Why do you blog?
I have been asked this question many a times, though I have not yet asked this question to anyone, because I know the real answer behind it.
What would be your response if I do ask this to you?
- To express my thought or views?
- To promote something?
- To help others?
- To establish myself as an expert?
- To connect with different people?
- To earn something?
- To have fun?
- To become a better writer?
- To meet new people?
- Or anything similar to above?
Well, all the above reasons are genuine enough to inspire you to do blogging. But for me, itโs actually my passion towards writing, and towards all the above reasons which always inspire me to blog.
Well, I am quite sure you all who has a bit of the knowledge of blogs and how to do blogging will agree that it is something which can be too rewarding, but on the other hand it is also too frustrating at times.
Every bloggers come through a phase sometimes which is known as blocked creative mind, when he or she thought that nothing is working in their favor and wanted to quit blogging, or did not get any idea about what to blog next. You might also check one of my friendโs blog on this blocked creative mind phase.
Well, I am not writing this blog for the above things, but I want to discuss some of the common blogging mistakes which we all do sometimes. Even I do make so many mistakes during last few years, and it cost me too, and this is the reason why I want to share these details with my readers. I am sure you all will enjoy reading these blogging mistakes and avoid in your real life.
Using Free Blogs
Well, to be very precise I am not against using free blogging platforms like Blogger or WordPress, but using their sub domains is one of the biggest mistakes which many of the bloggers do.
At initial level we all try to blog with a blogspot or wordpress blog, which comes free and easy to set up. But, using the same for lifetime is not a good idea. I have a few very closed friends of mine who are still writing and blogging on with a blogspot or wordpress sub domain, I even told them many a times that you should now opt for a self hosted blog, or at least a domain name which is unique and will give an identity to yourself, but believe me many of them are so lazy that they donโt even think about managing a blog of their own domain name.
Well, I might not be able to satisfy everyone, but believe me friends, it is my own experience through which I can say that why are you giving all your efforts, energy, valuable time, content, etc. to a site which is actually not yours?
Using these free blogging platforms is not bad, in fact WordPress being the worldโs number 1 content management system and I too prefer them for any of my website or blog, even Blogger (Blogspot) is also one of the finest blogging platform, and you all can use both of them with your own domain name as well. So what is the issue to not have your own domain name?
Itโs a matter of a few bucks only, you donโt need tons of dollars to have a domain name, plus understand the amount of time and efforts which you are giving to your sub domain blogs and getting nothing in return.
I guess this is the time when you must be thinking about what do I really need to get a self hosted blog? Here is the answer to that:
You can determine to have a domain name of yourself and GoDaddy being the number 1 domain name provider can be your best available option.
Consistency
Consistency is one of the biggest things required for the success of blogging. Pinal Dave, one of the renowned name in the field of SQL, and blogger (he blogs at sqlauthority.com), I am a big fan of his and you know the reason why?
The reason why Pinal is a successful name is his consistency to blog. No matter what but he wonโt miss his schedule of posting a blog on daily basis.
Consistency is being one of the prime reasons why my blogs are not that much successful. I donโt have any hesitation in accepting this truth; there was a time when our blogs were having more than 10K unique visitors on a daily basis, since I was consistent enough to post regularly then, but since when I left being consistent due to my job, it started reducing as well.
I am not saying to post on a daily basis; rather you can fix a regular routine of blogging. Like you can opt for posting one blog in a week, or 2-3 blogs in a week, or even more than 2 blogs on a daily basis, but do fix whatever schedule, and do stick to the same.
Do you ever think that on a sudden day your newspaper did not come, just because they did not publish on that particular day, what would be your reaction?
You will simply move to some other newspaper. Similarly donโt give any reasons to your reader base to move towards some other options.
Using Common Themes
Well, just like not using your own domain name, using common or free available themes is one of the biggest mistakes which most bloggers do. Even I do made this mistake in my earlier days of blogging.
Very soon I realized that not having an unique identity will surely waste my talent, if I do have a bit of it, so I decided to move ahead with MyThemeShop featured themes, and believe me my readers and friends like this move of mine.
Slowly-slowly my site is returning to its past glorious days.
Well, believe me my friends not using a unique design for your blog is not a good idea. If you are also using free themes then you should understand the limitation which comes with them. I would always suggest everyone not to do the same mistake.
If you do have a budget you might also check some awesome themes by StudioPress they do have a huge range of quality themes.
Blogging for Wrong Niche
Well, I donโt have any hesitation in accepting the truth that there are so many niches available out here on which I wonโt be able to write anything satisfactory, and this is the reason why I donโt write on many issues. I usually prefer to publish those blogs only which can even satisfy me as a reader.
