How not to write a blog
There’s a reason so many businesses and individuals write blogs - they’re a fantastic way to engage customers and prospective clients with your company and your brand, and to showcase your knowledge and expertise. Blogs allow you to add fresh original content to your website, which helps it be displayed in search results. No wonder so many people turn their hand to this friendly form of communication.
Why do bloggers fail?
Yet for every successful blogger, there are many that fail. Here are a few reasons why.
Too much information
Spend hours writing an essay and your reader will quickly switch off and lose interest. The same applies to overuse of technical terms. Blogs should be short, sweet and easy to understand.
Spelling and punctuation mistakes
Every writer’s pet hate! With the range of auto-correct and spell checkers available these days, it’s inexcusable to publish a blog with mistakes. Publishing content that contains errors makes you look unprofessional and reflects badly on your brand. It takes a few minutes to proof your writing or to ask someone else to review it for you. A proofreader could also provide this service.
Posting too frequently (or infrequently)
It’s important to strike a balance with the frequency of your posts. Too few and your readers will become bored waiting for the next instalment. Too often and your followers will end up blocking you for spamming them. If you’re a newbie blogger, once a month is a good place to start. You can always build up the frequency as you gain more followers or if your audience demands it.
Over-promotion
If you use your blog solely as an advertorial for your business, you’ll soon turn off prospective followers. Make your content interesting, balanced and useful, however, and you’ll soon leave them wanting more. It’s not frowned upon to promote your business, just do it discreetly.
Old news
Blogs are all about the here and now, not for revisiting a subject that was in the news a few months ago. If you want to write about it, strike while the iron’s hot and publish when the topic is still current. That’s not to say you shouldn’t draw on personal experiences from the past though - these will help to build an emotional connection with your reader.
Starting a business blog?
If you’re thinking of starting a blog for your business, or want to improve what you already have, contact me to discuss how I can help.