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Do I Need a Writer for My Email Campaign? The 5 Ultimate Secrets for Powerful Email Copy (From an Email Writer)

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Do I Need a Writer for My Email Campaign? The 5 Ultimate Secrets for Powerful Email Copy (From an Email Writer)

Email marketing is a quintessential element for a successful marketing plan – yes, even in 2020. Email is convenient, a direct line of contact, and not super intrusive in our lives. That’s why some prefer email communications from businesses. (What!) It’s true. 91% of shoppers actually want to hear from companies they do business with via email. Actually, we’re a touch addicted. According to Campaign Monitor, at least 50% of Americans (in the survey) checked their email 10 times yesterday. Those stats are pretty crazy, and they drive home one very important point: Content matters in email marketing. It’s not enough just to send a pretty email to your readers. Literally everyone is doing that. You’ve got to entice, enthrall, and leave them eagerly waiting for more. A good email marketing content writer can help you do just that. Ever wonder what our writers’ secret sauce is for dropping bombshell email copy? Here are all the beans spilled – all you need to provide is the elbow grease. Enjoy. Do I Need a Writer for My Email Campaign? The 5 Ultimate Secrets for Powerful Email Copy (From an Email Writer) – Table of Contents The Nitty Gritty of Email Types Value-Focused Emails Sales/Offer Emails The 5 Ultimate Secrets for Writing Strong Value-Focused and Sales Emails 1. Nail That First Impression 2. Get Real, Get Personal 3. Keep It Simple, Snappy 4. Get Smart About Spam 5. Give the Reader Just One Thing to Do [bctt tweet=”If you’re asking yourself, ‘Do I need a writer for my email campaign?’ The answer might be already in the question. If you’re not sure, check out these 5 qualities powerful email copy should have. ” username=”ExpWriters”] But First… The Nitty Gritty of Email Types In many ways, emails are simple… but they’re oh, so deceptively simple. If you’ve spent time studying some of the email marketing content samples out there, you might get the impression that it’s all about snappy, hip language. Not quite. Don’t make the mistake of hammering out some clever sass and firing it off to your readers. You’ll look a little clueless, if not juvenile. Before you put those fingers to the keyboard to unleash your creative genius, take a moment to figure out exactly what type of email you’re writing. There are two main types. Each serves a different purpose, and each will have an impact on how you craft your copy. First, Build Positive Associations with Value-Focused Emails Value-focused emails are interesting, informative, useful emails that alert your readers to something that’s worthwhile for them to know. That may be a new case study, educational content, or a roundup of your blog’s best content of the month. Whatever it is, these emails focus solely on giving your readers something they’ll genuinely enjoy reading. They’re what you should be mostly sending out to people. Think of value-focused emails like a form of social capital. Just like you wouldn’t constantly ask your friends and colleagues for favors, you don’t want to constantly ask your readers for their money. Remember, your readers get a lot of emails every day, from all sorts of sources. (Campaign Monitor estimates that the number of consumer emails sent and received per day is around 117.7 billion.) To win your way into your readers’ inboxes and good graces, you’ve got to show them that you’re not in there just to hassle them into buying something. Otherwise, they’ll hit unsubscribe. Or worse, just mark you as spam and drive up that dreaded spam rate. Emails like this one from Publix get readers excited through the use of delectable visuals and well-written, useful information. Source: Really Good Emails Then, Spark Joy with Sales and Offer Emails Sales and offer emails are where that selling magic happens – when they’re properly timed and worded. These are the emails that will alert your readers to new sales, product offerings or anything else you’re selling. Remember your Psych 101 class? The value-focused emails will prime your audience to expect good things when they see your name pop into their inbox. So, when that offer email appears, your readers will see your name and the subject line before they see the email content. That’s called classical conditioning, and its effects are well-known in advertising. If you’ve been nailing your value-focused emails, you’ll already have an audience eagerly waiting on the edge of their seat for your next communiqué. You won’t need to be pushy, or salesy, because your audience is already primed. Voilà! Conversions. [bctt tweet=”What types of email should you be sending? Start building positive associations by creating value-focused emails and then, spark joy with sales and offer emails. Learn more about these two types in this post by @JuliaEMcCoy!” username=”ExpWriters”]   Pro Tip: Use the 3:1 Rule of Thumb People don’t enjoy feeling like they’re being advertised to and sending too many sales emails is an excellent way to make them feel like that. Therefore, follow the Three to One Rule of Thumb: for every sale email, send three value-focused emails first. You’ll avoid that dreaded high bounce or spam rate, getting you pushed deeper into the advertising slush pile that is the Promo Tab. This sales-focused email funnels readers to Freshly. Note the price anchoring, the placement of a lower price next to a higher price to lowkey make the actual price look better. Source: Really Good Emails [bctt tweet=”⚠️ Remember the 3:1 rule of thumb for sending emails: For every sale/offer email, send 3 value-focused emails first. ⚠️” username=”ExpWriters”] Email Marketing Content Bootcamp: The 5 Ultimate Secrets for Strong Value-Focused and Sales Emails Now that you’ve got an idea of what type of email you’re actually writing, it’s time to roll up those sleeves. Wondering how marketing gurus craft those irresistible emails that are a treat to read? There’s actually a science to them. (Sort of.) Here are the six most powerful tricks you can deploy in your email content writing to amplify conversions in both types … Read more

SEO Writing Success: How We Helped Ryan Stewart Create Epic Content (Client Testimonial)

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SEO Writing Success: How We Helped Ryan Stewart Create Epic Content (Client Testimonial)

