Top 10 Common Blogging Mistakes to Avoid (with Examples)

By
| Leave a Comment | Last Updated:
Common blogging mistakes to avoid for beginners
Common blogging mistakes to avoid for beginners

We all start with blogging mistakes…

…that’s normal.

And in this journey, we all make our fair share of common blogging mistakes.

Having said that, some of these dumb mistakes can cost us dearly.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss 11 of the most common blogging mistakes (with examples) and tips to avoid them for the better.

But before that, here’s what our reader Alice wrote to us the other day.

I started my blog with all the care I could.

I nurtured every blog post with hours of planning and additional hours taking care to make the blog post epic.

In the hope of reaching my dream audience and getting my blog the visibility it deserved, I shared each blog post on social media (Pinterest, and every Facebook group that I could join).

And… the result?

*crickets*

Where am I going wrong? What am I missing?

Sounds like your story?

I know, because I have been there too.

But now, I can proudly say that by rectifying these blogging mistakes, I make a living online.

About 95% of bloggers who aim at starting a blog, quit halfway.

They just quit even before making a single buck from their blog.

Why?

Because they don’t have a proper action plan of things to do after registering their domain.

I know money isn’t everything, but if you’re blogging for business, writing to add that extra income to your family budget, or quitting that nagging job, money sure means a lot.

As bloggers, you and I are battling for attention in a distracted world of readers.Click to Post

It is very hard to hook your readers to what you are saying, leave alone sell them something.

But, in the end, it all sums up to one thing..

..we have to try and give our best no matter what.

Failure is just one more chance to re-evaluate your strategy.

Let’s start with the dumbest mistakes bloggers make that you must avoid like the plague.

Must Read: How I Went From Zero to $6000 Blogging From Home


1. Not Self-hosting Your Blog

This wins the top spot for blogging mistakes for beginners. Almost always.

Choosing a free hosted platform (like Medium, Blogspot, etc) isn’t always an intended mistake, it is often the result of:

  1. Not having enough money to start a blog
  2. No confidence in the future of blogging as a business

However, choosing a free blogging platform is always the number one mistake bloggers make because that means you are planting your flower in someone else’s garden.

Free blog platforms not only host your blog for free, but they also own the rights to delete your blog as and when they deem fit without even warning you of it.

Imagine waking up one morning and seeing all of your 100 articles and the community and everything vanished into thin air!

Besides, blogs that are not self-hosted also end up displaying intrusive ads from the blogging platform they’re hosted at.

Totally not cool.

Lastly, blogs that are not self-hosted do not rank well.

Let me ask you a question, “when was the last time you saw a site on a sub-domain ranking on Google?”

Never, right?

That’s why self-hosted is the way to go.

You own your blog, you won your content and it performs better on search engines too.

For starters, Bluehost is the best hosting to get your blog self-hosted, or if you have budget issues, here is a list of WordPress hosting that are billed monthly.


2. Not Doing Keyword Research

Finding and using the right combination of keywords while creating content is the surefire way to increase your overall search traffic to your blogs.

Writing random blog posts is one of the most common blogging mistakes for small businesses that often leads them nowhere.

We write whatever we think is interesting, right?

Now, think it this way…

Whatever is interesting for us, might not be interesting for our readers.

If you want to build a successful blog from scratch, you need to find better keywords that increase your search engine rankings. (HINT: Use SEMrush (click here for 14 day free trial worth $99.95) to find hidden keywords that your competitors can’t).

See, if you are not ranking for the keywords that your target audience might search on Google, how can you expect visitors coming from Google to read your content?

Solution:

  • Your editorial calendar, at least in the beginning, should have low competition, long tail keywords (often with low search volumes and less competition).
  • Get access to keyword research tools like Long Tail Pro, SEMrush, and Kwfinder (5 free searches per day), etc.
  • Find out what keywords your competitors are using to increase their traffic. Find out if you can use similar keywords to increase your blog’s traffic too.

BONUS VIDEO: How To Grow Your Organic Traffic (FAST)

Watch it before moving forward, you’ll love it and go back with lots of tips to improve your blog.

YouTube video

3. Not Investing in Your Blogging Business

Blogging is a business, not a hobby.

Sadly, most new bloggers don’t realize this fact. They expect to make money blogging without investing back any into their blogs.

This is one of the biggest blogging mistakes you could make, ever!

Although you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to create a profitable blog you should definitely invest money in getting a good design, web hosting, having access to the right tools, etc.

If you are looking to make money from your blogging efforts and take advantage of all the advantages of blogging, here are a few places where you should consider investing money.

1. Tools, plugins, or themes

Isn’t your blog your virtual office?

If yes, then why not brand it with a premium theme?

A premium theme, apart from making your blog beautiful and easy to convert, helps boost your blogging credibility.

When someone visits your blog and sees you have invested a good sum in your blog maintenance, he or she knows you are here for business and not running away. 

On a sidenote, here’s a list of best WordPress blog themes that you can try!

Similarly, a premium service like Tailwind can boost your blog’s visibility on Pinterest and drive you a lot of traffic which would obviously bring you a good return on investment.

But for that, you have to get off and invest a minimal sum firsthand.

I have been using SEMrush to find out some really profitable keywords that aren’t hard to rank even without backlinks.

Check out my SEMrush review and tutorial guide to see how you can use it to discover untapped keywords and even spy on the keywords that your competitors are targeting.

2. Hosting

Web hosting is extremely crucial.

A faster, more secure, and more reliable web host is something you should go after.

So make sure NOT to go for a cheap or free hosting that usually goes down.

Invest money in a reliable hosting service like Greengeeks, Bluehost, etc. (these hosting services can be billed monthly too).

Pro Tip: For all my blogs, I use WPX hosting (read my WPX hosting review or get the WPX hosting discount coupon), it is a bit costly but provides free SSL and security, backups and brought my blog loading time to under 2 seconds.) Did I say that blog speed, SSL (that https markup in the URL) are Google ranking factors?

Heck, Yes!

3. Outsourcing

Blogging takes too much time whether it is for content creation, SEO, or managing your blog’s traffic sources.

