Bad Blogging Habits in Business

A total of two million blog posts are published every day. That's enough written content to be able to fill Time Magazine for just a little less than a thousand years. Content marketing has gotten to be a big deal, and the reason is that It works.

When you create original content that is geared to your readers, and it inspires social media sharing, the search engines will love you. Not every single one of those 2,000,000 blog posts that are published each day could possibly be stellar, but how do as a marketer ensure that your content marketing is better than most of the rest?

1. Are Your Titles Deceptive?

There's nothing that drives people away from a website faster than when it has a deceptive title. When an article is written about something and then talks about something entirely different, there's a strong chance readers will go away in droves. The KEY to building trust in marketing is honesty. That means your content must be good enough to inspire a great title that reflects what the article actually talks about.

2. Is Your Language Cliched?

Content managers are not the only ones who get really tired of certain words. Guru, killer, and ninja are so overused that no one in their right mind is going to read what you’re trying to say.

Your titles need to be head-turning and intriguing to gain clicks or shares, but you also have to introduce some variety. It is challenging for high-velocity marketing writers to write using completely original language, but it’s essential. But don't overuse language, especially when it seems to be too extreme to believe, or too popular to begin with.

3. It's All About You

So long as your content is relevant to visitor’s questions, it’s OK for it to be about your company. But if he doesn't think your content has some benefit for him, or isn’t entertaining, or doesn't solve a problem he’d like to have solved, he is going to go elsewhere. This is a marketing phenomenon of the consumer versus content marketing.

Every piece of content that you publish should always meet each of these criteria:

● Does it Solve Problems, or is it solution-focused, or informative?

● Is it Entertaining?

● Is it Educational?

● Are your clients going to walk away after reading it with new information they weren't previously familiar with?

● Is it Quick & Easy?

● Painless?

● Are you trying to communicate ideas in the cleanest and best-edited language you can? Are you using paragraphs of text when a simple video or infographics would do instead? 

Content doesn't have to be brief, but it does need to not be any longer than necessary.

4. Is it Authoritative?

There is enough information consumed online each day to fill almost 200 million DVDs. Your prospects simply do not have time for content that isn’t authoritative. To make things even more complex, there is simply no uniform definition of authority. What makes the difference is what resonates with your buyer’s persona. Not everyone is going to react well to an in-depth, 3,000 word case study, but certain personas are going to accept nothing less. To avoid the tactics of the "bad" and "ugly" cowboys in the videos, make it a point to use the following tactics so you can increase your authority:

Be Social: Are your social media buttons displayed prominently on your blog? When visitors click to your Twitter account, is it a dead zone, or have you been active on it,engaging and tweeting?

Don't Over-Optimize: Nothing will turn a modern Internet user off faster than

transparent keyword stuffing. It never helps your authority, even if your content is actually any good.

Don't Stuff CTSs into Your Website: Call-to-action buttons are a great tool for filling up your pipeline with new revenue. However, too many CTAs on your blog will make you seem desperate .

It's Not Cited: Statistics are fine, but not every piece of content needs one, even though they can certainly help in a few cases. But, unless you are really a recognized guru in your field, use quotes or sources and be sure give credit where credit is due.

Bad habits can wreck your blog’s potential for success. With two million or more blog posts published each day, the competition is fierce. Is your blog better than the rest?

By paying attention to the notes above, you may find the KEY you need to unlock your future blogging success.

Author Bio:

Stephen John, working as a blogger at Key Difference. Area of expertise is on Website Designing, SEO and Mobile App Development.