Most Common Mistakes New Bloggers Make

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Justin Hall published the first blog ever in the year 1994. Since, then blogging has come a long way. Today, there are more than 31 million blogs in United States alone.Blogging is a great way of reaching out to the world. There are a number of reasons why people blog. For some, blogging can just be a hobby, while for others it can be a way to increase awareness about their products and services, and earn money online. Whatever the reason is, the primary aim is to get readership for the blog.

Today, more and more people are taking up blogging for various reasons. As with any new venture, blogging too has a learning curve; you make mistakes and learn from them and move on. But some mistakes cost dearly and can even jeopardize the future of a blog.

In this Buzzle article, we have compiled some of the most common mistakes new bloggers make.

Poor, Shallow Content
Content is the king in the kingdom of blogs. It is very important that whatever you write and share on your blog is correct, informative, and of good quality. Readers on the Internet do not have time to read the mindless rant of a blogger. Only with good, unique, and interesting content will you be able to catch the attention of readers on the Internet, and turn them into your loyal followers. Poor and shallow content can kill your blog, so avoid it at all costs.
Copy-Pasting
Plagiarism is a crime, and if you indulge in the act of copying articles from other blogs and pasting them to your blog, you are going to be penalized heavily by search engines sooner or later. The importance of original and unique content cannot be emphasized enough. Copy-pasting from other blogs can also lead to a permanent deletion or ban on your blog. You will lose your credibility as a writer if readers find copied content on your blog.
Not Submitting Your Blog to Search Engines
You are writing great, unique, and original content, but your stats are not showing any signs of rise. What could be the reason? Well, most traffic to a blog comes from search engines, and for search engines to give you traffic you should let them know about your blog’s existence. Search engines index content of sites to be able to show them on search results. So, it is very important to submit your blog to search engines. Failing to do so means you are missing out on a huge chunk of traffic.
Not Using Social Media
A great way of gaining traffic and increasing your readership is by using various social media platforms. It is great if you are writing good content, but you need to promote your wares if you want to reach out to a wider audience. Neglecting social media is a big no-no.
Not Learning SEO
Along with writing good quality content, it is very important that your blog is search engine friendly. That’s where SEO comes into picture. If you want people to find your blog then the better you understand SEO, the better for your blog. Keep in mind that the field of SEO is constantly changing so, you should spend some time understanding the updated SEO best practices.
Not Choosing the Right Blogging Platform and Domain Name
It is very important to choose the right blogging platform. If you are blogging just as a hobby then perhaps free blogging sites are fine. But if you are aiming big, then you have to consider having a customized blog address and a dedicated web host. It will show that you are serious about blogging, and will help you get noticed by big brands wanting to sponsor some blogs in future.
No Attention to Formatting and Layout
It is very important to format your content to increase readability. Providing huge chunks of data without any formatting can put off readers, and they might turn to other sites. Using subtitles, bulleted points, and relevant images go a long way to hold the reader’s attention.
Not Optimizing Your Blog’s Permalinks
It might sound a bit technical, but it is absolutely important to optimize your blog’s permalinks. Usually the permalinks are set as per the domain name, for example – www.nameofblog.com/?123. But, this is not very SEO friendly. It is important to set them to show the permalink as per the title of your page or post like www.nameofblog.com/pagename or www.nameofblog.com/posttitle.
Not Connecting With Your Readers and Fellow Bloggers
It is very important to connect with your readers via comments. If a reader has a query, be sure to answer it as soon as possible. It will increase the reader’s trust and they will keep coming to your site. It is also important to connect with other fellow bloggers, leaving thought-provoking comments on the articles that interest you. You can also invite seasoned bloggers to guest post for you and vice versa. This will help your blog to gain exposure to a wider audience.
Mimicking Your Favorite Blog
Perhaps the biggest mistake a new blogger commits is to imitate his favorite blogger. But that doesn’t work in the long run. One cannot be someone else. Everyone has a style of their own and should work towards finding their own style rather than mimicking others.
Giving Up Too Early
Quite often people are frustrated by the slow start of their blog and instead of trying harder, they give up. One should understand that readers will not start flocking to your blog in a day. It will take considerable time and effort to attract and retain readers. But when you start getting results, it is all worth it. If you enjoy blogging, stick to it.
Blogging can be a very enriching and rewarding experience. It can open a whole new world for you. If you take care not to commit these common mistakes, you can get a good start for your blog.