If you are not willing to put time into your blogs, try considering spending money on outsourcing those tasks which will pay you in the long run.

Successful bloggers focus on outsourcing tasks like content, blog management, social media marketing, etc., so they can focus on scaling the business.


4. Not Focusing on Building an Email List

If you’re looking for classic examples of blogging mistakes, this has to have mentioned.

When I started blogging, I used to read these blogging for beginner guides that always advised on creating an email list. 

And I always thought to myself, I don’t need those. I have measly blog traffic, who will subscribe to my list?

But, I was wrong.

No matter how much traffic you get from Pinterest, no matter what SEO techniques you follow to rank on search engines like Google just remember one thing, you don’t own them.

This is when I knew I had to build an email list of subscribers who I own and who own me.

Having your own subscribers is great because you can connect to them when you want and they can reach out to you when they want.

An email list can help you:

  1. Increase your traffic (when you publish a new post and send a newsletter)
  2. Increases your sales (when people see value in your stuff, they buy from what you recommend, for example, special deals, courses, etc)
  3. Increases the trust (trust is the currency online!)

If you are not yet building your email list, you’re leaving money on the table!

Here are a few powerful tips to quickly boost your email list:

  • Getting started with list building is easy: I recommend and use Convertkit. (Instead of using Mailchimp which is a great free option, I recommend investing some bucks and getting yourself better equipped from the beginning (don’t commit the blogging mistakes I committed). With Convertkit, you can segment customers based on their interests which is a big thing as you get targeted readers = targeted sales). Click here to read my ConvertKit Review!
  • Give an incentive to your visitors. No one likes to give their email without any freebie. eBooks are often easy to create and help you quickly boost your list. Or you can create a checklist. I use my
  • Use more email opt-in forms to get more subscribers. Put them in your sidebar, footer, about us page, landing pages, popups etc. Use Thrive Leads to create opt-in forms that convert. For me content upgrades created via thrive leads works the best. (Check out my Robin Williams Quotes page. I built a simple PDF of the existing quotes and gave it away as a content upgrade so that my readers can use it as a wall hanging. Man! It converts like crazy!)
  • Get ConvertKit Now ››


    Liking the tips to grow your blog so far?

    Discover 7 more blogging mistakes for beginners and how to avoid them..

    Keep reading…

    5. Posting Generic Content

    Content is king.

    It doesn’t matter how much traffic or money you put in, without creating engaging content, you can’t make a blog popular.

    Even Google came up openly declared that content is one of the top 3 ranking factors along with backlinks and rank brain.

    If you are struggling to increase your blog exposure with your content, try implementing the following content writing tips. 

    • Write detailed SEO-optimized content. Generally, blog posts with over 2,000 words always perform well in Google search results. So take time to create in-depth articles that help your audience.
      (Please Note: If your audience loves short-form content, like in the food niche, you could obviously do that, but don’t forget to evaluate what your competitors are doing and then write better than that to outrank them. )
    • Find out what your audience wants: Define your blog niche (here are 100+ blog niche ideas to choose from) and set your target audience in mind before you create any content for your blog.
      That way you will be able to create laser-focused content that attracts more social shares, links, and sales.
    Beginner Blogging Tip: Write For A Single Audience

    Beginner Blogging Tip: Write Strictly For Your Audience


    6. Not Having a Blog Monetization Strategy

    Are you struggling to make money from your blog?

    It might be mainly because you don’t have a proper monetization plan.

    Without creating a strategy to monetize your blogs, you won’t get any better results no matter how hard you try.

    Every beginner should know the importance of creating a blog sales funnel. Find out the ways to turn your normal website visitors into email subscribers into buyers.

    I have recently invested in a premium plugin called Thrive Ultimatum (read my Thrive Ultimatum review here) so that I can show exact affiliate products to my niche site readers and increase sales.

    This plugin can help you in setting up campaigns like the ones you see with countdown timers (ex: offer expires in 7 days). This type of hype and showcase of scarcity situation helps your visitors buy your product faster. So far, I am earning awesomely using that plugin.

    Email list also comes into handy for business blogs or while monetizing a site. It can quickly help you build awareness about the products or services you promote.

    Don’t just solely depend on one or two strategies such as AdSense, selling banners or affiliate marketing, etc.

    If they fail to help you make money, you will eventually lose all interest in blogging.

    As they say, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. :)

    Recommended Readings:


    7. Not Networking With Fellow Bloggers

    Connections are everything online.

    The most common beginner blogging mistake make is not trying to connect with fellow bloggers and influencers.

    Your network is your net worth.

    Observe any successful professional bloggers like Pat Flynn, Neil Patel, and Darren Rowse and you will notice that they all have spent a lot of time building loyal communities around their blogs.

    And that’s how they were able to build million dollars websites online.

    Even you can do that by focusing on creating fans for your blogs. Unfortunately, most beginners spend a lot of time pleasing Google.

    If you chase your target audience, Google will give you the best rewards. It’s as simple as that.

    Check out how Harleena Singh built her blog with the sheer power of networking with her blog commenters and fellow bloggers.

    Also, Read Relationship Marketing strategies for bloggers and how they can help you grow your blog.


    Backlinks are the backbones of any website that gets huge traffic from search engines.

    Without building quality contextual backlinks, no matter how much content you create won’t get good results in Google.

    Here are a few effective link-building strategies you can try to quickly boost your overall search engine traffic.

    • Nothing beats engaging content that naturally attracts a lot of links. Spend a lot of time writing in-depth articles and you will have better chances of getting more links from other blogs.
    • Make sure to link out to other bloggers frequently. Do let them know about it whenever you link out. That way sooner or later, they will also start doing it when they find your content really informative.
    • Guest posting is the most effective way to build backlinks. Try to write for top blogs in your industry and it can quickly help you boost your overall domain authority and backlinks.

    Here is our backlinks for beginners guide to help you get a full concept of links and then here’s 10 ways you can build backlinks safely (with examples)


    If you follow the next 3 blogging tips, you’ll agree that they’re perhaps the best blogging advice you ever read!

    See how….

