Content marketing mistakes can undermine the impact your efforts are having. Find out what they are and what to do about them here.
Content marketing is a very important method of getting the word out about your products and/or services. Content marketing is the best way to inform, educate and engage your audience while building authority in the eyes of your audience. However, there are some common content marketing mistakes that you’ll definitely want to avoid.
Ignoring SEO – Search engine optimization involves both on- and off-page actions that you can take to ensure that search engines find your website, blog or product. SEO uses certain techniques and tactics to help your audience find you. Don’t think that it doesn’t matter. The more you put these improvements into place, the better your results. And if you notice things have gone off the rails, SEO-wise, don’t be afraid to face the facts and fix what you can.
Not Using Automation Wisely – Automation can be misused, but it needs to be used to help make everything possible. You’re only one person. Even if you have an assistant, virtual or otherwise, automation will help you get more done. A good rule of thumb is that you should personally respond and interact with people on social media and within comments of your blog, but you should use automation for everything else.
Not Promoting Your Content – When you create any type of content that you want people to find, you should promote it via your social media networks and email. You can even promote it via pay-per-click ads (although I don’t do this, I know people that have and thought it was worth the investment). If you don’t promote your content, you’ll get a lot less positive results from it.
Forgetting to Optimize Your Headlines – Part of search engine optimization involves headlines, but it deserves a special mention. There are some ways to ensure your headlines are optimized. First, put the keywords in the first three words. Second, when possible, test out more than one headline to see what gets the best response.
Creating Poor Quality Content – Your audience doesn’t want a ton of content under all circumstances. If you cannot create quality content on a daily basis, don’t. Create quality content on a schedule that works for you. If it’s high quality, answers questions, and solves problems, it will be welcomed.
Not Publishing Enough – This may sound contradictory, but you do have to publish enough to get noticed and keep the interest of your audience. Don’t get so bogged down in perfection that you neglect creating new content at least weekly.
Giving Up Too Quickly – We’re in an instant economy, and many people aren’t interested in building something sustainable. If a few blog posts don’t result in an immediate flood of business, it’s tempting to quit. The reality is that if you are building a business that will last, you’re going to have to build it brick by brick, post by post. There’s no real shortcut to sustainability. Ultimately, though, if you quit you won’t get the results you want.
If you can avoid these content marketing mistakes, you’ll have a lot more success with your content marketing efforts. To read about Neil Patel’s take on content marketing mistakes, feel free to check out his article here. If you have other mistakes you’d like to warn your fellow readers about, please share them.
One of the types of content that you need to create in your content marketing endeavors is social media content. Social media content is any content that you will use for purposes of promoting on social media. It might be a blurb that goes with a link to a video or blog post, or it might be an infographic or meme to help you get a point or two across. Creating content for social media is an important part of every business’s marketing strategy.
If you’re using WordPress (and you should probably be), you might be wondering about which plugins to use. I know there are a zillion choices and each one seems to offer something a little different. As I was researching for my own blog, I came across this article: