Once you get into the swing of it, blogging can be child’s play.
When you’re starting out, it can be anything but that.
Just like every new thing in life you try, you’re going to make mistakes when you first start to blog but don’t be put off. It’s all part of the valuable learning curve, and so long as you learn from your mistakes, you’ll become stronger over time.
Most of the mistakes new bloggers make are easily fixable, especially the top 5 most common errors.
- Selling
Your blogs are not places in which to sell your products and services.
They are there to add value to your readers by providing them with free, high-quality content that they can use in their work or everyday lives.
Any blog that’s an out and out sales pitch will be ignored. By all means, put a call to action at the end to encourage people to get in touch with you for more information about you can help them overcome the issue you’ve blogged about, but don’t go over the top.
- Know your reader
As a blogger, you must remember that you are writing for a specific audience. As a copywriter, I write for people who are facing content issues, companies that are looking to hire writers and those who simply want to improve their writing. That’s why I write about all things to do with marketing, copywriting and social media.
My main love is cycling and I could easily bore the pants off my readers writing about it, but if I did I would soon lose a big part of my audience.
Write about what matters to your target audience and in a style that they can relate to.
- Quality should always be your focus
When you start out you want to get as much stuff out as you can. Your head will be swimming with loads of ideas. But before you go mad, slow down.
You must always concentrate on the quality of what you’re producing, not the quantity.
Google and your audience want high-quality content that really adds value, not loads of empty articles that offer nothing.
- Pictures
Yes, blogging is all about writing, but you can boost your readership by adding well-chosen images that enhance your content.
It’s all about making your article look interesting enough to read – something much easier to achieve with graphics and images than a pure wall of text.
- Read before you publish
It should be second nature to carefully read through your content before publishing to make sure no typos slip through the net.
But it is also important because of the nature of digital marketing. In the blogging world, there’s no room for fluff and padding. Readers want to get to the crux of the matter quickly and that means delivering your point quickly and succinctly.
It’s also important to link out to other relevant material to demonstrate your high level of expertise (if appropriate) and to enrich your readers’ experience.
If you can identify with any of these points, don’t worry they are all fixable. Concentrate on creating content that’s relevant to your audience and written in a style that’s engaging. And make sure every post counts.
For more information or advice about blogging drop Sally a line