5 Blogging Mistakes To Avoid

A long while ago (2013 to be exact!), I wrote a blog post aimed at those that were maybe thinking about starting up a blog called Tips for Starting a Blog where I shared some of my tips back then that helped me start up my blog and get it seen initially. Today I thought I would share just five little tips on things to avoid as a new blogger. I hope, if you're considering starting up your own blog or you're a new blogger reading this, that this will be of some help. :)

1. Comparing yourself/your blog
This really does have to be the worst mistake you can make as a blogger. It's something we probably all do, we're human and it's natural. But I think with blogging and social media it can be far too easy to compare yourself to others and it's such an unproductive thing to do. I always try and remember the quote, "Don't compare your beginning to somebody else's middle.". 

2. Not having easy to find ways to follow you on social media and to follow your blog available on your sidebar
It's always a bit disappointing to find a really great blog I want to follow and then spend ages trying to find a way to follow the person writing the blog and the actual blog itself. Having social media icons that link to your pages and a Bloglovin button high near the top of the page labeled as a clear way to follow your blog is so important. Your could end up losing potential readers if they can't find a way to come back to your blog without remembering your URL. 

3. Starting a blog to get "freebies" and underestimating how much work is actually required
Honestly blogging is not about "freebies". If you receive something for free you aren't expected to do anything with it other than enjoy it. That isn't how blogging works. It's really incredible how much work goes in to having and maintaining a blog. A lot of work needs to go in to personal content, social media presence, replying to emails, photographing products, researching, testing. It's so much more about product testing and review writing. My best tip is to blog about something you feel passionately about or towards. 

4. Not using good images
I think these days images are such an important part of blog posts - they help to tell the story. My best advice around images is to use clear images and make them as wide as your post. If you can, try and edit them a little - brighten them if they are a little on the dark side. Think about what is in your background - does the background distract from what is supposed to be the focus? If an image that you want to use is a little blurry or has too much 'noise', maybe turn it black and white and see if this helps. 

5. Not being social 
Social media presence is a really important part to blogging. If you want to grow your blog you need to interact with your target audience and fellow bloggers on social media. The three main platforms to use for blogging in my own opinion are Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can easily find hashtags to use on both Twitter and Instagram by looking at what sorts of hashtags other people who share similar content to you are using. Interact with people who reach out to you both bloggers and non-bloggers, every interaction is an opportunity to find a new reader or follower. Join in with blogger chats and join blogging facebook groups. Attend blogging events in person if you can and comment on other peoples blogs and social posts. A huge part of blogging is networking. 

I hope these tips are of some help. If you like this sort of post please let me know and I'll maybe look in to writing a few more like it. :) 

If you are a blogger, Colour Graphics are currently asking for bloggers to to take part in this very quick online survey to find out whether bloggers find offline marketing useful and to see which forms of marketing are the most effective for bloggers. If you have a minute spare please do head over to their page to help with the survey. 

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