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5 White Hat Link Building Practices Essential for Ethical SEO

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White Hat Link Practices

When you’re in a crowded conference room, there are usually two types of introductions. You might be wandering about and see someone you greatly admire. You pluck up the courage to approach them and introduce yourself with a statement like, “I love your recent book on marketing, especially your thoughts on the future of AI in marketing.” Then you wait. The other person may strike up a conversation or respond politely and move on. Another type of introduction is when a mutual friend introduces you to someone they already know. These are truly valuable introductions because the other person is much more likely to respond favorably, thanks to the reputation your mutual friend built with them already. Link building is much like networking, except instead of a crowded conference room, you’re wandering the world wide web. External and internal links for SEO connect you to other sites, growing your network and reputation based on the linking website’s established reputation. While link building can create valuable networks and boost your ranking, unethical practices can cause your ranking to plummet. Traditionally, marketers refer to these SEO strategies as white hat link building and black hat link building. What Is Link Building? Link building practices create a network of SEO links pointing to your website. These links are like introductions from friends. They can build bridges to bring traffic to your website, and they recommend you go to Google. When another site links to your site, they give their stamp of approval for your brand and content. If that site is already well-established and an authority brand, you can benefit from that site’s authority. Think of it like shopping for toothpaste. You have generic brand toothpaste that blends in with the competing brands. However, you also have toothpaste with stamps that say “Recommended by dentists.” Because you trust your dentist, you trust their recommendation and may be more inclined to trust that brand. In the same way, when brands link to your site, readers and Google see it as their recommendation stamp on your site. The more links you generate from outside sources, the more Google will see you as an authority. Quality links can increase your search visibility by as much as 534%. When you establish yourself as an authority in Google, you are more likely to rank higher in search engine results pages, generating more traffic. SEO link building is just one of several factors Google’s algorithm uses in ranking. It is also one of the most critical factors for building authority and trust with Google and your readers. Image from Stan Ventures White Hat vs. Black Hat Link Building Because link building plays a crucial role in ranking, content creators are always trying to crack the code. This often leads to unethical marketing practices that generate more links, but hurt the site in the long run. Traditionally, marketers define ethical and unethical link-building as white hat and black hat practices. When you watch an old-time cowboy movie, you can always identify the good and bad guys by the color of their hat. The good guys always wear white hats, while the bad guys tend to wear black hats. No one knows if this is the true source of the terms, but it’s a fun way to remember the phrases. Today, marketers are starting to move away from those terms and simply refer to white hat link building as ethical SEO and black hat link building as unethical SEO. While we are about to cover some of the best ethical backlink practices, you should first understand some of the unethical practices to avoid at all costs. Buying Links This practice has existed since the beginning of search engine optimization, when links started playing a role in ranking. Content creators realized they didn’t need to wait for others to link to them. They could simply purchase fake spam links and automatically jump in ranking. That didn’t last long before Google penalized spam links while rewarding high-authority links. If you do this practice today, you can easily find yourself cut from Google search rankings. Joining a Private Blog Network A private blog network is a connected group of websites or blogs that all agree to link to each other. Websites do not always offer valuable content. Instead, they exist only to link to other blogs and increase authority. Google might not always identify private blog networks, but if the algorithm suspects you are requesting or purchasing links rather than earning them, it will penalize your search engine ranking. Using Unnatural Link Profiles Google looks for patterns when analyzing websites for authenticity. Websites with unnatural patterns often signal unethical practices. A natural link profile will be varied since each person linking will have unique content. However, if you pay for links or create all your links yourself, your anchor text tends to sound similar, or most of the links come from the same place, signaling that all the links were not naturally generated but created to boost your brand authority. If you do want to link to your own site from third-party sources, be sure to create a variety of link sources and anchor text. Gray Hat Link Building Not all link-building practices are black and white. Occasionally, you’ll stumble upon gray areas. For example, link swaps are considered a gray hat method. You aren’t purchasing links in link swaps, so it doesn’t fall entirely under black hat practices. However, you also aren’t earning those links since you are making a trade, which isn’t entirely ethical either. While gray hat practices are easy to ignore and continue using, we highly recommend not using these methods. Even if Google doesn’t penalize them yet, it may catch up one day. To be prepared for that day, always focus on the most ethical practices. 5 White Hat Link Building Best Practices Switch out unethical link-building practices for these five ethical, white-hat link-building strategies for your SEO content. 1. Target High Authority Sites When creating a link-building … Read more

