Adam Oakley - Express Writers

What Is a Bounce Rate on a Website in 2025 and How to Increase Your Engagement

February 6, 2025January 9, 2025 by Adam Oakley

Google — the 800-pound gorilla of the search engine space — loves flexing its might. The giant search engine has been rolling out updates that change online marketing at an unprecedented rate. Worse still, Google has thrown out the old playbook and is hellbent on rewriting the online marketing rules. Besides major algorithm updates such as the Helpful Content Update, Google has quietly implemented smaller changes that can, over time, tank your site’s ranking and ruin your business. One of the silent killer updates is the recent redefinition of the website bounce rate. Dig in as we explore what has changed and what you can do to keep your cash register ringing. What Is a Bounce Rate on a Website? Traditionally, bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who click away from your site after visiting only one page. So, if 1000 people click on your site from the search results page and 150 of them leave immediately, your bounce rate is 15%. Naturally, a high bounce rate is undesirable. It shows that your content isn’t spot on and misses the mark by a long shot. If people don’t stay on your site long enough to engage with your content, you can’t convince them to take any action. Your sales and conversions will tank because potential clients aren’t getting into your sales funnel. It gets even worse if you’re using paid ads to drive traffic — you may not recoup your ad spend. Worse, still high bounce rates can tank your search rankings. Google uses bounce rates as a ranking factor, so high bounce rates could cause you to lose your top spots on the SERPs. Bounce Rate After GA4 Update Thanks to Google rewriting the playbook, the bounce rate is now the inverse of engagement rates. It’s now the percentage of your unengaged sessions. As mentioned earlier, Google treasures and prioritizes engagement — it’s part of its core mandate to match web users with accurate search results. As a result, GA4 has been calibrated to prioritize calculating engaged sessions. As per Google’s definition, engaged sessions occur when a visitor: Lingers for more than 10 seconds Engages in a website’s key event Views at least two pages To calculate your site’s engagement rate, you’ll need to divide the engaged sessions by the site’s total sessions. For instance, if you have 1500 engaged sessions out of 1800 sessions, your engagement rate would be 83.3%. Subtracting 83.3% from 100% brings your bounce rate to 16.7%. How to Calculate Bounce Rates in GA4 Once you understand what Google considers an engaged session, you can easily calculate your site’s bounce rates. The formula is pretty straightforward: GA4 Bounce Rate = (Unengaged Sessions/Total Sessions) x 100 For instance, if 25,000 users visited your site last month and 20,000 of the visits met the GA4 engagement threshold, your bounce rate would be: (5,000/25,000) x 100 = 20% Finding Bounce Rate in GA4 In the usual fashion, Google has thrown a wrench in the works with the latest GA4 update. It’s eliminated standard reports, so you must customize your own. Luckily, that doesn’t take a herculean effort. Here’s how to customize your bounce rate reports in GA4: 1. Sign into Google Analytics as an Administrator or an Editor. 2. Click Reports on the left side menu. 3. Locate the report you wish to customize. 4. Click Customize Report on the top right corner of the screen. 5. Click Metrics in the Report Data menu. 6. Click Add Metric. 7. Click Engagement Rate and Bounce Rate. 8. Click Apply. Why Bounce Rate Matters Bounce rate is a crucial online marketing metric because it grades how well you connect with your audience. High bounce rates indicate a low resonance between your content and the target audience. However, the average website bounce rate varies wildly across industries. Bounce rates range from 27.92% in the clothing niches to a mind-boggling 48.22% in the IT sector. Comparing your site’s bounce rates with your industry’s standard can help you take timely corrective measures. Tracking bouncing rates is crucial for sites that rely primarily on content marketing to drive traffic. You get detailed feedback on content performance. If your audience finds your content helpful and engaging, your bounce rate remains low. Conversely, high bounce rates signify that your content doesn’t meet the needs of your target audience. Additionally, low organic traffic engagement means there’s a disconnect between the content and the search intent. How to Improve the Bounce Rate of a Website While many factors can affect the normal website bounce rate, none of them holds a candle to content quality and relevance. Ensuring your content matches search intent and addresses the needs of your audience is half the battle. Here are eight proven ways to increase your engagement rates: Address your site’s technical performance: Technical errors, such as slow loading speeds, create a poor first impression. Web users are quick to leave pages that take more than 3 seconds to load — they don’t stick around long enough to read your content and review your offers. Improve user experience: Intrusive ads and pop-ups are annoying and will likely cause visitors to click away. Use pop-ups wisely and ensure the ads don’t ruin the user experience. Refine your storytelling: Weaving compelling stories into your content can skyrocket your engagement rates and inspire readers to share and bookmark your content. Update your content frequently: Web users abhor outdated information because it wastes their time and does not meet their needs. Peppering your site with fresh and up-to-date information creates a positive first impression and earns the trust of your readers. Refine your buyer persona: Refining your buyer persona offers rare insights into your target audience. It lets you understand their needs, preferences, and pain points, which informs your ability to create compelling content that resonates with them. Craft compelling meta descriptions: Web visitors read the meta description to determine if the page’s content addresses their needs. Detailed and persuasive descriptions drive more clicks … Read more

