Writing blogs is a good way to get exposure for your company, but hitting the submit button on just any article isn’t enough to make sure your blog is read. In order to create a blog that is going to get seen by others, you have to include share-worthy content. Writing content that your readers will share is a great way to ensure that your blog gets exposure and climbs up in the ranks on the search engines.
In order to identify what type of content you should be putting in your blog, you will first need to identify what is preventing people from sharing your current content. Below you will find seven answers as to why no one is sharing your blog.
1. Your Headline Leaves Something to Be Desired.
The headline of your blog is the most important element, as it is the first things your reader is going to see. If they get a list of featured blogs for the day or a list of search engine results, you want to write something that will grab their attention and make sure the blog is read. Try writing a big, bold headline that will give people a sense of urgency and make them click on that link. Sometimes writing funny or barbed headlines will not only make people chuckle, but it will make them more interested in what you have to say in the rest of your blog.
2. Your Timing Is Off
According to most studies, blogs that are posted in the morning get the most views, especially when targeting women. Doing a little research to find out when your target audience is most likely to go online and look for blogs will help you tremendously in the long run. This can be done by sending out a survey of current readers to find out more, or reading off your analytics report to see what times you generated the most clicks. Finding out when to post is important, but staying organized and planning ahead will also make things easier. Create a sharing calendar and stick with it so you know that you have that time blocked out to put your content online and have the best chance of having it read.
3. You Don’t Have Regular Readers
If you have regulars that read your blog, you will consistently have people visiting and talking about your content to others. Writing posts that ask for the feedback of your readers and responding to those comments will help them feel like they are a part of your blog. If people know that their opinion is wanted and actually listened to, they will be more likely to come back and also pass your name and information on to others.
4. You Write About Yourself
People who are close to you may think that your company and your knowledge is interesting, but that may be where the interest stops and they may not be your target audience. Writing how-to articles that show your knowledge and make people interested in the information you are providing will help you have a greater chance that people will keep coming back for more. Instead of writing about what your company can do for them, provide general tips that everyone can use whether they are paying for your services or not. Addressing topics that people learn about will peak their interest more than hearing about how great you are, so always keep this in mind when reading what you just wrote before you post it.
5. Your Posts are too similar
Providing the same content or format over and over again is a sure fire way to lose people’s interest. Switching it up and providing graphics or videos to illustrate your information will keep them coming back to see what you are going to come up with next. Keep it fresh and keep them guessing and they will be back!
6. You Ramble
You may be great at filling in space with unnecessary words when writing thanks to minimum page requirements in school, but putting lengthy paragraphs and superfluous language will lose your readers from the start. Draft out what points you want to make, and keep your content simple. When reading blogs, people want to go in and get the information they are looking for without too many obstacles getting in the way. Before hitting submit, look through and see if there is any content that is not needed and remove it. This will help keep the interest of your readers and let them know that they will be able to find what they are looking for easily every time the comeback.
7. You Make it Difficult to Share
Having a social sharing button on your blog is MANDATORY in order to make it really easy to share, and with so many quick tools available to generate these tools, there is no excuse to not having one. When setting up your blog, it’s a great idea to go with a simple design and not get caught up in having fancy backgrounds. The main thing you should focus on is having a quick way for your clients to subscribe to your blog and share it on social media, then you can put a little more effort into making your blog attractive to look at.
220 Marketing specializes in Online Marketing and Management for industries such as Insurance Marketing, Real Estate Marketing, and Mortgage Marketing.
Jen Simons says
This is really great information. Not sure if you are involved in the Ultimate Blog Challenge or not (http://ultimateblogchallenge.com/), but I hope you don’t mind if I share it with some of the other bloggers in our Facebook group. Very relevant to what they are all trying to accomplish. Thank you!
Gary Barclay says
Good solid tips. I particularly like #2 Your Timing is Off. I’m sure most are not aware of this. I solved this problem by using the post scheduling feature of WordPress. Works great, gets my post done early, and I don’t have to be at the computer. I can write several posts at one time and schedule them in advance. Thanks to the tips.
Batya Casper says
Thanks so much for this info. It makes such a difference – and thanks, too for the Word Press tip.Also helpful.
Batya Casper
220Marketing says
Jen, feel free to repost. Thank you for sharing the information!
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