How To Write Meta Descriptions And Titles: A Nutshell Guide

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How to Write a Meta Description In the race to build a formidable online presence, most businesses have their Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts down pat. They employ efficient SEO strategies to secure a coveted position on Google’s front page. But getting to the top of the search results is only half the battle. You still must convince prospects to click through to your website. How do you make your website stand out in a sea of sameness, given that everyone is giving it their best? That’s what makes compelling meta descriptions a game-changer. When properly executed, these one to two-sentence snippets can skyrocket your click-through rates (CRTs) and drastically grow your sales. Dig in and learn how to leverage the power of meta description for your business. What is a Meta Description? A meta description is a descriptive summary of your web page. It appears as a snippet below your page title and URL on the search results pages. A properly written meta description informs the reader what the page is about and entices them to open the web page. Simply put, a laser-targeted meta description that’s optimized to perfection gives the reader a reason to pick your website. As such, it helps to match your meta description to the search intent. Consider these snippets an elevator pitch. They should be compelling enough that people make the split-second decision to visit your website. Is Meta Description Important for SEO? Meta descriptions are essential for SEO but not in the traditional sense. For starters, search engines don’t consider them a ranking factor — at least directly. Failing to include a meta description may not hurt your chances of getting to the front page of Google. But it may affect your chances of topping the search results page. Google considers user behavior when ranking pages on the SERPs. If more people are clicking on your website, the search engine will reward your pages with higher rankings. That’s because high click-through rates send a clear signal that readers value your content and find it helpful. Google is constantly tweaking its algorithms to match web users with the content that best suits their needs. The search engines may bolden the keywords and other relevant information matching the search query in the meta descriptions. That helps readers click on the website that best meets their needs, growing your CRT. In the latest update, dubbed Helpful Content Update (HCU), Google rewarded websites that met its trust signals with higher rankings while removing those that didn’t from the SERPS. Does Google Rewrite Meta Descriptions? Yes, Google rewrites meta descriptions—but only 70% of the time. Essentially, meta descriptions are merely suggestions. Google may auto-generate snippets based on the information on the page or user queries. So why bother writing meta descriptions at all? Google generally rewrites meta descriptions if it believes they don’t satisfy the searcher’s intent. But that’s because you can’t possibly address all the angles surrounding a keyword — so it’s a good thing, too. Still, Google is unlikely to rewrite the snippets for your high-volume keywords. Google will likely show your compelling and perfectly structured meta description for the most profitable keywords. Therefore, writing excellent snippets for your highest-volume keywords gives you an edge. The compelling descriptions will appear as you wrote them and galvanize prospects into action. How to Write Compelling Meta Descriptions To the uninitiated, writing compelling meta descriptions can seem daunting. These tips can help you level up your snippets and grow your click-through rates. Consider Your Audience By the time you’re creating a blog post, you have incredible insights into your target audience. An accurate buyer persona helps you understand their needs, what makes them tick, and why. Use this knowledge to create great meta descriptions that compel them to click on your title tags. Ideally, your tags should clarify one thing — what that customer stands to gain by clicking through to your website. Use Compelling, Benefit-Driven Copy Always lead with the benefits when writing meta descriptions. Make it clear from the get-go how the reader stands to benefit by visiting your website. Painful as it may sound, customers don’t really care about your brand. But they care about what your brand or products can do to make their lives easier, better, safer, or secure.  Naturally, the benefit depends on the problem and the keyword you’re addressing on the page. For instance, at Express Writers, we help clients crush their content marketing needs quickly and effortlessly. We make it abundantly clear on our home page. The meta description also reflects this: “Looking for high-quality content writing services? Look no further than Express Writers! Our team of skilled writers delivers engaging, SEO-friendly content…” Keep Under 155 Characters Meta descriptions are quintessentially elevator pitches. As such, you should keep them short and sweet. While there’s no technical limit when writing HTML meta descriptions, the sweet spot is under 155 characters. Google usually truncates snippets based on the display space available across multiple devices. That’s about 105 characters on mobile and 152 on desktop. An effective meta description leads with benefits to grab the reader’s attention. Keeping it under 155 characters keeps essential information from getting cut off. Include the Target Keyword It may seem counter-intuitive to include your target keyword since Google doesn’t use meta descriptions as a ranking factor. But having your primary keyword in the snippets pays off in droves. Google often bolds the search phrases that effectively address the search queries to help them stand out in the search results. Pages with boldened keywords have higher click-through rates and can effortlessly boost your website traffic. The bolding shows that your page explicitly addresses the prospect’s needs. It may, at least in the reader’s mind, double as Google’s seal of approval. Write a Unique Meta Description for Each Page You’re better off writing unique meta descriptions for each page on your website. In comparison, generic, duplicate meta descriptions are easy and convenient but can harm your CTR. Unlike … Read more

