Read time: 5 minutes
This is a continuation from “12 things that instantly kill a surf camp blog (Part 1)”, which you can read here. I suggest checking it out if you own or operate a business in the surf tourism industry… or if you’re just bored because the waves are as flat as a tic tac.
7. Not including images in your surf camp blog article
High quality images are one of the things that you absolutely must have on your surf blog.
The reason for this is that multimedia such as photos (and video) are one of the most effective ways to sell the experience of your surf camp, school, lodge or house.
They literally bring your brand to life and show people what they can expect upon booking with you – cloudless skies, smiling faces illuminated by a sunset, epic lefts and rights gently peeling off a solitary sandbank.
But there’s another reason why images are so vital to a blog – they further support your on-page SEO efforts.
This is because each image requires you to fill in a number of fields (filename, alt text, caption etc), with each field representing an additional opportunity to add keywords or help give Google more context as to what your article is all about.
Here are a few tips for adding images to your surf camp blog.
1. Name your images appropriately
An image’s filename should give Google clues as to the subject matter of said image. Think punchy and precise, not long-winded or irrelevant. And only include a keyword if it’s a natural fit. If not, you might hurt your ranking rather than help it.
- Good = surfer-in-bali.jpg
- Bad = tall-man-riding-a-surfboard-on-a-wave-in-bali.jpg
2. Write accurate alt text
Alt text is what the browser displays to users with screen readers, but it also helps search engine crawlers determine the relevancy of your surf camp blog. Good alt text prioritises the image description whilst avoiding keyword stuffing. It’s also short and succinct.
- Good = Female surfer standing on the beach
- Bad = Female surfer
3. Use descriptive captions
While captions may not directly influence SEO, they’re still essential when it comes to your surf camp blog images. The reason being that, unlike filenames and alt text, captions are visible on your blog page. This means they give people a better feel for the content on your surf camp blog page and further add to the user experience.
8. Forgetting to fill out your meta description correctly
Another thing that could kill your surf blog post is forgetting to fill out your meta description correctly.
In case you didn’t already know, the meta description can have a significant impact on your SEO efforts.
It’s essentially organic ad text. This means that when an ad for your surf camp, school, lodge or house ranks, Google will use the meta description to summarise your page.
In this sense, it’s just as important as that ad text itself.
Here’s how to write better meta descriptions and harness their SEO potential.
- Use targeted keywords in your meta description
- Appeal to the emotion of your audience
- Demonstrate value by linking a feature to a benefit
- Use different meta descriptions for different pages
- Make sure that every meta description is hyper-relevant
- Create urgency in order to prompt action
9. Being offensive or exclusionary
It should be obvious that potentially offensive or exclusionary language can sink your surf camp blog post faster than you can say “shaka, bro”.
It alienates your readers and dashes any hope of establishing credibility.
It could also lead to life-ruining legal problems if you really blow it.
The best thing to do in order to avoid this is to be conscious of what you’re writing – reallly take a moment to pause and think about what message you’re sending.
Are you generalising a group or groups of people? Are you describing someone’s irrelevant characteristics? Are you being condescending? Are you being insensitive?
When you do any of the above, you lose your audience.
The good news is that there’s a wealth of information online that can help you write in a more inclusive tone.
To start you off on the right foot, here are 5 of the biggies.
- Write about people as people… not as demographics
- Ensure the words you use when discussing race, gender or religion are up to date
- Use only relevant facts when describing a person
- Avoid words that use ‘man’ or ‘woman’ (instead of policeman/woman, use police officer)
- Be open-minded when it comes to blog article comments
10. Not adding calls to action (CTA)
A call to action is an essential part of any webpage. It’s the signpost that lets your site visitors know what action they need to take next.
Having a clear CTA will remove any hiccups as customers or guests move along their buying journey.
Without an obvious CTA, they may not know how to purchase a particular product or sign up to your newsletter. This could result in them leaving your website for a competitor.
To remove any doubt as to what a CTA is, think of it as a request that you make of a site visitor asking them to perform a particular action.
They’re commonly found at the bottom of blog posts (like this one), at the end of emails or as their own standalone button on a webpage. For example:
- Click to register
- Share now
- Sign up for our newsletter here
- Go to our site for more info
11. Rushing your surf camp blog
I hate rushing things.
Whether it’s a project for a client, a surf before work or a trip to the airport.
Even if you manage to pull off a rushed job, there’s always a lingering feeling that you may have missed something.
Writing a surf camp blog is exactly the same.
You may think that you nailed your latest post, only to reread it later and discover that you neglected some important SEO, bungled certain words or totally missed the point.
In short, rushing your blog is risky.
But why do people rush the creation of a surf camp article?
The truth is that many business owners underestimate just how much time it takes to create one post.
There’s research to consider. Brainstorming for article ideas. The planning of the article’s structure. Actually writing the article. Plus image sourcing, meta descriptions and proofreading to conduct.
You need to set time aside if you want to write a blog article for your surf camp.
Because to rush something is to consciously compromise its quality.
12. Not sharing your surf camp blog on social media
Creating an engaging, original, optimised blog article is one part of the process.
The other part?
Getting the word out there by sharing your article on social media.
If you’re not sharing your article, you’re doing your potential customers a disservice. Chiefly because you included information that’s helpful to your reader, so why not put it out there for people to make use of?
Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin.
They’re all platforms that you can leverage when sharing your article.
So don’t be afraid to publish your work.
You worked hard after all.