I don’t think anybody can disagree that maintaining a blog is fun.

In reality, if you like writing, it’s a good idea!

There’s a lot more to starting a travel blog than just writing, and it’s easy to think that after you’ve published a couple of entries, that’s all there is to it!

I recall the moments when I believed that! I used to be so naive!

Running a blog, you see, is a type of art that you wouldn’t expect to see at first.

When you start a travel blog, you’ll quickly realise that producing blog entries is only the top of a huge iceberg of responsibilities. To stay on track and get the outcomes you desire, you’ll need a lot of self-discipline and certainly a skill. Even with such self-discipline, some several obstacles and disappointments might make you want to give up!

However, returning to my point about blogging being pleasurable!

It’s the most wonderful feeling on the planet when you get over all of that and start seeing your hard work pay off!

A lot of people generate money from their blogs. Being your boss and calling all of the shots in your life while running a website about something you care about seems like a dream, right?

And, although you’ll probably feel like you’re fumbling about in the dark at first, who doesn’t feel like that when starting a new job?

It’s alright to make mistakes — it happens to almost every new blogger! The good news is that if you know these problems are coming, it’s also quite simple to avoid them! If you’re starting a travel blog, it’ll be simple enough to learn from your mistakes.

So, for all you rookies to maintain a blog on the market, here are 13 common mistakes newcomers make and how to avoid them!

1. Specializing on Social Media That Isn’t Appropriate

In terms of blogging, social media is a game-changer, and certain sites seem to have been created just to boost your traffic and bring you a lot of views. However, social media is a major time sink that isn’t worth your time if you focus on the inappropriate platform.

Instagram is a fantastic tool, and some people earn a living off of it. However, it doesn’t work as a technique of attracting guests to your restroom!

While spending a lot of time on Instagram will likely provide quick pleasure and likes, there is no easy way to grow a meaningful audience! People seldom leave Instagram, therefore using it to generate website clicks is a no-no!

On the other hand, Pinterest is a wonderful website to utilise if you want to grow your blog. It’s more of a search engine than a social networking site, yet it boasts 322 million monthly active users! I know people who have grown their blog from zero to one million visits in a year just by using Pinterest’s capabilities!

So, if you’re looking to grow your site, spend less time on Instagram and much more time on Pinterest!

2. Expecting it to be simple and glamorous

It takes time to create a travel blog. In reality, creating a blog takes time. It also needs perseverance, devotion, and a great deal of hard work!

If you’re starting a blog because you think it’ll be simple labour, you’re in for a rude awakening, my friend!

It’s tough to run a blog! There is a LOT to learn. And if you don’t have the desire, the determination, and the devotion to make it work, you’ll give up.

Interval.

Several individuals on the market right now make money from their travel blogs, but it isn’t all free flights to the other side of the planet, living in forest tree-houses, and swinging about in Bali! Many of the popular blogs right now have been around for three years or more. And it’ll most likely take three years or more to see these kinds of results!

Don’t be discouraged, though, for you must always remember the following:

Are these blogs that you’re checking out right now? They needed to start from the rear as well! And if they can get to where they are today, there’s no reason why you won’t be able to as well!

3. Believing in Fake ‘Partnerships.’

That irritates me much, yet I also see it on the internet daily. Smaller ‘influencers’ are often approached by manufacturers and asked if they would collaborate. This is now pretty common among the larger brands and those with more than 10,000 followers. However, be cautious if your goal isn’t quite that high, and make certain the alliance is genuine.

The ideal way for a reputable relationship to operate is for the brand to give you something for free, and then you put it up for sale on your social media and blog, and if someone buys it from you, you get paid. It’s a lot like affiliate marketing on the internet.

On the other hand, many manufacturers will often reach out to people with a much smaller reach and offer them a partnership if they buy the product.

It’s never a good idea to settle for a partnership or sponsorship if you can’t afford to buy the goods.

This isn’t a true collaboration. This is merely the model’s effort to make money. I once received an email from a model asking me to buy a t-shirt for a 75% discount (still $40!) in exchange for the ‘risk’ of being featured on their Instagram account! It’s safe to assume that I deleted the email!