10 Key Tips to Help You Build a Rockstar Copywriting Portfolio

June 18, 2024June 18, 2024 by Adam Oakley

As an online writer, whether new or seasoned, do you hear the word “copywriting portfolio” or get the potential clientele email demanding your “best samples,” and break out in shivers? It doesn’t have to be such a scary thing, but I understand. Copywriting clients and employers want to see many samples of your work. They look for your best pieces before considering you. These samples show what you can do. When they review them, they judge and assess your work. I was once an online writer applying for jobs in 2011. Now, Express Writers judges incoming writing applicants. The key value we provide is to evaluate writing talent. As writers, we all shake just a little at the thought of this—a judgment placed on our entire repertoire of writing skills, based on the samples we feature. After all, writing is pretty subjective, isn’t it? What I may think is an incredible piece of content you may see fit to hit delete on immediately. This is exactly why getting your copywriting portfolio nailed down is so important. Especially right the first time since, as we all know, you only get one chance to make that great first impression. 10 Ways to Create a Knockout Copywriting Portfolio Interestingly, when I sat down to write this piece, I came across a great many blogs out there full of tips on how to build your portfolio with simple and general ideas, i.e., “get experience.” There aren’t many guidelines out there telling you what to actually include in your portfolio once you’ve got that experience – or even if you’re starting out. My blog is (hopefully) an answer to these missing questions. So, without further ado, here are my top tips for building your best online copywriting portfolio. Tip 1: Select Your Best Samples to Showcase Here are a few pointers on how to start picking out exactly what to put in your freelance writing portfolio. What: When it comes to writers, there is not one of us who doesn’t have pieces that are close to our hearts for whatever reason. But when it comes to designing your portfolio, push all nostalgia away, and think about your strongest pieces in terms of the skills required to write them, the performance of the content and how well your copy fit the particular brief. If you find yourself torn between, say, two pieces, think about who your end client was – the person or company you wrote the content for. Also think about how big the audience for that copy was and how you are able to assess the copy’s performance. Those are good general rules for assessing your best samples. It’s all about objectivity, not subjectivity. Your favorite piece might not be your best piece. How Many: Also, if you’re planning on sending in your copywriting portfolio with a job application, try and stick to a maximum of five pieces. This gives the potential client or employer just enough to get a feel for you as a writer, your skills and diversity, but not too much that you overwhelm (or bore) them. Where: If you’re creating your online portfolio (and there are some great free sites out there you can do this on), you can take the number of samples up to 20. But remain selective about what you’re putting in there and don’t be afraid to replace those pieces as your writing becomes stronger and more diverse. Tip 2: Showcase Your Diversity, But Pin-point Job Application Samples When it comes to the copy you want to include, I always advise writers to try and select a diverse range that shows off your skills, diversity and talent. What I mean by this is try to include copy on not just a few different subjects, but also a few different styles, such as on-site copy, blogs, press releases, eBooks, web copy and so on. If you don’t have much experience just yet, go ahead and practice a few different styles and get an editor or trusted friend to look them over and help you pick the best. The more diverse your copywriting portfolio is, the stronger it is going to be. And that, of course, means, it’s going to be more appealing. That being said; if you are applying for a copywriting position in a specific industry and you have experience in that sector already, make sure you pinpoint what they’re looking for, and then send them directly or include in your application a couple of examples that relate directly to the industry and position in question. It’s a great way to show the potential employer that you are a step ahead of other copywriters because you have the required knowledge and experience they want. Tip 3: Have The Answers Ready When it comes to every aspect of your copywriting portfolio, you absolutely have to be clued up on every piece you’ve put in there and completely ready to answer any questions that could be fired your way. Prior to being interviewed (be it in person or online), make sure you familiarize yourself with each piece of content, why you wrote it, why you chose the particular style or keywords you did, who the audience was you were writing to and how successful the piece was (remember, in the online world, it’s a lot about measurability). Speaking of which, these days it’s all about links and social shares. If your client posted what you wrote, find out where it’s posted and track down the counts. Work on knowing accurate figures of how often your pieces were shared on the likes of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Your share counts are always a great metric to share with a potential client or when you write up a brief portfolio summary of the piece you wrote: “…my blog about Google’s new update was shared on the client’s marketing blog and earned over 500 shares across Twitter and Facebook.” You can use BuzzSumo to find a direct amount of how many shares your content piece got. For example, using BuzzSumo, I can type … Read more

What Should Your Content Marketing Budget Be?

June 19, 2024June 15, 2024 by Adam Oakley

Most fountains in populated areas have dozens of coins in the fountain basin. People are drawn to fountains, throw in coins, and wish for positive outcomes. While it’s a fun practice, the average person doesn’t expect a return from that coin they toss. Marketers, however, should be much more strategic than throwing a coin into a fountain. If you start tossing money into strategies without a budget, you may run out of resources before you see your goals fulfilled. A budget also helps you designate which areas should receive the most resources. Some places, like paid search, require more investments than others. While your budget for content marketing will be unique to your business, we understand it can be challenging to start crafting a content marketing budget from scratch. That’s why we pulled together some average industry numbers to help you create your content marketing budget. Is Content Marketing Worth the Investment? Why? That’s the question you should be asking right at the start of any budget planning. Why should you invest in content marketing? If content marketing doesn’t generate a profit greater than your initial investment, it’s not worth the investment. From our years of experience, we know that well-planned content marketing strategies far exceed a business’s expectations for return. Marketers who include content like blogs in their marketing see 13 times more return on investment than those without blogs. Your return won’t just come in the form of sales. About 70% of people prefer content to learn about companies rather than relying on ads. Content marketing builds trust, generates new leads, nurtures those leads, and moves them toward sales. It should be part of all marketing strategies, from the smallest to the largest companies. How Are Content Marketing Budgets Changing? About 45% of content marketers plan on increasing in their marketing budget moving through this year. This is a result of inflation and rising content costs. However, it also has to do with increasing customer needs. Readers want to read longer articles, and Google is prioritizing higher-quality content. Both these factors require hiring quality subject matter experts who can provide just what your audience is looking for. Content with media also receives more attention than plain text. Adding in branded photos and videos can further increase your content creation costs. While costs are increasing, so is interest in content. Increasing your budget will also increase your sales if you work with content creators who understand you and your audience. How Much Does Content Marketing Cost? Plan to spend between $5,000 and $10,000 monthly on a strong content marketing strategy. The exact amount will vary, but you should plan to invest 25-30% of your total marketing budget on content. This content marketing cost can be more or significantly less depending on what you include in your content budget and the size of your company. Image from Search Engine Land Here are some of the factors that will influence your budget: Content Strategy Cost: $200+, Express Writers Cost: $300-$400 Before writing content, hire a strategist to plan the most effective channels and formats. A content strategist will help you research profitable topics and build a content calendar. The more you invest in your content strategist, the more guidance you will receive to help you make the most profitable content marketing decisions. Writer Cost: $100+, Express Writers Cost: $57+ The average writer charges between $0.05 and $0.20 per word. However, once you start talking with subject matter experts with more experience, you’ll see rates of $0.30+ per word. Your writer will turn your content calendar and keywords into quality content. Hiring quality writers with industry-specific experience will distinguish you online from generic AI content. Experienced writers will also cost more than hiring writers from content mills. The cost of writers will depend on your posting frequency. Most businesses post weekly or several times a week—only 19% post more than once a week. Editor Cost: $12 per 1000 words. Express Writers: Included While your writer will put forth their best effort to produce publish-ready content, they are human, and you will need an editor to double-check that the content is accurate. An editor helps ensure your content matches the platform and any instructions. At Express Writers, we have quality assurance editors who look over all content. Their services are included in the project cost. Designer Cost: $50+, Express Writers: Included with some packages Graphic design and blog post layout both require a designer to ensure your content looks appealing and will attract readers. The graphic design cost will depend on the complexity of the graphics and your designer’s experience. While Express Writers focuses primarily on written content, we have designers who create basic images, quotes, and infographics that will help your blog posts pop without breaking the budget. Blog design is included in several packages, like our Authority Content. Data Analytics Cost: $20-$50/hr. Express Writers: $300+ Fixed After publishing content, you will want someone to monitor your content’s performance so you understand how well you are reaching your audience. You will most likely have an in-house data analyst to monitor your content. However, if you are looking for a deeper overview, hiring Express Writers’ content strategist to look at your growth and suggest adjustments might be worth the investment to keep you on track. Advertising Cost: $200+ While organic search is much more cost-efficient and yields long-term results, you may want to sponsor content to temporarily boost traffic and awareness. Advertising will add up quickly, depending on the platform. The average cost per click can range from a couple of cents to a couple of dollars. Social media advertising, on average, ranges from $850 to $2750 monthly. Content Marketing Equipment Cost: Varies Content marketing doesn’t require high tech, but you may need to invest in a few supporting tools. To perform all your content marketing in-house, you must budget for research tools like SEMrush and content management tools for creating and posting content. If you outsource your content, you can … Read more

