In the modern business world, information is quickly becoming the most valuable currency. Thanks in part to the rise of electronic shopping, contemporary consumers are accustomed to researching just about every product before they make a purchase.
Indeed, even B2C transactions have become more complex and nuanced in this digital age. As such, companies that can write quality content –– and promote it effectively –– have a distinct advantage over competitors that don’t. After all, if a customer is willing to read your blog, they’re much more likely trust your recommendations.
Unfortunately, while many businesses understand the need for a professional blog on their site, considerably fewer prioritize their blog-writing process. As a result, they inevitably end up making one (or more) of critical mistakes that undermine their content-creation efforts.
With a little concentration though, you can eliminate (or avoid) these four blog-writing faux pas:
‘Hiding’ Your Blog
You don’t have to be an expert in web design to identify a website layout that works for your business. At the end of the day, your most important pages should get the highest visibility on your site. Simple enough, really.
Whether you realize it or not, visitors to your website won’t usually go hunting for subtopic hidden in a menu at the bottom of a page. So if you value your blog, but it’s not easy to find on your homepage navigation, then you need address that immediately.
As we’ll explain further below, a blog is meant to be viewed by humans –– and if they can’t locate it –– they can’t read it either. (For a good example of a homepage navigation that allows quick access to a professional blog, check out BEE International.)
Over-Indulging SEO
Is search-engine optimization important? Of course it is. Nevertheless, no company should sacrifice their professional blog content to solely serve an SEO agenda. Yes, it’s wise to write blogs about keywords that matter to your customer base, but it’s also essential that those blogs go beyond merely satisfying the basics of SEO.
The best blogs cater content to their readers first and foremost. Remember, your blog is a resource and a sales tool as much as it is an agent for SEO. Write blogs your customers want to read –– or risk losing them in the long run.
Blasé Social-Media Promotion
The key to sustained success through social media largely comes down to effort. It’s not enough to simply post your blogs on a social-media platform and forget about them. Rather, if you want your customers to take your blog seriously, you need to market it seriously as well.
Write apt, compelling descriptions to accompany your blogs, re-post them on forums and across social media, and offer your blogs up to customers asking questions about your business.
Content Errors
Your blog needs to be an authority on topics in your industry. And that’s especially true for companies that rely on B2B commerce. After all, when you sell highly specialized products, you can expect most of your leads visiting your blog to already have an understanding of your product and services.
That said, making factual mistakes in your blog will make you look amateurish and lead your readers to question your insight. True, grammatical, spelling, and stylistic errors are obviously something all blog writers should seek to avoid; however, producing content that’s just plain incorrect or that arrives at facile conclusions will turn off your readership almost instantly. Proofread and research your blogs thoroughly to avoid this happening.
