Amateur Blogging: (What Is It & 15 Mistakes to Avoid)

Welcome to Amateur Blogging Guide 2024, in this article you will learn all about, Amateur blogs, Amateur blogging mistakes, and more.

I might say, starting a blog is an exciting thing but also seems overwhelming and intimidating because of some uncertainties.

To be honest, you will always find yourself fearful while you make every move as an amateur Blogger.

For me, I wasn’t an exception, because I was in your shoes. I made many mistakes in my blogging career, no matter how successful we are today, the best part is that we all were amateur bloggers once.

But not to worry, in this amateur blogging guide, you will understand everything, like, Is Amateur Blogging Fun and Profitable?

Let’s find out! 

What is Amateur Blogging?

First, let’s talk about what is blogging all about.

What is Blogging? 

Blogging means you’ll be writing about a very specific topic or niche that provides solid information, shares events, or any situations that others would like to learn about. 

Unlike traditional educational or news articles, blogging is written by an individual or individuals who share information in a conversational form or style that is more relatable and approachable. 

However, blogging is a writing form that focuses on conversation rather than creating content that feels like a college essay. 

First, let’s talk about what Amateur Blogging actually is.

What is Amateur Blogging

Amateur blogging is an activity of writing and posting texts online without expecting a considerable income. Or maybe you shouldn’t desire any type of reward? 

In Short, amateur blogging is considered a hobby blog. With this activity, you get some pleasure from doing this activity in the first place. 

Otherwise, why you would like to write constantly? Of course, it all comes from your pleasure of expressing your opinion, or a discovery about a certain topic. 

On the other hand, another aspect of amateur blogging is you have a certain openness towards people that you know. Also, any stranger, reading what you write about and receiving comments with different points of view than yours, or critiques.

However, amateur blogging is posting content on the internet as a hobby without expecting any kind of monetary reward or compensation”.

How Much Do Amateur Bloggers Make?

First, let’s talk about Amateur blogging income… 

Is the Blogging Income an Essential Component of Amateur Blogging?

Technically, if you blogging just about an amateur activity, you just do it because you choose to do it. So, without expecting any blogging revenue you should start blogging activity. 

Or if you expect money for what you write, you will focus on learning and knowing how to make money from blogging. Otherwise, very fast you would be disappointed. 

On the other hand, If you are a professional writer, you will not do amateur blogging. It’s better, you should take your blogging projects like a business. 

However, Amateur blogging doesn’t seem to have the idea of being paid, so you don’t let it become your main target. And the majority of amateur bloggers are not making a living from writing online until they take it seriously or strategically.

What If I want to make money Amateur Blogging? 

Yes! It’s possible to make money from amateur blogging but you’ve to upgrade your blogging activity. 

Let me tell you a story, back in 2018 I started blogging just as a hobby. Later on, I realize I start capturing reader engagement and people love my content.

Then I realized I would monetize my blog and make $250 extra on a monthly basis. It seems low but it was big for students.

However, if you take pleasure from the activity and post constantly, and gather regular followers, hopefully, money might appear. Money might come as a bonus to all that you are providing or offering to your readers. 

With time and strategy, it might become an extra source of income for your main activity. Or even, if you are in the luckiest situation, amateur blogging can transform into your full-time or main income source.

Blogging can be a lucrative business, particularly for those who attract a target audience. However, there are many people who still wonder “Is blogging still relevant” or “Is it possible to earn a living from blogging”

Well, the straight answer is I’m living proof and making $500 – $1000 on a monthly basis, as a student. 

Do you know how much bloggers typically make from blogging? On average, bloggers make $37,073 per year, though this can depend on how long he/she has been blogging, the size of their audience, their traffic, and what they write about. 

But, those who are pro bloggers, have a larger audience, they have more opportunities to earn money from it.

Even, some bloggers make as much as $100,000 or more, although this is rare, especially for amateur bloggers.

Should I Start Amateur Blogging? 

