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If you’re a blogger, you probably know that “making it” in the blogging world takes time, effort, and dedication. But did you know that there are several blogging mistakes you could be doing that may be hindering your blog’s success?
When I first started blogging, I had no idea what I was getting myself into! After months and months of research and implementing different strategies to my blog, I am finally at a place where I am able to monetize my blog and share what worked for me.
Today I am going to be sharing 10 blogging mistakes you should avoid if you are planning on monetizing your blog and turning it into a business.
This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase anything I recommend, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost from you. You can read my full disclosure here. Thank you for supporting Boss Babe Chronicles!
Using a free domain
This tip is huge! Having a free domain isn’t going to get you very far if you’re serious about turning your blog into a business.
When you sign up for a free domain, you don’t own that domain. Having a domain that looks like “www.yoursite.wordpress.com” doesn’t make your blog look professional. It may be free, but it’s going to be super hard to monetize and set you apart from other bloggers.
Here are some pros of having a self-hosted blog:
- You own your blog
- You own your domain
- You can monetize it however you like
- Brands are more likely to work with you
- You can customize it however you choose
I chose to go self-hosted with Bluehost and have a whole post explaining how to set up a blog with them step-by-step. You can read this post by clicking here.
Not having about me, contact and privacy policy pages
Having these is super important!
An About Me page is great for your readers to get to know the person behind the text. Whenever I find a new blog I like, I always check out the About Me page of that blogger. It’s a great way to make yourself relatable to your readers, and I highly recommend it! Here is my About Me page if you are interested in learning a little more about me.
Privacy policy and disclosure pages are needed from bloggers legally, so I also recommend writing one ASAP if you don’t yet have one. You will legally need to refer to this page in all your posts that contain affiliate links, too. Here is mine for reference.
Not starting a mailing list
I can’t begin to tell you how many bloggers I talk to don’t have a mailing list!
There have been so many times when I read a blog post I enjoyed, didn’t have the opportunity to sign up to that blogger’s mailing list, and then forgot what that blog was and could never go back to it again.
That’s one reason why having a mailing list is important. Mailing lists turn your random blog visitors into regular readers. These readers can eventually become your customers, which is going to be huge for your blog. Don’t sleep on mailing lists.
Click here for a whole post about how to set up a mailing list for free.
Not interlinking
This is another big one. Interlinking is when you link your previous posts in newer posts that you’re writing.
Say, for example, you have a food blog. If you’re writing a vegan recipe, you can link other vegan recipes you’ve written to that post. That way, people who are interested in vegan recipes and are reading your post can see that you have more of them click those links.
What this does is it keeps readers on your blog longer, and that is great for your SEO. You can learn about how to find the correct keywords for your blog using this guide.
Not utilizing Pinterest
“Pinterest doesn’t work for me”. I’ve heard this sentence more than I can count on both hands.
If Pinterest isn’t working for you, it’s because you’re doing it wrong. Plain and simple. If you learn how to use it properly, you will see results pretty fast.
70% of my current traffic currently comes from Pinterest, you guys.
If you’re struggling with Pinterest or think that it isn’t for you, I have written an ebook all about how you will be able to skyrocket your blog views with Pinterest.
You can read some reviews on my ebook, Pinterest Perfect, by clicking here.
Not having a pinnable image in your posts
Even if you don’t use Pinterest (yet!), you should still make it easy for others to pin your content to their boards.
I usually have 2 pins in my posts. My readers can choose which image they like better and pin it, and by doing that, my blog gets more exposure!
I also have jQuery Pin It Button for Images plugin installed on my blog. That’s how my readers can easily pin my images. Hover over the pin below and see for yourself how easy that is!
If you’re struggling with Pinterest for your blog traffic, check out my ebook Pinterest Perfect on steps I took that increased my blog views by 80% in one month!
Not having social share buttons
Similar to the Pin It button, social share buttons make it easy for your readers to share your post on their social media accounts.
All the effort you will have to make is to download a plugin that displays these buttons on every post (I use Share Buttons by AddThis), and your readers will be able to share your posts as they please.
This, again, increases your exposure and pushes your content out to more people.
Not networking
Not getting involved with being a part of the blogging community is one of the worst things you can do for your blog. Blogging, to me, is all about collaboration instead of competition.
Here are some ways you can network with other bloggers:
- Get on Twitter, follow as many bloggers as you can, and interact with them on a regular basis.
