Blog posts are key to SEO. Blogging falls under the umbrella of content – one of the core elements of any SEO campaign. Plus, blogs are the backbone of acquiring backlinks. When done right, blogging can be of great benefit to a campaign. Not only can blogs serve a website’s overall rankings but high-ranking posts can also be initial touchpoints for future customers, building the site’s authority with readers as well as search engines. The trick is doing it right – there is a lot of pitfalls that can trip you up. In this post, we are going to share 5 of those mistakes so you can avoid them and level-up your SEO campaign.
Not Knowing The Purpose Of The Post
Before writing a post, you need to know its purpose. This includes the purpose of the blog itself e.g to inform, to entertain etc. and its purpose within your marketing strategy. If the post is intended for your website to build your relevant content, then you will need to know what you are trying to be relevant for. If the aim is to gain website traffic by ranking for a particular search term, this will impact how you write too. Is the post intended for use as a guest post? If so, you’ll need to write for that audience rather than your audience. The two audiences may be similar but there will be differences to consider.
Every post should serve a purpose, but it is difficult to achieve this if you don’t know what the purpose is. Make sure the post’s purpose is clearly defined and work towards that goal with intention. Writing a content strategy is a great way to do this. List out your ideas, research each and revise your post titles. Below each title include some notes about what you’re going to write including topics/headings, how and where you will include keywords and links, as well as the purpose of the post.
Not Doing Prior Research
It can be tempting just to write the first thing that comes into your head. To come up with a title and a general idea for the post and start writing. Pause. Take a step back. Firstly, if you do this you are almost certainly making mistake number one of not knowing the post’s purpose. Secondly, without taking time to research and understand the topic you will either neglect some essential elements of SEO or will haphazardly force in keywords and links.
This approach is far less effective and will be detrimental to the post’s quality. A little bit of research and forethought will allow you to include key terms without ruining the flow of the post. Readability is important. Keyword optimisation is also important. If you want both, take time to research your post ideas and develop an understanding of how it will come together before you start writing.
Using Duplicate Content
Did you just come across a heading that you know you’ve already written about? Perhaps you mentioned it in another blog post. Wait, didn’t you mention it on that product category page? You could just copy it and save yourself some time, right? Wrong. Do not write duplicate content. There’s always a different way to say the same thing – find it and use it. But do not duplicate content.
Not Making Guest Posts Better Or Different
You found a great blog. It is relevant to your industry. They accept guest posts. You’re going to pitch them and earn yourself some backlinks. This is fantastic – don’t ruin it. Look through the posts that are already on the website. Are any of the ideas you’re going to pitch already there? If not, proceed. But if they are, read them and figure out how your post will be better. Bloggers don’t want a guest post that is the same as something they already have. If you can’t be different be better. Is there blog a 600-word “top 5”? Then offer a 1200-word “top 10”. Is there post a “best of 2017”, then offer an updated version. But it is not just the idea that needs to be better. Offer a better written, better-researched post.
Not Considering The Audience
Not understanding your audience is a common blogging mistake. Maybe you understand your readers and know how to write for them. But what about when you are guest posting? Do you understand that blogger’s audience? Whether you’re trying to rank in Google listings, be accepted as a guest poster, or are writing for your existing readers it is important to understand your audience. If you are writing for industry experts, in-depth guides are probably going to do well. However, if you fill a BuzzFeed-style “top 5” entertainment post with the same level of detail and industry-specific jargon, it probably won’t serve you very well.
Blogging is a fundamental part of SEO. And like every other aspect of search engine optimisation there are common pitfalls. Thankfully they are avoidable, especially once you know what to look out for. Avoid these 5 mistakes and your blogging is sure to make a bigger impact on your SEO campaign.
