Blogging for Beginners: Mistakes to Avoid

Blogging for Beginners: Mistakes to Avoid

The concept of starting a blog has come far from the old days where they were simply online diaries. Now, empires are built from just starting a simple thing as a blog... And there's a lot more behind running one than meets the eye! All of the interesting, smooth and easy-to-read posts you've come to love and enjoy from your favourite bloggers don't appear randomly. 

If you're thinking of starting your own, you might find this helpful... We've focused on helping you to avoid the most common mistakes bloggers make so you're ready to correct and develop your blog should you ever come across one. 

1. Be original... Don't copy!
Before anything else, the most important thing your blog should be doing is representing you, and is genuinely unique. Having a blog is a great way to share your prospects, and establish yourself as a valued voice in your chosen niche. Completely avoid harvesting news stories, features published from elsewhere, directly copying content from other bloggers or websites... Not only could it be breaking laws, but your blog following will flounder. 

Instead, take those topics and give your opinion on the story. Being original with your blog's content increases your reader's trust in you, and your following will soon grow to know, appreciate and expect your writing style. 

If you must refer to another news publication or blog, make sure to cite your material. If you love what one blogger wrote on a topic, but want to develop their point further in your own voice and with your own opinions, cite them! 

2. Understanding the legal issues surrounding blogs in your country
Even if you're not a lawyer or journalist, it's important that you understand the implications when you accidentally walk into a legal minefield if you make errors. Basically, the important things to understand is copyright, trademarkes, defamation and illegality. These will vary dependng on what country you live in, so our advice would be to do the relevant research. 

To help avoid ever coming into bother when blogging, make sure you also research what blogging actually is, what it does, what it entails as an author and what works/doesn't work. Browse other successful blogs, and ensure you understand what has already been done. This way you can make sure you're keeping up with point 1: being original, and point 2: not getting into legal bother with copyright issues etc. 

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3. "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication"
If you're a writer who loves complexity... Think again! It's often thought that complex writing is a sign of academic achievement, intelligence or sophistication. But when it comes to blogging, the opposite is actually more true. Afterall, it was Leonardo Da Vinci himself who said "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication". Next time you write, see how you can simplify your message. Of course, there's no need to dumb down your ideas, but aspire to help your readers process your post and be inspired by you... In less reading time.

This is also true of your blog's layout. Start by doing your research to see what other, similar types of blogs do with theirs, and consider how you can adapt it to your own. Often you'll find clean-cut, fresh and colour-less blogs that let their content and images do all of the talking. But of course, this will vary depending on the type of niche you are writing about. Consider the length of your posts, the style of header you'd like to use, subheadings, block quotes, bold, italics... A busy looking blog with dark, constrasting colours and too many widgets might just put readers off from staying on your page.

Some other small bits of advice that tie in nicely with this point include:

• You don't write in plain English... If you don't, you should. Because jargon requires your readers to stop and think about the meaning of your words, and takes up their time without adding meaning. Be simple.
• You focus on word count... There's no need. The idea that more content is always better is so wrong. Remember: the task of a writer is to communicate a message in the length it takes to fully communicate that message. Be simple.

4. Don't think you need to publish daily
Because you don't. And if you do, you'll probably clog up people's inboxes with your announcements of a new post, after a new post, after a new post... The thing you don't want to do is waste people's time with an endless stream of blog posts. Only write when you have something to say. 

Of course, don't post infrequently, either. Or else your followers might feel you've left the game. Find a nice balance for your blogging schedule, 1 post a week might just be enough to cut it at first. Afterall, your audience would probably prefer one inspiring, valuable post than twenty mundane posts with recycled content in. The key is to be consistent.

5. Don't use low resolution images
Granted, your niche might not be photography orientated, and you might not have an "expensive" camera to take artistic shots with... Regardless, they're not excuses to use poor quality images on your blog. Sign up for stock image websites, or get out there with a new, or even borrowed camera. Smartphones nowadays have fantastic cameras, so there's no excuse for pixelated images.

6. Spend time on deciding your post title
Yes, it's probably the part of your post that you will spend the least time on... But don't assume that your mundane, self-explanatory title will do the job! Afterall, search engines will be seeking fantastic, eye-catching, roll-off-your-tongue post titles to snap up. And yours won't be in their catch if you don't spend some time deciding on the best possible version of your title. 

Our advice? Add words like you present your reader with personalised content, in a way, alternatively, research what marketers use to capture the attention of their audience. You can also use pretty cool websites to grade your headers that will come in handy!

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SEE ALSO: Use our extensive jobs guide in Dubai

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7. Don't be self-indulgent
Despite all of the advice you've been given so far about how blogging should be a chance to show the real you, there's one very other important person in the equation. And that's your reader. Yes, give your unique opinion or take on a topic or experience you may have had, but ask yourself... How can my experience help my readers? What does your blog post give them? How can they benefit from reading your post? 

8. Don't ignore the power of social media
In this day and age, not using social media is probably an offensive thought to most. The fact is, there are so many platforms to choose from to help you spread the word about your blog! You might even want to create your own Facebook Page or Twitter account for your blog, or even a Pinterest board. 

Alternatively, you should take the time to visit other blogger's blogs, read their content and leave valuable comments with your name and blog link in them. The best thing you want to do is become known as a blogger who cares about what other bloggers are saying and creating... Eventually, they'll repeat the favour! 

Are there any other common mistakes you know of that new (and old) bloggers should avoid? Let us know by tweeting us @ExpatWomanDubai - or you can visit our blog here.