I know “How exciting it can be” when you seem to start blogging at the beginning and believe me, I think it is too! 

But, I want to make sure that you are starting amateur blogging for the right reasons and not… So here are a few things you should consider…

Amateur Blogging is RIGHT for you if you want:

• To share information and help other people
• To have more freedom in your life
• Need to be consistent with your content
• Need to understand it’s NOT a get-rich-quick process 
• You are willing to fail 
• To learn continuously and implement different strategies
• To enjoy writing or can learn to enjoy writing

Amateur Blogging is NOT right for you if you:

• Want to get rich fast
• Are not ready to do the work 
• Hate marketing and using social media 
• Are not easy to invest in your blog 
• Don’t like writing and are not willing to invest in writing
• Do not have time to do the work
• Are not willing to learn and not invest in yourself

I know how overwhelming this can be, and believe me, If you are willing to do the work and put in your time and investment with amateur blogging, I can assure you that there will be a reward at the end which can potentially change your life!

How to Create Your First Amateur Blogs?

5 steps to launching an Amateur blog… 

1. Get a web host. A web host is where your website or blog “lives on the internet. With this, you own everything about your blog, but you pay a small fee to keep your blog online (kind of like paying rent for a room to the homeowner). I recommend Bluehost for only $2.95/month (a special rate for my readers at 75% off your hosting plan. It’s one of the most popular and beginner-friendly web hosts on the Internet and offers excellent 24/7 customer service.
2. Register a domain name: You can get a domain (e.g.passiveblogger.com) name through Bluehost as opposed to paying extra through a service like Namecheap). 
3. Install WordPress: Blogging requires a platform (CMS software), and the best option I’ve found is WordPress. It’s easy, quick, and, free. You can set up WordPress through your Bluehost it’s easy and free. 
4. Get a theme: When you start blogging you need blog design, in WordPress, it’s (called “themes”). For those just getting started, I recommend Kadence or Avada; it’s a simple, fast theme.
5. Log in to WordPress and start blogging: The URL for your dashboard is yourblogname.com/wp-admin/ which redirects to the login page. Just use your email or username and password in order to log in. When you logged in, click “Posts” on the left-hand then select “Add New.” Write a catchy title and write some content for your amateur blog.

And that’s it; now you’re amateur blogging. This is where You and a tiny, fancy laptop, write about an amazing article while sitting at a cafe.

Note: if you are not sure how to start an amateur blog, check out: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your Own Blog.

Bonus: Bluehost is offering a super-promo sale for you as one of my readers and prices are dropped to just $2.95/month for 12 months on the Basic Plan. Are you ready to start your amateur blog? Get started for just $2.95/month (71% off your hosting plan) and set up your own self-hosted WordPress blog on Bluehost.

15+ Amateur Blogging Mistakes You Must Avoid

To be honest, Blogging is only enjoyable when it connects your passion and profit together. You might think blogging is easy and fun, but that’s not true at all.

Unlike other professions, blogging also needs skills, patience, and decision-making capability.

All things you will get once you have done all the mistakes, and learn from them. In these stages, some of you either grow or quit.

From an amateur blogger to a successful blogger cannot be done overnight. Because it’s a slow process full of trial and error, ups and downs, and as much as it may be intoxicating at times, the reward is worth it.

Let’s find out, what are mistakes Almost Every newbie Blogger Make in their amateur blogs.

1. Choosing the Wrong Niche

Blog niche or Blog topics whatever you called, it’s literally played a huge role in your blogging success.

To be honest, when I start my first Niche blog back in 2019 on 15th March, it was a terrible mistake of picking The wrong niche.

Without research on the topics and keywords, I played for almost 9 months. Then I realize that it is just time-consuming because I wasn’t able to produce quality content.

After all, content that really matters to your blog’s success. As an amateur blogger, your main goal should be to create great content in order to build a great readership.

Even, some friends of mine make the same mistake as I did. So it would be the number one mistake that almost every amateur blogger makes.

