Blogging 101: Common Blogging Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Blogging is something where mistakes can easily be made, and also easily remedied. There’s many mistakes bloggers make which can reduce the brand image they’re trying to portray – and these are simple mistakes that (honestly) most people make. Whether it’s forgetting to post or getting too focused on stats – other bloggers have done it and overcame their mistakes.

But if you’re just starting out – don’t worry, I’ve got your back and have noted down some of the more prevalent mistakes bloggers make, and how you can avoid them early on.

Inconsistency

A big issue for beginner bloggers particularly is that they go all in immediately and create loads of content and push it all out in daily doses (or even multiple times a day!). On the other hand, there are bloggers who only post once a month but irregularly. I have done both of these… and I regularly get into lack of posting because life gets in the way.

Posting too much or too little can seem inconsistent for people who want to read your content – and it may affect how often they visit your site to read your posts. If you’re posting too much, they may not be able to read every single thing you put out, if you post too little they may miss it and it’s been 4 months and they can’t remember you exist.

Posting multiple times a day is something I see recommended as the more posts you create the more chance of views. This is kind of accurate because I do get more views on the days where a post has gone live, however there are downsides to this. If you’re posting quantity, then you need to question your quality. Some of my posts takes days to write, not even thinking about photos and research before the writing starts. So if you’re posting daily (and you have a full time job/school) is your content really creating something new?

On the other hand, my posts take days to write not including photos and research. So sometimes it gets to Friday and I haven’t wrote that beauty post I wanted to and it gets delayed by a week and I don’t post. I want to create quality content but this sometimes ruins my quantity part of consistency. Quality and Quantity are a balancing board when it comes to writing.

A way to create some consistency is to create a schedule, even if it’s just in your own head! For example, my Blogging 101 posts are for every Sunday. I haven’t really publicised this – but every Sunday I post a new post on how to blog and the same people usually read/comment/like the posts. I use an editorial calendar to help me keep my schedule on track, and to encourage myself to write posts when I need to rather than whenever I can be bothered. Obvious disclaimer can be that it isn’t for everyone – but this is what works for me (and some of my blogger pals too!).

Demotivation

Another mistake beginner bloggers make is putting too much focus on stats and then getting demotivated. Stats are good and I personally love looking at my own and trying to figure them out – but something to note is that you won’t become internet famous after one blog post. You’re not going to get millions of views immediately, and that is okay. 

For bloggers who’ve been doing this awhile – stats always fluctuate. Whether it’s from seasons (summer can get less views!), weekday, or events – there’s always something that might be catching your audience’s attention away from their screens. For example, during YALC in the UK views are usually less because all the UK Book Bloggers are in London instead of blog hopping. Just because your stats are less than yesterday or last week, doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. 

To help reduce demotivation after checking your stats, try to re-train your mindset. Instead of thinking about immediate stats as your measure of success, think of them as long-term markers. If you’re doing better from last month, quarter, or year are better ways to measure improvement. Plus, write down reasons why people may be reading more or less – if it’s sunny out, are people going to be making more plans? Did you post more or less last month? Did you create evergreen content? Etc. 

Writing Skill

This might sound self-explanatory but poor writing skills in blog posts is an issue. Some spelling or grammar errors are normal for most people (I do it ALL the time to be honest). But it’s so easy now to check for these in Word or Google Docs before posting.If you’re constantly making these mistakes or your writing is just bad then people may not want to read it. 

There’s also issues if your writing is too complex. Some subjects can be confusing for people new to it (Like SEO) – so if you use subject specific words without explanation it can further confuse people. Using your writing to talk about subjects in a more simple way to educate others can be more beneficial than writing a dissertation level article. 

The main way to improve your overall writing skill is to practice, practice, practice. However you can also use spell check tools, things like Grammarly (with a pinch of salt!) and read up around grammar rules if you need to.

Creating Content for the Wrong Audience

A mistake I see some bloggers make is that they’re not making content for an audience. Some are just making content for themselves. For example, a lot of goal orientated posts can be helpful, but in general… they’re for the blogger to look back on in a years time. So this content can deter people from reading. 

Another thing can be creating content for the wrong audience – if your readers love beauty posts then a post about football might not interest all of them (although of course some people may like both too!). In some cases it may work – but you don’t want a section of your readers to not want to come back because your content isn’t meeting their needs. So, you can use the handy demographics data from Google to understand if there’s any additional interests that your audience loves as much as you do.

Not Being Yourself

Another mistake I see over and over again is bloggers who aren’t being themselves in their blog posts (but are on social media/or the other way round?). Writing in a different tone of voice than your own or writing about content that isn’t you can be really hard on your writing. It also can make your content seem less personable as you won’t be showing your personality. 

 To re-learn how to be yourself for your blog, go back to the beginning and think about what you want from your blog and what your TOV and niche will be. 

Plagiarism

Similar to the “not being yourself” mistake – some people straight up plagiarise ideas, thoughts and sometimes whole posts. Some beginner bloggers make the mistake of taking a well known bloggers style of writing, imagery etc and try to pass it off as their own. Whilst some may think plagiarism is just copy and pasting the blog posts, all of the other aspects are technically stealing still. 

When you use ideas you found from other bloggers, maybe let them know you’re writing an inspired piece based from it (It can also help you make FRIENDS!) and credit them in your post. This also goes for when you’re creating social media content. When it comes to looser areas like writing style or image style – you should try adding your own spin to things too. 

Forgetting an Editor

Sometimes when I’m writing content I start to ramble about different things instead of keeping to my point. Ensuring you edit your own posts helps to reduce this rambling mess and to keep you on topic. Whilst some well known bloggers do have others edit their posts, when you’re starting out you probably need to learn to edit yourself. 

First thing is knowing why you’re rambling, it could be because you’ve chosen such a broad topic. Creating concise and clear ideas for posts can be difficult – especially if you want to write about a lot! But if you have an overall broad topic, you can always sum it up with less details but write additional posts with more of that info that you can link to. Creating blog series can help you edit your content better. 

Making sure your content is edited well can also mean avoid brain dumping on your post. Whilst brain dumping is amazing for coming up with new post ideas and the ideation process, once you’ve started writing you need to tighten it up a bit. Use templates, outlines, structures or sections to improve your post as it creates a certain look to your blog posts. It can also help improve the user experience as they read it. 

The biggest wait to avoid forgetting to edit is to put specific time aside to do it. Whilst I can bash out a book review in an hour, I always set time aside after that hour to edit the writing, ensure the template and structure looks right and make sure each of my points makes sense. 

Perfectionism

Avoid the blogging mistake of thinking everything you create has to be perfect. If you’re waiting for perfection before you post, you’re never going to post consistently and you’ll start to feel burnt out and unmotivated (more mistakes!). Whilst you should edit your posts, there comes a point where you won’t be getting it any better so post it. 

Avoiding perfectionism comes down to letting go at the end of the creative process. Practice of this often makes it easier, however you can have good and bad days too. Just remember that your readers enjoy your content as it is, and you don’t need to keep changing everything.

Not Engaging

Community is such a large part of blogging and so a blogging mistake I see a lot is that some bloggers don’t engage or support other bloggers. We’re not in competition with one another, and it isn’t difficult to help one another and build each other up. 

You can engage with blog comments or likes or on social media and promoting posts, people and content. You can also join group chats and larger communities to find new people to engage with and talk about blogging.