Blogging is an essential investment for all businesses, no matter their size, as it is a key component of a well-rounded content marketing strategy.
Statistics suggest that companies that have blogs generate 67% more leads than those that do not.
However, many businesses often give up on their blogs if they do not see the desired traffic and leads right away. This means they are missing out on a great chance to grow their customer base.
Giving up on your blog is probably one of the biggest beginner blogging mistakes you can make. With some proactive attention, you can greatly improve the success of your blog.
Before throwing in the towel, it’s important to identify and fix common mistakes that companies frequently make.
In this article, you will find out the 12 most common blogging mistakes and how you can avoid them.
1. Not Writing on a Specific Group of Topics
The more specific niche you pick for your blog, the easier is it to satisfy your visitor needs and build your authority.
If your blog covers topics from travel to social media to beauty, that’s a good reason for visitors not to trust you. Besides, Google will be confused about what’s your blog is actually about and not regard it as authoritative.
But there’s a better and simpler way to go! Write on topics that relate to your products or services. For example, if you offer a project management tool, you may cover topics on
- team productivity,
- types of project management,
- team collaboration techniques, etc.
You may also consider writing on new feature releases, team achievements, etc. But your focus should be on educational content and on a specific topic (or group of topics).
2. Not Adding a CTA at the End of Blog Posts
You might be familiar with the term “content upgrade”. It’s the lead magnet that’s relevant to your post topic and you add it at the end of that specific blog post. Thus, you offer your reader to submit his/her contact details and download it.
Note that you shouldn’t have one single lead magnet for all your blog posts. Let’s look at an example.
Comm100 runs a blog on customer engagement via live chat, chatbots, etc. One of their blog posts is on the difference between omnichannel vs multichannel customer service. At the end of this post, you will find a content upgrade on a similar topic:
But when you read about KPIs that live chat managers need to track, you find another content upgrade in the end:
This is a perfect example of how to design your blog post pages and generate interested leads for your business.
Note that similar CTAs may appear throughout your blog post too. Not all users scroll down till the end, so you can try to convert them right during their read.
3. Writing Without SEO in Mind
SEO is not only about keywords but the process starts with determining how people search for solutions.
First, decide on the target keyword that you plan to rank for. Continue with finding 3-4 more keywords that are relevant to the context and have some search volume.
Don’t forget to divide your blog post into smaller sections and add header tags. Write a unique meta description, optimize your title tag and the URL before hitting the Publish button.
Not following these rules will make it harder for your visitors to find your content. Though there are other ways to drive traffic to your blog, organic search remains the top channel for traffic generation. In the end, you run a blog and business for your visitors, not just because, right?
4. Not Having a Permanent, Recognizable Writing Style
You have probably noticed that when we write blog posts for you, we use “we” rather than “I”. We use a conversational tone and address the reader with “you”. All these nuances are part of our blogging style that is used on a permanent basis.
You should define a similar writing style for your blog as well. Answer questions like “Should we use formal or conversational language?”, “Should we add fun phrases to our posts?”, etc.
Having a clear style helps you remain within the scope of your brand guidelines. You might be hiring different writers and all of them should follow the same style.
5. Not Adding Visual Elements to Blog Posts
Image by freepik
Well, it’s more than clear than creating text-based content is the main philosophy of blogging. But you can lose the reader’s attention right off the bat if visual elements don’t support your text.
According to PixelRockstar, a good ratio for adding images to blog posts is one image per 350 words.
Infographics, screenshots, even memes are great ways to diversify image types and make your blog posts more visually appealing.
You can even consider adding links to some Youtube videos that will again engage your readers and keep them longer on your site, as well as create eye catching graphics with free overlay tools such as these free sunflower SVG creatives!
6. Creating Generic, Poor headlines
According to TechJury, there are +1 billion websites worldwide and 4.4 million blog posts had been published only in March 2019. If you had a chance to appear in front of a user, that’s already a big achievement. But if the user didn’t like your headline and didn’t open the post, you lost the chance to convert him/her.