Ryan Stewart of the SEO Blueprint had epic ideas. He’d written about 60% of his book by the same name. There was just one little snag. The book wasn’t where he wanted it to be, and he wasn’t sure how to push it to the next level. So, he reached out to me. His book project was a collection of ten years of evergreen SEO knowledge. I’d known and followed Ryan for years, and had always been blown away by his incredible grasp on the art of good SEO. So, I knew he knew his stuff — and I knew this book had to be expert, authority-level content at a minimum. By Ryan’s admission, writing this book was not an easy undertaking. When we started working together, Ryan had written 30,000 words that needed editing, and was looking for between 20-30,000 words of expansion through ghostwriting. He had no time or writing patience to take his book from draft -> done. After hiring us, he’s now getting ready to publish his book in just a matter of two weeks. (It’s available now for pre-order on Amazon.) How did his content get to the next level? Ryan kindly gave us permission to use his testimonial as a Write Blog feature. Let’s get into it! [bctt tweet=”@ryanwashere of The SEO Blueprint had epic ideas. 60% of his book was done. Just one little snag…finishing was HARD! Read (and watch!) how our team helped him get there in this Write Blog #client recap ” username=”ExpWriters”] Epic Content Takes Epic Effort: The Process of Generating Amazing Work “My agency doesn’t do content creation anymore,” Ryan told me. Why? It’s a huge undertaking to create great content. There are lots of cycles of back and forth — generating, rewriting, polishing, honing, and more — all to get the content ready to go out into the world. That’s why generating excellent content is our sole focus at Express Writers. We don’t build websites, design full pages, or build “backlinks.” We focus solely on content creation. In our full interview, Ryan asked me how I find and retain good writers. I shared one “secret” that still surprises many people. In eight years of hiring and interviewing, I’ve learned to completely stop looking at experience. Say what? We go through thousands of resumes every month. Our efficient alternative to studying experience, which can be inflated or straight up faked on a resume, is that every writer undergoes a rigorous writing test. This helps us see writers’ actual skills. This way, we ensure we only hire writers best-equipped to create killer content. [bctt tweet=”@JuliaEMcCoy champions skills vs. experience when hiring writers. As she says, experience can be inflated or straight-up faked on a resume. ‍♀️” username=”ExpWriters”] The cream of the crop – our creator-base of 90 writers and eight part-time editors – collaborate across time zones around the world under the supervision of our Content Manager, Korilynn. She watches deadlines and manages the editorial queue to make sure content gets through the whole process one time. And as a self-proclaimed Cat-Herder, she’s no stranger to shepherding lots of moving parts in the right direction. When clients send us a new project, we ask the right questions so we get the right answers in specific input forms. Our writers start writing immediately. After that, it’s 5-7 days to done, depending on the timeline the client needs and the length of the content. We only send publish-ready content, which cuts way down on revision time on the client-side. Epic Content Can Come at an Epic Cost (But It Doesn’t Have To) Let’s be frank: Amazing content often comes at a high cost. “For advanced SEO…it’s really hard to find writers,” Ryan told me, “Sometimes we’ll [pay] upwards of $1,200 to get a long-form blog post written.” [bctt tweet=”For advanced SEO…it’s really hard to find writers. Sometimes we’ll pay upwards of $1,200 to get a long-form blog post written. – @ryanwashere on the difficulty of finding affordable yet skilled content writers. More on the Write Blog ➡” username=”ExpWriters”] An average long-form blog post clocks in somewhere between 2,000 to 3,000 words. Let’s estimate high and call it 3,000 words. That’s at least 40 cents per word. Magnify that to a book with the vast scope of about 60,000 words and you’re looking at $24,000! Whoa. For Ryan, we hacked that cost drastically. The project fell in the $13,000-14,000 range: roughly half the rate he was paying elsewhere. That’s not to say we’re cheap. We just like to keep the costs in an “affordable” ballpark. With lasting principles on essential topics like executing high-quality (read: killer ROI) SEO campaigns, Ryan’s manuscript had a message that needed to get out there. We paired him up with one of our writers, Alexander C., a trained Authority Writer in my team. In 3.5 months, the project was finished and publish-ready. Ryan told me, “I can vouch for the quality [of content]. I’m really impressed… you guys have done a tremendous job. Unless you have somebody in-house, it’s definitely worth it to go out and contract a company like [Express Writers] to get the right stuff done.” For the full video, check out Ryan’s awesome recap. Need authority-building content? Get a quick quote in our Content Shop.  

The 9 Most Useful Content Marketing Services You Need to Get This Year

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The 9 Most Useful Content Marketing Services You Need to Get This Year

