There are a lot of people who think that the most important thing about content marketing is simply putting out content regularly – and sometimes at the expense of quality. This is a big mistake and there are many more that people are making without even realising it. Don’t fear, though, because we at SEM Consultants want to help you do better and take your content further, so here is a list of content mistakes to avoid.
Poor grammar and punctuation
Writing content that is subpar is not OK. You are putting out a message to the world that says “unprofessional”, “rushed”, “unintelligent”. These aren’t things that you want your audience to think about you. It’s OK to not have the perfect written skills, but lack or proofreading or investing in a professional writer can be a big content mistake.
Writing about irrelevant things
It is a mistake to post content that has nothing to do with your business. Just because something is popular or trending, doesn’t mean you need to talk about it. It will seem like a cheap ploy to get people to your site when really you never usually talk about that topic. Stick to what’s relevant and beneficial to your target audience, otherwise not only is it a waste of their time, but it’s a waste of yours, too.
Irregular posts
People like consistency. They like to know that every Monday and Thursday they will be receiving new content from you. This will bring them in regularly, and give some routine to your schedule – which goes a long way. Irregular posting means people won’t look for your content as much, and you will look like you have no strategy. Plus, you will lose their attention if you post consistently, then leave a big gap, then post again. Do yourself a favour and post at a set time, instead, encouraging your audience to anticipate your content. You could schedule posts in advance to ensure you adhere to a schedule that suits all.
Boring your audience
If you find that people aren’t finding you, or clicking on your posts, or liking them, or sharing them, or whatever have you, then there might be a chance that your content isn’t interesting to them. Not everyone will be interested in your content, but the right people might not be draw to your content because it is too dull.
Taking some time to think of interesting, engaging, insightful content will go further than simply putting out bad content again and again. You should vary your content, too, with visual content mixed in with written content. You can use images, infographics, videos, memes and more to convey a message and draw in your audience instead of simply using articles that feel very “same old, same old.”
Personal gain over audience
Having the mindset of “the sale over useful content” is very counterproductive. Your audience isn’t stupid, they can tell when they are being coaxed into a sale rather than receiving useful content. Give them what they need, and they will trust you enough to seek your business, don’t attract them purely for your gain at the expense of good content marketing.
Poor use of SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is key to any content marketing strategy. If you aren’t ensuring your content is SEO rich, then you will continue to fall short. SEO helps to put your site on Google’s map, encouraging it to rank in organic search on Google search results page. This means that more people will be able to find your content and therefore bring traffic to your website and sales to your business (potentially).
On the other side of things, don’t go crazy with your SEO by overloading your content with keywords and phrases that you want to rank for. This is called Black Hat SEO and it can damage your site and cause a Google Penalty. Therefore, you should find that healthy middle-ground.
Writing without real purpose
If your heart isn’t in what your writing, you audience will be able to tell. If you are writing something just to write it, it will come off dull, poor, and pointless. Instead, you should have a real content strategy that produces real results. Write with purpose. Write with a goal in mind. For example, “this article is to educate my audience on ______” or “this article is highlighting what we have on offer this season” and so on. Give your content some purpose.
Not sharing it
A big mistake that many people make is putting out quality content, but not sharing it across any social media channels. Even if your content is riddled with SEO, and does bring in an audience, it will always go a long way to share it further so that it reaches even more people and is even more likely to rank on Google. There is not harm in quickly sharing your blog post (for example) on things like Twitter and Facebook, too, and bringing it onto your audience’s news feeds.
If you avoid these content mistakes, you will start to see a shift in your website traffic and audience engagement. Don’t sell-out or rush, take time to get your content strategy up to scratch and soaring. We at SEM Consultants can help, too, so browse here for more.