Blogging Mistakes

Blogging is one of the best ways to get higher rankings on search engines. But, if you are not blogging correctly, you may not be getting a great conversion rate on turning online readers into online customers.

 

Mistake #1: Erratic Posting Patterns

If you don’t post anything for months, then start posting every day for two weeks, only to burn out and stop again … your readers are going to get fed up.

There’s no rule about how often you should post … but you should try to be consistent. That means keeping the frequency of your posts roughly the same from week to week and month to month. If you do decide to make changes, phase them in gradually (and make sure you can keep up the pace).

You can be a bit flexible (e.g. posting twice one week and three times the next) but you shouldn’t have long periods of no posts at all followed by a rapid-fire stream of posts; you’ll overwhelm your readers.

Fix it: Come up with a blogging rhythm that works for you. Remember, quality is better than quantity!

 

Mistake #2: Poor Editing of Posts

Although most readers will be tolerant of occasional typos, constant mistakes can really damage your chances of success. If your posts are riddled with errors, or obviously dashed off at the last minute, can you really expect readers to feel confident about buying your products or services?

Once you’ve finished a post:

• Set it aside for a few hours or even overnight. It’s easier to see errors when you can come to the post with fresh eyes.
• Read it through carefully: don’t rely on your spell-checker to pick up every typo.
• Rewrite any sentences or paragraphs that are repetitive or badly phrased.
• Consider asking a friend to give you some feedback before you hit “publish”.

 

Fix it: Build editing time into your blogging schedule. That might mean writing posts a day ahead, so that you’ve got time to go through them again before publishing them.

 

Mistake #3: No Call to Action

This is probably the worst mistake I see … and sadly, it’s very common. Many bloggers just end their posts without giving the reader any clue about what to do next.

The final few lines of a post is a great opportunity to encourage readers to dosomething (this is called a “call to action” by marketers). You could ask them to:

• Sign up for a mailing list
• Subscribe to your blog
• Leave a comment
• Buy your product
• Share your post on social media
• … or pretty much anything else that would be useful to you!

Your call to action doesn’t need to be pushy or intrusive. You can simply write something like If you enjoyed reading this, click here to subscribe to my blog. That way, you’ll never miss a post!

Fix it: Go back to your three most recent posts and look at the final lines. Do you have calls to action in place? If not, add something.

So … it’s my turn! If you want to be a better blogger, The Final Code offers free blogging classes and other Internet Marketing workshops at our offices in Ventura, CA that will help you get more customers online. Call us at 805-243-8321 today!