This year, content marketing is a non-optional activity for any brand that wants to be successful. Facts: 84% of consumers now expect brands to create content. And if you think you can just get in front of them with ads… think again. Today, 80% of users ignore sponsored search results in Google. Organic is where you’ll win. However, if you’re thinking about content marketing services (such as hiring an agency to manage your content marketing campaign from start to finish — something we don’t do, we only write great content) — it can be a little overwhelming trying to figure out what services to choose, and from whom. Should you go with strategic content services from a digital marketing agency? Or should you go with content development and marketing services from a creative agency? Or should you just go renegade and do it all yourself? You have a lot of options, so I’ve put this guide of the most quintessential content marketing services that you need. It’s got advice for whichever route you choose, so if you’re going to take that dive (and you absolutely should!) … start here. [bctt tweet=”Thinking about content marketing services? It’s overwhelming figuring out what to choose. …Or should you just go renegade? ‍ Learn everything you need to know in this guide on the Write Blog.” username=”ExpWriters”] A Quick Guide: Content Marketing Services You Need This Year – Table of Contents What Goes Into Content Marketing? 9 Content Marketing Services You Need to Grow Your Brand in 2020 and Beyond 1. A Rock-Solid Content Strategy 2. The Creation of Mind-Blowing Content 3. Frank, Thoughtful Video Creation 4. Captivating Infographics & Visual Assets 5. A Kicka$$ WordPress Site 6. Flawlessly Branded Social Media 7. Next-Level Email Marketing 8. A Fresh, Modern Maintenance Routine 9. The Right Tools to Measure Success So, Exactly What Does Content Marketing Entail? If you asked me to pick the top 10 buzzwords in the online writing industry, content marketing would definitely be near the top of the list. It’s difficult to tell when the term content marketing first came around. It appears in a few marketing textbooks (available on Google Books) from the late 1990s, but internet results all seem to indicate that digital marketers first adopted the term in the mid-2000s. Now, it’s everywhere. But what does it mean? In short, content marketing is the strategic planning, creation, and distribution of content to engage audiences and drive revenue. (CMI wrote a wonderful guide on it that’s worth reading.) In 2020, content marketing is all but a necessity for any company looking to market itself effectively. Consumers were fed up with in-your-face advertising and slimy sales tactics a LONG time ago. In contrast, content marketing takes a different approach. It emphasizes the delivery of engaging, helpful, useful content to audiences rather than convincing them outright to buy a service. It’s helpful to think of content marketing like a chain-reaction. Each step builds on the previous to create a working system to build an audience and generate leads. In general, you’ll see six steps: Strategy: Content strategy is the foundation of content marketing. It’s your road map and blueprint to build your content engine. Creation: Content marketing relies on the creation of superb content that’s been developed with your audience’s needs and the customer journey in mind. Optimization: With optimization, it’s time to get technical. Here, you make sure that search engines see you, your site works on mobile, and all the details are perfect. Distribution: Also called promotion in some resources, this is the release of your content on platforms like your blog or social media. Maintenance: Keeping the momentum going is important. In the maintenance stage, you apply the sensibilities of marketing to keep your content and presence fresh. Metrics: In 2020, everything is data-driven. To maximize success, you need to know how your content is performing. [bctt tweet=”It’s helpful to think of content marketing like a chain-reaction. ⛓ Each step builds on the previous, leading to growth. There are 6 steps: 1) Strategy 2) Creation 3) Optimization 4) Distribution 5) Maintenance 6) Metrics ” username=”ExpWriters”] Content marketing involves a lot! It’s no surprise that 84% of companies outsource at least one of those elements (usually content creation) – even if they have a dedicated content marketing team (which according to CMI, most do). So, what all goes into content marketing? Here are nine content marketing services you should absolutely consider if you want to grow your brand this year. 9 Content Marketing Services You Need to Grow Your Brand This year, you’ve got abundant options for content marketing services and packages. As the marketing approach finally goes mainstream, there’s no shortage of agencies and independents offering tricks, tools, and services. However, not all content marketing services are created equal. It takes a discerning eye to decide which option is best for you. If you’re looking around and feeling overwhelmed, I totally feel you! It’s a big, big world. Here’s a guide to the top nine services for content development and marketing that you definitely should consider this year. 1. A Rock-Solid Content Strategy First and foremost, don’t go anywhere without a road map! Content strategy is the framework for your content marketing. It’s what will inform things like what content you create and where you’ll distribute it. In many ways, developing your content strategy is front-loading your content marketing. With a solid content strategy as your foundation, you’re already halfway to a comprehensive content marketing engine. Strongly consider documenting your overarching strategy. According to CMI’s 2020 B2B Content Marketing Report, only 41% of surveyed businesses had one – but that included a whopping two-thirds of the most successful businesses who reported. Likewise, only 16% of the least well-performing companies surveyed had a content strategy that was written down. Many marketing agencies and even freelance writers offer content strategy. When shopping for a service, make sure that it’s got a few quintessential items: Trending topics research: Don’t let your … Read more

How to Set Up Your SaaS Content Marketing Strategy: 6 Steps to Success

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How to Set Up Your SaaS Content Marketing Strategy: 6 Steps to Success

Do you have a SaaS business? Are you publishing content as a way to bring in and nurture potential customers?  ⬅️ If so, you need a SaaS content marketing strategy. To put it bluntly, content without a strategy is akin to a house without a foundation, support beams, walls, or a roof. Instead of welcoming a constant flux of eager visitors to your beautiful abode, you’ll just be sitting alone on a pile of bricks. The strategy gives your SaaS content marketing a purpose, structure, goals, and a strong foundation to build on. Without it, you’ll flounder with content. You won’t nurture leads – you’ll lose them. The ONLY way to start seeing exponential, compounding online growth with SaaS content marketing is to outline your content strategy plan, fill in the blanks, and follow it to the letter. Don’t believe me yet? Let’s look at the difference between content created & published without a strategy vs. WITH a strategy. How to Build a SaaS Content Marketing Strategy: Table of Contents Content Marketing with and Without a Strategy: What’s the Difference? 2 Years in, Without a Content Marketing Strategy What Happens with a Content Strategy in Place? What Do You Need for Successful SaaS Content Marketing? 6 Key, Strategic Pillars 1. Know the Base Levels of SaaS Content Strategy: Define Topic Areas, Goals, & More Goals and Content Mission Topic Area(s) of Focus Content Differentiation Factor 2. Get to Know Your Audience for Solid SaaS Content Marketing Find Your Ideal Target Buyer Research, Research, Research Know Your Customers’ Common Buying Journeys 3. Integrate SEO Research Long-Tail Keywords and Connected Topics Optimize Your Content 4. Build Your Content House 5. Understand How to Create Content for SaaS Marketing Fill Your Audience’s Knowledge Gaps Write to Engage Kill the Fluff 6. Track, Measure, Update, & Maintain Track and Measure Update and Maintain Your SaaS Content Marketing Strategy Is Covered [bctt tweet=”With all the offers out there, how can you make sure that your SaaS company and product stand out? @JuliaEMcCoy tells how and why you should make SaaS content marketing strategy right now ‍ ” username=”ExpWriters”] Content Marketing with and Without a Strategy: What’s the Difference? At Express Writers, we’re not selling SaaS, but our content plays the same roles as it would for a SaaS business: building audience trust in our brand, showing our expertise, and nurturing traffic and leads. Unfortunately, without a content marketing strategy, our content didn’t have the impact we hoped it would. We weren’t meeting our goals at the beginning. 2 Years in, Without a Content Marketing Strategy With 215 blogs published, we were only ranking for 141 keywords Our monthly gross income never topped $29K At most, we saw 500 visitors a day On top of these lackluster numbers, I was suffering, too. Hustling every day but not seeing any rewards (because I was misdirecting my energy) Stressed and scrounging for leads Working constantly to make ends meet Then, in September 2016, I finally built and implemented a content marketing strategy. What happened next? What Happens with a Content Strategy in Place? Life was never the same after our content marketing strategy hit the ground running. A few months after executing the strategy, we hit our first, landmark $71K income month. Our ranking keywords shot up from 3,900 to 6,000. It didn’t stop there. Within roughly one year, we were hitting records every month – January 2018 saw us hit our first-ever $120K income month. We were ranking for over 12,800 keywords My blogs were getting the highest number of shares I’d ever seen. EW ranked #1 for hot keywords (e.g. “content writing outsourcing”) Today, we’re still blowing our old records out of the water. 99% of our clients come to us from our content marketing We rank for over 24,000 keywords in Google We’ve earned over $4.5 million in agency sales We see 90,000 to 100,000 organic visitors every month As you can see, no content strategy = If you say YES to a content strategy, however… ✔ It’s true for SaaS and non-SaaS industries alike that invest in content. For those of you tuning in from a SaaS background, stay with me. We’re about to get into how to build your SaaS content marketing strategy. [bctt tweet=”Do you need a SaaS content marketing strategy? Don’t think twice. @JuliaEMcCoy shows the HUGE difference in ROI between having none vs. using a well-planned strategy for @ExpWriters.” username=”ExpWriters”] What Do You Need for Successful SaaS Content Marketing? 6 Key, Strategic Pillars So, you need a SaaS content marketing strategy. That means it’s time to learn how to do SaaS marketing the right way. The best SaaS marketing campaigns use these 6 pillars. They form the foundation for a working content marketing platform for your business. 1. Know the Base Levels of SaaS Content Strategy: Define Topic Areas, Goals, & More Your SaaS content marketing plan needs a few basic factors defined before you can get into the nitty-gritty of audience research or content creation. Goals and Content Mission First, what is your main goal for your content marketing initiative? What do you hope to achieve? How will you build relationships with customers through content? Outline the answers to those questions two ways: As an overarching mission for your SaaS content marketing. Phrase it the way you would phrase your broad business mission and goals. The two should be tied together and complement each other! Focused goals with measurable outcomes in the form of KPIs (key performance indicators). For example, Content Marketing Institute offers some solid KPIs tied to common goals for content marketing: Create brand awareness – Track and measure social shares Drive more traffic to your website or blog – Track total website visits monthly, the percentage of return visitors, or the time on site where the visitor was actively engaged Generate leads – Track the number of leads each piece of content earned, or track conversion rates for your landing pages Improve customer retention – Track … Read more

