When it comes to blogging I have made my fair share of blogging mistakes, but honestly I think we all have. Sometimes I don’t even know if I’d call them mistakes. Because I learnt something from each of them. Let’s rebrand mistakes as ‘lessons learnt’. It sounds alot better.
I’ve posted alot of content this year, and along the way have had many lessons learnt moments. And for todays blog I’ll be going through some of them. I want to do this so that you can learn from the blogging mistakes that I’ve made. And so you can make sure you don’t make the same mistakes I did. Its so easy to fall into bad habits, and it’s easy to make mistakes without even realising.
I’m no way trying to say I’m a ‘professional’ at this, because I’m not. I am constantly learning lessons on my blogging journey and I probably won’t stop learning lessons either. I hope you can learn from what I share today.
TRYING TO TAKE ALL MY OWN PHOTOS
When I logged back into WordPress in July 2020 I was amazed at the amazing images I saw other bloggers using. I thought to myself how on earth do these people find the time to take all of these amazing photos?! So naturally I tried for a few weeks to take all of my feature photos myself, and worried and stressed over trying to get them done. I even nearly talked myself into purchasing a professional camera to make them look as good as possible. I came to realise that the images I saw were in fact stock images. And at the time I didn’t see anyone talking about stock images, and even now I find its not something that many bloggers talk about.
So my advice to you is don’t worry about taking all of your own photos. There are so many generous photographers out there who choose to share their work with us for free. Utilise the resources that are there for you. Work smarter not harder.
NOT INTERACTING WITH OTHER BLOGGERS
When I first started my blogging journey in 2015 I didn’t interact with any other bloggers at all. I remember having this weird assumption that people would come to me if they liked my stuff. I don’t know why a flip didn’t switch in my brain to consider that maybe I’d need to get myself out there to be noticed.
And sure enough, as soon as I did thats when my following started to grow. Remember that you need a good community of people around you in order to grow and become successful. Majority of the most successful people in the world have a good group around them.
So my advice for you is to interact with others as much as you can. Ensure that its genuine interaction though, and you’re not just doing it so they notice you. Be sincere with your support.
POSTING INCONSISTENTLY
Something you have read from me before is the key to blogging success is consistency. Whether its posting on your actual blog or being active on social media. You need to show yourself to be seen. One lesson I learnt back when I first started was that I wasn’t consistent in my posting schedule. I was going months between posting, which works for some. But for me, posting on a more regular basis is what has helped me to grow my site.
So my advice to you is to make sure you create yourself a blogging schedule. One that works for you, but has some level of consistency in there. This will benefit you and your site. The more you put content out there, the better chance you have of being noticed.
FORGETTING TO PROOF READ
On several occasions I have failed to proof read my content before posting. Do you ever get so excited when writing something that you just can’t wait and want to post it right away? That happens to me so often and then what happens next is that I post my content with incorrect words and broken or missing links. And it’s all just a big mess. Not only is it a big mess, it looks unprofessional too. If you want to be taken seriously as a blogger its important that your content is as good as it can be. Your writing is a representation of you and who you are.
So my advice to you is to make sure that you proof read your content several times if you have to. Make sure there are no mistakes. Even get others to check it if you have to!
What blogging mistakes have you made in the past? How did you learn from those blogging mistakes?
Olivia x
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I needed to read this. Especially the interaction point because when in my first year of blogging, I was interacting with multiple bloggers. And at that time, my blog was on fire. But this year the interaction has reduced a lot and it’s clearly seen in the blog stats/engagement.
Thank you for sharing this, Olivia❤️🙌
You’re so welcome! Interaction is key!
Thanks for this post, really interesting. I have had different stages blogging and now the most important thing for me is to have a clear purpose, a goal that guides my writing … greetings!
Yes! Love this!
Thank you so much for this information!
You’re welcome!
I have a little difficulty in getting responses from others and I don’t know many sites to follow
The reader is full of people just waiting to be followed!
Thank you for sharing your experience with us
Thank you for reading!
