Organic traffic and leads are essential for businesses, and blogging is a great way to generate them. You should avoid these five biggest blogging mistakes to get the most out of your blog.
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1. Not having a content strategy
A content strategy is much more than throwing words onto a page (or screen). It involves audience research, a cohesive brand voice, and purposeful content creation.
Without a content strategy in place, your organization is likely missing out on valuable opportunities to engage with your target audience and promote new products or services.
There are three major problems with not having a strategy. Let’s take a look at these.
Time and energy wasted (lack of ROI)
Business owners or their staff spend hours, sometimes DAYS or WEEKS, brainstorming, writing, and producing content that leads them nowhere and gets no positive results for their business.
It leaves them scratching their heads and wondering, “where’s the ROI?”
A clear content plan and editorial schedule help business owners better allocate their resources and shift from being constantly reactive to being in control of what they publish and when. They’ll also manage their human resources better.
Missing the mark with their audience
Too many business owners are “hoping” that their content will go viral, generate a gazillion leads and shares, and eventually, product sales for their business. That’s wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy.
Businesses with a clear blog content strategy are focused on producing engaging content for their target audience and putting the right content in front of their potential buyer at the right time. Getting this right produces a positive ROI.
Poor reader experience and confusion
Your content may also appear haphazard and disorganized, potentially leading to confusion or distrust among prospective customers.
Bottom line: without a content strategy, you’re basically winging it – and who wants to fly by the seat of their pants in today’s competitive online landscape?
Put in the time and effort to develop a content strategy for your organization – your future self will thank you.
2. Blogging inconsistently
Consistent blogging can do wonders for your SEO strategy, but inconsistency can prove to be detrimental.
Not only does it give off a disorganized and unreliable impression to readers, but it also hurts your SEO ranking.
Search engines favor fresh, regularly updated content and will not prioritize websites with sparse posting schedules. So if you want to improve your SEO game and attract a more dedicated audience, committing to a consistent blogging schedule is key.
Research shows that companies that published 16+ blog posts per month got almost 3.5X more traffic than companies that published between 0 – 4 monthly posts. (source: Hubspot)
Furthermore, the research reveals a clear benefit in producing more content rather than less:
- You can generate real results from old content — and the more you publish, the more old content you’ll have that’ll get you traffic and leads over time.
- Companies that had published 401+ blog posts in total got about twice as much traffic as companies that published 301 – 400 blog posts.
Woah, but who’s got time to be producing 400+ blog posts?
I hear you.
According to one study, companies that blog once or twice per month generate 70 percent more leads than those that don’t blog at all.
As I advise all my clients when starting out, it’s better to focus on quality and consistency over quantity. It will take time to produce a library of content, so the sooner you start putting out high-quality blog posts, the better.
Again, you want to have a clear plan of the frequency and what types of content you should be putting out there.
Start small and aim for one blog post per week. That’s four posts per month, and after 12 months, you’ll have 48 blog posts humming away and working for you.
If it’s within your marketing budget, you may consider outsourcing your content writing to save you a whole lot of time.
3. Not promoting their blog posts.
It’s a sad truth that without promoting your blog, it might as well not exist at all.
Yet many content creators fail to take advantage of the various ways in which they can promote their work and drive traffic to their sites.
One popular strategy is repurposing blog content into other mediums, such as infographics, videos, or even podcast episodes.
Another option is submitting excerpts or repurposed content as a guest post for another blog in your industry. And, of course, don’t underestimate the power of social media promotion and word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and colleagues.
If you’re not willing to invest in promoting your blog posts as much as you do creating the content, it would be wiser to join a lead-generating networking group like BNI.
4. Ignoring SEO best practices
Many website owners overlook the importance of SEO, thinking that people will find it as long as their content is strong. However, this isn’t the case.
Implementing SEO best practices in today’s digital landscape is crucial for search engines like Google to properly index your website and direct relevant traffic to it.
Not only that but following SEO guidelines can also significantly improve user experience on your site.
So why take the risk of ignoring SEO? It’s not worth having a dazzling website that nobody can find.
Take the time to familiarize yourself with basic SEO principles and incorporate them into your website design and content strategy.
5. Lack of unique storytelling and supporting data in blog posts
Number of blog posts published daily: 7.5 million (source: Earthweb)
With such overwhelming competition, ensuring that your content stands out from the rest is more important than ever. And yet, many businesses fail to offer anything truly unique in their content.
It’s time to go beyond surface-level “how to” and listicle content and incorporate real customer case studies, personal anecdotes, and supporting data. This is unique content that only your business can provide and is difficult for any potential copycats to replicate.
Final thoughts on these five biggest blogging mistakes
If you’re blogging without a strategy, not promoting your content, writing for yourself instead of your audience, and ignoring SEO best practices, it’s no wonder you’re struggling to get results. But there’s hope!
Making a few simple changes can turn your blog into a powerful marketing tool that helps you achieve your business goals.
3 Responses
Somehow I managed to write over 100 blog posts in a year without an editorial schedule. But I did have a plan which included a clear set of measurable goals, and I followed that plan consistently. There are “mental muscles” you use when you write. Writing those first few quality posts might be painful, but eventually writing becomes a habit, and it gets easier with practice, and you find yourself in a zone where you can write well on a regular basis. Not only is that good for your business, but it just plain feels good to you. Especially the part about knowing that you wrote some quality writing. Listen to Anf.
Thanks for your comment Michael, it’s great to hear from someone who has found success in blogging. As you say you’ve just got to get started and work towards some clear goals.