5 MORE Blogging Mistakes Beginners Make

Last week I pointed out some basic mistakes that almost all bloggers make at some point or another:

auto-loading music
using a dark background with light text
too much sidebar clutter
accidental plagiarism
not using contextual links

This week I want to point out five more mistakes that may not be quite so obvious.

Mistake #6: Choosing an uninteresting blog name.

If you are starting a blog, please consider your title seriously. Avoid words like musings, ramblings, thoughts, mommy, etc. Trust me when I tell you it's been done. Your goal should be to set yourself apart from the crowd. Choose something reflective of your personality and niche, but be creative.

Mistake #7: Not owning your domain name.

Your domain name is the URL, or address, of your blog. For example, yourblogname.com or yourblogname.net. It's about $10 per year to own your own domain name and, like or it or not, people take you more seriously if you own your own domain name and use a .com or .net URL. Oh, and your domain name should match your blog's name. My advice is to check domain name availability as you are choosing your blog's name.

Mistake #8: Your header is huge.

Blogging is not digital scrapbooking. I see so many blogs (particularly mommy blogs) that have a header that takes up most of the homepage. The reader has to scroll down several times just to get to the content. Your readers won't tell you, so I will: I didn't come to your site to see your cute header. I came to your site to read your content. Keep your title bar simple and small. Focus on your content.

Mistake #9: Not considering privacy issues.

It's important to consider how transparent you want to be online. Do you want people to know your child's real name or where you live? For some people out there, it's a game to see if they can figure out specific, private things about your family or your life. It's creepy and it can be dangerous. I say this not to scare you, but to make you aware of the problems that can occur when you give too much information to your audience.

Mistake #10: Allowing blogging to become a chore.

When you begin your blog, you have the energy and the ideas for fifty posts. I suggest harness that energy and write those posts, then put those posts on auto-publish and give yourself a break. As you write more posts, add them to the queue. If you write your posts the day before they're published and never give yourself a break, you may end up (as so many of us have) resenting the fact that you have to write a post or you'll lose your readership (which isn't really true). Finally, remember that blogging isn't life. Many a blogger has found that she's so wrapped up in blogging her life that she forgets to focus on the people in her life. Step back every once in a while and take stock of how things are going. Adjust as necessary. If you're hitting a wall and can't think of anything to write, allow yourself to take a break (just don't apologize for it when you come back).

Comments

Yes...

I especially agree with Mistake #6. My site (Mom in the City) wasn't initially in the blog format when I started it over 4 years ago. If that were my intention starting out now, I would lose the word "mom" in the title.

Why? Because there are so many blogs by moms with "mom" in the title. I realized this while speaking with a Chief Marketing Officer of a company. He was rattling off the names of some blogs that he liked by moms. For one blog that he was trying to remember, he was like, "Mom something or other. I don't know. So many of the mom blogs have mom in the title!" All that to say, it's harder to stand out from the crowd if you aren't already (somewhat) established and you have a similar title to already established blogs.

Kimberly/ Mom in the City
http://www.mominthecity.com/

Submitted by kdc521 on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 13:05

Excellent

Melanie, I'm cribbing your beginning blogger tips as recommended reading for my students this fall. Thanks for this.

KimBlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Submitted by Kim Pearson on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 13:29

Thanks!

Thanks so much Kim! I really appreciate that. ;)

Melanie
Contributing Editor at BlogHer.com (Web/Tech)
Blogging Basics 101

Submitted by Melanie Nelson on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 13:33

blogging tips

This was really good advice glad I caught the artilce.

Dorothy from grammology

grammology.com

Submitted by Dorotheaa on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 19:13

Not sure if "beginner"...

I have seen a disturbing tendency of thinking a comment from me means you can send me spam. Commenting on a blog is not the same as signing up for a newsletter, advertisement, or other if there was no indication that was going to happen. I have had this happen to me with a couple of blogs and it really is a major breach of Internet etiquette.

MLO / Melissa

Submitted by MLOKnitting on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 19:08

Huge header

Dang, Melanie. I finally updated my blog a bit, but my header takes up much of the homepage now. Probably, too much. *sigh*

Kim

http://HormoneColoredDays.blogspot.com
Chicago Moms Blog

@KimMoldofsky

Submitted by KimMoldofsky on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 21:14

Good stuff AGAIN!

I need to change my blog template, fix stuff like sidebar clutter, and by no means am I new blogger. I want something less generic but dread making the change. My most successful blog, which is now off-line, had the dark background, and so this time around I made sure not to do that.

In addition, I'm thinking about moving my blog off Blogger completely. Scared to death of that because I think being part of blogger may help with traffic, not to mention the URL switch will throw things off. Do you have any ideas on that topic?

I can share this tip. If you think you may be moving to another state or city, avoid a blog name that associates you with a specific location. I didn't think I'd be moving back home to New Orleans from New Jersey b/c I thought I'd be in Jersey at least another 5 years when I named my old blog, Confessions of a Jersey Goddess. I just didn't see how I could make that name work anymore moving back to New Orleans. The name I have now reflects my life shift, Whose Shoes Are These Anyway, and my struggle to re-focus my online identity.

Thanks, Melanie, for another helpful post.

Nordette Adams is a BlogHer CE & you can find her other stuff through Her 411.

Submitted by Nordette on Sat, 07/04/2009 - 06:15

Thanks!

Nordette,

That's an excellent point. Naming your blog for the "now" limits you later. Whether it's because you move or because you named your blog "Adventures of the Nelson Three" then ended up having two more babies (and are now the Nelson five).

You raise some excellent questions re: migrating your blog to a new host, whether hosting at Blogger helps with traffic/SEO, etc. I'll put those in my list of questions to answer. Thanks!

Melanie
Contributing Editor at BlogHer.com (Web/Tech)
Blogging Basics 101
TravelingDisneyMom at TravelingMom.com

Submitted by Melanie Nelson on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 07:27

I Like #10

As a new blogger, I have found that I do need to step back and make sure I'm not spending so much time getting it all "perfect" that I forget what life is all about.

I had a look for my blog, decided I didn't like it, changed it, had a new one, changed that one. I wonder if that puts readers off, or if they don't really notice the asthetic changes as much as I obsess over them?

Diane

lost 150 pounds and talks about it at:

www.fittothefinish.com/blog

Submitted by fittothefinish on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 03:15

Thanks!

Great tips! Wish I would have known #10 awhile ago, but plan to practice it going forward. Thus the blog doesn't have to be something I need to cross of my "to do" list (aka chore), and helps keep me ahead of the game!

Appreciate you helping out us, "newbies". Happy Blogging. Nancy

www.sparksprite.com

Submitted by aunt_nancy on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 13:18