Blogging: Misconceptions About the Craft

The blogging industry is one that is spreading its tentacles, wider than anybody imagined. It is one of the best ways to make money online in Nigeria, however, it is filled with numerous misconceptions that may keep new and existing bloggers from reaching their goals. These misconceptions will also keep the audience and potential stakeholders from ripping the true benefits of blogging. To aid understanding, here are some misconceptions about blogging.

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  It’s all about writing

To every field there are misconceptions and there are definitely a lot of misconceptions about blogging. Some people believe that blogging is all about writing, however, bloggers go through so much to create content, let alone build a successful blog. The writing is simply one part of blogging. To run a successful blog, your niche, audience, consistency, finances, UX/UI must be taken into consideration because it is a whole digital marketing enterprise.

• A pretty blog does it all

Some people are of the notion that a pretty, colour coded blog does it all for the readers. No matter how nicely designed your blog is if your content does not meet the standards and you do not use the right  SEO and digital marketing techniques to get your blog to the level it needs to be at. With your content, you must also be creative and have the quality to give your readers so they do not bounce.

• Results are instant

A lot of blogging beginners tend to believe that results are instant. With the success of bloggers rising in recent years, it is almost inevitable for others to think about the come up before the success. One of the major misconceptions about blogging is that the results are instant. You hope that once you design your blog, post content, and publicise it on your social media pages, you get the dream traffic you have been looking for. It is almost as if newbie bloggers or blogging novices who fall into this category expect bloggers to attain influencer status overnight.

• Good traffic equals big money

Good blog traffic is great, and in that is one of the major end goals. A blog without traffic is as good as dead, as traffic is a part of your success and ranking on search engines. However, attaining your desired traffic and more is great, but many people believe that good traffic is equal to big money. Though, excellent blogging will fetch you good money, however, not as much money as you believe. You will need to take your blog to the next level.

• You need an influencer to go viral

Another crazy misconception about blogging is that you need an influencer to share your blog posts for you to go viral and voila! It does not work that way. The first thing you cannot guarantee is if people will engage with your content that has been posted by an influencer. Even if they do, that is one-time engagement. In a case where your content is not quality or your blog is not easy to navigate, nobody would go back to have another session. To have a successful blog, you must build a consistent following as consistency is key. Daily visits and long-lasting sessions are what you should look for.

• Bloggers are less busy

In a country like Nigeria, professions that are unpopular are seen as the worst. It is not an uncommon opinion that bloggers are less busy. When you analyse all the misconceptions about blogging on the same level, you will see why people would think bloggers are less busy. The moment a blogger is seen working on their content, the inability to understand the process of blogging, its benefits and opportunities, creates room to tag bloggers as less busy.

• You need to be famous first

A lot of people never really start blogging because they believe they need to become famous first before starting a blog. Yes, fame gives you the followership beforehand, but what is the guarantee that the followership will convert to your blogging needs. In a foreign country like the United Kingdom or the United States of America and even Canada, the fans are obsessed with their idols and this conversion may be sure, however, in Nigeria, the fans could care less about your blog, if your social media is satisfying enough.

• Each post must be perfect

No post is perfect and if you keep looking for the perfect post, you will never get started on your blog. Some posts may be done to your satisfaction and others may not just meet your standards, however, it works still. You do not always have to trash blog posts that you do not feel are the best. If it is subpar then feel free to archive it till you can add more quality content, however, every post must not be perfect. There is beauty in imperfection.

• It is about the blogger

Some bloggers tend to believe that their blog is about them. The blog is your communication tool to an audience, therefore you must cater to your audience. This misconception about blogging that a lot of people have. You may be the subject of your blog but your blog is for your audience. You as a blogger, in your own style, must feed the audience with resources and information that will have an impact on them. Constantly ask yourself, are you changing a narrative, are you questioning the status quo, are you providing a helpful service? Answering these questions will help you build a successful blog.