You might be making some of these mistakes on your blog — here’s how to fix them!
Nobody’s perfect. We all make mistakes, and that’s okay. There are a few common mistakes bloggers make, however, that can really hurt their blog’s potential to make money. In this article, we’re going to look at what they are, why you should avoid them at all costs, and how to fix them.
Publishing too infrequently
Let’s start with the number one mistake bloggers make: not writing enough content when it comes time for publishing day. If you aren’t blogging regularly (at least once a month), this is going to hurt your blog’s earning potential. That’s because search engines rank blogs with frequent updates higher than those that are updated less often.
How to Fix It: Post at least once a month, preferably weekly or bi-weekly if you can do it! If you don’t have enough ideas for articles to publish each week, start brainstorming now by writing down what’s going on in your life, or what you think about a particular topic. You can also look to your blog’s analytics for inspiration, and read blogs in the niche for ideas on what people are searching for online.
If you’re looking for another way to improve posting frequency, consider motivational tools like Writemo, which will provide regular updates as your content deadlines approach to keep you writing.
Failing to proofread
Number two is not proofreading enough content before publishing it. Many bloggers feel like this isn’t necessary because they know their voice will have its own “flavor” when writing.
How to Fix It: I know, it’s hard to proofread your own work! The solution? You guessed it — hire a professional editor on Upwork or another freelancing website. There are some dedicated, talented editors out there who can catch even the most subtle mistakes in your writing and polish everything up before publishing day.
Ignoring keywords
Another common mistake bloggers make is not using keywords and other SEO techniques to help their content be found by potential readers.
How to Fix It: This one’s easy! Make sure you’re including keywords in your post titles, throughout the body of your articles, and in your metadata (title, description, etc.). You can also include keywords in the headline of your blog posts (for example, “blogging tips” or “writing tips”). Another great tip is to look at what keywords are ranking on page one for certain search terms. If you want your writing about “how to write a book” to show up there when someone searches that term online, make sure you use those keywords in your writing! You can use a tool like Google Analytics to solve this.
Ignoring commenters
Next up is not engaging with readers and commenters. If people are commenting on your blog posts, don’t just delete their comments or stop responding — respond to them as often as possible. This creates a friendly community that will keep coming back for more great content from you and other commenters.
How to Fix It: Keep a close eye on your comments section, and respond to readers’ questions or concerns. Even if you’re busy when someone leaves an insightful comment with something worth expanding upon in another blog post (and even if it takes some time before you do this), make sure they know that their question is important to you.
Failing to promote your content
Finally, not promoting your blog content when it’s published is a massive error. Many bloggers are so focused on producing great writing that they forget to promote what they’ve already posted…and then wonder why nobody reads their work!
How to Fix It: The solution is easy — schedule time every day or week for promoting your content. For 30 minutes a day, you can use social media to share your latest blog posts with as many people as possible. You can also use the “share” button on WordPress to promote each post across your social media platforms at once — this means you don’t have to spend time promoting every single new article, which saves a ton of time!
Wrapping it all up
These are just a few mistakes that bloggers make when it comes to writing and posting content.
How do we fix them? By taking each of these mistakes seriously, analyzing how we work as writers, and looking for ways to improve our blogging techniques! Writing is a tough job (believe me — I know!), but it becomes easier when you’ve found your voice and can avoid common pitfalls like the ones I’ve listed here.