Just getting into blogging, or coming back after a break? This post is full of advice to help you avoid getting overwhelmed and focus on what really matters.
Let’s get started!
Currently reading: Blogging 101: Traps To Avoid As A New (Or Returning!) Blogger Share on XTrap 01: Taking on too much at once
Starting something new is always exciting, but it can quickly turn into overwhelm once you start going down different rabbit holes and end up being pulled in a bunch of different directions.
Take a step back. Pause. Breathe. Look at one thing at a time, figure that out to a basic level, and only then move on to something else (if you want to).
Each individual area of blogging is a whole career in the outside world. An employee typically just focuses on search engine optimization or site speed optimization or email marketing or social media or web design. They don’t do all of them (and another dozen things on top!).
Over time, becoming multi-skilled is definitely a super power. But it doesn’t happen immediately for anyone; it takes time and patience. You can’t learn an entire career overnight, let alone several, so be patient with yourself. Focus on one thing at a time, and don’t worry about how much you don’t know (or haven’t caught up on) yet.
Be conscious of what you’re taking on and take a step back to see how sustainable it is. While it’s great to be motivated and enthusiastic about a new project, you don’t want it to turn into stress and burnout further down the road. One way to avoid this is to run separate lists – a short list of things that you want to prioritize, things that you can look at later, and long term things to get to eventually. Never beat yourself up about things you haven’t completed in the day/week/month; you’re only human. Life happens. Your list will wait for you.
You may be thinking, ‘How do I figure out where I start in the first place?!’ This post tells you everything you need to know: What To Learn First Or Next As A Blogger
Trap 02. Not setting clear goals
With so much to do when you’re first starting out, it’s easy to skip over goal setting…especially as it doesn’t get mentioned as much in the blogging world with so many other things to think about.
However, setting specific, actionable goals is a great way to map out your timeline and see what’s likely to be realistic and achievable for you. It also means that you can assign specific time to projects and skills such as learning search engine optimization or adding a store to your blog.
It’s always best to map out your own plan and goals because the time you have to work on things is likely to be wildly different to someone else’s. That never means you’re behind, just that you’re on a different timeline and should give yourself grace for that. Don’t forget to build in time for life to happen – it always does! – your blog and tasks will wait for you to pick them back up when you’re ready.
Make sure your goals are realistic; set separate stretch goals if you like, but don’t let numbers dictate your emotions. It can be more helpful to set goals based on things you have control over, such as the number of posts you want to publish this year or skills you want to improve, if you think you could end up fixating too much on traffic or you’re not sure what a reasonable goal is for you yet.
Not sure how to start goal setting or how to organize your tasks? Check out our customer Resource Library for templates and tips!
Trap 03. Looking for a magic plugin
Think of plugins as adding a specific function to your website rather than being your whole strategy.
Plugins can be good for things like image optimization, adding social media sharing to your website, boosting your security, adding contact forms, making it easier to add meta descriptions, and so on. Plugins alone won’t magically make you get tons of traffic, or make your site faster if you’ve added a lot of large images and not optimized them.
You still need some understanding, an overarching strategy, and to complete other tasks yourself, especially when it comes to broad areas like search engine optimization (SEO) or site speed.
And you’ll also want to have some knowledge of the plugins you’re installing; for example, adding two caching plugins can slow your site down instead of speeding it up! (If you’re a Lyrical Host customer, just raise a support ticket if you need any advice on plugins or plugin settings).
Just getting started and not sure what you need to know? Try our search engine optimization or site speed posts, or take a look at 10 Plugins You Don’t Need.
Trap 04. Having peak expectations (and comparing yourself to others)
Once you’ve learned the ins and outs of blogging, it’s easy to get impatient because you’re not seeing lots of/consistently building traffic. No one is an overnight success in the blogging world; if it’s a new blog doing well it’s very rarely a new blogger behind it!
The best advice? Give it a year.
When you’ve put the work in you naturally want to start seeing the results. But as they say, you don’t harvest the fruit on the same day you plant the seeds. To stay motivated, it can be more useful to focus on the tasks you have at hand and use checking items off your list as your measure of success (rather than looking at numbers that may not be impacted for weeks or months).
Focus on keeping your flywheel going – e.g. publishing new, high quality content, improving old posts, adding backlinks and building relationships and collaborations – and measuring your success/numbers quarterly or yearly instead of daily (you can still check your stats daily, but only consider long term trends as your measure of success as numbers can fluctuate significantly).
