5 Blogging Mistakes To Avoid
Blogging is a great way to build your business, but there are 5 blogging mistakes to avoid if you don’t want to waste your reader’s time.
As you probably already know…
… the internet is a very busy place.
Not only are you competing for your prospect’s attention, time, and bandwidth (the amount of brain capacity they have to give attention to your message)
You’re also competing against anyone else with a website or blog who could potentially steal your prospect’s attention, regardless of whether they’re a direct competitor or not.
Therefore, it’s critical that your blog posts are…
- Compelling
- On point
- Speak to the pains of your target audience
In other words…
You can’t waste your reader’s time!
Today more than ever, time is a precious commodity.
If even one of your blog posts wastes your reader’s time, you may lose their trust and their willingness to come back again to read future blog posts.
When done correctly, blogging can be an enormously effective way to build your brand and create offer awareness.
However, when done poorly…
… you not only risk losing your reader’s attention but you also risk doing damage to your brand or image.
Now let’s dive into the 5 biggest blogging blunders and find out if you’re making any of them.
5 Blogging Mistakes And How to Avoid Them
Every single blog post you write must…
- have a strategic purpose behind it
- contain high-quality writing
- speak directly to your readers “pains”
However, all to often blog posts contain mistakes that could be detrimental to your reader’s experience.
Here is a list of the 5 most common blogging mistakes (going from #5 down to #1) and suggestions on how to avoid them.
5.) Rushing The Process To Pump Out A Blog Post
It takes time, effort, and planning to write a strong blog post that compels your reader to take action.
So, #5 on our list of 5 blogging mistakes to avoid is… feeling the need to blog every single day.
Or what some people might call “blog for the sake of blogging”.
There may be some people out there that claim you have to blog every single day if you want to get results.
But the fact of the matter is…
… you don’t have to!
In fact, if you’re a “solopreneur” or small business owner with several responsibilities, finding the time to blog everyday can be extremely difficult.
Furthermore, if you do blog everyday simply because you feel compelled to…
… you might end up pumping out some pretty weak content.
If your reader’s start to feel like you’re pumping out content – just for the sake of pumping out content…
… chances are they’ll feel you don’t have their best interests in mind.
As a result, they’ll be less inclined to take the time to read your blog posts.
Suggestion: Before you write a blog post, you need to understand the commitment required to create a good piece of blog content.
Also, you need a basic sense of what goes into creating compelling content that will solve your reader’s pains.
Personally, I take anywhere from 2-3 days from start to finish to produce a blog post.
4.) Writing For Yourself And Not For Your Audience
The fourth mistake on our list of 5 blogging mistakes to avoid is… writing for yourself.
What I mean by that is, thinking of yourself and not your reader.
Just typing random thoughts into a blog template isn’t going to get you far.
Your content must be high-quality and provide legitimate value to your readers.
Additionally, (and this may sound a bit harsh) your reader doesn’t care about your past pains or struggles.
Your blog posts are not meant to be diary entries.
Your readers are concerned with their own problems… not yours.
As a result, while they’re reading your blog post they’re determining if your article will help them solve their problem
Or…
Are they wasting their time because all you’re doing is writing about your own issues and experiences.
Now don’t get me wrong…
Sharing your own story of how you once struggled and overcame obstacles can be very compelling.
It can serve as a way to help your audience resonate with you.
However, this story should be fairly brief and it must be on point.
If the story doesn’t help the audience see how your offer can also solve their problem…
… there’s a good chance you’re writing for yourself and not your audience.
Suggestion: If you don’t already, get to know your reader’s pains and struggles and determine how your product is a solution to their pain.
Then, focus you’re blog post on addressing and agitating the pain, so the reader realizes just how important it is to fix the pain.
Finally, explain how your product or service will be the “pain pill” for their pain, and then provide a strong Call to Action to lead them to the next step.
3.) Published Content Is Forgotten About
So you’ve produced and published your blog post and you even went so far as to share it on Social Media… once.
Now you miraculously expect thousands or even millions of people will find and read your blog post.
Not so fast my friend!
Our # 3 mistake on our list of 5 blogging mistakes to avoid is… published content is forgotten about.
Just because your content was posted once on Social Media doesn’t mean that many people saw it.
Furthermore, your goal with any blog post should be to get some SEO love from the Search Engines so you can get organic traffic directly to your post.
It takes a purposeful plan to ensure your content is distributed multiple times to ensure you get the most views to your blog post as possible.
Suggestion: In addition to sharing your blog post to your favorite Social Media outlets I recommend you also email your blog post to email subscriber list.
Let them know that you’ve recently published a blog post and the reasons why they should go check it out.
Also, don’t assume that because you posted your blog post to your Facebook Fan page that all of your fans saw it.
Put your blog posts on a constant rotation to ensure as much exposure as possible.
Use a tool like Post Planner so can put your content into a constant rotation and get maximum visibility as a result.
2.) Unclear Or Vague End Goal In Mind
There must be a strategy behind every blog post or piece of content you create.
This is why our #2 mistake out of the 5 blogging mistakes to avoid is… an unclear goal for the blog post.
Before you ever sit down to write a blog post you must have a clear idea what the objective is for your post.
Are you trying to…
- Generate leads?
- Create offer awareness?
- Acquire customers?
- Enhance your brand with viral blog posts?
Each of these are noble goals for a blog post.
However, the look and feel of one blog post to another will be different depending on which of these objectives you’ve chosen.
What customer “pain point” are you addressing?
How does this content fit into your marketing/sales funnel?
All of these things must be answered before you start, or your content is doomed to fail.
Suggestion: Reverse engineer your blog post. Keep the end game in mind first and work backwards as your creating your blog post.
Think to yourself…
“What do I need to do in order to accomplish the intended objective of this blog post? What action do I want my reader to take at the end?”
1.) Not Speaking To Your Target Audience
Speaking to your audience is a crucial part of your blogging and content strategy.
If your content doesn’t resonate with your readers specifically… they won’t take action.
This is why not speaking to your target audience is #1 on out list of 5 blogging mistakes to avoid.
The key here is to determine exactly who your Customer Avatar is and write with them in mind.
Suggestion: Think about your Customer Avatar, and understand the pain points they’re currently experiencing.
Then ask yourself… “what value will they get from this blog post I’m writing?”
Plan how you will address their specific pains in your blog post and make sure your offer is a solution to those pains.
Blogging Mistakes To Avoid: Final Thoughts
Blogging is a powerful tool but your efforts will not succeed if you’re making these common blogging mistakes.
Now that you understand the 5 most common blogging mistakes to avoid it’s time for you to take action and start writing some great blog posts.
Grab the Ultimate Blog Post Writing Formula HERE and ensure that you’re prospects and readers are paying attention to your blog posts today!
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