Are you thinking about starting a blog, or you have already started one but you’re new to this blogging thing? If so I have few tips that might help you start this journey on the right foot. Today I am sharing 3 Mistakes New Bloggers Make.

Today I want to talk about 3 mistakes new bloggers make. These are mistakes that I have made on my own journey as a blogger, I thought I would save you the heartache and let you know what those mistakes were.

3 Mistakes New Bloggers Make:

1. Choosing the wrong platform:  If you are wanting your blog to turn into or begin as a business the platform you choose will be very important. Though there is differing opinions in the blogging world about which platform you should use, it is ultimately up to you to choose which platform is right for you.

When I started blogging it was personal posts and the blog evolved into a small business. If you are very clear from the get go where you want to see your blog five years from now it is important to choose the right platform.

You may be asking what a platform is?

A platform is simply a place that will act as a dashboard, this is where you will customize your blog, as well as write all your posts. You can add pretty themes and add widgets that will post your social media links and more.

I started off using Blogger and eventually migrated to WordPress (self hosted). I switched because I can do a lot more customizing and add features in WordPress that I couldn’t do in blogger.

I suggest you research which platform will work best for your long-term goals for your blog. Think long-term and choose wisely, it can be costly to switch platforms later on.

I will be answering more questions about platforms in the upcoming Jump Start Your Blog series. Make sure you are a subscriber so you won’t miss it.

You can find more hosts and resources on my blog resource page here. 

2. Overpaying for your blog host: Next you will need to find a company to host your blog. Make sure that you are not over paying in the beginning, and paying for hosting you will not need. You can find a host that is reliable and fairly cheap when first starting out. If someone wants to charge you more than $10 a month starting out go find another host.  There are a lot of hosts that host managed WordPress and the prices are far better for that as well. I personally use GoDaddy for my managed WordPress and I host 5 websites using them. For one site as of now they charge $4.99 a month.

So find your best deal, and make sure their customer service is great, if your site ever goes down you want to make sure someone will be there to help you 24/7.

You can find more hosts and resources on my blog resource page here. 

3. Not having a nice functional theme:  You want to make sure your theme is eye pleasing and functional if you want to have readers stick around. Believe me when I say appearances do matter when you are trying to grow your blog, especially if you want to do this professionally.

I would suggest that you save a little money and splurge for a nice theme. You will also enjoy working on your blog if it is appealing to you as well. Find a theme that will represent you, and make you happy.

You also want your theme to be functional. Find one that will offer the features you want in with an easy way to customize it. I use the Genesis theme and add a child theme to it. You can fund out more about Genesis here on StudioPress.com they sell the Genesis theme, but you can find numerous Genesis child theme designers online for a great price.

I suggest you study the type of theme you want and all the functions it has to offer. Changing themes in the future can be very timely and costly unless you know how to customize CSS.

You can find more themes and resources on my blog resource page here. 

Please leave any questions you have in the comments below! Also don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter below.