The Mistakes You Need To Avoid For Blogging

Originally posted on May 11, 2016; Updated on July 8, 2022

So you've been reading a lot about digital marketing and now you know that a blog is an effective way to attract traffic to your website (and in turn, increase sales.) You have finally added a blog to your business website and are ready to write some great content. After all, you're passionate about your business and no one knows it like you do! You know your information is solid, yet you’re not garnering the attention you know it deserves. You're on the right track, but there are several mistakes to avoid for blogging if you want success in your digital marketing for your Edmonton business. Call Smart WSI Marketing today to learn more about blogging and how it fits into your overall digital marketing strategy.

Topics Don't Support Your Business Goals

An idea pops into your head for a blog post that will blow people away and you get it written and posted, anxiously awaiting feedback and checking your site stats. The problem is your post covers every detail about widget A when your business sells widget B. For example, if you sell and service bicycles, but write an in-depth article about how rad skateboards are, you’re missing the mark. While the post may be interesting, it does not provide useful information for your target audience and doesn't work to promote your business goals. Even worse, when the mighty search engine crawlers index the page, they don't find any relevance to the rest of your site so the post drops into oblivion.

Before you start writing for your blog, identify the goals your Edmonton business is trying to reach through your digital marketing efforts. Talk to your sales staff or customer service reps to see what questions people ask and be sure to provide information that is useful for your audience.

Loosen Up a Little

Your blog is the perfect place to inject some life and personality into your business. This is where you remind your customer base that your business is run by actual humans and is not just some corporate machine. Highly technical writing has no place in your business blog. If people have to work too hard to digest the information you're giving them, they're going to jump to another blog to find their information. Unless it's widely known, avoid industry jargon and use a relaxed, conversational tone so your writing is inviting. Your goal is to make your business approachable and relatable. Your blog should sound like a human talking to an acquaintance, not a technical lecture.

Narrow Your Focus

This is a common mistake made by many. If your blog post topic is too general, there is no way to get the most important information across quickly. Broad topics should be narrowed down to specific points of interest and spread across several posts. For example, this piece tells you about mistakes to avoid for blogging, not everything you need to know about blogging and digital marketing.

That being said, it’s important to have a variety of long and short posts to make sure your topics are thoroughly covered. This is because some people prefer to read shorter, more condensed, and to-the-point posts, while others want to be fully immersed in a subject and will gladly ready 2000+ words to soak up all the knowledge they can. By varying the lengths of your posts, you have a little something for everyone.

Longer content also tends to rank better. This is mostly simple math. More words is more ranking potential. But don’t just fill your posts with fluff to draw out your word count. The content still needs to be substantial to rank. Make sure that what you are writing is relevant to your business and uses effective keywords, without keyword stuffing.

Forget How to Copy and Paste

As tempting as it may be, never copy and paste even small sections of someone else's work. This may seem like a no-brainer but it happens more than you might think. If you do use any portion of someone else's work, be sure to cite them properly. Plagiarism is taken very seriously and can result in your site being penalized by search engines, and even criminal prosecution! Plagiarism is not just a “no-no,” but an actual crime.

Not Thinking About Web Best Practices

Some of the most important points to consider aren’t even about the actual content. The on-page SEO elements that you must consider when building out your home page, product and service pages, or other landing pages need to be applied to every single page you add to your website. This includes every blog post! Make sure you are using proper headings, optimized images (with proper tags,) and purposeful keyword placement.

Build Your Blog Strategy

Blogging is critical to the success of the digital marketing strategy for your Edmonton business and is highly effective when it is done well. Our team at Smart WSI Edmonton can help you maximize your digital marketing efforts with an effective content marketing strategy. Contact us to learn how we can help you grow your Edmonton business through digital marketing.

Lynne Motkoski, Digital Marketing Strategist

Specialty: Digital Marketing Strategies
Education: MA Communications & Technology, BComm [U Alberta]
Author: The Online Marketing Handbook for Busy Entrepreneurs

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Lynne is known for her strategic approach to marketing communications, technologies, and lead generation. She has a passion for education, keeping up with current marketing trends and practices, and helping clients keep ahead of their competition.