- Join a few Facebook groups for bloggers. Click here to join mine!
- Comment on other bloggers’ posts. Genuine comments can get you very far in terms of being respected as a blogger.
- Follow bloggers on Instagram, and engage with them through their posts and stories.
- When other bloggers comment on your posts, reply to their comments and check out their blogs.
Not being consistent
Just like with everything else in life, if you want to become good at blogging, you have to stay consistent. Having a clear plan helps with this.
Here are some tips on how you can stay consistent while blogging:
- Once in a while, have a 10-minute brain dump and write down all the blog post ideas that come to your mind.
- How many times a week do you want to post? Which days of the week? Make a schedule and stick to it.
- Dedicate set times during the week to work on your blog.
- Consider batch writing a few posts every few weekends and schedule them to go out in the following weeks.
- Start your tasks from big to small. Once you have the bigger stuff out of the way, it will be easier to keep up with the smaller tasks.
Not investing in your blog
Last, but certainly not least, if you don’t invest in your blog, you might struggle with growing it.
I get it, money doesn’t grow on trees and sometimes we just can’t afford to buy the latest course, get the awesome ebook, or hire a blogging coach.
However, investing in my blog over the months has truly taught me a lot of valuable blogging lessons. I don’t think I would have learned them otherwise unless I did a crapload of research and spent weeks trying to find what I got access to in a matter of minutes.
I’m going to be sharing the investments I made in my blog with you all. I did not purchase these at once, not even in the same month, and I only ever recommend paid services which I have personally used and seen results from.
Here are the products and services I have purchased over the months:
- A theme by Creanncy.
- Pinterest Ninja which is an ebook about understanding the ins and outs of Pinterest.
- The Email Marketing Fairy which has pages and pages of word-for-word emails you can send to your mailing list.
- Pinterest with Ell another great resource about learning everything to do with Pinterest.
- Grammarly is like a spell-check but better! It checks your grammar as well as just basic spell-checker things.
- Tailwind is the Pinterest scheduler I use and swear by and I recently upgraded to unlimited Tribes which is helping my content get out there a lot more. My blog views have grown by 83% in the 3 months I’ve been using Tailwind. Click here to get your first month of Tailwind for FREE.
- ConvertKit is the email marketing service I use and it is so much more user-friendly than MailChimp. Click here to get started with ConvertKit for free for up to 1000 subscribers!
- Keyword Research for Bloggers helped me understand how to find keywords that can help me rank in searches, and since implementing the strategies over the past month, my organic search clicks have doubled! I highly recommend this resource.
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This was an easy read and you provided great tips. Thank you!
I’m glad you think so!
This article is a lifesaver! I just started blogging recently and using Pinterest! Thank you so much for these helpful tips 🙂 I also signed up for the free blogging course!
Awesome, I hope you find it useful!
This is really a awesome post especially to me as a new blogger. There are some tips in this article that I need to implement on my blog. I also went ahead and requested to join your Facebook group. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome! Happy to have you with us 🙂
It was an educative post. Picked up a few things. Thank you.
Glad to hear that! Thank you for reading.
Very informative and helpful post for every blogger out there 👏❤️
I really need to set up my mailing list. I did signup for Mailchimp but It didn’t get me any subscribers yet.
I need to see where I went wrong.
Do you offer an opt-in form for your email subscribers?
There is some great info here! I need to network more! Thanks for the information!
Thanks for sharing this! So helpful!
Hey Mariam,
You have shared some amazing insights. These are the some common mistakes every bloggers makes in his first stage of blogging. Thanks for sharing this.
Regards,
Sayem Ibn Kashem
This reminds me, I need to go back and add a Pinning option to my posts. I just recently got my Pinterest up and running and didn’t even think about others pinning directly from my blog. Thank you for mentioning it.
My pleasure! It really does help with getting your blog out there.
Great post! I see so many of these ‘errors’ on so many blogs. Especially the no pinnable image and no share buttons. I often participate in various blogging group share/comment threads and there are a lot of other bloggers who write great content and then I go to pin their post or even share it on FB or Twitter and they either don’t have a pinnable image or they don’t have any share buttons. I usually will leave a comment and suggest to add these things so that it makes it easier for other to share. It really is hard to do all the things right for you blog…but those are 2 major things that can be fixed pretty quickly.