Trap 05. Spending money on things you don’t need
In and of itself, running a blog or building a website is one of the most affordable hobbies around when you’re managing it yourself using WordPress. However, it’s easy to get carried away with optional extras.
It’s up to you how much you spend and what you want to set for your budget; people choose to invest in premium themes, courses, coaching and other things that, which while not strictly essential, can be very helpful.
However, some extras you absolutely don’t need. Sometimes these are things that a previous host has upsold to you, or because of hidden costs when add-ons are billed separately (see our blog post, 15 Domain & Hosting Pricing Tricks: What Your Web Host Doesn’t Want You To Know. Sometimes they may be things you did need to buy, or needed to pay for separately, with another host but we include as standard at no extra cost.
The good news is it’s easy to cut down on extra costs:
- Do your research beforehand to decide if you really need to spend the money or not. If you’re asking “is it worth it?” maybe you’re not seeing enough benefits for you personally to go ahead. A lot of recommendations online are well-meaning but not necessarily the best option for your specific situation.
- Be thorough in reading descriptions and don’t be afraid to ask questions – you don’t want to end up buying a course that has no new information for you, or doesn’t cover the main things you were looking to learn.
- Check for additional costs or higher price renewals, and things that seem too good to be true or are offset somewhere else. For example, some companies offer “free” domains but then the renewal cost is extremely high or there are paid extras that work out more than you’d just pay for the domain with it already included, such as domain privacy/WHOIS protection.
- Try a demo or free version of a paid theme or plugin to make sure you like it before purchasing (or use any free theme you’re happy with! Check out our curated lists of free WordPress themes).
- Keep a list of all the extras you pay for outside of hosting and domain names so you’re clear on what you’re spending and can periodically review what you do and don’t need.
- Ask our support team for a plugin review; it’s free for all customers. They’ll be able to let you know if you have any overlaps or are paying extra for a third party plugin you don’t need.
Trap 06. Ebbs and flows/highs and lows
This is the one that gets most people…even successful long-term bloggers can be caught out by it. You’ve put tons of work in, but no matter how much you do or how consistent you are, there will be times – even long periods – where you’re seeing a flatline or drop in traffic. Algorithms are updated and change very frequently, and each change can work in your favor or against you. It’s luck of the draw at the end of the day.
It’s frustrating and disheartening to feel like you’ve taken a step backwards when you’ve put so much work in and you’ve done nothing wrong, but unfortunately it’s just one of those things beyond everyone’s control. It’s also one of the biggest challenges of working solo; when you’re working for someone else as a job you’re still getting paid the same regardless, but when you’re on your own it’s common for doubts to creep in, even if you’ve had a lot of success to date.
Many people find the best way to deal with a downturn is to focus on their to do list of tasks instead of the outcomes. This keeps the flywheel going until the tide turns back in your favor. As the old adage goes, the only way to lose is to quit.
This doesn’t mean you should bury your head in the sand; doing more of what you were doing to hit the next level, or trying a completely new strategy isn’t a bad idea. Equally, if taking a step back for a bit and taking a temporary break feels right for you, there’s nothing wrong with that. Coming back to blogging with fresh eyes and a new state of mind can make all the difference.
If you need help or advice as a Lyrical Host customer, just raise a ticket or post in our Facebook group. There’s also a Traffic Recovery Guide in the Resource Library if you want to dig deeper.
Trap 07. Starting another blog/website too soon…
…and expecting to replicate the same success.
You can do everything in exactly the same way, but it doesn’t mean you’ll get the same outcome. Just like when you add a new child or pet to your family, you find that they’re (usually!) nothing like the first one and you need to reframe how you manage things and your strategy.
Sometimes starting a second website too soon means your time and focus are split just before you reach the level of success you wanted to see. Conversely, sometimes a second website is just what you needed and because you were able to complete tasks much faster and more confidently the second time around, you see results faster. It’s all trial and error and what works for you and your goals. The good news is that the first blog is the hardest – you’re learning as you go – and after that, as long as you’re pacing is good and you’re not moving on too quickly, you can create a bunch of successful blogs that are an asset for you to own or even rent or sell.
Own several websites? Check out our guide, Managing Multiple WordPress Websites, in the customer resource library, for tips on streamlining and success.
With all that said, is blogging worth it? Well, we’re admittedly very biased, but yes! Blogging is one of the most rewarding and purpose-led ways to spend some time, and has a whole range of benefits from helping you improve your writing skills to learning resume-level marketing techniques.
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