My Third Book, Woman Rising: A True Story, Is Out Today! (Video)

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My Third Book, Woman Rising: A True Story, Is Out Today! (Video)

It’s launch day!! My new nonfiction narrative memoir, Woman Rising: A True Story, is out right now. You can find it on Amazon in whatever format suits your fancy: Kindle, paperback, or Audible audiobook (narrated by me)! I’ve been jittery with excitement for this day to finally arrive so I can share my story with you. The thing is, this book is totally different from everything I’ve written in the past. It’s been a long time coming: 2.5 years, to be exact. That’s the time it took to make this book a reality, to corral my memories and experiences and explain how I became the person I am today. Needless to say, I’m downright thrilled it’s finally launch day. Just in case you missed my first announcement about the book, or aren’t sure what the story entails, I’ve got you. Today we’re also debuting a new, short film that showcases the book’s major themes. Find out more (and watch the film!) below. [bctt tweet=”@JuliaEMcCoy’s new nonfiction memoir, Woman Rising, is out TODAY. Check out the short film about the book and find out where you can grab your copy! ” username=”ExpWriters”] What Is Woman Rising About? Why I Needed to Write and Share This Story This is the true story of my life growing up in a religious cult under the thumb of my controlling, abusive father, the cult leader. It’s the story of how I kept my hope and passions alive despite the odds. It’s the tale of how Express Writers was born, and how it eventually became the means I used to enable my escape. This book also charts the road I traveled to healing, and how I grew my tiny business into a bonafide brand (missteps and all). Watch the short film about Woman Rising: If you follow the Write Blog or any of my social media accounts, you know my other books and projects have all been centered on content marketing strategy and writing. Woman Rising represents a departure from that realm, but it also fits right in. [bctt tweet=”If you follow the Write Blog, you know my other books and projects have all been centered on content marketing strategy and writing. Woman Rising represents a departure from that realm, but it also fits right in. ❤ – @JuliaEMcCoy ⚡” username=”ExpWriters”] I can’t tell the full story of how I got into this industry without including my formative years, when my strength and hope were tested daily in an environment of abuse and control. Many parts of my story seem, in fact, hopeless. However, I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t managed to find the light and escape my father’s household. Since then, I have built a thriving business, created a loving family, and emerged from the ashes of my upbringing stronger than ever. “This is the story with the kind of hope that starts small, like a single ray of sunshine on a dark floor, building over time to become a blazing, all-encompassing orb that radiates through every pore, every cell.” [bctt tweet=”This is the story with the kind of hope that starts small, like a single ray of sunshine on a dark floor ⛅, building over time to become a blazing, all-encompassing orb that radiates through every pore, every cell. – @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] Woman Rising: A True Story – Get Your Copy on Amazon TODAY I am BEYOND excited to finally share this story with you. My hope is it inspires you to follow your dreams and passions. No matter what stands in your way. Despite the obstacles, and despite all odds. Grab your copy today on Amazon. To your happiness,  Julia

January 2020 Core Update: All You Need to Know (Plus Tips on How to Survive It)

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January 2020 Core Update: All You Need to Know (Plus Tips on How to Survive It)

