This is a guest post by Onibalusi Bamidele from YoungPrePro.
I know you are caught by the title of this post. Anyways, let’s go on.
Ohoo! So you don’t know what it means for a blogger to die? You don’t have to die physically as a blogger before we say you are dead, you can die by being inactive, quitting your blogging career, blogging without success etc.
Many bloggers have died while some of us are still blogging, as it is being said; the beginning is not the main thing but the end. The fact that you are so passionate with blogging or you are so knowledgeable about the subject you blog about does not mean you cannot die the bloggers death.
Below are some things you should avoid as a plague in order to prevent yourself from dying the bloggers death.
1. Not Planning Your Blog Before You Start
It is not too late, you can still get started. I personally faced this problem when I started; I started when I was not that knowledgeable about blogging and make money online. I chose a domain name that I can not relate with in the future so I decided to start again. Wait! Hear me! Don’t say you have gone far. My blog was PR4, alexa rank 100,000 and hundreds of daily unique visitors when I started.
Many bloggers fail to plan their blog when they are getting started, some of them will chose a name not related to what they are blogging about, some of them will choose a niche because it is popular (e.g. make money online or blogging niche). Your blog should be a product of effective planning; you just don’t have to begin right away.
You should be able to know what your blog will be about before choosing a name; you should also know how your blog will be promoted. You should also know your audience before you start. If you are planning to make money blogging, then you should not go into a niche where people are not willing to spend.
2. Using A Free Domain
In fact, this is the most dangerous type of death a blogger will experience. After a blogger dies this type of death, they will not even be able to see his bones – Don’t die like this.
Many bloggers are always using free domains for their blog in the name of them changing when they start getting some traction.
Let me ask you, will you want to change a website with thousands of daily visitors? No! You will be afraid of losing your visitors.
The best thing to do is to avoid this problem. Start with a paid domain, try as much as possible to avoid domains related to blogspot, wordpress.com and the likes. There was a case of a blogger who created several blogger blogs, he posted on them regularly and used adsense to make money from them. Very soon, this blogger was making $2000 a month from adsense. He woke up one morning, just to find that all his blogs has been deleted by blogger.
He tried contacting them on this, but they disagreed by saying his blog is a splog (spam blog).
Free blog hosts have the right to delete your blog anytime they want so stay away from them.
3. Thinking Of Yourself Only
Let me tell you one secret, your blog is all about your readers and not yourself. Don’t try to dominate your blog with yourself only.
Many bloggers fail to acknowledge the importance of their readers to their blog, they just do anyhow they like. They annoy their readers; they ignore the suggestions of their readers and end up with an excuse of “After all, it is my blog”. It is truly your blog but it is a failure without your readers.
Try to interact with your readers, cater for their needs and give them adequate support.
4. Irregular Posting Schedule
Many bloggers fail to realize the importance of posting regularly. I discovered that I got more traffic to my blog when I was posting everyday compared to when I was posting 3 times a week.
Your readers love your blog, and that is why they are reading it. It is very important to update your blog regularly because it keeps your readers coming and it helps you build a better relationship with them. There is no suggested frequency for posting on your blog, but the more the better.
If you are posting 5 times a day and you do it regularly, your readers will be adapted to your posting schedule, if you also post three times a week, your readers will also be adapted. It is also advisable not to post less than once a week.
5. Deceiving Your Readers
It is no secret that I am a Nigerian Blogger. Why lie that you are in the US when you are not.
I was thinking about this one day: I was thinking that what if I lied to be in the US, and I got very popular one day to the extent of the media carrying me, if they ask to come and interview me, will I now be telling them I am a Nigerian. Don’t destroy your reputation, tell the truth.
Many bloggers go ahead to tell their users lies about the type of traffic they get and such, don’t claim yourself to be bigger or smaller than you are, be sincere with yourself and your readers, and they will like you for it.
