8 common blogging pitfalls to avoid

From missing the best SEO practices to not linking to other content, there are several blogging mistakes that you should dodge. Having a good blog is a great way to gain visitors and visibility to your site, and to expand and share your business ideas, services and know-how. Here are some of the most common pitfalls bloggers fall into and how to avoid them:

1. Talking without saying anything

Be clear and concise. Plan ahead, and decide what key takeaway you want the reader to have.

2. Not sharing the right kind of content

Pictures, graphics and videos will increase engagement drastically! Not convinced? According to Twitter, tweets with photos receive a 35% boost in retweets. On Facebook, the engagement rate on posts is 37% higher when photos are included instead of just text. Catching and retaining your audience’s attention on social media is a fierce competition these days, which means that visuals are an essential part of having a successful social media strategy.

3. Writing content that is not relatable

Write about things that resonate with people. On LinkedIn, the posts with the biggest reach are ones that, for one reason or another, have touched people with the topic in question.

4. Clunky, jargon-heavy text

Instead, write how you talk. Readers will see through shameless and constant self-promotion. People increasingly value honesty, clear purpose and genuineness. It’s always a good idea to keep this in mind while writing content.

5. Not optimising posts for SEO

Not optimising text for search engines such as Google can be very costly as you may lose out on potential site traffic. The better you optimise your posts for search engines, the more chance you have of appearing high in the search results for your target keywords. Blog posts are a mainstay of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). They provide a great opportunity to add keywords and position yourself as an expert in your field.

6. You only write about topics that affect you

While finding a niche is important, creating blog posts that also serve your larger company goals is essential.

7. Not linking posts to other content

Once a reader has landed on your blog and finished reading their chosen post, what do you want them to do next? Read some more of your content, of course! The best way to encourage readers to stick around on your website, and explore more of your blog, is to include links to other content within each post you write. Often, once a reader has completed reading a blog post, they’ll want to go on to conduct further reading on that topic, so you need to be sure to direct them to your content. Not including links to other content in your blog posts will simply lead to readers leaving your website and finding the blog posts they’re looking for elsewhere.

8. Your topics are too broad

There is just no way to be everyone’s cup of tea and cover all subjects – and that’s ok! Knowing your customer base and your own craft is key.