On January 13, Google announced a core algorithm update called the January 2020 Core Update. Immediately, site owners took to social media to express their dismay on (yet another) major change that could affect the years of hard work they’d put into reaching a top spot on Google’s SERPs. Some posted despairing memes. Others begged Google “not to be cruel.” Yet others worried how their keyword rankings would be affected as the new update rolled in. pic.twitter.com/VhifzOau2o — Heba Said (@HebaSaidSEO) January 13, 2020 So, what is the January 2020 Core Update? Should you be worried about it? Most importantly, what changes should you make to your site so you don’t lose your Google rankings? Let’s explore this massive update in today’s brand new blog. [bctt tweet=”Should you be worried about @Google’s January Core Update? What should you do to maintain your rankings? Find out in this new guide by @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] January 2020 Core Update: All You Need to Know (Plus Tips on How to Survive It) – Table of Contents January 2020 Core Update, Explained Experts and Content Creators Speak Up about the January 2020 Core Update The Top Sites Impacted by the January 2020 Core Update How to Optimize Your Site to Survive the January 2020 Core Update 5 Aspects of Content That Ranks Well on Google 1. Originality 2. Comprehensiveness 3. Expertise 4. User-Friendly and Trustworthy Presentation 5. User Value 5 Tips to Update Your Content and Continue Ranking Well Despite Major Google Updates 1. Write Content You Can’t Find Elsewhere 2. Improve Content Found on High-Ranking Sites for Your Keyword 3. Proofread to Perfection 4. Step into Your Audience’s Shoes 5. Forget Keywords Moving Forward after the January 2020 Core Update January 2020 Core Update, Explained Google’s number one goal is to provide value to users. Because of this, it has made thousands of changes per year in recent years. However, not all of these changes are noticeable. Most of them are tiny tweaks. The January 2020 Core Update is different. According to Google, this update will have more noticeable and actionable effects for content producers and webmasters. source: Google Webmaster Central Blog [bctt tweet=”The January 2020 Core Update is different. According to Google, this update will have more noticeable and actionable effects for content producers and webmasters.” username=”ExpWriters”] What it boils down to is Google making a brand-new list of the top sites with the most value in 2020. If your site takes a hit and falls in the SERPs, it’s not because it’s a bad site. It’s simply because users are changing. There are a ton of new sites online. And there are sites which have been online for some time, but whose value was never fully discovered. Source: Search Engine Journal Overall, the January 2020 Core Update is going to shake up the SEO world. Let’s look at what webmasters and content creators have to say about it. Experts and Content Creators Speak Up about the January 2020 Core Update Users reacted differently when the news of the January 2020 Core Update was released. Some were dismayed. pic.twitter.com/cN9wSAXasi — Jon Tromans (@JonTromans) January 13, 2020 Others were confused. @JohnMu YOU PEOPLE HAVE ROBBED US OF OUR HARD WORK and Thousands of dollars spent on content. CONFUSED @Google @googlewmc — Kingsley Felix (@Iamkingsleyf) January 14, 2020 Still others decided to laugh it off. I miss the days when these updates had cool animal names — Da Schnitzi (@DaSchnitzi) January 13, 2020 Of course, top marketers and SEO experts had their own opinions. Rand Fishkin’s interest was on the bolded ads, favicons, and brand icons featured in the update. My theory on why this took so long to get to desktop: Google knows it obscures ads & thus increases ad CTR (according to @jumpshotinc data from 2019, the mobile change yielded ~15% more ad clicks), and wanted to wait until a quarter in which they needed to show that growth. https://t.co/5bMQoCLbS2 — Rand Fishkin (@randfish) January 13, 2020 SEMrush listed three prominent changes the update included. What’s new in #Google? January 2020 Core update Brand icons & black ad labels are live on desktop SERPs Brand new SERP features New options in the rich results test More fresh industry news in our first Google News Digest of 2020 https://t.co/7DyriMZo9A. — SEMrush (@semrush) January 20, 2020 A few days after the release of the update, Glenn Gabe tweeted his findings on the “volatile” splash it had made. The Jan 2020 core update volatility seems to be calming down, which makes sense. Danny announced on Thurs that the update completed, although we could see the effects for a week or two. But to me, major volatility should be done. Here are some of the trackers showing volatility: pic.twitter.com/b3nGzW8O31 — Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) January 18, 2020 Will this update affect you? According to Danny Sullivan, it will, no matter where you live. It’s a global update. It has (and does always unless we say otherwise) rolled out globally. — Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) January 16, 2020 The Top Sites Impacted by the January 2020 Core Update In the few days since the January 2020 Core Update rolled in, various sites in different sectors showed significant change in SERP rankings. Let’s look at the winners and losers (so far). 1. Sites with Improved Rankings Since the January 2020 Core Update According to data from Sistrix, sites in the health sector enjoyed gains since the update rolled in. OnHealth.com and verywellhealth.com saw a 37.7% and 34.72% change, respectively. Source: Sistrix.com Other sites with improved ranking include a football site, a movie tickets site, and two news sites. Could this have to do with trending news (the British Royal Family and the Holocaust) and entertainment content? 2. Sites with Lower Rankings Since the January 2020 Core Update The sites which took the biggest hits since the update are carmagazine.co.uk and boxofficemojo.com. Source: Sistrix.com The data shows car buyer and finance sites also taking hits since the update rolled in. Could … Read more

In the Spotlight: 5 Promising Content Marketing Trends for 2020

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In the Spotlight: 5 Promising Content Marketing Trends for 2020

