Hello and welcome to our Friday blogs section which is always mostly comprised of opinions. If you’re yet to subscribe to our site, then please do so. It’d would be great pleasure meeting you and sharing in your thoughts (you can bet I’ll follow back)
Well, personally I’m not a blogging guru but as 2021 neared an end, I learnt quite a bunch of mistakes I had been doing to my blogging life that stifled it every day, thanks partly to Cindy Georgakas and Stuart Danker. You can find some of their amazing blogging tips here and here. But don’t forget to return to this page.
As for this, I’ll take you through a list of some ten serious blogging mistakes I learnt I had been doing in 2021 and the years that preceeded, and which I vowed never to repeat.
1. Blogging irregularly
I was this kind of person who would post once a month or bimonthly or even yearly. Until Stuart brought it to my attention in December 2021, I used to behave this way. But now since I began posting regurlarly, I’ve witnessed some amazing stats on my site. I learnt that it’s good to get readers used to my blogging trends and moments.
2. Making verbose posts
I used to make some only-God-knows-who-might-like-it posts, as long as that hyphenated word. I learnt that such writings only scared people from reading. How many have the whole da’n day to spend on a single post?
3. Lacking a homepage
My homepage used to be the posts page. This could have indeed made it very hard for new site visitors to get a quick gist of who I am and what I do, thus losing credibility (or authenticity, as some would call it). Thanks to Cindy for this amazing idea.
4. Poor editing and formatting of posts
I used to make poorly edited and formatted posts. Sometimes, I’d have very long paragraphs and plain texts. This, most-assuredly, brought boredom to my readers, no wonder no ONE commented on them 😄. These days, I schedule my posts to give me enough time to edit and format before letting it go out to my readers.
5. Making it mandatory for readers to login before commenting.
What the deuce! Readers have different beliefs and habits, I didn’t know. There are those who find it a breach of “their privacy” to be asked to key in their details as a mandatory thing before commenting 🤣. And what did I think, man, they possibly just left without commenting, oh not even liking 😫. Stuart must have been really wise about this.
6. Ignoring readers’ comments
Mistake! A big mistake it was indeed. I learnt that the most immediate way to show your readers that you value their reading is to like and respond to their comments. I’ve realised this from how I feel when I take my “precious” time to read and comment on someone’s post yet they just ignore my thought. It really hurts so much if it’s repeated to you even twice alone, such that you wouldn’t even want to read again 😂. So I thought, the best way to appreciate is to reply. Even if it’s just a “this is nice” comment, I will always reply ( unless it has escaped to my spambox which I do check once awhile).
7. Not following back and not reading followers’ posts
I used not to be bothered by what my followers wrote. That was pathetic, I mean, very pathetic! Now more than ever, I believe that we grow by growing each other. And so, at least once in a day and every day, I take my time to go through my followers’ posts and drop my fair thoughts. I ensure this is so by following back my followers so as to be able to see their posts whenever they make them. Sometimes when I’m very tired or bored, I just like to show them that I’ve noticed the post, and then come back later when my mind’s free to read and comment. After all, better a few loyal followers than thousands who don’t even bat an eyelid at what you post.
8. Flirting with the reader
There’s a difference between being very nice and firting with someone. It can be hard to learn but can sure be helpful. When I didn’t know this, I spoiled my chances of retaining followers. It happens in the comments section. It’s good to be nice here, nice there, use emojis to bring liveliness to a conversation, crack jokes, show how you really care, wish people well, and so forth. But when you begin to sound seductive or become sexually stimulating in your replies, it’s now not just being nice; it’s flirting. And it can be damaging because you might make the reader expect more than you can give, and when you fail to live up to your insinuations, they’ll simply feel downplayed and walk away. That’s what I learnt.
9. Being in the clatter
Well, it’s hard to stand out of the crowd, isn’t it? This is one of the things I’ve been fighting hard to achieve. I don’t want to be like numerous people on WP who just blog for the sake of blogging, I want to learn my own way of being unique. And there’re many ways to it: from building a unique style of delivey, offering unique ideas, having a unique voice in terms of how the reader feels and get attached to you when they read your works, writing unique comments 😀, building a unique website – whatever… just not anything, but something that can make me unique and attract loyal readers to my site. I’ve learnt that it’s important to not just do what everyone’s doing.
10. Not reading other writers’ works
I used to sit comfortably, waiting for likes and comments to flow in, or simply close the app and leave to other things, after making a post. That, now that was costing me quite a lot! I would only come back to find my posts just as glaring as I had left them 😂. But when I started reading and commenting on other people’s works, it was like inviting them to my works and, at the same time, learning the mistakes I used to do from them. So I said, well, this is true: not reading is costing me just as much as not writing is, and that was the idea behind my new year poem.
The list continues to grow every day. I’m like a baby learning how to crawl, to walk, to eat, oh my goodness – even how to talk! And yes, I can say that that learning is worth the journey.
