This is the second half of my marathon post about how you can fail as a blogger and still recover.
If you feel like your blog and/or social media accounts are a mess, it’s never too late to turn things around. I know this because I’ve made a ton of mistakes throughout the years, and here I am – with two thriving blogs and 22,000 + followers in various places.
Maybe you’ve made some mistakes too, but don’t despair. This list I’ve curated is a personal “fail” list and since I had so much to say on the matter, it’ll be divided into two parts. I’ve done everything below on this blog or my personal one sometime in the past, so I’m speaking from personal experience.
For the first 10 failures, click here.
11. Participating in linkups and challenges just to get traffic (when it’s not really my thing or my niche)
Linkups are a double edged sword. The good part about them is you can connect with other bloggers in your niche. The negative side is that unless you’re well versed in “blogger lingo”, chances are your non-blogging readers don’t know about linkups or care about them. If you want to inflate your traffic with visits from fellow bloggers looking for the same, by all means – keep going. But how many of those readers end up as subscribers and long-time loyal fans? Not many, and that’s because linkups are a blogger’s invention, not a reader’s.
It’s even worse when you join a linkup that doesn’t really fit your niche at all (guilty as charged). It’s a waste of time and energy that can be spent marketing your blog more effectively.
Possible Solution: Think about who you want to read your blog. Is it other bloggers with a reading list a mile long? Or do you have real solutions for people who may not be Internet savvy? Try marketing your blog with non-traditional methods, guest posting on other sites, and optimizing your site for people who aren’t necessarily addicted to the Internet. Besides, the best traffic comes from search engines. Spend time writing a longform post that will get indexed by Google.
Other posts I’ve written that may help:
12. Using a poor domain name that doesn’t match my blog title
This is one of those things that happens to a lot of bloggers who sort of fell into this online world accidentally (myself included). When I first started, I wasn’t thinking about SEO. My blog was called Life According to Julie and the domain name was http://jdeneen.com. Not very helpful or memorable. It pays to do some blog research before you begin, but even if you didn’t…
Possible Solution: Buy a domain and use forwarding with masking. This way you can advertise your site with a different domain name than the one your site resides on. Don’t be afraid to use the domain names with unusual endings like .co, .us., or .career. And you can have more than one directing to your site!
So for example, you can have a blog with the title “Homemaking for Dummies” and have it on an existing domain like http://sallysue.com and if you are scared to move it, buy the domains http://homemakingfordummies.us and http://dummyhomemaking.net and forward them. Be sure to check add masking (this will leave the domain name in the browser so the viewer doesn’t see that it’s on a different domain). This will only work for the landing page, so understand that!
And since I’m a blogging migration expert, I have to put in a disclaimer here: Even if it’s scary, a migration is possible!
Other posts I’ve written that may help:
13. Not updating plugins and getting infected with malware
Whenever you see an orange dot next to your dashboard or plugins, that means it’s time to update. My personal blog was infected with malware once and then I smartened up. Don’t leave too many plugins in your list to begin with, get rid of any that aren’t active, and update immediately!
Possible Solution: If you’ve been infected with malware, you can try reinstalling the WordPress software, deleting your theme folders and reverting to a default theme, and deleting plugins (and their folders). You’ll have to log into your server via FTP to make sure all the files are gone. Sometimes that’s all it takes — other times, rebuilding your database is the only option. You can get a service like Sucuri to help you or you can try it yourself. (I also do malware clean up!)
Other posts I’ve written that may help:
14. Cluttering my content with busy sidebars and ads
Everything is mobile now. I spent hours of time carefully arranging my sidebar widgets, only to realize that 50% of my readers are on a smartphone and don’t even see it! At the beginning, I also used those fancy Google Ad plugins – not a good idea. When the plugin stopped working, I had random shortcodes all over my blog that I had to go in manually and undo.
Possible Solution: Your blog signature area is the place to put any call to action, subscribe fields, or follow buttons. This will be seen on mobile devices, even if your site isn’t mobile responsive. Of course, the other solution is to convert to a responsive theme like Genesis. In that case, your sidebar will automatically move to the bottom of your posts. Still, keep it simple. If you have lots of badges, make a page that people can click to.
Other posts I’ve written that may help:
15. Thinking about myself vs. my readers
For some of us, blogging started as an online journal (both my hands are up in the air right now). It was all about me, and for a time, that worked. But eventually your readers will get bored of reading what you want them to read. I know mine did. Then to make matters worse, I filled all my social media feeds with “me me me” posts linking back to my blog.
