Everyone makes mistakes. It is part of life. If someone told you they never make mistakes, they are probably lying!

Blogging is no exception to this fact. There are many common blogging mistakes that people make, whether they blog for business or for personal use, someone will trip up at some point. And, you know what? It is fine to do so! Everyone makes mistakes so you don’t need to stress over making one. The best you can do is to identify these common mishaps and find solutions to avoid them.

In this week’s blog, I will go through a few common blogging mistakes and solutions for each one!

Blogging Mistake #1: You’re not writing for anyone in particular

Your blog is for no one in particular but everyone at the same time. This is a mistake as your blog will have no real direction or information for any set person. People will not relate and therefore won’t continue reading it.

Solution: When a business starts-up, one of the first things that is discussed is the target audience. Who is the product or service going to attract? If you are starting a blog you should think the same. Everyone needs someone to talk to and everyone wants to read something that relates to them, so think about who you want to target and tailor the content for them.

Blogging Mistakes #2: Copying Other People’s Blogs

If you are a new blog, just starting out, then it can be easy to just go on other blogs and get inspiration on what to write about. However, while doing this is fine, some can fall in the trap of copying everything, from how they pose in a photo, to writing style. Big mistake - how are you going to stand out?

Solution: Making sure your personality shines through your blog. Getting inspiration about what to write about is normal, but make sure you put your own spin on it. Make it your own. If you do reviews, inject something to make it stand out. Just look at this very well known travel instagram account https://www.instagram.com/muradosmann/ they made their instagram unique with beautiful photography and a pose that has become a staple for a lot of couples travelling.

Blogging Mistake #3: Not Engaging with Your Readers

You just write blog posts and post them. You then write another blog post and post it. You don’t ask any questions or even take notice of the comment section. This is, of course, bad practice! Just imagine going to a lecture and you are just talked to. They don’t ask you any questions and you are not allowed to say anything back or give feedback. Not good is it?

Solutions: Engage, Engage, Engage! Just like social media, you need to engage with your audience and make them feel included. At the end of your blog, why not finish off with a question, asking your audience their opinion or if they have a question. When they do engage in the comment section, don’t forget to reply as well. Engagement is key to a successful blog. It makes people feel included and part of a community.

Blogging Mistake #4: Your Blog Schedule is All Over the Place

If blogging is just an optional extra, you probably just blog when you have time. Your blogs could come everyday for a week then not at all for a month, then back on and off again. If your blog is inconsistent then your readers may lose interest. They may think you don’t care about your blog, which will lead to them not caring about your blog.

Solution: Plan out your content and stick to a schedule. For our blog, we try to blog once at least once a week, ideally on a Wednesday. If we miss the Wednesday, we will post on Thursday. But we always try to blog at least once a week. By keeping to the same day, or around that, our readers know when to expect a new blog and when to come back.

Blogging Mistake #5: You don’t Pay Attention to the Stats

Numbers can be confusing. You probably look at stats and ignore them. But did you know this is a huge mistake? How do you know who is visiting your blog? How do you know what their interests are and whether or not they enjoy it? How do you know if they are staying or going?

Solution: Checking out your analytics is a great way to see how your blog is doing and seeing whether or not you need to change anything or tailor content to a different audience. You might have wanted to target female visitors aged 18 to 25 but found you actually get more females, aged 35 and up. This kind of data is crucial as it can help shape your blog, gain and retain visitors, and make it better. Some blogging platforms have inbuilt stats for you to go through, while others you will need to install third-party analytics tools. Google Analytics is a great one to use and easy to implement. You can read how to implement it here.

Summing Up

Mistakes are easy to make, but you shouldn’t beat yourself up over them! Identify and learn from them, that way then you have the potential to be the best.

Can you think of any other blogging mistakes? Let us know your thoughts!