It’s 2020 already! Are you ready to seize the new decade by the horns? I sure am! We’re just a few short weeks into the year, and it’s already shaping up to be an exciting one in the world of writing. If you’ve been paying attention to what’s happening in content marketing, then you’re already a step ahead of the curve. Several ideas and innovations are maturing, bringing us more possibilities when it comes to writing and distributing our most magnetic content. Wondering what the future of content marketing looks like? Check it out. I’ve rounded up my best predictions for the 2020 trends in content marketing. This year is already roaring along at full speed, so we’d better get started! The 5 Biggest Content Marketing Trends for 2020 You Must Embrace 1. “Good” Is Not Enough! Readers E-A-T Only the Best Content Topic-Focused Content Builds Authority Results-Focused Copy Builds Relevance Customer-Focused Marketing Builds Trust 2. Pictures Become Worth 1 Million Words – If They’re Living Visual Media Is Becoming Interactive 3. An Emphasis on Lasting Relationships 4. Brand Authenticity Approaches New Dimensions Authenticity, Storytelling, and Story Creation Conversational Marketing 5. We Cannot Ignore the New Ways to Search [bctt tweet=”Excited to start the new year with fresh ideas to boost your content marketing to the next level? @JuliaEMcCoy shares the best content marketing trends in 2020 you should start following right now. ” username=”ExpWriters”] The 5 Biggest Content Marketing Trends for 2020 You Must Embrace While 2019 was all about refining what worked, the energy of 2020 signals that it’s all about seizing the day – or year. We’ve practiced, honed, experimented… Now it’s time to put all that newfound knowledge to work to build those dreams as you’ve never built before. Without further ado, here are the five content marketing trends for 2020 you must absolutely watch. 1. “Good” Is Not Enough! Readers E-A-T Only the BEST Content The phrase “content is king” has been floating around the internet now for almost a quarter of a century. (Thanks, Bill.) It’s a deceptively simple statement. Yet, 24 years later, we’re still discovering exactly what it means. 2020 may be the year that we (collectively) finally get it. An emphasis on good content has existed for a while now, largely spurred on by Google’s constant (and often revolutionary) updates to its search engine algorithms. Last decade, we saw several seismic updates that completely altered the nature of search. Google has a knack for doing that. However, the last several core updates such as Google BERT and the January Core Update have been relatively unique. Not only have they continued to tailor their algorithms to the human element, but they’ve now begun sending a pretty clear message to the content creation (and SEO) community with every update: Google really, really, REALLY wants you to stop overanalyzing the SEO situation every time it updates its algorithms. Why? Because in 2020 SEO has ONE main rule: Focus on delivering the best possible content to your readers. Oh look, another deceptively simple statement. In 2020, content and search engine ranking are fusing. It’s no longer going to be about either optimizing for people or optimizing for search engines. By crafting exceptional content, you’re now doing both. If there’s anything you take away, it’s these three points for content trends in 2020. (Which are so important, we made an image for you.) 1. Topic-Focused Content Builds Authority To establish authority in the search engines, you’ll need to prove to Google that you know something about a topic. That doesn’t mean posting one or two articles on the subject and calling it good. The average content pillar has been 2,000 and 10,000 words with 6-8 sub-topics (or pages) linked. 2. Results-Focused Copy Builds Relevance Craft content with a purpose. People use search engines to find answers to problems, but only 21% of searches lead to more than one result getting clicked. If your copy isn’t laser-focused on achieving a specific result (like solving the problem that person searched for), you won’t make it to the top of the list. 3. Customer-Focused Marketing Builds Trust In 2020, the primary means you’ll build trust with your readers is by delivering helpful, useful content. Such content indicates a willingness to be helpful, to give without expectation of monetary returns. Turns out it works. According to research by Conductor, customers are up to 131% more likely to purchase from brands that provide early-stage, educational content. [bctt tweet=”Don’t settle for good this 2020, go for GREAT! How? Focus on these three important points: the right topics (to build authority), ️ results (to build relevance), and customers (to build trust).” username=”ExpWriters”] Take a moment to absorb these three points. They’re what underlie the rest of the content marketing trends for 2020. BTW – Google is setting a high bar for what is considered quality content. And unsurprisingly, Content Marketing Institute found that 84% of brands outsource their content creation to pros. If you’re concerned about quality, this is the route to take. [bctt tweet=”Did you know? @cmicontent found that 84% of brands outsource their content creation to pros. Stressed for time? Maybe it’s time to trust a pro writing partner. ✍️” username=”ExpWriters”] 2. Visuals Become Worth 1 Million Words – If They’re Live Remember the first infographic ever made? (Probably not – it was published in 1821.) It rocked everyone’s world. Today, infographics and visuals remain incredibly powerful. We’re going to keep seeing them – but they’re getting a refresh. How? Visual Media Is Becoming Interactive Infographics are neat, but unless they’re designed and optimized for social media sharing (like Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook), they’re surprisingly limited. They can pique our interest for a few minutes or flash across our social media feed… but they can’t do much else. In contrast, live video content is an experience. When something is real-time, we’re primed to think it’s unique. Plus, the real-time nature of the media amplifies the exclusivity and sense of connection with the … Read more

The Future is Content Marketing Writers: How to Write Content for Digital Marketing (Video)

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The Future is Content Marketing Writers: How to Write Content for Digital Marketing (Video)

Want to learn how to write content for digital marketing or become a content marketing writer? You’re in a good place. The content marketing industry has reached an incredible high: it’s about to be worth $412 billion in 2021. What’s more: 91% of B2B marketers are using and implementing content marketing. ‍ This demand naturally correlates to a demand for expert content marketing and digital marketing writers. Content marketing is increasing as a $400+ billion industry = content marketing writers are needed! Sadly, the fact though is that AP English and online content are two very different practices — and not enough writers are graduating with the right kind of knowledge to break into content marketing. Despite the gap, it’s humans, not bots, who will craft the authority-driven, engaging written content that builds the trust and loyalty necessary for results. Without content marketing writers, none of it would work. But… what IS a content marketing writer? What do they do? What type of content do they write? Who hires content marketing writers? In today’s video, learn all about a content marketing writer, sometimes also called a digital marketing writer — and what they do! I’m going to cover easy ways that show you how to write content for digital and content marketing. This is a trade I taught myself back in 2011, and a method I’ve personally used full-time to grow four businesses. Let’s get into it! The Future is Content Marketing Writers: How to Write Content for Digital Marketing (Video)   First, what IS a content marketing writer, if you define it in terms that a business looking to hire one would relate to? A content marketing writer is an expert communicator who is responsible for creating online written content – blogs, articles, ebooks, white papers, social media copy, infographic copy, and more – that builds trust and loyalty with readers while engaging and informing them. So, what do you need if you’re a newbie writer looking to break into this space? Recap: 5 Ways to Become a Digital Marketing or Content Marketing Writer Here are five points to know if you want to become a digital or content marketing writer. 1. Develop a Content Marketing Writer Background Study the greats. I recommend reading and absorbing posts from SmartBlogger and Content Marketing Institute, and you can check out my blogs which focus on content marketing advice at Express Writer’s The Write Blog. Secondly, you need some experience! Remember, action is critical. There’s no better first step then, well, taking the first step. The best way to learn is just to get started. Make a profile on a freelance site like Upwork, Freelancer, ProBlogger, job boards, and apply to writing gigs. (We’re hiring! Send samples here.) I wrote a guide on how to find the 50+ best freelance opportunities — check it out at Content Hacker. 2. Understand Strategic Content Marketing & Why It Matters Get some skills under your belt. I recommend books, courses, and classes. I wrote Practical Content Strategy & Marketing for new marketers, writers, and entrepreneurs that want to emerge and make a real difference in this field as a growth-focused content marketer, and it was recently listed as one of the top 100 marketing books of all time by BookAuthority, and an ultimate content marketing pick by Content Marketing Institute. Those two book lists also have fantastic book recommendations in the same genre! Ann Handley, Andy Crestodina, Mark Schaefer are top authors I recommend who will share nothing but practical, useful advice with you — a must if you’re going to work in the content marketing industry. (Be careful. There are a lot of ‘fluff’ marketers and content out there trying to ‘guide’ in this industry.) Shoutout to my amazing producer, Renata, for inserting this in today’s YouTube video — a quick slide of my recommended authors: 3. Find Your Niche of Expertise Picking an industry sets you apart from all the rest of the digital marketing and content marketing writers out there. Is there any industry you had a previous life in? Were you an attorney, a customer service representation, maybe you worked at a software firm? You could write blog content for law firms. You could specialize in an angle; if you worked in customer service for years, position yourself as a writer that thinks of the customer. You could write blog, web and ad copy for SaaS brands. This list of opportunities goes on and on. It’s important to pick something that you’ll enjoy doing. 4. Know Your Worth (The Average Content Marketing Writer Salary) Indeed, Glassdoor and PayScale offer good baseline ideas on salary, if you’re looking for employment. Freelance pay can be all over the place. If you’re going solo and freelancing, price based on your skills. Clients will pay good money, for example $100/500w, if you’re an amazing writer and know both content creation and your industry. Here’s an easy way to price your writing expertise in a way that is both fair and makes solid income. If you’ve chosen an industry, match your rate to the hourly rate of an expert in your industry. For example, an accountant or attorney can charge upwards of $100-250/hour or more. However, avoid charging hourly. Charge by the project and word count, so you can get it done in less time as you pick up practice and writing speed and still make great income. As an industry expert, you can easily charge $250/1000 words. How many words can you write in an hour? 1,000? Think of matching your hourly rate to offering a ‘fixed-rate service.’ However, hot tip: Never, ever charge hourly. Know what you can produce or do in an hour, then put a ‘fixed price’ rate and offering on that. As you get good at your content marketing writing craft, you should be picking up speed at what you do (and it’s okay if it’s never done in one day — content should, and will, take days plural — I’m talking more about your process … Read more

