5 Common Business Blogging Mistakes You Should Avoid
Business blogs have been proven to be valuable not only in boosting SEO but also in driving more leads. In fact, a study revealed that marketers who utilize blogs get 67% more leads than those who don’t. Blogs are also essential tools in establishing the credibility of your brand and, in turn, cultivating customer trust and promoting sales.
With that said, it’s indisputable that blogs are a crucial part of a brand’s content marketing strategy, but more often than not, many businesses commit mistakes that could undermine the huge potential of their blog. Here are five common business blogging mistakes to be aware of, and some tips on how to avoid them:
1. Not having a consistent posting schedule
Many businesses, especially those that are still starting out, often do not have the time, resources, or skills to start and maintain a blog. That’s why it’s common for some brands to not have a consistent posting schedule—after all, blogs take time and commitment in order to reap its full potential. But inconsistency could adversely affect your organic traffic, subsequently hurting your chances of capturing qualified leads. Your blog readers could also lose interest in your brand when you don’t post on your blog regularly.
How to avoid this: Have an editorial calendar and commit to having a regular posting schedule. Depending on your availability and resources, make it a point to post at least once per week. The key here is consistency so that your readers can know when to expect new content from you.
2. Not having a call to action
As mentioned, blogs are effective tools for capturing qualified leads, and this can be done through a simple call to action (CTA) at the end of every article. Unfortunately, this is often overlooked by businesses. The thing is, customers—however interested they are in your business—still need to be prompted to take a certain action to further lead them down to the sales funnel, which is why a CTA is an essential part of every lead generation tool, including blogs.
How to avoid this: The resolution is pretty straightforward: Have a call to action at the end of every article. The key here is to be clear on where you want to lead your customers: Do you want them to contact you, subscribe to your mailing list, or go to your product/service page? It’s also important to have a dedicated landing page if called for, so as to simplify the conversion process.
3. Not optimizing for search engines
One common pitfall of business blogs is the lack of implementation of proper SEO techniques. While the main goal in blogging is to convey relevant and helpful information to your target audience, your efforts may be in vain if your content cannot be discovered and indexed by search engines. SEO is crucial in any digital marketing strategy, and more so for blogs that rely heavily on written content.
How to avoid this: Do keyword research to determine the best and most relevant keyword phrases for your blog content; you can use free tools such as Google Keyword Planner and Keyword Tool. It’s also important to apply on-page SEO strategies to further boost the discoverability of your blog content. Here’s a handy checklist to help you get started.
4. Not promoting your blog articles
On the same vein as the previous point, it doesn’t make sense to write a blog content that cannot be seen by your target audience. Many businesses make the mistake of writing really good content on their blogs, but failing to promote it. Brands should have a proactive approach in promoting and sharing their blog content to maximize its exposure.
How to avoid this: Have a social media calendar and plot out the dates when to share your blog articles across different channels. It’s also a good idea to re-share certain content after a few months or so. You can also participate in relevant social media groups on Facebook and LinkedIn and share your articles there.
5. Not proofreading your blog articles
An excellent blog article is defined by the relevancy of its content to your audience and the quality of its writing. A common mistake for many businesses is failing to proofread their articles before publishing them. Grammatical errors and poorly phrased sentences could significantly affect the quality of your blog articles, and ultimately, the credibility of your brand.
How to avoid this: Hire a person who can act as an editor or proofreader. The article writer and proofreader should be two separate people, so as to avoid editorial bias. It’s also helpful to have a “house style” for your editing guidelines to ensure that your brand message and style is consistent throughout.
In Conclusion
Blogging is a core element in digital marketing, and when done right, it has a huge potential in growing your business. If you want to know more, or if you need help with any of your content marketing needs, give us a call at 888-420-5115, or send us an email to [email protected].
Tags: blog, business blog, content marketing, digital marketing, SEO