At The End…
I know many of us are bloggers, and we don’t want to die (at least, not the type of death explained above (especially the one in no. 2). The above are 5 deadly blogging poisons we must never take, they kill without remedy.
Hey this is another nice post by you. I just killed myself by using free blogspot blog. My one and half years old blogspot blog was also deleted by blogger. I felt regret for it as my blog stats was very good, even I was making very good money from my blog.
I also inform that if you are blogging on free domain then one day you will be killed, as Onibalusi inform on this post..
.-= chandan@work at home blog´s last blog ..The benefit of number one rank at google =-.
Hi Chandan,
I feel so sorry for you. I am also very happy you have learned from this mistake so that you will not face it again in the future.
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
I totally agree with your honesty policy, even if you do die at the end of the day you will have done it with integrity. But hopefully you will succeed and attract the attention of the media and advertisers so you can turn your blog into a home business opportunity that really does allow you to give up the day job.
Hi Brain,
You are absolutely right.
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
I think I’m guilty of all of them except the last one. I’m always upfront with my readers but yes I have started off not planning the name of my domain and I did share that. I choose a popular niche as you have said, purely for the sake of research and have continued to do so. I’ve had to question why blog? Thus, that led me to blog for me. It gives me control and understanding of what blogging is for. Finally, I have experienced irregular posts but that’s already resolved.
Just find a process you can work with and stick to it. In the end, if blogging for recognition is your thing, I think your strategies are great however many bloggers still like the ‘me first’ concept and that’s hard to break unless you’re personal branding. Then that might just work.
.-= Thu Nguyen´s last blog ..Breaking Through the Wires Online – Some Tips For Blogging =-.
Hi Thu,
You can still work on improvement, I hope this post helps.
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Picking the wrong name for your first blog is a classic mistake and one that people will keep doing no matter what advice we can give them… You always learn best from your own mistakes, the hard way as it were 🙂
.-= Jorgen Sundberg´s last blog ..How to Land a New Gig with Twitter =-.
That one really is a good post I must say . I have made many mistakes of them and facing many problems due to this .
First of all, name of my blog is irrelevant , its on free domain and its on blogspot .
Please suggest me how can I migrate from this keeping my data in my blog intact ?
.-= Shikhar´s last blog ..Difference between amortization, depreciation and depletion =-.
Good Points Bamidele.
I need to lay emphasis on point 2 and 5.
Bloggers who wants to be efficient and effective must do away with free domains like blogspot.com, wordpress.com et all. Even though i started with a free blog. I knew what i lost. It’s like starting all over again when one decides to use a free domain. Anyway, i have a service that will help many bloggers move from free domain to paid domain.
It is well spelt out that I am a Nigerian. I have also started Nigeria Bloggers Club. It is bad to deceive your readers. Don’t hype your income because you want to sell. Be transparent. Bloggers should make their words respectable.
all your points are valid and true…things may not go as planned but it is always good to plan..
It is amazing how not posting for just a week or two can make your blog perceived as “dead” and not updated. Unless you set the frequency from the start to be every week or so, you should be consistent. Great article as usual.
.-= Justin Germino´s last blog ..Dragon Blogger iPad Video Converter Contest Update =-.
I just stuck in your second point – can you please give me the link where you read the news? I know 2 bloggers who hosted their blog in blogger over 4 years without any issue and earning good money. Another think – Can you tell me similarity between free domain and free hosting? I can buy a TLD domain and can set up it for blogger, now if they delete my blog how TLD going to help me? I think you should not resemble free domain with free hosting, both are two different thing.
.-= Arafat Hossain Piyada´s last blog ..Customize Android LED Alert for better notification with Blink =-.
Great points. Are you saying that getting a blogspot account is the kiss of death? If you’re using your blog as support for your website will it still go 6 feet under if you use Blogspot? I like not having to ftp everything to a server and not having to worry about bandwidth. It is tough to get my blog noticed by the general public. My clients are my main source but I’d like to get more exposure. Any suggestions?