Would you rather not compare your blog to your competition’s blog? Are they outperforming you and earning more traffic?
There are few things more frustrating an underperforming blog. You’re investing valuable time and resources into it, but it’s not giving you anything back. What’s the point?
The point is you can do better, and you can do so without investing much more into it. Here are 3 reasons that your competition may have a better blog than you, and what to do about it.
1. They Have Better Images
The competition may be beating you before people even read a word of the blog.
The numbers show that blogs with high-quality images consistently outperform those with very boring images. So, if you’re using cookie-cutter images, your blog may be suffering because of it
We know, stock photo accounts are very expensive and probably not in your marketing budget. You can still find amazing free images at sites like:
You can also get fantastic and free images through Google images by tweaking your search filters.
2. They Know What Their Customers Want to Read
Don’t just write for the sake of writing. Write something your customers want to read. More specifically, write about things they’re searching for.
This all starts with your keyword strategy and if you don’t currently have a keyword strategy, that’s a blog unto itself. You need to perform thorough keyword research for the terms that your customers are looking for, so your blog can be the solution they find. If you’re not doing this right now, you’re making it too easy for your competition to claim this space.
You will also want to leverage your customer service staff and sales team. Find out the most common questions and pain points they hear from your customers and would-be customers. This is free and invaluable SEO and market research.
Also, pay attention to the questions and comments you see in social media space. Don’t limit your search to just your account, your competitor’s are fair game here. You may not want to go so far as to answer the question in their Twitter feed, but you can certainly make a note of the questions. These questions are possible blog titles.
3. Their Writing is Better
But isn’t the quality of writing subjective? Yes and no.
Good or bad writing could mean so many things. But in the world of blogging, bad writing is likely one of 3 common offenses:
- Dull headlines or leads: Your first two lines are the most important. Make them count.
- Too much industry jargon: You need to walk the line of sounding like an expert, yet using easily digestible language that your audience can actually read.
- Spelling and Grammar Errors: Nothing will strip you of your credibility faster than an obvious typo or two in your copy.
You can fix any of these problems at no real additional cost. They just require a bit more attention and strategy.
