Are you making mistakes newbie bloggers make? Maybe you’re just starting out with your travel blog or are you a veteran travel blogger who needs some reassurance (or a kick up the bum). The travel blogging world is constantly changing and mighty morphing. If you don’t keep up, you’re gonna get in trouble (sad but true…because I’m starting to get into hot water myself). There are plenty of blogging mistakes to avoid. Here’s 10 Mistakes Newbie Bloggers Make That You (And I) Need To Stop Now.
1.You’re Not Being Human
I feel I haven’t spoken to you truly…personally…seriously in the last 7 months. Teacake Travels became successful because I do what the hell I want, honestly pulling back the curtain on my mistakes, triumphs and experiences so that YOU can be empowered, inspired and determined to reach your full potential through travel.
Teacake Travels is not your usual bikini beach babe blog. This blog is covered in mud, sweat and tears to show the world that women freaking rock. I’ve been making the mistakes newbie bloggers make and not being the real me. No personal stories = no Teacake Travels. So why the hell haven’t I been doing what I’m good at?!
Takeaway: Show the real you. Your readers will respect you for it.
2. You’re Getting Sucked Into The SEO Game
As a newbie blogger, you and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) are going to have to be friends. Not sure what SEO is? It’s about finding phrases and words that google users are searching for (and other competing travel blogs aren’t using so much!) so your blog turns up in Google’s results and readers come and visit you! I use Keysearch for SEO (20% off code KSDISC) and highly recommend it! It keeps me at the top of Google and in front of you. Check it out!
Without SEO, your blog will be left collecting dust. Bummer. Most importantly though, do not let SEO become your enemy. Yes, it’s good to be at the top of Google but you must still write about what you’re passionate about and what you love. ‘How To’ posts and Top 10 ‘lists’ do very well but there’s only so many you’ll be able to write before you start going bonkers.
Takeaway: You need SEO but don’t let it kill your creativity,
3. You’re Not Posting Consistently
When I started Teacake Travels, I wrote a blog post everyday. That’s pretty crazy looking back on it but a) I was obsessed and b) it did nothing but good for getting myself out there and for people to take notice. I don’t recommend going this bananas but don’t make mistakes newbie bloggers make by not having enough content. Make sure you have around 5 blog posts on your site before you start promoting yourself so readers can see what you’re about and can get to know you.
After that, whether you want to write once a week or three times a week, make sure you stick to a blog post schedule so your readers will continue to come back to your blog, expecting new content.
Takeaway: Choose the days you’re going to post and stick to it.
4. You’re Not Planning Ahead
Travel is freaking unpredictable, especially if you travel like me, going wherever the wind takes you. Renowned as a ‘Yes Woman’, if something comes up that is going to put me to the test, I’ll grab it by both horns and go. We have both just established that we NEED CONSISTENCY so what you gonna do when you need to keep up with your social media, emails and blog posts everyday but you’re stuck in a field somewhere? Plan Ahead! Here’s how…
Save yourself a ton of stress and headaches by having your social media and blog posts planned 2 weeks ahead. I use the following tools to keep up with it all.
Get 24/7 Portable WiFi
Solis Hotspots (10% off code TEACAKETRAVELS) saved my ass on the Mongol Rally when I was in my car driving for up to 18 hours a day with 4 other women across 21 countries. They provide 24/7 portable WiFi enabling you to stay online and on top of your blog. 100% necessary for adventure travel bloggers!
Schedule, schedule, schedule
Social media is crazy. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat AND Pinterest?! That’s a lot to keep up with everyday! Here’s how I do it. I use Coschedule to schedule all my blog post promotions, Buffer and Revive Old Post to keep my twitter tweets stocked up and Tailwind to make sure my pins are ahead of the game.
Takeaway: Be organised by scheduling your posts and social media ahead
5. You’re Working Too Much
OK, you’ve got your scheduling tools and portable WiFi but you and I know that you’re currently busting your balls working on your travel blog. If you’re a solo traveller too, oh boy, running a one man ship is tough eh? I can sympathise! You’re working way too hard so for crying out loud, get someone and something to help you out! Don’t make the mistakes newbie bloggers make by burning yourself out too early.
Use Fiverr to get someone to take care of the technological stuff. Tweaking your blog design? Trying to get html in there? Want to optimise your pages and make your site speed super fast? You could spend hours trying to work it out or you could just ask an expert to take care of it for you from as little as $5. Sorted.
