Are You Committing the 10 Deadly Blogging Sins?
The great thing about the Internet is that it’s so limitless. The potential audience is almost infinite and there’s no cost attached to the space you use, nor do you have to convince an editor that your content is worthwhile.
But that doesn’t mean that you should be uploading any old content thrown together without close attention to detail…far from it!
The company blog has become one of the most cost effective and time efficient ways of engaging with existing customers, influencers and potential customers. Offering you carte blanche to cover whatever topics you want, to inform, comment, advise and review, blogs can involve everything from ‘how to’ tips and hints to incisive perspectives on hot industry topics. The problem is, once a blog is posted, it’s in the public domain, so it not only needs to be accurate and comply with company policy, it also needs to reflect your company’s brand with correct syntax and grammar, balanced viewpoints and copy that’s of interest to a wide cross section of readers.
Like most regular chores, however, good intentions to produce regular, interesting comment often give way to a lackadaisical approach to getting something posted as and when you realise it’s been a while. The results can be a catalogue of faux pas and CME has compiled a list of 10 deadly blogging sins to highlight some of the most common mistakes:
- Poor grammar and spelling
- Inappropriate content – don’t knock the competition, rant or moan
- Extra long blogs that run into pages
- Chaotic blogs that flit from topic to topic with no clear message
- Hard sell – it’s a blog not a brochure
- Jargon and abbreviations – remember you need to appeal to a wide audience
- Bad writing – people won’t read if it’s too much like hard work
- Irregular or infrequent posts – a ‘latest blog’ that’s six months old might as well say ‘can’t be bothered’
- Inaccurate content – check your facts before you post
- Copy and paste – don’t just post your press release as a blog
The thing is, blogging is not rocket science and it needn’t be time consuming either. However, it is a commitment to writing good content and ensuring that it’s accurate, engaging and informative. Done well, it could increase your customer base and help to boost your SEO…done badly it’s just more words floating in the ether that no-one will ever read. Start by reading some blogs that you find interesting and use those as a baseline for writing style and blogging frequency. Or just ask the experts for help!