Don’t Make These Newbie Blogging Mistakes
Even the best of us make these newbie blogging mistakes which can cause us to lose blog traffic. It pays to know the fundamentals of setting up a blog to avoid problems both from SEO and money making views.
Some mistakes can be corrected even after you have started your blog. Other mistakes will cost you more and it may take some time before your blog recovers from the damage.
-
Not Setting Up Your Own Domain On A Good Web Host
Blog newbies like to set up free blogs with Blogger and other such free blogging sites because there is zero cost. This is myopic thinking. Blogs hosted by free blogging sites can be shut down anytime which can result in you losing your source of income.If you are serious about building a profitable blog, you should get your own domain name and web host, preferably from different companies. This is ensure you have full control over your domain should you wish to change your domain registrar later.
And here’s an important tip: NEVER accept the free domain name offered by some web hosting companies. There have been many cases of web hosting companies refusing to release the domain name when customers want to change web host.
-
Focusing On Blog Design Instead Of Content
Although the theme or look of a blog is important, having good blog content is even more important. But I agree that playing around with different themes is way more fun than sitting down and cracking your head to write content. Especially long articles like this one. But it’s got to be done. -
Not Using Basic SEO Techniques
There are entire tomes written on Search Engine Optimization but you can apply the basic SEO techniques that are readily available on the internet to kickstart your blog optimization. Techniques such as writing strong headlines, using anchor text links, selecting the best permalink structure.Using SEO plugins and modifying title tags in your header all work together to increase chances of higher rankings in search engines. Granted they are a little technical but not entirely difficult to get around.
-
Not Offering RSS And Email Subscription
Really Simple Syndication is that orange button you see on almost every blog. Subscribing to RSS Feeds offer an easy way for your readers to stay updated with the latest content from your blog.They are a means to capture and retain readers. Most newbies don’t understand what it is and don’t bother with it. Again it is a little technical but a necessity which cannot be overlooked. Here’s a brief explanation of what RSS is.
-
Monetizing Too Early
If your purpose for starting a blog is to make money, then you might have signed up for Google AdSense like everyone else. However, because your blog does not have substantial traffic yet, you will hardly get any clicks and as a result, very little money. Don’t bother too much with monetizing early on because all it does is discourage you. Concentrate on building up content instead. -
Not Picking The Right Monetizing Methods
Everyone goes for Google AdSense in the beginning because it’s so prevalent and easy to set up. However, success varies greatly with different blogs and it’s always worthwhile trying out different kinds of monetizing methods. There are hundreds, so do your research and pick the more suitable ones. -
Over Monetizing
Blog monetizing has reached new heights. Now, even RSS feeds can be monetized. Having too much advertising on your blog can turn some readers off. Equally annoying are sponsored posts from paid review companies which may not be relevant to your blog topic.If you have built up an email list, the fastest way to lose your readers is to use that list to sell e-products. I have unsubscribed from several email lists because of this. There is a delicate balance to be struck between useful, real content and the occasional plug. Advertising backlash can cause you to lose readers.
For example if your blog is about cameras, there is a higher chance of success with advertising programs that feature products, such as Chitika eMiniMalls. If your blog has low or mid level traffic, pick a program that has a lower payout rate that is easier to reach than minimum US$100 for Google AdSense, such as Bidvertiser.
Starting your blog off on the right fundamentals will save you a lot of grief later on. So make use of this checklist if you are thinking of starting a blog to make money blogging.
Next: WordPress Plugins To Grow Your Blog
[...] Rush Through A Post Resulting In Content That Is Not Useful To Readers Often when writing articles, back links, keywords and how much traffic – and consquently how much money we can make – dominate our writing process. Instead of trying to [...]
[...] exchanging as a method of blog promotion has fallen out of favour mainly because of abuse by webmasters who practice spam indexing. Spam [...]
[...] out an income strategy that works for you but the most important task to make it work is to have good blog content. Without good content, there can be no blog traffic and non of the methods have a chance of [...]
[...] Link building is one of the most challenging and important tasks for bloggers. Simply asking for link exchanges from other blogs in your niche will only bring in a trickle of traffic without much SEO benefits. [...]