WORK SMART: OUTSOURCE YOUR WORK
Sign up to Fiverr to hire virtual assistants from $5
I also have a VA (virtual assistant) to do tasks for me that don’t personally need ME so that I can get on with writing awesome posts and responding to your messages personally.
Use Massplanner for growing your blog audience. Massplanner is fantastically insane for everything it can do for your blog. I use it everyday to grow my social media following, keep up to date with the latest Facebook groups, organise my work and be a travel blog boss. I can’t fit into this paragraph everything it does. Wonderfully ridiculous. Check it out!
Takeaway: Outsource everything you can
6. You’re Not Making The Most Of Your Newsletter
You have a newsletter right? If you don’t, set one up pronto matey! Newsletters are super awesome because when someone signs up to you they’re saying, ‘I like your blog enough to give you my personal inbox space’. That’s deep man. Especially in this day and age where we are all crazy busy. It means you can talk one on one with your readers and really get your message out. If you have signed up for my newsletter, thank you! I’ll give you travel tips, bargains and advice, all with a strong dose of girl power.
Takeaway: Set up a newsletter and use it!
7. You’re Not Making Video Content
Video and YouTube are king. If you’re presented with a choice between watching video or reading a blog, which one are you gonna go for? *Sad face* I’ve just started working on creating video content for YouTube but in the meantime you can catch me everyday on Snapchat!
Takeaway: If you’re not making video content, try and broaden your horizons
8. You’re not keeping on top of your emails
Every time I open my gmail I’m like ‘Oh holy hell!’ It can become overwhelming very quickly when people are emailing you with questions, business propositions and ideas. You need to get organised quick to keep on top of it all. Don’t make the mistakes newbie bloggers make by leaving it all there to pile up. I use the inbox zero technique and it helps tremendously. I also use templates to copy and paste essential information I don’t want to keep retyping. Saves a ton of time!
Takeaway: Learn how to get to inbox zero
9. You’re not networking
There are a ton of travel blogs out there and like it is in most areas of life, it’s not what you know but who you know that will help you make your travel blog a success. Be 100% genuine, nice and helpful. Make friends with other travel bloggers out there who you admire. The travel blogging community are a lovely lot, willing to help each other and I’m always happy to help too.
Takeaway: Reach out to your peers and make friends with those you admire
10. You’re overwhelmed and end up doing nothing
Travel Blogging can be overwhelming. Mistakes newbie bloggers make are feeling stressed out by it all and quitting too early. Do you have no idea where to start, what to focus on, what to work on now and what to leave till later? I’ve spent endless hours trying to work it all out and wouldn’t wish it on you to do the same. I’ve found the Travel Blog Monetization Course to be the best step-by-step guide on how to take your blog from zero to hero and it has saved me a ton of time. Check it out to be the most productive you can be.
Takeaway: Take things in bite-sized chunks and get advice from the experts
Are you still yet to create your own travel blog?
Follow my step-by-step guide on how to start your own travel blog with easy instructions!
You’ll start from zero and be a blogging hero within an hour!
Wishing you all the best with your travel blogging and getting on the right track, never to make these mistakes newbie bloggers make ever again!
Related Reading
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10 Upcoming Solo Female Travel Bloggers to Follow
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I love this; great tips! I’m trying to stay on top of posting consistently and planning ahead. It can be difficult when working full time and traveling whenever I can, but finally seem to be figuring out how to make time for it all. I also want to focus on making more videos; it seems so important in this day and age.
Good for you for trying to be consistent. I totally hear you that working full time and travelling whilst blogging is a serious handful. I’m glad you’re working out your groove and wish you all the best in video making Kaylene!
Hi Alice! Thank you for such detailed and honest information! It´s funny, I recently participated in a collaborative post with other Spanish bloggers where we had to write about the mistakes we made when starting with our blogs -well.. I´m still making them!- but none of us mentioned any of the resources you use for keeping up with schedules and being organized. I didn´t know Fiverr either, which sounds quite useful.
I have an IT question for you.. Do you use Photoshop to paste post titles onto photos? For example on this post you have a photo of a girl with the title on top -did you do that yourself, or does your blog theme allow you do do that?
Thank you Alice, and I´m really looking forward to hearing a bit more about the Mongol Rally!! :)
Hi Isabel! These resources save my ass everyday ^^ I use canva to make all of my designs and love it! Mongol Rally stories are certainly on their way!
Great tips. SEO is one thing, I am still working on.
