Starting a new blog is a crazy, hectic, challenging job, and any baby blogger is going to make a few mistakes. You’ve got to know what you’re doing, because the sooner you stop making blogging mistakes, the sooner your blog will start to shine and attract new visitors.

In my time blogging, I’ve made plenty of mistakes, and I’ve seen other new bloggers make plenty of their own. And it’s okay to make blogging mistakes—you’re learning! But when you can identify your blog’s problems, the reasons your blog isn’t getting new visitors, and correct course, you get one big step forward in your blogging career!

So here are some of the most common mistakes new bloggers end up making—and a little bit of advice on how to fix them.

Missing Critical Blog Features

Any good blog needs a few crucial features. Social media sharing buttons, a comments section, an about page, and a subscribe form are the big ones.

When I started my blog, some of these things didn’t occur to me. I had assumed when I started my WordPress site, they were built into it! They were not.

Readers told me things like, “I can’t find a way to leave you a comment,” or “I tried to subscribe, but I’m not sure I did.” Embarrassingly, I realized my blog had no way to do these things. So I hunted down the right plugins and settings to enable these features on my website.

You, too, should make sure your new blog has all the really important features a reader wants to see.

Here’s a handy checklist of some things you really should have:

• Sharing buttons
• Search
• Comments
• Similar post suggestions
• An option to subscribe by email
• Links to your social media
• A clear navigation menu

Ready your list and inspect your blog for the major functions you need. Plus, rope friends, family, or other bloggers into helping you spot missing features you might have overlooked.

Not Providing Blog Posts With Value

This is a huge mistake I see some bloggers making. They write posts that solely focus on themselves and don’t try to provide the audience anything. They write posts with no important info, no advice, no entertainment, or anything for readers to take away.

Readers come to blogs to learn. To empathize. To understand. To laugh. To be entertained. Most of all, to grow. Good blogs offer posts that help readers to do these things.

But many new bloggers construct their blog like a diary, focusing mainly on their own lives and experiences. My shopping haul, my vacation highlights, my year in review, etc.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong about writing your blog like a diary! Diary blogs are good for journaling your feelings and updating loved ones on your life events. But this isn’t the type of blog most readers like to read. Most readers gravitate towards blogs that give them something to improve their own lives.

Good bloggers will often mix personal updates and useful information into the same post, so their audience is happy and gets to share in their life events. If you want plenty of readers, make sure your blog offers humor, wise advice, new information, a gripping story, or some other takeaway that will improve your reader’s day.

Leaving Your Blog Hard to Navigate

A great blog is easy to get around. You must ensure readers can find their way around your website and access the pages and posts they want to without trouble. If your blog is hard to navigate, readers will click away and head elsewhere.

If your menus are confusing, if links aren’t clearly visible, or if your sidebar is empty, readers who want to explore your blog and learn more about you face an obstacle. Remove any obstacle that prevents readers from enjoying your site.

Make clear buttons that lead to your blog, homepage, about section, and any other major pages on your website. Do you have a box that recommends similar posts to readers? How about a search box? Or a list of archived posts? All these features make it easier for readers to get around your blog.

Also, make your blog easy to navigate for readers with disabilities. They are out there, and they want to read your content! Let them.

Put alt text on important images and ensure your website has sufficient color contrast for readers with visual impairments. Also, add subtitles or transcripts to any videos you have on your website.

Photo by Alana Sousa from Pexels

An easy-to-navigate blog means more readers will click around and get to know you. If you’re not sure if your blog is troublesome to navigate, pull in some users to help click around your blog and let you know. Then you can start improving your blog’s ease of use.

Not Engaging With Other Bloggers

Other bloggers are your secret weapon to better blogging. Well, not so secret, but they’re still a boon to your blog.

Other bloggers are happy to help promote your work. They’re happy to talk about blogging tactics and mutually gripe about blogging problems. You can come to them with all your blogging questions, and someone will be happy to give you an answer.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking other bloggers are the competition. We aren’t a group of mean girls who don’t want you to sit at our table. We want more blogging friends! We think the more bloggers, the merrier.

Find your tribe by joining groups on social media and reaching out to bloggers in your niche. Look for bloggers in your area you can meet up and discuss blogging with IRL. Develop blogging friends who will happily swap blog feedback, guest posts, and so much more with you.

Lacking a Unique Voice

Readers aren’t looking for the voice of the everyman (especially if they’re not even male). They’re looking for you! They’re looking for bloggers with unique personalities that shine through in their writing.

When I first started blogging, I was afraid of not sounding “professional” enough. I wrote with perfect grammar, no slang, no humor, no nothing. I wanted to sound totally professional and soulless. But I struggled to figure out why my writing sounded so dang boring.

After reading plenty of blog posts, my own and others’, I figured out how I wanted to come across to readers. I changed my writing style to be truer to me.

Now, I dive into jokes and puns. I let my enthusiasm fly with plenty of exclamation marks. I weave my personal experiences into my posts because I want to really connect with my readers. I put my real voice into my writing.

I don’t usually do sarcasm, because that’s not me. I don’t look at other popular writers and copy their voice and style. I don’t constrict myself too strongly to writing in any certain way. I developed my voice with a little work and my natural habits.

You, too, can put your own voice on your blog! Don’t write like a robot because other people do. Don’t copy trendy writing styles or model your voice off somebody else’s. Practice, play, and write until you find your own blogging voice. Readers will love it, I promise.

Cut Out These Blogging Mistakes!

There you have it: Five different mistakes new bloggers have got to watch out for and a few blogging tips on how to fix them. Watch out for critical blog features like sharing and comments, write posts with value to readers, make your blog easy to navigate, engage with other bloggers in your community, and put your own unique voice into your writing.

Don’t let your new blog fall short of its potential. Polish up your blog up into that shiny, flawless diamond I know it can become! Have any questions about these blogging mistakes? Got your own advice? Let me know in the comments!

Mint Miller

Mint is a writer and digital marketing pro who lives in coastal Virginia with her family and one lovable pitbull. Her passions include helping people and businesses display their best side through the power of communication, buying her dog costumes he doesn’t want to wear, and talking all day about Batman.