Being a victim of blogging myths is not fun, I get it. I will never forget that new blog feeling when I hit publish and I got no traffic. I was stuck in a cycle of a blogging myth stalemate, and I had no idea how to get out of it. We all go through this as new bloggers, and it is a natural part of blog growth and learning the craft of blogging.
Because, in all honesty, blogging does take work, and it is a learned writing and publishing skill. Don’t believe the overnight sensational ideas that you can just get immediate traffic overnight. It won’t happen unless the links are already out there in Internet land.
So, how do you know when you are on the right path and doing blogging the right way? Well, to be honest, there really isn’t a wrong way to blog, and you are probably blogging the right way.
If you feel like you are struggling, let me share some tips with you to help you choose which improvement you need to make on your blog.
Blogging Myths We Believe as New Bloggers
Perfectionism is really for the birds or something like that. You simply don’t just launch a blog overnight in perfect working order. Read these blogging myths to find out how to get over your blogging humps.
So, if you are a perfectionist, leave it at the door of your blog, and “paint” your blog canvas with words. Get messy and create a work of blogging art. Don’t worry if it looks perfect, you get to improve it as much or as little as you want or have time for.
While most of us blog to eventually make money, it is a creative work that will reflect who we are on some level.
So, read on for more myths that you just need to know before you really get started in the blogosphere.
Blogging Myth #1: You will make money your first year
So, let’s just get this one out of the way. You probably won’t. When you first launch your blog as a newbie blogger, you are learning the ropes.
While you may sit and watch a ton of lessons and videos on blogging, it will probably not prepare you for the very real fact that it takes tons of work to actually apply what you learned. Blogging is hands-down a lot of work, and creating an awesome blog is super hard work and takes many, many hours.
For example, when you were a kid, did you learn to ride a bike right away? No. It took practice and your Dad had to hold you up while you learned, right? Blogging is like this.
Blogging is a skill you are learning. If you have some blogging experience and excellent marketing skills, then sure, you will make money in the first year. But, usually, new bloggers are learning new skills, and it takes time.
Blogging Myth #2: You Need to Buy Expensive Courses
This one is actually not true, but we all buy into this myth usually in a moment of frustration or even desperation to make our blogs work for us and not against us.
While we may need some help with some skills on our blog, you really don’t need to buy an expensive course. Look around on some of the coursework platforms for blogging courses that teach the skills you need to improve your blogging game.
I admit that there have been times when I have bought expensive courses, only to be consumed with more information than I could digest, or so far out of my budget, that I simply could not do what they said I should do.
No, in all honesty, I have gotten more help from courses and eBooks that were only a few dollars and helped me do for myself, what some people can afford to pay others for.
Blogging Myth #3: You Have to Start Blogging With WordPress
So, this one is not true. A LOT of people start blogging on Blogger, and then later either launch a whole new blog on WordPress or redirect their blog to WordPress. There is seriously no shame in starting a Blogger blog, and if that is what you can do, or can only afford to do, then that is where you should start.
You really should go with your skillset here. I remember when I first started blogging, I did it with Blogger. And it took me a couple of tries to move over to WordPress, because at first, I found WP extremely complicated. Later, of course, I more easily switched to WordPress, but there is a blogging life on Blogger, believe me.
Remember, this is your blogging journey, not someone else’s. Just like not everyone else starts off in life in the same way, not everyone begins their blogging journey the same way.
Blogging Myth #4: You Have to Pay for Hosting Right Off
There are a few older bloggers around the net that say this, but it honestly isn’t true. It is true that you won’t get your URL right away, and you can actually pay a few bucks to buy your domain on Blogger, without expensive costs, but paying for your blog hosting can wait while you learn the ropes.
In fact, until you really decide on your niche and get the hang of blogging, I simply would not invest the money. Most bloggers change their URLs once they choose a blogging genre, so even if you end up with a free URL that says blogger.com or authorsite9427.live-website.com/, that is really okay at first.
Once you get writing, people will want to follow you if you write interesting content, not because of what your URL says.