So one of the biggest mistakes made by any blogger is to trying their hands in the field in which they are a bit short of knowledge. This is something which always stops them to deliver quality, and people who visit their blog identify it and ignore them for future.
I might also be considered as a blogger of similar nature. If you too think that I am not writing good blogs or I donโt have the knowledge of the niche for which I am blogging, then please donโt hesitate in sharing your opinion with us in the form of comments. I always appreciate true feedbacks about myself and my blogs.
Blogging for Earning
Well, my dear friends, I always say that blogging is a passion and you wonโt realize it unless you yourself donโt do it. Now there are many bloggers out here who do blog for the purpose of earning only. They will try whatever they can just to earn from their blog.
Basically I am totally against this concept. See, you canโt earn without having a great blog, and to convert a blog into great blog, will take too much time, effort and quality content. So if your primary goal is to earn only, then think about blogging for that purpose once more.
Option of Subscription
One of the biggest mistakes by any bloggers is to avoiding subscribing now option with your blog. The success of any blog depends on the number of subscribers of that particular blog. I donโt have any hesitation in accepting the truth that I too made this mistake of not giving any thought about this option.
So I would always suggest everyone to provide an option of subscribe now to their readers.
Not Having an Unique View
Well, it is quite obvious that different people will have different opinions about any topic. It is quite natural that two people can have same types of thought, but when you ask both of them to write down the same, both of the writing will obviously differ.
Similarly with the growth of blogs, and its increased importance as far as search engines are concerned, you might get thousands of blogs on a single topic. If you do search for common blogging mistakes, you will get more than thousand pages written especially on the same. So the idea which I was trying to explain over this point is that if we are doing blogging then we must have a unique view, which should differ from common opinions.
Many bloggers do this mistake of copying ideas from other quality bloggers, well I wonโt say them that please donโt do that, you can always get some inspiration for your write-ups, but then please donโt say the same thing. At least try to write some unique things, which will provide some value to the readers. Believe me, reading is one of the best habit which might inspire you to write in a quality way. If at least a few people over here like my writing style, then the credit must goes to my reading ability. I do go through hundreds of blog on a daily basis, and do read most of them. I do even prefer reading books as well. So my suggestion to everyone is that you must have this tendency of reading so that you can also be able to provide some quality blogs. You can also check this article for other reading benefits.
Not Doing Promotion of Your Blogs
Well, to be very frank, if you write quite well, have plenty of quality blog posts in your blog, but marketing or a bit of self promotion is still required. These days we have the options of sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. through which we can easily share our blogs for free. One of the best tools to promote your own work is obviously twitter. Do have an account over there and try to engage yourself to get more quality followers to promote your own blog.
One another example which I can give budding bloggers to utilize is some of the blogging communities like Indibloggers, where you can share your work with other fellow bloggers. I am active on this blogging community and get some good response from there. So I would suggest every bloggers to engage and participate in some blogging community so that they can also get the love from other bloggers.
Those were the 8 blogging mistakes which are quite common, but then here are the two more which are quite deadly and commonly found with many bloggersโฆ
Lacking Valuable Content
If you go through one hundred blog posts on a daily basis, you will analyze that you are only getting around 10 or 20 valuable blogs. Now how can I say that a particular blog is having valuable content or not?
Well it is quite simple, if you go through a particular blog, and found that you are not getting any valuable information from it, or if you are a knowledgeable guy in a particular industry, and reached to a blog on the same industry and you obviously know all the points, but did not getting any inspiration to read them further, then the blog is a waste.
I might be a bit harsh, and I do accept that on the same criteria even my blogs will fail in front of many people, but still I at least tried my best to provide valuable content to my readers, which actually lacks in many bloggers out here.
No Connection with Your Readers
Well, do you know the most important reasons behind the huge success of any blog?
Well, if you analyze it clearly, you will find that it is the personal connection of the author with their readers, that too without knowing each other. Believe me itโs an art and not everyone will become a master of this. I might also fail in establishing this connection with my readers.
Least which we can try is to prepare blog in a manner that the reader might be asked and thus forced to interact with the author. Similarly if you posted a blog, then it is your duty to respond to the comments which your readers are posting. I have seen thousands of bloggers out here who donโt even give a damn about what their readers are saying on their blog. This attitude is one of the biggest mistakes made by any blogger.
I might write some more points on this topic, but I guess I already have written so much in this blog. I am quite sure if you are reading these lines, that means you really like the above points and I would ask you to share your experience about this in the form of comments. I am eager to hear your opinion about this blog of mine.
I would also like to share one blog post with you all over here, which is also somewhat related to the above post, and for those people who donโt have a blog and might be inspired by my above post to have a blog for themselves: what do you really need to get a WordPress Blog?
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