How to Have a Poorly Branded Blog

As The Blog Squad, I like to joke we roam through the Blogosphere looking for great business blogs, and we swoop down and do an extreme blog makeover whenever we see a boring blog.

What we see going on in the Blogosphere is:

• Many business blogs are languishing

• Some haven’t been posted on in weeks or months

• Some are all over the map with their content

And it gets worse! Here’s a common mistake we see being committed on business blogs. We see blogs that have:

Little or poor brand recognition

Here’s what we mean by that; When visitors land on your blog, in a blink of the eye, they should know:

1. Who the blog is for
2. What the blog is about
3. Why they should stick around and read your content
4. Why they should subscribe
5. Who you are and why they should believe what you have to say
    

Without following best practices that address these points, a business blog is:

• Confusing for the reader

• Not building a list of interested prospects

• Not getting any interaction with readers/visitors/potential clients

• Not converting readers to clients

These are common mistakes. We see these errors on blogs all the time. Denise and I see these common mistakes on blogs written by some very intelligent and smart professionals who are very good at what they do, in their fields.

They just haven’t understood and mastered business blogging yet. Perhaps some of you reading this might be experiencing a few of these problems on your own blogs.

I want you to know, if that’s the case, you aren’t alone. These are actually quite common challenges.

I believe that part of the reason Denise and I have been so effective with our online visibility is that we have a good brand.

The image of two professional women who have teamed up as The Blog Squad is a good representation of our personalities and values. We mean business and we don't mess around when it comes to blog improvement and online marketing for our clients.

But even without a clever name, you must have good branding and it must be evident on your blog and social media sites.

Next: We’ll give you some tips on how to have a well-branded blog.

Related Posts:
Visibility: 4 Ways You Need to Shine Online
Massive Online Visibility: Everywhere you go, there you are...
Massive Online Visibility: Website or Blog?

Comments

[Laura Christianson]

Great post...I found myself flipping over to my own biz blog as I read your five "blink of an eye" statements.

I need to work on the "why they should subscribe" feature...but it's getting there.

One thing biz bloggers need to be aware of is that a business blog takes time to develop. Yes, they need to include the basics of updating regularly and presenting an attractive, user-friendly design, but they also need to give themselves permission to let their blog evolve and change over time.

I see a lot of biz blogs cluttered with ads, which turns me off. There are more effective ways of making a sale than plastering ads all over one's blog.

One of the things I've had to remind myself to do on my blogs is to periodically unclutter it. I keep adding cool widgets and features, and suddenly, it looks way too busy!

Laura Christianson
co-founder, HeBlogsSheBlogs.com

[Jan Tallent]

Great article and so true! I do not even stay and read past the first paragraph on my blogs I am invited to go see as I do not find a compelling reason to read further when last post was months ago or there seems to be no POINT to the *ramblings*

I follow you on twitter and FB!

jantallent

[Jeanne May]

One of the things which irk me so much is having no name on the blog! Some blogs have been posting very regularly for a couple of years (you can see it from the archives) and have fantastic content but their name is nowhere to be found! Whenever I come across this, especially with well established blogs, I begin to question the confidence level of the author which in turn affects the impact of what they are trying to say!

Jeanne