So, with Years of experience, I found that every Amateur blogger should be followed these four criteria before picking a niche:

1. Pick a Topic You Enjoy
2. Do Deep Research
3. Pick a Smaller Niche
4. Make Sure it’s Profitable

At least these four terms you should follow when you pick a Blog Niche. Here is the harsh truth many amateur bloggers only look for profitability or making money instead of enjoying the blog topic.

Your blog success depends on how passionate you’re about the topics, if you do not enjoy them, then there is pretty much a chance to quit.

So, choose a profitable blog niche in which you have a passion that’s very important.

2. Using A Free Platform to Start

Most bloggers make this amateur blogging mistake when it comes to picking the blogging platform.

In this case, most of them are going to the free platform because of the wrong direction. To be honest, while you get a product or service free of cost, it’s nothing free at all.

It is always very enticing to try, but I would never recommend my readers start blogging on free platforms.

Let me share with you my experience, I started my first blog on Blogspot full of desires and 6 months of hard-working. What did I get? The answer is I got nothing except the realizations.

I put my six months’ work on my blog but later on, when it comes to making money via Google Adsense, it’s got wrong for many technical reasons.

Then I realize that I need something better to grow, then I start my very first blog with WordPress(.org).

Now getting back to the topics! There are many companies offering free blogging platforms, even WordPress offers too. But never ever go with free stuff, because in the end they will be charged you somehow.

If you’re still using a free blogging site like Blogger or WordPress to run your blog, you’re making the biggest mistake of all.

In common terms, first impressions are the last impressions, in the blogging world just the same as much as everywhere else. This is why I use WordPress for my blog and it’s simple to handle.

3. Use Free Blog Name

Owning a good blog name and having a professional-looking blog is everything.

It not only inspires you but builds trust in your readers. There are many amateur bloggers making horrible mistakes by using a free domain name.

As I used to try blogging with a free domain, (homegym.tk) but after doing a lot of hard work on that I didn’t get any affiliate sales.

Wherever I wanted to rank my site, the results were other top-level domains like .com, .net, .org, etc already ranked.

So the question is; Are there any ways to get a free domain name? The answer is Yes, there are some other ways. However, those are not recommended as well, but, I’d like to tell you about those methods.

There are many platforms that are providing free domains, you can easily get a domain with extensions like .tk, .ml, etc.

Basically, they provide the domain for the first years, and it’s completely free. But these types of domain names come with weird terms and conditions which cost you more later.

Overall, They are not trustworthy, they may delete your domain name or charge you that’s literally way harsh, So it’s wise to stay away from these domains.

Another way you can get a free domain is by using web hosting that offers free domains, like Bluehost.

The main disadvantage of using a Free Domain Name:

• You Can’t Control the Free Domain: Basically, A free domain provider didn’t give you full access to the domain name. So if you are doing anything wrong they delete your domain alongside the content.
• SEO Unfriendliness: A free domain can’t get indexed properly as top-level domains do. If you are planning to make money then never ever go with a free domain.

Do not make it so complicated that everything goes smoothly. For a better life, I would suggest going with cheap domain providers like NameCheap, Godaddy, or Dynadot where the TLD domain costs typically $7 – $15 per year.

But if you don’t want to pay the cost for the blog name, then go to a web host like Bluehost (recommended).

Note: Bluehost offers free domain names, only if you purchased their hosting plans.

4. Do Not Buy a Good Hosting

This is another big mistake that most Amateur blogger makes because they’re trying to save money or Low budget. Whatever reasons you buy such hosting, then my friend you’re in big trouble.

Because blog hosting (must-read) plays a huge role in blog success. The fact of the matter is without good hosting your blog doesn’t go to live properly.

Why good web hosting is important to blog success?

Good web hosting ensures performance, support, and security which is essential to make any blog successful.

If you’re thinking about starting a new blog, your choice of good web hosting is probably the last thing on your mind.

But, neglecting to choose a good web host can have disastrous effects on your blogging business.

