Shattering common blogging myths

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May 31, 2014 / by
Shattering common blogging myths

Blogging is one of the best methods for raising awareness of your brand, understanding your customer base and boosting your site’s SEO.

Broken iPhoneIn a previous post, we have discussed how to optimise a blog post for SEO purposes. Despite the obvious benefits, there are still many unfounded myths pertaining to blogging which stops companies and individuals from utilising the tool effectively.

In some cases, these myths act as such a strong deterrent that companies and individuals don’t even attempt to blog, because they don’t believe it is feasible for them or they wrongly believe that the costs outweigh the benefits. With all this misinformation circulating, it makes it somewhat difficult to decide whether or not you should start your own blog. So – a full debunking of some of the most common myths regarding blogging is what we need.

1. Using a hosted blogging platform is perfectly fine

Perhaps if you only blog for a hobby and have no intention of monetisation, or if your blog is in no way connected with your business, then using one of the many hosted platforms available might be perfectly acceptable. However, using your own platform has numerous advantages which more than justify the negligible domain registration fee and extra set up required. Blogging from your own domain not only looks far more professional, but it also allows for maximum design and feature customisation and makes monetising a heck of a lot easier. And if you have an existing site for your business, then having the blog hosted on the same domain is essential.

2. Posting every day is essential

While it’s true that a regularly updated blog will perform better than one that isn’t, both in terms of SEO and readership loyalty, there is no set limit for the frequency of your postings. Your niche industry and target audience should give you key indicators of how regularly you need to post (if you don’t know your target audience, then get on with some market research now!) Provided you are diligent with your digital marketing strategy and blog optimisation, if you are posting high quality content at least once a week then you should be on course for increasing your traffic. Obviously, if you can post more frequently you will expedite this process, but never churn out subpar articles because you think it will help you to grow your readership – this will normally have the adverse effect!

3. You have to be an expert writer in order to blog

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As with anything, writing is a skill – the more you do it the better you’ll get. If you’re an inexperienced writer or are not very confident, know that with practice you will certainly get better. Learning tobrainstorm for topics that your readers will love, avoid commonSEO mistakes and structure your posts in a way that will positively impact your audience will put you way ahead of your competitors, regardless of your innate writing talent.

You don’t need someone to pay to you to get your writing career going. You are building a business and you need to start somewhere. Think about the free writing that you do as a start-up writing cost. It is marketing your writing. – Raubi Perilli

The important thing is that you’re able to get a valuable message across, not that you’re able to demonstrate the writing abilities of a literary genius. If writing simply isn’t for you but you’d still like to get the value from having a blog, you could consider outsourcing.

4. Display advertising is the best way to monetise a blog

While banner and text ads represent the oldest and most known monetisation strategy, there are numerous other ways to make an income from your blog, including: selling ebooks and other products, offering services such as public speaking or workshops, sponsorship deals, members-only content and more!

5. The biggest myth of all – a great blog will promote itself

Great content is certainly the core factor in solidifying a loyal readership, but neglecting social media and audience interaction will severely limit your reach. All posts should be integrated with social media tools for easy sharing. Not only should you post all of your content on social media, you should also use platforms like Twitter and Facebook to get feedback and comments, enabling you to generate the kind of content that your fans are sure to love!

Be snarky. Write nearly libelous things about fellow bloggers, daring them to respond (with links back to you) on their blog. – Seth Godin

In conclusion

If you have the acumen to run a business, you certainly possess the skills to run a blog. While for some people blogging is nothing more than a way to share their thoughts and stories with the world, it is more than clear by now that there are multiple business advantages to be gained from this special way of engaging with an audience. Ignore the detractors who say otherwise – blogging is here to stay, and research indicates the number of businesses using blogs is rapidly increasing. Don’t get left behind by the competition!

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