Thanks for taking your time to read. Please let me know your thoughts about these mistakes in the comments section, including some of the lessons you too have learnt in your blogging life, and where you figure out that I still need to improve (I’m really open to reproofs and I take them without feelings attached 😀). Glad you’re reading. 🤗
Laminsa Indies 
Fantastic Post Lamittan!
How could I not love this post Lamittan with my name here 🤣 and right up there with Stuart who is awesome! Thanks for the mention my friend. I am no expert either but I do know what my pet peeves are and what attracts me to someone’s site.
I’m not sure what you did before but what I do know is that I didn’t know who you were at all but you made your way into my hearts and the heats of so many with your wonderful comments support and mention like you are doing here.
👏👏👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
💖🙏🌈🌈🙏🌈💖
Sooooo KUDDOS to you for sitting back, learning, adjusting and infiltrating that into growing your following which you take us by storm. Amazing job!
Your advice is sound and helpful for every blogger out there!
oh yeah please don’t make me log in before reading or I’ll never get there.. I agree with you!
Again, thanks for the mention!
💖
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Oh my lovely Cindy, what an incredibly charming way to put it. I agree. It’s been and it still is a journey of learning, and it’s worth the effort. Everyone begins from some point. I’m really grateful to have you as a friend and a dear one of course. Many thanks for your support. 💖💖❤🌷
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Well, of course. It’s always a growing and learning experience for sure as we continue to change ourselves and readjust. It is my pleasure and I’m honored and grateful as well.
You’re most welcome and thanks for yours.
💖🙏💖
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Absolutely!! You’re most welcome, dear Cindy. 💖🌷
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🙏💖
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Excellent Post Lamittan
Great tips and I have also picked up on similar tips along my blogging journey all this is spot on… If we never made mistakes would we truly learn anything?
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Indeed not, if we didn’t make mistakes, we wouldn’t have learnt. I concur. I’m glad you liked it, dear. Thanks. 😊💕
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This post is so timely and informative. New bloggers really have no idea how to go about setting up and running a blog. It can be intimidating to read the blogs of established writers who seem to have everything figured out already. The learning curve at the beginning can be steep, and everyone succumbs to the pitfalls you’ve listed here. Good job on bringing these mistakes to light and encouraging readers to avoid them. Well done, Lamittan. 🙂
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Thanks for your thoughtful comment and compliment, my friend Mike. It’s true as you’ve pointed out. I couldn’t agree more. I’m very much pleased that you found it timely and informative. 🤝😊
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thx for info minsah✨
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You’re most welcome, Kun. 🤝
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Love how you share what you have learned thus far and the little fixes you are making along the way to remedy previous mistakes! A home page is so crucial and I love your tip for being responsive; that makes such a difference.
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I’m glad you liked this, Jaya. Thanks for highlighting. 💕💖
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Thank you for posting this, Lamittan this is a helpful post. I have some work to do on my blog, this guidance is appreciate. One thing I would suggest is a typo that I did notice, (1. Making verbose posts). I think that you meant to number this (2. Making verbose posts). Have a great day, also how many days in a row have you been posting Lamittan!?
Keep it up, I like the design you have for your website that’s a great way to build a following, is it ok with you if I borrow some of your ideas in designing my blog?
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Oh my dearest of all friends, isn’t this heartening of you to say. I’m glad and grateful that you liked this. Thanks for the correction too; Imma change that straight away. Since the year began, I’ve been making one post everyday. And yes, you can go ahead and use my blogging ideas. It’s such an an honour to hear that you found them reasonably useful. Thank you. 🤝😊
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Thank you brother that is awesome! I’m happy to get this wisdom it’s helping me to organize and best utilize my website!
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I’m very much glad to hear so. You’re most welcome. 🤗 Cheers!
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I’ve got some point here, thanks for sharing brother ❤️
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Thanks, my friend. You’re sure a great heart. I’m glad you enjoyed and found a few points to use. Bloglife is a journey of many lessons. Many thanks 😊❤
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It was an informative post for people like me who are new to blogging!
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Glad it helped. You’re most welcome. 🙂
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I think we have all made one or more of those mistakes. They usually wind up making us better writers (and entertainers) as long as we learn from them.
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Yes. You’re absolutely right. I am happy you could resonate with my thoughts. Thanks for stopping by to read and comment, Leon my friend.
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Oh wow, I’m just stumbling across this post, and I’m super honoured that you’d mention me, Lamittan! And it’s great to be alongside Cindy too, who’s awesome herself. Anyway, spot on with the verbose posts—which is different from long posts, which are enjoyable. The blogging reading experience should be relaxing in general, but then again, don’t let anyone tell you what to do. Great post once again!
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Wow, I’m so happy you found this and wrote such a kind and expansive compliment, Darker. Your tips did help me for sure. And yes, we can always listen but decide on our own. It’s true, we shouldn’t let anybody decide for us what to do. Amazing, my friend. Thanks for your kindness. ❤
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HI
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Hi 👋
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