Why Does Blog Writing Fail to… What?

I was reading a post on ‘why blogs fail’ and I realised that there was a lot more to be said on the topic. Let me start by saying this isn’t a ‘what not to do’ article, because I’d rather be helpful.

Having said this, I’m not talking tips and tricks either, because what you need to understand to get traction on a blog is the principles of dissemination, not just a sure fire headline or that you need at least 500 words for Google to rank the blog in search engines (true).

Blogs fail because they are untargeted, badly written, ad hoc afterthoughts of a marketing plan without pizazz. People who may be wordsmiths or content writers but not copywriters often write them and these writers don’t know about digital strategy.

Great blogs go viral because the people with whom it resonates read something that gives them an ‘aha’ moment, which prompts a reaction to share and comment. Now the key to this is that you have to know how to get that blog in front of those people in the first place.

Successful Bloggers know

  • Who they want to read it
  • Where those people hang out
  • How to get their attention
  • How to keep their attention and turn it into sales

Most blogs fail because they don’t know these basic things.

It’s about CONTEXT people not just CONTENT.

Failure occurs when the copy and importantly the links and the shares don’t address the needs of your ideal client by popping up effortlessly in their face.

The key to success is WHAT you are aiming to achieve for WHOM with the blog in the first place, then knowing WHERE to put that information once you write it.

online strategy digital marketing essentials

Why blogs fail to what?

Start with your Website

Blogs ARE a great lead source because an active website with new content being added often is regarded by Google as more valuable. However, how do you get that blog to rate?

Goal 1 - Google ranking.

The first key to Google ranking is to have links to external pages with some authority. Like Huffington Post, Elephant Journal, or someone in your niche (like for me Gary Vaynerchuck).

The second key is to speak the language of your audience. If someone wanted to find this article they might be searching ‘how to blog’ or ‘writing better blogs’ or ‘writing articles’ (that don’t suck). Alternative searches are ‘marketing communication’, or ‘weekly newsletter’ or ‘is a blog really worth it?’.

Getting the right SEO terms is something that you need to be aware of, either through Google Adwords or a similar search engine volume data source. Put the words in to a search engine and find out what works. Here’s an example.

writing10K – 100K0.032.41
content writing100 – 1K0.787.64
blog writing100 – 1K0.774.64
writing articles10 – 1000.21.89
writing better blogsNO RESULTS
blog10K – 100K0.251.3
newsletter1K – 10K0.173.72
how to blog100 – 1K0.432.3
marketing communication100 – 1K0.216.48
weekly newsletter10 – 1000.08
is a blog worth itNO RESULTS

Given this, my blog should have ‘blog writing’ in the title because those are the searches people make most at 10-100K per month in Australia.

What did I do with SEO focus? I just changed the title.

Goal 2 – Gain a following

People LIKE knowing that a website has information daily, weekly on a particular day, but really a blog has a larger opportunity and that is to speak to a large audience.

So for goodness sake, put a link to your newsletter, put the same information in there. Share your articles from your website onto your social media platforms and know the target market you wish to speak with.

If you’d like more information on that, let me know I’ll do a follow up article on who hangs out where.

Goal 3 – Get Traction

Repurpose your content as e-courses, use video, give worksheets and add value to the article beyond the 5 minutes of perusal you’re lucky to receive. Give your client some LOVE.

Tell them about your upcoming membership program, help them to get more information about the things they need to know next, give them an opportunity to work with you.

If you’d like a strategy on how to do that in your business, just call or email me. See what I did there?

Goal 4 – Remarketing

When people love your stuff, they will come back if you make it easy. So let them join your newsletter, have your socials present and make sure you always give them some more love soon. Once a week is usually more than enough.

Also consider putting retargeting pixels into your website and blog pages, so you can follow up with an amazing coincidence of sending some more love to your clients via FB or Google ads.

Goal 5 – Good Layout

Nobody wants to read untargeted waffle that has no organisation. Most people will read a headline, the first few words and then maybe the sub headings before they launch into reading the article. With time being precious you have 7 seconds to get their attention. Don’t waste it with a long ramble. Be concise. Give value.

So the low down on ‘why blogs fail’ is that CONTEXT is even more important than CONTENT.

Your blog is there to SELL your expertise, your services, make your mark. It needs to know WHOM you’re speaking with, WHAT you want to achieve and HOW your clients will get there.

So my advice is, don’t just choose any CONTENT writer; choose a copywriter, who has digital skills. But then I’m biased!

If you have any questions, give me a buzz on +61 429331519 or email me emma@digitalcopywriting.com.au. I’ll help you gain ‘know like and trust’ in your ideal marketplace.

If you’d like to follow my work, join my newsletter (on my home page), or click the follow buttons below to find me on your social media platform of choice.

Further Reading

If you click on the links in the post (the purple words) you'll go through to the articles I've referenced. For even more information, here's a couple of articles that tickled my fancy, plus you can always call me or email me. 

Sources:- Search Engine Marketing | Digital Copywriter

About the Author Emma Sidney

Emma Sidney is a copywriter who captures the essence of her clients thoughts and aspirations and translates them into real identifiable results online. As a digital strategist and thought leader Emma takes the content and powerfully adds value through context while explaining the digital space exceptionally well to her clients. Everyone wins when Emma writes.

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