Blogging can be such an effective means of communication. It allows you to brand yourself, attract viewership, differentiate yourself from your competitors and generate business leads. Common mistakes can break the momentum of a great blog. All you have to do is fall prey to simple mistakes.
Avoid the following blog writing mistakes to make your blog stand out
Inconsistent publishing
Do you remember the last time you published an article? Do you follow a time table? If you can’t answer these questions off the top of your head, it means you are blogging inconsistently.
You need to keep a blogging schedule and stick to it! Without consistently blogging, you can easily become side tracked. Blogging whenever you feel like will lead to confusion amongst readers. Your readers will not know when they can expect another blog post from you. Keeping a schedule will ensure you stay on top of publishing posts.
Focusing on yourself a little too much?
Do you constantly only talk about yourself? Your business? Your products? Your services? No one wants to know about you! Your blog is supposed to provide information to readers and eventually to your potential customers.
Think about what people care about? What can you do to make them happier? How can you help to make them better? Do you have any questions? If you can’t answer these questions, then make sure you find out.
Weak blog titles
No one will want to read your blog posts if the title doesn’t jump out to the audience. Bloggers don’t spend any real time on making their blog post titles attractive.
Improving headlines will gain readers but will also speak to a specific niche. Your boring headlines will lead to low readership.
No images
Readers like to see bright, colorful, relevant images on posts. If there are no images then you may miss the attention of your readers. Before reading content, readers look at the image to determine whether the post is worth another glance. If the picture isn’t attractive, then it is unlikely your article will be read.
Before posting an article, make sure the image you intend to use is free for distribution and use. If it isn’t, then make sure you give credit to the image’s owner. Also, inform them that you have used their image in your article.
Ignoring the audience is a no-n0
You have written excellent content and advised your readers. Now what do you do? Every single one of your blog posts should address your readers and involve them by asking questions and their opinions. Your friends will feel more inclined to dropping a comment.
Excessive SEO optimization
Target keywords must be added to blog posts to add SEO value. Everyone knows that. But we begin to make mistakes when we begin writing for search engines instead of our readers. Focus on your readers, not Google. They aren’t your target audience. Write for your readers, but incorporate keywords into your content. Gaining readership is far more important than impressing Google or other search engines.
Ignoring comments is just plain rude
Did you write the blogpost to engage with your readers? If they leave a single comment, be it good or bad; make sure you don’t ignore them. Even one comment, means someone is interested. Every single comment deserves a response. All readers look for comments and your interaction. Interaction means further comments. Try to keep an open dialogue with your readers. This is such a fundamental blog writing mistake.
Not sharing on social media is a huge opportunity missed
There’s no point in posting on your blog and not sharing on social media. For serious bloggers, you need to build relationships with your readers. When publishing blog posts, make sure you share each and every article on social media. By adding a customized message when sharing, you can add value to the link.
Bad blogger relationships
Build relationships with other bloggers because you can benefit from one another. In time, you will be able to write posts on their blogs and they can post on yours. Building relationships take time and commitment. Make sure you build a rapport before asking to post articles on other blogs. Read blogs, share meaningful comments, share relevant posts and engage with readers on social media.
Outsourcing content to amateurs
If you have decided to outsource your content make sure you have employed someone who will help develop valuable and quality content. Ghostwriters don’t usually meet the quality standards your blog deserves. They don’t know your audience, your business or motivation. No one can understand your business better than you. If you need help, hire experts who can improve your blogging efforts instead of bringing them down.
Have you ever made any of these mistakes when writing blog posts? Do you have any additional suggestions on how to avoid blog writing mistakes? Share with us by dropping a comment below.
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