3 Rookie Mistakes to Avoid as a New Blog Writer

For those of us who love to pen down our thoughts, give advice, review products or simply share an experience, blog writing is a wonderful way to monetize our ideas.

However, if making money is your primary goal, here are a few rudimentary mistakes to avoid as a new blog writer.

I made my share of mistakes and learned my lessons the hard way.

1. Choosing the Wrong Platform

Selecting the right blogging platform is of utmost importance.

As a newbie back in 2016, I started my first blog reviewing movies and TV series. Over time, I gained followers and a fair amount of engagement. The site started getting a few hundred visitors each week. Not terrible for a new blogger. After a few months, I applied for my Google AdSense account.

The ordeal that followed made me realize the FIRST harsh truth.

A blog’s success greatly depends on the earning model offered by the platform.

If a platform pays solely based on ad clicks, as a rookie blog writer, you can forget about quick monetization — thanks to the incredibly wearisome approval process by AdSense.

My request was rejected twice.

The first rejection was due to insufficient traffic. A few hundred weekly views weren’t good enough. You’d need thousands of weekly views to be even considered for review. It took me a while to get there. Then, I reapplied.

The second rejection was because my posts had links to YouTube videos. It was puzzling. I had credited all the sources and felt confident that there was no copyright violation.

I followed up with AdSense but they refused to tell me why the links were a problem. Here’s what I discovered from various forums — if you embed a video link in a post that reviews an intellectual property, such a link must be from the official website of the said product.

For instance, if my post reviewed an episode of Game of Thrones, any referenced video link would have to be from their official YouTube channel or website. Yes, the rule makes sense. But it’s not mentioned anywhere. How would a first-timer know?

Finally, the much-awaited approval mail arrived. You’d think, it would have been a cakewalk from there. Wrong!

The traffic statistics from the next few weeks made me see the SECOND harsh truth.

To earn decently from ad revenue, a website needs millions of views.

Such volumes of traffic require a huge follower base on multiple social media platforms. Merely posting a link to your blog won’t promote it. You’ll have to actively market it and create new content to promote past content — it seemed like an infinite loop, something I was too exhausted to try.

Solution

The answer was crystal clear.

The best websites for new content creators are those that pay based on views and reader engagement.

Such platforms are beginner-friendly because they have a pre-existing reader base. One doesn’t need to waste months of hard work, only to get meagre returns.

Ad revenue may be an excellent option for established bloggers but not suitable for newcomers.

2. Self-Hosting Blogs Without a Fan Base

Many blogging gurus advise that self-hosted blogs with dedicated domains fare better than freely maintained Blogger and WordPress blogs that reside on subdomains. They say that the Google algorithm favors “abc.com” over “abc.wordpress.com”. That’s simply not true! They skip the part about HOW they get their traffic — backlinks and self-promotion.

Search engine rankings work based on SEO and the volume of traffic to your blog, which in turn builds up the domain authority of your website. Whether the domain is free or paid has little bearing on its search engine ranking.

Even free Blogger and WordPress blogs have no problem getting good rankings, as long as they receive large volumes of traffic.

It boils down to a single factor.

How much visibility do you have on social media? To whom can you promote your blog?

Assume that you have a million followers on Instagram. Link your content would perhaps fetch a few thousand views from your fans. Statistically, a thousand views might get you a dozen ad clicks if you’re really lucky. It’ll be worth a few dollars weekly. That’s for someone with a million followers. Now, do the math for people who barely have a few hundred followers.

Self-hosting your blog without a fanbase is as futile as lighting firecrackers on a deserted island. It's visible only to you.

Don't forget to deduct an annual investment of $100 to $200 for a paid domain to host your website.

Would you still consider ad revenue to be good income? Well, not for a novice writer.

Solution

Opt for a self-hosted blog only when your income from the blog exceeds the financial investment you’ve put in. That’ll be possible only after you have built a considerably large follower base.

3. Using Paid Booster Services

Famester is one such marketing agency that comes to mind. They promise to boost your social presence by getting you a huge number of followers on different social media platforms.

This is a terrible idea if you are trying to gain traffic for monetized content.

I'm highly opposed to booster services because I’m stingy. However, I have come across people announcing how their accounts got demonetized due to a lack of “organic” traffic. What does that mean?

Simple! You see, platforms that pay content creators are not fools. They have tools to track traffic sources to subatomic levels of granularity. These tools can easily distinguish unnatural surges in followers and traffic.

When a channel doesn’t get monetized, it’s because the platform knows that the user hasn’t been playing by the rules. Buying traffic or fans isn’t allowed on monetized platforms and it’s easy to get caught.

Besides, would you want to have fake fans who have zero interest in your writings? That's the only kind of followers we can get from booster platforms. Chances are that the initial surge of views will be followed by abysmally low numbers. It’ll become an obvious red flag for your statistics.

Solution

Patience! It takes time to build an online presence, but the goal is to develop a solid fanbase that will value your work enough to promote it. Organic growth always outperforms in the long run.

Key Takeaways

Research well before starting your journey as a blog writer. If a platform mandates users to have an approved AdSense account and you don't possess one, it may not be the best place for you.

Investing in a self-hosted website works wonders for folks with a massive follower base. Build up that foundation before renting domains.

Take your time and refrain from shortcuts like buying followers. Such practices always fail over time.

If you write quality articles and maintain consistency, your work will speak for itself and gain the momentum it deserves. Good luck!