What’s New in the Content Shop for 2020: Price Increase (& Why), New Features in Blogging Plans, New Products & More!

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What's New in the Content Shop for 2020: Price Increase (& Why), New Features in Blogging Plans, New Products & More!

Last week, we rolled out several exciting changes to the Content Shop for 2020! ? These changes included: More word count ranges on most of our services in the Content Shop A new content plan just for marketers launching new websites, brands, or software Updated social media plans Legal blog packages added Rate increases on our expert blogs and packages to continue to help us source and retain the best talent Read on to learn all about the improvements we rolled out that went live last week. Plus: a few words from yours truly on the state of content creation and hiring great content creators in 2020. What’s New in the Content Shop for 2020: Price Increase (& Why), New Features in Blogging Plans, New Products & More [bctt tweet=”Get to see what’s changed in our Content Shop for 2020 in this post by @JuliaEMcCoy. ?️Launching a new killer website? Need expertly-written legal blogs? We can totally help you right now! See what’s new. ?” username=”ExpWriters”] Here’s the lowdown on the changes in our Content Shop for 2020. 1. Our content rates increased for 2020. Not by a ton — by about $5-10 on our industry expert blogs, and $100+ on our blog packages and social media plans. We also added more word count ranges to our Content Shop offerings, which means you don’t need to get boxed in for large ranges. We noticed a need for customizing our ranges more. We also added some new services and refined our packages! (See a shortlist of updated prices and offerings on our Pricing page.) Why did we increase our rates? Well, that brings me to what it takes to hire a great content creator. Facts: Every year, recruiting content writing talent increases both in price and time. This is especially true for 2020. The bar for great content has risen, seriously, in the past few years. Just click to read more about my prediction for 2020 (and I’m not the only one predicting this): 1. Amazing, Niche, Expert Content Which Meets or Exceeds Google’s E-A-T Standards. TL;DR — Content is a powerful tool today for online marketers. Over 70% of ALL web traffic originates from a Google search, according to Backlinko/SparkToro. Your users are Googling for your content! Publishing content generates 67% more leads than NOT publishing content, says a HubSpot study. 71% of B2B buyers read blog content during their buying journeys (3-5 blogs is the norm). [bctt tweet=”Our content rates increased for 2020: about $5-10 on our industry expert blogs and $100+ on blog packages and social media plans. ? With this, you’re paying for the work, time, and training required to deliver you high-quality content. ?” username=”ExpWriters”] But content is only powerful if you’re building amazing content. More people, brands, and marketers in your industry are getting wise to how well it works, and so you’ll continue to have to hit a high bar to succeed in 2020. With the sea of content rising, the place to put your focus on is “amazing.” In 2020, it’s not just bad content that will fall flat. It’s mediocre content, the “not bad,” and the “good enough” content. To rank with Google and readers today, your content must go far into the “exceptional,” “amazing,” and “wow” territory. When it comes to content you publish on your website today, Google actually defines what “quality” looks like. Hit Google’s definition of quality. In their Webmaster Guidelines, Google references helping, being information-rich (comprehensive), and including the right words (optimization) in content. Source: Steps to a Google-friendly site Source: Webmaster Guidelines Not only that, but Google says you must — Prove you’re an expert in your industry and topic area. Google talks about the importance of expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) in its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines. Google itself called these guidelines a good indicator of how they define high-quality (and low-quality) content, in an article from August 2019 on the Webmaster Central Blog. Create & publish amazing-quality content consistently. Inconsistency in content is a recipe for catastrophe. Failing to update your content regularly (whether that means tweaking older articles or pages or posting new ones), as well as failing to maintain your quality standards, will ultimately hurt your search visibility. When it comes to hiring writers for great web content, all of these guidelines — which is a big component of our values at Express Writers to uphold and adhere to (why else would you buy content from us?) — are very difficult to hire, train, and retain writers for. I’ve found this true since the beginning. One other barrier here is that people that we hire — freelancers, content writers — think that they can graduate college with these skills. Writing skills that earn rankings in Google, engagement with online readers, and ROI from the business who hired you. A growing number of entrants to the content creation industry are disillusioned. Sadly, this only grows the more the years go by and college doesn’t get reinvented on this point. I have to un-teach many academically trained writers on how to be content creators. It’s one reason I launched an SEO writing course a few years ago. Back in 2011, when I started out, because of the way content was (less competition, less intelligence in Google’s ranking AI), you could get away with an Upwork writer to write a darn good blog for the price of a takeout meal or two. But not anymore. The writers you need to find today must have these six characteristics to be successful at creating your online content: Know the industry they’re writing for (now a requirement with Google’s E-A-T standards) Know how to optimize for Google Know how to write to engage online readers Know how to skip the fluff (because that doesn’t get read) Know how to find, source, and include the right statistics and competitor-free links Be open to ongoing critique and mentorship [bctt tweet=”.@JuliaEMcCoy says it takes these six skillsets for an online writer to succeed: 1. Know the Industry 2. Know SEO Optimization 3. Write to Engage 4. Skip the Fluff 5. Source and Cite 6. Be Open to Critique ? ” username=”ExpWriters”] I spend hours every week finding and retaining the right writing talent. … Read more

