This is a guest post written by Joan Selby. I didn’t receive any compensation for it. You can find out more about Joan in the ‘About the Author’ section at the end.

Some people consider blogging to be a perfect occupation because you can write about the things you love, from anywhere in the world, and still earn enough money to make a decent living.

But there is a catch – not all authors know how to capitalize on their blogs!

According to research, there are more than 440 million blogs worldwide, and most of them use WordPress as the content management system because it offers a variety of free features.

But with so many active bloggers online, you cannot afford to make mistakes. You have to do everything perfectly in order to develop a profitable business.

In this post, I will show you 7 common mistakes that stop WordPress-powered blogs from making money.

1. You Don’t Specialize

Choosing a wide niche might seem like a good idea at first, but soon enough, you’ll realize that it’s better to focus on a more narrow area of interest, rather than becoming a Jack of all trades.

When you concentrate on one niche, you start building professional authority and expanding the base of loyal followers.

You can specialize and become a key opinion leader in your industry, which is impossible in case of broader blogging niches.

2. Forgetting Quality

Quality writing is essential for blogging success because you can’t expect to get the foot in the door with below-average posts.

According to research, blog posts are getting longer and more analytical, with the best articles reaching 1.6 thousand words on average.

This is a big problem for the majority of bloggers, because it’s hard to find inspiration day after day.

But when you find yourself in such a position, you can always use online tools to give you a boost:

• EduGeeksClub.com: This proofreading service will make sure that your content is error-free, but they can also create content on your behalf;
• HemingwayApp.com: A tool that removes typos and grammar mistakes, but also suggests writing alternatives and gives suggestions regarding your style;
• Google Trends: Helps you to discover trendy topics in all fields of interest, globally.

3. Don’t Have Income Sources

Some bloggers focus on quality so much that they forget the ultimate goal – to make a profit.

You need to have at least one source of income.

It could be affiliate marketing, or you could sell your own products. You can also find advertisers using Google AdSense.

Each option has advantages and shortcomings, so make sure to select the one that fits your style of work.

4. Don’t Care About SEO

Blogs are in no way different than other websites, which means that the same SEO rules apply.

Neglecting this aspect of blog writing is a common mistake among online authors who don’t know how to prepare a good keyword strategy.

Before you start writing, you need to learn what users look for on Google and how to adapt your text to answer the most frequent inquiries.

Once you find the desired keywords, you need to make keyword-rich articles and include crucial words and phrases in titles, subtitles, image tags, etc.

5. Choosing a Free WordPress Theme

WordPress offers a bunch of free templates, and that is totally fine if you are an amateur blogger.

But if you want to earn money blogging, you need to go beyond standard solutions and choose a well-designed theme to make the website more interesting.

It’s only a small investment if you think about the long-term ROI potential.

6. Using Stock Images

Blogs with images get 94% more views than text-only articles.

An average blogger knows this fact, but often uploads stock images to cover topics.

This is a huge mistake because users can find these photos all around the web.

It undermines your authority and proves that you don’t try hard enough to create unique images for your posts.

And if you don’t publish unique images, people could start thinking that you don’t bother too much with the rest of the content as well.

7. Blog Isolation

The fact that you work solo doesn’t mean you can neglect cooperation with other bloggers, or avoid user engagement.

On the contrary, you need to establish good relations with other authors and share their posts to deserve counter-favors.

This is a surefire way to boost blog awareness and increase the number of followers.

At the same time, you should interact with blog followers – answer their comments or ask questions to inspire engagement.

More engagement equals higher popularity, which means you get a better opportunity to capitalize on your posts.

Conclusion

Running a blog is easy, but earning money from blogging is something completely different.

If you want to develop a profitable blog in WordPress, you have to reduce mistakes to a minimum.

I showed you 7 common mistakes that prevent blogs from making money. Keep my tips in mind and let me know in comments if you have other suggestions to share with our readers.

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