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You are here: Home / Social Media / New Blogger Mistakes I Made and How to Avoid Making Them

New Blogger Mistakes I Made and How to Avoid Making Them

April 19, 2019 By Donna Biroczky Leave a Comment

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When I started blogging back in 2007, blogging was relatively new in its current iteration. Blogs were often housed on other major websites and less frequently on privately owned domains. When I moved onto my Dangerous Cupcake Lifestyle blog in 2013, I was determined to leave my hobby blog days behind but I made a lot of new blogger mistakes.

Starting a blog is a whole new world, and while there are a whole lot of ways to do it differently and be successful, there are mistakes to avoid that will save you time and get your blog traffic moving higher, further, and faster. (Points to anyone who gets that quote.)

Learn from my suggestions so you can start a new blog off on the right foot!

Let’s start by talking about a myth I hear all the time: blogging is easy. But, like Loki told Thor….

My Marvel quote game is strong.

Blogging isn’t easy. I’m not saying it’s hard either, but to say it is ‘easy’ implies it isn’t work, when it’s very much work. We don’t just write and then slap it onto our website.

We research, write and tweak it to make sure it’s not only clear to read, but it’s appealing. We do SEO research to make sure Google makes it easy for you to find. We set scenes, buy photo equipment to make the lighting natural and take multiple photographs to ensure our product or environment is displayed in the best way possible.

We handle our website maintenance and design, manage the accounting, business partnerships, relationships with public relations departments and maintain an editorial calendar. We also handle our social media accounts. There is oh so much more, but I’ve had a bourbon sour as it’s Friday night and that’s all besides the point anyway. Blogging isn’t easy and there are a lot of ways to increase your chances of success early on.

So. All of that aside, blogging is about writing. Putting your heart out there in words, sentimental or informative, humorous or serious, and somehow getting people to read it. There’s way more time involved in it than this post implies, and in the rush to get things published and available, there are many things you can do right or wrong to help your cause.

Here are a few of the common new blogger mistakes made, AKA THINGS I DID WRONG.

  • Pick a name that grows with you. Choose a domain that doesn’t pigeonhole you into a niche you may not want in three, five or even ten years. Why? Because permanent redirects and paying for two domains a year can be avoided, as can confusion about who you really are and any fees incurred in getting the technical aspects fixed if you’re not comfortable doing it yourself.
  • Speaking of picking your domain name, say to yourself: can I fit this name into forms when I sign up for things? Because, let me say Donna @ DangerousCupcakeLifestyle.com is one loooooong email address to write when I register for something. It doesn’t easily fit on name tags. It may be catchy, but that doesn’t replace LONG.
  • Learn the basics of SEO for bloggers from the beginning. Learn what a keyword is and why you need it. Find an affordable, or even better, free way to do the keyword research as you plan your post. Once a slug aka url is created, you can’t change it. Well, physically, you can, but then you create other problems. Use keywords properly from the beginning and avoid that.
  • To further the SEO topic, do the work right up front. H1, title, meta description, alt text, do it all. It’s so much easier than going back and “re-SEO’ing” all your old posts.
  • Pitch properly, and know your stuff when you DO pitch. Here’s my embarrassing story that I’m cringing to share, but I’m going to take one for the team and tell you so you can do better.

When I first started this blog, I was six months in — and not monetized or even focused on it yet, as I’d just completed a cross-country move — when I got laid-off from my job of almost 17 years. I needed to jump start my income and started writing pitch letters and responding to applications. Woohoo, I’ve got actual readers! My first response though was jarring. “Donna, I love your blog, and your tag line is clever, but you’ve only got 400 unique views this past 30 days. We need to know that more people are reading your site for us to invest. I give you kudos for trying, but please reapply when you’ve got a solid, consistent readership.”

I had given them access to my stats without even looking. THE HORRORS. It was a kick in the pants I needed to get my traffic back up to where it should be. It hurt a little but her honesty was so appreciated. A lot of people won’t tell you the WHY when you aren’t chosen for an opportunity, and I get that. As a brand, when representing a client in my social media agency, it’s hard to say too much as sometimes it opens a whole new can of worms, but when you learn these tidbits of info, listen. Take it to heart. Don’t let it stop you or upset you, but use it to move forward and improve.

