Blogging can be flooded with myths and these will completely throw you off course. With so many people easily starting an online business, it’s important to separate the important factors from those that will simply do you harm. The reason blogging is so addictive is because people are becoming millionaires through online marketing and this means it’s very easy to fall victim to empty promises. However, it’s not just customers because those starting blogs are thrown off track, too. For example, they are often taken advantage by those who are already very successful through blogging. Over the last few years, you’ve probably seen hundreds of blogging courses, all promising to make you millions if you sign up. These newbies are told to write content a certain way and follow a specific publishing schedule, but I simply consider them myths that produce little results.
I’ve decided to talk from my experience a debunk some of the common blogging myths that will destroy your motivation. Let’s get started…
Myth 1 – Writing Content Every Day
This is a huge misconception and I think it stems from the recent Google freshness update. When Google announced it will index websites more quickly when they post more frequently, people started going nuts. They started writing content to publish every day, hoping it would increase traffic, engagement, and conversions. However, with this being true, it still isn’t a substitute for high quality content. Bloggers publishing “2” a month with quality being their focus are still easily outranking those publishing every day.
If you had to choose between frequent publishing and quality content, you should choose “QUALITY” as it’ll do you more good in the long-run.
Myth 2 – Very Lengthy Content
Over the last several months, it been claimed lengthier content will outrank all other types, but it really doesn’t matter. Personally, it depends on the person and how they interact with the data with some preferring shorter, more concise while others want a storybook. In this day and age, with social media generating a buzz quickly, I believe both types of content are great for traffic and conversions. Remember, it depends on the reader, what they find sharable, and how much information they need. For example, when I’m looking for a quick answer, then I’m looking for content that is right to the point. However, this, again, depends on what I need because some need to be 2,000+ words.
Forget the myth that content must be lengthy for you to build momentum online because it’s more important to be concise and provide a solution to the visitor’s problem.
Myth 3 – Blog Planning isn’t Important
This is a huge myth and you have to keep in mind, blogging is a business. Just like you would create a business plan for any physical business, it’s important to do the same for your online business, too. Having a clear cut plan is important because you can outline some of the fundamentals of your online business and find out about factors that’ll influence your growth. For example, you should write down the following…
- Your competition
- Your budget
- Your purpose
- Industry analyses
- Market analyses
Your goal is to make sure you have a clear cut business and ways you’ll achieve it going forward. Having a plan will ensure you don’t get caught off guard if the unfortunate does happen.
Myth 4 – Never Monetize Right Away
This obviously depends on your blog and what you are trying to achieve. For example, it’s perfectly fine to monetize your blog if you offer membership packages and many of my clients have done well for themselves. They offered a FREE plan and would offer paid upgrades for anyone with a higher marketing budget. The point is, you should always give people a choice because some people are more than willing to invest money into “featured” and “premium” upgrades. It’s a myth NOT to monetize right away because your business model might make sense to do it, but, again, this will depend on the type of site you have. Keep an open mind and review your business model because you might find clever ways to make money through upgrades, etc.