If you are using cheap or bad hosting you have a very high chance to lose your reader or sales because of loading speed.

Also, have a high chance to lose the site data because they don’t have a proper backup system.

Before you choose good web hosting you should consider some factors.

What to look for in good web hosting?

1. High Reliability and Uptime
2. Bandwidth and Storage
3. Solid Customer Support
4. Ability to Scale

I recommend you start your blog with shared hosting. Shared hosting is way enough for amateur blogs. There are many best shared hosting out there, that are at affordable prices.

However, If you are using cheap hosting then it means that you have a low budget.

Don’t worry, here is some hosting I recommend for amateur blogs, like Bluehost (recommended). This is a very good hosting I’ve been using for a different purpose since 2018.

If you have a very low budget then start your blog with NameCheap as I started my first WordPress blog with NameCheap.

Note: NameCheap Hosting is only recommended if you have a very low budget like under $20.

You should keep these things in your mind, otherwise, later on, you will regret neglecting good web hosting.

5. Not Paying Attention to Website Loading Speed

Well, This is another big mistake that almost every amateur blogger makes, and they don’t focus on the page speed in their amateur blogs.

They just think buying a domain hosting and installing WordPress all work is done. And then start producing content with huge image files and publish it without focusing on page speed.

But the fact the matter is your website speed impacts Google search rankings.

The Amazon case study has shown that if the page loading time is a one-second delay that could cost Amazon 1.6 billion in sales. Now take a moment and thinks about how important page speed can be.

This is one of the best Google algorithm practices Page speed is one of the big factors in SEO rankings.

Google always prefers to improve users’ experience of the web. And The fast-loading web pages always please user experiences.

Basically, The ideal website load time for any site should be under 3 seconds and faster.

You should keep these things in your mind, by neglecting this major factor you can possibly lose conversions and revenue.

When you wish to start a new blog or already have a blog, you should consider making your site fast in order to great reader experience.

6. Blog Design Matter

Good blog design always matters. For example, what is the first thing you notice while you visit a blog? Of course, the very first thing you notice is the looks and feel of the blog design.

The same thing, if your readers find your site look unprofessional, they will move your site right away, without even reading a single word.

Anyway, I found there are many amateur blogs out there, that do not focus on blog designs. They intend to use free themes for their very first blog.

Note: Free themes are good but they don’t give you access to the full features, somehow, they will charge you if you want to unlock all the features.

I do not recommend free themes, it’s better to pay for a blog theme.

If you want an amazing blog design go for a paid one. I do recommend some of my favorite premium blog themes, like, Avada, Genesis, and Bridge.

You can use these themes, which are very flexible and easy to customizable.

Why does Blog Design Matter?

Your site design plays a vital role in the success of your blog. So blog design is everything from the headlines to the colors and images to the style of your blog writing all things matter.

A good blog design keeps your visitors on the page, so you can convert them into customers. Even If you have any desire to make money from your blog, then paid themes are all-time good value for money.

Who knows at some point you’re going to be selling some digital stuff on your blog, it will benefit you a lot instead of free themes.

7. Blog Posts Without Keyword Research

Most amateur bloggers are unable to rank on google and other search engines as well because they don’t know how to do proper keyword research for a blog post.

Keyword research is the most important thing in blog SEO if you want to succeed in blogging. If you aren’t doing proper keyword research then it’s most likely doing wrong something not blogging.

So how do you find a good keyword for your amateur blogs?

Well, finding the right keywords is not as hard as you think. Because there are many keyword research tools that help you to find the right keywords.

Some tools come for free and some are paid. It all depends on what you prefer to use for your blog. But to be honest, the paid ones work more accurately, As I use SEMrush for my blogs.

Most of the keyword research I have done with SEMrush. It is a superweapon to find the best keyword for your blog. Sadly it cost more that’s painful for beginner bloggers.

Don’t be upset, I have good news for you. If you are planning to just get started and use the free ones right now then go with The Hoth. One of the best free keyword research tools for all beginners.