  • Which leads me to the next topic: stay on top of your analytics. Don’t fall asleep at the wheel. Some people will tell you they don’t look at their numbers and that you shouldn’t either, but Google Analytics are a wealth of helpful information. You need to know what’s working, what isn’t, trends, etc. Never apply to something without knowing where you stand.

Yes, I did all of these things. I started with one heck of an awesome name but it stopped representing me fully when I moved back to California. My current website name is one I love, and a lot of brands and people tell me that they love and can easily remember, but I’m like “I need a minute to fill out this form. Do you have a second page?” Tagging me also is a nightmare for people. I wish I’d thought of that.

I didn’t know much about SEO for bloggers initially. I knew some, as I was doing SEO at my day job, but it’s still different when doing it for a blog. I’d also been lazy.

Phew, I said it out loud. Lazy.

I was slapping up posts in a rush to publish when I had a great idea and no patience, and I didn’t realize until I did a massive site audit that I’d left out things like alt text, meta descriptions and many more things that helps Google display my site closer to the top of the search results. As in, first page. Who looks at the second page or beyond? Anyone?

It took a long time to go through all my posts and correct those omissions. (That’s a topic for a separate post, as I do offer SEO for bloggers now as a service, and it’s something I enjoy as much as I do blogging now.)

While going through those old posts, I found a number of posts less than 300 words. Whoops. Some had no featured photos. HOW in the world did I even publish them without that? What exactly did my site look like in the early days? All posts need a featured photo. I also found that some of my content stunk.

If we’re honest, all of us have that content that felt good to write but looking back, we wonder what the heck we were thinking. I’ve deleted some of that content, while repurposing and fixing others. It’s important to be critical of our own stuff and realize when it’s not working. I went through a stressful phase when planning for that cross-country move, and some of the content was mindless and without a point. Gonzo.

Last but not least, research your hosts carefully. Don’t just go for the cheapest deal. (Go, mommy, to a better host.) Did you get my hint? I chose a major provider and initially, they were fantastic. As my site and traffic grew though, they had problems keeping up. One day, my site wouldn’t load. It took an amazing IT person to fix it, but it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. That host wouldn’t give me any of my almost one year’s worth of prepaid service back, while telling me they couldn’t fix the problem.

I now pay more, but I get more. I get smooth, speedy loading, no downtime and a wonderful customer support system as well as a knowledgeable IT person to help with site fixes that are out of my realm.

That said, you don’t need to spend a lot to get a host. Don’t let cost stop you from getting a blog, but also avoid the freebie sites that add their name into your URL, because they can be hard to monetize later on.

New blogger mistakes are easy to make, so tell yourself going in that it IS going to happen. It’s impossible to do it all perfectly, and any honest blogger will tell you at least one story of something they did wrong. This list is by no means all-inclusive,

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I’m Donna, and I’m not a mommy blogger.
I’m a Gen X mom of four, a Marvel geek and creator of Dangerous Cupcake, a Southern California lifestyle blog dedicated to life after the kids grow up. As my kids enter different stages of their lives, I get to do the same, having fun, loving Disney, watching Marvel, and not letting my age define anything. Phase 2 of life is pretty amazing, and midlife isn’t a bad word. Join me in changing focus and enjoying life during our next adventure, without totally starting over. However you do it, life is short, live a little dangerously.
Donna@DangerousCupcakeLifestyle.com

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Out here in Rancho Cucamonga, there are a lot of h Out here in Rancho Cucamonga, there are a lot of hidden gems for foodies. One of them is the Haven City Market, and my favorite place to eat there is Belly & Snout. Not only were they on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, but they are a main stay of the market with their Filipino-inspired take on American comfort food. Their grilled cheese sandwiches are AH-mazing, but I prefer their bowls.

This pic shows you what my pork belly bowl looked like. Pork belly sits on a bed of fluffy jasmine rice, along with garlic chili aioli, red radishes, green onion and just the right amount of pickled red onion. The pork is perfectly cooked, with a bit of a crisp and rendering of the fat that melts in your mouth. I get it every time!

Steve got the pork belly grilled cheese, made of almost the same ingredients but sandwiched between bread and covered with pepper jack cheese. SO good. 

And of course, if you get spicy food of any realm, you need to get a drink from Native Son bar. The drink you see in this pic is the Rancho Water, made with tequila, passion fruit and citrus…and it’s just sparkly enough to be absolutely refreshing. (I easily drank more than one of these babies. They don’t taste strong, but drink responsibly; good bevs like this sneak up on you!) 

