Blogs are a digital marketing medium that is now over 30 years old. When done right, they can increase a company’s credibility, boost brand awareness, showcase thought leadership, enhance SEO and drive lead generation. Yet, some organizations still struggle to maximize this cost-effective and longstanding marketing initiative. Don’t fall prey to common blogging mistakes that can result in fatal blogging flaws.
6 Blogging Mistakes
Mistake #1: Failure to Identify New Ideas for Quality Content
There are more than 600 million blogs in the world. Larger organizations and platforms post weekly, if not more often, to consistently reach their audiences. With so many blogs and other types of digital content available, it can be challenging to contribute something innovative to the mix on a regular basis.
To consistently produce meaningful content and leverage multiple perspectives, there are multiple tactics to use. First, don’t be afraid to outsource to professional writers who can manage the many hats required for crafting quality content. Second, seek the expertise of thought leaders, colleagues and other experts. Third, continually pursue new knowledge and use high-quality and scholarly resources to stay informed about industry trends and news. Finally, you might even implement a guest blogging strategy to invite new voices into the mix.
It’s also an essential content development skill to reuse, recycle and update important topics to reach more audiences and keep content fresh. Regularly review content for subjects that can be expanded on, reworked or repackaged into a new blog. Reach out to your audiences to better understand what they really want to know and discover what users are already searching for online.
Mistake #2: Not Making Blogging Part of Your Business Strategy
With the quick churn of blog content, it’s easy to lose sight of how blogs contribute to the bigger picture. This can result in blog content that isn’t aligned with organizational messaging and that doesn’t resonate with target audiences. Create a written strategy establishing objectives supporting business goals and develop a consistent schedule that integrates with other marketing activities. When blog content doesn’t reach audiences, it won’t deliver results. That’s why it’s essential to distribute blog content across the mediums that connect with your target market. Leverage social media, newsletters, email and other channels to share content with audiences who can most benefit from your expertise.
Mistake #3: Producing Blogs That Don’t Reflect the Organization’s Brand
Brand alignment is essential to content marketing, but there is a fine line between showcasing your brand and being self-promotional. While blogs are not the place to tout product specs or promote new service options, they can be a great place to show prospects and clients more about the who, what and how of your organization. Leverage blogs to highlight expertise, highlight company culture and personality and demonstrate the solutions your organization provides. It’s critical to have a clear mission and vision driving the company, and that messaging should be visible in blog content. Use a brand style guide to communicate these overarching goals alongside core elements like logo, brand colors, taglines, tone and company culture.
Mistake #4: Not Sharing Blog Content Across Multiple Mediums
Blogs are traditionally a written medium, but today’s digital content seldom consists of text only. Visual content including relevant images, infographics, flow charts, branded materials or interactive content can greatly improve reader interest and retention. In one report, bloggers who include 10 or more images per post are the most likely to report “strong results” toward their blogging goals. Integrate blog content across multiple mediums to connect with varied audiences. Also, use blogs to share other forms of visual and audio content, including video or podcasts. For example, Rise25 leverages video podcast transcripts and conversations as blog content, allowing users the option to listen, read, watch or all three.
Mistake #5: Not Incorporating a SEO or Link Building Strategy
Organic search is responsible for 53 percent of all site traffic. Blogs that aren’t optimized for search are missing an important contributor for content visibility. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of enhancing your website to increase the quality and quantity of inbound website traffic via organic search engine results. Blog content that answers user questions is a great way to boost overall SEO. A few steps essential to a successful SEO blog strategy include: a focused keyword list that aims to address common prospect search terms; easy and visible site navigation; crawlable links that connect to other content on your site as well as credible external sources; and a link building strategy deployed across other websites, social media and relevant content.
Mistake #6: Not Producing Headlines that Deliver Results
Creating blog content requires many steps including in-depth research, multiple editing stages, formatting for the website and distribution across multiple channels. However, all of these steps can be hindered by one element: the headline. Blog titles can mean the difference between a user who clicks through to your content and one who scrolls past. Ensure blog titles are eye-catching, provocative, and entice users to want to click and read more. Use suggested headline structures or try evaluation tools like CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer or BuzzSumo’s Headline Generator. Consider what’s working for the competition and analyze what your readers have been clicking most to create titles that get results.
B2B Blogging Drives Real Business Results
Despite the fact that blogs are a critical marketing tactic for B2B organizations, the question of whether “blogging is dead” continues to surface. With more than 409 million people viewing more than 20 billion blog pages each month, it’s clear blogging isn’t dead. Perhaps the question marketers should be asking themselves is, “Is our blog dead?” When blogs stop reaching audiences and delivering the results you want, it’s time to rethink your approach. Don’t let simple blogging mistakes turn into fatal flaws. Make blogging an integral part of your marketing plan. With a strategic approach, you can make the most of this short-form, consistent and cost-effective medium, and leverage blogs to showcase your organization’s corporate differential.