25 Best Books To Help You Learn Copywriting

June 18, 2024June 15, 2024 by Adam Oakley

Mastering the art of copywriting can take years of experience. It’s important to enjoy writing, if you’re going to make this your trade. Copywriting can be an amazing career, especially today. In today’s digitally focused world of marketing, where great online content can generate serious income, top-notch writing skills are critical to attracting and converting customers. For those who need to polish and perfect their writing skills, we have a list of 25 best copywriting books and resources that will bring your writing abilities to current standards. Ready? Learn and get started with techniques taught by the greats right away, and watch your own copywriting skills come to life! Enhance Your Copywriting Skills With These 25 Awesome Books for Copywriters 1. The Copywriter’s Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells — By Robert W. Bly Robert Bly’s copywriting handbook helps you turn bland copy into persuasive and meaningful content. He also offers advice on web marketing, e-mail marketing, and multimedia presentations. The book includes 15 techniques to ensure that your e-mails are opened, and 11 ways to make your copy more readable. The Copywriter’s Handbook serves as a valuable book of reference for common copy writing needs. 2. Everybody Writes: The Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content — By Ann Handley The power of superior content writing is at the turn of every page in Ann Handley’s book. She offers practical advise for publishing content that makes an impact, along with the secrets behind content that helps bring businesses to authority status. For a copywriting guide that packs a punch, Everybody Writes just might be the right choice for you. 3. The Adweek Copywriting Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Powerful Advertising and Marketing Copy from One of America’s Top Copywriters — By Joseph Sugarman Looking to learn how to motivate your buyers? The Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugarman is yet another solid reference source for writing top-notch copy. Joseph demonstrates how to write effective copy that sells product, but he doesn’t skimp on the creativity. This book is easy to follow and serves as the perfect guide for writing snappy and creative ad copy. 4. The Online Copywriter’s Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Write Electronic Copy That Sells — By Robert Bly Yet another hit by Robert Bly, The Online Copywriter’s Handbook is an all-in-one demonstration guide to writing copy that turns into conversions. Catering to multiple online media platforms, Robert focuses in on the best copywriting techniques for websites, landing pages, e-mail marketing, and more. Don’t miss out on this handbook if you are looking for an all-inclusive guide to online copywriting. 5. Creating Fat Content: Boost Website Traffic with Visitor-Grabbing, Google-Loving Web Content — By Dr. Andy Williams Dr. Williams’ book on web content emphasizes the power behind content that feeds the search engines. In order to get the most mileage out of your online copy writing, you should aim for a balance between pleasing both your audience and the search engines. He gives clear examples for content that converts and content that falls flat. Creating Fat Content explains exactly how to write great content all while boosting traffic. 6. Empower Your Writing: Skills for Today’s Content Creator — By Farnoosh Brock Content creators come in all forms these days. This author breaks down includes 22 errors to avoid when writing content, along with 9 tips for empowering your writing skills. The author takes this book a step further and includes 28 honest questions for discovering your own writing voice. As a content creator, you are the voice of your brand. This book will help you find that voice and empower your writing skills. 7. Kickass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps: Build The Buzz And Sell The Sizzle — By Susan Gunelius Everyone loves a step-by-step guide, especially when it comes to copywriting that will sell your products and services. This kickass copywriting book helps small business owners understand the methods behind powerful writing. Susan offers clear concept on how to effectively market small businesses with content, and she also uses real-world examples with emotional triggers. This book is a must-buy for small business owners who are new to content writing. 8. 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love — By Rachel Aaron Nearly everyone wants to write better, but what about writing faster? With content essentially flooding the market, serious writers need to keep pace with the endless stream of demand. 2k to 10k demonstrates exactly how writers can take their ho-hum daily word count to beyond what they have imagined capable. Rachel shows her readers how to double their word counts while still maintaining the quality of their writing. For busy bloggers to newbies, 2k to 10k can help you write better and faster. 9. Breakthrough Copywriting: How To Generate Quick Cash With The Written Word — By David Garfinkel Looking for a few inside secrets in the copywriting industry? Breakthrough Copywriting gives business owners the know-how to writing copy that generates a profit. The book outlines exactly how to craft world class copy that sells your products almost every time. Breakthrough Copywriting helps you zone into your target audience by establishing emotional connections and tap into their subconscious. 10. This Book Will Teach You How to Write Better — By Neville Medhora This book is short, sweet, and gives great guidance for helping yourself write stellar copy. At only 56 pages long, this book is highly reviewed for its conversational tone and straightforward approach to copywriting. This book emphasizes the importance of the human touch in copywriting, while steering readers away from writing like robots. It will help inspire new bloggers and startups while giving specific examples of quality content writing. 11. The Idea Writers: Copywriting in a New Media and Marketing Era — By Teressa Iezzi The Idea Writers offers copywriting tips from a unique angle. Teressa dives deep into the new rules of copywriting in the form of the … Read more

