Guest author, Charles Mburugu, gives us some advice on avoiding goofs.
Nowadays, many companies are using business blogs as a key element of their social media marketing strategy. A business blog needs to be designed and set up properly so as to attract potential customers.
The following are some of the mistakes to be avoided when setting up your business blog.
1. Hard to read colors
A blog needs to be easy to read, as well as visually appealing. Therefore, when setting up your blog, readability should be a major consideration. Avoid having white text or bright colors on a dark background. Makes sure your blog can be read easily by people who view it from their iPad or smartphone.
2. Sound/video clips
Some business blogs have sound or video clips which play immediately someone lands on a page. This is a big mistake. Never try to dictate the experience of your blog visitors. Let them decide whether to play the clip or not.
3. Intrusive ads
Prospective customers are likely to be put off if their visit to your blog is constantly interrupted by ads. Therefore, you need to avoid interstitial ads, pop-up ads and others which interfere with your blog visitors.
4. Excessive ads
When visitors land on your blog, they should see your content first, and not the ads. Therefore, you should always display ads moderately, whether they are third-party ad or ads for your own products.
5. Too much text
Pages which are filled with long blocks of text can be difficult to read. To make your content more scannable, divide it into paragraphs and use sub-headings. In addition, use images so as to retain the attention of readers. Finally, make the post as short as possible to encourage visitors to read through.
6. No ‘About’ page
A detailed ‘About’ page is a very important component of any business blog. This page will give prospective clients an idea of what the business is all about and who is behind it.
7. No contact details
Business blogs also need to have a page containing the necessary contact details. This will enable potential clients to contact the business for more details or to ask questions.
8. Anonymous post authors
Make sure every post published on your blog is accompanied with a brief author bio. This will show readers the writer’s expertise and experience, thus making the post as well as your blog more credible.
9. Duplicate content
Don’t make the mistake of publishing the same content on multiple blogs or sites. This will end up negatively affecting your search engine rankings, and might even get you banned from Google. Instead of republishing content, you could consider rewriting it instead.
10. Registration requirements
Restricting access to your content by requiring visitors to register first is a big mistake. Instead of focusing on collecting email addresses, allow visitors to access your content freely. This will increase your reader base and eventually boost your business.
// ]]>
Charles Mburugu writes regularly on topics such as making money online and blogging tips. At the moment, he is writing for Flash templates.