Most companies invest in hiring content marketing experts because it costs less than traditional marketing but generates up to three times more leads. That means you pay less and get more chances of developing new customers. It’s a match made in heaven for business owners. Digital marketers now consider blogging as one of the most effective strategies to increase inbound traffic. This also helps in converting visitors into leads.
Digital marketers are now considering blogging as one of their top priorities in their marketing strategies. But with millions of blogs being published every day, how will you make yours stand out? The first step to making the success of your blog is avoiding the mistakes that most bloggers make. Sure, quality is the number-one priority, but you also need to keep a few other factors in mind. Here are some of the most common mistakes that bloggers make and the solutions that can help you avoid them.
1. Failing to capture leads on your blog
It is crucial to make an excellent first impression with your blog if you want to capture leads. First of all, select an attractive domain name. Use The Blog Starter to check if your domain name already exists or not. A unique domain name can stick in your audience’s mind for a long time.
In addition to the domain name, you should also use a theme that suits the website. The Blog Starter helps you sift through various WordPress themes to find the one that best suits your brand and niche. But domain name and themes are not the only tricks to impress your viewers and capture leads. Most bloggers write blog posts and expect conversions to happen automatically. Unfortunately, that’s a farfetched expectation. Instead, you should look to collect emails. Email marketing boasts one of the highest conversion rates in digital marketing.
One exciting way to collect emails is hiding a significant part of the blog. Make the viewers feel desperate about reading your content. But in return, ask for their email address. Once they provide their email, you unlock the blog and let them read the full post. In return, you’ll be able to build a laser-targeted email marketing list for future campaigns.
2. Not writing consistently
Many bloggers don’t keep a regular blogging schedule. They don’t write consistently. Don’t make this mistake. Blogging frequently and generating leads go hand in hand. The more you blog, the more followers and traffic you get. The more traffic you get, the more chances you create to convert them into leads.
Does that mean you have to blog 30 times a month? No. You must create a blogging schedule and inform your followers about that. For example, you publish your blog on Fridays and Sundays. This means your followers will expect to read something new these days. But being inconsistent means your followers have no idea when you will publish your next blog. Keeping your audience in the dark may not be fruitful for your blog. Be transparent about how many times you want to publish your posts in a month and make it a serious commitment.
3. Assuming all posts will go viral
Confidence is one thing. But overconfidence can spill water on your expectations. Your instinct may say that every post will become viral. That’s the ultimate goal. But the reality is different. One post may reach a few million views. But that doesn’t mean all your blogs will become equally successful. Unrealistic expectations may hamper your confidence. Most importantly, you should know that millions of blogs get published every day. You are facing stiff competition regardless of your niche.
You can learn how to start a blog and follow expert recommendations to a T, but your content ultimately decides your success. Can you imagine that only 1% of blog posts get more than 1,000 shares? Then, how do you ensure that your blogs will get more views even if they don’t become viral? Experts suggest you use Google Trends to check out various viral topics. It saves a lot of time that you would otherwise spend on brainstorming ideas about the best topics to write about.
Google Trends provides popular topics to help you research keywords that your audience may use to find similar blogs or articles. Suppose you think of a case, and according to Google Trends, it’s not a popular subject. You don’t need to waste time writing a blog about that topic. Focus your resources on creating content that has a good chance of generating views and attracting the attention of your target audience.
4. Avoiding long-form content
Writing a 2000-word blog about a trending topic is no small feat. You have to spend a significant amount of time researching the issue, ensuring that the information you provide is authentic, timely, and relevant. Additionally, you also need to add images and other visual elements to make the blog look engaging. But many bloggers don’t want to spend so much time. That shouldn’t be your approach. Lack of long-form content may be preventing you from achieving the success that your fellow bloggers have already managed to achieve.
Many surveys suggest that long blogs generate approximately 9x more leads than short blog posts. But what should be the average length of a blog post? Many blogs hover around 700 to 800 words. Some stretch it to 1,000 words. But that’s not enough. Some of the top-ranked blog posts on SERPs are much longer. Their average word count is at least 2,000 words, if not more. These blogs usually rank at the top of Google’s search results.
Long-form blogs contain actionable information that solve the searchers’ needs. For example, how-to blogs provide information about fixing a particular problem. You can always tweak the blog’s format by including infographics, embedded videos, and images. Not only do they improve your blog’s aesthetics, but you can use them to provide more helpful information. But it’s best not to cut down the word count and add these features as a substitute. Make sure you research ensuring the, ensuring topic thoroughly and provide enough information. Your goal should be to cover all the bases and make your blog as informative as possible.
Avoiding these common mistakes can help you save a lot of time and money. Keep the solutions mentioned above in mind to ensure that your blog posts stand out from the crowd and generate more leads than your competitors.
