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We’ve long believed that like most good things, blogging is a journey. You win some, you lose some, but throughout this experience, you make blogging mistakes, learn from them and grow.
In the following post, we address the top 5 most common mistakes that can lead to a blog failure.
Get the details based on one blogger’s experience and evaluate how you might change your path!
As a teen in the technology age, blogging was something that I started at a really young age (11 in fact), and every blog that I’ve had since then has ended in – failure.
That’s right. FAY-EL-URE.
But has it been worth it? Yes!
My last blog (focused on fashion) to “fail” was back in 2011, which I had been working on for about 2 years, but things went pretty pear shaped in the end.
2 years later though (oh hey, that’s now!), I’ve turned my failures into learning curves and built a new blog which is seeing amazingly rewarding results that far outweigh my previous blogs altogether.
And did I mention that I’ve only been running it for a few weeks?
5 Common Blogging Mistakes
Failures and mistakes are always essential for success.
So in preparation for my new blog I took a trip down memory lane to see what exactly what my mistakes were. And more importantly, how I could avoid those pitfalls on my new blog.
Surprisingly, 5 mistakes came back that are incredibly common in the blogging community.
1. Not Focusing on High Quality Content
Looking back on my old blog, I can see just how little importance I placed on making posts that stood out for their quality and usefulness. Instead I made posts that EVERY other fashion blog and their mother was doing. I saw it as “well – if everyone else is doing xyz, then it must be right”, and this, my friends, was a HUMUNGOUS mistake!
I mean after all, when I go to other blogs and don’t see anything unique or valuable for me there – I leave, never to return again. Simple as that, yet I didn’t review my own blog in this way.
Blogging Mistake # 1
The vast majority of fashion bloggers that I followed all did outfit posts, outfit collages and posted a few images from lookbooks/mags/editorials that they liked. I figured if the pro’s are doing it, then this has got to be the winning formula.
The reason why this didn’t work well for me was because the pro’s were simply curating these posts a lot better than I ever could. They normally had top of the range cameras, photographers, expensive versions of Photoshop and more money to spend on clothing etc.
So when I tried to emulate them, I did it at a much lower quality, so I really couldn’t compete with them on that level and in that niche. I also found it terribly boring after a while, as I wasn’t doing it because I loved it, and in the end found blogging frustrating.
What I should have done was find ways to make my fashion blog stand out and become specialized in my own niche.
How you can avoid creating mediocre content:
- Look at what others in your community are doing and think of ways that you can differentiate yourself.
- Think about what makes a blog SO irresistible to you. Perhaps your favorite blogger has great photography, or fab writing – use these as the standard for your own blog and develop your site to include these attractive qualities.
2. Becoming Numbers Obsessed
Those follower and visitor stats. Both a blessing and a curse.
While it’s nice to check them every once in awhile to see that people are taking an interest, obsessing over numbers is just one giant burnout disaster waiting to happen.
I used to constantly waste my time seeing if my stats had gone up or down, yet never used this information in a productive manner. Checking my stats consistently made me frustrated that my blog was not growing quickly enough.
How to avoid becoming a stats stalker:
- Go on a stats ban! Only check your stats weekly or monthly.
- When you do check your stats, take a notebook and write down which posts are performing the best, and then analyze what made them so popular. Was it the writing style, the images, or a compelling title? And how could you replicate this success for your future posts?
3. Not Promoting Effectively
Rather than trying to promote my blog by encouraging the sharing of my content, I may have spammed comments (FINE, I did. I’ll just be brutally honest here) with those shallow “oooh that’s such a cute look NOW HERE’S A LINK BACK TO MY BLOG”.
No wonder people never bothered clicking through to my blog!
My other tactic was trying to promote my blog via my social media accounts (sounds good? I hear you say) – BUT, my tweets were uncompelling (e.g,. here’s me promoting a blog post: “New post -> http://BlaBlaBlaBla.com” – giving no incentive to the reader on why they should click through).