This is one amazing post I have come across and I realise that I have made all these mistake. I plan to correct these for sure ! Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome!☺️
Thank you Ms Olivia. I am new to blogging and I’ll this is all as an advice. ❤️
Aw, welcome!! So glad this post was helpful🤍
Nice
Thanks!
Thanks for this
You’re welcome!
Thanks Olivia for this wonderful and informative blog. This really helps people like me who is just the novice not to make mistakes.
You’re so welcome☺️ so glad it was helpful!
I thought people will come visit my blog because they like what I do and didn’t need to market my work but it was a mistake!
Very informative
Thanks!
Thank you for this. My journey with consistent blogging started this year. It really helps.
Thank you for this!
Nice article, I also have a posting schedule problem which I am still dealing with.
Thanks for the write up
This post is really nice!!! Keep up the good work!
Very nice
loved it, thank you!
I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you 🙂
Wow great article! I am a new blogger and I still struggle ..Precious advice and glad I discovered you😊😊🙏
Thanks so much! So glad you liked this post!
Definitely needed this as I start my blogging journey, especially that tip about the stock photos and featured images! Thank you!
You’re so welcome Peyton🤗
Great advice! I have posted content without letting it “rest”. One day or two reading it at different times, making corrections… (there is allways something to change for the better). My blog is about microtales so I also. need to know when to stop and finally post.
This was really helpful. Thank you so much 💕
I’ve recently decided to actually post what I write. I used to write because it felt therapeutic.Truth be told you are one person who makes it seem worth it. Thank you for all the information you share.
Good job 😊
Thank you for the great post! I’ve only just started the blogging journey myself and I am sure I will make many mistakes on the way. But at least I can now try to avoid those you stated. In fact while I knew about the whole picture thing I was also under the impression that at some point all bloggers start taking their own to be successful.
Your experience shows clearly in your post
Not a single mistake and everything’s just amazingly written
I am new here and this will help me to build my blog
Thanks a lot!
Thanks so much!
As someone who started blogging this year…inconsistently…this year this was super helpful! I really need to be more consistent. Thanks for sharing all you’ve learned!
So glad you found this helpful!
These are some basic mistakes all of us tend to do in our beginning. Thanks for the reminder dear.
As a beginner, this will surely help me. thankyou 😊
Thank you soo much it really helps a lot when experienced bloggers gives advice to amateurs like us . It really helped a lot. We are looking forward to more advices from you.
Proof reading and consistency are my two weak spots. I’m trying to be more consistent and less get people to read my content before I publish it. Hopefully, that will help. Thanks for the tips.
Excellent advice as always! I can see ebbs and flows in activity on my blog that correspond with the times life got in the way and I rarely interacted with people. Your blog has to be a part of you, I think, if you want it to work professionally.
I would also suggest that bloggers focus on key words and key phrases to help make their posts visible. I use a plug-in called Keywords Everywhere that charges a small fee and can help make a huge difference in blog interaction. It works wonders for me when I have a slump in activity.
I’m just starting and I have a schedule to post three times a week, idk if thats too much or just enough tbh. I’m just scared that I’ll run out of things to say and I’ll mess up my schedule
One of the few blog posts that ACTUALLY help and isn’t just a promo! Good advice (:
I have made several of the same mistakes. When I first started posting quotes on my blog I would not proof read it and I had several errors. It was so embarrassing. I wish I learned that own first. Another is interacting with other bloggers. I would simply not really read other blog post and just put “great post and thanks for sharing.” I just thought you had to comment something. Now I realize that it was rude of me. Now I really interact with other bloggers and read their post and write comments l about their post. I am still learning a lot but still growing.
Wonderful post – do you have any best practices on how to engage with other bloggers? Is this primarily within the comments? Or do you recommend any other kind of social media? Thank you!
Thanks Olivia, I’m brand new to the blogging scene but it’s something I’ve thought about for a while. I was well set up having put thought into photos, schedule and proof reading but hadn’t considered the interaction. Thank you for your helpful advice 😊