    9. Checking Website Stats Every time

    Seriously, most bloggers (especially when you’re beginning) check their traffic stats every single minute. It’s a complete waste of time.

    When you are building a new blog, you should focus on spending your time increasing your traffic not checking Google analytics. If you are struggling to increase your blog traffic, try the following things.

    • Create viral headlines that make people immediately click on your posts.
    • Learn the art of proper on-page SEO optimization.
    • Always perform keyword research as I discussed earlier in the post. It’s a must to increase traffic to any website.

    Pro Tip for Business Bloggers: Once you have some traction, make sure to check your Google analytics and search console to see what blog posts are working, what keywords are getting you traffic and what is your audience demographic. This data will help you scale your content strategy in the right direction.


    10. Not Writing for Other Blogs

    When creating a new blog, most bloggers make the mistake of writing content only for their blog.

    See, how can you reach a wider audience by creating content for a new blog?

    Blogging is all about reaching more people and eventually increasing exposure to your blog, right?

    This will not only help you network with fellow bloggers and probably give you links but also boost your blog’s brand recall value (which, in return, can boost the CTR of your blog posts in the SERPs).

    That’s the reason why you should start creating the best blog content for other blogs. Write guest posts for them and you will get a lot of traffic to your own sites.

    Try writing 1 post every week for any better blog in your niche and within a few months, you will not only build a lot of links but more importantly, you get more exposure.

    If you think your writing is not up to the mark and why would anyone read your blog posts, STOP everything now and read my tips on writing motivation (takes 30 seconds).

    You can thank me later. :)


    10. Not Leveraging Social Media

    Social media is becoming the new SEO.

    If you are struggling to boost your search traffic, you should give a try to social media. About 93% of brands got a new customer from a video shared on social media!

    You can easily leverage social media traffic by connecting and reaching out to influencers on social media. Find out how can you help others with your content or tips and make sure to go viral with your stuff.

    You can consider creating funny images, memes, Infographics, etc. to quickly reach more audiences on social media. If you are hesitant to create long-form content, you can always leverage the trends and invest in Instagram reels, TikTok, or even YouTube shorts that have far more reach than traditional posts.

    In fact, about 37% of total impressions (of a brand/blog/user) on Instagram are via Instagram stories. Another reason to use it in your content strategy.

    Here are some of our guides to help you leverage social media for your blog’s growth:

    P.S. Never consider social media platforms to be your primary source of traffic. You don’t own them and all changes almost kill organic reach. Treat social media traffic as an additional source of traffic along with email marketing and SEO.


    FAQs on common blogging mistakes and how to avoid them

    What are some common blogging mistakes to avoid

    Some of the most common blogging mistakes to avoid are starting with a free blogging platform, not having a solid action plan, writing on random topics, and mistakes like fearing to invest in the blog.

    Which is the wrong practice to follow while blogging?

    One of the deadliest wrong practices to follow while blogging is “not sticking to a niche or subject”. When you start blogging on random topics you will not have a committed audience and lack topical authority which helps search engines decide your expertise on the subject.

    What are the biggest mistakes bloggers make when monetizing a blog?

    The biggest mistake bloggers make when monetizing a blog is to load it with clunky ads and thereby killing the user experience. Another mistake would be not having a solid plan and promoting stuff that is not useful for their target audience.

    Are blogs on free blogging platforms limited?

    Yes, blogs on free platforms are very limited and indicate a beginner’s journey. If you’re a professional blogger and are making a decent income you’d want to switch to self-hosted blogging platforms like WordPress.

    What are some examples of blogging mistakes for beginners?

    Not having a consistent blogging schedule, not focusing on grammatical errors, and blogging on wrong topics are some common examples of blogging mistakes for beginners. You can fix them by writing high-quality, long-form content that your readers find interesting (hint: use Google Trends to check the popularity of keywords over time).

    Conclusion: Common Blogging Mistakes to Avoid in 2022

    I hope you liked my collection of common blogging mistakes to avoid and got tips to rectify them.

    Blogging is hard, especially, in the beginning. You will not only struggle to increase your traffic but also your sales.

    Just remember this,

    Every successful blogger was once a beginner.

    Building a successful blog depends on how quickly you learn from the mistakes you make.

    So what are some of your common blogging mistake examples?

    Share your thoughts in the comments below so that we can discuss them.

    DigitalGYD content is free. When you purchase through referral links on our site, we may earn a small commission.

    Hi, I'm Swadhin Agrawal, founder, and editor-in-chief of DigitalGYD. DigitalGYD is a multiple-times award-winning blog where we aim at helping bloggers how to start a blog and grow it into a profitable online business.

    I'm a professional blogger for a decade now and am the founder of Value Intent Media Pvt. Ltd., a media company that creates content for a multi-million-sized audience across various verticals.

    Our research & content on DigitalGYD is often referred to by brands like The Telegraph, Forbes, Times of India, Yahoo! Finance, HuffPost, Bluehost, Neil Patel, The Next Web, etc.

    173 thoughts on “Top 10 Common Blogging Mistakes to Avoid (with Examples)”

    1. Biswajit Nath

      Hey Swadhin,

      Great tips to avoid failure in blogging.
      As a blogger, I often found it difficult to build backlinks. I couldn’t accumulate a single penny for just posting content, no matter how good that contents were. And that was the biggest mistake I have ever made.
      Checking website statistics every time is another big mistake done by most bloggers and unfortunately, I did too.
      Actually, to be honest, I have done multiple mistakes you have mentioned above and now I am trying hard to get rid of.

      Regards,
      Biswajit

    2. Andy Cooper

      Wow, thank you very much for this cool article! I did not even know about some of the errors mentioned in your article, and I could not even think that I made such mistakes in my blog. I really hope that you will continue to share your experience and knowledge with beginners.

    3. Monika

      Very helpful and informative post on blogging mistakes!

      We all make mistakes but having someone list them and show how they can be fixed will help make blogging for beginners easy.

      Monika

    4. Dawn B

      I need to start using social media more to help with getting more views to my blog. I will finish reading this post later when I start writing my newest post that way I can use the tips while I’m creating the new post. So I can see how much the tips help with the post.