How to promote your blog in the right way:
- Promote your blog by engaging with the community; leave meaningful comments on other blogs.
- Make your social media accounts engaging, useful, and start conversations with others.
- Promote others first. You’ll find that some will do the same for you in return or in lot’s of cases, at least check out your blog and show some appreciation.
4. Comparing Your Blog to Others
You know that frustrating feeling you get when you see someone’s blog that has everything, and you think, “hey, why can’t I get to that level/those opportunities/those gifts/that income like him/her? My blog has xyz, why am I not this popular yet?”
Do you ever fall into this trap? If yes, then I have just ONE word for you: STOP.
There’s a reason why those pros are, well, pros! They work hard to create amazing content and make their blogs stand out. So rather than just pointlessly comparing your blog to theirs, try conducting comparisons with those at the top of your niche instead.
How to avoid getting sucked up into the comparison trap:
Here’s what to do to make your comparisons constructive and useful:
- Take a look at their site and review it. Note what you feel is working and not working and use that information to create your own unique content.
- How could you incorporate these strengths into your own blog? Maybe better quality content, better pictures or more interaction in your comments section.
- Point out a few things that you think could be improved on. Maybe they don’t chat with their readers, to much sponsored content or low-quality pictures.
- How could you use their weaknesses to develop your own blog? (e.g., ask yourself, what can I do better? Or more uniquely?)
5. Not Forming a Tribe
I was constantly under the “build it and they’ll come” mentality. I never reached out to bloggers on Twitter, I never emailed them to discuss a post that I loved, I never interacted with them meaningfully in their comments section.
Perhaps I was even too scared to approach them.
If you ever feel like this, then remember that if you don’t get yourself and your blog out there, then it will simply go ignored like the thousands of other blogs created each day.
How to connect with others in the blogging community:
Twitter is probably the easiest and quickest way to connect with the community, so use it to your advantage!
- Try including fellow bloggers in a #FF roundup tweet.
- Tweet about a post of theirs that you loved and make sure to include their Twitter handle. Other bloggers are always happy when their blog posts get tweeted out by others.
- Respond to their tweets with something witty, chatty, or useful. Get the conversation started!
- Get involved in trending hashtags (there are SO many these days for bloggers, like the #SITSShareFest for instance) and find new bloggers to form friendships with.
And if they don’t manage to respond? Then don’t worry! Someone will appreciate that you’ve taken the time to speak to them, so keep going!
Have you ever been guilty of any of these blogging pitfalls? Let’s chat in the comments below or head over to our Facebook fan page to keep the conversation going!
About the Author:
Hey, I’m Sanam Mohammad. The sarcastic, high aspiring (almost bordering on the point of being nuts) student blogger, encouraging young women to pursue their big-to-insanely-HUGE ambitions at A Chic Lifestyle. If you have any Q’s or need a hand, then let me know on Twitter @AChicLifestyle!
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Thanks so much for these tips! I’ve stopped checking my stats obsessively which has been pretty liberating but I’m still guilty of comparing myself with others. 😛 Will do my best to follow your tips. Thanks again. 🙂
I loved everything you said, except the part about Twitter. What I mean is … I’M SO INTIMIDATED BY TWITTER! I feel like there is a mental block or something. I just don’t GET roundups, hashtags, etc. Hey, maybe you could do a post on how to promote our blogs through Twitter. Just a thought. Anyway, thanks for the other info. Taking it to heart!
As a pretty new blogger, I appreciate your insights very much. Good to know where the potholes are.
Great article! I’m currently getting ready to dip my toe back into the wonderful world of blogging, and this was such a lovely bit of encourgement! I’ll most certainly be dropping by your blog to keep me inspired! See you around the web…
Melly
Very inspiring and helpful! Thank you for sharing these tips. I would also recommend that bloggers not always write about promotions they’re doing and add some personal blog posts.I’m do sick of reading about products and places I simply MUST visit. It is like watching infomercials non-stop. Enough!
🙂
Elle
“All work and no play makes mommy a disgruntled chick.”
