Zero comments. No likes. No shares. And a whopping 1 subscriber (your mom).
Sound familiar? It’s amazing how quickly your motivation can be crushed by numbers. We understand! It’s discouraging not seeing your hard work pay off in engagement, traffic, and hits. Instead of giving up or being jealous of well-established businesses and their thousands of followers, let’s figure out what’s going on. Put a mental check mark next to the blogging mistakes you’re making.
1. Haphazard Posting
When was the last time you posted or had someone post for you on your blog? If you want a successful blog, one of the first things you should be doing is setting yourself a reasonable consistency goal. Maybe that goal is 2 posts a month or 3 times a week. There is such a thing as posting too often or too little, but the best blog is the one that is written and written well.
Consistency is more important than frequency.
Michael Hyatt, Best-selling author, blogger, and speaker
Don’t start a series, then two posts into the series go silent, and then 3 years later write one of those sad apology posts. (You know the ones.) “So sorry I haven’t been on here in a while, guys. I have a good reason!” No one wants to read those. Make a plan you can stick with. Your readers will respect you more if you do.
2. Narcissistic Posting
The casual browser does not care about you. They want to read a perspective, an opinion, or find helpful information. They will head to the home or bio page to find out about your business, how you got started, etc. Don’t waste precious blog words selling your product, your company, or you. If it happens occasionally, that’s one thing. But don’t make it a habit. When you use your blog as a “pitch pedestal”, you are limiting your audience. That is not your blog’s job, and there are far more effective advertising methods that can meet promotional needs.
The simple fact is that your blog can be one of the most important marketing channels you have at your fingertips. The most successful brands use their blogs to drive traffic, increase conversions and build authority, all crucial to the success of a brand.
Tony Messer, Co-founder and CEO of Pickaweb
3. Boring Posting
Want to hook your readers? Do the research, find out what your audience cares about, and let that be your guide. Use catchy yet professional blog post titles. Use Google Keyword Planner. Take a poll on your social media pages. Find out what questions they’re asking. Give them informative yet engaging content that captivates them and makes them want to read more. For example, posts with narrative intros can cause your readers to not only read all the way through your blog post but also spend more time on your website. So tell a story to illustrate your point. Or use a personal anecdote. Being creative pays off.
Remember to use the web as a platform for purposeful, natural, relevant content. Don’t post just for the sake of posting. Be sure to post quality content that will resonate with readers.