Content Marketing – 13 Cringeworthy Mistakes To Avoid

Content marketing is a very powerful tool for increasing brand awareness, increasing engagement and generating good quality leads. But content marketing mistakes are all too common.

The big boys of business probably have a team of highly paid article writers whose sole purpose in life is to generate absolutely amazing content that will delight their thousands of followers.  But if you’re more in the small-to-medium enterprise bracket, you may have to rely on freelancers or in-house Jeff Bullas or Kim Garst wannabes.

Whether you’re writing blogs and articles yourself, or hiring someone to write them for you, here are 13 cringeworthy content marketing mistakes to avoid.

1. Not SEO Friendly

The very best website SEO combines technical know-how and exceptional content marketing – the two are completely intertwined.  So if you want to increase website traffic to your articles, it’s important they’re optimised for the search engines.

Bear in mind that your content will get overlooked by Google if you use keyword stuffing and stilted phrases to stuff in even more keywords.  Nowadays content which ranks well in search engine results is unique, high quality, relevant and has some carefully constructed on-page SEO.

2. Super Skinny Content

When you write just because you think your website needs some fresh content, it may be that your content is a little on the thin side.  Perhaps you haven’t time to write some great epic yourself, nor the cash flow to pay a decent writer to do it for you.

But don’t create an article or blog that has no substance to it and is fully of meaningless, fuzzy phrases ie. thin content.  It needs to have a strong introduction, rational arguments or points, and clear take-home messages.

3. Rehashed Content

It’s easy to be bewitched by a great article from elsewhere, and re-write it in your own words.  But a) it’s a complete cop-out b) some of your beady-eyed followers may see too many similarities to the original article and c) if the original has any errors, you’ll simply looks as stupid as the original author.

4. Plagiarism

Simply no – not ethical and can make your company look stupid if you have articles reproduced on your website from elsewhere.  Now this isn’t to be confused with using others’ content and credited them within your article – that’s wholly acceptable.

Also worth bearing in mind that the “Google penalty” for duplicate content is not as straightforward as it first sounds.  Google won’t penalise a site outright if it has plagiarised content, but it won’t rank it above other sites that offer more “value” to the searcher.

Find out more about duplicate content and SEO here.

Final note – If you hire a writer, check for plagiarism using a free tool such as Grammarly.com before publishing the article.

5. Factually Incorrect

If you’re not confident that the facts in your draft article are correct, then get your head down and research them fully until you are satisfied they are 100% correct.

6. Grammatically Incorrect

If you get confused by it’s, its, their and they’re, you’re probably not the best person to write your own articles or blogs – or if you have to, then employ a competent proof reader.  Many, many people find poor grammar a complete turn-off, with the result that they won’t take your content seriously.

7. Not Useful For Your Target Market

If you start to veer away from your core topics in your content marketing, your audience will be at best, surprised and at worst, unlikely to read your carefully crafted article.

Keep to subject matter relevant to your business – that’s why your audience loves you, and subjects that neatly blend into the topics on your website are far more likely to help with SEO.

8. Wrong Tone Of Voice For Your Target Market

If you’re advertising to millennials, keep the wording of your blog or article fairly upbeat and don’t be afraid to use terminology that is familiar to them.  On the other hand, a mature audience will be, on the whole, appreciative of  more formal  language.

9. Wrong Tone Of Voice For Your Product

Writing slightly flippantly about fun outdoor excursions could be an excellent idea if you’re selling such things to a young market.  Write slightly flippantly about funeral plan insurance and you’ll quickly find yourself in hot water.

10. Weak Title

Even if you have completely nailed your content, and your title contains the appropriate keywords, a boring old, weak title won’t make it stand out from the crowd. Result? People won’t be enticed to read it.

11. Poor Layout

Make your articles and blogs an easy-read visually. Insert images to make a point.  Break up text with bullet points and numbered sections. A large article comprising huge paragraphs will be off putting to all but the most avid of readers.

12. Not Shared Widely

Once you believe you have the perfect article sitting quietly on your blog or website, then get sharing!  The more you share, the more people will see it and have the opportunity to read it.  Get social and share on your preferred networks; pay to increase the reach; send it to your mailing list via an enewsletter.

13. Over Shared

But don’t overdo that sharing.  However good your latest blog, there’s no need to share it daily on your social media feed – your followers will soon tire of seeing the same-old, same-old.  Feel free to share every couple of weeks or so, but be ready with your newest offering to keep your audience entertained and enthralled with your content.

We believe that these 13 content marketing mistakes are all completely avoidable.  Follow our tips and you will be confident that your content marketing efforts are getting discussed for all the right reasons.

If you need to outsource your content creation and want to avoid making content marketing mistakes, we offer a video and content creation service.  

Contact us for a no-obligation chat to discuss your needs.