Wonderful tips!I made a few of those mistakes before and I wish I corrected them a lot sooner =)
Wow… That’s was WOW. I definitely have made many of these mistakes, some I fixed them already and some, well I didn’t even know it was a mistake until now! So I have homework to do!!! This is so great! sharing and Pining!!!
Thank you so much for this.
I have learned so much, now must try it out.
I hope that you have a really fantastic day.
Love and best wishes.
Anne.
P.S. going back to read some more now.
Thank you.
Good points here. Especially on content. I would rather see a blogger posting 2x a month with really well prepared posts than posting daily with mediocre content.
I was a bit confused at first about who wrote the post because there is no mention of Sanam in the opening paragraph by Kristen.
Very interesting post, Sanam, and I am going to try and apply your suggestions. I consult my stats quite a lot but I use them to promote a post from the past on FB if I see they’re not very high for the day. That seems to work well.
I had let my connections with other bloggers slip a bit recently though so shall follow that up.
I retweeted the post but didn’t pick up your handle first so shall do it again.
I always forget to use hashtags. Where do I find them?
You at wise beyond your years! I’m 43 and a fledgling blogger. I know content is key. There are days that I struggle to write something meaningful. Yes, I do see another blogger who started only a couple of months before me in my niche do crazy well while I am still doing ok. Thanks fot the tip!
These are good tips! I can’t believe you were blogging when you were eleven! You must be pretty talented!
Thanks for the tips! As someone who just started it can definitely be hard not to compare myself to the pros, but I like the idea of analyzing others’ blogs to see what I can incorporate etc.
Great tips–thanks!
I’m definitely a Stat stalker! I guess I have to cut down on my obsession, I do check them every day, sometimes more than once. Another thing that I don’t do too often is engage by using twitter, 🙁 I can’t for the life of me find the joys of using twitter! Any positive things I should squeeze in my head about using twitter?
Great tips, Sanam! I love your advice to check stats less frequently to give yourself room to analyze which posts are working. I’m going to *try* to do that…emphasis on ‘try’ because it’s so tempting to check everyday!!
Awesome post and awesome advice. I love how you pointed out the mistakes and remedies for each one. I’ve been working on correcting many of these same issues on blogging journey. Thanks!
Love this post! There is a lot of great information and I can already see some mistakes I am making! Thank you for providing your knowledge! I hope taking some of this will help me improve my blog and get it to where I’d like it to eventually be!
Thank you so much for all the great advise and for putting yourself out there. I have wanted to start a blog for almost a year now and I am so afraid to even try. I read so many great blogs and I am so afraid that I can’t write as well or take pictures like everyone does! It’s just so intimidating. I have almost everything setup and ready for me to write that first post and I am scared to death!
Again, thank you for the great tips. I will get there I know.
Ahhhh yes. The comparison trap. One that I know a little too well. Every time I feel myself wanting to start down that spiral, I have to take a step back and remind myself that every person and every blog is different. I keep needing to tell myself that the best way to focus that energy is not comparing how they are better than me, but brainstorming how I can get up to their level.
You are 100% right here. But honestly, I find the tribe part really difficult! Maybe it’s just me? My efforts to connect with other like-minded bloggers has gone generally ignored. So I’m sadly tribe-less and keen to turn it around. Maybe a post on Tribe Building for Dummies?
Alexis great idea, tribe building is tricky. I assume everyone else has a tribe and I am a newcomer so why would they play with me? Teenage insecurities in my 43 year old mind, who would have thought.
Great tips and I love the Churchill quote!
All good points, esp. the one about comparing your blog to others.
I would add that the blogger should remember it is a platform, really there are no rules. If you enjoy what you do and share with others, your personality will shine through.
thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com
What great advice. I don’t use twitter nearly as much as I should! I don’t use Instagram either because I don’t understand the concept. Will that hurt me?
