You’ve got ideas. You can write, you’re passionate, you’re ready to make some money, you’ve been reading up on WordPress tips, and you’re pretty sure you know how to start a blog. So you do, and for a while, it’s great! You’re writing, the hits are coming in – you feel unstoppable.
And then, somewhere along the way, the wheels fall off.
Learning how to start a blog is one thing, but keeping it running is another story. With that in mind, let’s look at the five major pratfalls that trip up nascent bloggers.
#1: Unrealistic Expectations
It’s tempting, isn’t it? The rush of success, the thrill of the unknown – just a small taste of blogging success has been all it takes to get bloggers drunk on potential. Especially if you’re new to the blogging game, one of the easiest mistakes to make is setting your expectations too high.
Sure, it’d be great if you started pulling in enough advertising revenue to quit your day job, and it’s even possible that you can get there. But it’s not going to happen overnight. And if it does, be extremely careful – because it’s almost certainly not happening the next night, and the other next night, and so on.
Blogging isn’t a sprint; it’s more like a marathon. It’s not a crash diet that will make you look like a film star in 48 hours – it’s the discipline to consistently drop half a pound every week, of setting and achieving realistic goals – both for your success, and your output.
#2 Drowning in Your Own Content
“Content is King,” right? Everybody says it, so it’s got to be true.
Sure, in a sense. Even so, it also remains true that “less is more” – and if you’ve decided that no, MORE is more, and that’s going to be your strategy, you’re going to see diminished returns pretty quickly.
Shoveling out new content at a rapid-fire pace can lead to a short-term boost in hits, but the trade-off in quality usually isn’t worth it. And trust us; there will be a trade-off in quality. You may think that doubling your daily word count isn’t going to affect your end result, but eventually, it’s bound to. Not only does this lead to burnout, but the drop in quality means you’ll start losing readers.
Think about it. The internet isn’t short on words. People are coming to your blog because you have something worth saying.
#3: Show Me the Money
Don’t get it twisted – there’s nothing wrong with monetizing your blog. Far from it! But people resent anything that feels like a quick cash grab. If the first thing that greets people on your blog is a barrage of ads, you’re asking them to put up with an awful lot to read your posts.
That’s a barrier to entry. You want as few of those as possible.
#4: Trying to Be Someone/Something You’re Not
“To thine own self be true.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet
While Shakespeare’s Polonius was getting at a number of different things, there’s a reason this quote has endured. If you’re trying to emulate other successful bloggers, you can incorporate all the right wordpress tips and tricks, follow the best marketing plan, and even write incredible content – but it’s all going to fall apart.
A feeling of authenticity is paramount to the success of your blog – if you’re faking it, people aren’t going to connect with you, and those temporary hits won’t become full time readers.
#5: Spending All Your Time on SEO
A lot of bloggers think that the right mix of keywords is their ticket to blogging success. And sure, you shouldn’t ignore SEO – but if your work reads like a list of search terms, not only is that impossibly dull to read, you’re just as likely to get caught in a search engine filter – knocking you out entirely – rather than publicizing your blog.
Google’s advice on this is golden. Ask yourself: would you be writing this way if search engines didn’t exist? If not, consider revising.
Blogging can be a difficult endeavor. But if you avoid these traps, you’ll be well on your way to blogging success.