Pro Tips: I highly recommend you focus on Longtail Low competitive keyword.

However, if you want to invest some money, then SemRush would be the best option for you. I personally use it to write my all blog posts. Trust me it’s costing you but it’s worth the price.

8. Copying Content From Other Websites

Well, I have found that many amateur bloggers are sacred in writing that’s why they just try to copy and paste it on their blogs.

It is one of the big mistakes that most newbie bloggers make because they think that writing content is a tough task.

Yeah, it’s a bit tough for non-native English, but you should learn it properly.

If you are not good at writing, it doesn’t mean you just copy and paste. Take time and improve yourself consistently. Nothing is impossible, learn and apply in the right way.

There is a bad effect on copying website content and it would be unfair to compete with your competitor’s websites.

And you never ranked over your competitor if you copy them. Search engines like Google always try to a user’s query that provides value.

If you publish content from others, it would be counted as duplicate content that Google hates. So If you are doing this, then be aware and try to produce content on your own if it takes time.

Because creating content on your own builds trust from the reader, and also google would be happy to rank your blog.

If you really need something like an image from another site then try to give them credit.

In the end, the search engine will grade all those duplicate content with a lower value causing bad effects on the organic search ranks.

Instead of copying content, you can use AI writing tools like WriterZen. It helps you create killer content with just a few instructions. So Stay away from spamming if you want to be successful in blogging.

9. Not Writing Consistently

I have found many starter bloggers who’re getting overwhelmed when it comes to consistent writing. These are the types of mistakes that almost every newbie blogger makes.

They just started today and write a few blog posts then wait for traffic and sales. After a few months of waiting when they don’t see any results just quit that blog.

If you’re doing so, you never going to succeed in blogging. You should avoid this right now, and follow a blog frequency in order to be consistent in the blog posts. I’m not saying you have to post daily on your blog.

But you should be consistent in writing means, write daily at least 750 words in order to produce quality content. Daily writing not only boosts your writing skills but also increases readers and sales.

In order to be consistent, do proper keyword research, and store some keywords for the next six months.

Anyway, If you want to be successful, then put more effort into writing quality content and never give up writing a few posts. Keep writing consistently and results will come within a few months.

WARNING! if want fast results in blogging then you’re wrong because blogging success doesn’t come overnight. So stay focused and post consistently, you will succeed today or tomorrow.

10. List Building Mistakes

This is one of the biggest mistakes most bloggers make which is ignoring email list building. Missing the email list is one of the mistakes, I made when I started my affiliate niche blog.

About 12 months later I realize that email marketing is one of the best methods to quantify your loyal readership.

Listing email is absolutely important because it allows you to drive quality traffic, and is easy to hook them to buy from you when they are ready.

The best thing about email marketing is you have control over your subscribers. You can easily turn them into your loyal fan.

Are you building an email list?

If not, then start today, and build your loyal email list which simply turns into more revenue in the long run. No doubt that email marketing is the easiest way to turn a reader into a buyer.

There are many platforms that provide free email services, like Aweber. I have used both of them for the last 2 years of my blogging journey.

So start collecting your reader’s e-mails sooner or later it will be well worth making money from blogging.

11. Scared To Invest

Don’t be scared to invest in your blog. And never treat your blog just as a blog, always treat your blog like a business, and a business needs investment to grow.

When I started my first blog, I was scared to invest money in my blog. At that time I wasn’t able to invest in my blog because I had no money.

But very soon I start making money from blogging. Mostly 65% of my blog profit goes to blog investment in some blogging tools. Of course, the investment helps me to make more money.

If you want to succeed in blogging, you need to invest not only in your blog but also in yourself to learn new skills. Technically, Your skills help you to apply new strategies and new plans to accomplish the goals.

Overall, Without investing money in the things which are necessary, you are not going to be a successful blogger.

12. Avoid Social Media

Almost every new blogger avoids social connections. They simply think that quality content is way enough.