      Thanks in advance.

    5. JOHN MULINDI

      Well done. This post has some good tips to help bloggers improve on their blogging game. I really learned a lot especially to do with Keyword research. Thanks for sharing.

    6. Ryan Biddulph

      Investing in my blog was the best decision I made Swadhin. As for the list it is funny; I saw much more success by not building a list. When I tried, it felt heavy. Didn’t vibe with me. Folks just bookmark my blog, return and prosper me. I am unforgettable LOL so no need to see my emails. I am in my reader’s hearts. I dig your list buddy.

    7. Matti Haapamäki

      Definitely valuable tips! Guilty as charged for checking the visitor stats of my blog several times a day. It’s so hard to quit though!

      I think I have a solid plan to make some profit on my blog, and I’m going to invest the profits back as soon as they start flowing.

      • Lisa

        I really liked the quote ” Failure is just one more chance to re-evaluate your strategy.” thats soo good

    8. Susie Lindau

      I’ve been blogging for seven years and my SEO is practically non-existent. With 700 blog posts, I should be getting at least that many views from search per day. I don’t think my old posts are being crawled.

      I’ve been doing the opposite with long-tail words, and use the most popular. Mistakes were made!

      I have a subscriber list of 10,000 through Wordpress but haven’t started a mailing list. I need to write a pdf for a giveaway. Lots to do!
      Thanks for the tips!

    9. Laura

      Such a great blog post! Each point you make is useful. And I made pretty much all these mistakes at some point. I had to take a break from blogging in May due to health issues and now I am struggling to get back to it. It’s daunting to see how my stats dropped while I wasn’t posting (even though I expected it since my blog was still new when I had to stop).
      One thing I love now (and underestimated before) is interacting with other bloggers. Either through comments or on Twitter. I really love the blogger Twitter community, you can meet so many nice people & make friends.

    10. Doug Paulson

      Very in-depth article for bloggers to follow. I especially like #2. Most bloggers want to start a business while spending nothing and expect it to make them lots of money. To be successful at anything, you need to be willing to invest in it. Blogging is no different. Thanks for sharing.

    11. Ryan Biddulph

      #2 is the blog career killer Swadhin. Folks try to start a small business called blogging without spending a dime on their small business. Offline this equals failure. Online this equals failure. Rocking post!

      Ryan

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Thanks Ryan.
        Couldn’t agree more. If you wish to earn or build your blogging business, you have to invest in your blogs. Luckily, most investments are far less than what we have for offline businesses.

        If that’s something someone hesitates, surely their blog will be having this biz-disadvantage than others.

        Thanks for stopping by, Ryan. It’s a treat to interact with you.

        Best regards,
        -Swadhin

    12. JOHN MULINDI

      I have learned a lot from this post. Succeeding at blogging involves making mistakes on the way, and learning from them. Thanks for sharing these great tips

    13. Valerie

      I’m doing so many things wrong! This was such a good article with solid advice. One thing I’m curious about but haven’t read about anywhere… what does “normal” traffic look like in the first year of a blog? Hard to gauge how I’m doing!

    14. ADa

      Wow this blog post is amazing! I have my blog for over a year now but my blog traffic is terrible and I am not making money! I am saving your blog now as I feel like it will help me a lot! Thank you!

    15. Catherine

      Hey, fab post! Great content and tips, especially for a newbie like myself. Definitely see SEO everywhere and, thought overwhelming, a huge area to work on to go from hobby to professional blogger. Thanks for sharing your top tips.

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Let me know how these go for your blog, Catherine.

    16. Sukanya

      Thank you so much! You always provide an in-depth study. Very concise post!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Thanks Sukanya. What are the worst blogging mistakes you’ve made?

    17. Laura

      So this was the kick in the pants I needed… I’m making 4 of these beginner blogging mistakes! Thanks for the info. I will be referencing this often!

    18. Kristina

      I never thought of utilizing some of these products. I will have to look into them more and get an email list going!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Sure.. Let me know how this goes. :)

    19. Sandy Brandon

      Great article! I’m one that’s been lazy when it comes to reaching out to other bloggers for guest blogging. I do have some that are doing guest post on mine,
      Thanks for the reminder!

    20. Denise Riehle

      Great post. I will have Fred the Circus Clown in my head all day today, trying to stay true to writing to the right audience :) So many tips to help out a blogger I really appreciate it!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Thanks. Writing for your own target audience is the best thing you can do. :)

    21. Monica

      I have to say you are absolutely right about #3. My email list is really small and I only send them my latest post. I really have to work on this one! Thank you for reminding me and motivating me!

    22. Colette

      Great post! Guest posting is something I always mean to do more of – but never seem to get around to. Thanks for the reminder!

    23. Wow, this is super helpful. I bookmarked 4 of your links to check out later. Now, i gotta start implementing these tactics. Step one, finding good keywords

    24. Jennifer

      Great advice! I have personally been stuck with my blog for a very long time. I do keyword research, write for SEO, and have recently started guest posting, but my traffic won’t budget. Your device gives me hope!

    25. Omar

      These are extremely useful! I actually bookmarked this page to get back to the tips again when I refine my blog further.

      Thank you!

    26. Tara G

      Great tips! I have been asked to blog on other sites, but was not sure if I should take the bait. What do you think?

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        You should definitely take the chance to guest post on other blogs to leverage their reach, audience and authority to grow yours. Just remember, go for legit sites, in the same niche you’re blogging in, and having a better ranking/authority than yours (you can get an idea using tools like Ahrefs, or free ones like Moz’s domain authority ).

    27. amy

      I feel like overall I’m doing pretty well at these things as a 1-month new blog, but I’m just now starting to work on getting back listings/guest posts, etc. Thanks for sharing.

    28. Gemma

      I am new to blogging and these are such great tips. There’s so much to think about and it tends to overwhelm me. This list is a nice way to help me organize all that I should consider.

    29. Jen

      Great tips! I’ve been hesitant to invest money in my blog. I think that might be the next step for me.

    30. Lisa Wingerter @ https://meandmymomfriends.com

      This is full of great blogging advice. Most of these I had to learn the hard way (and I mean HARD way) and some I am still figuring out. Very useful blogging tips!

