50 Common Mistakes New Content Marketers Make

50 Common Mistakes New Content Marketers Make. In fact, one of the most important components of SEO is the quantity and quality of links pointing back to your domain; and the best way to earn those is through guest posts on other sites. Favoring quantity over quality Every post you make is another page for search engines to index, another headline you can promote on social media, and more opportunities to include calls-to-action in your site. However, you need to remember that you aren’t writing content for yourself; you’re writing content for a specific target audience. Take the extra time to syndicate those posts on social media, submit them to content networks or otherwise get the word out that they exist. What off-site publisher sites do they rely on? Even one mistake could cause a blow to your reputation, so check carefully, and consider using automated tools like Grammarly to assist you. You may have years of experience in the industry, and you may have your own original research to work with, but you can’t rely on that for every post. Writing as a brand, rather than a person I’ve already mentioned the importance of having a signature brand voice, designed to cater to your target audience and remain consistent throughout your growth and development. All of these things are valuable, to inform your content strategy.

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Content marketing is deceptive in its simplicity; it can be
explained, conceptually, in just a couple of sentences, but it
takes years to truly master. All you have to do to succeed is write
practical, valuable content for a niche audience.

That way, you can start reaping the
benefits of higher traffic
and more conversions, driving more
revenue. But that doesn’t mean that you can start writing
immediately and just rake in the cash.

In reality, most content marketers underestimate the complexity
required of a content marketing strategy, and end up making crucial
mistakes throughout their early campaigns. Alone, most of these
mistakes won’t interfere with your long-term potential, but if you
aren’t careful, they can accumulate and severely slow your
progress.

Regardless of whether you’re a content marketing amateur or a
seasoned professional, it pays to be aware of these 50 common
mistakes so you can avoid them:

1. Starting without a vision

What is your content going to cover? Whom are you targeting? How
do you see your blog developing over the course of the next several
years? These are big, broad questions that you’ll need to answer
before you title your blog, come up with headline ideas or start
writing.

The technical details of your execution matter, but they’re
fully dependent on the strength and course of your vision. Take a
minute to
cover some market research
and competitive research, and
familiarize yourself with content marketing best practices, then
come up with a general outline for how you plan to start and grow
your blog.

2. Not documenting your strategy

You’ve got some of the big questions answered in your head, but
how are you going to execute your strategy? Before you claim your
blog or start writing any posts, the first thing you need to do is
document your strategy. There are a handful of approaches you can
take here, but I recommend treating
your content strategy like a business plan
.

Clearly explain your purpose, strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats, then delve into the mechanics of how you
intend to produce, publish and syndicate your work. This is
important because it forces you to solidify your goals and helps
keep you accountable to them. It also makes it easier to explain
your goals to others you bring on in the future.

3. Writing for too broad an audience

You need to have a target audience for your content, but many
newbies end up writing for an audience that’s too broad or too
general. The motivation here is clear, and somewhat logical: the
more general you are in your audience-targeting, the larger the
audience you’ll target.

For example, writing for “American citizens” yields you a much
larger audience than “single fathers in Wyoming.” However, the
tradeoff is that any increase in size comes with a decrease in
relevance; and in content marketing, you need to maintain as much
specific relevance as possible. Cater to a specifically focused
niche to start; you can always expand later.

4. Never identifying a brand voice

Two factors will help you build and maintain a loyal readership
more than any others: consistency and uniqueness. Uniqueness tends
to draw users in, and consistency makes them stick around. One of
the most powerful tools you have to fulfill these needs is
your signature brand voice
, which is a tone or personality in
your writing style that’s unique to your brand (or even you as an
individual).

If you don’t have a clearly defined brand voice, your posts may
come off as inconsistent, or may fail to appeal to your target
audience. So spend some time honing your voice. Are you energetic
or calm? Youthful or aged? Stoic or emotional? Friendly or
corporate? Politically correct or non-politically correct? Vulgar
or kid-friendly?

5. Failing to identify key metrics to measure

How are you going to tell if you’re successful? That seems like
an important question, but there’s an even more important one that
comes before it: What is “success” to you? Some marketers use
content to draw in more traffic, while others use it to convert
traffic they’re already getting. Still others use it as a way to
achieve higher customer retention, and of course you can blend
these goals as you see fit.

But before you move forward, you need to know what goals you’re
targeting, and how you’re going to measure them. Otherwise, you
won’t be able to define success, let alone achieve it.

6. Not doing keyword research

Content marketing and SEO are tightly interrelated, yet separate
strategies; just because you’re engaging in a content campaign
doesn’t mean you need to invest in SEO (though you probably should;
you’ll be getting peripheral benefits anyway). But even if you’re
not interested in an SEO strategy, you should at least dabble in
some keyword research before you start writing.

Using tools like SEMRush,
UberSuggest and Moz Keyword
Explorer
, you can generate keyword ideas, measure things like
search volume and competition and eventually come up with a list of
topics and keywords to focus on that have the most value for your
audience.

7. Ignoring on-site search optimization

Again, even if you’re not pursuing a full-fledged SEO campaign,
it’s a good idea to learn the basics
of on-site optimization
. A simple wording change in your
headline can make your post not only more visible in search
engines, but also drive more clicks, if you know how to optimize
for Google and your audience simultaneously.

You should also know how to optimize your meta tags, any images
you choose to include, and your URL structures for visibility.

