What Not to Do When Running a Company Blog

August 22, 2014

    What’s that they say about the road to hell? It’s paved with good intentions, right? Same goes for a company blog gone awry. Their objectives were solid, but it’s easy to underestimate how much time and talent it takes to publish quality, strategic content consistently. Avoid these common pitfalls to ensure your blog doesn’t do more harm than good.

    1. Posting every day because you feel like you have to
    If you don’t have anything to say, say nothing. If you’re creating content to ultimately generate new customers, quality matters. It’s better to invest time and resources into creating something that’s truly useful – a piece of content that fills a knowledge gap and actually delivers value – than to bang out any old thing just to tick a box. Think quality, not quantity. Yes, blogging frequently will help your SEO, but be realistic. If publishing daily isn’t feasible, alter the plan. Just be consistent and stick to the strategy. (You do have a strategy, right?)

    2. Selling hard and selling often
    Your blog is a marketing tool, and you wouldn’t have invested in it if you weren’t confident in its ability to contribute to the bottom line. But respect the medium. Your future customers don’t want to read articles about how great you are. Yes, content can be used to sell and should be an integral part of your entire site strategy; but on your blog, focus on delivering information that addresses your customers’ problems and interests, while of course, showcasing your own expertise. (Now would be a good time to refer back to your brand’s mission statement. You absolutely have a brand mission statement, right?) Use your blog to establish your brand tone and position yourself as a thought leader, and consider including a call-to-action at the end. When there’s an opportunity to link to more concrete information about your company, take it, but don’t go overboard.

    3. Disabling social sharing and commenting
    Some clients are afraid of receiving negative feedback so publically. Others are nervous they won’t receive any comments at all. Either way, NOT allowing your audience to talk back sends the wrong signal. You’re looking for engagement—a two-way conversation. Learn from your customers. Respond to their feedback. Don’t miss out on the free traffic that results when a reader shares your blog article on his social network. And it’s not just free traffic—it’s quality traffic. Readers are far more likely to click a link from a friend than a tired old banner ad. (For widgets, try ShareThis for social sharing and Disqus for comments).

    Need help with your company’s content strategy? Contact JR Lisk, Inc. today.