Money Making Blogs
How to make money with your blog
5 Horrible Mistakes That New Bloggers Make
Author: Hock10 Jan
I use Entrecard and MyBlogLog from time to time to see who is visiting my blog and to check out new blogs. I’ve seen a whole lot of new blogs trying to break into the “make money blogging” or “I want to be a problogger” scene. The growth of these types of blogs are phenomenal.
Obviously a lot of people are unhappy with their day jobs and are hoping to make money at home just writing their blogs. Maybe it’s the perception cast by some A-list make money bloggers that it’s easy and require little effort. Hey people, stop believing that. Easy isn’t going to make you a full-time income. It takes dedication and knowledge.
I predict that most of these startup blogs will fail and fizzle out in the next year.
image credit: Aihibed (Flickr)
Let’s go through these top 5 biggest mistakes starting from #5.
5. No About Me page. Who reads blogs? People. And people want to know more about the person behind the blog. So why not write a little bit of background about who you are and why you’re blogging.
4. Flaky posts. Rule #1 of blogging - give a reason for people to read your blog. Don’t expect to just rehash stuff you read on other blogs and hope your readers will come back. Find your own voice. Give your unique opinion on the issues.
3. Ugly blog design. All right. Ugly is in the eye of the beholder. But I’ve seen some outright hideous colors and design choices (or lack thereof) on some new blogs.
2. Hosting on Blogspot. Don’t be cheap. It costs less than 10 bucks to get your own domain. Or you can use a GoDaddy coupon and get it for $6.95. If you’re planning an exit strategy of selling your blog one day, it’s a LOT harder to sell a blog on a blogspot domain.
And #1, drumroll please….
Too much advertising on the site. I’ve seen new blogs that already have Adsense, 125×125 ad spots (albeit unfilled), Chitika, Widgetbucks, and banners and widgets to the wazoo. Stop trying to monetize your blog at the outset. Build up a number of good posts first and increase your incoming links, traffic and reputation (however you want to measure it - Alexa, Technorati, etc.)
Technorati Tags: mistakes new bloggers make, ugly blog design, blog advertising, advertising overload, blogging advice
Popularity: 26% [?]
7 Responses for "5 Horrible Mistakes That New Bloggers Make"
While I wouldn’t use a blogspot or wordpress (or any like that) domain for a niche site, there are some very successful blogs doing just that and making good money from them. You do, however, have to know how to configure them properly.
I agree with the rest, but I wouldn’t say they’re the biggest mistakes — that’s too subjective.
I tend to agree with you on most of these situations but I have a good reason for not buying the domain name just yet. I am testing out a project and want to see if it will gain traffic or be a total failure. If the blog takes off then I will buy the domain name. I don’t see where this is a bad idea.
I do appreciate the fact that blogging takes commitment and is in my opinion some very hard work but is very rewarding.
Thanks for your post. I am glad to gain any knowledge that will help to better myself as a blogger
Just like an “ugly blog design” the biggest mistakes are in the eye of the beholder and I can think of more than what you mentioned.
That being said, I have to agree with the free blog hosting. I don’t care how many people are successful with their blog using Blogger. At the end of the day most blogs I just don’t read because I’ve gotten a glimpse of the URL ahead of time to know I’m going to be taken to Blogger (or WordPress).
Serious bloggers should be willing to make the investment. If they’re not, I’ll go to the next person who’s blogging about the same thing but smart enough to state by purchasing a domain name that it’s important.
The issue is one of ownership. If you plan to sell the blog one day, you’ll be better off starting it off right, i.e. getting it on your own domain. Sure you can use blogger or wordpress domains to build a few related blogs and channel your traffic to the main blog.
Thanks for your comment, RT.
Donald,
Why not just get a domain name for the test. If it doesn’t work out, you’ll just be down the cost of the domain. If you have shared hosting, add on domains shouldn’t be a problem. So the only cost is the registration of the domain name and your time. You have more to lose if it REALLY DOES take off and you’re hosting it on a blogger domain.
Katy,
I agree with you about skipping the blogspot blogs. When I see that on MyBlogLog or Entrecard, I usually skip those. Thanks for your comment.
Hock,
I agree that if one REALLY wants to go pro, then get your own domain. But you can still make money with a FREE blog too. In fact there are many established bloggers secretly using FREE blogging platforms to earn money from Adsense and writing paid reviews.
Another thing is all your 5 points have been written long before, unless you’re new in the blogosphere. And in fact some of these tips are being questionable and have been challenged.
You mentioned that the “About Me” page is important, but personally I don’t find anything about you. All you mentioned is just “I’m interested in how people make money from blogging. Some do it full-time, professionally while others treat it as a labor of love.” Then the rest you ask your readers comments and views. Not much background of yourself.
I just started a website that tells the horrific stories and mikstakes that I made as a beginning blogger. The site is kind of “learn from me…don’t do THIS” Thanks for this list.
http://www.imakenomoney.com
Leave a reply