Today, I want to talk about blogging myths.
In all the years I’ve been blogging, I’ve had the opportunity to connect with many other bloggers. I’ve found a lot of them fall victim to believing some pesky myths when first starting out. These myths set them up for a bumpy road on their path to blogging success.
Why?
Because those myths they believe to be true could ultimately set them up for failure. While there’s no clear path to being a thriving blogger, it’s certain these myths will only hold you back in the long run. And they’ll prevent you from doing the things that are absolutely essential to your online presence.
7 Blogging Myths You Need to Stop Believing
Wondering what those blogging myths are? Keep reading to find out what so many new bloggers are guilty of believing. And make sure you haven’t been believing any of these either! If you are, it’s time to change your tune immediately. Once you do, you’ll start seeing results online.
1. You need to post every day.
When I first started blogging, there weren’t a whole lot of resources available that offered advice on being a better blogger. The few that I did know of, I followed religiously in an attempt to make my blog better. And one of those blogging “rules” I followed was that you must post every day in order to be successful. But is that really true?
Over the years, I have found that is absolutely false. It’s just another one of those blogging myths because it is possible to have a successful blog without posting five times per week. In fact, I always recommend that people choose a schedule that works for them. Do not force yourself to post five days per week if you can’t put out that many quality posts. Every post you write for your blog should be valuable to your audience. You shouldn’t ever throw a post together just for the sake of posting. Instead, stick to the schedule that works for you, whether it is five posts per week or three or two or whatever.
Now, you may be worried that posting less will cause your traffic to drop off. It might happen. Let that serve as a motivator to step-up your marketing on the days you don’t post. Schedule plenty of social media updates promoting other posts you’ve written so you still see a consistent stream of traffic coming in.
2. Having a niche isn’t necessary.
I see so many people saying they refuse to find a niche for their blogs. They don’t want to limit themselves to only focusing on one thing or targeting one audience. They want to be everything to everybody! And let me tell you… It just will not work that way. The most successful blogs are the ones that have a clear niche and a clear target market. They focus on one thing and become an expert in it. That’s what you should aspire to for your own blog. Get clear on your niche. Figure out who your target market is. And stick with it!
3. SEO isn’t important.
There are bloggers who choose to ignore SEO entirely and still have successful blogs. But in my opinion, it’s worth taking that extra step to optimize your posts and increase your chances of ranking higher in search results. After all, it really doesn’t take that much extra work!
Since I’m on WordPress, I use the Yoast plugin to help me optimize my posts in an incredibly simple way. It hardly takes any time at all and you don’t need to be an SEO master. All you need to know is this: Make sure that, for every post you write, you are selecting a keyword (or long-tail keyword) to be the focus of your post. That keyword should be included in the title of your post, it should be included in the alt tags for your images (it’s also a good idea to name your images with the keyword), and it should be sprinkled throughout your post. These easy tips can help you rank higher in search engine results, which will help more people find your site. Anyone who says SEO isn’t important is just spreading those blogging myths!
4. The amount of comments you receive indicates how successful your blog is.
Not necessarily, friends! Don’t be discouraged when your posts only get a few comments. It’s not indicative of your traffic or your success as a blogger. Not everyone will read a post and be inclined to leave a comment. So, just because your post only received a few (or even zero) comments, it doesn’t mean your post was awful. It doesn’t mean you’re doomed to be yet another failed blog. There are plenty of high-traffic blogs that receive very few comments. And there are crappy blog posts out there that do get a lot of comments. Don’t let it get you down. Try encouraging comments the next time by asking a question at the end of your posts.
5. You need to have a lot of traffic in order to make money.
Not true! This is another one of those blogging myths that many people fall victim to! You actually do not need to have a lot of traffic or a huge email list in order to make money online. Does it help? Absolutely. The larger the audience, the more potential you have for earning money, so you do want to focus on audience-building. However, if you focus on getting the right people to your website (you know, the ones in your target market!), you can see sales come in even if you aren’t getting a lot of traffic.
It’s all about positioning yourself as an expert and gaining the trust of the audience you do have. You may only get 5,000 pageviews per month, but if those people are engaged and interested in what you’re doing, they still might buy from you! Don’t let low pageviews stop you from creating the next big thing. Focus on creating great content, connecting with your current audience, and building your authority in your niche.
6. Selling ad space is the best way to make money.
Many years ago, as a new blogger, I relied on ads and sponsored posts to make money through my blog because I thought they were my only option. I had fallen victim to one of the top blogging myths in thinking ads were the key to money-making. I didn’t have a product or service to sell like I do these days. But the truth is, ads aren’t necessarily the best way to make money. Selling your own stuff is ideal! With your own products and services, you set the price and you can market them to make sales. With ads, you don’t always know how much you’ll earn per impression or per click.
Many ads are pay-per-click. When you place advertisements on your website, you are encouraging people to click on them, sending them away from your site, as a way to make money. Do you really want people to leave your site? No! You want them to stay on your site. Readers should get sucked into the depths of your blog archives. And you need them to stick around and ultimately buy something you’re offering! Keep this in mind when considering whether or not you want to run ads on your website.
7. If you’re not a great writer, you can’t be a blogger.
This simply isn’t true. There are plenty of awesome bloggers who don’t have a background in writing. You don’t need to be an expert. In fact, I do have a background in writing and I’d say I’m far from being a great writer. The key is just loving what you do and being passionate about it. Use your own unique voice to write your posts and just make sure you edit them for typos and misspellings!