Annual Content Creation Report: A Year in the Life of A 500,000+ Word/Month Content Production Team

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content creation report

In this report, we’re giving our Write Blog readers one of the most intensive insights we’ve ever put together on our internal content production. This report is a real look at the content creation our team undertook for our clients for one year. We’ve never done a transparent income report before on the Write Blog, so this is the first one. The data below comes from our e-commerce Content Shop, and the month-by-month data is generated from inside our own platform as over 50-60 monthly clients order from us. Two years ago, our consistent top selling service was general blogs, and our team was producing over a million words per month. This year, our top seller was industry expert blogs. We saw a major transition in demand from general writers into expert writers th­is year, comparatively from 2018 to 2019. We believe this will only continue, as content marketers realize the level they need to hit to perform well with readers and Google. Across even our highest-volume client accounts, industry expert writers are now becoming a “must-have” over a more generalized, non-expert voice. This is a necessary evolution, as Google continues to enforce E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) and Y-M-Y-L (an even higher level of quality needed for Your Money or Your Life industries) in ranking content in search results. Expert authors and creators are absolutely a must for brands and publishers today. Without further ado, let’s get into our year-to-date content creation recap. New here? Read the story of how Express Writers was founded. 2019 Content Creation Report: A Year in the Life of A 500,000+ Word/Month Content Production Team Our Top 6 Hottest Content Creation Service Offerings for the Year Expert Blogs Custom-Quoted Projects Expert Web Pages Custom Images Product Descriptions Blogging Plans [bctt tweet=”500,000+ words written per month? ✍️ It’s true, for an agency with 90 writers on staff! Read @JuliaEMcCoy’s first-ever income and production report for @ExpWriters in this Write Blog.” username=”ExpWriters”] 3 Content Creation Insights from Our Year of Content Production in 2019 I founded Express Writers back in 2011, eight years ago. Read my story here, and if you want the FULL, unabridged story (including how I escaped a cult!), sign up for my memoir on my entrepreneurial journey launching in February of 2020. I’m thrilled to see our company continue to stand and grow in the industry, and 2019 was another great year for Express Writers. We had the opportunity to partner with and collaborate on some incredible content projects, serving clients all around the world with fabulous written content for their blog, site, PR, social media, advertising, and other copy needs. 1. Quality Over Quantity in Team Size Jeff Bezos said it best: “Every internal team should be small enough that it can be fed with two pizzas.” (He continues to apply this rule in Amazon’s upper management.) After surviving eight years of HR trenches, I’ve found that my leadership runs best when it’s a small, productive team of people. We don’t have crossovers, we avoid ‘too many cooks in the kitchen,’ and everyone works together incredibly well. [bctt tweet=”.@JuliaEMcCoy says a small team is best. ‘You don’t need a massive team to produce amazing content. After surviving eight years of HR trenches, I’ve found that my leadership runs best when it’s a small, productive team of people.’  ” username=”ExpWriters”] You also don’t need a massive team to produce amazing content. We have 90 writers on staff, and 30-40 are always busy full-time—several of whom work and train directly under me. The others remain on-call for various niche project. One writer only writes content for a luxury yachting brand; another only writes content on outdoor sports, fly-fishing and hunting. One is a retired J.D. that writes copy for legal websites and blogs. Those are just some examples of the niche writers we’ve head-hunted to add to the team. While our writing and editing team stays around ninety people consistently, our leadership team has stayed small this year. Our management and leadership team is less than six people. Korilynn (writing/editorial team management), myself (marketing/HR), Josh (our CTO), Lorien (client onboarding and assistance), Kira (scheduled for calls by appointment, on-staff Content Strategist), and Danielle (our content and editorial specialist, as well as support for my courses). 2. Higher Word Count Doesn’t Always Mean More Revenue High revenue doesn’t always correlate to a high volume of words and production, as you’ll see from the statistics below. In fact, many times, it’s quite the opposite for our team. For example, a general blog can cost $45; a single 500-word page of a case study by one of our top-tier marketing writers can cost $150. Typically, the higher the quality desired, the higher the price; and less words can end up being involved in a project like that as opposed to a lower-quality, higher-word count project. So, this has pushed me towards ways we can work smarter, not just harder. [bctt tweet=”Higher ‘production’ doesn’t always equal more revenue. Work smarter, not harder. This and other lessons from @JuliaEMcCoy’s year-end report for @ExpWriters 6 MILLION word/year: ” username=”ExpWriters”] Our lowest-revenue month was a month where we were completing a big general content project for a client, and our content creation was ridiculously high-volume. But our income was low. Since general content is one of our lowest-priced services, that was a low-revenue month. 3. Evergreen Business Growth is the Best Growth The biggest catalyst for our growth continues to be our own Express Writers’ Write Blog, which is a “slow and steady” race—reminiscent of a turtle plodding forward, day after day. We haven’t taken a vacation from blogging in eight years. I’m three months ahead with the content schedule, and we publish a blog once every Tuesday. I also publish a YouTube video every third Monday. After eight years, our blog is now at 100,000 visitors/month. [bctt tweet=”Slow and steady growth is the best growth, @JuliaEMcCoy says. It’s taken them eight years to grow the Write Blog to the presence it has today … Read more

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