Among all of the digital marketing tools companies have to work with, blogging seems to be the most underutilized. Why? There is a common misconception that it does not work, which is rooted in a misunderstanding of what blogging is.
Blogging can be an extremely useful digital marketing tool when correctly understood and implemented. Webtek, a Salt Lake City digital marketing firm and SEO specialist, utilizes blogging to improve website traffic and drive sales. They say that the secret to success is using blogs within the framework of SEO and audience engagement.
What Blogging is Not
The place to start is understanding the purpose behind business blogging. Blogging is not simply a platform for sharing your thoughts. That might be what it was back in the 1990s, but it simply doesn’t reflect the modern internet.
Blogging is also not journaling. It is not announcing company news (that is what press releases are for), publishing the industry news of the day, or offering case studies. Business blogging is about engaging visitors in a conversation. You blog; they read and comment.
Why Business Blogs Don’t Work
Establishing that business blogging is a conversation between organization and customer immediately reveals why so many business blogs fail as digital marketing tools. But let us dig a little deeper. Here are some of the reasons those conversations do not take place:
- The wrong topics are being discussed
- Topics are not relevant to reader needs
- Posts are written like sales copy
- The writing is of poor quality
- The best keywords are not being utilized.
Successful digital marketers easily recognize poorly developed business blogs. What happens then?
How to Fix Broken Blogs
It is not enough to recognize that the business blog is not working. Changing things requires fixing what is broken. In light of that, let us look at each of the five reasons listed above:
1. The Wrong Topics
Too many businesses use their blogs to discuss topics that interest them rather than what interests their customers. The best way to fix this is to use a website like AnswerThePublic to figure out what kinds of questions readers are asking on certain topics.
2. Irrelevant Topics
Along with the wrong topics are irrelevant topics. What’s the difference? An irrelevant topic is of no interest to the specific readers a company is trying to attract. For example, it does no good for a software company to blog about sports despite the fact that sports is one of the hottest topics online. Software companies should be blogging about software related topics.
3. Post That Look like Sales Copy
Internet users are not stupid. They know when they are being pitched sales copy disguised as a blog post. Nothing turns readers off faster. In a phrase, just don’t do it. Save your sales copy for landing pages and product descriptions. Keep it off the blog page.
4. Poor Quality Writing
Poor quality writing turns people off. They see blog posts rife with grammar mistakes, spelling errors, and poor syntax as a reflection on the company itself. That is not good for business. The best way to fix this problem is to hire a professional writer.
5. Poor Keyword Choices
SEO still rests on keywords. The wrong ones can prevent even the best written blog post from ranking well. To fix this problem, keyword research is necessary. You have to figure out those keywords that offer the most opportunities to rank high.
A business blog that doesn’t work can be fixed. Only then will it be a powerful digital marketing tool that increases traffic and drive sales.