Why Your Content Marketing Must Have Focus

June 11, 2024June 11, 2024 by Adam Oakley

There are approximately 34,000 species of fish, and scientists discover hundreds more each year. Despite the huge variety of aquatic life, commercial fishing typically only focuses on a single fish species at a time. Casting wider nets doesn’t always result in higher profits. Content marketers can be tempted to cast a wide net – to appeal to every demographic, capture every audience, and speak to every niche. However, by focusing on a few topics (or a single topic) content marketers can actually increase their profits. Today, I’m going to dispel 3 content marketing myths: Having content about more topics will attract more followers. Focusing on only one topic will become boring. Limiting your focus will limit your revenue. Myth #1: Having Content About More Topics Will Attract More Followers On it’s face, it sounds like a no-brainer: if you have something for everybody, everybody will have a reason to stay. However, spreading yourself too thin can have real consequences. The Reality: Zooming out Attracts a Wide Audience, but Zooming in Attracts a Dedicated Audience Let’s say your makeup brand’s blog hasn’t gained the traction you’d hoped it would. To appeal to more readers, you start incorporating articles about trendy topics like cryptocurrency and AI. While you may earn a few clicks that way, you’re unlikely to increase your profits. This is for a few reasons: Compromising your focus may earn short-term clicks, but unfocused clicks are less valuable. Focused content marketing attracts a focused audience – people more likely to become customers and advocates. Having content about too many topics attracts a scattered audience who are harder to convert. Writing about vastly different topics makes it harder for audiences to find more of the content they’re looking for. If you attract a new reader with an article about lip liners, but your other posts are about travel destinations and homestyle recipes, they’re unlikely to stick around. Covering multiple topics can undermine your credibility. Credible experts typically stick to their areas of expertise, so creating content about too many different topics gives audiences the impression that you’re a jack of all trades but a master of none. Instead of “zooming out” by expanding your focus to include more topics, “zoom in” by going further in-depth with your content. Your audience seeks out your content because they’re interested in your niche and they want to learn more – so give them what they’re looking for! Ultimately, it’s better to appeal strongly to a focused audience than to appeal weakly to a wide one. A shallow pool gives you more room to cast a wide net, but less depth results in less sales. Myth #2: Focusing on Only One Topic Will Become Boring Depending on how specific your niche is, you may worry about running out of topics to cover – after all, how much can there possibly be to say about faucet diffusers or data management software? However, when you fully explore your topic, you will constantly uncover new things to say – and new ways to say them! The Reality: Fully-Explored Topics Rarely Become Boring Don’t underestimate your audience. No matter how niche your topic is, a quick online search is likely to produce a YouTube channel, web forum, or Facebook group focused on that very topic. When it comes to marketing, it’s good to be unique. In the previous myth, we talked about the benefits of “zooming in” to cover topics more in-depth rather than casting a wide net and piquing a lot of interest but not being able to keep it. But if you find yourself running low on ideas or fear the well will someday run dry, try these tips to reinvigorate your content marketing: Try a new angle. For years, your music equipment company’s YouTube channel has released a “guitar pedal of the week” video every Friday. Over the last few years, your engagement has tapered off, and you just can’t get the traction you used to. Try a new angle, like “battle of the guitar pedals” or “pedal guitar of the week.” In addition to attracting new viewers, a new angle can reinvigorate your creativity and enrich your content. Expand to new channels. Are your blog posts starting to feel stale? Try writing a social media post, drafting an email campaign, or filming a YouTube video. Instead of branching out to a new topic, try exploring your topic through a different format. The unique limitations and opportunities of a new marketing channel will force you to approach the topic in a new way. Conduct new research. One of the ways you can offer value to your audience is through providing credible expertise. In some minds, expertise means not needing to do research, but the opposite is true: experts are the ones who do the most research and are constantly learning new things. If you’re concerned that your topic is getting boring, seek out new knowledge about it – learning something new will not only give you something new to talk about, but it will also enrich your understanding of the entire subject. Myth #3: Limiting Your Focus Will Limit Your Revenue Content marketers have to straddle many different goals: crafting a strong brand image, attracting new leads, speaking to their audience’s needs, increasing engagement, etc. However, one central goal underpins these other endeavors: your business has to be profitable to succeed. At the end of the day, if your content marketing is engaging, targeted, and informative, but it isn’t profitable, it isn’t viable. The Reality: Focus Drives Revenue. In the introduction, we talked about how when it comes to casting literal nets, fishers do better by targeting a specific kind of fish rather than by casting a wide net and catching whatever comes their way. Why is that? Different fish require different strategies. Fishers use different techniques to catch bluefin tuna than they do catfish. It isn’t practical or profitable for fishers to invest in the equipment, tools, or training needed to catch fish they … Read more