Wow, what a wonderful, helpful post to get me back on track. I KNOW all of these tips because I have followed SITS girls for a while and have learned a lot. But it’s funny how distracted and obsessed about the wrong things I can get. Thanks for getting us all back on the right trail.
blessings,
Shan
The How to Guru
I am so guilty of a few of these.. I just recently started comparing my blog stats to others. I thought- well-my blog is better (inmho) than such and suchs why does SHE have a better Alexa score?
It is a toxic habit. I am glad you pointed it out. Sometimes we just don’t even realize we are doing it!
I agree with everything in this post. I’d add one thing…give it time. Instead of starting a blog hop on your blog, and ending it because no one linked up, give it time to catch on! Don’t post a Fashion Friday post, and because it doesn’t get 1000 comments, ditch it the next week. It takes time to build a community of readers. You have to cultivate it, you have to work for it. Give your blog time to grow.
Guilty party here!
Lots of good tips here. I can’t believe you started at 11? Wow! Out of the mouth of babes I suppose. Always a good idea to learn from our mistakes. Why not apply that to the blog?
Great post! I will definitely be book marking this and making some changes in the way I do things on my blogs.
Seriously, if I had a nickel for every time I compared my blog to other blogs! It is just such a losing battle if you just look at the numbers and compare. Thanks for the reminder. These are great lessons.
Hugs,
Sami
Great info!!!
Great tips! I definitely think that the mistake a lot of bloggers make is getting caught up in numbers. We see that so and so have x amount of followers and we get follower envy. Then we try to become something we’re not thinking it’ll attract more readers and subscribers. Some things you just have to wait out. Be yourself and stay sincere.
Hey Sanam,
Thank you for sharing such good advise. I am a new blogger (11 posts) @ 53 years old, (today) I am so thankful for all the people who are reaching out to help me and I am so excited to be learning new things. I will definitely take your advise to heart.
Hello newbie blogger and Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday! 🙂
Forming a tribe is something I need to do. I think focusing on numbers and comparing your blog to others are the two biggest causes of blog failure.
I definitely agree with all of these tips. So useful and practical!
this is all true and very helpful!
Thanks for the advice. I devour these tips. For someone like me, just starting out, all of this can be overwhelming. I get frustrated, but know that I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. It also helps to find good mentors like you!
I found this extremely helpful. The recommendation about content was the most helpful along with the tip to start conversations with other bloggers. Thank you for the insight!
Great advice! I was relieved to find out I wasn’t making any glaring ones. I am making plenty of other ones for sure! But it’s all a learning process, right? Excellent tips too – I will use them to improve!
Thank you so much for so concisely articulating all of these mistakes. I feel like i should print out some quotes and poster them on my office wall. I particularly feel like what you said about quality content, and promoting are such hard lessons to learn. i would say that those two are the hardest stumbling blocks for me. Creating content that is VALUABLE to readers and then letting them know it is out there. Sounds so easy, but it is great to be reminded of that.
Haha thanks Katie ;D
And yeah it can be so easy to forget sometimes that our blogs should offer readers value – that’s the best way to keep them coming back. I mean just take a look at a site like SITS! 🙂
I too find it wonderful that you started to write a blog so young and that you kept at it with ways to better your writing style and content. As an artist I often hear that people like to see how art is being created and what the inspiration behind each piece was. I soon found that not enough people were clicking to view my content and had to branch out to cover other topics as well. For me the most difficult thing has always been to keep the content interesting yet not to get off track too much that it becomes unclear what the main theme of the blog is.
I found that inviting guest writers keeps content interesting and encourages interaction between other bloggers.
Thank you for all the great tips – I shall re-evaluate and see what I can improve to get more readers as well.
Thanks Enzie 😀
And creating fresh content constantly can be a challenge (woah – too many C’s there haha), I absolutely agree!
And yep guest blogging is a great way to keep things alive with a new voice, it’s probably something I should consider trying out actually. 🙂
It’s inspiring to hear you started a blog at 11!
The quality content is number one for me too. You also have a way of letting your personality come through which makes reading more enjoyable. I’d like to be better at that.