Exactly! There are a lot of REALLY good blogs out there that don’t have sharing means on their posts and it’s a shame because many of us are willing to help one another out!
All great reasons for why your blog is not growing. I feel like I’m doing all of these things except maybe being more consistent. I’ve hit a plateau with blog growth and I’m not sure how to turn it around at the moment.
Your blog is great, I was just reading a post of yours! Try to experiment more with getting more views. Utilize FB groups, hit Pinterest hard, and work on SEO. You’ll get out of the plateau soon enough!
Hey Miriam, Thanks for these great tips. I’m guilty of not having a sub box on my homepage. Currently I am experimenting with a chat bot that also collects email address. But now I think it’d be great idea to give readers an option to sub easily.
It definitely is a smart move to start an email list! Best of luck to you. 😊
Great tips! I try to follow them all! ♥️ Not using a free domain is huge! That really limits bloggers!
Absolutely! Many bloggers are afraid of spending the money for a paid domain but it really makes a difference.
Some great tips here! I’m (very) slowly trying to expand my blog so will definitely be doing as many of these tips as possible in the next few months. Great post!
Slow and steady is a good approach! There is so much to learn about blogging that doing too much at once can get pretty overwhelming.
Exactly! Thanks so much for the comment x
There is a lot of work I need to do. Especially adding a mailing list to my site.Thank you for the advice.
My pleasure!
New blog follower here!🙋🏾♀️ Your tips were outstanding and extremely helpful! I definitely need to utilize Pinterest more and invest time into SEO. Also, I certainly want to buy my domain but I don’t have extra cash to spare so I’m saving my money for that.
Natonya | https://www.justnatonya.wordpress.com
So happy to hear that you found the post helpful! 😍 Baby steps are all you need for a successful blog. Definitely look into Pinterest and SEO- they help so much!
Ok I will Mariam!!
I gotta work on my about me page and mailing list. I swear it’s so hard thinking of what to talk about myself though.
I completely understand. You can always use these 3 questions for your about me page. What do I enjoy? Why did I start this blog? What will my readers be learning from it?
Wow. Thank you for that! I think I will take this weekend to formulate one and use those questions. :]
Awesome! 🙂
Great tips! I’m guilty of a few of these, but trying to work on them!
Latest posts on Authentically Average:
https://authenticallyaverage.com/2019/08/22/my-first-custom-painted-model/
https://authenticallyaverage.com/2019/08/13/so-wait-you-cant-see-colors/
Excellent advice! I’m new to blogging so can definitely take some of these on board. I’m off to create an About Me page, quick!!
Yay! That’s such an important page.
I’m guilty as charged when it comes to failing at Pinterest. I’ll have to study up!
Definitely learn more about it and get your Pinterest game on girl! 👀
These are great tips. I still struggle with pinterest and will be checking out your ebook. What I have learned in my 10 plus years of blogging is to keep trying, keep learning and keep a positive attitude.
Those are definitely key when it comes to blogging.😊
These are excellent tips for new bloggers! The mistakes that resonated with me pertained to not having Pinterest images nor share buttons! I’ve seen instances where blog posts don’t have share buttons or you have to search for them on the page. Also, there are times when I see great blog posts that I want to share on Pinterest, but none of the images can be pinned or they’re not sized according to Pinterest guidelines. Great blog post, Mariam!
Yesss I hate it when bloggers don’t have those in their posts! Those buttons make for such easy publicity!
I am new in blogging and this article helped me a lot. Thank you so much!
Glad it could help! 😊
This was such an amazing post! There’s definitely things here that I do like being consistent and sharing my posts social media, but there’s definitely some more tips that I need to be doing like creating a mailing list, I’m definitely going to be reading your post about that! X
Let me know if you have any questions! 🙂
I am guilty of not having an email list. It’s just so hard to get people to sign up!
Do you offer a freebie on your site? That’s what usually gets people to sign up!
I don’t…. I wouldn’t know what to offer.
This might help! https://www.bossbabechroniclesblog.com/best-opt-in-freebie-ideas-to-explode-your-list/
Thanks!
I’ve been having a lot of trouble creating a mailing list. But I know I’ll get there eventually. Thank you so much for sharing this post. It has been really helpful!
What are you stuck on with creating a mailing list?