3 Bucket Approach to Consistently Profitable Content Ideas

June 11, 2024June 3, 2024 by Adam Oakley

The dreaded writer’s block. We have all been there. You stare at a blank content calendar and need thirty days worth of fresh ideas. However, not just any old idea will do. For the time and resource investment to pay off, they must be PROFITABLE content ideas. What do you do? While crying and browsing LinkedIn for new jobs is one option, we have a better idea. Use our three-bucket approach. It’s a form of brainstorming for ideas that uses content goals as your guide to ensure the ideas you do come up with will generate the results you need to grow. Let’s leave the blank page behind and join the three-bucket approach together. What Is the Three Bucket Approach to Content Ideas? Whether creating new content or refreshing old content, you need a strategy for finding endless topic ideas that won’t waste your precious time or drain your resources without promising a return. The three-bucket approach begins with the end. Before creating content that generates results, you need to define what results you want. I recommend summarizing your desired results in three buckets or overarching ideas and goals. They will keep your marketing content focused on the end goal and ensure what you publish contributes to those profitable goals. Here are three buckets that we use at Express Writers and works well for many similar brands: SEO & Brand Awareness: Create content that will appear in search engine results, generating traffic and getting our name out. Lead Generation & Nurturing: Create content encouraging web traffic to fill in forms, read multiple articles, and engage with content as they move through the sales journey. Sales: Create content that promotes products and services and drives sales. While your buckets may look very different, SEO should still be a top priority, as over half of web traffic comes from organic search. Can content fall into multiple buckets? Most definitely! For example, some content will be SEO cornerstones but also drive sales. The key is filling your website with content that falls into at least one bucket. Otherwise, you are creating content for content’s sake. Connect Your Buckets to ROI Goals Let’s not just leave your goals as buckets. If you want to turn your content into profits, you will want to define what success looks like. Let’s start with the SEO bucket. For SEO to be successful, how much of a traffic increase do you want to see from organic search? Define that number and monitor how well your content performs to keep you on track. Lead generation might refer to a target number of new leads you generate each month or a target engagement rate. Sales will be an easier category to track as you can use unique tracking codes in your content to monitor how many of your readers click the link and purchase your product, sign up for your demo, or request a quote for your services. Fill Your Buckets with Seed Keywords Along with establishing goals, you also want to list seed keywords. At this point, don’t worry about search traffic and deep research. Your seed keywords are terms that define who you are as a company. They are very broad. For Express Writers, our seed keywords would be terms like “Content marketing,” “Content writing,” and “SEO.” You don’t need to stick with just three, but you also don’t need to list over a dozen seed keywords. If you have too many seed keywords, consider finding a term that captures several keywords into one overarching idea. To start, list three to five seed keywords. These might define your industry or cover your product categories. As you move forward in your three-bucket strategy and begin brainstorming, those seed keywords may change as you find better terms to describe your business and categorize your content. How to Generate Content Ideas That Turn a Profit Once you have those buckets defined and benchmarks established, it’s time to fill them out and overflow them with topics! At this point, you will set those three buckets aside. We are just looking at brainstorming and jotting down as many topics as possible. Sorting them into buckets comes later. However, you will want to keep those seed keywords handy as they’ll provide a starting point. Discover how to find blog content ideas with five tried-and-true methods. 1. Perform Keyword Research If your goal is search engine ranking, this step is a must! Keyword research not only finds topics for content but also identifies topics most searched among your audience. Our favorite tool is SEMrush, but we and other marketers also use Ahrefs, Buzzsumo, and Moz. It’s time to pull out those seed keywords again. They will be a starting point for your SEO. If you’re using SEMrush, you will type the first seed keyword into the search bar, such as searching “Content marketing.” From there, SEMrush will return a list of related terms. At this point, you don’t need to be too picky about the terms you save. As long as they’re relevant, all those recommendations could become potential blog and web page topics. Add all the keywords relating to your topic into a list, which you will export into an Excel file and add to your master list of content ideas. SEMrush 2. Use Google Search Google offers three different ways to discover new topics for your website. The first step is to begin typing your seed keyword into Google search. Google will suggest searches based on what people commonly type after the seed keyword. These suggestions are constantly changing and usually reflect trending topics. If you perform a search of your seed keyword, Google has two sections on the search results pages with follow-up search suggestions. The first is “People also ask.” This section is near the top of your page and includes long-tail keywords and questions that people often ask relating to your search. This is a goldmine of topic ideas. About 8% of people phrase their searches as a question, … Read more

Have You Discovered Your Unique Content Differentiation Factor? Why It’s Harder than Ever for Brands to Be "Unique"

