8 New Blogger Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

Hey there, newbie!

Or maybe you aren’t a new blogger — but you’re afraid you still look like one? Or you absolutely 100% know you look like a new blogger but you aren’t sure what changes you could make to fix this. I have totally been there!

Honestly, when I first joined the blogging world I thought I could figure it all out on my own and come off looking like a seasoned blogger from day one. HA! Not even close. I did a lot of things wrong and made myself look exactly like the newbie blogger that I was.

Regardless of how long you’ve been blogging, I am here to help you with some simple tricks to help you stop making simple mistakes and stop looking like a new blogger! Why am I writing this post? Because I wish I had found something like this when I was first starting off with blogging! I would have loved to have had some seriously helpful tips like this, thus here you go!

♥ Haven’t started your blog yet? Check out my simple guide to starting your blog, which only takes about 15 minutes! 

My Top 8 Blogger Mistakes

1. Not Using Images

Did you know blog posts that use images get 94% more total views than blog posts without images? (source) NINETY-FOUR PERCENT MORE! Do I even have to say it? USE IMAGES! But — be careful with how you use images. The best ways to use images are (and in this order!!):

• Use your own photos
• Purchase photos
• Use a copyright restrictions free website (free photos!)

Using your own photos allows you to be 100% visually unique from other blogs. If we’re all using the same images how can we stand out from one another? By taking your own photos you can always get exactly what you want, instead of relying on purchasing or downloading photos that someone else has created, and may not be 100% what you want.

However, there is nothing wrong with purchasing photos or using copyright restriction (free!) photos. I do this! My favorite place to purchase photos is from Creative Market, and my favorite website for free photos is Unspash.

But if you aren’t going to use your own photo’s or purchase photos, please do not Google an image and upload it to your site. This could eventually lead to serious copyright issues for you. Use websites that offer photos without copyright restrictions, like Unsplash.

2. Tense Writing Style

I have an entire blog post dedicated to writing better blog posts. In this post, I mention how a blog post should not be written like some serious term paper, but rather allow your voice to come through like you’re having a conversation!

When you’re writing authentically, and not like a stiff robot, your readers will be able to “hear” your voice from the words you write. Readers are more likely to not only continue to read what you have to say but trust your words much more if you’re coming off authentic and not so stiff.

What’s the best way to write authentically? Write about what you know! If you’re writing from personal experience you can fluidly write about that topic, in your own voice, without skipping a beat.

3. Not Using Social Media Sharing

Oh, I just hate when I see this mistake! There are some really great blogs and posts out there that I have found and enjoyed reading and there are no easy ways to share it on any forms of social media. No Facebook, Twitter Tumbler, Pinterest, etc….

If you want your blog to not only be found but to gain readers and eventually make some money from it, you MUST make it shareable! If nothing else, make it shareable to Pinterest! Afterall Pinterest is the BEST way to get your content found on social media.

If you absolutely don’t want your blog shareable on social media, check out my next tip on SEO!

4. Ignoring SEO

This is a huge one that I definitely 100% did in the beginning. Simply because I didn’t understand what SEO was and the importance of it as a blogger. For starters, SEO stands for search engine optimization. In a nutshell: does your blog come up when someone is using a search engine?

Proper SEO can make a huge difference in how your blog performs in search engines, like Google. You want your content to come up in Google!

How to incorporate SEO into your blog:

• Have a self-hosted platform (number 8 on this list!)
• Research keywords
• Incorporate long-tail keywords
• Optimize images for SEO (in the ALT tag)
• Add internal links within your blog post to your other posts
• Update old posts 

SEO offers long-lasting results for you and drives organic traffic to your blog. It is not designed to be ignored. SEO can seriously be your best friend!

Need more SEO info? Check out the 5 ways you can use SEO as a blogger to increase page views and make more money!

5. Not Posting Consistently

So you start a blog, you’re really excited about it, you’re posting all the time and then BAM you’re done. Crickets. Your readers don’t hear from you for a while. Or maybe they hear from you once a week… then twice a week… then a month goes by without anything. This is not good.

Take it from someone who has lived this — if you are not consistent you will struggle to see progress — progress in higher page views, more followers, the ability to make money.  If your audience can’t rely on you to keep pumping out great content, they’ll stop looking for you!

Consistency is the key to successful blogging.

6. Lack of Cohesiveness in Pins

I LOVE using Canva — it’s definitely the most recommended tool I hear about for great pins. I’ve used Canva since day 1 of blogging. However, I tried and tried to use it all by myself with no help. What happened was my pins lacked a cohesiveness — there was no branding to them. There was absolutely no way for you to look at all my pins and know they came from the same blog.

➡ Easy way to check the cohesiveness of your pins: create a Pinterest board for all your blog pins. How do they look together? Is there a cohesive look or are they visually all over the place?

To create cohesiveness in pins you should use the same fonts, color schemes, pin style, and always add the name of your blog to the bottom of them!

7. Never Editing Posts After Publishing

Again, this is something I did. Once I clicked “publish” I was done. Never editing that post ever again. This was a HUGE mistake. Seriously, editing older posts can do wonders for your blog! After all, the more often you blog the more knowledge you gain and the more you can tailor your blog posts to help readers.

My first blog posts were poorly assembled, had no affiliate links, did not have captivating titles, had poor pin quality — the list goes on and on! Once I was aware of what a great blog post consists of, I went back and edited older posts and had great success with posts that had barely gotten any views!

8. Self-Hosted Platform

This is something you should ideally do before you even start your blog. I 100% believe you should have a self-hosted platform. There are so many reasons why! Here are just a few reasons: 1.) You look more professional, thus readers will take you more serious and brands will take you more serious (hello, money opportunities!). 2.) Your site runs more efficiently, encouraging more readers. 3.) But the best reason to be self-hosted — YOU OWN YOUR BLOG. 

If you are serious about blogging, which I assume you are since you are here to avoid blogging mistakes, why wouldn’t you want to own your blog and all your hard work? Also, a lot of free blogging platforms restrict ads, which may or may not be a big deal for you. But for other bloggers out there who make a HUGE chunk of their monthly income from ads, it’s a HUGE deal.

For my blog, I use Bluehost because they are affordable, reliable (seriously, I’ve used their 24/7 customer service in the middle of the night) and give you lots of free resources and bonuses as a Bluehost member. Bonuses such as an affiliate program! You own your blog and have the ability to make some money from them. Win-win! I made my money back from Bluehost by my 5th-month blogging.

 

So there you have it! My top 8 ways to avoid looking like a new blogger! I hope this list can help you take a look at your blog and see some really easy changes that you can make to look more like a professional and less like a new blogger!

♥ Haven’t started your blog yet? Check out my simple guide to starting your blog, which only takes about 15 minutes!