Blogging is difficult to get into and sustain but the benefits are clearly documented by every digital marketer out there. Your website needs to be found! So, the more pages you have about your services and business the more chance you have of being found and you should capitalise on it! But what stops your blogs from being helpful or being read? Here are 17 mistakes that people constantly make on a regular basis that can affect your blog, website, conversions and rankings.
Mistake #1 Selling yourself
Blogging is NOT about you. It’s about providing information that potential customers can either gain their own skills or helps with their research. 97% of website traffic is about your potential customers doing research. They want to know tips, strategies or points of interest in your type of industry or business. I’m not saying don’t stick a call to action at the bottom of the blog but you shouldn’t be telling people why they should choose you. That’s not going to help people read it and your bounce rate will just increase which will affect your conversions.
Mistake #2 Not writing enough
You need to make sure you can write enough about the topic of interest. Yoast, which is an SEO plugin, gives an example of 300 words at least should be on each page of your website. I would go further to argue this as Hubspot carried out a huge study of organic search traffic and page word count. They found that 2,250–2,500 words is the “sweet spot” at which blog posts bring in the most readers. That doesn’t mean that you write an essay for each. It does depend on the blog, but I would recommend aiming nearer the thousand mark rather than the three hundred word mark.
Mistake #3 Messing up your title/heading
Your title is your meta-title for SEO. It’s what you want people to find you for and what the subject of your topic is. It needs to be related to the content or you risk potential customers, again, bouncing straight off your website as it’s not what they wanted. It also gives you less credibility if you are purposely trying to drag people in with a title you know gets a lot of traffic. There is also a balance between getting it right for SEO and to make it sound more interesting for Social Media.
Mistake #4 Writing about your own beliefs
If your beliefs in the blog are about your certain business beliefs then that’s fine. But, if you start writing about your own political beliefs and it is in no way related to your business then your wasting your own and others time. Nobody cares what you think about religion or “Why Tories are Shit”. Why do you BELIEVE your product or service is better than the next leading contender? Why do you BELIEVE that this strategy is better than that strategy? Why do you BELIEVE these are the best tips about baking? Your opinion is allowed and it is about your voice, but keep to the point and keep it about your business voice.
Mistake #5 Never replying
Check your comments on your blog. You’ll find that most are spam but do check them and reply if thought to be genuine.
Mistake #6 Not knowing the audience
Are you telling others in your field about a certain topic or are you telling newcomers about it? If, for example you are sharing your expertise with others in your business then you can probably be more formal and use some business jargon that you all know. However, if you are writing for a person doing research or new to the industry then make sure you write in layman terms or explain the jargon.
[the_ad id=”32845″]Mistake #7 Not sharing
Your blog gains traffic from sharing and caring. Make sure to share it with your own social media profiles on different platforms. You can also share them again and again. Pick a short line or, like this blog, just one of the tips and encourage them to read more about the subject by putting the link in your post.
Mistake #8 Going off topic
Remember to check your title and make sure you are still writing about the same topic. If it gets confusing then reign yourself back into the correct subject you are writing about.
Mistake #9 Writing for yourself
I have previously said if you find it interesting then others will find it interesting. I still stand by this but you should be finding topics that are interesting to you, research further and then start writing if there is evidence that other people are interested.
Mistake #10 Writing for SEO
If you are filling your blogs with overstuffed keywords and locations then you are not writing a blog and are purely focused on getting it ranked in Google. It might start ranking but trust me, it will soon drop and you will lose beneficial traffic.
Mistake #11 Not writing for SEO
Counter arguing the previous tip, if your not answering a long-tailed question and certain Keywords regarding the topic are not mentioned in your blog then it won’t rank and nobody will benefit from your work. Except of course for sharing on social media.
Mistake #12 Holding back
You are an expert in your field so share your knowledge. Don’t hold back. If someone is having difficulty understanding why their website coding isn’t working and you know the answer, tell them. Share the knowledge.
Mistake #13 No schedule
Think I’ve mentioned this enough now. Keep blogging regularly and stick to it.
Mistake #14 Expecting instant results
Like most digital marketing tactics, blogging is a long game process. It’s there for your customers, potential customers and researchers. It’s also not going to rank yesterday.
Mistake #15 Expecting sales through their blog
As previously stated, over 97% of website traffic is only doing research and are not going to buy from you today, tomorrow or ever. Just keep it up and don’t get disheartened about lack of business through it. It’s about establishing credibility and authority in your business as well as providing your potential, previous and current customers with information and knowledge.
Mistake #16 No Email sign up
You want to provide your readers with further knowledge about your services, any sales and any further updates about your blogs and services. An email sign up will provide you with the opportunity to get back in touch with these people who are interested in the future.
And Final mistake number…
#17 Hate doing it
Getting too bogged down with the SEO and “is it interesting enough” can provide you with a headache and take away the fun of writing blogs. So, finally, your blogging experience should be fun and your passion should shine through.
Have any more questions or your own thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment below.