Publishing Text Content as an Image
You might be wondering why any webmaster or blogger would intentionally publish text content as an image. Well, the most common reason for this tactic is to discourage other people from copying and using it. When you publish text on a website, anyone can steal it by simply selecting and copying it to their clipboard. Taking a snapshot of the text and posting it as an image, however, prevents this from happening.
But the problem in doing so is that search engines are unable to read images; therefore, it won’t offer any benefit in terms of search engine optimization (SEO). Don’t worry about the possibility of other webmasters copying your work, and instead publish your content as text.
Not Speaking to Your Target Demographic
The first step towards creating an effective content marketing strategy is to identify your target demographic. In other words, who’s going to access and read the content? Assuming the content you create is for your business’s website, the target demographic would likely be your customers. Craft your content using a manner and tone that’s relevant to this demographic. Doing so will make your content more appealing, which in turn boosts user engagement. If you aren’t sure of your target demographic, use Google Analytics or similar website metrics tools to identify them.
Writing Content for Search Engines Instead of Visitors
Another all-too-common mistake made by webmasters is writing content for search engines instead of human visitors. In the past, it wasn’t uncommon for webmasters to specific keyword rations or other now-useless metrics in an effort to encourage higher search rankings. While Google, Yahoo and Bing still pay close attention to the use of keywords in web content, it doesn’t hold the same influence as it once did. Today, search engines place a greater emphasis on visitor engagement (e.g. average time spent on site, bounce rate, exit rate, etc.). So if you are trying to achieve a higher search ranking, write content with the end user in mind.
Lack of Promotion
You can publish the most well-researched, thoughtful content in your respective niche, but it’s not going to do any good unless people actually see it. This is why it’s important for webmasters to promote their content once it is published. Assuming you have an active presence on social media, publish links to your new content on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ to drive immediate traffic to them.
Infrequent Publishing
How often do you publish new content to your blog and/or website? Infrequent publishing is a serious mistake that can cost you traffic, and ultimately sales. When you don’t publish new content on a regular basis, visitors may check out your competitors’ websites, at which point they are never seen or heard from again. So, how often should you publish new content? There’s really no easy answer to this question, as it depends on several different factors such as your niche, target demographic, goal/objectives, and more. With that said, most Internet marketers will agree that it’s best to publish at least 1-2 new pieces of content per week.
Are you guilty of making these mistakes? Let us know in the comments section below! Then, contact us for help
Image attribution: https://www.flickr.com/photos/theihno/