Find the Blog Posting Frequency that Works for You

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You know having a blog for your business or brand is critical to drawing in new customers and keeping the ones you have. However, you likely have wondered what the right blog posting frequency is. Should you post once a week? Every day? Multiple times a day? What’s the ideal blog posting frequency for you? Of course, the answer depends on your needs, goals, and the size of your business/brand.  In this guide, we will answer these questions and help you craft the ideal content calendar for your blog. What Is the Ideal Blog Posting Frequency? At the end of 2023, there were over 1.1 billion websites. Of those, about 18% are active, which translates to over 200 million active websites on the web. Over these billions of websites, there are about 600 million blogs on the internet with millions of new blogs posted every day. With statistics like this, it can make you wonder how you could ever make an impact in your small corner of the internet. However, with the right marketing strategy and blog posting frequency, you are more likely to attract the attention of the customers you need. Knowing how often you should post blogs is a question that continually puzzles digital marketers because there is no single recommendation that fits every website. Smaller businesses may find blogging less often, like one to four times a week, works for them, while larger businesses may need to blog daily or even multiple times a day. There is also the consideration of what types of content you’re covering. If you operate in a small, niche area where information is stable and does not change frequently, you might find success with blogging less often. Another part of the blogging frequency puzzle is what your goals are for your blog. Most brands either want to drive organic traffic or increase their brand awareness. According to HubSpot, if driving organic traffic is your goal, you should blog more frequently, while increasing brand awareness doesn’t require as much content.   8 Considerations to Determine Your Frequency of Blog Posts While you can take a guess at the number of blog posts that works for you, you will have better success evaluating industry trends and considering your blogging goals. 1. Look at Statistics According to Orbit Media’s 10th Edition of the Annual Blogger Survey, blog trends have changed a lot in the past decade. While successful bloggers were previously posting every day, many of them are now posting less often. However, the difference is, their blogs are longer and more detailed. While a 500-word blog posted daily worked in the past, bloggers are finding longer blogs over 1,000 words posted less frequently get better results.  The survey shows the average blog post is 77% longer in 2023 than it was in 2013. As for how frequently bloggers post, the most popular responses were weekly and several per month.  2. Monitor Your Industry Just like any other part of your business or brand, it is a good idea to look at the competition. What are similar content creators doing on their blogs? Monitor 10-20 blogs in your niche and see how often they are updated. If you’re not posting as often, you could get left behind. This also means you need to keep up with any industry changes. If there are frequent updates in your industry, your blog posts need to reflect that new information. You can save time keeping up with this information by updating old content. 3. Consider Your Constraints A large multi-million-dollar company is going to have more time and resources to put into blogging than someone who is a solo content creator. If you try to keep pace with a multi-person team, you are most likely going to feel burnt out and the quality of your blogs is going to suffer. One option to increase your blogging output without overworking yourself or your staff is by outsourcing some or all of your blogging needs. Consider finding a high-quality writing agency or writer to help you expand your content calendar and keep up with the competition. 4. Focus on Quality Just like most things in life, it is better to deliver quality over quantity and Google backs that up. In late 2022, Google released an algorithm update that added an ‘E’ to the SEO acronym EAT. The new EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. You will get better Google results producing high-quality blogs, released less often than pumping out lower-quality blogs more often. If you can produce and publish a high-quality blog every day, that’s awesome. If your capabilities and mental load limit your blogging frequency to once a week, then that is ok, too. Just make sure whatever you publish is the best it can be. If you are struggling to produce high-quality content, hiring an experienced professional writer could be the best choice. Consider how much you could gain by publishing premium content on a regular basis. 5. Remember Your Goals It is easy to simply copy whatever your competitor is doing. However, that strategy may not give you the best results. Instead, you need to remember what your goal is for blogging. Why are you doing this? Consider the following questions: Are you prioritizing SEO? Are you trying to improve your brand recognition? Are you trying to get a higher position in your SERPs for specific keywords? The answers to these questions will help you refine your blogging purpose and frequency.  6. Focus on the Needs of Your Audience What does your typical customer/reader look for or need when visiting your blog? Are they looking for new information every day? Do they have specific questions that your blog can answer? Is there information missing from your website that would prevent them from moving through the customer journey? One of the primary functions of a blog, especially for a business, is to offer value. Publishing a blog that doesn’t add anything new, simply for the act … Read more

How to Start Your Career as a Freelance Copywriter

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How to Start Your Career as a Freelance Copywriter

If you enjoy writing of any type, a career as a freelance copywriter could be a good choice for you. When done right, a career as a copywriter can be satisfying and lucrative. It is also a great way to take control of your career and work-life balance. Freelance writers typically set their own schedule and choose the amount of work they do, a significant bonus for anyone looking for more flexibility in their careers. If you have ever wondered how to get started as a freelance copywriter, this guide is for you. What Is a Freelance Copywriter? A freelance copywriter is a writer who works for clients on a project or contract basis. You are not an official employee. As a freelancer, you choose the clients you want to work with, set your own rates, create your own schedule, and hold yourself accountable. Freelance writing is one of the most in-demand types of freelance work. After the general upheaval in the working world in recent years, many people want to be more in control of their money, work-life balance, and the type of work they do. Choosing a freelance position is a great way to get all of that. As a copywriter, you can choose what type of work you take on. Accepting jobs from various clients allows you to diversify your portfolio, potentially leading to better, more lucrative work in the future. Copy is the written content used to market brands and products. Copywriters create content for promotional and commercial use. Copy can be used for advertising, websites, billboards, email campaigns, newsletters, and blogs, just to name a few. As a freelance copywriter, you may find yourself creating catchy taglines for magazine advertisements or creating an optimized blog article for the web. Copywriters are an integral part of the marketing industry. How to Get Started as a Copywriter Luckily, freelance copywriters do not have to invest in too much equipment or education. Most writers can get by with a computer, internet access, and some word-processing software. While having a formal degree or certification can give you an advantage, it is not necessary for most freelance writers.  Just like any other job, as you gain experience, you will get better. The main difference for freelancers is you must seek out these opportunities on your own. With the endless supply of online classes and content, finding these opportunities has never been easier. 1. Read Everything One of the best ways to become a better writer is to become a better reader. The more words, content, and ideas you expose yourself to, the easier it will be for you to create creative content on your own. Find blogs, websites, magazines, and books that you love, and dive in. Figure out what type of writing you find the most compelling and try to model that on your own. 2. Get Organized As a freelancer, you will need to make your own schedule. While this can feel exciting and freeing, it can also quickly become overwhelming if you don’t have a strategy. There are a few ways to go about this depending on your work style. Keeping track of your writing schedule, particularly your deadlines, will be critical if you want to be successful as a freelance writer. While you can keep it old-school and use a paper planner, an online calendar or organizational app might be a better option. That way you always have access to your schedule no matter where you are. There is also a possibility that one or more of your clients will want you to use a specific app or tool while creating content for them. Here are some popular organizational and workflow apps used by freelance writers: Notion: Notion is an all-inclusive workspace where you can keep track of your schedule, collaborate with others, create content, and manage your project. It comes with a variety of features including an idea database, a weekly overview, and a calendar. Image Source: https://www.notion.so/ Clockify: For some freelancers, they find that work hours suddenly take over all parts of their lives. If you want to give yourself focused work time so you have the freedom to do other things in your life, an app like Clockify could be a great option. As you monitor your work hours, you may realize how long projects really take and this can give you a more realistic expectation for your costs. Perhaps you were undercharging clients because you were underestimating your time. Best of all, this app is free. Image Source: https://clockify.me/ Asana: Another popular project management tool is Asana. Freelancers can use this tool to help them meet their goals, make plans, and monitor project progress. It also integrates with many other popular business tools. Image Source: https://asana.com/templates/work-log 3. Get Experience  While you can have a successful, profitable career as a copywriter, most writers will need to start on a small, less lucrative path. Clients will not pay you top dollar for content if you don’t have a good reputation and writing samples to share.  When first starting out, you may have to do some unpaid writing. This could be in the form of your own blog, writing content for family and friends, or contributing to websites. Once you have a good supply of quality writing, you can put it together in your portfolio. This is what you will share with potential clients. As you build rapport with your clients, consider asking them to share their experiences working with you in writing. You can add these recommendations and reviews to your portfolio and personal website, if you have one. 4. Hone Your SEO Skills  At its core, copywriting requires you to be a skilled writer. However, there are many trends and industry trends to keep up with, depending on the type of jobs you take. You will need expert level research skills to keep up with all the information you need. Most freelance writing happens on the internet. If the content you’re producing … Read more