Blogging Myth #5: You Can Skip Appearances
While sure you can skip making your blog look like an active blogging space, I wouldn’t really recommend it. In any blogging platform, choose a white background and make a logo (even if you change it later), on photo editing programs for free, like Canva Free, PicMonkey Free, or GIMP.
You don’t have to make it with a bunch of bells and whistles at first, but make it look inviting. Think of it as creating a nice look for your home. You may not decorate from Martha Stewart, but you make your home look nice and inviting on a budget.
You can do the same thing for your blog.
Blogging Myth #6: I Have to Take My Own Photos
If you are awesome at this, then great, use your own photos. But some of us (ahem) are not. While there are some studies that claim you really increase your chances of blog traffic this way, it really isn’t the full answer to blog traffic anyway.
You can find what is called open stock or royalty-free photos that you can use for free and are not copyrighted, plus there are apps that help you create amazing blog images on a budget. Using photo editing programs like Canva which supplies you with free royalty-free photos, also works well. Read more about creating images for blogging here.
Whatever you do, don’t just go cut and paste some image off Google search, it might certainly belong to someone else. There are copyright rules and laws attached to someone else’s creative work.
Blogging Myth #7: I Have to Get My Social Media Accounts Open Right Away
This also isn’t true. While you may be a social media guru and have an account or two for business or personal already, it isn’t necessary for blog traffic. Using the Likes on your blogging platforms works fine at first, and then launching into one social media account at a time.
Share your posts and see what comes up. If people come to your blog because of your social media shares (even on your personal FB account), then keep it up. If you are not a social media guru, of course, you may need to learn this skill. There are tons of social media courses you can take.
Truly the answer lies in creating one social media account or page at a time and posting there.
Blogging Myth #8: They Will Come Right Away
This is a hard one to realize when you first start blogging. When you first launch your blog, Google does not just thank you for using their Blogger platform and send you traffic.
If you have zero to very little traffic, you can start with writing tons more posts on your topic. Then, start working on social media accounts for businesses and link them to your blog home page. There are plenty of ways to increase your blog traffic, which you can read about here.
You can also use your personal social media account if you don’t want to start with a personal account but start sharing your work to get more blog traffic. Plus, posting to Facebook groups (with their permission of course) can help with blog traffic as well.
But, generally, your readers will come slowly but they will need to know they like your message first.
Blogging Myth #9: Set It and Forget It
While there are seasons where your blog may sit for a few weeks or days because of life’s little emergencies, or your frustration, you cannot expect it to go somewhere if you don’t keep working on it.
Blogging is a constant work in progress. For example, while you may write a post and move on to twenty other posts, you will need to come back later and update it.
The online world changes constantly as you know, and people may not be interested in face masks tomorrow, even though you wrote about it today. You will need to change the post next year to something more relevant.
Blogging Myth #10: Blogs Should Be All About the Writer
We all go there, trust me. We want to write about our amazing life, and post twenty posts about it, only to discover that no one wants to read it. Plenty of us start out this way, because, let’s face it, we write to express ourselves. And, yes, this is good, but it won’t help you make your blog successful.
No, sweet friend, you need to make your blog about your reader. Sure, they may want to know something about your life in a snippet in one or two posts, but they really came to your blog to help themselves.
Writing your content about tips and tricks that are helpful to your reader, bringing them back is what you need to give them. Otherwise, they may not return. Think about why you read blogs. Do you do it because they are talking about themselves, or because they are helping you with something? Chances are, it is the latter reason.
So, There You Have It!
Blogging really does have a lot of components to it. While you may use those high school or college writing skills, you also need to remember that you need to give the reader a pretty package on your blog.
Realizing that there are many blogging myths that will suck you into the wrong path, is an important part of blogging success.
They are not just coming to see your family photos (although people like a few to get to know you), but they are coming because they want ideas that you have to offer and share with them.
In order to keep them coming back, you need to:
And so much more!
Take these blogging myths and learn from them, then go and make that blog a top traffic, money-maker that you always dreamed about.
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