Blogging is one of those tasks that’s become synonymous with online marketing over the past decade, but the harsh reality is that many businesses still don’t understand how to successfully leverage this powerful tool.
The bad news is that businesses are missing out on opportunities to build relationships with customers and drive sales. The good news is that most of the issues associated with blogging are easily correctable. Let’s check out some of the things you may be doing wrong and how you can overcome them.
1. Writing About the Wrong Topic
It may seem like a no-brainer, but you need to make sure you’re writing about a topic that you actually like. Neil Patel, renowned blogger and internet marketer, feels like this is one of the most important concepts when starting a blog. He encourages people and businesses to ask themselves this one simple question before getting started: “Is this something you enjoy?”
Sadly, a lot of businesses write about topics because they feel like they have to. Well, this isn’t true. There’s almost always a way to put an interesting spin on a topic, so make sure you’re going with a niche that excites you and your audience. Otherwise, you’ll end up throwing in the towel prematurely.
2. Inconsistent With Publishing
If you’re going to blog, then you need to go all in. It’s not professional to publish five posts one week, two posts the next, and none the week after that. Your readers want consistency.
This means it’s your responsibility to develop a consistent writing and publishing schedule. The best way to stay on track is by creating a content calendar that you can plan months in advance. This holds you accountable and ensures your readers are satisfied.
3. Too Much Self-Promotion
Your business blog is a marketing tool – this much is true. However, it shouldn’t be a billboard or an advertisement. Self-promotional blogs never work and you’re writing a death sentence if you intend to talk about yourself 100 percent of the time.
The goal of a blog is to generate traffic, engage visitors, and then gently encourage them to follow through on some sort of call-to-action – such as signing up for your email list, visiting a landing page, or purchasing a product. But the self-promotion should only occur very briefly at the end of the post. The remaining 95 percent of your post should revolve around a topic that interests your audience.
4. Bad Writing
It’s amazing how many business blogs feature downright terrible writing. This is almost always a direct byproduct of an unwillingness to pay for a professional copywriter, but the irony is that bad writing costs much more than good writing. Bad writing drives away conversions, while good writing pays for itself by directly increasing conversions.
If writing isn’t your forte, that’s fine! The best piece of advice is to focus on your strengths and hire someone to compensate for the areas in which you lack. Everyone will be happier.
5. Not Making Content Shareable
The key to developing a profitable business blog in today’s age is to make content shareable. If you aren’t doing this, then you’re squandering any opportunity you may have to be successful.
While it’s possible to attract some organic traffic from search engines, the majority of your visitors will come from backlinks and social media. Focus on making your content shareable and you’ll see some major spikes in traffic.
It’s Time to Turn a New Leaf
You can’t do anything about the mistakes you’ve made in the past, but you can educate yourself and prevent errors in the future by heeding the advice laid out in this article. While blogging won’t ever be easy or effortless, it can be more productive.
Make it one of your primary goals for 2017 to correct your blogging strategy.