Thursday Thoughts: Blogger Burnout
In today’s world, chances are you or your company have a blog on your website. There are a few essential reasons to have a blog which include sharing updates and increasing search engine optimization (commonly referred to as SEO). Blogs need to be maintained and updated, which in short means content for blog posts needs to be constantly developed. Continually coming up with content within the bounds of your company’s industry can become tough and can lead to blogger burnout.
Below are two common causes for blogger burnout along with the symptoms you may be experiencing as a result. If you or someone at your company are experiencing these symptoms take a look at our recommendations on how to treat these symptoms.
CAUSE: The content and topics you write about are the same and are becoming mundane.
Symptoms: Disengaged, Uninterested, Feeling of being “completely over it”
Treatment:
- Leave your comfort zone and try to continually write about new and fresh topics—ones that you actually enjoy and care about. Look into trending keywords on Google Trends, Twitter, and LinkedIn for inspiration regarding popular topics that are relevant to your target audience. As a bonus, since these are highly trafficked searches, more users (especially new users) may end up on your website!
- Look into what your target customers are talking about on their website and over social media. You can also survey customers to find out what they like and dislike about your blog and ask for any suggestions they may have on what is missing from it. No one knows more about what the audience is interested than the audience themselves!
- Research what your competition is doing and see how you can bring another point of view to the topic.
- Highlight recently completely projects—as Customer Stories or Case Studies—for a new and exciting topic.
CAUSE: Too many articles, too little time.
Symptoms: Stressed, Overwhelmed, Barely making deadlines with underwhelming content
Treatment:
- Try to plan in advance when possible. Create a content calendar with general topics to discuss. Take note of anything inspiring or interesting that connects to these topics in your interactions with people, events, and your daily exposure to other content.
- Utilize previous blog posts for inspiration and as a jump-start on your next post. For example, if you do product features, look back an old one and see if there is a similar product that you can feature. You likely can use the same formatting for the blog too!
- Most importantly, focus on quality over quantity. A few articles of quality and value will always produce better results than hundreds of articles that are slim and contain nothing useful for the reader.
NO MATTER WHAT, MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE THE BASICS
With that said, there will always be deadlines and quotas to meet. So when you find yourself creating content with a fast-approaching deadline, remember to focus on the following assets every great blog post contains:
- Value: Always, always, always make sure your article is something that will benefit your audience and that they will find useful. When covering a topic that was previously covered, avoid repetition by adding new and unique perspectives and ideas. Also try to avoid content that is heavy-handed with promoting your company’s services or products.
- A Great Headline: Make sure your headline is catchy and relevant. Without relevance to your content, your headline will mislead readers into thinking your content contains the information they are looking for. Ultimately, this can lead to mistrust between your company and that reader.
- Call to Action: Great blog posts are actionable. The easiest way to encourage action is by including a call to action (CTA) at the end of your post. Another way to encourage action is by linking to relevant/additional sources for information.
- Clear & Concise Messaging: Format content in an easy-to-read and digestible way—avoid walls of text! Also always remember to proofread your finished draft or even ask a colleague to give it a fresh set of eyes. Content full of grammar and punctuation errors can deter and interrupt your reader from your message. Avoid too many keywords and plugs, meant solely for SEO purposes, as these can dilute your message and confuse the reader.
- Brand Consistency: Keep the voice of your article consistent with that of your company or client.
- Relevancy: Make sure that the content itself is relevant to the brand and industry. In addition to this, always remember to comply with any industry regulations that are relevant to your client or company (for example: SEC regulations for financial clients).