We love to try fancy new restaurants near and far, but sometimes, hanging around close to home is just what we need. Short car ride, casual clothes, fun environment we know we'll enjoy...it's perfect for the kind of weeks we've had lately. Whatever your mood, head over to the market, get your beverage, grab your food, and take it all outside amongst some trees on the green or on a table in the shade. We’ll be back for more….soon!

@havencitymarket @nativesonie @bellynsnout #havencitymarket #ranchocucamonga #inlandempirefood #inlandempire #iefoodie #bellyandsnout #cocktails #porkbelly #filipinofood #comfortfood #ranchofoodies #nativeson #dinersdriveinsanddives @foodnetwork #foodnetwork @guyfieri @dinersdriveins #ranchwater #ranchowater #tequila #grilledcheese #ranchocucamongafoodie @gorestaurantwk #foodblogger #foodblog
The happiest place on earth is where I spend my bi The happiest place on earth is where I spend my birthday every year…as long as it falls on a weekday where everyone else is at work. It’s a magical day, full of food, beverages, shopping and of course, character photo opps. I’d been in line to see Loki, but he took a break and the lovely God of Thunder took his place. I was not unhappy….but he had a few things to say about my apparent fondness for his brother, the God of Mischief. I mean, the ears. I’d gotten my photo taken with Iron Man earlier in the day and he made me take them off.

Disneyland never disappoints, literally from the second I shared it was my birthday with the parking attendant. I ate lunch at Carthay Circle and had lobster nachos at Lamplight Lounge for dinner. My other favorite part of the day was watching the Halloween lights go on at Cars Land. If you haven’t seen it, be there around 630-ish, it’s so much fun!

I still hear the “Aren’t you a little old for Disney?” and it makes me laugh every single time. There is NO such thing. Disney is for all ages. Even in my midlife, I love it as much as I did when I was younger. Actually, maybe even more. As a Magic Key holder, I wander, enjoying the little things I may not have seen in my days of rushing to get it all done with the kids without one having a meltdown. I’ve already got a list of future reservations, all planned carefully around holidays and events…and of course, the food. Don’t miss the holiday menu! 

@disneyparks @disneyland #disney #disneyland #thor #loki #avengers #marvel #avengerscampus #disneycaliforniaadventure #disneycalifornia #disneyhalloween #disneyhalloweentime #halloweenatdisney #magickeyholder #godofthunder #godofmischief #marvelavengers #disneymom #disneycreator @marvel #carthaycircle #lokiears #mjolnir #purplehair @converse #midlife
This past weekend, we stayed in an AirBnB up in Pi This past weekend, we stayed in an AirBnB up in Pine Cove - Idyllwild to celebrate my birthday. Two nights of peaceful starry skies in the woods, with the only real noise being a random bird knocking on a tree or squirrel running through the huge back yard. We had coffee on the deck in the morning and wine on the deck at night, and in between, lots of relaxing jacuzzi time. We spent Saturday afternoon shopping in downtown Idyllwild, drinking fancy beers at OktoBEERfest sponsored by the Idyllwild Brew Pub and paying a ridiculous $18 per glass for an albeit amazing apple sangria at a wine bistro. 

Idyllwild is a haven. Kind people, a community away from the hustle and bustle that we have even here in the ‘burbs of North Fontana, nestled amongst the pines and beautiful views. Hiking trails, a child’s park that’s easily a place to spend a couple of hours, galleries, restaurants, coffee shops and more — it makes a fantastic place to escape for a family weekend or a romantic getaway. Aaaand if you like crystals and gemstones, you’re in luck. We spent triple-digits in adding to my collection at three different shops. I can’t wait to go back for more!

Our cabin was from New Spirit Vacation Homes but there are so many to choose from. (And we’d definitely stay in the same cabin again!) Prices change throughout the seasons, but it’s a relatively easy drive that took us about 35 minutes from the 10/60 freeways. If you go during the winter, you will need an appropriate vehicle and probably chains; check your cabin’s driveway, too, as some are precarious if you’re not used to it. We have an 4x4 and would love to see the city during the Christmas season!

Put Idyllwild on your list of places to check out for your next mini-vacation!

