6 Blog Mistakes That Are Costing You Leads

With all of the information floating around the world wide web, sometimes it can be difficult to decipher whether or not what you’ve come across is helpful or a hindrance.

With such an abundance of information spilling out onto search engine results pages, there is little room for content creation error.

For bloggers, this idea of constructing a post that is able to outperform the competition can often feel like a mission impossible.

Unfortunately, the truth is that we all make mistakes. Sometimes we overestimate ourselves, other times we lose sight of our goals, sometimes we miss our morning coffee and things begin to downward spiral from there.

The point is that blogging can often feel like a dog eat dog kind of endeavor, which is why we’ve highlighted 6 blogging mistakes to help your business stay on top of your competition.

1. Quantity Over Quality

When it comes to content creation, many bloggers find themselves sacrificing quality for quantity.

In order to determine what “high quality content” means for your business, look back at content that has performed well and generated strong results. Use metrics like page views, leads, and reader engagement levels to help you determine what type of content is well received by your audience.  

While ideally you want to update your blog several times a week, it’s better to take the time to create one well-thought out post than a handful of watered down ones.

2. No Below Post CTA

By accompanying your blog post with an relevant, resourceful call-to-action, your business is able to effectively encourage conversions on landing pages.

However, before you go tossing in any old CTA, consider the importance of placement. We advise bloggers to not only take advantage of the opportunity to increase conversions with an applicable call-to-action, but also work towards incorporating them at the end of a post rather than somewhere in between.

Why?

A call-to-action at the end of a blog post will ensure that you are not steering your readers away from the content within your article before they read it through all the way. Once you’ve ushered your readers to the end of the blog post, you can then present them with an opportunity to advance their understanding in exchange for some basic contact information.

3. Content Is Not Mapped to Your Customer’s Needs

In order to achieve both the respect and attention of your readers, it is critical that your place a strong emphasis on creating content that is designed to meet their wants, needs, and expectations.

Rather than pushing your product in the face of your potential customers, ask yourself the following questions:

1) What are the problems/challenges my audience is dealing with?

2) How can I help?

Work towards creating content through the eyes of your audience. Focus on highlighting your brand’s unique benefits, and push marketing messages that aim to provide value over anything else.

4. Not Promoting Your Content

It is important for bloggers to understand that each piece of content they create is an asset to their brand. With all that goes into creating a high quality blog post, the next step is promoting your work to ensure that it receives the type of attention in which you expect and deserve.

While we do not encourage you to overdue self-promotion, it is certainly possible to strike a balance. To avoid the sound of virtual crickets, we advise bloggers to use social media and network connections to drive traffic back to your resourceful posts.

Rather than simply blasting out the title of your most recent blog post, consider the content your audience wants to engage with. Be clever. Focus on formating posts that feel conversational rather than promotional.

5. Having an Unclear Audience

Blog posts without a defined audience simply take up space. Knowing your buyer personas, and which persona you are writing for will help you guide the direction of your content.

As a content creator, your job is to produce posts that provide value to your audience. Not all of your content is going to lend itself well to everyone, which is why it is important to create content that speaks to a particular audience.  

While many bloggers have a strong understanding of their topic, it is nearly impossible to form a connection through your writing if your audience is unclear.

6. Overdoing Industry Jargon

The trouble with too much industry jargon is that it can make your readers feel inferior. While we may be familiar with all of the terms and tricks of the trade, mudding down your language with advanced terms has the ability to build a barrier between the consumer and the content creator.

Avoid putting forth content that requires decoding. To ensure that your blog posts are reader-friendly, consider asking an outside source to review them. If it make sense to them, you’re in the clear.

While you want to communicate your expertise, try to spell out your examples in a language that lends itself well to your intended audience.

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