8. Keyword-stuffing posts for SEO

On the other hand, it’s definitely possible to go too far with
optimizing for search engines. It’s a good idea to use target
keywords your work, but if you use them too frequently, you’ll be
considered engaging in “keyword stuffing,” a practice
that could get you penalized
in search engines rather than
rewarded.

Even if you manage to escape from search engines with your
rankings unscathed, your readers will pick up on the unnatural use
of keywords in your text, and your overall user experience will
decline.

9. Neglecting off-site search optimization

Reaping the SEO benefits of content marketing isn’t all about
what happens on your site. In fact, one of the most important
components of SEO is the quantity and quality of links pointing
back to your domain; and the best way to earn those is through
guest posts on other sites. If you aren’t trying to earn guest
spots on external publications, you could be missing out on better
search rankings.

Just be aware: There’s an art to link building, so don’t start
spamming links in an effort to increase your visibility. For help
getting started with link building, see
SEO Link Building: The Ultimate Step-by-Step
Guide
.

10. Favoring quantity over quality

Every post you make is another page for search engines to index,
another headline you can promote on social media, and more
opportunities to include calls-to-action in your site. It therefore
makes sense, on the surface, to create as many posts as you can.
The problem is, many amateurs become obsessed with this idea to the
point where they forget about the quality of their work.

They crank out post after post in an effort to get more
visibility, but because their work is inferior, they end up
attracting less attention overall. Your main priority needs to be
the quality of your work, even if that means significantly
sacrificing your quantity.

11. Ignoring quantity altogether

However, that’s not to say that quantity isn’t important. Let’s
say you write an incredible post — a 20,000-word piece that
revolutionizes how people think about your industry that attracts
hundreds of links and thousands of shares. But then you don’t post
again for over a month.

What do you think will happen? Your readers will forget about
you, new visitors will see that you haven’t updated your site in a
long time (which is a red flag to potential customers) and you
certainly won’t create any new opportunities for readers to find
your work. Even though quality is important, you still need to have
a
consistent and regular posting schedule
.

12. Not including enough detail

Your posts should be as detailed as possible if you want them to
succeed. By detailed, I mean digging into specifics, rather than
talking about vague generalities. Detail means saying “83 percent
of marketers” instead of “most marketers” and giving examples of
why your statements are true, rather than leaving them as is.

To provide this detail, you’ll either have to do some original
research to back up your claims or rely on existing, external
sources to provide you with that information. Specificity and
elaboration are keys to making your posts more sufficiently
detailed.

13. Producing content with little value

Your content should also carry some kind of practical value for
your audience. When new content marketers enter the scene, they
often think about entertaining topics, or thought-provoking ones;
these are valuable in their own way, but it’s better if you shift
your focus to content that
actually helps your audience do something
.

For example, you might write a post about a new motorcycle that
just came out, but do you help your readers decide whether to buy
it? You talk about the latest update to your software, but do you
guide readers in making the most of it?

14. Writing only from your perspective

New content marketers also tend to write from their own
perspectives. This is especially evident in opinionated posts; for
example, if you write about “how technology is replacing jobs,” you
might stick to one side, projecting your own opinion that most jobs
will be automated by 2030.

You may be able to back this up with lots of facts and
persuasive arguments, but do you present any counterarguments? Do
you recognize and support the weak points of your article? Do you
consider what your readers think about the subject, on average?

15. Writing content you’d want to read

This isn’t always a mistake, but it can negatively affect the
relevance of the content you eventually put out. Most new content
marketers, when brainstorming, automatically favor titles that
sound appealing to them; this makes sense, and in many ways, is
valuable.

However, you need to remember that you aren’t writing content
for yourself; you’re writing content for a specific target
audience. You may like to read an article about how mid-sized
businesses can improve their sales strategy, but would that really
help a crowd of first-time entrepreneurs?

16. Spending too little time on headlines

You’ve undoubtedly heard it before, because it’s universally
true: Your headline is
one of the most important features
of any piece you produce.
For most of the impressions your syndicated article receives, this
is the only impression readers are going to get. It’s what will
persuade them to click through or keep scrolling, regardless of the
quality of content that waits for them within. In fact,
one study found that 59 percent of all links
studied that had
been shared on social networks had never actually been clicked on
at all.

This implied that the majority of article shares aren’t based on
the actual reading of anything beyond the headline. Obviously, this
isn’t the ideal situation, but it does warrant some extra hours
spent polishing those headlines. If you need some help coming up
with headlines, see
101 Title Ideas For Your Next Blog Post
.

17. Never responding to commenters

Even small-time blogs are going to attract occasional
commenters. When you syndicate your post through social media
channels, you’ll attract even more comments. It’s common to think
of your work as done once the post goes live and the comments start
rolling in, but every comment you ignore is a lost opportunity.

For starters, commenters often leave meaningful feedback about
your post (either intentionally, such as criticizing your argument,
or unintentionally, such as expressing confusion about a point you
thought was clear). Plus, responding to comments shows you care
about your audience and will attract more readers to your blog
accordingly.

18. Failing to promote completed posts

Imagine the “perfect” book — it’s got everything you want in a
novel and then some — but it’s buried in the middle of an Arizona
desert and nobody knows where it is. It doesn’t matter how good the
content is because you’ll never get the chance to read it, right?
Well, this principle applies to your blog as well.

You could be writing digital masterpieces, but if you don’t
promote those pieces after you’re done writing them,…

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