Blog, blogging, blog post…call it what you will, we love creating content at V3 Media. Why? Because there is a lot about our industry that’s worth discussing!
Unfortunately, not everyone agrees about the subject of blogging, usually because they either just don’t know about it or they have some misconceptions about it. Tell us if you’ve ever said to yourself the following:
- “My startup idea/business is too boring to blog about”
- “I don’t have any good ideas for blogging”
- “All the great ideas for a blog post have been taken, so why bother?”
- “We already tried that and it didn’t work”
- “What is a blog post/blog/blogging?”
These are all misconceptions about the art of blogging—yes, even the second-to-last comment! We’re going to address these sayings because frankly, we’re sick and tired of hearing them—that’s how much we love blogging.
“I’m too boring”
We’ve actually talked about this before, but let’s discuss it one more time for reminder’s sake. There is actually a lot of less-than-boring things to talk about your industry—perhaps it’s the way in which you’re describing it that could be boring?
When you’re blogging, do you use a lot of terminology you will find only among your colleagues, or are you trying to address the average reader? Is anything you’re blogging about evergreen (i.e. it’s always relevant), or is it presented in a way that deters people from following through with contacting you to learn more?
If you answered anything other than “average reader” or “evergreen”, there’s your problem. Even financial websites can be interesting if the content presented means something to your average readers. Your business may be more professional, but that doesn’t mean you have to address customers or clients the way you would a robot (a.k.a. search engines). Also just because there are recent events taking place that have significance to you may not mean that’s what your audience wants to read about online. That’s why we recommend the blog posts you make are evergreen—because they last forever instead of fading, and there’s nothing boring about them.
“I have no good ideas/all the great ones are taken”
These are both similar in that they reveal a lack of confidence about one’s ability to blog, so we’ll tackle these two misconceptions together. If you really think there are no good ideas left, why are people still continuing to blog then? The only reason you think there are no good ideas is simply because you may not have thought about them yet. Just because someone wrote about, say, fishing, doesn’t mean you can’t either. Maybe they wrote about fish you can find in a certain location, and maybe you know a few spots that they missed mentioning.
There you have it, a brand new idea for a blog post! See, not all the good ideas are taken—they just need to be approached by your own unique perspective. Not everyone possesses the same style of writing content either. For example, someone may have written a great post that has a lot of text, but you could take that and make an infographic out of it, or add a lot of images instead of just one big featured one to break up the text.
“We already tried that and it didn’t work”
Let’s really examine this comment for a second. What is it about your blog that didn’t work before? Was it the content itself? Did you spend hours creating content only to not receive any comments or feedback? Are your scheduled blog posts consistently, or do you tend to post sporadically or whenever the mood strikes your fancy?
We ask these questions mainly because from the sound of things, this comment arises from those who had a specific content strategy in place with the old blog. A content strategy does not simply involve creating and posting blog posts willy-nilly. The best content strategy should reflect both your business’s values and even your brand, whether it’s financial, medical, or based around the quality of your products or services.
Great content strategies don’t have to be limited to just blog posts, either. It’s good to occasionally spice up your blog with videos and infographics. You can also share content related to your industry on social media from people you really respect, put your blog posts into an e-mail newsletter, or even create and promote an ebook based off of or including your best blog posts.
What we’re saying is, just because you already tried hosting a blog and it didn’t work doesn’t mean it was a total failure (that is unless your content consists of thin, unreadable stuff, in which case, yeah it was). It could mean that you need to pass on the torch of writing blog posts or creating content to someone else on your staff—or even hiring someone else for help, especially if consistency is an issue. We suggest this because the more you post content on a regular basis, the more search engines will pick up on that fact and consider your blog to be trustworthy.
There’s nothing wrong about giving the task of blogging to someone else, even if you feel like your blog is your baby. Unless you have the time and dedication to create content for your blog yourself, odds are your business takes a priority first and that’s a more important baby than your blog…that’s what we think you’re thinking, right?
“What is a blog post/blog/blogging?”
This right here is a blog post, what you’re visiting is a blog a.k.a. a web log, and what we’re doing right now is blogging—a.k.a. we’re writing about and creating content based around the website industry which does in fact include the art of blogging. Now you know!
Well, how about it? Are you ready to work on your blog? Or do you still feel like you need help? Like we said, we love blogging at V3 Media, and we also love building beautiful websites. If it’s not just your blog but your site as a whole you really feel like you need help with, give us a call!