While blogging can be a great marketing tool for small businesses but one wrong move can do more harm than benefits. Today many small businesses are trying to maintain a blog, but a lot of them are harming themselves instead of gaining from it.

Blogging for sure can do wonders when it comes to marketing, acquiring funds, handling customers and building brand but do it the wrong way and you are going to suffer more and gain less.

If you are one of those nascent entrepreneurs with a small business in your portfolio planning to start a blog, here are some lethal small business blogging mistakes you should avoid under all circumstances.

#1. They do not have a Master Plan.
Do not start a blog just because everyone else is. Before starting a blog, decide what you want to write, why people should read it and who is your audience. Now make a minimum plan that you can easily follow and start writing.

“The first thing you need to decide when you build your blog is what you want to accomplish with it, and what it can do if successful.” Ron Dawson

Why having a Master Plan is necessary?
The motive for starting a blog should not merely be limited to marketing; small businesses should relish the power of blogging to come across as the Thought Leader; a leader who knows his work and is here to educate people. A Master blog plan that delivers a purpose in the long run will take you miles.

Most of the small businesses use blog simply for driving traffic; they publish content related to almost everything which is happening in the world. Keeping up with the trend is going to bring loads of traffic, but they will never convert into leads or sales. Find a niche, or simply publish content in the niche of your small business, educate people, train them through How-To-Do-It articles and see how quickly the customer base will increase. 

To do this best practice is to have a minimum quarterly plan on what and when to publish.

#2. They publish Promotional Content.
If you are trying to pitch your product or service to the customer at the beginning of the relationship, then you are going to scare them off. It is always advised to develop a relation first and then pitch services or products. Promoting content that targets sales and no customer building will do more harm to your business than profit. Bounce rate will increase, search rankings will slump, and customer interaction will decrease. Publishing content that adds value to the life of customers or readers will help them make better purchasing decisions. Be their companion on the road to enlightenment and they will remember you when they are ready to acquire services. 

“Don’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers.”  Brian Clark

#3. They are not consistent.
Small businesses need to understand that a blog is no Facebook page and posting short posts with updates from around the world will not help them in the long run.

“If you want to continually grow your blog, you need to learn to blog on a consistent basis.” Neil Patel

Blogs should always be used for educating customers, informing them about the changes you are doing in your business and also about the upcoming events. Not being consistent is also related to being too promotional. One just cannot publish promotional content whenever they want and expect greater lead generations. Post content regularly and post content that creates value.

#4. They do not use technology efficiently.
Why individual bloggers are more successful than small businesses? The answer lies in the efficient use of technology. Individual bloggers and webmasters make the best use of the available technological tools like RSS Feed, Video Integration tools, Google Analytics and Social Share buttons. Businesses in the contemporary world need to get competitive with the use of technology. Using available tools for creating engaging content and promoting blogs will produce excellent results. Using RSS Feed and Google Analytics together will help small businesses develop an audience base that is actually interested in that particular niche.

“Blogging is just writing — writing using a particularly efficient type of publishing technology.” Simon Dumenco

Use other technological tools like SEO Score, Readability Score will help you create engaging content and make them reach masses. Efficient usages of technology will not only help you rank higher in search engine results but will also help you stay there for longer period. 

#5. They expect too much in the beginning:
Out of every 10 small businesses that pursue blogging as a marketing tool, 7 give up too soon because they expect too much in the beginning. Small Businesses needs to understand that the success of the blog not lies in the number of comment you get but in the Analytics. It is only through analytics that the real worth of a blog can be determined, and the three 3 out of 10 small businesses who do not give up on blogging too soon harvest a creamy crop in the long run.

“Successful blogging is not about one time hits. It’s about building a loyal following over time.” David Aston

A lot of people tend to read articles and share it with like-minded people, but only when they have a strong opinion about the article that they leave a comment. Hence Small Businesses needs to start looking into analytics and calculate the efforts they need to invest instead of simply giving up!

#6. They are hiring inexperienced writers.
Proper grammar, low readability score and lack of depth in articles will do no good to the blog or business. Small businesses need to hire writers with experience of working in a competitive environment. Writers who use simple language and provide detailed information will help your business win more and more loyal readers who with time will turn into potential readers.

In case if you decided to write a blog yourself, take care of the same things which you expect from hired blogger.

"There are tons of different factors that go into ranking well, but the biggest is high-quality content." David Sinick

A good writer will also take care of the ON Page SEO and help you rank better in search results. Start working with leaders from every vertical; each one of them will bring unique skills to your business and make it successful in the long run.

#7. They isolate themselves from other small business bloggers.
If you are minding your own business and not socializing with other small business bloggers then you are losing great marketing opportunities.

“A blog is only as interesting as the interest shown in others.” Lee Odden

Here’s how to mix with other bloggers and start generating benefit for your blog: 

• Read others blog and leave comments on their blog.
• Join reputed blog communities and try to be active.
• Collaborate with other small business bloggers, share backlinks or organize give away contests.
• Seek guest-posting opportunities and help each other grow.

Small businesses blogging need some focused efforts. By avoiding above  7 mistakes, you can be rest assured of positive results. 

So start building a blog that drives sales for your business with Budo Blog application.