I’ve been blogging a long time. I first started a family blog, where I shared my travels with the kids, in 2006. Slowly, over time, it evolved and I started this site in 2010. I had all sorts of ideas of what I wanted to do and absolutely no clue what I was doing. I had to learn from trial and error over the years. To be honest, it seemed like mostly error! It’s still a work in process as the blogging world changes. I still have moments when I realize things I should have been doing all along. It’s a “Duh! Is everyone doing this but me?” moment. To save you from some of these mistakes, here’s four costly mistakes new bloggers make (and what you can do instead.)
Mistake #1. Begin with A Hosted Blog – I know this is in every blog post written about blog mistakes, but bear with me. I began my site on a hosted blog (blogspot) not realizing Google owned my blog. This allows them the opportunity to shut down a blog for any reason. While it never happened to me, it happened to friends, causing them to lose years of work overnight. Imagine building a blog and then having to start over from scratch.
WordPress is the most commonly used self-hosting, but don’t confuse WordPress.org with WordPress.com. Wordpress.Com is a hosted site, meaning your address will have “whatever.wordpress.com” in the title. You won’t pay any fees as you do with WordPress.org to self host your site, but wordpress.com’s terms of service do not allow you to make money on your site.
Also, you can get plans for as little as $3.99 or $4.99 a month. If you prefer not to go with a hosted blog get a .com name for your blog and use it through blogger. These .com can be as little as 99 cents for the first year.
Mistake #2 Searching Google For An Image for Your Post. Most of us have done this at some point. We need an image for a post, do a quick google search and grab an image. No problem. If it is on the internet it’s public domain, right? Nope. If the image is copyrighted and the owner decides to take legal action, you could be in for a costly settlement. It won’t matter if you remove the image when contacted by their lawyer, they are still entitled to reimbursement. This has happened to several people I know, ranging in settlement costs from several hundred to several thousand dollars. Instead, purchase low cost stock photos, use a free photo service like morguefile or take your own.
Mistake #3 Don’t Worry About Site Speed I learned this the hard way. When I checked my site speed some pages were taking ten to twenty seconds to load because of the size of my image files. I didn’t realize even if I changed the image size on my post, the entire photo would still factor into the page load time. People are usually in a hurry when they browse blogs, trying to find the information they need quickly. If the page takes more than a few seconds to load, they’ll likely click away no matter how compelling the content. (And I was pretty sure mine was compelling. 😉 ) The best way to solve this problem is by using a photo compressor. You can find a free one at Compressor.io.
Mistake #4 Spending a Lot of Money for Start Up Costs If you are thinking of giving blogging a try, it’s easy to get caught up in spending money. The minimum you have to purchase a domain name and purchase hosting. From there it is easy to get caught up in all you need, a fancy theme, a blog designer, special plugins, and more. Instead, begin with the basics. Purchase a domain name (search for coupons online you can often get your first domain for around a $1.) You can sign up for a year of hosting, but if you’re not sure you will like it, why not pay by the month for a few months? I know Bluehost has a special for special sale now for $3.95 a month, plus a free domain. I suggest using one of the free wordpress themes for a few months to see if you want to stick with blogging. If, after a few months you decide you don’t like it, you’re out $30-$50 instead of the hundreds to thousands you could have spent. If you do enjoy blogging, you can upgrade to fancy themes, a designer and special plugins.
You might also enjoy “3 Tips for Beginning Bloggers I wish I had Known.”
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Mistake #2 is a really bad one that a lot of people fall into. Just because you googled “free image of xyz” doesn’t mean the image is actually free to use! Better, in my opinion, to take your own original photography where you can, and where you can’t, as you said, to pay a small amount to use a stock photo or find actual free stock photos (not from Google searches!) yourself.
I understand new Bloggers have to undergo a lot of things during their initial stage of Blog promotion & these are some thing that one need to keep in mind to make sure they can avoid such mistakes. Site speed is something which most get confused & this is such a good resource from you.
eeyikes, even if I grab a picture on Google and give credit I feel rotten. That’s a great tip to have put on there.
It’s certainly a challenge to find the right way to help a blog grow. These are great suggestions and reminders for all bloggers.
I think a LOT of bloggers start up the wrong way. We live and we learn right? LOL I did a couple of these and only later on (after a few years of blogging) realize how wrong these things were.
These are some great easy tips for new bloggers to follow.
I started on blogspot as well. I was so glad when I moved to wp.
These are all perfect examples of mistakes. I think the biggest is the images from Google!
I think I had the whole ‘site sources’ thing beat into my head between high school, college and grad school. Even when I set up my first website 20 years ago, I still told folks where I got my photos from if they were not time.
I’ve done just about all of these mistakes. Amazing what we learn along the way
Thanks for the great pointers here.
I am sure this will help many people.
These are mistakes i thing almost every new blogger makes. This is a great post.
These are so true. I will have to share this with my Sister. She is just getting started with blogging.
Really great tips. So true. I have been blogging on and off since I was 12, so in the last 90s. Things have changed a lot over the years but luckily I’ve learned the dos and don’t along the way!
The images are truly a big deal. Definitely use your own or purchase them from the proper place.
This is great advice. I first started with a free blog, then I met a blogger friend and she walked me through when I decided to have my own domain.
I have gotten my photos from low cost stock photo site for the past several years. However I really need to go back past that and change out any photos I am not sure of. Thanks for the reminder.
Those are great rules to abide by. It can be so exciting to start but it’s better to take the spending component slowly.
Yes, love this! I’ve been there done that. I’m glad someone put together a list.
I wish I would have started with self hosting from the get go. It took me a few years to realize that mistake!
I think that the last point you made, spending too much on startup costs! You can totally start blogging free, see what income it starts to drive and go from there. Invest money back into it based on what you make, I think is best way to go in business blogging success!
Great info especially for those just starting out and even us farther along the way. Great advice.
Gosh Pam I’ve lived all of this! What we’ve learned over the years since starting blogs and how many things have changed! These are all great tips and I wish someone would have shared them with me when I began.
These are great reminders. I remember grabbing any Google image and post it on my blog. They’re really common mistakes.
Going through and removing any questionable images was one of the most miserable tasks of this year, but necessary. We just didn’t know better back then!
Yes! I started up about 6 years ago, those were some of the things that were buzzing around as well. I always used my own pictures and there’s no reason to be putting forth so much money when you start up!
I had a blog years ago that blogger shut down. Not sure why… but like a dummy, I am still with blogger.
I probably made all of these mistakes when I started years ago. The more you know!
Nice tips. I also started on Blogger. I have to say, it was great for me. I did not realize google owned me, but it gave me the confidence I needed to more forward.
Great advice for those about to venture into blogging, these are definitely costly mistakes!
YES! This is a great article. People have to be SUPER careful about the images they use in their posts!
These are great suggestions!!!
Good advice – especially about the self hosted blog. I spent a lot on my blog many years ago but at the time I was running a different business and custom was so important, and it elevated me in that field. Now, I’m still happy with it and have to weight the cost if I want to update it, don’t fix it if it ain’t broke, right? 🙂
If you want to run your blog like a business, a self hosted site is super key!
That’s true, you do have to weigh the cost about spending a lot of money on custom. I think it is great that it elevated you in your field and you are still happy with it years later. That’s the most important thing. 🙂
This is great information. I can see how it would be easy to make these mistakes when you are first starting out.
These are all great points. I was lucky enough to understand copyright before I started the blog, but I know several bloggers who’ve been socked with “money or lawsuit” letters.