But my friends, at the very beginning every amateur blog doesn’t get enough traffic. If you don’t leverage social media traffic, then you are losing potential targeting traffic.

So don’t depend on only search engine traffic, which is hard to get ranked for a new blog.

For example, you have produced awesome content and simply post it on your site. Normally, Google takes at least 3 to 6 months to index content properly. So how could your readers know about your awesome content?

Be smart and start leveraging blog traffic by sharing your article on social media.

So go and create a page on social media like Facebook, and Twitter, and start building audience trust.

As I used to start leveraging our blog traffic from the Facebook group (you’re invited). It not only helps me to drive traffic it helps me to connect with other bloggers as well.

What are you waiting for to join our Facebook group?

Anyway, social media not only grow your traffic but also google indirectly love it. To avoid this mistake start leveraging social media traffic and grow your blog.

13. Blogging Anonymously

This is one of the mistakes I made back in 2018. I was a bit shy to come out in front of my readers. The truth is hiding behind your blog people don’t even trust your blog.

When I realize that people only trust you while they know who you are. Especially it’s quite essential if you do affiliate marketing.

Almost 12 months after I started my face on the blog, Guess what happened when I came out of hiding and put my face on my blog…

• More Trust
• Get more subscribers
• More sales
• More overall growth

If you are hiding behind your blog, then you are losing the trust of your readers. Stop hiding, and show your creativity because you are more than just a blog.

What I found in my experience is that people want to see a real person behind the words and they want a face to connect with.

If you want them to spend money on what you are selling on your blog, start leveraging the fact and build a loyal audience.

14. Not Linking To Others

I have noticed many amateur bloggers who are not interested in linking to other websites. This is a totally wrong approach, without linking to other’s websites your article not be user-friendly.

Why I am saying this?

Because new blogs don’t have all the content or info that provides value to your readers. If you really want to value your reader then add relevant links that your users looking for.

NOTE: Link out to other blogs (but only ones that will help your readers).

So change your mentality, and think win-win. There are some very good reasons you should link others from your website.

For example, if you start linking other blogger content:

• Trackable Traffic
• Your Content More Valuable
• Scalable Resource
• Search Engines love you

Linking to other websites, you can quickly build a relationship with them. So, don’t think twice before linking to others as an amateur blogger, be the go-giver person.

15. Link Building Mistakes

There are many unknown facts newbie bloggers are neglecting without gaining proper knowledge. And the same in link building, they just start a blog today and tomorrow start building backlinks.

They live with the wrong approach that without a backlink they are no chance to rank on google. Yeah! that’s quite true, but not the way of a new website with a few blog posts.

With this approach, you won’t see any results. As an amateur blogger, you have to focus on producing good quality content, not just link-building.

For making your blog successful, for at least the first 6 months of your blog, all you have to do is produce quality content.

At the same time build 4-7 do-follow backlinks, and get 30-50 no-follow comment backlink links by regularly commenting on your niche site. This is one of the best ways to build backlinks in order to build an authoritative site.

Let’s say you’re making tons of backlinks to increase your site DA, PA whatever, you’re wrong because, in a few days or months, it will be the same as before.

Note: There is a perfect time to create backlinks once you have about 50 – 80 unique high-quality Articles. Then you can start link-building more naturally via guest postings or Blogger Outreach.

FAQs: Amateur Blogging Mistakes

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Final Words

From my own experience and deep research, I have found these 15 mistakes that almost every amateur blogger makes.

If you have made such a mistake from this list I shared, then avoid it right now because it doesn’t help you to grow your blog.

By avoiding these mistakes you can quickly turn yourself into a successful blogger. So don’t waste your time, avoid this mistake and learn new things every day in order to improve yourself.

Anyway, I have tried to cover the most common amateur blogging mistakes, if I forget to list any other blogging mistakes then let me know via comment below or on Twitter.

Hope you enjoyed reading this article.

One Request: if you find this article helpful then please do share it with your family and friends.