If it ever happens to you, I suggest completely disregarding it. It is utterly worthless! You’ll eventually find producers that want to deal with you properly, so get rid of the fakes now!

4. Keep a Journal of Your Adventures

But wait! Just a moment! Isn’t that what a travel blog is, a journal of my experiences?

WRONG!

Making your blog read like a personal diary is one of the worst things you can do. It may come out as harsh, but your blog should not be about you. Who cares about what you did last weekend if no one knows who you are and you’re not a celebrity who will be photographed on the street?

Nobody!

It must be all about your readers on your blog

Your preferred viewers may have a problem they’d want to address. Whether or whether their issue is learning how to travel the globe for less, how to start a blog, or how to visit New York City on a budget, there’s a reason they’re looking for a website like yours in the first place. And each article you create should include a section on how you can aid them.

If your blog does not address their concerns or provide answers to their queries, it will not attract clicks or views, and you will struggle to build an audience. It’s just as simple as that.

So, concentrate on your audience and never start a blog with the title ‘Expensive Diary’!

5. Failure to re-examine your content material

This may seem to be a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many errors there are on the internet! Even on the most popular travel blogs, people still use ‘our’ instead of ‘out’ or use one’s in a requirement.

As a result, it’s critical that you re-read your article before hitting the Publish button. Even little mistakes will stand out like a sore thumb, and if your site is very tiny, you don’t want anything to ruin your image. A model isn’t want to work with someone careless on their blog, are they?

Furthermore, in addition to fixing mistakes, re-reading often offers you little sparks of inspiration, such as adding something to the end of a sentence or flipping a phrase to make it seem more powerful. Even the most experienced writers modify their work since proofreading has so many benefits.

6. Lack of Consistency

Consistency is another important element to consider while running a blog. If your audience expects something from you and you don’t provide it, they will gradually but inevitably lose faith in you.

And it is most likely the worst thing that can happen to a blogger!

As a result, consistency is critical.

When you say you’ll send out a publication every Wednesday, you send it out every Wednesday. When you declare you’ll post on Mondays and Thursdays, you’re pretty much guaranteeing that you’ll do it!

However, (and believe me when I say this), consistency is sometimes easier said than done and needs both forethought and self-discipline, but we’ll get to that!

7. Attempting to accomplish everything for nothing

I understand that to begin with, you’re not generating any money from your blog, and the temptation is to not spend any as well, especially if you aren’t going to receive anything else.

I entirely understand, but this might be one of the worst things you can do, especially if you want to make your site profitable in the long run.

It’s vital to become self-hosted for a successful blog; you’ll need a premium WordPress theme, a website, and an email provider, none of which are free. You can start a blog without being self-hosted, but it’s never a good idea, and there are so many limitations that you’ll have to change it anyhow if you want to earn any money

So, even if you don’t want to, pay a little money upfront if you’re serious about starting a blog, and it’ll go a long way. Here are some of my favourite Blogger Resources to help you get started.

8. You don’t have a schedule

This connects to what I was discussing about consistency before. Running a blog schedule is one of the most effective ways I’ve learned to keep myself on track. These three stages are the most effective way to create a timetable for yourself:

Choose whatever day or days you want to publish and stick to them. If you want to publish twice a week on Monday and Thursday, make a note of it and stick to it!

Make an effort to plan out all of your content. It’s no good showing up on Sunday afternoon with no idea what you’re going to publish the next day. You’ll find it much easier to stay on track if you plan out all of your content ahead of time.

It’s pointless to rush through writing all of your pieces the day before they’re due to be published, just as it’s pointless to rush through planning what you’re going to write. The simplest strategy to ensure you aren’t always hurried is to write at least a week’s worth of content stuff ahead of time. It’s also a good idea to have a few backup articles on hand so that if you are sick or aren’t able to write as much as usual one week, you’ll still have something to post! Also, write it down right away.

Stick to those three points and post regularly, and you’ll find it much easier to keep track of your blog. Furthermore, your audience will know exactly what to expect from you.