How to Do a Content Audit to Maximize Your SEO

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You regularly visit the doctor for checkups, even if you aren’t sick. You go to the doctor to PREVENT you from getting sick. By keeping up with these visits, the doctor can give you a status report on your health and catch any issues while they’re still minor and easy to solve. Without those checkups, you might not receive medical care until an issue has begun wreaking complete havoc on your system and causing irreparable damage to your body. Your website also needs regular checkups, which marketers call content audits. They are a crucial website health checkup that gives you the status of your website’s performance while also alerting you to any issues before they cause more significant problems. Without a content audit, you’ll miss out on vital health updates and won’t know there are issues until your site shows severe damage, such as a drop in traffic or conversions. It also alerts you to what’s performing well and new opportunities to continue growing your site. Let’s unlock the secrets of the content audit through this guide so you can begin giving your site its much-needed regular checkups. What Is a Website Content Audit? A content audit is a complete check of your content. Content includes all the assets on your website, such as blog posts, landing pages, and web pages. Leave no page overlooked. Yes, that does sound like it takes time. That’s why most people perform these at least once annually. About 61% of marketers perform content audits two or more times in a year. But, it’s not a task you want to skim over as you may miss crucial signs of issues or new opportunites. What exactly are you looking for? Here are a few signs of issues: Errors Outdated content Repetitive content Poor content As you perform a content audit, you will decide what needs fixing, updating, or deletion. Ultimately, you’ll create a more positive user experience as readers encounter fewer errors and confusing or outdated content. The regular updates also keep your content relevant and running smoothly, boosting your search engine ranking. Why a Website Content Audit Is a Must Could you run a website without a content audit? Technically speaking, yes, you could. But that would be like living in a house without ever cleaning it. The house might remain standing, but the dust buildup and grime will scare away visitors and even cost you your health. A content audit keeps your website looking updated, active, and valuable to your target audience so they feel welcome and eager to explore further. Here are the top benefits of conducting regular content audits: Performance Insights: You’ll gain insights into your content performance. If you want a successful website that attracts monthly traffic, you need to create content with high-performance rates. Reviewing your analytics during your audit builds a clear picture of your topics and formats that generate the most traffic, engagement, and conversions. Audience Understanding: Knowing your audience drives your content, and your final goal is to connect and convert that audience. You want to understand their interests, pain points, motivating factors, and life changes. Understanding what content your audience engages with gives you glimpses into those details and what they might find most valuable. Improved Ranking: When you refresh and update content, it becomes more appealing to both your audience and Google. High-quality, valuable content ranks higher in search results, boosting organic traffic. These benefits offset the time and effort you invest in content audits. You’ll see better traffic, higher search engine ranking, and improved visitor impressions. One SEMrush report found that about half of those who regularly updated their content saw higher engagement and ranking. How to Do a Content Audit to Maximize Your SEO Are you excited to start enjoying those benefits on your website? Dive into the five steps of performing an SEO content audit to get you started. Because of the time a content audit takes, we highly recommend scheduling it in your calendar so you have enough time blocked out to dive into your content performance and make the most of your findings. If you’re a small site, a day may be enough. Larger sites will require several days to fully analyze. 1. Define Your Goals Before you invest a single dime or hour in your content audit, you need to answer the why behind the audit. Your goals will provide context to your audit and focus on what you hope to accomplish. Without goals, your audit would easily take several weeks rather than days because of reading through hundreds of articles and pages. You don’t need to read through everything. Just the data that’s most relevant to your goal. Some ideas to inspire you include: Improving your SEO Fixing technical errors Identifying missing content Understanding website visitors Boosting engagement Increasing conversions Once you have set one or more goals, you will also know what metrics to focus on so you don’t drown in all the data you’ll uncover during your audit. 2. Take Inventory of Your Site’s Content It’s time to roll up your sleeves and begin the hard work. To truly understand your content and its performance, you’ll want to inventory what content currently lives on your website. It’s the only way to ensure you review every page for quality, value, and optimization. The longer you have had a site with regularly published content, the longer this step will take. We use spreadsheets to keep your content organized. You can detail the key points you want to track on the sheet and easily share it with relevant parties. Start by adding these columns to your spreadsheet: URL Date audited Title Description Content type Keywords Alt tags Last updated Internal links Some other columns you might add, depending on your goal, include: Shares Comments Word count Content goal While you can type this information manually, we highly recommend exporting as much as possible. If you work with HubSpot, it can export much of your website content for you, … Read more

Copywrite vs. Copyright: What Copywriting Is (And Isn’t)

