In 2011, I started my blog World of My Imagination. At the time, I started it because I wanted to have something to share on Twitter, since I kept seeing people share their blog posts and I thought…I should do that too!
And a blog was born.
Next year will be almost ten years of blogging.
Ten. Years.
I never thought I would stick with it this long, especially as I saw many people coming and going from their blogs. There’s been a lot of positives that I’ve gained from blogging. In part, it’s been a platform I’ve enjoyed putting my thoughts and insights while giving others a chance to share theirs. I haven’t been all that consistent but I’m getting to the point where that really isn’t that much of a concern anymore.
Today, I reflected on a few blogging regrets. Maybe if I pass along a few of mine, it will help you with your own blogging struggles. Here’s a few:
Regret #1: Deleting content.
One of my regrets came around recently because I had deleted a ton of posts off a blog of mine called LadyUnemployed.com. Now, a few months ago, I thought it was a good idea. I wanted that site to become a professional resource for people. And it isn’t that I don’t have that goal anymore, but I’m regretting my choice to remove that content.
In reality, I wish I had gone in and edited the posts rather than delete them. A few months ago, I didn’t like how the posts made my blog look, especially considering the professional direction I wanted to take it. Now, I’m back to feeling uncertain about that blog’s direction and wishing I had kept those posts.
My lesson learned: if you are uncertain about leaving up a post, turn it into a draft rather than delete it.
Regret # 2: Thinking advertising is a one size fits all.
This is a very recent regret. With LadyUnemployed, I had the goal of getting to under a 1 million Alexa rank. Now, Alexa ranking is a tool that shows you where your website or blog stands in comparison to others. I was so close to my goal too! I was at 1.2 until a couple of weeks ago when I plummeted to a shocking 4 million. I’m still trying to figure out what happened, but I suspect it was the ad network I joined. I’m trying to end that contract and hopefully restore my ranking
I realized that not all advertising is suitable for your blog. I made that same mistake at some point with my World of My Imagination. I had decided to bring in product reviews. These are fun to do, but that wasn’t why people visited my website. Pretty sure I lost readers with that decision. Later, I stopped and posted reviews to a review blog I started, but still, I wish I hadn’t brought that in.
Lesson learned: don’t jump on the bandwagon of advertising on your website. Consider your audience and why you blog in the first place.
Regret # 3: Not staying connected to my blogging community.
Now, this is my regret for my blog World of My Imagination. When I started a full-time job in 2012, I didn’t realize how much energy it would take. I think that’s pretty common actually, but after a while, I lost touch with my blogging community. I didn’t stay connected with regular commenters and their blogs.
In part, I blame the dissolution of the Writer’s Digest Community boards. I was so active on there, and when it shut down, I didn’t have the same type of area to talk with writers and share what I’m working on. Also, I decided to end a weekly writing prompt which I am sure kept people coming around.
Lesson learned: build a community of readers. Yes, those readers are probably going to be other bloggers, but it’s a sure way to know that your blog posts are actually being read.
I am sure I have more regrets and lessons learned, but these are the ones that have struck me the most lately.
If you blog, what do you regret?
My biggest regret is not knowing what to blog about! I’m pretty new to writing/blogging, and I struggle to know what to blog about that people might find even remotely interesting. Shameless self-promoting is not my thing, I am almost embarrassed to post about my own stuff for the sake of advertising!
I know what you mean! I sometimes feel that way (not knowing what to blog about), so I try to either respond to someone else’s post (via my own blog post) or try to write out what I’m thinking about. Sometimes that works.