9. Failure to Make a Long-Term Plan

I like having goals to work toward. I like pushing myself until I achieve my goals, and I enjoy it even more if I achieve them sooner than I planned. It is critical to have a long-term strategy for your blog. It’s pointless to strive for one goal if you don’t have a wider picture in mind. So, consider the following:

What is the purpose of your blog?

What is the result you require?

How quickly do you want to get a million page views on your website? Is that your two-year strategy?

Setting myself a specific, time-based goal seems to work well for me.

So, try to sketch out something you’ll need, but don’t be too vague. For example, would you prefer 1000 Pinterest followers or 100 daily blog visits? Make a note of it!

After that, decide when you want to have it done, but make sure it’s realistic. You won’t be able to solve both of these problems in a single day!

Outline your ultimate goal, whether it’s financial, audience-based, or if you want your blog to be noticed on a certain website. Setting yourself a few final goals is always a smart idea.

Now all that’s left is figuring out how to get there the proper way. Put a series of stages in place, with your goal as the top result. You’ll be surprised at how much easier it is to work toward a goal once you know exactly what you need to do to get there. When it comes to maintaining a blog, I’ve found that having a long-term goal and strategy is quite beneficial.

10. Failing to Show Your Personality

Now, this may seem to be an obvious one, but blogs aren’t designed to be a monotonous pile of nonsense.

Everyone is exclusive in some way. Everyone has unique characteristics that define who they are. Don’t hide your way of speaking, whether it’s quirky small anecdotes that you utilise daily, jokes, sarcasm, or fantastic descriptions.

Let your personality come through in your work!

Allowing your writing to look rigid or as if it were an essay is not a good idea. Make your writing engaging, attention-grabbing, and conversational, and your readers will appreciate you.

11.Procrastination

Procrastination is an art form in and of itself, similar to blogging; but, if you find yourself viewing a blank Word Doc and visiting YouTube or Netflix much too often, you may have a problem!

Nonetheless, I understand! In most cases, you just do not want to do anything. I’ve had similar days, yet I always find myself berating myself for not getting stuff done!

Why not make a to-do list for yourself first thing in the morning, and if you don’t feel like doing one thing, go on to the next? In any case, procrastination is a serial blog killer, so keep in mind your objectives – Netflix will not help you with them!

12. Refusing to Accept Help

Making the mistake of assuming you know everything, regardless of where you are with your journey blog, will never get you anywhere. You won’t be an expert in every subject, and there will always be someone more knowledgeable than you.

There is no harm in enlisting the assistance of other bloggers.

Simply ask! Whether you need feedback on a new website design or someone to proofread a document for you, just ask! This may also be a good method to find out what people are interested in (which is a great approach to prepare your next blog article!).

Different bloggers aren’t your rivals; they’re frequently your friends, and the blogging community is very chatty! It doesn’t matter what it is, just ask! If you don’t ask, you don’t receive, as my father used to tell me all the time.

13. Failing to connect with your audience

It’s also not a bad idea to ask your audience what they think about both.

Are you unsure whether a handful of them will be published? Inquire about whether or not it was beneficial to them.

Are you stumped as to what to write down next? Inquire about the issues that people are facing.

Don’t know what people want? Inquire of them!

Always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always

Asking your viewers is the one sure-fire way to find out what they think. Furthermore, interacting with your audience is one of the easiest methods to gain their trust. You don’t want to come across as just the writer; you want to get to know them and become someone they can turn to for information and answers. Not only will you experience an increase in engagement as a result of this, but you may also boost your model awareness and revenue by cultivating a connection with your readers!

As a blogger, it’s a huge error not to interact with your readers. They’ll be grateful to you for reaching out, and assisting them will give you a rush! In any event, isn’t that why you started a blog in the first place to assist your readers?

Your most valuable asset will always be your viewers. So, treat them well and communicate with them, and you will not be sorry!

Alice is an journey traveler and critically lover of bucket lists. She created Adventures of Alice to assist others like her journey the world for much less and encourage travel-lovers and journey bloggers alike! Grab her exclusive bonus today: ‘The Ultimate Blog Promotion Checklist’, and make sure your blog posts are primed to be published!