It’s something to certainly keep on top of! Without SEO, you’re in trouble. Keep working at it and use the Yoast plugin to help you tick all the right boxes :)
Hi Alice Teacake, thank you for sharing these information. Definitely will come in handy.
Nice one!
Hi Alice,
This post is so helpful. Thank you! I can completely relate to #10 right now. I’m so overwhelmed with everything I need and want to do, and with all of the resources available. I find myself just ignoring it all and just focusing on the writing and posting a blog entry on a regular schedule, which sometimes requires adjusting. I’m learning that it is all trial and error. Thanks a lot. I love your posts.
Renada
PS: I can relate to Kaylene, the previous poster, who is working FT and travelling when she can, as that is me as well! Thanks again! Keep going after it!
Hi Renada! Thanks for your comment! With blogging you gotta start somewhere amongst all of it, so take it in bite sized pieces ☺ I write down 3 things I’m gonna work on each day to keep things concise and contained and from now on, I’ll always be putting out a new post on Tuesday!
Hi Alice. I’m a new blogger and found your tips really helpful. New to twitter too. The Search Engine you mentioned, is it free or do I have to pay for it online?
Hi Shaly! If you want to do some SEO research, Jaaxy is free for the first 30 searches then you will have to pay. It’s totally worth it though! I use it for all of my articles :)
This is fabulous advice Alice, thank you so much for sharing all these great tips. I’m struggling so much with getting a web-site and blog going along with writing (working on a second book) and time management and it all comes with big cups of guilt. Guilt – manuscript v’s blogging and social media – so I end up sitting on #10 OVEREWHELMED.
The other thing I have no idea of is the SEO – just can’t get the hang of that. Think it’s my age…. but your tips and explanation on SEO are so helpful so I’m going to check out that link.
Your advice on being real – whew! this was also something I was constantly worrying about because I write from first person and what I’m doing – my personal travels. And I’ve been chewing on whether this is or not the done thing, but after reading this, I feel confident I’ve at least go #1 right. Thanks :)
Cheers and happy travels.
Hi Kerry! Oh guilt. That horrible horrible guilt. I hear you girl. One tip I can give you on this is to write down what you have done each day so that at the end of it all, you can hopefully see that you’ve done something (because sometimes we forget what we have done and achieved!). If you actually haven’t done anything that day, pull your socks up, forgive yourself and try again the next day. I always write 3 things the night before that I want to get done the next day. Just 3 things (because if I write down the 3000 things I actually want to get done….lordy help me haha!)
SEO is a tricky one to get around but take it bit by bit and you’ll be grand! The Travel Blog Masterclass will really help you get off to a great start if you want a step by step guide.
And 100% be real. Be you! Embrace your awesomeness!
This post is really helpful! My biggest weakness is that I have so little time for blogging. Need to make more time and set a schedule for when I post and stick to it :)
Organisation will take you a long way! I use evernote to list my daily blogging and social media tasks and tick everything off as I go. It helps to see what you’ve actually done because sometimes you may feel you’re getting nowhere. Keep going, keep trying and you will get there!
I love this post. These are very common mistakes and I’m still making some of them like number 8 :)
Interesting piece of article especially about being yourself.Thanks for SEO tips. I enjoy reading this post. cheers!!
Awesome! Glad you gave you a helping hand. SEO can be overwhelming at first but once you get the hang of it, it will serve you well :)
“You’re Too Overwhelmed And End Up Doing Nothing”
HAHAHA this is so me!
Thank you for this useful article, I guess you’re right! Sometimes I want to write content that fit my taste but then I think “um this does not seem SEO friendly” lol
But I started a blog to express myself in the first place and it’s important not to forget that!
Thank you :D
Right on Joanna. Continue to express yourself, know what your voice is and stick to it! Good blogs show personality, honesty and the REAL stuff. Keep at it! <3
This is super helpful. And another reminder I need to start a newsletter!
Good advise! Thank you for posting this. I have enjoyed following your blog.
Thanks Bonnie! I’m working on improving things all the time. I definitely have some more ideas for this article. Will be updating it soon :D
We are just starting on video content – so I am so glad that this is one of your tips! Great article for us newbies!
You got this! People love video content – start a YouTube channel if it takes your fancy!
OMG… reading the SEO Game… I totally feel you. Playing into the catchy titles and top lists drive me crazy. But what sucks is when you see results it’s hard to stray away. Balance is the key.
I agree. I’ve tried various ways of doing SEO so it doesn’t interfere with my creativity. I personally recommend writing your article first then adding in the keywords after.