There are tons of new bloggers online every day, and many, if not most of them make similar mistakes starting out. I thought it might be fun to compile a list of some of these. Without further adieu:

The Top 77 Mistakes New Bloggers Make
en Español, en Français

    Domain & Hosting

  1. Not hosting their own blog
  2. Registering a blog name (URL) that has been copyrighted
  3. Registering a long and difficult to remember domain name

    Style, Design, and Basic Blog Ingredients

  4. Keeping the basic template that came installed on the blog
  5. Using a black background or one that flashes, blinks, or moves in any other way
  6. Using background music
  7. Not updating the blogroll that comes with the blog
  8. Not using permalinks for their blog posts
  9. Not protecting their blogs from SPAM comments with easily installed plugins
  10. Under-utilizing easily installed plugins
  11. Not including a clear way to contact them
  12. Not including a basic About the Author page
  13. Not creating a sitemap for Google and other search engines

    Blog Comments

  14. Keeping the first post & comment that came with the blog
  15. Forcing guests to register in order to leave comments
  16. Commenting on other blogs with nothing to say other than “nice post” or some other worthless nonsense
  17. Commenting on other blogs and posting spamming their blog’s URL in the post
  18. Not commenting on other blogs enough
  19. Not thinking through what they comment about on other sites
  20. Not responding to comments on their blogs
  21. Asking other bloggers to link to their blog in comments
  22. Gathering email addresses from people who comment and adding them to email marketing lists without permission (privacy violation)
  23. Posting affiliate links when making comments on other blogs

    Links

  24. Emailing other bloggers and asking them for links
  25. Not linking out enough
  26. Posting incorrect or broken links
  27. Not using their blog’s trackback capabilities to keep other bloggers in the know

    Blog Content

  28. Creating SPLOGS
  29. Setting high expectations for your readers and then failing to meet them
  30. Not learning blogging etiquette or blog culture before starting out
  31. Not choosing a niche to write about
  32. Not keeping their blog focused on that niche if and when they do choose one
  33. Copying the style and substance of other blogs
  34. Blogging about absolutely nothing
  35. Not proofreading their posts
  36. Failing to place themselves and then experiencing blogger burnout
  37. Stealing blog content
  38. Blogging about something they know nothing about
  39. Copying entire blog posts from other sites and thinking a simple link back makes it okay
  40. Failing to attribute another blog or website that you got an idea from
  41. Trying to blog as some fake anonymous persona like the kids in Ender’s Game
  42. Posting uninteresting titles
  43. Posting huge blocks of text without using headlines, images, etc. to break it up
  44. Posting at an irregular frequency
  45. Forgetting that they are writing for an audience, not themselves.
  46. Writing things in their blogs that may harm them in the future
  47. Committing libel
  48. Being unprofessional
  49. Attacking other bloggers just to get attention
  50. Sharing company secrets or private information on their blogs
  51. Giving away too much personal information (potentially dangerous)
  52. Not having their own voice when writing, instead using bland and dry language.
  53. Not engaging the reader to participate in the conversation (failing to stimulate comments)
  54. Blabbing too much without making any relevant points
  55. Writing about what everyone else is writing about
  56. Holding blog contests and not coming through on prizes you promised

    Blog Promotion & Traffic Building

  57. Advertising their brand-new site anywhere
  58. Promoting a site with less than 10 posts
  59. Using traffic boosters to get traffic
  60. Using any methods to get un-targeted traffic
  61. Over-submitting their blogs to social bookmarking sites
  62. Submitting bad posts to social bookmarking sites
  63. Under-publicizing their best posts
  64. Not entering Blog Carnivals to start building traffic
  65. Not including a link to their blogs in their email and forum signatures
  66. Not responding to emails or other messages

    Blog Monetization

  67. Worrying about making money with their blog before they even have any quality content
  68. Placing as many ads from as many ad networks as they can on their sites
  69. Clicking on their own AdSense Ads
  70. Allowing just about any site, even unrelated ones, to advertise on their blog
  71. Writing reviews of other sites through ReviewMe or other services and doing a shit job of it. Reviews can be bad or good, but they should at least be well written (happened to me today . . . argh!)

    Feeds

  72. Under-utilizing their blog’s feed
  73. Not having a clearly identifiable and highly visible way to subscribe to their feed
  74. Not using feedburner to optimize, quantify, and publicize their feed
  75. Using Feedburner chicklet that shows number of subscribers before you’ve got at least 50-100 subscribers
  76. Posting a partial blog feed instead of the full contents
  77. Overusing feed advertising

I’ve seen a few other mistake lists out there, but most cover things I’ve mentioned above. Here are a few good ones:

Ten Blogging Mistakes I’ve Made
The Top 10 Design Mistakes
Blogging Mistakes Final List
10 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

Think I’m missing any important points?

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