Possible Solution: Always keep this one thought in your head (courtesy of The Art of Social Media by Peg Fitzpatrick), “What do you my readers want to read?” Give them that. It’s often not what you want.
Other posts I’ve written that may help:
16. Obsessing over statistics
Anyone have a dull F5 or refresh button on their keypad? You publish a post, and then sit there and reload the stats page all day long to see how the post is doing. It drove me crazy and for a long time I based all my success on those numbers alone.
Possible Solution: STOP LOOKING! Track other signs like how many comments or conversation you get on social media, how many social shares a post gets, new subscribers, or here’s an idea — just stop caring about statistics and focus that energy on curating amazing content for your followers!
Other posts I’ve written that may help:
17. Spending too much time on social media and not enough on the blog
Blogging is hard work and don’t let any non-bloggers convince you otherwise. There were times that I spent the hours I was supposed to be writing, mindlessly flipping through Twitter or Pinterest.
Possible Solution: Set a timer, turn off social media, and turn on the distraction free mode on WordPress. Put your screen on full screen too so you can’t see the little notification numbers in the tabs. The other important task in blogging is all the formatting and graphics that go along with it. For this post, I did the following:
- Wrote the list out
- Added in the common headings
- Added the dividers
- Made and inserted the graphics
- Then I sat down in one sitting without any other windows open, and wrote it all out
- Then I added links
This is easier on the brain than writing number #1, adding links, adding photos, dividers, etc. and then starting number two. You have to get in manufacturing mode (like an assembly line).
18. Spending too much time on my blog and not enough interacting on social media
I’ve had the opposite problem too. When I first started blogging, I spent all my time on my blog design, blog writing, blog stat analysis, etc. and hardly any time out on social media interacting with people! Social media is not a megaphone to your blog. Each platform is like a mini-blog — with its own set of rules, quirks, following, and ways to engage. I used to find a cool video on YouTube and put it on my blog and then link my blog on Facebook. Doh. I should have just shared it on Facebook! Unless I had a great commentary to add, why did I have to make it that much harder for my followers to view by insisting they click to my blog? Lame!
Possible Solution: Start viewing your platforms as blogs. Nurture and care for each one by filling out all the about information, making a nice customized avatar and cover photo, and curating content for each area that is appropriate for the audience. Share 70% other peoples’ content, 30% yours.
Other posts I’ve written that may help:
- Stop thinking about social media the wrong way!
- Cool ways to use Pinterest as a blogger
- Grow your Twitter following to the thousands
- Get started on Google plus
- Spruce up your Facebook page
19. Fear of my competition
The biggest problem I had at the beginning was fighting a feeling of inadequacy every time I saw another blog in my niche doing something awesome. It took me down and out for days. So I stopped reading my competitors so I wouldn’t feel like crap. I didn’t realize that my competition (or what I thought was my competition) was actually a network of helpful people that could really boost my readership and help me out!
Possible Solution: First things first, you have to change your mindset. Start seeing your competition as your colleagues (even if they have no idea who you are). Share their content. Interact with their posts. Follow them on social media. If they are good, chances are your readers will be grateful you are sharing good stuff- even when it isn’t yours.
Other posts I’ve written that may help:
20. Trying too hard to be something I’m not
This is one I still struggle with from time to time. A new trend or idea hits the Internet, and all of a sudden, the pull to be like the “new thing” is intense. I’ve tried to be a DIY blogger, a Mommy blogger, a food blogger, and all manner of bloggers in between. I changed my tone and voice and content when I thought maybe I’d grown stale. Instead of getting a fresh burst of inspiration and new followers, all that happened was my writing sucked, my energy dwindled, and I hated blogging.
Possible Solution: Look at your blog from an outsider’s perspective. What posts did the best in terms of engagement and shares? Did you enjoy those? If so, that’s your voice and your niche! We often complicate things for ourselves. You don’t have to be the best or the funniest — you just have to be genuinely you. The good news is that readers were patient with me. All my blogging identity crises didn’t set me on a permanent path of failure.
Between this post and the last one, I think I’ve made all the mistakes one can make with a new blog, and here I am in 2015 with two blogs still doing great! Don’t lose hope, shake off the dust, and remind yourself that failure is never a permanent state of existence. You and your blog can recover!
