Attention! These are the Top Mistakes to Avoid in Blogging

Today, no marketer can deny the importance of blogging in a marketing strategy. Blogs can increase customer engagement, drive traffic to your website, improve search engine optimization and gradually build up the brand’s authority in the industry. But not everyone is doing it right and below are the top rookie mistakes businesses make in blogging:

1. Not providing useful content to your audience 

Blogs are quite different from other marketing channels – it requires a deeper level of customer engagement and it is where you have to write really interesting and beneficial content to your audience instead of just ‘sales pitching’.

Before you start writing, it’s a good idea to conduct some background research on selected topics, look at other blogs from the same industry and think about how you can create differently. Think about your audience (their traits and behaviors) to find out the best ways

to approach them and what to blog about.

Unique and informative content with a goal to problem solve are ways to go to get the engagement you need and start capturing leads. Remember, in a world that is constantly stimulated, the attention span of your audience is pretty low. Don’t turn your blogs into massive paragraph blocks but write powerful content instead.

2. Not optimizing for SEO

Without a doubt, blogging is beneficial for your SEO. Not only does it keep your website current with fresh content, but it also reaches your target audience with relevant keywords that keep your business discoverable online.

Start simple by optimizing your title, headlines, meta description and content. Here are some useful tips:

• Focus on 1–2 long-tail keywords that match the intent of your target reader
• Include your 1–2 keywords in specific parts of your post.
• Make sure your blog is mobile-friendly and responsive.
• Optimize your meta description and use all the space.
• Optimize your images with image alt text.
• Don’t use too many similar topic tags.
• Use URL structures that help your visitors.
• Link internally and externally when possible.
• Use Google’s Search Console.
• Use topic clusters.
• Create evergreen content.

Although using keywords is critical in improving search, avoid keyword stuffing and do not try to outsmart Google algorithms. Repeating words and phrases unnecessarily or using words and phrases that are out of context or irrelevant – may be the reasons why your search ranking suddenly drops.

3. Lack of data as evidence

Data-driven marketing is a top priority for marketing leaders – with 40% of organizations aim to increase data-driven marketing budgets. If you’re not using data and research to back up arguments and leverage content – you’re losing the audience. Data and numbers make blog posts trustworthy – moreover, a data-driven blog title instantly grabs the audience’s attention and encourages them to read.

4. Not posting consistently

Blog marketing won’t bring you short-term results, in fact, it is a long-term investment that you should spend your time and effort seriously into. It’s crucial that your blog on a regular basis to gradually gain website traffic. Posting inconsistently may affect your website’s ranking in search engines such as Google.

Developing a blog strategy ahead and setting a blogging schedule are good ideas to start with. Blogging once or twice a month is ideal if you’re a beginner – you have enough time to invest in quality rather than quantity.

Don’t forget, consistency is key.

5. No Call-to-Action

According to Statisticbrain, 8 seconds is the average attention span of online users – and they don’t seem to have enough time to follow your “sales funnel” if you don’t transition your visitors to the next step. The fact is, even if you’re providing useful content, the chance of your audience checking out your products and services is still very low.

That’s why a strong call to action is essential to maximize your ROI. Some examples of killer CTAs for blogging:

• Make sure to follow us here! (link social media account)
• Share this blog post with others that may find it interesting!
• Leave a comment and let us know your opinion on this topic!
• Here is another related article that you might be interested in.
• Click here to learn more about (link other articles)
• Check out our products/services that can help you solve this problem.

6. Have you updated your old articles? 

This is one of the most common mistakes in blog marketing. As trends and keywords change regularly, editing your old posts with new keywords or up-to-date information can result in new traffic, making it much more recognizable in Google’s new algorithm.

And how to update your old blog? Try to add more information, including better images, improve SEO and attach new links to the current content.

Learn more about blogging with Robotic Marketer!

The Ultimate Guide to Blogging

8 Reasons Why You Need a Blog Content Strategy

What is content writing? Plus 8 tips to take your content to the next level.

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