Some tips for writing great headlines include:
1. Asking a question, picking curiosity (Why isn’t [your checkout page converting?])
2. Educating on something (X ways to [decrease shopping cart abandonment],
3. Attracting with little-known hacks (10 home design hacks that a few people are using)
4. Promising an outcome (How to [ensure 200 free-trial signups for your software every day?])
5. Challenging the reader (Are you making these mistakes [while driving?])
Additionally, take into account the length of your blog article titles. According to recent stats, titles containing 6-13 words bring the highest traffic.
7. Writing “Heavy” Texts and Not Improving Readability
Do you pay attention to your sentence and paragraph length? Are you using passive voice too frequently throughout the text?
You may be expressing the greatest ideas and sharing the best tips on your blog. But if the text is hard to consume and you aren’t allowing enough space between lines, you’re definitely hurting the UX.
Yoast SEO is your go-to plugin (if you are using WordPress) in terms of improving readability and avoiding one of the most common blogging mistakes.
As you can understand from the suggestions below, your sentences should be 20 words max, your sections 300 words max, etc.
8. Not Posting Consistently
Another one of the most common blogging mistakes to avoid is not posting consistently.
To ensure the success of your blog, it’s important to regularly update it with fresh content.
Posting new blog entries once or twice a week is recommended.
However, often companies create a blog, publish a few posts, and then let it go stagnant. An outdated blog is unappealing and doesn’t establish you as an expert in your industry. This
So, always schedule your blog content and publish consistently. But, It’s also important to prioritize quality. When faced with a decision, always opt for quality over quantity.
9. Not Priotising Your Audience
To make sure that your blog content is successful in attracting traffic, generating leads, and increasing sales, it needs to connect with your readers and inspire them to take action.
One of the blogging mistakes new bloggers make is assuming that their content will do well without taking into account their audience or the specific actions they want them to take.
So, the key is understanding your audience and crafting content for them. To better understand your audience, you can conduct a short survey or a poll. You can also check out your niche forums on Facebook, Quora, and Reddit to find out what your target audience is most interested in.
Once you understand the audience, use your blog content to speak to them directly by answering the questions they are more interested in.
10. Not Proofreading Content Properly
Don’t hurry to think the work is done once you finish writing your piece of blog content.
So, not editing content before publishing is one of the common blogging mistakes new bloggers make.
Proofreading and editing is an important part of the writing process, even for experienced writers. Our first drafts usually require significant enhancements. Hubspot writing experts suggest taking 30 minutes to edit content. So, make sure to dedicate enough time to polish your writing. Fix any typos, or run-on sentences. You can use Grammarly to make it easier and faster.
Also, ensure that your story flows smoothly, just like it did in your initial outline.
11. Not Updating Old Content
Think back to the last time you searched for something and came across an article from 4 years ago. You may probably skip it and search for a fresher one.
So, another critical beginner blogging mistake that can cost you traffic and money is forgetting to revise and enhance your existing content.
To maintain long-term success, it’s crucial to periodically review and update your older blog posts. This ensures that the content remains relevant and accurate.
Therefore, be sure to check for broken links, outdated information, or topics that may no longer resonate with your audience. Keeping your blog content updated not only shows Google that your site is current and relevant but also helps to rank higher and establish credibility with your readers.
12. Not Writing Guest Posts
60% of blogs typically write 1-5 guest posts per month. If you’re not doing this, you could be missing out on a key strategy for your blog’s traffic and overall success.
Why is this important? Well, guest posts provide valuable backlinks to your site and demonstrate to search engines that your content is reputable.
Additionally, writing on the platforms of your niche can bring you more loyal followers. Therefore, don’t hesitate- start pitching for a blog post today!
Avoid Common Blogging Mistakes With the Andava Digital Team
Are you currently managing a blog or thinking about starting one? The Andava Digital’s team is here to produce search-engine-optimized content for your blog regularly, allowing you to focus on leading your team and engaging with your clients.
Reach out to us today and we’ll help drive targeted, qualified traffic to your website.
