A Tale of Two Blogs – Mistake Number 5 Strikes Again!
I recently told you about two blogs that I built for two different companies. One is a local roofing company, Phoenix Roofing, Inc., and the other is a custom motorcycle shop, Texas Custom Choppers.
Both of these sites were built using WordPress as a content management system and blog. They were both setup the same way and both have been search engine optimized.
However, one of these blogs, even though it’s only 3 weeks old, is seeing a certain degree of success while the other one seems to be floundering.
The Texas Custom Choppers site is getting an average of 100 visitors per day and has had spikes as high as 1100 and 500 unique visitors in one day. They already have top 5 positions in all the major search engines for almost all of the local search phrases they are targeting.
The Phoenix Roofing site on the other hand is lucky to get 5 visitors per day. Even though it does have 1 top search engine ranking for a local search phrase it’s not nearly enough to get the traffic it needs to be successful.
The reason? I talk about it in my new eBook “5 Major Mistakes that Will Guarantee Your Blog’s Failure…”
It’s mistake #5 – Failure to follow through with what you started.
I’ve seen it for years in the web site design business and I see it all the time with bloggers too. People get all fired up about their new blog or web site but then the business of life and work creeps in and they never get around to writing good content. Then, 3 months down the road they wonder why they’re not getting any traffic. Sometimes they even blame their webmaster! “Ahhh!!”
I know it can be hard to write content for your blog and stay on top of things on a weekly basis. But, if you’re going to have a successful blog you MUST start with a good amount of keyword-targeted content and you MUST post to your blog at least 2-3 times per week.
One thing I do to help avoid writers block is to keep a running list of blog post titles. As something hits me I put it on the list. When I’m ready to write a post and need an idea I just go back to my list and find a topic.
The other thing I do is to schedule time for writing blog posts. That’s right I have “write blog post” on my calendar. Honestly, it doesn’t always get done but, it’s a heck of a lot more likely to if I have it scheduled.
All of your blog posts don’t have to be long essays. In fact short “utility” posts will work just fine. There’s a great new tool out called Track Boost that will help you write short posts quickly and get links back to your blog at the same time.
In addition to posting to your blog you must also promote your posts. This can be done by commenting on other blogs, submitting your site to search engine friendly directories, exchanging links with other blogs, submitting your posts to news and Web 2,0 sites such as Digg, Propeller, Technorati, Stumble Upon, etc…
Part of the reason for the success of the Texas Custom Choppers site is that I use the techniques I learned from being a member of Social Power Linking, and their buzz group, to promote content and get traffic to the site.
- Barry O.
Really? I have a different opinion. I remember when you talked about doing Phoenix Roofing. In fact, I used that format to do a similar website for a client (still working on it): http://huntingtonbeachremodel.com/
I think part of the differences in the two blogs is the nature of their business. My client (as well as Phoenix Roofing) has a very limited area range and a somewhat narrow focus – not really given to social networking too much.
Whereas Texas Custom Choppers can sell clothing and parts online – much more internet and social networking friendly.
I do want to suggest that perhaps he write a weekly “column” on handy tips for home remodeling which I think would help, but really if you don’t live in his area or want to have your home remodeled, you just wouldn’t be interested.
Just my opinion,
GiGi
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GiGi,
You make a good point and one that I think is accurate to a degree.
Definitely the Texas Custom Chopper site has a wider audience and lends itself more to social networking traffic strategies.
But since the the roofing site is much more focused and has a more limited area it should be that much easier to get some decent search engine rankings. I have no doubt that if they added more content, posted to their blog on a regular basis and got a few incoming links,or even reciprocal links, they would easily get top positions for their search phrases very quickly. (I’ve done it before with similar sites.)
The point is. That it’s a huge mistake for any website owner to think that all they have to do is just build a site, put a little content on it and then expect it to do well in the search engines. It just doesn’t work that way.
Barry O.
I totally agree Barry – I’m constantly ragging on website owners that they have to do some WORK to have a successful website.
On the other hand, if your market is too limited, you’d better not be expecting hundreds of visitors per day if only 10 people are even searching for your keywords.
GiGis last blog post..IFIC Answers Low Calorie Sweetner Question
Good points, Barry and Gigi
I’ve been reading up on local SEO recently, and one thing that often seems to get missed is LOCAL content.
I.E. if they want to rank well for “Phoenix” and for “roofing”, it’s useful to write content about their local area (with appropriate geographical keywords), as well as stuff about roofing-related topics.
Thanks for a stimulating blog!
Jon
Definitely. In this example one of their targeted keyword phrases is “roofing contractor Houston Texas”.
Now they just need some content to support that phrase