#idyllwild #idyllwildcalifornia #pinecove #idyllwildca @idyllwildbrewpub #idyllwildbrewpub #oktoberfest @newspiritvacationhomes #travel #midlifetravel #midlife #travelblog #travelblogger #blogger #californiatravel #californiatrip #visitidyllwild #socaltravels #explorecalifornia #californiadestinations #hikecalifornia #sanjacintomountains #sanjacinto #shopidyllwild
Have you ever been to Haven City Market? Not only Have you ever been to Haven City Market? Not only do they have a huge variety of food vendors and restaurants, but they offer live music and shows on their back patio. On September 16, they co-hosted a Mexican Independence Day celebration, along with non-profit Unidos Por La Musica and Pomona business, Music Tree Schools. We watched singing, dancing and folklorico demonstrations with students of all ages….all while enjoying the delicious Rancho Water cocktail from Native Sons inside the market and eating from Belly & Snout. (More on those in another post.) Scroll for a few more photos and videos of the performers.

It’s a family-friendly venue with room to eat with your family while your kids can play in the grass, but if you’re there on a date or without the kids, there is adults-only seating in the bar area as well. They also host a lot of trivia nights during the week, so check out their calendar (via their Instagram, which I’ve linked below) and make some plans to go visit soon!

@havencitymarket @unidosporlamusica_ @musictreeschools #havencitymarket #havencity #mexicanindependenceday #nationalhispanicheritagemonth #balletfolklorico #mexicandance #ranchocucamonga #ranchocucamongafoodie #ranchofoodies #inlandempire #theie #ie #tequila @bellynsnout #bellyandsnout #cocktails #inlandempirefood
In the morning, I’ve gotta have my coffee. Once In the morning, I’ve gotta have my coffee. Once I’ve downed my two cups, I’m on to water. Drinking coffee is the easy part — but drinking water is not. If I don’t have it in front of me, in an easy to carry tumbler that’s also attractive and keeps it cold, it’s not going to happen. 

AND it also has to fit in my car cup holder. A tumbler that does all that can be a unicorn.

Enter zak!’s Sutton 2-in-1 tumbler! In the morning, it carries my coffee (which its double-wall vacuum insulation kept hot for hours), and after, my water, all without changing a lid. This 2-in-1 tumbler has a unique lid that works for both hot beverages and cold. Take your pick, it’s easy to choose which drinking option you want. Sip coffee from the hole on the top, and chug your water (like I do after yoga) or iced coffee from the straw. I takes seconds to switch from one to the other, and it’s also leakproof, so I threw it in my bag as I packed up and my bag remained dry. Bonus: it’s SO easy to clean, and is top-rack dishwasher safe. 

The Sutton tumblers you see in my reel are my new favorites! The 30 oz tumbler comes in several colors, but I chose Jade, and my 20 oz tumbler is Opera. Both are stainless steel and durable. Thanks to zak! for sending them to me! Try one out yourself and see how you don’t have to compromise or overload yourself with more than one tumbler! Be sure to stay hydrated! As we get older, it becomes even more important for our skin and health overall. 

#ZakPartner @zakdesigns #zakdesigns #StainlessSteel #Tumblers #Hydration #Coffee #CoffeeTumbler #StayHydrated #DrinkWater #Coffee #StayCaffeinated #Caffeine #tumbler #tumblersofinstagram #drinkcoffee #drinkcoffeedostuff #yoga #cupholder #togomug #togocup #everydaysmiles #midlifewomen #midlife #skincare #wellness
I saw Jack and Sally yesterday, so now it is offic I saw Jack and Sally yesterday, so now it is officially the Halloween season. The line was a little long, I had a Haunted Mansion Lightning Lane reservation at the same time but it was so worth the wait to see these two favorites! And I still made it on the ride…which had actually broken down and I had to wait but that’s what churros are for. The list of Halloween foods to try is long, but learn from my mistake and place your mobile order early. That pumpkin chai dessert will have to wait until I go again in two weeks. Bring on all the spooky stuff! 

@disneyland #disneyland #disney #halloween #jackandsally #jackskellington #nightmarebeforechristmas #disneyhalloween #magickeyholder #magickey #hauntedmansion #jackskellingtonandsally #disneyhalloweentime #disneycalifornia #disneygram #disneyfan #disneycreator #thisishalloween #mickeyears
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