May 30, 2024May 30, 2024 by Adam Oakley

Being seen and heard on the web is getting harder every day. There are nearly 2 billion websites in existence… But a mere fraction of them receive any traffic (only about 400 million – 15-20% – are even active). Thousands of new websites are created daily. About 4 million new blog posts are published every 24 hours. The problem? Barely anyone will read them. The lion’s share of the traffic, clicks, and visits (and thus, the attention) will go to top contenders. These are the people, brands, businesses, and organizations that are making their voices rise above the heap. In the vast wasteland of the internet, these people have nailed their content differentiation factor and lean into it. They know how to make people sit up and listen (and/or click their links, read their content, and buy into whatever they may be selling). In a landscape of utter content saturation, where every topic under the sun, moon, and stars has been exhausted 20 times over… This is a big deal. Being unique enough to stand out online is everything. At the same time, it’s ridiculously hard. Let’s explore why standing out from the crowd is one of the most difficult parts of content marketing. Then, we’ll look at a few amazing brands killing it with their uniqueness and content differentiation factor. Finally, we’ll dive into some tips on how to discover your own uniqueness online. Go time. ?➡ Have You Discovered Your Unique Content Differentiation Factor? Why It’s Harder than Ever for Brands to Be “Unique” 2 More Reasons Why It’s Hard to Stand Out Online (And Why You Need a CDF) Content Shock Is Real Consumers Are Inundated with Information 3 Brands Killing It with Their Content Differentiation Factor Backlinko (Brian Dean) Spotify Tasty My Best Tips to Dig Deep and Find Your Content Differentiation Factor Step Away from Work and Go Internal Step Away from Work and Have More Conversations Your Content Differentiation Factor Is Key 2 More Reasons Why It’s Hard to Stand Out Online (And Why You Need a Content Differentiation Factor) Back in 2018, I came up with a concept called the Content Differentiation Factor. Basically, this concept comes down to asking yourself (or your client, your boss — whoever you’re managing the brand for) this question: “What separates our content from the rest of the content out there? What makes my brand different from all the others out there like me?” You have to have something truly different to stand out from the crowd (more on this and examples below). And you must spend time on this to figure it out before going full-force into content creation. (It’s worth it). A content differentiation factor is a key to standing out. But, first, you should know what you’re working against. 1. Content Shock Is Real Mark Schaefer’s classic, groundbreaking article on content shock explains why and how content marketing will reach a breaking point. As he explains, we have free content coming out of our ears on the internet. You can read blogs and articles on every topic that’s ever been studied, thought about, or questioned. The problem lies in supply/demand. There is more content in existence than any person can legitimately read in a lifetime – let alone their free time. So, to break away from the information overload and stand out, content marketers are paying to get their content seen. Of course, that’s not sustainable at all. Only those who separate themselves uniquely from the information mountain – who provide unique value to their audience – will continue to see ROI from content. (It will not be whoever pays the most money for Google Ads.) 2. Consumers Are Inundated with Information As we mentioned, content is exploding. Anybody can make a free blog and publish whatever they want. Businesses are blogging because they know the ROI could be amazing – but unfortunately, that leaves us with MILLIONS of blogs that are mediocre at best. Think about the sheer number of new blog articles that appear on your feeds daily, and how many you have to skip over vs. read. Think of all the news articles, videos, tweets, social media posts, emails, ads, and search results that flow in front of you without stopping. You have to make micro-decisions all day, every day, as long as you have the internet or a smartphone. You have to sift through the mountain and decide what’s worth your time and what isn’t. 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created daily. Yes, daily. And, according to Domo’s Data Never Sleeps 7.0 infographic, by 2020, 40x more data bytes will exist than there are stars in the observable universe. With so much information and content flying thick and fast on the web, we only have the bandwidth to pay attention to a limited amount. Who and what gets our attention? The brands, people, and content that manage to rise above the rest because they differentiated their content and message successfully. 3 Brands Killing It with Their Content Differentiation Factor These three names have found their content differentiation factor and lean into it – with amazing results. 1. Backlinko (Brian Dean) Want to see a perfect example of simplicity as a differentiator? Look to Backlinko, Brian Dean’s brand and blog. When he says his advice is zero-fluff and practical, he’s not kidding. His introductions to his blog posts are a great example. He doesn’t try to convince you how clever he is or wind you up with a story. He doesn’t hook you with examples other than ones from his own experience and tested results. He tells you what to expect and what you’ll get out of reading the post. That’s it. Simple. Straightforward. To-the-point. No fluff. Understandable. That’s Brian Dean’s style in a nutshell, and it has differentiated him from other SEO experts in a big way. He explains SEO concepts so clearly that you don’t feel like learning. But you are. Also, note Brian’s use of the … Read more

15 of the Most Influential Bloggers and What You Can Learn From Them

May 30, 2024May 30, 2024 by Adam Oakley

Work until you will no longer have to introduce yourself! This is arguably one of the best pieces of advice that you will ever receive while working hard to grow your business. Next thought: could a blog simplify your efforts and support your boldest ambitions? The success stories of today’s best-loved influencers in the content industry show that a blog is an invaluable asset that can bring you money and fame in the long run. Let’s look at how they did just that! 15 Bloggers Who Prove That Content Success Is Just Around the Corner Some of the most influential bloggers of the moment demonstrate that inspiring strings of words can consolidate businesses, change mindsets and turn losses into profits. Here are 15 prominent, brilliant people who master the art of business blogging. 1. Noah Kagan. Noah Kagan of okdork.com is the founder of two multi-million businesses, successful blogger and Tacodeli lover. His blog is an excellent source of inspiration for those who are looking forward to revamping their content strategy and putting their talent and excellent writing skills to good use to supplement their income. Posts like What I’ve Learned about Email Marketing after Losing $135,000 a Day are educational, information-rich and tailored to the needs of readers who wish to reduce their losses and boost their productivity in the content industry. Whether you want to learn how to grow your email list or improve your writing, Kagan’s expert advice will guide you in the right direction. 2. Darren Rowse. As a former minister with a plethora of interests, including food, reading, movies, wine and photography, Darren Rowse has what it takes to fit the profile of a successful blogger. Rowse is the founder of multiple blog networks and blogs, including ProBlogger.net and b5media. 3. Pat Flynn. Pat Flynn from www.smartpassiveincome.com can teach you everything you need to know about foolproof ways of making passive income. If you also want to hear the ka-ching sound effect while resting on your couch with your laptop on your lap, follow Flynn and find out how he managed to make 3 million dollars over the course of six years by creating websites that target different niches. An interview published by Forbes reveals some of his well-kept secrets: he surprises his audience with well-written informative materials that answer their daily questions. By providing digital books and other freebies, Flynn keeps his readers coming back for more time after time. 4. Neil Patel. Neil Patel is a Seattle-based angel investor, entrepreneur and analytics specialist. As the founder of Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics, Patel gives SEO/blogging tips meant to help small business owners succeed where others have failed. Patel takes his relationship with his readers/potential clients to a whole new level by introducing a new option: Reserve Neil Online. At a touch of a button, you can schedule a confidential discussion with Neil Patel and discover the secrets of the entrepreneur who has turned multiple blogs into a successful online business. 5. Seth Godin. Godin is an overall genius: author, entrepreneur, marketer, and public speaker.The sky is the limit when it comes to inventorying the number of things that you could learn from this extraordinary multitasker. Land on his website, check out his blog, fall in love with his newest bestseller entitled What to Do When It’s Your Turn, and don’t forget to take a glance at the section entitled “Free Stuff.” In this corner, you’ll be able to download and analyze manifestos, PDFs and ebooks for free. For instance, The Bootstrapper’s Bible is available for free for a limited period of time and teaches you for to start a business when you have no money in your pockets. Download, read and apply. 6. Matt Marshall. Matt Marshall is the Founder and CEO of VentureBeat. For almost a decade now, VentureBeat has made a name for itself as a leading source of information delivering fresh news that can help tech enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and executives make smarter decisions. Basically, this premium resource that attracts around 7.5 million unique visitors each month gives you the chance to discover and understand all the novelty factors associated with various technology trends, ranging from games and health tech to mobile and social media. Marshall signs a series of interesting must-read articles that will automatically catch your eye, especially if you’re interested in the tech innovation and entrepreneurial field. 7. Rand Fishkin. Fishkin is the Founder of Moz and Co-Founder of Inbound.org. His blog gets thousands of views and shares, besides all the traction his amazing company Moz has had. He’s also a celebrated speaker at events like PubCon, and a well-read author. His Whiteboard Fridays are some of the best visually done weekly vlog-casts on the web. 8. Matt Cutts. Everybody knows Cutts as the voice of Google. He isn’t the most awesome blogger (sporadic posts, all over the board on topics) but he is definitely highly followed and read. Maybe because he works at Google—just a guess. 9. Gina Trapani. Gina Marie Trapani is the CEO and Founder of Lifehacker. She is also a reputable web developer, writer and tech blogger and the author of several bestselling books that deserve a spot on your nightstand, including Lifehacker: 88 Tech Tricks to Turbocharge Your Day and Upgrade Your Life. She is constantly active on social media platforms and spends most of her day podcasting and coding. Trapani is also the proud co-founder of ThinkUp, a brilliant app allowing you to picture your online self by offering you daily insights that you wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else. In case you’re interested, note that this handy tool comes with a 14-day free trial. 10. Pauline Cabrera. Pauline Cabrera is the founder of www.twelveskip.com, a popular blog on all things Internet Marketing. TwelveSkip is a top-rated resource whose purpose is to address the problems and concerns experienced by small business owners striving to boost their online visibility. Delivering a mix of quality information on content marketing, blogging, affiliate marketing and visual marketing, this blog also provides countless practical tips, educational … Read more

