The time has come, and I have come to make an uneasy confession about my blogging mistakes. The reason why I decided to look back and analyze my blogging path, is very obvious — you can't move forward without restoring the basics. Leastwise, that's how a successful blogging voyage works and evolves. To shield fresh bloggers from committing the same mistakes, I've put together a bunch of typical blogger mistakes, which are very common among new and experienced bloggers.
Buy Personal Domain Right Away
Let me start with the very first and the most important mistake in my blogging life — I bought my domain name just after five long years of my blogging life. To tell the truth, I don't know why I haven't done this earlier, probably because I never thought it is so important to have a personalized domain name. But it is pretty important, ladies and gentlemen, pretty important...
Having your personal domain name makes your blog/website look more professional and raises your domain authority indicator, so don't hesitate on buying your domain, especially if you pretend to keep the content coming. There are many online services, like Google Domains and GoDaddy, that will help you to choose and register your very own domain name in under an hour, without breaking the budget.
Naming your future blog is also a big deal. Not finding a unique name, that fits with my content and blogging niche is one of the biggest regrets I have at the moment! If you need some help on the side you can use Squadhelp and get an appealing and unique name for your blog.
Choose Wisely, Think Twice
Every consistent web blogger and influencer, who regularly writes new content and updates social media accounts, sooner or later will receive an offer to participate in a promo campaign. Depending on the niche of your blog, you might have an opportunity to promote particular services, which require you and your blog to have a suitable background story. For example, health-related therapies, workout applications, healthy living projects, and vegan/cruelty-free campaigns usually want to collaborate with influences, who follow the same lifestyle philosophy.
What I'm trying to say is that you should think well, before agreeing to participate in any kind of campaign, because it might have an impact on your blog's future. If you are certain that you want to be a part of the promotional campaign and your blog is eligible to participate, then feel free to go on board.
Re-organize Your Pinterest Boards
Pinterest is one of the most blogger-friendly platforms at the moment and, unfortunately, it is highly underestimated by some bloggers. Everyone is obsessed with Instagram at the moment, but for smaller influences, it is getting harder and harder to reach a new audience and gain followers. When I compare the stats between my five-year-old Instagram account and my five-year-old Pinterest account the results fascinate me! To see the detailed analytics and additional information about your daily/monthly activity and follower gain, you can switch your regular user account (on both Pinterest and Instagram) to business, and easily track the insights.
If you don't have or do not update your Pinterest profile, I highly recommend you give it a second life and go through your old posts and boards. Try keeping your boards well-organized and newly updated and the results may pleasantly surprise you. At the end of every week, you are going to receive an email with a little summary of your most popular Pinterest posts, so you can post similar pictures in the future.
Don't forget to add tiny, but important details for every picture from your blog that you pin onto your boards. Full name, description, and relevant hashtags will create a huge difference, making your pins easily accessible to different audiences. Another important aspect — adding a link to your blog/website, so people can find the original source and read the article. Check the Pinterest Business and learn what kind of pins are popular this month and create content interesting for your followers.
Blogger Platforms Are Your Friends
One of the easiest ways to promote your new (and old!) blog posts are using blogger-friendly platforms. Only a few bloggers-mastodons will remember how popular was the TotalBeauty portal, where beauty enthusiast was sharing their posts, and reviews, and asking questions. Some beauty communities, like Preen. I am still growing because they always promoted micro-influencers on their Instagram page. I remember the rise of the Bellashoot platform (oh how I loved posting my makeup looks there) and don't even get me started on Google Plus communities, because this wound is still open and I doubt it will heal in the nearest future.
While some gray-haired, but nevertheless engaging beauty and fashion portals and communities are getting rusty, others become more and more popular among bloggers. Slowly but surely, they gain a new audience and collaborate with young talents. About a year ago, I've been invited to a FashionPotluck digital platform that flocks together fashion, travel, and lifestyle bloggers from around the world.
If you are a newbie blogger and search for new places to feature your content, you should certainly join this platform. Another great community, that connects beauty enthusiasts is GlamExpress. They regularly update their website and feature makeup creators, so you can join the Glam family and share your works and articles.
Look Through Your Old Blog Posts
Going through your old blog posts and pictures may be a tedious task, but it is crucial for the current state of your blog. Do you actually remember when was the last time you checked your oldies but goldies? I have another huge blogger confession to make — it took me five or more years to finally fix all those nasty grammar mistakes and delete unavailable pictures and invalid links in my antique posts. This is not right guys, don't repeat my blogging mistakes.
Old regular and sponsored blog posts from several years ago may be full of broken links and irrelevant pictures, which negatively affect the page and domain authority of your blog. Liked using popular web hosting to upload your pictures in better quality? Then it would be a great idea to check if these images are still available and work properly.
But is there any purpose in old blog posts? Yes, there are, especially if they are indexed by Google and have informative content. So, I advise you to go back to your old pieces and renovate them by adding new valuable information, pictures, and graphs. Check out the What Do You Do With Old Blog Post article by Laurel Taylor and learn how to update old, but valuable content on your blog. I know it may be a bit boring to refresh your old writings, but believe me, it is so much easier to fix something old, rather than create a whole new blog post from scratch.
Let's Sum Up...
Ladies and gentlemen, this blog post turned out to be a bit longer, than I anticipated, so it is time to sum it up. As a wise person once said, “Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint”, therefore taking time to learn and realize your blogging mistakes is very important for its further improvement. As a blogger and writer (professional or amateur), you have a unique opportunity to freshen up your old content, building up brand-new strategies for your online corner. Use them wisely and be open to trying out various blogger-friendly platforms.
Do you still use any blogger forums and portals to promote your content? Please, share your personal experience and let us all know what other blogging mistakes bloggers should be aware of, I will be waiting for your replies in the comments. Thank you for reading me, lovelies, until next time!
Liz
