The content marketing has undergone a sea change. It is evident from the fact that 77% of the IT companies have increased their content production in 2015. Ergo, it has become too difficult to get your content noticed.
Blogging has become quite popular among web users. An increasing number of companies are also taking the content marketing dive. But the ever-growing competition in the online marketplace has led many bloggers quit.
Blogging is a lot more than just sitting on the internet and writing niche-specific articles. A blog's success starts with establishing a strong foundation.
Blogging only is not enough if it is not reaching your target audience. It involves a complete strategic planning from the first step itself.
To help you out, here is the list of 9 blogging mistakes you can avoid while starting your first blog:
1. No Target Audience
The most common mistake the new bloggers make is that they do not set their target audience. The content that you write needs to reach the correct people and not just every random person.
When you target a specific kind of audience, you get better results. The writing pattern should be such that the target audience understands it.
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For an instance, if you are writing for the common people who aren't very fluent in English, you should use the common vocabulary instead of sugarcoated fancy words. Hence, defining a proper blogging strategy and a target audience is must for the new bloggers.
2. Stiff Writing
While writing on the blog, you should know that you are not just writing but interacting with your reader. The readers should be able to relate to your content, the moment they read it.
The words you write should speak themselves on your behalf. The bookish and machine fed writing can help you in optimization but the loyal readers are built when you give them the right reasons.
Write like you talk. You can be conversational which certainly encourage your readers read your content and understand the message you are tiring to convey.
After all, people want to interact with real people, not robots.
See Also: Tips and Tools To Become An Effective Content Marketing Writer
3. No Editing
Do not just rush into posting the content without proof reading and editing it. This is as important as writing the content. One mistake found by the reader and you are gone.
Every eye that reads your content judges you and a small mistake can affect your traffic adversely.
Make it a mandatory step to edit your content before publishing it finally. Moreover, while editing your content you can ensure highest standards of quality.
4. No Schedule
Neil Patel admitted that his biggest mistake was not posting for an entire month. It took 3 months to get back the same amount of traffic.
One should have a habit of writing regularly, especially when you know it is your bread and butter. Maintaining a calendar for scheduling all your posts can help you maintain the traffic on your blog.
Social Media sharing should be done with even more concern as the traffic from there suffers a huge drop if you stop posting.
See Also: 6 Effective Content Distribution Ideas to Increase Social Media Traffic
5. Plagiarized Content
Copying the content on your blog is landing you nowhere. The one who wrote it is the one who will reap the fruits. Using somebody else's content on your blog can take your rankings way behind. Google penalizes for using somebody else's content without permission.
Using plagiarized content not only makes you lose an opportunity to interact with your audience but also drastically influence your search engine rankings. And I am sure you wouldn't want that. So, drop the idea of copy and pasting.
See Also: 15 Online Content Writing Tools That Help Bloggers Engage Their Audience
6. No Organization
I know many of the writers write in a flow. But there is no guarantee that the flow is smooth for the readers. Hence, organization of the content is must when you have to post it on your blog.
The introduction should glue the reader to your article so that he reads it till the end. Then the body with proper explanation and the correct lines to close the article will get you returning readers.
7. Setting No Minimum Number of Blog Posts
You will be astonished but Huffington Post publishes more than 2000 article every single day. It does not mean you have to beat this number.
But make sure that you publish at least 8 to 10 posts everyday in order to drive more genuine and loyal traffic to your blog.
8. Content is the King and Distribution is the Queen
Just writing quality content won't solve the purpose until it reaches the right audience. You should have a proper distribution and promotion plan for your posts.
No matter how unique your content is, if it is not noticed then it is futile. Share the content in the relevant groups and spread your words wherever you feel like.
Also, make proper use of social media networks to have your content shared and liked by your audience.
See Also: 6 Effective Content Distribution Ideas to Increase Social Media Traffic
9. Not Making Use of Email Marketing
According to a report, it has been shown that more than 73% of webmasters state that email is core to their online venture. In fact, Gregory Ciotti and John Chow, the biggest bloggers of all time, admit that their biggest mistake while blogging was not building an email list from the first day.
Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing which is 40 times more effective than SMM (Social Media Marketing). This pretty much explains how important it is to integrate email marketing into your blogging. It is a personal way of reaching the masses and communicating with your audience.
Moreover, emails can be customized according to your customers' preferences to ensure the interaction is relevant to their interest.
See Also: 12 Effective Email Marketing Plugins for WordPress
Final Words
All these mistakes can make or break your blog traffic. The basic out of all is the proper blog strategy which needs to be outlined beforehand.
A blogger writes for the audience and hence no blogger would want to risk his/her audience for any of these stupid mistakes.