    31. Ali

      Seo is my kryptonite. My goal for the month is figuring out the SEO and implementing it to get more traffic…thank you for the tools!

    32. lauren

      Love this post! It has so many important factors listed in growing traffic. One thing I didn’t realize I had to work more on is keywords, so thanks for that tip!

    33. Ariz

      So true. I’ve been blogging for only a couple of months now. There’s still so much for me to learn about blogging. I’m currently trying to improve my keyword research and implementation. Thanks for the blogging tips.

    34. Susie Lindau

      Love your blogging tips!
      I didn’t know that about long tail SEO. I had been doing the opposite. Does that pertain to titles too?
      I’ve been getting hardly any search through Google and think it’s because I’m using a theme that doesn’t summarize my posts. I had added my own read more tags, but I don’t think crawlers can get past them. I’m researching new themes and will see if that does the trick!

    35. Heather Erickson

      Great post! I am finally drilling down to a specific audience rather than trying to write for the whole world. SO I loved your cartoon that illustrated that. Doing this has boosted my confidence that my audience is going to feel good about what I am writing. Also, guest blogging really is a great way to gain readers and exposure. I see a direct link to my sales numbers on Amazon when I write for someone else’s site. So, fantastic advice all the way around.

    36. Tiffany

      THis was a great list and all 100% accurate. I love reading posts where you know wha tthe blogger is talking about. Great work, Love all the info! Pinning and will share in my blogging FB group.

    37. Nychelle

      Thanks for sharing! I just started a blog almost two weeks ago and I’m having with keeping people on my website. I hope to put these tips to use. I’m still confused on monetization but hopefully I’ll get to that point.

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Hi Nychelle,

        It is always a good strategy to think about monetization after your blog receives some momentum (page views, readers. rankings). Keep us informed about your blogging journey (I hope you avoid these blogging mistakes).

    38. John Mulindi

      I totally agree with your points. Building a list is paramount if you want to succeed online, most bloggers give little focus here only to discover later that they really would have started building it immediately they embarked on their blogging journey.

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Hi John,

        I agree. Becoming cautious of the most predictable blogging mistake and avoiding them beforehand is the key.

    39. Jason Butler

      I can’t lie. When I first started blogging, I made a few of these mistakes. I learned quickly though and got my act together.

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Hi Jason,

        Haha! We all start from the same square one. :D

        I am glad you took the right path and overcame these blogging mistakes for the good.

        -Swadhin

    40. Rawlings sunday

      This is post on common blogging mistakes is very helpful. I focus more on content and put in more effort to make it worth reading and keep them checking my post but the one i will work on soon is building the mail list. Thanks.

    41. Shafi Khan

      Hi Swadhin,

      Excellent share. I agree with you on all points but #3 has to be most important for myself too.

      Depending on SEO or social media traffic can one day hurt you when a new algorithm or change comes in!

      Email subscribers will always be there to support you and available to contact anytime with a personalized note.

      Thanks for sharing.

    42. Porcelain Doll

      Wow, this is so useful, thanks for sharing! :) There’s a lot to learn for a newbie like me. I can’t wait to get rid of these mistakes!

    43. Sirli

      So many tricks and ideas on how to improve blog. Let me apply them immediately. Big thanks.

    44. Gary

      Hi Swadhin,

      thanks for the tips, will help to start 2018 on the right foot, and of course to start building that list ;-)

      Gary

    45. Naomi Destiny

      This is a very helpful post, made my share of mistakes too. Thanks for sharing!

    46. Patti

      I think that you’ve made some great points here, but do you believe that the longer post length applies to all niches? Food bloggers get frequent complaints that their articles are too long (only about 300 words) because people just want to jump to the recipe.

    47. Claire Brotherton

      Thanks – I’ve made a number of these mistakes.

      I’m auditing my blog content so I can start making some affiliate income next year.

    48. Sylvie Anne Hanes

      Great tips – I have been blogging with a personal blog for 7 years, and recently started a travel blog, and it’s a lot of work, but also it’s a great way to share knowledge and ideas with alike readers.
      Thanks for sharing yours!

    49. Makenzie

      I am struggling so much to get traffic to my blog, especially through email subscribers. Thanks for the tips! I’ve already signed up through MailerLite to try the program out and see if it will help my mailing list.

    50. Nadalie

      Great post! I’ve made a few of these mistakes, but I’m course correcting. I’m upping my keyword research game and working on my monetization strategy – basically my #1 focus for my blog right now.

    51. Mala | Momchakra.com

      A lot of food for thought there.

      Each item on that list is so important to build a business, and yet so easily ignored. I have a lot to think about after reading this post.

    52. Rachel

      I have not properly built an email list and I KNOW I need to!! I don’t know what’s stopping me!

    53. These are some great tips. I am just now working on an email list because that has always been intimidating to me. It is so important though.

    54. Toni

      This is great! As a new blogger I am making a lot of mistakes. Thank you for this list. I am going through the list and making changes today!

    55. Jalisa Harris

      I love these. I just finished a year from my blog. I just started getting sponsored posts but have had a hard time driving sales. I’ve had a few but nothing concurrent. I will say social media is key to driving those sales.

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Yes social media is the key and guess what SEO is a greater key. When your potential sponsors will see your page ranking for their potential keyword like suppose a shoe brand is seeing that your article about “best shoe to wear on a vacation under $100” or something similar they will contact you to write similar post or place a link of theirs in that post and will pay you for that.

        Remember, place any sponsored post links with a nofollow tag (to not get penalized by Google) and make it obvious on your menu bar or somewhere where the eye of the visitor goes that you accept sponsored posts. You could add a page like “review request or advertisement” and write information about your blog stats, authority so that potential buyers will contact you.:)

        Hope it helps.
        -Swadhin

    56. Stephanie

      Tip number four was really helpful for me! Thanks!

    57. Kayla

      So many great points! Thank you for the info on building an email list! I have been struggling with that and really want to focus on it heading into the second half of 2017. Can’t wait to check out Mailerlite!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        I am waiting to hearing about your experiences. :)

    58. Lisa Clark

      Awesome post with really great advice! I’m bookmarking to refer to often.

