5 Costly Myths New Bloggers Too Often Believe

The Internet can serve as a double-edged sword of sorts. It provides valuable information and makes knowledge easily accessible with only a few swift strokes of the keyboard. But whenever massive knowledge becomes readily available with few if any restrictions or fact-checking mechanisms, it’s easy for false and inaccurate information to circulate.

Perhaps this is especially true when blogging enters the picture. A simple Google search for a basic blog-related topic will often yield millions of results. And although there’s likely plenty of useful truths in most blog posts, there are also lots of poor suggestions.

For example, you’ll readily encounter the following myths … and they can lead a new bloggers astray.

1. Keyword Stuffing is a Good SEO Practice

The tricky part about a lot of misinformation with regard to blogging is that it used to be true. But the people who share the information today don’t necessarily realize how obsolete it’s become. Keyword stuffing is a prime example.

As an article on the Green Residential blog states, “there’s no need to stuff your articles full of keywords. This is an outdated SEO tactic that can actually hurt your search engine rankings rather than help them. Simply using the keywords a couple of times in the article where they fit appropriately will help bring you search traffic.”

2. The More You Write, The Better

It used to be that short, 200- to 400-word blog posts were enough to get noticed by search engines. Then algorithms changed and long, 1500-word-plus articles became the norm.

Long posts are still valuable on blogs, but today length isn’t the defining metric for value. Writing more won’t automatically produce better results.

Quality is much preferable to quantity. You’d do better to write three high-quality, 1000-word entries a week than to churn out five low-quality, 1500-word posts every seven days. Focus on becoming a better writer, not on output.

3. Blogs Are Easy to Monetize

Once people realized you could make money from blogging, thousands of wannabe entrepreneurs flocked to this niche. The problem was that monetizing a blog is nowhere near as easy as industry gurus will try to assure you.

It’s certainly possible, but it requires lots of time and hard work. You won’t achieve success by being passive.

Be honest with yourself and acknowledge the challenges involved in developing a monetizing blog. The obstacles are many, and you’ll want to weigh each one before you get started.

4. If You Build it, They Will Come

Another story blogging gurus will tell you is that success is as simple as securing a domain name, using a website builder, and publishing regular content. This is another comforting myth.

It’s not as effortless as writing an online diary and waiting for people to crowd in. You’re going to have to develop a traffic acquisition strategy and work hard to funnel people to your pages, even if they’re good.

If you don’t, you’ll never get the results you want.

5. Traffic is the Most Important Metric

Because traffic acquisition is one of the largest challenges a blogger faces, it can be easy to start obsessing over traffic stats. But traffic, in and of itself, won’t make you successful.

In addition to getting and maintaining high traffic numbers, you need low bounce rates, high average time on site, and high conversion rates. Otherwise you could be doing nothing more than artificially inflating your stats and garnering quick yet worthless exposure.

Pay attention to website traffic, yes, but don’t focus on it at the expense of other vital metrics.

Due Diligence is Critical

If you’re a new blogger, you have to be very careful about whom you trust. Get your coaching only from experts who have firsthand knowledge and experience with blogging. This will ensure you set a strong foundation upon which to build and expand your blog.

Original post: 5 Costly Myths New Bloggers Too Often Believe

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