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Blogs are awesome. They’re a great tool to position yourself as a thought leader, and an even better tool to explain all the cool stuff your startup/product/service does. But too often I see people making simple mistakes that can waste all the effort that went into writing a blog post in the first place. Check out these mistakes you might be making, and learn how to easily fix them, here:
1. Fluffing up your headlines
One key mistake I see people making when writing blogs, is trying to make their headlines really clever. They’re poetic, punny, smart. But what they’re not, is explanatory. If your blog headlines don’t use keywords and phrases that people will search, are too long, or don’t give enough info about your article’s content to be valuable, then no one (except your mum) will read them. Use a headline tool like Coschedule’s headline analyser to find out how to make your headlines great.
2. Focusing on features, not benefits
We know the product you’re writing about does lots of great things. And that’s awesome. But what your readers really want to hear about is all the ways your product will make their life better. For example, people don’t buy gumboots because they use supple rubber. They buy them to keep their feet dry. So, instead of writing about the feature of their water-resistant construction, try talking to its benefit: staying dry even in the biggest puddles. Check out our article on why brands tell stories, not specifics, for more insight into this.
3. Forgetting your call to action
Not all blogs need a call to action (CTA). Some (like this one) are just content pieces that position you as a thought leader in the industry. But, if your blog is about how amazing your gumboots are, don’t forget to explain where people can buy your gumboots from! A simple hyperlink to your website, phone number, or button will let people know what to do next. Try to steer clear of generic CTAs like ‘Click here’ and instead say something that will reinforce your benefit, like ‘Click Here to Get Your Free Trial’.
4. Not having time to edit
Editing is perhaps even more important than writing the blog in the first place. Read your copy out loud, and make sure you’re speaking to your customer in the best possible way. Count the amount of times you’ve used ‘We’ and make sure it’s less than ‘You’. Kill unnecessary words and cut adverbs like ‘extremely’ ‘actually’ and ‘almost’. Finally, read your copy backwards as it’ll be easier to pick up typos, without concentrating on the meaning.
5. Using company slang
You live and breathe your business, so it’s easy to forget that no one else does. Avoid using acronyms and jargon that people don’t understand (no one knows that WPG is waterproof gumboots), and make sure you talk about things your readers care about, not things that you do.
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