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As someone who likes to travel, I love to pick up fun tourist shirts and souvenirs. One especially humorous shirt said, “No, we don’t have kangaroos in Austria.” It’s funny how just a few letters can make a world of difference in meaning. The terms copywriting and copyrighting often receive the same mix-ups. Though, no one has made a shirt about it yet, at least that I have found. As a copyWRITING business, this copywrite vs. copyright mix-up is a little more personal, as we are not prepared to take on copyRIGHTING jobs. So we wanted to remove any confusion between the two. The Difference Between Copywrite vs. Copyright While they sound very similar, the two terms have entirely unrelated meanings. Let’s break those meanings down for you: Copywrite: Copywriting is creating marketing, advertising, and other business-related text. Copyright: Copyrighting is acquiring the legal rights to intellectual property. Here’s an easy way to differentiate copywriting vs. copyrighting. CopyWRITErs are people who WRITE content, usually for businesses. They are very knowledgeable about business, marketing, and the proper use of the Oxford comma. Meanwhile, a copyRIGHTer is a legal expert who helps people obtain the RIGHTS to their intellectual property. Even the term copy has different meanings. For copywriters, copy refers to materials or content that they write. However, copyrighters deal with people who want to duplicate another’s property, so copy in that sense refers to the legal right to duplication. Now that you know the basic difference between copywrite and a copyright, let’s go a little deeper into who a copywriter is and why they might just be the person you didn’t know you needed most. What Is Copywriting? Are you confused yet? Hopefully not, because we will break this down even further for you. Copywriting does not fit neatly into a box and often overlaps with its many content cousins. Here’s a look at some of the other terms you might have heard before: Copywriting: Writing with the intent to persuade, sell, or move the reader toward an action. Content writing: Writing with the intent to entertain and educate the reader. Technical writing: Writing industry-specific content that requires a knowledge on a deeper level than a Wikipedia article. Can a copywriter be a technical writer? Yes! Can a copywriter be a content writer? Yes! Can someone be all three? Absolutely! The name might change, but the person doesn’t have to. The category that content falls into depends on the content you are creating. For example, manuals and guides would fall into the technical writing category. However, you would hire a content writer if you wanted an eBook. Marketers want to work with copywriters because they are people who understand the subtle nuances of content marketing. Here’s another interesting fact: all copywriters are content writers, but not all content writers are copywriters. In other words, all copywriters should know how to entertain, engage, and educate the reader since those are pillars of content marketing. However, not all content writers understand how to transform educational content into content that converts. Psst, Express Writers are trained in ALL THREE: copywriting, content writing, and technical writing. What Types of Content Do Copywriters Create? Copywriters can create any type of persuasive content. If there are words, and those words have a persuasive goal, a copywriter most likely wrote them. An eBook on marketing? Yes. A blog post on exercising equipment? Yes. A billboard? Yes. The ingredients on your soup can? Probably not. However, a copywriter most likely helped create the label content so it’s appealing and marketable. Here are some of the most common projects our clients order: Blog posts Case studies Website pages Emails/Newsletters Social media posts eBooks Whitepapers While these are the projects we receive the most, we have also had fun creating slogans for clients, developing branding content, and even creating food label text. There really is no limit to what content you can have a copywriter help you create. What Is a Copywriter? What does a copywriter do? Based on the VERY brief definition we gave at the start, you might picture a copywriter as a keyboard warrior who likes writing up overly verbose emails or spending fifteen minutes throwing together a blog post. Let’s scrap that image and start fresh. While a copywriter’s primary function is writing copy, the job involves much more. A copywriter is also a: Researcher Data analyst Editor Avid coffee drinker While the last one is optional, it does help copywriters handle the sheer volume of work that comes with even a single blog post. A quality blog post is not simple at all. 2020, the average blog post took 3 hours and 55 minutes to create. What’s even more surprising is that the time it takes to craft a blog post has grown. But so has the writer’s job description.   Here is another way to think about it. If you live in a small town with only one restaurant, and that restaurant serves mediocre food, what’s the chance you’d still go there? Probably pretty high because if you need a meal and don’t have the food or energy to cook, that’s your only option. But what if a dozen other restaurants had much better quality food? You would probably go somewhere else. As the internet has grown, so has the digital content available. There are about 1.13 billion websites online. Creating mediocre content just won’t cut it. Not only is there more competition, but audience expectations are rising. People expect more personal experiences, niche content, and engaging interactions. Copywriters aren’t just putting words on paper. They’re helping businesses stand out from the crowd, building relationships through those words, and crafting experiences that will keep those readers engaged, ultimately converting them into customers. Here’s a breakdown of some of a copywriter’s specific tasks: Researcher Before a copywriter adds a single word to their document, they research. The purpose is to understand the business, audience, and content fully. They also want to understand the content’s … Read more

