Blogs are a little like humans: they start small, but if properly cared for, they grow quickly. Then they reach digital “adulthood” and are strong and vigorous. But, alas, over time they tend to weaken a bit and are susceptible to all manner of illnesses. But, the good news is, unlike people, who must inevitably succumb, your blog doesn’t have to. By identifying and treating what ails this very important appendage of your inbound marketing strategy, you can keep it cruising along in the “prime of life.”
Help for What’s Hurting
If it seems like your blog has caught a bug, never fear… the doctor is in! Here are some conditions to watch for and how to treat them. And, true confession—like everyone’s does, our blog suffers from these afflictions from time to time:
Idea Anemia. Even for a creative content marketing team, there are a limited number of ideas to write about. Or are there? You’ve got to come up with more topics, or your blog is toast. The cure: Shift your perspective. How would your customer write a blog post about your company? What would a vendor say about your products or services? What would your offerings look like when viewed from the future or the past?
Terminal Text-itis. Your blog is drowning in a sea of words, and if you don’t do something, it’s a goner. The cure: Get visual. Yes, your posts need to have a certain number of words to support your SEO goals, but you can insert more images, video, etc. and still meet your objectives. This one can be a bit of a struggle (our blog isn’t always as visual as we’d like), but it’s worth the effort to give readers’ tired eyeballs something besides text to look at.
Audience Interruptus. Your readers have grown tired of you. Don’t take it personally, but do take it seriously. You don’t want them to go find another blog, so make some changes to yours. The cure: Bring in other voices. Whether it’s different people within your company, industry experts, or even members of your audience, expanding your pool of writers will help keep people interested and entertained.
Marketing Team Malaise. Constantly feeding a blog can be, frankly, exhausting. It’s not surprising that your team has grown weary. The cure: There are a few things you can do here. First, if people on your team have an area of focus, switch things up—have the person who normally blogs about product features write about service and support, and vice versa. Or, have a rotating “Blog Boss” so people take turns stoking the creative fires of their teammates and ensuring they come up with engaging ideas.
An Outside Opinion
Sometimes the best way to breathe new life into a dying blog is to get input from an outside content marketing agency. Our inbound marketing teams in Colorado Springs, CO, Olympia, WA, and Springfield, MO, have extensive experience in helping clients not only come up with great content ideas, but promote and manage that content through HubSpot. Give us a shout and let’s get your blog off life support.