I totally agree with these tips! I also hate it when someone doesn’t have an easy commenting system that I can’t comment on their blog with 🙁
Shannon
http://www.shanylou.co.uk
It’s such a shame because sometimes I want to leave a comment saying I loved their content but can’t!
Some Wonderful Tips You Stated Here, Definitely Will Be Using Some Of These To Help With The Growth Of My Blog.
That’s great to hear!
Thank you for some awesome tips. I keep a ‘Blogging Resources’ document to help me with my blog, and I have linked this post to come back to! ^_^
http://www.meaghan-bethany.blogspot.com
Awesome. 🙂 I hope you find it helpful.
Thanks for the tips! I’m trying to monetize my blog right now, you have some great info!
I’m glad it’s helpful! Let me know if you have any questions. 🙂
These are SUCH good ideas, and honestly, I’m doing some of these, but not all of them, haha. So this was a good reminder to me to get my blogger butt in gear and step up my game! Thanks for all the great tips, girl!
Emily | https://www.thatweirdgirllife.com
Haha, my pleasure! There’s always something new to learn with blogging!
Great blog! I’m currently in that area of “Pinterest doesn’t work for me” so I think it’s time I do some more research!
Definitely learn how to utilize Pinterest. You’ll love what it does for your blog!
Love this clear and concise list. I am sorry to say several things are resonating with me as being done wrong in my end but that is good; you have brought them to my attention so they can be addressed! 🙂
That’s totally fine! The awesome thing about blogging is that things can be easily changed and made better. 😉
😜 Love that perspective!
I second your tips! They are so true. Blogging isn’t easy, but there is nothing worse than writing an amazing piece and having it go nowhere simply because a blogger wasn’t utilizing the right tools. After reading this, I know I am on the right track, but Tailwind is the big thing I need to add next! I’m excited to see if it is as amazing as everyone says and the results.
Absolutely! It takes 2 minutes to set up share buttons and the benefits are totally worth it! I swear by Tailwind. When used correctly it gives major results!
Great tips! I will say, though, that with Instagram it is crucial to stay within niche as it will hurt your account (due to the algorithm) if you don’t.
Oh, Instagram is a whole other ball game. I don’t enjoy it as much as I enjoy my blog.
Great post – I’d agree with all of these. It took me far too long to create a newsletter though! x
Same here, I didn’t make one until a few months ago!
soo many good tips.. I am considering downloadaing tailwind from your posts this week!
Rosie
It’s sooo worth it!
Being consistent is key! Great tips!
Bettie
http://www.thewildflowerhippie.com
These are really some useful tips! Thanks for this!
Very useful, especially for new bloggers. I’m glad to see that MOST of the things on this list aren’t being done by me! Thank you for sharing.
That’s awesome! 🙂
I LOVE the tip about using pins inside your post. While I have one on my “contact” page, I alwyas forget to utilize this feature with my images in my post! Thanks for the reminder <3
It helps me a lot with getting my content out there! 🙂
So many good tips in here! I’ve been blogging for a few years and yet there’s still so much I’ve learned from this, thank you for sharing it.
Great tips ! I am currently working on using Pinterest to drive traffic to my blog from the monthly views I gained. Wish me luck 😂
But anyways, I totally agree with everything you pointed out here ! Great post !
Maya, travel-by-maya.com
I agree with all of those tips if people want to be/become professional bloggers.
I must admit, though, that I don’t have a mailing list. Why? Because I personally hate getting emails from bloggers (sorry!) and delete them right away, so I assume that other people do the same and then, in my eyes, it’s wasted work – or that’s not your experience??
Anyway, great post!
I completely understand! I found that I also get a whole lot of subscription emails I don’t really enjoy, so I recently unsubscribed to a lot and just left the ones which genuinely interest me! Maybe that’s something to consider?
Phenomenal list. I definitely got to work on Pinterest it seems the harder I work the less traffic I get. Lol
Your tips have been really straightforward, and I’ve decided to join Twitter after reading this post!
My latest post is at:
https://kateraenotatourist.wordpress.com
Cheers!
Kate Rae // Not A Tourist
This was a good read! I definitely struggle with staying consistent, but I am trying my best and I think that it’s important that we take steps to constantly improve ourselves, even if the steps are small!
This was a great read! I definitely struggle with staying consistent, which I really want to change, since blogging is something I really enjoy doing.
love this post this is exactly why I chose to be self hosted