Common Blog Problems
5 Common Blog Problems and How to Fix Them: Blogging is a cornerstone of any good online marketing strategy, but in order for it to be effective, people have to be interested and engaged. Oftentimes businesses trying to build an audience with their blogs encounter problems along the way, resulting in a lack of readership. With brand journalism emerging as a vital aspect of digital marketing best practice, blogging is too important to ignore. Here are several issues branded content creators often face and how to address them.
Slow Loading Times
One of the main reasons readers click away from a blog post is if it takes too long to load. Try testing your site using a tool like Pingdom Speed Test to ensure that everything is functioning properly. The site should also be tested on a variety of devices, as well as both iOS and Android. If it takes longer than a couple of seconds to load your blog, there are a few options you can try. Compressing images and videos for optimum speed might help to decrease load times, or you could switch to a faster web hosting service.
Lack of Promotion
Brilliant content alone is not enough; readers have to be able to find your blog posts easily. Promoting new blog content on all social media channels is a must in order to attract new subscribers. Another effective tactic is purchasing Facebook ads promoting your blog. Of course, email marketing is still one of the best methods for growing website traffic, with recent studies reporting that it is as much as 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter when it comes to driving conversions.
No Strategy
In order for blog content to accomplish the goal of building a community of readers, it must be created with a strategy in mind. Simply publishing articles on topics related to your brand every week is not enough to build an audience—content must be tailored to specific buyer personas. Blogs that address reader concerns in a clear, engaging manner as part of an overall content strategy will perform much better over time.
Walls of Text
Since most users now use smartphones to access online content, the formatting of your blog is more important than ever. Your blog is constantly competing for attention, so it needs to look dynamic and interesting. Paragraphs should be short and broken up by headlines and images, including plenty of white space to prevent the dreaded “wall of text” that can cause readers to lose interest.
Poor Quality
A poorly written or unfocused blog article conveys a lack of professionalism. Above all, a blog should add value, meaning it says something new in an interesting way. Readers are overloaded with online content, so be on the lookout for ways to add to the conversation. Always proofread your blogs and make sure they fit the tone and voice of your brand. With consistent branded content that targets the right readers, your blog will find its audience.