It’s not difficult to break into the world of online blogging. Aspiring writers, hobbyists and every armchair tech guru on the planet has a blog these days. After all, all you need to get started is a decent web hosting company, a domain name and an idea. And if you want to go super simple, you don’t even need all that. Free web hosting companies will be happy to sponsor and host your new blog for free.
Once you have a web host and solid blog idea, the real work begins. Believe it or not, a good number of well-known bloggers out there make some of the biggest blogging boo-boos possible. Are you making these blogging mistakes?
1. Leaving fake blog comments
In an attempt to artificially inflate their supposed reader counts, many a blogger takes it upon himself to pose as a reader and leave feedback on their own articles. Tacky! Not only that, but it’s easy to spot a fake blog comment a mile away.
2. Over-monetizing your website
Every blogger dreams of making it big with an edgy, fun-to-read blog. Unfortunately, a lot of those dreamers sacrifice website design just to make a few bucks. Too many ads on websites are not only a turn off to readers, but they’re also penalized by Google.
3. Not linking to sources
If you’re going to claim that the Loch Ness Monster is real you’d better cite your sources, lest you become another overdramatic, unreliable blogger. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, so be prepared to back up your statements with verifiable proof.
4. Changing your design too often
Isn’t it nice to go to your banking website and know exactly where to login, logout and find your bank statements? Imagine if your bank changed their layout every week. How would you possibly get anything done or even rely on your banking institution? The same is true for your website design. Once you find a design that works, stick with it until there’s a clear reason to upgrade or redesign.
5. Always writing 500 word posts
Some arguments can be made with 200 words and others may take 2,000. When you write a post with only the word count in mind, you tend to lose your train of thought and either ramble on endlessly or fail to make your point. Blog posts don’t need to be XXX amount of words long to be effective.
Have you made mistakes as a blogger that you later corrected? Let us learn from you by telling us about your past blogging mistakes in the comments.