevancy. Focus on writing until you feel that you have answered the question entirely.

9. You don’t have a content strategy

Another common mistake that newbies and even intermediates make is not having a content strategy. Even though they target low competition keywords, they cannot rank them easily because of the poor or no content strategy.

Content strategy is not only about finding low competition keywords. A content strategy includes everything right from writing your first article to strategy for backlinks and updating your dated articles with updated and relevant information.

Learning how to make a successful content strategy takes time and experience. But if you are just a beginner, I would suggest you start with following the path I mentioned below –

Start with keyword research

Pick a niche and start making a list of keywords that you can target. Try to find keywords that have high to medium search volume and medium to low competition. Now, you have to pick a keyword from that list and find some low-competition keywords related to that main keyword and group them.

For example – if your main keyword is Android rooting, you can find relevant keywords such as Android rooting apps, how to root Android, risks of Android rooting, pros and cons of Android rooting, etc.

Write mind-blowing blog content

Once you make a list of keywords, it is time for you to write your main article. Write an article that includes your main keyword in title, headers, body, and image alt text. Make sure to place it naturally and don’t overdo it. Overusing keywords can backfire on you and affect your post badly. Make sure to write the article thoroughly.

Once you publish your main article, it is time to write articles for related keywords. Write those articles similarly to your main article with proper use of keywords in the title and other parts of the article.

Interlink articles

Interlinking is another important aspect not only for SEO but also for user engagement. It shows search engines that you are publishing relevant articles, and because of that, search engines promote your articles above other blogs with non-relevant content.

On the flip side, suppose a reader finds your blog through a Google search, and they have read your article entirely. You have written a great piece of content that satisfies that reader’s need, but now, they have some additional questions about the topic.

If you have interlinked articles properly on your blog, it can help users find more relevant information. As a result, they will not leave your blog, and at best, they will bookmark your blog for further reading. It will not only improve the bounce rate of your blog but also help you look like a reliable resource for information.

This is the main reason we created a list of relevant keywords and published articles covering those keywords in the first and second steps. You have to link your main articles with supportive articles internally.

Time to get backlinks

Getting backlinks is an easy way to gain trust in the eyes of search engines. You can get them either by approaching other bloggers or by writing blog posts for them. There are many other ways to get backlinks but just be careful not to overdo this. Overdoing this can trigger search engines in the wrong way.

Update your dated content

Updating your dated content with the latest information can offer you a lot of benefits, and the most important one is improving the SEO of that article. Search engines are wired to promote content that offers users the most accurate, helpful, thorough, and updated information.

Therefore, updating your content shows search engines that your content is up-to-date with more precise and detailed information. As a result, search engines promote your content above others. Plus, updating dated content also allows you to improve on-page SEO for the keywords performing great.

There are several other benefits of updating your content with the latest information. It is the main reason updating content should be a part of your content strategy, and most newbies often ignore this.

Closing Comments

So, there you have a list of the nine most common blogging mistakes to avoid as a beginner.

Everyone starts at some point, and we all learn from our mistakes. Even to this day, I might be making some blogging mistakes that I will realize later in my life. However, you can learn from my experience and avoid making these blogging mistakes on your own.

If you think I forgot to mention something, do let me know in the comment section below.

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