If you’re a business hoping to drive more traffic, generate more leads and establish credibility, you better be blogging! Did you know that 81% of U.S. online consumers trust information and advice from blogs? If you’re not consistently blogging on relevant topics, you miss out on opportunities to not only build a loyal following but deliver significant value and education to your leads, prospects and customers.
Already blogging you say? Awesome. Kudos to you! But what if you’re already blogging and not seeing the engagement, leads or traffic you envisioned when you began? You might be making some critical blogging errors without even realizing it!
At Stratus Interactive, we read, write and analyze blogs all day. We see blogs that get us excited but sadly, we more typically come across blogs that are struggling. Blogs that need a little TLC, and blogs that need a full-fledged marketing intervention.
I asked the Thinkers and Creators here at Stratus to identify some of the most common and cringeworthy mistakes they see in their blog travels. Take a look at what they said, and if you’re guilty of anything on the list, make it your goal to stop!
Sin #1 - Comments on your blog are scarce.
You post a well-written, extensively researched blog on a popular topic. You grab a bag of popcorn, sit back and wait for the comments to start flooding in.
*Crickets*
What went wrong? How could your blog possibly have failed? No engagement could be a sign that no one knows your blog exists or that the topic isn’t relevant to their interests and needs.
First things first, take steps to get your content seen. This means sharing your blog post on all the right social media platforms, sending blog round-up emails to subscribers and reaching out to key influencers in your industry and seeing if they’d share your content. We use a 1:1 rule of thumb — for every hour you spend writing the blog you should spend an hour promoting it!
If you promote your content in every way possible and still see little to no comments rolling in, take a long, hard look at your blog topic. Is this blog offering significant value or insight to your readers? Does it answer their burning questions and solve their challenges?
Get the conversation started by writing about a topic that readers care about. You could even take a risk and write on a more controversial issue that’s bound to catch their attention and elicit a response. And when you do get that coveted comment action, don’t forget to respond!
Sin #2 – It’s been said a million times before.
Did you run out of creative ideas for your blog and turn to other popular blogs for inspiration? Sure you could build on a topic others are already writing about, but you’re risking redundancy and littering the Internet with content that’s been written, well, just to publish content.
Readers don’t want to read the same thing twice, even if you did put your own little spin on the topic. So now you’re competing against that blog you initially chose for inspiration rather than publishing thought-provoking content your readers need, want or crave.
If you’re struggling to think of new blogging ideas, maybe it’s time to go in a new direction. Instead of focusing on the same old topics, think outside of the proverbial box. What pain points are keeping your readers awake at night? What’s causing them to work longer hours at the office and miss dinner with their kids?
Imagine you are the reader and ideas will flow. If you worry that your target audience cares about the same old things, you don’t have to completely abandon ship. In this case, think of different ways to present your insights. Maybe you’ve been posting educational blogs that explain or dissect relevant industry topics. A new idea is to get quotes or conduct an interview with a subject matter expert in your company and present an “insider expert view” on the topic.
Sin #3 – You don’t really know what you’re talking about.
How can you educate others on a topic you don’t know well yourself? Take the time to learn as much as you can about the topic you’re writing about. Fill your bookshelf (aka kindle, kindle app for the iPhone, or browser bookmark list!) with industry and subject related books and articles. We do live in the information age after all!
If your blog contains information that is inaccurate, outdated or unsupported, readers are going to turn elsewhere for more reliable material. Often an under-informed writer is easily identified and other times it will take a reader several blogs to realize, but there’s a solid chance your cover will be blown if you’re not truly “in-the-know.”
Plus, if you can teach your readers something new or exciting, they may be motivated to share your blog on social media. Social shares increase the “social proof” credibility and reputation factor, in turn helping establish you as a thought leader in your space.
Sin #4 – You’re the only one writing about the topic.
Writing about a unique topic may give you a first-mover advantage, but it may also mean the topic you’ve chosen is too narrowly focused. If no one else is writing about the topic, it may be because readers don’t actually care about the issue. It could also be an indicator of a nonexistent or highly underdeveloped audience.
Creating a demand or cultivating an audience isn’t impossible but it can be incredibly time-consuming work. Sometimes that work pays off, sometimes it doesn’t. While we love an ambitious writer, a well-thought-out path of least resistance can be equally rewarding!
If you’re guilty of one or even all of these cardinal sins, don’t throw in the towel. Just make some adjustments to your strategy and continue to monitor the results. As with most marketing channels, a successful blog requires ongoing analysis to see what’s working well and what’s flopping. This is all part of the process and rather than let lackluster results discourage you, use them to fuel your resolution to get better! Happy blogging!
If you need ideas about how to create blog content that converts, download our "Blogging for Business" guide for some of our favorite methods!