Your Ultimate Guide on How to Write an Ultimate Guide (Infographic)

May 30, 2024May 29, 2024 by Adam Oakley

There is definitely some Matrix-like inception going on in today’s blog. We’ve created the Ultimate Guide on, well, how to write an Ultimate Guide. Here’s a fun fact: in this information age, it’s relatively easy to find guides on anything you want. The results are good, but then there comes a showstopper that immediately makes you pause in your random clicking and reading, and absorbs and holds all your attention. You’re actually learning something, and you don’t want to click away. This is the benefit of building an ultimate guide on the internet. We’ve all seen these pieces. They are referenced repeatedly, get tons with traffic, and see non-stop shares across social platforms. From how to groom your Labradoodle, to the entire guidelines for changing guitar strings, a mind-boggling Javascript tutorial, or the ultimate whammy guide on creating great social media posts. Psst…we can help you with that last one. The ultimate guide that truly adds value could be called the holy grail of content pieces. They’re some of the most comprehensive, authoritative, and popular pages you’ll find. If you’ve ever turned to cyberspace to learn something, chances are you’ve used one at some point. Today, I’m sharing tips on how to create an ultimate guide of your very own. This will cover it all. Starting with strategy and brainstorming all the way through revising and updating, this comprehensive guide will teach you everything you need to know to get started. 7 Steps on How to Write An Ultimate Guide 1. Why You Should Create an Ultimate Guide (and What it Means) 2. Topic Research: Study Your Topic, Audience, and Competitors 3. When Writing, Start Off with a Format – or Better Yet, a Template 4. Conduct Keyword Research AFTER Your Outline is Created 5. Go Heavy on Examples, Images, and Statistics if Applicable 6. Get a Designer Involved 7. Do Ultimate Editing and Tracking for Your Ultimate Guide All of these are coming in our blog topic today, complete with a visual infographic on the topic. First, let’s share a story about why and how ultimate guides work so well. The Story of an Ultimate Guide That Helped Put a $7 Million Business Together We will start with strategy – but first a little preface on exactly why you should get excited about building your ultimate guide. Creating an ultimate guide means giving your readers a comprehensive content piece they can’t find anywhere else. There’s another advantage to that – you’re associating your name with that outstanding piece. Many readers will have already heard of Unbounce. While you may know them for their landing pages, popups, and sticky bars, you might have also seen the ultimate guide that skyrocketed their brand to success. The year was 2011. Oli Gardner created a free six-month guide to marketing for Moz. Between the great content and the massive infographic, it racked up views in no time. Below is the top part of the graphic – we won’t show the whole thing here, but recommend checking it out in its entirety. Nice, huh? The piece clearly told readers what they wanted to know. It took an already-talented brand and strapped a rocket to their back. The results? This guide was downloaded over 150,000 times and earned thousands of backlinks. Blogging was their survival, and epic content put them on the map, according to their lead Content Strategist Dan Levy. Just five years after the company’s founding, Unbounce went from nothing to over 9,800 paying customers and $7 million in annual revenue. How’s that for the “ultimate guide success story?” A good guide is as useful to you and your brand as it is to your readers. One look at that graphic shows the main reason why this guide was so successful. You can tell the people behind it knew their subject matter – they didn’t just know it, they lived it and breathed it. When you’re creating this type of piece, you need to be a knowledgeable, trustworthy authority on the topic. This takes years of work honing a craft, tons of practice, and hours upon hours of research. You’re doing this so your readers don’t have to – that’s why they’ll appreciate it and you. Your Ultimate Guide on How to Write An Ultimate Guide (The Infographic) Scroll below this guide for our more in-depth written guide on the topic. Beginning Stages: Research Your Topic (and Other Ultimate Guides) Content creators know all about preceding their creation process with strategy. If you’re looking to build a piece that’s more informative and in-depth, you should expect a research period of the same complexity. The amount of time you spend on a piece isn’t always proportional to its quality – but if you’re doing things the right way, it should be. This stat is just for blog posts, but if it works for those, you can imagine how much better it works for an ultimate guide. Image from Orbit Media The interesting observation is the lack of significant variation between the 1-6-hour mark. Yet, when you go beyond that, results tend to be much better. As for specific research strategies, a lot of your research will come from doing. Your ability to give someone a guide to something is related to your knowledge of it. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t search the web for additional insight. When you’re in the strategy phase, think about the following: How to Explain Things You Already Know: Don’t fall into the Dunning-Krueger Just because you are an expert on something, doesn’t mean everyone else is. In an ultimate guide, you want to explain everything. The fundamentals, the nuances, the maybe-you-should-know-this-too parts. The more comprehensive your resource is, the better. It should be a one-stop piece. How to Explain the Same Thing in Multiple Ways: Searching for insight about your chosen topic isn’t just so you can explain it. You need to explain it in multiple ways, if need be. If the same advice can be given from two different perspectives, make the effort … Read more