Thanks a ton Aruna, I really appreciate that 🙂
And that’s brilliant to hear! Quality content is always the most important thing in a blog, but the most difficult to ‘master’!
Yes to everything in this post. So many great tips. I feel like I’ve lost sight of some of this recently and have been obsessing about my numbers, content, etc. The blogs that I love and keep going back to are the ones that are unique and authentic. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks Christine!
And it can be so easy to get distracted by a lot of this stuff and forget what makes a truly brilliant blog. Good luck 🙂
Wonderful tips! Thanks so much for sharing!
Wonderful post! Now check out my blog at. . Just kidding. 😉
I used to be a stat stalker. It was draining. Although you pointed out something I should do. Find out what’s popular. Also put catchy titles in twitter. Yep lots to improve. ;).
Great idea Sarah – check out my last post…(Hee hee – just kidding)
I’m so guilty of doing that too! It’s quite the learning process. I have a minister friend who posts on Facebook — he asks that when we read the post, we at least his the “like” button. That way – he knows that someone has stopped by and read what he’s written. I wish people would do that with blogs too – You don’t have to fill my box with comments, although I’d be happy if you did, but I would like to know you have come by, made an appearance, care, something!
I totally agree! I am trying to make a point to do that myself with the blogs I visit. Like, or share on twitter, or SOMETHING. Most often I pin.
Any recognition helps so much! 🙂
I completely agree with you all, sharing is caring after all 😉
And those sound like great improvements to make Sarah, good luck! And If you need a hand, just pop a tweet my way 🙂
Really enjoyed this post. I’m totally with you on the numbers — stop obsessing over stats, they can be useful if you’re looking at them productively and proactively, but in so many ways they’re meaningless — especially if you’re playing the comparison game!
Also it’s all about being unique isn’t it and finding that thing that makes you stand out from the clutter? Sometimes that’s harder than it sounds i.e. figuring out what makes you so special? But it’s really just about being yourself and when you are authentically ‘you’, the right people/audience will gravitate to you naturally.
I completely agree! Making your blog unique and authentic really makes the difference.
Glad you found the post enjoyable 😉
Great tips thank you… I’m torn between working on my book and the blog. My writing blog unfortunately taking a backseat. Below I have a “self-help” type blog that is very short, quick and easy to use even on a phone. Slowly building subscribers but have not done much as far as promotion yet…. what would you recommend for this sort of unique blog? Thanks!
Hey Lisa,
I completely understand!
I’ve just started school again, and it can be really challenging having to do a balancing act with blogging sometimes.
And I just checked out your blog – have you tried utilizing different social media outlets for promotion?
Pinterest has been a good one for me, and then Twitter.
I’d recommend sticking to one or two, and using them to get the word out about your blog (by interacting with other Tweeters, tweeting entertaining/useful stuff). Hopefully that should help get the ball rolling! 🙂
Kristi, yes, I have been SO guilty of comparing my blog to other ‘successful’ ones before too! It can really suck the creativity and motivation out of you. But, like you said, look at their blogs and see what works and what doesn’t. Then use that information and try to incorporate it into your blog, or improve on it. That is something I have been doing and so far it has helped me a lot. Reaching out to other bloggers for me has been a HUGE success too, both as a way to promote my own blog but to also find others who are doing amazing things! And I’m thinking I need to figure out the whole Twitter thing.
I’m glad to hear it’s been working well for you! Constructive comparisons can be really useful.
And good luck Shanna with the Twitter world haha, you’ll get the hang of it, don’t worry 😉
Wow – you were a very brave 11 year old! And how wonderful of you to turn your mistakes around and post them here to benefit others – me specially! Thanks for these tips – I always thought social media was the number 1 fail safe promo method.
Haha thanks Shashi 😉
And yeah, social media can be an amazing referral tool, but it just takes some practice to utilize it properly and get the best results (I’d say I’m still figuring it out in fact and trying out different things to see what works) 🙂