    59. Clair

      Awesome and informative post! I am a newbie blogger, 2 months new ? I have got to start getting a hold on my email subscribers for sure! Thanks for sharing!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Yes this is a good time to start. Initially offer something like a free checklist (depending on your blog niche (topic)) or some free video course or a small guide or eBook etc to get more subscribers to your blog. –Swadhin

    60. Kathleen

      This is a fantastic list! As a new blogger it is extremely beneficial to me! I definitely don’t do enough of keyword search. I’ll, from now on, try to avoid these savage blogging mistakes and save my blog.

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Keyword research is the key to get a load of buyer intent traffic. People often search on Google for their problems may it be best XYZ under $100 or how to get rid of social media or how to cook rice everything on Google. If you have a post related or targeting these keywords you are sure to get profitable in the blogging business.
        -Swadhin

    61. Ashlie Estrada

      Thanks for sharing this. I’m just now learning about email marketing and building a email list. I started with mail chimp but my subscriber list is not growing. I noticed my pop doesn’t always pop up.

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Hi Ashlie,
        What do you use as your pop up? It can be really scary when a tool doesn’t work as expected. You could use the free sumome set of tools to create popups for free (very limited, though) or use what I use (Thrive leads) which is one awesome of a plugin. You can create content upgrades, two step optin forms, exit pop ups and welcome mats and much more.

        Even I am not using all the features of it. Check it out and I will soon post a review of it too. :)

    62. Caitlin @RogersPartyof5

      These are all fantastic tips! I have been blogging since February, and just recently started building my e-mail list and investing money into my blog. I am a stay at home mom with 3 kids under 3, so trying to find the time to do everything I need to do to make my blog succeed is really hard. Slowly but surely, I will get there!

    63. Amber Battishill

      Great tips! I really need to focus on using more keywords and also building my subscribers list!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Keywords are the most essential part of blogging, or else you’ll not have targeted readers. :)

    64. Maggie

      Awesome post!! I wrote down the ones I need to focus more on — so the advice is great. Sometimes it’s hard to notice if you’re doing something that may not be good for your blog. Thanks!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Thanks Maggie

    65. Eryn

      This is so spot on! I blogged for over 7 years making about every mistake you’ve mentioned. Only in the last two months have I decided to invest in the methods you suggest and already I’m seeing a marked improvement in my traffic and email list!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Thanks Eryn,
        Glad you liked the tips. lemme know how this goes :)

    66. Shannon @ Mom Without Labels

      These are GREAT tips! I need to focus more on keywords!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Hi Shannon,
        Keywords are really important. Use the free Google keyword planner for best results :)

    67. Andrea

      This is a great list, thank you! I really didn’t know most of these things, so I’m excited to start implementing them.

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Hi Andrea, you should try these fast :)

    68. casey

      WOW! A lot of great info. I have been blogging for almost a year and still learning everyday. Pinned this for reference!

    69. Emily

      These are great tips! I definitely need to start focusing on keywords. Thanks!

    70. Krysten

      These are things that even people who have been blogging a while need to remember. I know that I need to work on building my email list a little more, so that I can get more traffic that way!

    71. Sara

      Great tips and timely for where I am! I get a lot of advice from blogging experts and some of it contradicts each other. I appreciate straight-forward advice.

    72. Lauren | also known as mama

      This is a great informative post. I’m pinning it so that I can delve a little deeper into it later. I so need to work on the whole email thing.

    73. Sharon Chen

      This post is really informative. I will try to build up an email list now. Thanks!

    74. Corey | The Nostalgia Diaries

      This is such an amazing list of tips. I need to focus more on developing backlinks to my site!

    75. Marquita

      Man, this FULL of great information. There’s so much that goes into the building of a blog. This is a great resource to keep returning to. Thanks for sharing.

    76. Dearlyndsey

      Thank you for this post. I am still semi new and I needed to read this. These are such great points for bloggers that are being held back.

    77. JOanna

      These are great tips! I need to get better at continuing to grow my email list.

      • Mukesh Chauhan

        This is very informative and affective post for every newbie blogger like me..
        I learn so many new things from this this post.
        Thankyou Sir!

    78. nallely

      hello! i really enjoy reading this post i have a blog mine still a hosted account i didnt know that could be a reason why dont get enough traffic .. its funny cuz i do have a good amount of followers in social media but not that much traffic . your tips are great thanks for sharing

    79. Jessica Peresta

      These are seriously such great tips! Thank you!

    80. Lindsay

      These are excellent tips. I’m a relatively new blogger and I’ve been held up on #2 for a few months now. I spent some money in the beginning to get my website up and running and now I struggle with how much to spend to expand my reach. I ultimately want this to be a source of income so I know I need to treat it as a business, but it’s hard to know where to spend money to make the biggest impact.

    81. Rosemary Richings

      Good point about the importance of building community. As someone who witnessed significant growth with my personal blog when I started sharing my content in Facebook groups, I’m a huge believer in that. I even tell my clients to try that sometimes.

    82. Angela J. Ford

      Aw man, calling me out! When I first started I used to check my stats ALL the time. Now, I know better. Let’s focus on what’s important, driving AND converting traffic. This is a fantastic list, every blogger needs to read this!

    83. Gina

      Love your tips on blogging mistakes. I have made some of them, particularly not focusing on my email list. However, I planned to wait a year before trying to monitor and to focus on building an audience. I am pretty happy with my view now and plan to monetize soon.

    84. Mary

      These are great tips. Thanks!

    85. Jenniffer | Life is Messy and Brilliant

      Thank you for sharing the article, it was extremely interesting to read. I’m working on creating a way to gain passive income over time.

    86. Jenny

      Great points. I need to work on a tip or two from this article. Thanks for sharing!

    87. Tammy

      Great post! I found out a long time ago that not spending money on my blog was never going to work.

    88. Shongruff

      Thank you so much for such useful points. I will surely try to incorporate them into my blogging. Keep sharing such beneficial tips!

