7 Costly Blogging Mistakes That Will Waste Your Time And Money!

Starting a blog can seem like an easy and inexpensive way to establish an online presence. But without the right strategy, it's easy to fall into common blogging traps that will cost you dearly in wasted time, missed opportunities, and hard-earned money.

To build a successful blog that enhances your brand and actually generates returns, you need to avoid amateur mistakes and adopt proven best practices. Steer clear of the seven blogging blunders outlined below to save your time, energy, and money as you grow your blog and audience.

With focus, consistency, and effort, your blog can pay dividends for your business or brand. But blindly barreling into the blogosphere without a plan is a recipe for lost time and money. 

Blogging can be a great way to share your knowledge, promote your business, or make some extra money. However, like any endeavor, there are some common mistakes to avoid to ensure your blog runs smoothly and efficiently.

1. Choosing a niche that’s too broad.

When deciding on a blog niche, it’s tempting to choose a huge, popular category like “lifestyle” or “technology.” However, a niche that’s too broad will be very difficult to rank well for in search engines. There will be much more competition for any given keyword, making it exponentially harder to get traffic.

Instead, choose a more focused, specific niche like “workout gear for women” or “SaaS marketing tips.” The competition will be lower and you’ll be seen as more of an authority in your specialized area

2. Having weak headlines.

The POWER of your headline can make or break your blog post. Strong headlines pique readers' interest and get them to click through from social media, search engines, or your homepage. Weak headlines that are boring or too generic will fail to grab attention.

Headlines should highlight the benefit the reader will get from the post. For example“Doctors Hate Him - Man Discovers Shocking New Weight Loss Secret” is more compelling than “Weight Loss Secrets.” Use power words and emotional triggers like “How to” “Why” “Best” and “Never Do This.” The goal is to use exaggeration, mystery, controversy or intrigue to make the headlines more compelling to grab the reader's attention. 

3. Inconsistent posting schedule.

The best way to build a loyal audience is by consistently publishing high-quality content on a regular schedule. When you rarely post new material, you don’t remain top of mind with readers. And if your posting is sporadic, readers won’t know when to expect new content.

Commit to a blogging frequency you can genuinely keep up with long term, whether that’s once a week or once a day. Consistency is key, so pick a schedule and stick to it as much as possible to keep readers engaged.

4. Writing content that’s too self-promotional.

While some self-promotion is expected on a business or professional blog, overdoing it will turn readers off. Don’t make every post a sales pitch for your product or service - provide value for the reader first and foremost.

The 80/20 rule is a good guideline: 80% of posts should provide valuable information or education, while only 20% should directly promote your offerings. Readers will be more open to learning about what you sell if you establish trust and credibility through informative content.

5. Not optimizing for SEO.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is how people will find your fantastic content, so ignoring it means fewer readers. Make sure to do keyword research and incorporate popular relevant terms in your titles, headers, image names, and content. 

Check that your blog is mobile-friendly, loads fast, and is integrated with Google Analytics. The technical SEO factors like site architecture, internal links, meta descriptions, and schema markup should be handled before launching your blog. 

Blogging sites like Cowritar, Blogger, and Medium are quick and easy platforms. Their built-in SEO helps your posts get discovered.

6. Not promoting your content. 

You can write amazing blog posts, but if you don’t promote them, no one will find and share them. At a minimum, share a link to each new blog post on your social media channels and to your friends.

Consider getting a social sharing plugin so readers can easily share your content. Guest posting on complementary blogs helps expand your audience. Don’t expect readers to promote your content - you have to build excitement around each post.

7. Skipping email list building.

For long-term success, you need to build an email subscriber list. This allows you to communicate directly with your most engaged readers. But you need to include email signup forms on your blog, promote your list, and offer incentives like exclusive content to grow your subscribers. 

Never make the mistake of not asking readers for their email or not offering enough value to convince them to subscribe. An email list keeps you connected even if other traffic sources disappear.

Avoiding Common Blogging Pitfalls.

Blogging is an extremely effective way for building an audience around your brand and expertise but stumbling blocks like ineffective headlines, inconsistent posting, and weak promotion can drastically limit your success. Here are some solutions to avoid common blogging mistakes:

★ Choose a focused niche that is narrow and specific to be seen as an expert in your field. Don't pick a niche that is too broad.

★ Craft strong headlines that create curiosity and get clicks. Use emotional triggers and power words.

★ Stick to a consistent posting schedule, whether it's once a day, week, or month. This builds reader loyalty.

★ Provide valuable information focused on helping the reader at least 80% of the time. Avoid too much self-promotion. 

★ Optimize posts for SEO by including target keywords, optimizing technical factors, and promoting content.

★ Promote every piece of content through social media, email lists, guest posts, etc. Don't just publish and forget about it.

★ Build an email list to stay connected with readers by offering lead magnets in exchange for emails.

★ Monitor analytics to see what content resonates and adjust your strategy. Learn from mistakes.

★ Outsource tasks like editing, graphics, and promotion if needed to maintain consistency.

In conclusion,

The key is planning quality content in advance, staying consistent, optimizing reach through promotion and SEO, and building lasting reader relationships through email lists. Avoiding common pitfalls takes effort but it pays off.