5 Common Blogging Pitfalls + What I Wish I Knew When I Started
Hey, and happy Thursday! Today I have for you some very common blogging pitfalls and a few bits of advice. A lot of bloggers do this, where they get to a year of blogging and look back, saying "wow, I wish I knew *enter blogging advice* when I started!" I can't say that I've escaped that feeling. In fact, it haunts me a lot. Like, "oh my goodness, my first blog post was so dumb and short!" So here, without further ado, are the blogger problems and ways to solve them.
1) Long, unannounced hiatuses
2) Posting too much
Problems 1 and 2 have very similar solutions: create a blogging schedule! I didn't do this at all until this year, and it's already helped to keep me in check. Pick one or two days a week to post on your blog and keep it there. Your blog can't be an obsession, but you also can't just leave it there after starting - why'd you start a blog in the first place?
3) Obsessing over stats
This is probably my worst blogging habit. I got an app on Wix that shows me how many people look at my blog. It's really cool and helpful, but I quickly found myself checking it all the time. I would get really excited when I was seeing a lot of visitors, when I got a lot of comments, but sometimes weeks would go by and I wouldn't get any visits and that made me really annoyed and depressed. So I'm here to warn you - don't get trapped! I know it feels good to have great stats, but set a time every day/every other day to check your stats and keep it there.
4) Giving up when there's not enough growth
Words I wish I could tell my past self: growth takes a while. Some bloggers are lucky with how quickly they grow, but I wasn't - it's taken me a year to get past 20 subscribers! But that's ok, because sometimes it just takes a while to grow. Don't get frustrated, because if you stick with it you can make it as a blog. The next one is similar...
5) Not finding other blogs
There are millions of blogs out there. Millions. And there are even more every day! So here's one of the best things you could do to grow your blog and find new friends at the same time: comment on other blogs. Especially if you comment on small, new blogs, chances are that they'll go check out your blog. I've met some amazing bloggers by doing this, and a great community of bloggers can be found at Alison's blog, A Farm Girl's Life. That's how I found almost all of the bloggers that I follow! Chances are, some people will see your name there, get curious, click the link, and you could meet new people.
One other way that helps you meet new bloggers is by doing tags. There are so many cool tags out there, and every time you do one, you have to tag several other bloggers. It's so fun, and the person who does the tag can also spread the word about other blogs. I haven't done any tags yet, but I hope to very soon!
Most of you all probably already know this stuff, but if you didn't, I guess you learned something! Blogging isn't the easiest thing ever, but it is one of my favorite hobbies and I love finding new blogs. If you guys have discovered some new blogs, please comment them below! Have a great day, guys!