    89. Amanda

      Great post! I definitely need to learn not to constantly check my blog stats. It’s just so exciting to watch the numbers change!

    90. Shevy

      I am most guilty about checking blog stats every minute. lol. Also, I am nervous about guest writing for other bloggers mainly because I only started late last year and I don’t know if they will find me good enough. But some of the other suggestions though I have already implemented. However, I need to spend more time doing keyword search this is an area I am struggling with. Thanks for sharing these tips.

    91. Lindsey

      These are great tips! I find myself getting overwhelmed with all that I need to be doing…

    92. Kasia

      Great ideas Anil! I’m definitely already doing most of these. And that’s the reason I went with paid hosting and a good theme to start. Now I have to invest some more time into building back links so I’ll be looking into that soon.

    93. Ola

      I really like your advice on outsourcing. I’ve been thinking about outsourcing my SEO. These are really good tips to keep in mind.

    94. Martha

      What a wealth of information, thank you Anil! My blog is only 2 years old and I’m learning as I go. I do need to start an email list and also learn more about my Adsense account. But hopefully I’ll get there!

    95. Tricia

      This is very helpful information! I’m pinning it for future reference. I’m still in the beginning stages of blogging, so I’ll admit that a lot of it is advanced for me. I’m trying to learn, though!

    96. Chelsea

      Building my email list is on my to-do for sure.. i feel like it’s a great way to engage and capture the attention of readers. Now if only i could compile all the content!

    97. Divya

      I’ve been blogging since 2012 and am only now figuring out all this stuff! I’ve taken an SEO keyword course and now I need to build out a newsletter!

    98. Abhishek Goyal

      Thank you so much for these tips. It will really help me a lot. I already started these tips in my blog website. Waiting for another post something like this. Thanks Swadhin for sharing this to us.

    99. Godwin Jimmy

      You got me at not investing in your blog.nice post I must say.

    100. Saidah Washington

      Great tips! I see a lot of blogger neglect growing thier email list. Sometimes I don’t think they know the value in it.

    101. camille

      Thank you for this article!! Love the concrete, actionable steps.

    102. Pacheco Labi

      Informative tips. I will borrow a tip or two from this article. Thanks for sharing!

    103. Kate

      Very helpful post! I’m new to the blogging world and I’m always looking for advice like this!

    104. Swadhin Agrawal

      Hi Fris, I know having a custom domain makes your site more branded. Shows your users that you are a real person accountable for what you say because you have invested in it. Plus a custom domain improves your search engine rankings.

    105. Anna

      Such a great information, thank you for sharing this. I will be reading more about this post.

    106. blair villanueva

      These is a great advice. May I also add that bloggers should learn the art of negotiating in order to gain $$$. If you know your worth and what you can do and standout,why not ask for a fee for it? :)

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Agreed! Have you tried this trick? Would love to hear your experience on it? :)

    107. Milica

      Wow! So many great and useful tips! I will try to work harder on my email list and SEO optimizing! Thanks for sharing all of this with us!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        No problem. Glad you liked it.

    108. Anosa

      Thanks for the tips! This is really helpful especially to the aspiring bloggers and those who wish to still grow their blogs.

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Glad it helped. :)

    109. Tabitha Shakespeare

      These are all so true and all things I did i the beginning! I’m finally starting to see some traffic and results! Yay!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Hi Tabitha,
        Yes we all make these mistakes only to learn from them. What particular strategies accounted for your traffic and revenue boost? :)

    110. Rana Sabeh

      In starting my blog I first had to find my voice and figure out what I want to say and what kind of messages I want to share. I’m new to blogging so this list is definitely helpful as I build my business and blog and put myself out there. There is so much to learn, thank you for sharing your tips with us newbies. :)

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        I am so very glad you found it helpful. Please try these tips and let us know how it goes.
        -Swadhin

    111. Sarah

      Thanks for sharing these tips! As a new blogger I’m definitely making several of the mistakes you mentioned- in particular I’m not doing keyword research ? I’m going to read up some more on that!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Awesome to hear you are taking charge. I will post more about the in-depth keyword research strategies I use to bring more visitors from Google. So stay tuned. :)

    112. Amanda

      This was a really great read with a lot of helpful tips. Thanks for sharing!

    113. Jen

      Great information here! I switched from blogger (where I was for 8 years) to self-hosted WP a year ago and have been working to grow my blog since then. There’s been a steep learning curve, but I’ve been figuring it out. Right now, I’m working on growing my email list. I’m building a resource library for subscribers little by little. I never realized how much time went in to building something like this, but it’s my creative outlet and I love it!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        So glad to hear about your awesome journey. Yes a subscriber vault or a resource page can do wonders. What do you use to collect emails? :)

    114. Belle

      These are such great tips and I will definitely keep these things in mind!

      Belle |

    115. Brit Strawbridge

      Great list! I am working through charging up my email list right now & putting a huge priority on it! Thanks for sharing!

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        Hi Brit,
        Good to know it. Let me know how it goes :)

    116. Vicki @ Babies to Bookworms

      Great tips! I’m still working on developing my email list and your tips are really helpful!

    117. Amber Myers

      These are great tips! I don’t personally do an email list though. It’s not for me. But I do spend money on my blog and build my social media accounts.

      • Swadhin Agrawal

        One of the biggest regrets I have is not building a list sooner. Many of the biggest names in marketing I know feel the same. I am not saying you should build a list compulsorily but having an alternative source of reaching out to your readers other than Google or social media is a great thing.

    118. Keoshia

      Thanks so much for these tips. It is a great help for new bloggers like me!

    119. Jasmine

      As a new blogger, I really appreciate this post. Always so much to learn!

    120. Beth

      This is a great post about beginning blogging with a lot of useful information for all bloggers. I think that writing guest posts can be very beneficial with the right relationship. Great ideas all around!

      Beth

    121. Tasheena @ SimplyTasheena.com

      These are wonderful tips. I found this post really informative. Growing an email list and investing back into your blog are my two favorites.

    122. Nicki

      Love this. Social media has been such an integral part of my blog growth and drives so much traffic. I love that it is a way for me to show more of the posts on various channels

    123. danasia fantastic

      These are great tips! I definitely made the mistake of not doing a in-depth keyword search and I know it cost a ton of traffic.

