I always halt and take a step back when I decide on a topic that has a negative spin. Some readers find titles like this one repellant. Others, however, treat them as an opportunity to learn and excel.
Since the first group has already clicked past (or neglected to click at all), I want to address all comments to you. You are clearly in that second group and are setting yourself – and your business – up for success with your willingness to confront a few uncomfortable truths.
It never ceases to amaze me how little the average marketer or business owner actually knows about content creation. I say “average” because those who are above average have either figured out everything in this article by now, or they are like you: wanting to understand the process better and having the opportunity to put what you learn into practice. So, if you’re still with me, congratulations. You’re one of the thrivers and survivors.
I’ve referred to ways you can get a leg up on your competition with great content on numerous occasions in the past. I fear that after all this time what I have to say might sound a bit repetitive, but, really, that’s OK. In fact, it’s downright necessary. It is important to develop a progressive understanding of the key points of content marketing, how they change over time, and, yes, even how they stay the same.
With that in mind, here are the five biggest ways many marketers and business owners wreck their content marketing efforts, and it all starts with your blog. Yes, it really is that important, and the mistakes you make with it can be devastating. Here are five ways how:
1. Not Enough Content
Since this one has been brought up so many times, I want to get it out of the way first. The key to high rankings and high audience engagement is to deliver a consistent stream of content for them to consume and discuss.
Blog content is one of the best avenues for spurring discussion on social media, and you want to keep your audience talking. You can only accomplish this by regularly presenting them with things to talk about, and the more variety you can offer, the better.
You should also be constantly analyzing your metrics and steering the content into areas that your audience finds most engaging. Moreover, you want them associating your brand with the ideas you present. This brings me quickly to point number 2:
2. Too Much Curated Content
While this is an easy way to ride on the coattails of already popular and viral content, curating too much of your blog content can work strongly against you. It can leave your audience wishing they were hearing more from you and seeing less identical content in their news feeds. If you don’t have anything original to say, why would anyone think your brand is worth following or supporting?
Don’t try to be HuffPost or The Daily Beast. Blogging giants like those have built their reputations on curated content, and they use it in a way that is central to their brand. Keep in mind that the big players in blogging use curated content as their key product offering. Industry blogs that focus on single themes simply cannot get away with this long term.
3. Inconsistent Messaging
This goes back to a few key points I made in a recent blog about guest blogging. No matter whether you are generating all the content for your blog or working with a web content writing service or copywriter, your messaging has to be consistent across the board.
This is why I say it’s good practice to credit your guest bloggers: It provides your audience with proof that you not only understand your own brand message, but that you also align with thought leaders and industry pros who share your views and vision.
For this reason, I recommend not handing off work to just any freelancer. Find a writer or writing team you can teach and train to understand your brand and how your business functions. If you do decide to work with a list of freelancers, you absolutely must have a clearly developed style guide for your blog and insist that your writers adhere to it one hundred percent.
4. Poor Promotion
To put it simply, your competitors are spending money to promote their content. That means you should be following their lead. I am a firm believer in the power of PPC and CPC advertising, and the power players in social media all make it easy to keep promotion in-house. That’s not to say that you will only expand your reach with Facebook or Twitter ads, but they are great places to start and will put your content in front of a huge, and concisely targeted, audience.
Outside companies like Bing and Google AdWords are also highly effective avenues with very thorough, trackable metrics that provide a clear picture of how your content is being received. Best of all, the investment in PPC/CPC ads is tiny in comparison to other more traditional avenues, and it will help you on your way to higher rankings. That brings me to my last (and probably most important) point…
5. Poor SEO Practices
There is no way around it: Your content – all of it – needs to comply with current SEO trends. That doesn’t mean that older content with outdated keywords will hurt; it just won’t help. The information is probably all still valid (although it’s worth regularly fact-checking and culling outdated content from your blog, too), but your keywords are likely out of date if you haven’t researched new ones in a while.
Years-old lists of keywords are useless; the market is in a constant state of flux. As a responsible marketer, it is up to you to understand current SEO trends and implement them in your blog. You can accomplish this by either taking the time to educate yourself on this ever-evolving platform of visibility, or you can work with a professional writing team that employs SEO best practices when creating blog content.
Final Takeaway
If you just skimmed the segment headings and thought, “Guilty… guilty… guilty…” don’t fret too much. You are in good company on all counts. The cool part is that you have the means to make appropriate changes and develop a solid marketing strategy that is centered on your blog.
Be sure to keep great content flowing, let your audience hear directly from you as often as possible, keep your message unique, and promote well. Tie it all together with SEO best practices, and your blog can become the single most valuable tool in your marketing efforts.
