In the UK, the average salary a blogger makes is £31,000. The rate indicated here is the national statistic at the beginning of the year. Indeed, some make twice or thrice the national average and continue to reap huge benefits from their chosen fields. Nevertheless, all bloggers face pretty common problems, and if you want to join this field, it is better to get ahead of them to find solutions. Below are a few common problems bloggers face.

What are the common problems bloggers face?

1. Plagiarism

According to CopyLeaks, 10 -15% of plagiarised content may be acceptable in the UK. The percentage is rated based on the assumption that different content can be similar from different writers without necessarily copying from the other. However, anything higher than 15% raises eyebrows. Plagiarism is a huge issue on the global stage, and the UK is no different. There is always the risk that a topic you thought about has already been written and posted with blogging.

However, the guiding principle is to first search for all related content before you commence writing. Doing this research can help you minimise the risk of such coincidences. Additionally, your background research can give you another idea nobody else has thought of. On the other hand, there is also the high risk of others plagiarising your blog post.

The issue of intellectual property is rife in this instance, and you will have to deal with it as soon as possible. More importantly, you get to protect your work from people whose sole job is to replicate content on their blog sites. You have the option to report or contact the other blogger in question. Once you prove your right to the content, you can have the upper hand by asking them to credit you.

Common problems that bloggers face

Is plagiarism the same as duplicate content?

In essence, no, because usually, the author of the guest post has given permission to post it. The problem with duplicate content, is that a guest post you’re paid to post has also been shared with a number of other bloggers in the same way it was with you. So when you’re innocently sharing the post to your site, Google sees that the exact same content appears on numerous sites and the algorithm struggles to ascertain which one was the first one, or which one is the original. Google does not like duplicate content so wherever possible, try to edit guest posts to have your own version of it to avoid being penalised by google.

2. Not enough traffic

Traffic to your website is what drives the popularity of your posts. Unfortunately, some bloggers fail to attain the desired numbers for their posts, resulting in disappointment and disenchantment. The truth is, if you fail to get traffic to your blogging site, search engines like Google may give your website a low rating. When that happens, people may be unable to find you or your posts when they search online. Indeed, it sounds unfair, but it is the reality of the blogging world.

In the past few years, blogs have become highly competitive, and those who wish to transition from a different career to blogging must learn the rudiments. First of all, self-promotion can make all the difference in your blogging career. It drives traffic to the site and generates interest among online communities like social media.

3. Not Understanding SEO

Furthermore, it is highly recommended to work on your blog’s SEO to enable search engines to find you. Generating and leading traffic to your blog site requires a great deal of creativity, and if you’re able to do that, the reading audience will find you. Apart from knowing about your blog, if your content is good, you can be sure that your numbers will increase.

Here are 5 SEO techniques to master as a blogger:

  • Page speed load time & Core Web Vitals – ensure your site is not slow!
  • Use your keywords in the right places i.e. Alt text on images.
  • Do your Keyword research
  • Use an SEO plugin (I use rank math, but Yoast is also good).
  • Ensure your site has a sitemap and register it with Google Search Console.
Have an SEO Strategy

4. Machine malfunctions

The desktop, laptop computers, tablets, iPads, and any other electronic gadget that enables you to work on blogs can malfunction at any time. Sometimes, it may be your fault and other times it might be beyond your control. For instance, if your Safari fails to open on your Mac device, publishing your posts can prove quite challenging.

However, with a couple of solutions offered online, this problem can be resolved. Machine malfunction is quite a common occurrence, but you can take steps to ensure it happens less frequently. You can do this by updating your machine with the latest software. Additionally, it would help to maintain a routine maintenance schedule to avoid malfunction surprises.

Another problem related to this is integrating your phone with your laptop. If you have an apple phone, does it work well with your windows laptop? If you have an android phone, does it sync with your MacBook? These are all common problems bloggers face.

5. Absence of feedback

Bloggers rely on feedback to assess the quality of their works. Through readership feedback, it becomes easier to review posts, improve on weak areas and enhance the quality of writing. Indeed, the absence of feedback is widespread and especially because an online survey indicated that only three out of ten readers would leave feedback about a blog post. As a blogger, we really want and need those comments on our blog posts, but it may be out of your hands to influence your audience to communicate effectively with you, no matter how clear your call to action might be.

While some of these blogging problems are resolvable, those that aren’t can still be worked on to reduce the negative impact on your work.