Writing a consistently high-quality blog isn’t as easy as you may think. It involves so much more than simply putting it online and waiting for customers to magically appear. This is essentially one of the many blogging mistakes people make all too often. Truth is, blogging is one of the best ways to drive inbound traffic and convert visitors into potential customers. It really should be a top priority in your marketing strategy.

How To Avoid Making Costly Blogging Mistakes

Considering the millions of blogs being published every day, how do you stand out from the crowd? What can you do to rank better for your target keywords? It all starts with creating consistently good blog posts, keyword research, analysis and writing with SEO in mind. To that end, we’d like to share some of the biggest blogging mistakes people make and how to avoid them.

Not Understanding Your Target Audience

If you’re writing a blog, you need to create content people want to read. It has to be something that fills a need which is connected to your business. You shouldn’t spend all your time and effort on a blog if you don’t understand what your readers are looking for.

Understanding your readership is actually pretty simple but you have to listen and ask yourself:

  • What are your potential customers telling you?
  • What are they struggling with most?
  • How can my business help solve their biggest concerns?

If you’re unable to answer these questions in detail, put some time aside and ask them. You could survey your community or get on the phone and talk to them.

Bad Writing And Incorrect Layout

blog writing tips

Not everyone can be Shakespeare but you don’t have to be as writing for the web is a different challenge altogether. Even the “best” writers get it wrong as it’s not the same as writing business correspondence, letters, essays, screenplays or a novel.

Many of the typical writing rules from your school days don’t apply. In most cases, the focus is on strategic keyword insertion and content layout as blogs must always be easy to read. This includes using short paragraphs, sufficient subheadings, bullets and numbering, bold and italics.

Pay careful attention to using jargon and complex language as keeping your writing simple is better. If you need help writing better online content, try the Hemmingway app or Grammarly.

Using A Bad Title or Headline

A blog headline should never be an afterthought and requires a great deal of careful planning. This is a crucial element as the first thing your readers will see is the headline so make it interesting and captivating. The idea is to draw them in and encourage them to want to read more.

A useful tip is to write down at least 10 different headlines for your blog post. It may seem like extra effort but it will be worth it as you’ll come up with a winning one quite easily. For some inspiration, look at some online headline templates or use Co-Schedule’s headline analyzer tool.

An Inconsistent Approach

Inconsistency is one of the biggest blogging mistakes you can make as it can stop your efforts in its tracks. This mainly refers to the frequency as you can’t just post random topics whenever you feel like it. Put a schedule in place whether it’s once a week, twice a month or once every three months. Whatever you decide, stick to it so that your readers know when to expect your content.

Remember, blogging is a long game, not a quick fix for lead generation and conversions. One of the common reasons bloggers fail is a lack of planning and execution. You should at the very least compile a quarterly editorial calendar outlining your schedule and the blog topics. Create a process that will keep you accountable and if you have a team, get them involved to ensure you meet the deadlines.

Not Implementing A Sound SEO Strategy

If you want visitors to find your content online, you need a proper SEO strategy. While some consider SEO as an overly complex process, it doesn’t have to be. Start with the basics and learn how to do keyword research. The process involves finding keywords your business can successfully rank for and this article will prove helpful.

Avoid using general terms that have a high search volume as these will not help people find you. Think of your keyword research efforts as a way of grouping your content based on high volume keywords or phrases that have little competition. If you need some more guidance on SEO, blogging and keywords, check out Neil Patel’s SEO Step-by-Step Guide For 2020.

Not Sharing On Social Media

Just because you’ve posted a few blogs online doesn’t mean Google will do all the work for you. Besides following SEO best practices, you also need to utilise the power of social media and email marketing. If you want people to read your content, they need to be seen, starting with a quality email subscriber list.

You need to provide you’re most loyal audience members with valuable content every week and good blogs will go a long way in doing just that. Don’t even think about ignoring social media as regularly posting your blogs will have a massive impact.

blogging mistakes and social media

Recommended: ‘Using Social Media To Boost Your SEO Campaign

Blogging Mistakes And Digital Marketing

Blogging is an inexpensive way to drive traffic to your website. It will help enhance your inbound marketing efforts and attract more prospective customers. If you are looking for a loyal customer following, a good place to start is creating high quality, engaging blogs that are easy-to-read with a clear call-to-action.

We hope that this breakdown of blogging mistakes highlights the importance of implementing a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. While a website is a non-negotiable, matching it with a quality, fully optimised blog will help improve your online efforts in a big way.

If you’re looking for an expert digital marketing partner, WSI eMarketing can help. We specialise in content marketing, SEO, PPC, social media, email and marketing automation. Visit our website or call us on 01453 542761 for more information.

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