When you start a blog you usually don’t do it with the intention to make money or even have a large audience. Most people (me included) start a blog to keep family and friends updated on their life, and to have a creative outlet. However, if you are interested in making money, driving traffic, etc, you need to be aware of a few simple things you COULD be doing wrong that are easy to fix. Today I am sharing five mistakes you are making with your blog and how to fix them now!
Mistake 1: Your about page URL. What is your about page URL? Is it yourblog.com/about or yourblog.com/about-me? Either way, it’s wrong. If you go to my about page you will see that I have it location and blog topic focused. When brands are searching for bloggers, they are not searching for “about me”, they are searching for a “Texas Beauty Blogger” “Chicago Fitness Blogger” etc. Change your URL to match what you do. Are you a Southern California Parenting Blogger? That should be the title of your about page. Whenever I work with brands I ask them how they found my blog. Almost always they say searching for a “Dallas lifestyle or beauty blogger” BOOM! I get the job.
Mistake 2: Not having an email list sign up. I had a really crappy sign up option before. It was awful, and you would probably have had no idea it existed. Since relaunching my blog my signups have tripled. I am so upset with myself for not doing this sooner. Learn from my mistake. Have an email list, and make it available several places on your blog for sign ups. I use Mailchimp and it’s amazing.
Mistake 3: How new pages open on your blog. When you look at your blog and go to any page does the page open in the current tab or does it open a new tab? It should open a new tab. You don’t want people to have to go back to your main page if they are reading a post and click on a link you have. You want that link to open in a new tab so they are still reading your main post and also able to view the post you linked to. Otherwise, it is likely they will not stay and they will not comment or interact with you. Having pages open in a new tab is also good for when you include links to other sites or posts in your post.
Mistake 4: Posts not shareable: If you do nothing else please install a widget so that people can share your post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ etc. Nothing is worse than going to a blog, loving a post and not having a way to share it! You could be missing out on TONS of traffic this way. It may seem like a “duh” sort of comment, but daily I see great blogs with no sharing options on posts. Fix this! There are a ton of great plugins for these. Shareaholic is one of my personal favorites.
Mistake 5: A Messy Sidebar: I have had my blog looked over by some of the best in the business, and some of the people that make decisions on which blogs get picked to work with brands. Every one of these people has said their biggest turn off is a messy side bar. Having tons of ads, tons of buttons, and tons of crap in general on your sidebar is NOT good. I think a few things are important on your sidebar: Having an easily accessible email signup and your social media links are two of them. Lastly, if you belong to a network and need to have an ad: BlogHer, Mode Media, etc have that. Beyond that, just don’t have TOO many things. I like having my categories on my sidebar too. Whatever you have on your sidebar, just make sure it looks clean.
If you enjoyed these tips, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter for lots more! I send out a daily blogging checklist to all who sign up, and lots of other free printables and goodies. Also, if you are enjoying these tips and want me to go more in depth with them, or if you want to learn how to monetize better, grow your social media, etc you should sign up for one of my blog classes. I go into things like this in depth and then some.
Mistakes you are making with your blog can be the difference between getting that awesome campaign or not. Working with the brands you love or not. Don’t let little mistakes hurt your future.
this list is brilliant! i’ll definitely be implementing some of these asap!
nice
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Thankyou for the tips, this was really helpful. x
sophiejc.blogspot.co.uk
Thanks for the tips! I’m gonna go clean up my blog now, lol
You hit the nail right on the head. I can’t stand messy sidebars…blah!! Anything that looks cluttered to me isn’t good. And posts HAVE TO be shareable.
Great tips! Thanks so much! I really should clean up my sidebar. Torn between having it look nicer and keeping a few of my ads. I know I should probably just ditch the ads but what if…eventually they bring in something? Oh the dilemmas!
http://tamilguns.co.in/
Thanks, I just updated my about me!
Awesome! Thanks for the tips! I had no idea that we could be found through our about page URL. That is genius! I’m changing that ASAP!
These are some great tips, especially number 1. I would have never thought to change that, but it makes perfect sense! Heading over to fix it now 🙂 Thank you!
Shannon
Clothes & Quotes
amazing tips! thanks for sharing these! I had no idea about the “about me” being labeled in a way that’s searchable, but that makes a lot of sense.
Thanks so much for sharing these! I was for sure making some of these mistakes and I didn’t even think about changing the URL to my about page. Great idea!!!!
Best Wishes,
Allison
So helpful! xoxo, lauren
Great tips! I went and fixed a few right away! Love the new look!
It sounds like I am doing pretty well on my website other than it doesn’t open a new tab. I do have it set though if I have a link off my website that those open a new page.
Awesome tips! I just went and updated my about me page address! Thank you so much. Now, to clean up my sidebar.
Great tips neely! very practical!
Great tips! Just changed my About Page URL!
The About Me page, brilliant. I had never thought of it and it is so true. When I search for people or things I don’t search for About Me. I also hadn’t thought about links within my posts opening in a new tab. Again, it makes so much sense for retention.
You are now one of my Bloglovin’ friends.
Thank you
Definitely following you on Bloglovin and signing up for your newsletter after this post! Thank you!!
kealey @ wakingupwatkins.com
Nice and brief post! Now I know why my blog isn’t getting any sort of traffic. Thanks a lot for such a useful and helpful post!
As a new blogger I love to learn ways to make it better. It is a constant journey! Thanks for sharing!
Hey
I am new to blogging and the biggest mistake I was making of about URL page. Well you really helped me out with that thanks for the great article. I will definitely share it my other friend those whose are new to blogging .
Thanks 🙂
Great article dear, Very nicely written. I will sure be improving my blog with these suggestions!
Hi Neely! The social media sharing buttons tip is SO important! I recently read a great blog post, but the blogger didn’t have any social media sharing buttons. Although the post was great, I ended up not pinning or tweeting it.
Really good tips. The email sign up is the one I fixed right a way.
Your tips are great. Really good suggestions.
I agree about having shareable content. I think the easiest and best way is having posts that you can share. Also cleaning up my sidebar is something I needed to work on as well!
Is there a way you can change your about me url in blogger?
Love these tips! I changed my about me url immediately! thank you for sharing!
Great post! Great tip about the about me URL (gonna change it soon)! Just added you to my Bloglovin feed, can’t wait to see what else you publish! 🙂
Thanks for the tips! I have repinned this to look back on later when I move from blogger to by own webhost and domain.
This is super interesting! I never thought about the about page URL. I might have to change it and make /about and /about-me redirect to something else.
xo, Caitlin
And Possibly Dinosaurs
This was a great post and after reading this I get to know i was doing them all.
Regards
Saransh
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