    124. Tabitha

      I just saved this. Thank you!

    125. blair villanueva

      These lists makes sense at all especially that one with creating generic content. Usually when content is a bit boring, you won’t gain much attention (either traffic or engagements)

    126. Christie Brown

      This was a handy read. I couldn’t agree more with the utilization of social media and networks. I’m also a huge believer in backlinks hah. Great post, I’m glad I stopped by and picked up some more tips. :)
      xx

    127. Amar kumar

      Hey Anil,

      Creating and launching an appealing and informative blog is not enough. For better results, we need to get serious about its promotion. Social media is an important source of traffic for any website. That’s why even the most popular websites focus on making sharing easier for their users. If we want to grow our organic traffic, need to focus on building website backlinks. It’s the best way to generate more search traffic, even though it is hard work. It helps to grow our personal brand and if done right can boost our search engine rankings. Eventually, thanks for exploring much interesting facts regarding this amazing topic.

      With best wishes,

      Amar kumar

    128. Mridul

      Hi Anil… This is an another great post in Your Blog… I totally agree with you what you said about link building and keyword research…

    129. Deynn

      The first month I started blogging I post fresh content everyday simple because I want my readers to learn new things from me. So there are times that I’m not doing enough research, writing to quickly and not proofreading my content and this kind of routine are really not good. So I’ve changed everything; I only post twice or thrice a week and I take a time to create well-written content.

    130. Rocking Aryan

      Informative post about mistake in blogging journey. 9th Point is the biggest mistake that a blogger should avoid.

    131. Mounish Sai

      Hi Anil,
      This post is just amazing and it opened my eyes that what I’m doing. I’ll surely avoid the above mistakes. You have shared a good information to us. Your way of describing the things so good. It is a good effort made by you. Thanks for writing such Ultimate Post.

    132. Adeel Sami

      Hey, Anil!

      An excellent share of the great 10 blogging mistakes. And literally I am committing about 8-9 out of those 10.

      I recently started to invest some money but I am still far away getting many things straighten up.

      I am still on ground zero with monetization things. But now I feel like getting it sorted out so that I could get something out of my efforts. :)

      Thanks again for putting up all these mistakes! And happy to share it on my social life!

      ~ Adeel

    133. Lisa Sicard

      Anil, I’ve made all of these mistakes and I still do a few today like not writing for SEO – keywords like I used to. It’s gotten so much more difficult and I try to focus more on a very specific niche. I also need to link to more bloggers in my posts. Something I’ve gotten away from recently. Thanks for sharing these tips with us, a great reminder for us “older” bloggers and new bloggers alike!

      • Anil Agarwal

        Yea, linking out to other bloggers frequently is one of the easiest ways to build relationships.

        Not only that, it also helps you get incoming links from other blogs.

        After all, no one finds you automatically and links to your stuff, right?

        Thanks for stopping by.

    134. Ryan Biddulph

      Hi Anil,

      Having made every 1 of these errors, I agree ?

      One non practical mistake that killed me was blogging mainly for money.

      Killed my career for 5 years. Until I blogged for fun, mostly.

      Thanks for the smart share and hey, your family looks great! Saw them on Facebook.

      Signing off from not too sunny NJ.

      Ryan
      Blogging From Paradise

    135. Naveen Kumar

      Hi Anil Bro and Swadhin Bro,
      Great post :)
      I did most of these mistakes in my initial stage. But now I am trying to correct them to grow in blogging and become a successful blogger.
      My Biggest mistake was not to collect emails. I never thought to send newsletters but now I am understanding the use of list building.

      Anyways thanks for your kind share :)

      Naveen

      • Anil Agarwal

        Hi Naveen,

        Glad to hear you are learning from your blogging mistakes.

        While it’s so common to make mistakes in any field, but learning them as fast as you can is the surest way to build a successful blog.

        Let me know if you have any questions.

    136. Harleena Singh

      Hi Anil, and good to see you at Swadhin’s blog :)

      Informative post indeed! Yes, you mentioned the very mistakes we need to avoid, though most of the newbies don’t get to know they are making these mistakes till some time has passed!

      Speaking of myself, as I can take my example as best – I didn’t pay much attention to building my email list, until much later, though never too late to start, but that is essential for anyone who wants to pursue blogging as a profession for sure.

      There is no substitute for hard work, and quality is the key, where content is concerned. I guess Google knows that best, though without keywords it’s tough to rank in the first few pages, but there are several exception even there at times. Yes, you need to write FOR your readers, not yourself, and they will always keep coming back for more, no doubt about it.

      Building a strong network and your presence on social media are essential for a blogger, or else how would you create your own little blogging community. These were things I was sure to follow when I started blogging, in fact, social media has always worked for me somehow, so I know it does work.

      Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips with us. Have a nice week ahead, both of you :)

      • Anil Agarwal

        Hi Harleena,

        Glad to see you around here.

        The reason why you have built a successful blog is because you spent majority of your time building a great network around your blogs.

        One thing I particularly like about you is the ability to leave really thoughtful comments. It’s a rare practice by most bloggers these days.

        Keep rocking.

    137. Robin Khokhar

      Hi Swadhin and Anil,
      It for sure that the things you have shared are really done the by the newbie bloggers. Even I use to make some of these mistakes.
      When I was a Beginner.

      • Anil Agarwal

        Hi Robin,

        Glad you enjoyed the post. Do let us know what are the mistakes you made in blogging that cost you in the long run.

        Also let me know if you have any more questions.

    138. Mohammed Anzil

      Awesome article Anil. “NOT INVESTING MONEY ON YOUR BLOG”, this is a right at least for me for years. Now I realized the importance of investing to buy the right tools.

      Thanks for sharing your valuable article….

      • Anil Agarwal

        Yes, that’s the one thing most beginners should avoid.

        They should invest money and time to build a profitable blog from scratch.

        Otherwise, it’s really hard to make others to buy from you or make money without investing a penny. Glad you enjoyed the post.

    Comments are closed.

    532