6 Super Simple Tips for Writing Clear Sentences

June 19, 2024May 27, 2024 by Adam Oakley

In content, there’s not much worse than bad writing. Bad writing can turn a great idea into muddled gibberish. Bad writing can make you sound silly or unintelligent – even if you’re a smart cookie. Bad writing is easy to spot but notoriously difficult to fix if you don’t know what you’re doing. As it turns out, writing clear sentences is both an art and a science. When you get it right, your content sings. On the flip side, when you get it wrong, you end up complicating simple ideas. You lead your readers down confusing paths and lose your overall impact. What’s a writer to do? Learn how to write clear sentences. Learn how to cut the fat from your writing to improve clarity, but keep your unique voice intact. Today, we’re sharing our best tips to help you do it. Ready to tighten up your writing? Your Guide to Writing Clear Sentences: Our 6 Top Tips 1. Beware Meaningless Filler Words If you’re not paying attention, meaningless filler words can sneak into your writing. Like so: If you’re not paying attention, there are meaningless filler words that can sneak into your writing. These bloat your sentences with useless gunk. The most common perpetrators include the phrases you see in bold above, plus their variations: “It” or “there” + “be” verbs: There are There is There were It is It was Relative clauses: That Which Who Generally, most sentences can live without “it” or “there” + a “be” verb (is, are, was, were) followed by a noun and a relative clause (that, which, who). These types of phrases are called expletive constructions. In other words, they have no meaning. They don’t help your sentences. Get rid of them! Another example: It was my favorite time of year because of that crisp weather and falling leaves. Slash those filler words, and you get a sentence that’s much more concise and to the point: My favorite time of year has crisp weather and falling leaves. Once you’re cognizant of filler words, you’ll start catching yourself using them. Pretty soon, your reflex will be to nix them altogether. You’ll be writing clear sentences unconsciously rather than cluttering them up. 2. Self-Edit & Bring in an Outside Editor The best ways to catch and eliminate those filler words from point #1? Self-edit AND bring in an outside editor to check your work. Why both? Because ruthless, constant editing is one of the best methods to clarify and simplify your writing. Multiple editing passes help distill your thoughts and ideas down to their clearest forms. This is also a top tip from one of my copywriting heroes, Henneke Duistermaat. In my interview with her for The Write Podcast, she mentions paying attention to the corrections your editor makes. Listen to their feedback! That way, you’ll learn as you move forward and avoid committing those errors again. You’ll be writing clearer sentences in no time. 3. Write Shorter to Write Clearer Do your sentences tend to go on… and on… and on? To write clear sentences, write shorter. Slash your sentences in half. Insert periods instead of commas. Take this example from a fashion blog: I’ve been wearing a lot of old favorites and remixing closet classics this season, but if there’s one thing I can’t resist buying every autumn it’s a cozy knit! It’s unnecessarily long. The main idea gets lost along the way (she can’t resist a cozy knit). If we shorten this up, we can make it clearer and more impactful. For instance, we can start by splitting the sentence in two. All we have to do is look for the comma and add a period, instead: I’ve been wearing a lot of old favorites and remixing closet classics this season. But, if there’s one thing I can’t resist buying every autumn, it’s a cozy knit! Better. Now we can omit filler words and cut this down even more: I’ve been wearing lots of old favorites and remixing closet classics this season. But, every autumn, I can’t resist buying a cozy knit! The shorter sentences help us follow this train of thought better. The whole thing is clearer and less meandering, so we get to the point quicker. (This helps hold your readers’ interest!) Speaking of the main point, that’s another great tip to remember: 4. Don’t Bury the Lede (The Main Subject of Your Sentences) In journalism-speak, the “lede” is the main subject of your writing. (Copy editors and journalists started spelling it “lede” to help distinguish it from the “lead” in typesetting.) When you “bury the lede,” you unintentionally hide the main point of your writing. Not good. Why? Because clear sentences begin with the main subject. This is a good example of burying the lede from The MLA Style Center: “Known for her unmatched skills as a hostess – after all, she had been a debutante who became a socialite whose husband sat on the boards of half a dozen of the city’s most prestigious cultural organizations – Mary felt right at home discussing her plan for the summer fund-raising luncheon with the museum director.” The subject of this uber-long sentence is Mary. Where is Mary? We can’t find her in the sentence until 209 characters have gone by. She’s buried. Another good example of burying the lede in a sentence: using the passive voice. For instance: Her plan for the summer fundraising luncheon was discussed by Mary and the museum director. Passive voice buries the subject of the sentence at the end. We have no idea who is discussing the plan for summer fundraising until the very last words. Instead, we should put the subject at the beginning: Mary and the museum director discussed her plan for the summer fundraising luncheon. That way, our readers won’t have to play detective to figure out who (or what) we’re talking about. This is a major key to writing clear sentences. 5. Avoid Redundancies to Improve Sentence Clarity Redundancy can … Read more