Stop Making These 14 Mistakes if You Want to Be a Blogger

Stop Making These 14 Blogging Mistakes if You Want to Be a Full-Time Blogger

Hey and welcome to episode 19 of the Free and Fearless podcast. This one is dedicated to those who are about to start a blog and have probably been putting it off for a long time, or those who’ve set up their site already but aren’t sure what’s next in order to grow it.

I really want you to do things right with your first blog because it can turn into something so big, that the rest of your life will never be the same again.

To achieve financial freedom is to earn thousands of dollars with your blog and get to 5 figures a year (and – ultimately – 6 figures). That’s why I want to share some mistakes that can be avoided.

Watch out for these and you’re guaranteed to save yourself a ton of time and troubles.

Tune into the episode below:

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Show Notes:

[02:06] How to choose the right niche
[04:32] What starting with the wrong web host cost me
[07:04] Tips on internal and external linking
[08:12] Why stick to a publishing schedule
[11:06] Why creating new content isn’t enough + what to do
[12:14] My #1 rule for blog design
[13:28] How to give readers a story they can relate to
[15:26] Obsessing over blog stats vs what to actually do

Mentioned:

My Business Journey [episode 1]
6 Steps to Building a Content-Driven Business [episode 14]
WPX Hosting
SiteGround

Transcript

Blogging mistake #1: Not choosing a niche that is in demand.

Choosing your niche is one of the most important steps you will take and that happens before you actually set up your blog.

While it’s best if you find what you’re passionate about, that’s not the only element which plays a role. You want to have a successful blog that makes money and for that, you need a niche that’s profitable.

Regardless of how many other sites in the same industry you can find online, yours can still grow and become popular enough and be the foundation of your business. So please don’t choose a niche without doing a bit of research.

If you know my story, you know I began with Personal Development because it’s what I’m reading and writing about the most. I wasn’t making any money during these first years.

But the income became regular once I also covered Business and Finance. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop writing about productivity, spirituality, motivation, reaching goals in life and building good habits. No. I just combine all this and that’s why Let’s Reach Success is a multi-niche blog. Some can also call it a lifestyle blog.

That path will make it harder for you so it’s always best to pick a profitable niche from day 1 and start creating content around it. Because it’s your blog we’re talking about, you can always write about other things that interest you and share your story, but always find common grounds with the niche you’re in. There must be a connection.

In my case, it’s progress and constant learning and creating a life by design. All the topics I create content about are related to personal, spiritual and business growth. Reaching success means constantly seeing progress with all areas of life. So I just happen to talk about all these aspects separately now.

Blogging mistake #2: Starting with a wordpress.com site.

That’s something I did as I had no idea what a self-hosted website meant at the time.

It took me a lot of time and overthinking in order to finally take the plunge, get a hosting provider and install WordPress so I can have a blog I have full control over.

If you aren’t sure what all that means and how to actually start a blog, I created this free step-by-step guide for you.

Blogging mistake #3: Going for a cheaper web host.

Choosing your hosting provider is also one of the first and most important steps of setting up a blog.

And let me tell you this: I did go with a cheap one first as it seemed to be the most popular option. All influencers and bloggers I followed were recommending it (although their blogs weren’t hosted on it anymore).

Turns out, their marketing department works hard but not as hard as their customer service. I’ve had too many unpleasant and long chats with the staff over the years when my site was down (the worst that can happen when you’re a blogger) and they had no explanation.

They were just in a rush to get to the next client’s question.

They have a good affiliate program and that’s why almost anyone you see online is recommending them as the best option for a web host. One of the reasons is that they also power millions of websites worldwide and that it’s affordable, but at what cost?

Eventually, I had to upgrade so the bandwtich and other features could be enough as Let’s Reach Success was growing. At some point I was paying close to $500/year while receiving the same awful customer service.

For a hosting company, the support team is one of the most important things you need to consider as anything technical that happens with your blog should be a question they answer right away.

Later, I did my research, asked around, and chose another company – WPX Hosting.

I now pay around $250 per year, they moved my site from the servers of my previous web host to theirs at no cost and without any downtime. The support is the friendliest and most reliable team I’ve ever worked with, and their professional services are created for WordPress bloggers who want optimized hosting.

No need to say anything else other than I wish I had done that earlier. My site now performs better and I sleep peacefully at night knowing it won’t be down.

There are other good companies like WPX Hosting, of course. But that’s the one I’m sticking with for sure, even when my site grows more.

If you’re just starting out though, you don’t need that yet. That’s why in all my guides and courses, I recommend SiteGround and I share steps on how to get started with them.

They are also one of the best companies in the industry, powering millions of websites, but more affordable and easier if you’re new and your blog won’t have too much traffic any time soon.

Blogging mistake #4: Not adding internal links.

Many bloggers don’t pay attention to internal links in the beginning and then realize what part in SEO and engaging the reader they play. Then they need to go and update old blog posts by linking internally.

Save yourself that trouble. You will add new internal links in old posts anyways, but at least make sure that any blog post you publish has a few of these the moment it’s posted.

If you don’t know what these are, internal links are links pointing from one page to another on the same website.

>> Free Masterclass: How to Scale Your Traffic with SEO to Make More Money Blogging

Blogging mistake #5: Being afraid to link externally.

The same goes for external linking, although the reasons for that are different. These are the links pointing to other domains.

Google won’t take your blog seriously if you only link to your own pages. Readers trust you more if you constantly link to quality resources on other sites that are relevant to the topic they are reading about.

Don’t be afraid to add a few external links (to top sites only) in every blog post.

>> Also check out: The 1:1 Business Mentorship for Bloggers

Blogging mistake #6: Not publishing content consistently.

Sticking to a publishing schedule is hard when you’re just starting out. But if you don’t have that, you might end up posting 30 blog posts in a short time, just to realize you can’t keep up. Or leave the blog behind for a month, then publish 2 articles in a week and disappear for a few again.

That confuses your readers and definitely doesn’t build trust.

Quality is over quantity, of course. But still, you need to show your audience and search engines that your blog has fresh and new content on a consistent basis.