8 Signs Your Website Badly Needs a Content Update

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Since your website doubles as an untiring brand ambassador, your content must always be fresh, engaging, and relevant. Peppering your pages with attention-grabbing and compelling content entices readers to browse your offerings and engage with your brand.  Your brand may suffer if your online presence stagnates and no longer resonates with your target audience. It may lead to low engagement and conversion, eroding your bottom line.   At Express Writers, our crack shot can breathe new life into your website by making the existing content more compelling, persuasive, and well-aligned with your marketing goals. Dig in as we share our top 8 signs your website is due for a content update.  Outdated Information  Do you add the year to your blog post titles? If so, have you updated them to read the year 2024? Now is the best time to spruce up your content, including updating the year, before the holidays kick off in earnest. Blog posts with an updated year in the title command more attention Including the current year in your headings helps build the reader’s trust. It reassures them the content is current and up to date. Retaining outdated information on the website can mislead visitors and harm your credibility. Outdated information may also erode readers’ trust and dampen your brand authority. It also means a failed opportunity to portray current capabilities, offerings, and thought leadership. That may create the impression that you’re out of touch with the latest trends and innovations, dissuading prospects from engaging with your brand.   Dropping Traffic and Engagement Does a cursory look at your analytics paint a dull picture? Dropping organic traffic and engagement may indicate that your website no longer resonates with your audience.  Audience interests and preferences change over time. You must adapt your content strategy to evolve along with the changing landscape. Visitors are unlikely to engage with your website if the content doesn’t align with their interests.  When information becomes stale, it loses its appeal. You’re likely to disappoint visitors searching for fresh, valuable information. They may quickly decamp to the competition, saddling you with a massive drop in organic traffic and engagement.  A content update shows that you’re attuned to your audience’s needs and helps you demonstrate thought leadership. It keeps your content fresh and engaging while encouraging repeat visits.  Poor Search Engine Rankings  While Google has been on a roll this year, there could be more to your poor search ranking than wild algorithm updates. See, Google is on a mission to connect web users with the most helpful, most relevant content. Did you know the top three sites on Google search results get over 54% of the search traffic?   Your website will likely get no visitors if it’s not the first page of the search results. Google uses various metrics, including tracking user engagement metrics, to accomplish this feat. If your content doesn’t resonate with the target audience, Google picks up on it. Consequently, your website may experience a dramatic drop from the top of the search engine results.  A content update may help your website demonstrate topical authority, match user intent, and capture the reader’s attention. If you do a meticulous job, you can regain your lost rankings and even outrank your most fierce competitors. Peppering your website with quality content also helps you build a healthy and natural backlink profile.   High Bounce Rates If you notice a high bounce rate on your website, chances are your content doesn’t capture the reader’s interest. Bounce rate is a metric that captures the number of visitors leaving your website after viewing only one page.  Visitors will likely click away if the content doesn’t address their needs or fill their search query. Poorly written, difficult to read, and visually unappealing content is a sure turn-off.   When web visitors consistently click on your website only to quickly return to the search results, it hurts your search ranking. Google interprets such behavior as user dissatisfaction due to poor content, so your site isn’t worthy of a top spot in the search results.   Updating your content can help you reduce spiking bounce rates and entice visitors to linger on your website. It’s a proven way to enhance user experience, increase dwell time, and build subject matter expertise.  Low Click-Through Rates When your content ranks high on the SERPs but the click-through rate is abysmal, you may need to refine your content. It indicates that you’re targeting and ranking for the right keywords, but your content doesn’t resonate with your target audience.  Featured snippets drive click-through rates.  Visitors can see your content on the search results but fail to click through to your website. Your content isn’t compelling enough to capture their interest and attention or lacks crucial elements.  It’s possible that your titles and meta descriptions aren’t compelling, descriptive, or relevant. Visitors won’t click on your content if these elements aren’t enticing or accurately reflect the page’s content.  Your click-through rate may also suffer if your pages lack or have poorly optimized snippets. Featured and rich snippets help your site stand out in the SERPs and attract clicks.  A content update can help you optimize these elements to help you capture more clicks and drive more visitors to your web pages.  You’re not Converting Leads   Are you driving thousands of visitors to your offers, but conversion is dismal at best? A low conversion rate may indicate a disconnect between your content and audience needs. Ideally, your content should drive visitors to fill out a form, join your mailing list, or purchase a product. Website conversion rates in different verticals. While the average website conversion rate is 2% to 5%, the rates vary wildly between industries. The best e-commerce sites convert 6.25% of their visitors, while top-tier financial websites have conversion rates of almost 25%. Typically, you should gauge your site’s performance against your industry’s rates.  A content update can help boost your conversion rates if they fall below the industry standards. Your conversion rates may suffer if you don’t have … Read more

