5 Common Blunders New Bloggers Make
As my blog approaches its 18-month birthday, I've been getting more and more new bloggers asking me questions about how I developed my blog. People want to know how to grow a blog, when to post and how to make their blogs look great. Mostly, they want to know how to make their blog last over the long haul.
Here are my 5 common mistakes that I see new bloggers make and most importantly how you can avoid them.
Table of Contents
1. Treating the blogging marathon as a sprint
Blogging is an endurance activity. If you were running a marathon (why would you do that?) would you start with a sprint or go with a slow steady pace that can last you for the long haul.
New bloggers are excited. You've got a lot of ideas in your head. The creative juices are flowing. You write. You publish. You write more. You publish.
About a month or two in, you are bound to hit a creativity draught. It happens to all bloggers. What do I want to write next? The muse isn't speaking. Maybe you decide that you're just not going to post this week. Thus, begins the slow death of your blog.
While you are excited about blogging, save some of those posts for the future. I'd recommend to have 3 or 4 weeks of posts done. For me, I'm lucky to be 2 weeks ahead. For instance, this post was written on May 25th and not published to June 19th. Plan and write posts well in advance.
2. Posting sporadically
One week you post 5 times, the next week 3, the following 4, then 2, then 1 and then uh-oh the big ZERO! The goal of blogging is to post consistently. Pick the number of times a week you want to post and the dates when you want to post. For me, twice a week works. My posts are published on Sunday evenings at 6pm and Wednesday mornings at 7am. Like clock work unless there is a holiday because who is reading blogs on a 3-day weekend?
If you use WordPress, use this editorial calendar plugin to see when your posts are scheduled and to plan a new post. Not a WordPress fan? Start an editorial calendar in Google calendars. You need one to plan your blogs in advance.
3. Questionable headline…what does it mean?
I love fun, quirky blog titles. I'm a huge fan of creativity; however, some headlines inspire a “WTF?” instead of a click. My first blog post fell into this trap. It was What's Uggs Got to Do With It. It sucked. I'm ok with that as we all have to start somewhere. The title made sense once you read the post, but the title is what makes people click.
You have to give the people who might read your blog a clue what it's about. Search Engine Optimization experts would say you need to make sure you have a keyword in your title so Google knows what your post is about. I'd say you want to include your keyword because readers need to know what the heck your post is about.
Copyblogger has an excellent resource on writing magnetic headlines. Check it out.
4. Posting on Friday night
I am not a big believer in the idea that there is one best time to post, but I do believe there are a couple of times during the week where posting a new blog is a complete waste of time. You might as well set your post on fire because launching a new post on a Friday night or Saturday is a waste of time.
No one is reading your blog on a Friday night. No one. I'm too busy drinking Malbec and watching Shark Tank to click on the link to your new brilliant post. Take the weekend off. Go out for dinner, but don't push publish on a Friday night!
My Google analytics reveal one big fact – the slowest days for traffic on this site are Friday evenings and Saturdays. Every week – those are the 2 days with the lowest traffic. Avoid them.
5. Admitting defeat too soon
New bloggers need to be a little delusional. Act as if the whole world if reading your blog even if it's only your spouse, your best friend and your 2 cats. Don't check your Google analytics at all during the first 3 months. Just don't do it. It's sad to find out that your epic post got 3 views.
There's a statistic that floats around the Interwebs saying nearly 80% of new blogs are abandoned in the first 3-months. Why does this happen? Newbie bloggers run out of creative steam, become discouraged due to lack of traffic and write headlines that don't get them noticed.
Keep blogging. Develop your blogging endurance. Remember, Chris Brogan blogged for 10-years before his blog took off. There's no such thing as an overnight sensation in the blogosphere. Keep calm and blog on!
Got a question about blogging? Ask in the comment section below.
Great post. I’m a newbie at blogging, 6 months in. I’ve learned and I’m still learning about blogging and overcoming some blunders. I post about once or twice a week. Always have posted that way. My blog started out as something personal but it has evolved. I still don’t have a high traffic but that’s okay, it’ll get there if it’s meant to be. Thank you for the reminder on these blunders.
Good for you for posting consistently! It’s awesome how our blogs evolve over time. You don’t need high traffic as long as the people who are reading you love it – the numbers don’t matter!
Michelle:
Another blunder is not bothering with tags, labels, or categories. You need to connect the dots so readers can see what else you’ve said before about a topic.
Follow your own path. Many people quote the same tired, twenty year old Jerry Seinfeld joke about fear and death. Instead I blogged about a George Carlin joke:
http://joyfulpublicspeaking.blogspot.com/2013/06/go-out-big-with-your-last-impromptu.html
Don’t get discouraged when you find your readers have different tastes than you expected. I was fascinated by Professor Walter Lewin’s physics lectures, but my readers preferred to learn How can you easily draw dotted chalk lines on a blackboard?
http://joyfulpublicspeaking.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-can-you-easily-draw-dotted-chalk.html
Richard
Richard you are so right about connecting the dots. Also, I’d add not to go crazy with too many labels and tags. As far as readers with different tastes, I don’t think those people are your peeps. The people who enjoy your voice and POV will find you. The ones who don’t can just go bugger off. 😉
Excellent advice. I’m coming up on 3 years blogging and the basics hold true.
Yes the basics never die. If you follow them, a blog thrives – just like yours! Congrats on 3 years!!!
Thanks for an encouraging post. I think I will be revisiting this article the next time I get a case of writers block.
You’re welcome Rob. Please come back or drop me a line if you’ve got a case of writers block going!
I actually have spikes of visits on Fridays and Saturdays, all hours and all timezones. I think my blog is the last resort of people with a boring night home ahead or something.
Either that or you’re an international rock star blogger! 🙂 When I look at my monthly stats for unique visits, my stats are always down on Friday and Saturdays – I write mostly for an entrepreneur/business set. My peak hours are during the day/evening for the most part. The traffic at night tends to be bots and spammers. Thank you Askimet for a service to control the spam!
Hey Michelle,
Yes, the ‘sprint’, oh it is the longest marathon ever. Never ending too. I think there is a post here about ‘Breaking Blogging Rules!’
Funny though, weekends are great for me for posting (one on my blogs), but it is finding out what is best for your audience. Sundays for newsletters, even though the rule states Tues/Wed — I believe all this takes time to uncover and test, and it can be helped by really understanding habits, patterns and lifestyle of readers. B2B not the same as B2C and so on.
Away to … em … blog. 🙂
Thank you, really enjoyed reading this.
Dawn
Dawn – it is the longest marathon ever – at least their are water stations along the way. Honestly, at least their is an awesome community of bloggers who do a great job of cheering each other on during this marathon. I agree – it depended on your audience. I’m a B2B blogger (which sounds so weird to me) so no one is thinking how can I nail that presentation on the weekend…unless that presentation is on Monday…then there is the panic that sets in. However, consumers will be on a website at different time.
Blog on, my friend! Blog on!
i completely agree with you Michelle, timing, consistency and patience is the key.
Yes! Eventually, your blog reaches a tipping point and you have an audience!
i love the way you interact with audience in your post, i was also once a victim of #5. i wrote an article related to this also, i’m sure both of them are really goiing to share good ideas.
http://viralwriter.com/6-common-mistakes-bloggers-make/
Thank you Gilbert. Blogging is hard work, and it’s discouraging when no one reads what you write. I’m glad you are still blogging. Off to read your blog post now!!
You’re welcome Michelle, everything is about taking a step, avoiding mistakes and never giving up
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Thanks for the tips. Never heard about the friday night thing but a quick look at my stats confirmed.