by 
Updated on January 17, 2022
There’s a lot of blogging advice from everyone online…including, of course, on my own blog. But which advice is actually worth following?
Web host review site Who Is Hosting This created an infographic about the seven most common blogging mistakes to avoid. While theirs is one site out of many online, the infographic does make some good points.
Source: WhoIsHostingThis.com
How does my blog do on the seven points?
Blogging Every Day
I used to try to blog every day. But as the infographic notes, I felt I was getting burned out from doing so. It was also too difficult to come up with material for seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.
Thus, I’ve cut back the blog to five days a week. I also try to keep a somewhat regular schedule for recurring blog topics. Tech posts go up (at least) twice a week, media-related ones also go up twice a week, and the “minorities in cartoons” posts go up on Thursdays.
Search Engine (Over) Optimization
I try to follow the usual popular SEO advice. I do use the Yoast SEO plugin, which does help.
If You Write It, They Will Come
I admit trying to get attention (and traffic) to my blog isn’t easy, but social media does help. See my post on what social networks I use to promote the blog.
That said, promoting my blog (without worrying about coming across as pushy or spammy) is still one area that could use improvement.
Blogging is an Easy Way to Make Money
Blogging to make money definitely isn’t easy. I do run a few Google ads on my site, but so far, they’ve yet to meet Google’s minimum payout level.
I also run a Patreon page, which so far has gotten a few subscribers.
No One Uses Email Lists
I do offer in the sidebar an email subscription service, for those that wish to receive notification of new blog posts.
As for a full-fledged email list (such as a newsletter), I’ve thought about that. However, since anti-spam laws require a physical address to be included in such lists, I’d have to obtain a post office box (or UPS box) first. That’d be an extra recurring expense, one on top of my current web hosting fees.
That said, mailing lists are a very useful tool for some bloggers, as well as larger websites. And if there’s enough demand (or traffic increase), a newsletter might be worth considering.
Only Write Short Posts (or Long Ones)
I definitely write a variety of shorter and longer posts. I also almost always include a featured image with each post.
Words Are the Only Part of a Post That Matters
Lately, I’ve been trying to improve the formatting of my posts, in order to reduce the “wall of text” feel some of my posts have had. This includes shorter paragraphs, line breaks, subheadings, and more pictures. I’ve also edited some older posts to improve their readability.
The Yoast SEO plugin recently added a feature that measures a post for readability, paragraph length, and more.
Can any of the above aspects be worked on or improved for your blog?