Wrapping Up 2023: Navigating the Content Marketing Landscape

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As we bid farewell to 2023, it’s time to reflect on what has unfolded in the world of content marketing over the past year. It’s safe to say this year has been a testament to the resilience and innovation of marketers who are tasked with navigating an ever-evolving digital landscape. We’ve experienced the growth of groundbreaking technologies when it comes to AI, leaving many wondering what the future looks like for human writers. And brands are feeling the pressure to create captivating content that resonates with both Google and their readers. In this post, we’ll look back on some of the top trends that have defined content marketing in 2023. Not only that, but we’ll delve into why these trends matter and how they’re creating the foundation for our strategies as we venture into 2024. Let’s dive in! Reflecting on Content Marketing in 2023 2023 has certainly left a lasting impression on us all and here’s what you need to know about its impact on content marketing this year and in the months to come: 1. The Crucial Role of a Content Marketing Budget Establishing a clear and well-defined content marketing budget is a must for every business, no matter what industry you’re in. You need to ensure you’re allotting enough money so you can afford the resources needed to create, distribute, and optimize content that resonates with your target audience. Many companies have mastered budgeting and know what they need to set aside each year and therefore don’t find themselves making major changes. As you can see from the chart above, Content Marketing Institute found that 42% of B2B content marketing budgets will stay the same in 2024. Where is that money going, you ask? Well, it seems that most marketers are pouring their funds into video and thought leadership content. 69% of respondents are investing more money into video in 2024, while 53% are focused on developing more thought leadership content for their audience. Video has continued to be a top priority year after year, making it even more pressing to get on board. 2. The Ascendance of AI There’s no denying that AI has emerged as a defining content marketing trend in recent years, but even more so in 2023. With tools like ChatGPT generating tons of buzz online, brands have been harnessing the power of AI to streamline content creation, enhance personalization, and optimize their strategies. However, as we navigate this AI-driven landscape, it becomes even more evident that the human touch is irreplaceable. While AI may excel in some areas, it lacks the understanding, creativity, and emotional intelligence of a human writer. And the authenticity, empathy, and storytelling that humans bring to content creation are crucial for establishing genuine connections with audiences. That’s why it’s best to find a balance when using AI tools. You can leverage the efficiency they can provide, but you still need to preserve the unique qualities that only a human writer can infuse into their work. So, turn to AI to assist with content ideation or even to recommend optimization strategies, but the content itself should remain in the hands of a skilled human writer. 3. Mastering the Middle of the Funnel As marketers, it’s easy to become obsessed with the beginning and end of a sales funnel. But what about the middle? Now more than ever, it’s crucial that brands prioritize and master the middle of the funnel when it comes to their content marketing. Otherwise, they risk losing out to competitors. The middle of the funnel is where leads transition from initial awareness to a deeper consideration of the products or services that are being offered. At this stage, potential customers actively research, compare options, and seek more detailed information. Your goal during this time is to build trust, showcase expertise, and address specific pain points to position your brand as the optimal solution to their problems. What kind of content should you create for those in the middle of the funnel? Here are some ideas: In-Depth Guides and eBooks: Provide comprehensive guides and eBooks that delve into specific topics relevant to your industry. They can provide valuable insights and actionable advice to demonstrate your expertise in the field. Case Studies and Success Stories: Share real-world examples of how your product or service has solved problems for existing customers. This will build credibility, offer social proof, and help potential customers see the benefits of choosing your brand over another. Webinars and Video Content: Host webinars or create video content that dives deep into your offerings. Showcase product demonstrations and engage with your audience in real-time through Q&A sessions that will nurture relationships. 4. The Importance of Short-Form, Mobile-First Video Platforms like Instagram Reels and TikTok have become epicenters for creativity, community building, and brand engagement. If you haven’t already gotten on board, now is the time to do so because neither of these platforms seems to be going away anytime soon. The above chart shows just how popular TikTok is among the other social media platforms. People spend the most time there, averaging about 53.8 minutes of scrolling per day. Don’t you want to ensure your brand is there to potentially secure some of that coveted attention? What makes short-form video content so powerful is its ability to convey a compelling story in a matter of seconds. This allows brands to communicate their message in a concise, yet impactful, way that captivates their audience instantly. These videos can be used to showcase products, share behind-the-scenes content, and so much more. Not only that but participating in TikTok challenges or Instagram Reels trends can humanize your brand and help you stay culturally relevant. This is essential if you’re targeting younger generations. 5. The Power of Authenticity Through UGC and Influencer Marketing As the world of content marketing continues to evolve, user-generated content (UGC) and influencer marketing have been redefining how brands connect with their audiences. UGC has become a way for brands to encourage their audience to become … Read more

Unlock Your Content Empire with White Label Ebooks: A Game-Changing Solution for Any Business, Any Industry

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You might not see white label ebooks every day on the latest content marketing sites, but that doesn’t mean they are irrelevant. In fact, ebooks are still a powerful marketing tool that any business, regardless of industry, should be utilizing in their marketing strategy. If your company is not using an ebook, you are missing out on the opportunity to educate and retain potential customers and position yourself as an authority. Hubspot Uses Ebooks – and Savvy about it Too Take Hubspot, for example. They publish ebooks throughout the year and put them on their site. “State of Marketing 2023,” is a popular one that they release annually, telling you what’s new, what’s trending, and what they see in the future. Yes, these are all free, but that doesn’t mean Hubspot is not gaining something from using them. To download the ebook, you must give Hubspot your email.  Once they have your email, you are part of their marketing funnel. You will get email marketing campaigns, some of which you might click on or even act on. All for a free download.  What is a White Label Ebook? Hubspot creates its ebooks in-house, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Hubspot is a major corporation with the means to hire in-house writers to tackle the research and writing of their ebooks. You are more likely to benefit from a white label ebook for your business than trying to hire an in-house writer. Ebooks as “white label,” are ebooks written by a third party, such as a writing agency you have hired, but published under your company’s name or even your name. You are the author. You didn’t research or write it, but you get all of the credit. By no means is this misleading.  You are a busy business owner and need to outsource things like content creation – including ebooks – to help your content marketing strategy and build your business. With these white label services, you get the expertise of a writer in your niche that can research, create, and edit – with some companies, like here at Express Writers, you can even get the book designed so it is ready to publish the moment you get it. You are a busy business owner and need to outsource things like content creation – including ebooks – to help your content marketing strategy and build your business. With these white label services, you get the expertise of a writer in your niche that can research, create, and edit – with some companies, like here at Express Writers, you can even get the book designed so it is ready to publish the moment you get it. A Quick Note on White Label Ebooks and AI AI is here, and it is writing content for a lot of businesses. However, we’d like to share a little caution when it comes to using AI to create an ebook – whether it is 4 pages or 40 pages. AI is NOT creative. It is not original. Yes, sure, your ebook might pass on Copyscape as “original” copy, but the reality is that your copy was generated by stringing together phrases and keywords already on the web – meaning content written by someone else already out there. So, your ebook is not white label if you opt for AI as your means to creating it.  The only way to protect your brand and ensure you have a genuine, white label ebook is to hire a writer and have them create that ebook from scratch using their words, their research, and of course, your branding. The Benefits of Purchasing White Label Ebooks on a Platform Like EW At Express Writers, we understand the importance of a worthwhile ebook. In return, you want to flex your knowledge and gain something from your ebook. If you’re on the fence about outsourcing, let us discuss with you a few reasons customers purchase ebooks from our team rather than turning to a content mill or even AI. You Build Credibility and Authority with Your Audience Yes, long-form blog posts, such as our Authority blogs, help build your authority (an important part of E-E-A-T), but ebooks can do it even faster and better. After all, no one wants to read a 10,000-word blog, but they will read a 10,000-word ebook. Ebooks are the epitome of long-form content that help establish your brand’s credibility and authority in a single piece of content. You can share case study information, in-house statistics, and even more in-depth information about the products or services your company offers. It doesn’t matter if your target audience is a consumer or another business – ebooks build credibility all the same. Inexpensive Compared to the Return on Your Investment The return on your investment with an ebook is well worth it. Not only can you use ebooks as a gateway to capture emails and expand your potential customer pool, but it only costs a few hundred dollars for you to unlock leads that are actually interested in you. A single ebook locked behind providing an email address could give you hundreds of potential customers all for a few hundred you spent writing that one ebook. Purchasing leads will never generate results like that.  Easy Distribution White label ebooks are digital; therefore, you don’t have to find a publisher or even worry about going through the demands of a digital publisher. Instead, you have a download-ready ebook you can put on your website, link in social media, create a landing page for, etc. Distribution is only limited by what you are willing to do to market the ebook.  Likewise, your readers can access and download the content on any device – computer, phone, tablet, and more.  Use Your Ebook as a Guide to Educate Even Further You can use an ebook as a “guide” to help your readers better understand your products or services. It works in any niche. For example, you sell custom resin pen blanks (quite the … Read more

