12 mistakes that most newbie bloggers make and you should not

Everyone wants to be a blogger. More important, everyone believes he/she can be a great blogger. Fortunately, blogging today gives you the tools to realise your dreams. All you need to do is to avoid some common mistakes that first time bloggers make.

Here are twelve blogging mistakes that you must avoid:

# 1. Focus on only one subject
Be a specialist, and not a generalist. Focus on only one subject. If your blog is on parenting, then all you blog topics should deal with issues related to parenting; if your blog is on cricket gear then your posts should talk about cricket bats, balls, stumps, pads etc. This keeps your blog narrow, and focused. You start building a loyal visitor base of readers who are interested in what you write.

# 2. Blog on a subject you know
Do not be carried away by the fact that tech blogs are the most popular blogs. Keep away from tech blogs if you are not a techie. Instead, focus on your expertise. Write on hair dressing if you are a hairdresser; write on motor cycles if you are a bike freak; write on unknown tourist spots if you love travelling. Your blog is more likely to be read if it provides fresh information.

# 3. Don’t stretch yourself
It is easy to write one good post a week than seven good posts a week. So, don’t try to kill yourself trying to publish killer posts day after day. Even the most prolific bloggers can’t maintain this crushing pace. A better approach is to write six short posts and one killer post every week. This keeps your blog fresh; and visitors wait for your magnum opus. (Read also: How often should you blog)

# 4 Don’t be in a hurry to publish your post
Most bloggers are in a hurry to publish their post. You should not make this mistake.  A good habit is to write an article, and then close the file. Come back after half an hour or so, log in and read your article again. Nine times out of ten you will say “Oh dear! How did I miss this.”

# 5. Don’t write long chunks of text
All of us know how hard it is to read on the net. It becomes doubly difficult if the article is not properly formatted. The mind gets fatigued as it goes over interminable sentences, and long paragraphs. You too should not make this mistake. Your blog should be made of short sentences and short paragraphs. You should use bullet points, sub-titles and crossheads to break the monotonous flow of text. You will find readers spend more time on your blog, and this is what any new blogger would want. (Read also: 7 findings that will change the way you write)

# 6. Think if your post will help the reader
You don’t write a blog for yourself. So, don’t make the mistake of publishing what comes first to your mind or what interests you greatly. It is quite possible that a majority of readers may not be interested in such a post. Every time you publish a post you must ask yourself whether or not it will be of any value to your readers. If the answer is yes, then go ahead and publish your post.

# 7. Too many I’s
There is no bigger sin than to swamp your readers with I-tell-you-this-from-my-experience posts. No one likes to be preached. Instead, use the more conversational “you”. Blogs are conversations, and should be written like friendly information pieces. As a blogger, your goal should be to share information not ram information down the throats of your visitors.

# 8. Keep your blog design clean
A visitor comes to your blog to browse information of interest. But what does he find: affiliate links asking him to shop; share links urging him to share the blog with friends and social bookmarking sites, requests to leave a comment, advertisements inviting him to visit other sites, etc. Is this what you want your visitor to do? You want the readers to come and read what you have written, not to be told where they should shop or to read content pulled from other blogs or websites.

# 9. Don’t run intrusive Google ads
The temptation to make readers click on Google ads is very high. After all, each click means money, and the best way to get clicks is to place ads where they are more likely to be seen. You come across blogs where ads are placed beneath the headline or in the middle of running text. Such ads disturb eye movement and can make the readers avoid blogs that lack a clean and simple design. You too should not make the same mistake. Keep your content area free of all intrusive advertising.

# 10. You are more worried about word count
The first thing that you must stop is to check the word count that Microsoft Word so conveniently displays in the left hand corner of your Word file. It is not the number of words that matter. It is the quality of your writing, and the value that you bring to the table. So, don’t panic if you have written 404 words and can’t find any more words to add. Go ahead and publish your post. Don’t make the mistake of padding words to make your post look impressive.

# 11. Showcase your best posts
There are only two ways in which a new user can locate your old, but interesting, blogposts. One, he can click on categories and locate posts of interest; two, he can visit the archives and click on posts made during the past months.

Both are painful, and time consuming ways of locating blogposts. An easier and better way is to showcase your best posts. You can do this by listing the headlines of your best blogposts in the right sidebar of your blog or you can create a page called Your Best Posts and put it on the navigation bar.

# 12. Share and curate good content
Finally, don’t think that you are the King of Content and that you don’t need to connect to other bloggers or writers in your space.  You must share your content. Also, you must share great content created by other bloggers. When you do this readers will be thankful to you, and your following will grow. (Read also: How to become a thought leader with content curation)

This report was first published on June 16, 2021 and has been updated.)