8 Business Blogging Mistakes You Need to Avoid

Business blogging is a great way to connect with your customers, bring traffic to your site, and promote your business to new prospects. All you need to do is write posts on a regular basis. Blog platforms like WordPress make it incredibly easy. But before you get started, here are 8 common business blogging mistakes that you need to avoid.

 

1. Inappropriate Design or Confusing Layout

No matter how valuable the information is that you’re offering, if your site looks unprofessional or confusing, nobody will read it. This is also the case if it clashes with your target market. For example, you've got a blog on breast cancer that's all fun, dramatic colors – design fail!

Take a look at websites and blogs in your niche to get ideas. Look at the colors and design features that they employ. Use the type of design that your readers will expect to see.

 

2. Making It the Main Draw

Your business blog should accompany your website. It shouldn't be the centerpiece. Always keep in mind the purpose of the blog – to draw traffic and to show your expertise in your niche. Don't get carried away and turn your entire site into a blog.

 

3. Straying from the Point

Lots of business blogs fail because they forget what they're there for and stray into irrelevant topics. Stay focused on your goal and your readers. Make sure that the voice and message are consistent and that everything you write is valuable to your specific customers.

 

4. Me, Me, Me

While you want to keep your blog relevant to your business, you don't want it to be all about you. Put yourself in your readers' shoes. Would you want to read a blog that's nothing but self-promotion? Your readers come to you for relevant information, tips, advice, news about your industry, and maybe even a little entertainment. Don't make it all about yourself.

 

5. Leaving Your Readers Stranded

At the end of each blog post should be a clear call to action. Tell them what they need to do with the information you've given them. You could outline specific action steps that will help them, ask them to sign up for your newsletter, or urge them to contact your business about their challenges. The call to action could even be as simple as asking them to share the post. The last thing you should do is to leave them stranded.

 

6. Not Telling Everybody

When you run a business blog, you need to promote it. You have to use every channel available to tell people about what they'll find there. This means optimizing it for search engines, announcing new posts on social media sites, connecting with other bloggers, and telling offline customers to check it out.

 

7. Blog Neglect

Your blog is an important part of customer relationship management. Don't start it up and then abandon your readers. Make sure that you're committed to updating it and keeping it going for the long-term.

 

8. Not Monitoring Comments

A blog isn't just a static website. It's a dialogue between you and your customers. Comments make it interactive. When your customers leave a comment, you should be there to reply. This shows the human side of your business. It brands you as a friendly expert and builds trust.

Once you've got your business blog going, you can outsource the writing if you don't have enough time to do it yourself. Find a ghostwriter online and give them topics to write about. Edit their work so that it keeps a consistent tone. Sometimes when you get busy or burned out, it helps to hire someone else with fresh ideas.