Cracking the Strategy Code: What is a Content Calendar?

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Cracking The Strategy Code What Is A Content Calendar (1280 × 447 Px)

Whether you are a small business just getting started or have been dabbling in SEO for a while, one term you might have come across is “content strategy.” Still, the content calendar is the more important and often unspoken strategy you need to know.  What is a content calendar, and what makes it the key to unlocking your best strategy results? Is it just adding blog titles to a calendar on Google and remembering to post them on time?  Well, yes, but also no. A content calendar is a key that unlocks that door to limitless possibilities for your content. From boosting social media interaction to improving your blog’s readability and call-to-action performance, you need to know how to build a content calendar that takes you to the top. Top of your industry, niche, and most importantly, the SERPs. Yes, a content calendar can help you get there – if you are creating the right type of content calendar. How to Create a Content Calendar No No’s – Hint, You Don’t Add Titles to Google Calendar While titles and a strategic plan for posting your content are part of the secret sauce that goes into a content calendar, it is far from the final ingredient. A content calendar builds out a title, but also sprinkles in focus keywords, information to include, links to use, and photo ideas, and then picks strategic dates to post. Most importantly, a content calendar is not limited to blogs. More companies are using content calendars for social media too – after all, aren’t social media posts essential pieces of content?  A content calendar can also help you plan out your website content. You don’t have to write it all at once, and you can strategically release web page content while you release blogs or corresponding social media posts to help bring it all together.  According to one survey, 64% of successful companies have a content strategy with a content calendar. That’s a big piece of the pie that you’re missing out on if you are not also utilizing similar tools in your strategy. What are the Benefits of a Content Calendar? Content calendars make planning your content and writing content more manageable. You can improve team collaboration, boost productivity, and organize yourself for a more competitive edge.  Calendars Help You Visualize the Strategy as a Whole It does not matter how big your content creation team is, whether it is just you or you have a few members helping, it is easy to get lost in the creation process if you don’t know what a priority is and have an accurate bird’s eye view of your content coming up. With a content calendar, you can plan out your blog posts, social media posts, and even YouTube community posts, all ahead of time – whether monthly or weekly, depending on the demands of your niche.  For example, you run a YouTube channel with a blog. You typically post a single video per week, then a corresponding blog post with it to summarize for the audience. Producing a single YouTube video with a blog, then promoting both, requires a few steps. You not only need to write a script for your video, but line up editing (or secure time in your calendar to edit), create a thumbnail, prepare the description, write up the blog post, capture still images for your blog from the video recording, and publish social media posts to promote your latest video and blog release. Those are a lot of steps to get done, and nothing you want to rush. By knowing what content is coming up for the next week, you can work on outsourcing what you need while staying ahead of the calendar. You Become More Predictable for Your Readers and Consistent in Quality When organized, your content no longer appears scrambled or haphazardly put together. You are posting regularly, on schedule, which also gives your readers, followers, or viewers more predictability. If they know that you release a new podcast every Friday or a new blog upload on Mondays, they will wait for an alert to catch it.  Saves You Time and Energy When your content creation is moving along like a well-oiled machine, you save time and energy that you can spend elsewhere on your business. Think about it – if you are working a week ahead, having next week’s blog already in production and a team working on next month’s social media posts, you can focus your time on growth, look for new opportunities, and not worry about finding time to squeeze in your content creation. Even if you are trying to do the creation yourself, you now have a plan laid out. You know when the final product is due, and what steps you need to complete to finish it, and you can plan ahead. How to Create a Content Calendar  A content calendar or editorial calendar is unique to each business or brand. However, there are some elements you can use to create a content calendar regardless of your niche. Keyword Research – You should always center your ideas around keyword opportunities. Today, the SERPs are incredibly competitive, so you need to look for high-volume keywords, but low-competition and still worthwhile to use in your content to grab the attention of potential searchers. Doing keyword research around your niche will help you generate ideas for your content calendar. Research What’s Trending – Following trends in your niche is critical. It doesn’t matter if you are a local dog groomer or big SaaS corporation, you need to know what is trending in your industry and follow along. Tools such as BuzzSumo can help you see what is trending in your niche.  Come Up with Content Titles/Topics/Ideas – After creating a list of keyword opportunities for your business, now comes the time to generate your ideas. Whether it is creating a web page to fulfill a keyword opportunity, adding some blogs, or even creating videos that will rank … Read more

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