It’s a bit premature to declare blogging a thing of the past. In fact, blogging for business purposes can serve as a valuable connection between you and your customers. As with any marketing tool, however, there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration if you want to achieve your desired goals.
This encompasses everything from selecting your target audience and maximizing your content for SEO to incorporating links and keeping your content relevant, fresh, and organized. Here are seven big blogging mistakes to avoid as a guide to helping you achieve these goals:
1. Talking to the Wrong Target Audience
It’s great to have an engaging blog with lots of followers. If, however, those followers have no interest in ever purchasing anything from you, you are targeting the wrong audience. Ways to fix this:
- Talk about topics related to your business or industry (avoid “shop talk” though)
- Offer useful tips and invite dialogs (set yourself up as a problem solver)
- Establish yourself as an expert in your field
2. Forgetting the Call-to-Action
A call-to-action isn’t just for your website. In the case of your blog, a call-to-action can be something like “What do you think?,” “Have you downloaded our latest eBook yet?,” or “Subscribe to our newsletter too.” You want to make it clear what you want your blog readers to do, even if it’s just to leave comments.
3. Lack of Fresh, Engaging Content
A blog is like a paper-trained puppy; you can leave it alone now and then without too much concern, but it still needs attention. Once you amass a nice group of loyal followers, you need to keep them engaged with fresh content. If you don’t have time to create content on a regular basis, you might consider buying blog posts and articles.
4. Business, Business, and More Business
Even if you’re avoiding shop talk, too much focus on your business isn’t a good thing. If you are not solving consumers’ problems, you are pretty much just running a glorified extension of your website. People don’t turn to blogs to find out how wonderful your products are, they want to know how products that you just happen to sell can solve problems they may have.
5. Lack of Attainable Goals
Have realistic goals for your blog. If you start your blog with short-term goals, you will be able to manage it easier as you attract more followers. If you are going to focus on content marketing, create an outline of your goals similar to what you do with your business for each quarter. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals, an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals that can help you develop a solid focus.
6. No Posting Schedule
Regardless of technology, people like schedules. If you just randomly post content when the mood strikes, you aren’t going to have many loyal followers coming back all that often. Blog platforms such as WordPress allow you to write in advance and set a post date. This allows you to store content and post it on a regular schedule.
7. SEO an Afterthought
SEO isn’t something you just take care of later by throwing in some keywords here and there. Learn the basics of SEO or hire a professional to take care of it for you. Well placed keywords and phrases can boost your blog traffic and place your blog higher in search engine rankings.
If you give your blog the attention it deserves, you can avoid making these 7 crucial mistakes. Have I missed any common mistakes that you can think of? Let us know in the comments below.
