7 Biggest Mistakes Made By Newbie Blog Writers
Blogging is big business. There are supposedly two million blog posts written every day, so the real challenge is standing out.
Sadly, the vast majority of bloggers never build a decent audience, and it’s usually because they make one of the seven common mistakes detailed below…
No depth in their writing
The majority of blog posts aren’t providing any new, instead just regurgitating information that has already been published elsewhere.
Most bloggers aren’t going into depth with their posts either, deciding instead to keep their posts under 1,000 words.
This is a waste. Research shows that posts which rank well in Google are typically longer than 1,000 words. In fact, the longer, the better. Longer articles tend to attract more shares too. Consider writing more comprehensive posts, less often.
They blog all about themselves
This is a controversial point, because there are many famous YouTubers who have made it big by vlogging about their lives. However, they are the exception not the rule, and have made it big by virtue of their engaging personalities. This isn’t easy, especially if you’re using words instead of video.
The truth is: most blog readers only care about themselves. Even if your post is all about you, at least title it so the reader knows how they’ll benefit from reading it. Include the lessons you learned from whatever experience you’re writing about. Offer advice based on your experiences.
Too difficult to subscribe
Blog posts which don’t include buttons for social media follows or email subscription are a basic fail on the part of a writer. There are plenty of WordPress plugins that will add these automatically.
Blogging too broadly
If you’re blogging about all sorts of topics, it’ll be difficult to attract subscribers who LOVE what you’re writing about. Your writing will be hit and miss in their eyes.
No strategy to build an audience
Intelligent bloggers will draft an audience-building strategy BEFORE they start writing. This includes the SEO keyword they’re going to target, as well as the influencers and forums they’re planning to share the post with. Foolish bloggers believe in ‘build it and they will come’.
No images or run-of-the-mill stock imagery
Trying to stand on social media without a striking original image is akin to losing your needle in a haystack. Even if someone comes across it, they’re going to breeze right past it.
An original well-optimized image will attract more readers from social media, and could potentially rank well in Google image search too. It’s well worth the time and/or money invested.
No call to action
Chances are, you’re blogging for a reason. It’s likely to be either to build more subscribers or to ultimately sell a product or service.
Whatever you want the audience to do after reading your blog, they need to be TOLD to do it with a strong call-to-action and a link pointing them to the right place.
If you need help implementing change to get your blog posts aligned with the right techniques, get in touch with the team at DBR Visuals to learn how we can help improve your website - (505) 217 9152.
