In today’s era of technology, your business needs an online presence to remain relevant. A website offers a low-cost solution to extend your business reach to a global audience. One of the most important features of your site is your company blog. A blog allows you to create compelling content that resonates with your target audience, influencing their purchase decisions. A blog that provides a steady stream of traffic to your website is invaluable if you want to sell your site.
Anyone can create a blog, but it’s what you do with it that counts. Think of your blog as a medium to convey your company’s mission and identity. Every piece of content that you publish must meet the standards of your company. If you publish poor content, that’s a reflection on your business.
If you’re planning to launch a blog for your business, here are 5 mistakes to avoid with your content and publishing.
Generating the Wrong Content Ideas
All your posts on your blog must relate to some aspect of your business. Don’t make the mistake of publishing content that has no relevance to your target audience; this is the fastest way to lose your readers.
Highlight real issues in your industry and offer solutions through your writing. It’s common for bloggers to experience moments of “writer’s block” where they struggle to generate new topics to discuss.
Reach out to industry influencers, colleagues, and competitors to find out what challenges they are facing. Create your content around these topics and always end your blog with a call to action asking your readers to leave their comments. Reader comments will give your further ideas for content to create in the future.
Writing as an Authority
Writing your first post is an exhilarating experience. However, many bloggers choose to write from the point of authority. This approach makes the content seem dry and unappealing to the reader. Do you remember the last time you enjoyed reading a research paper?
To drive engagement, use a professional tone with a semi-formal approach. Drop pieces of humor when appropriate to improve readability and engagement.
Plagiarism
The use of plagiarism in your content is the fastest way to sink your blog into obscurity. The Panda update released by Google heavily penalizes duplicate and plagiarized material. It’s tempting to copy and paste someone else’s work and call it your own, especially when pressed for time.
However, this strategy will come back to haunt you in the future and may derail your entire digital marketing strategy. If you do choose to use someone else’s content in your blog, always cite your sources and give credit to the original author.
Writing Style
If you’re new to blogging, it may take some time to develop your writing style. When you’re first getting started, write the way you talk. Imagine that you’re having a conversation and try to make the sentences flow as if you were speaking to someone directly.
This strategy of writing helps the reader to relate to the issues discussed in your post. No-one wants to read a dry, boring article that puts them to sleep. Communication is vital in business, and your blog offers an opportunity to communicate and connect with your target audience.
Revising Work
Business owners are busy people, so it’s understandable that you would want to wrap up your writing as soon as possible to attend to other pressing business matters. This approach is a recipe for disaster. Readers will notice any grammar mistakes immediately, and this may affect their decision to read your blog and return to it in the future.
Spend a few minutes after writing to edit your post for readability, grammar, spelling, and other mistakes you may have unintentionally made. There are many software tools available to assist you with your editing process. Remember; to err is human: to edit, divine.
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