Tanya is the host of Blogging Insights
She says;
Despite all the blogging advice and courses out there, many bloggers (myself foremost) feel that they made some mistakes when they started out. Today’s discussion involves a recap of the things that we did wrong and what we should have done instead. I am sure this will help lots of fledgling bloggers out there.
TODAY’S QUESTION
What mistakes did you make in the first few months of blogging?
Did I make mistakes when I started to blog?
Yes, I did and that’s how I learned to do it right. Or I should say that that’s how I am learning to do it right.
It’s human nature to try to do things their own way. And that sets us apart from other humans. I did that too.
When I started to blog, I jumped straight in the deep end. No tutorials, no research, and had no idea about the technical side of blogging. The only help I got was from a dear friend and she helped me set up the menus of the home-page and the theme. Other than that, it was learn as I go.
• One very important thing that I learned was to check the grammar and spellings of my post once I’ve written it. Misspelled words and wrong tenses can be really off-putting. Some of my initial posts had typos too. Now I know to read through the entire post a couple of times before scheduling it. But even after two years of blogging, I still make mistakes because I am in a hurry and don’t recheck my text. I would advise all new bloggers to make a special point to do that before they publish it.
• Not a detailed description on my home page/ about page. This is important as everyone who wants to follow your blog will read your about page. Updating it frequently is also a good idea.
Other than these two points, I used all my other mistakes as a learning experience.
#Keepitalive
#BloggingInsights
Autocorrect and typos still slip by me. It drives me bonkers! I don’t worry about it on other people’s posts, unless I know they’d want to correct it😉, but I *do* notice.
I agree, the “about” page is where I look before I follow a new blog.
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It’s the same with me. I do want my posts to make sense so I like when my typos are pointed out. Thanks Angie
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I get typos in my post too and they don’t come to my attention until my mother or any of my fellow bloggers point them out. I’ll be in a hurry to click publish and those errors will somehow skip my eyes as I proofread.
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Same here. Most of my mistakes are due to swiping on the keyboard.
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Me too and let’s not forget – autocorrect
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Oh yes, that is a bane of my writing
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Great tips, Sadje. I think we’ve all experienced the learning curve on blogging. You’ve reminded me that I haven’t updated my AboutMe page in a while.
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Thanks Laura. That reminds me that I have to take a look at it too. 😃
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You’re absolutely right, and I must refresh my About page later! I find my comments are my worst for spelling because they are often a “stream of conscious” thing and I am too eager to hit the Post button. At least with my posts, I can edit them once live to fix typos. But I think you’re right – every typo makes a post more difficult to read and there will come a point when the reader just gives up.
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I have had trouble getting the meaning of some of the comments and posts because people don’t proofread them. I never had that experience with you. Thanks for visiting.
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It is because of my fallibility that I take extra care. One of my tricks is to listen to a post as soon as it goes live – I can *hear* a mistake (even if just a missing “s” even if I can’t see it.
The other thing I have done with my static pages is to date them, so a reader can be assured that the info is broadly up-to-date. I have just one more page to go!
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I do that too. But they do slip by me.
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Good ideas… I updated my about page not long ago, but it had been the same thing for YEARS. Took me a little while to learn that one.
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Same here. 👍
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