In this guide, you’ll learn how to spot underperforming content, explore the possible causes, and discover easy solutions to fix it. By the end of this blog, you will be fully prepared to spot and enhance future underperforming content.
What Does a Successful Blog Look Like?
Successful content consistently and ever-increasingly:
- Improves your website’s visibility in search
- Supports your expanding social media presence
- Helps you grow your email subscriber list because your audience looks forward to your next installment
- Shows active engagement in likes, comments, and shares
- Generates leads for your startup
- Attracts high quality leads for your startup
- Inspires you to continually create new content because you’re getting positive reinforcement from your audience
Want to know what a successful blog looks like? Explore your favorite influencer’s blog. It can show you what to look for.
Spotting an Underperforming Blog & Fixing It
1. Your Search Engine Visibility Isn’t Increasing
Your content must be high quality (of course!) and match user intent for visibility to increase. To better align with user intent, do keyword research. See what’s currently ranking for that keyword in Google. The content you see on page one aligns with intent. If you want to be visible for this keyword, create content similar in intent but better.
2. Inconsistent Traffic And Engagement
Everyone loves viral content. But what we really want as a startup is a consistent, manageable stream of high-quality leads. Your content may be too seasonal or out-of-date if leads come in crashing waves rather than smooth-rolling tides. Maybe you published lots of Mother’s Day content in May. Now, May is gone, and so is all that traffic.
Some seasonal content is okay. But focus on creating more evergreen content that people are always looking for. This kind of content answers evergreen questions like “How do I improve my blog performance”?
3. Publishing Is Inconsistent
To get the most out of your blog content budget, circle back to update and improve old posts and republish them. This saves you time and helps you maintain a more consistent blog schedule. Keep publishing new content, but don’t just send old posts out to pasture. That content can often add value with small adjustments to increase your blog ROI.
4. Losing Visibility in Search Due to Competition
Search engine optimization (SEO) is an ongoing project. If you don’t continually track your performance, you will lose the ground you’ve gained. Your competitors are tracking what you’re doing and outmaneuvering you. Start tracking them using competitor analysis software. As they gain “market share” on a keyword you rank well for, adjust your strategy to stay on top.
5. Lost Ranking Due to Google Changes
Google penalizes websites that try to manipulate the search engine results page (SERP). If Google thinks you’re doing this, your website may lose ranking when it updates its algorithm. So focus on publishing content that your audience actually wants. It should be aligned with intent, useful, and audience-appropriate. Delight your audience, and you’ll create a more successful blog.