Have you ever snapped a picture, applied a filter, and shared it to your followers with a fun hashtag describing your feelings as you post?
Then you’ve used Instagram.
Instagram is an amazing social channel that provides people with the ability to give their followers a glimpse into their everyday lives.
Many times this means a ton of cat pictures, selfies, and the occasional food and beverage shot.
However, there are businesses and brands out there that are taking their Instagram game to a whole other level, hitting it out of the park with their strategy.
I am going to look at these amazing brands, helping you find some great Instagram inspiration for your own strategy.
Learn from the best out there.
20 Brands that are Amazing on Instagram
What are some brands that can give you excellent Instagram inspiration? I am going to take a look at some of the top ones when it comes to excellent content. 1. John Deere
Tractors, farming, spending time with family, and living off of the earth are all things that John Deere shares on their social channels. When you look at their Instagram page, you can immediately tell what they sell, and how much they value family and hard work. This is a great illustration of a brand knowing their audience base, and creating images to share that will easily connect with fans, followers, and customers. 2. Billboard Magazine
Keeping up with the latest music news is something everyone loves, and Billboard Magazine helps with that. They provide their followers with “insider info” and give behind-the-scenes looks at various projects, concerts, and more. BTS is a great way to interact and engage with your audience. 3. The White House
It’s pretty obvious that the White House staff is pretty stellar at social media. They understand that working with the public is a great way to bolster positive attitudes, which is a great inspiration for everyone, including businesses. Work to promote positivity, and you’ll start to notice more positive change around you. 4. NASA
NASA has a variety of excellent Instagram accounts, giving followers and fans excellent content that they all want to see. You can follow their main account, or you can choose different ones from different laboratories, space centers, and missions. This guarantees that you will be able to get the content you want, without having to sift through other content you aren’t interested in. 5. Intel
Seeing the latest innovations in technology and watching as awesome things are created can be an exciting thing for many people. When it comes to showing these, Intel is tops, giving all of us a great look into the future of technology. In addition, we see great behind-the-scenes elements, which creates great personal connections with all fans, followers, and customers. 6. Virgin America Airlines
Virgin is known for their swanky airline, and their Instagram shows just how awesome it is. Just a short, quick look at their pages shows some awesome photos of the airline, all with the signature purple lighting that everyone associates with them. This is a great illustration of keeping something consistent, whether a particular color scheme or voice, when it comes to using any social channel. 7. Taco Bell
You don’t have to like their food, but it is pretty hard for anyone not to laugh or enjoy this brand’s epic social media and advertising campaigns. They utilize humor in some of the best ways possible, making great connections with their fans and customers. But, like I said, even people who aren’t fans of their food still love their hilarious approach to all marketing. 8. Warby Parker
Warby Parker is a great place if you want designer glasses, as well as having a passion for helping those in need. The company knows that the main customer base they want to reach incorporates the younger generations, and their Instagram shows that. They truly are masters at creating content that young shoppers are likely to enjoy. 9. Macy’s
Fashion and fun are two major aspects of Macy’s Instagram account, and they capture it all amazingly. From giving suggestions on how to style the best minion outfit to celebrating the USA women’s soccer team, Macy’s knows how to connect with their audience. They are an awesome example of just how to utilize something that is currently trendy, as well as something that can bring everyone together in joy and celebration. 10. Game of Thrones
Whether it is when the show is airing, during a convention, or when the snow drifts start piling up, the Game of Thrones Instagram is on the ball. You get great behind-the-scenes looks at the series, plus fun photos of the cast at various Game of Thrones events. This really helps make all GoT fans feel like they are involved in this awesome series. 11. Starbucks
What’s Instagram without a picture of food and a Starbucks coffee cup? Their Instagram is filled with photos of the current marketing campaign, pictures of store locations, videos, and, of course, those coffee images. Starbucks is a great source of inspiration, no matter your industry, when it comes to social media. 12. GoPro
From an impactful bio to great fan-made images and videos, GoPro is an excellent example of involving clients and using Instagram to the fullest potential. You can expect to see amazing fan-captured items that are sure to make anyone want to use a GoPro camera. How can you implement anything from such a popular company? Simply by involving your clients and sharing media that is created by your client base; just share images they send in and have a blast. 13. H&M
H&M knows that their client base is one that appreciates fashion, fashion tips, and fashion industry news. And this is exactly what they share with their 8.4 million followers. You can see great style ideas for Bohemian-chic, how to relax at the beach, and the latest from whichever fashion week or show the brand is at. With fun videos, great behind-the-scenes looks, and excellent product images, H&M is definitely a leader in the world of Instagram. Take a look at their channel for some epic inspiration. 14. He for She
#HeForShe is an amazing social media campaign that is aiming to get young men involved in and supporting women’s rights all over the world. They mobilized this initiative over Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and have had an amazing social strategy that brings people together. 15. Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity is another excellent example of a non-profit and how they utilize social media. For this particular non-profit, stories are vital to connecting with their donors and volunteers. Their social channels are filled with the latest stories of families helped, which is a great encouragement for many to get involved and help others. 16. Target
When it comes to a brand that knows how to use social media and Instagram, Target is definitely one of the top ones. Their channel is filled with vibrant colors that make their whole store and online shop seem like an amazing, inviting place. There’s no way you can feel anything but happiness when you see a Target Instagram post pop up in your feed. 17. NFL
For many Americans, it is a sad day when football isn’t on the TV. However, football fans don’t have to wait until the season kicks off to enjoy excellent football related content. With the NFL’s Instagram account, fans get the chance to see excellent news from within the NFL, as well as great countdowns until football is back on everyone’s TVs. 18. Sharpie
Thinking outside of the box and creating an amazing and unique Instagram presence can really help you stand out from competitors. This is exactly what Sharpie does, with a feed filled with fun images and creativity. Get creative, and even get some great creations from your readership and establish an epic Instagram presence that everyone will remember. 19. American Express
This is a great social channel for anyone who enjoys traveling, seeing new sights, drinking coffee, or almost anything else. The goal of American Express’s Instagram is to show just how AE can be used for almost everything out there, which means they are always reaching out to different audiences. This is an amazing example of creating great, gorgeous, high-quality content that isn’t limited and can reach out to a broader audience. 20. A Lady in London
People love to travel, but it isn’t always feasible with tight budgets. But A Lady in London gives everyone the chance to travel around England’s famous city and see some gorgeous sights. She connects with people through images that people can immediately recognize, as well as showing them “off the beaten path” locations. This is a great way to engage with followers and give them amazing content they are sure to enjoy. Insta-spired: Create an Epic Instagram Strategy
Take some time to get inspired by these excellent Instagram channels to create some amazing images to share with your audience.
You can find great ways to connect and engage with your client base, giving them quality images, and involving them with your business.
If you are looking for great, written social media content then look no further than Express Writers. We can make some epic written content for your business, helping you make that initial connection with your customers and followers.
If you’ve ever dipped a toe into the world of blogging, you’re familiar with the “follower dilemma.”
More followers means more exposure and increased authority, which generally means more conversions.
That said, it makes sense to have as many followers as possible, right?
It may even make sense to get those followers through whatever means necessary, right?
Come to think of it, purchasing followers isn’t a terrible idea, right?
Wrong.
Although many of the world’s biggest celebrities beef up their social media accounts by buying followers, it’s not a trend you should follow. Here’s why:
Click Farms and Hollywood Habits
Although it may be surprising to some, buying social media followers is a hot business in Hollywood. Each year, companies that manufacture fake profiles and like producing “click farms” rake in hundreds of millions of dollars.
Run far, far away.
One of the many problems with these so-called like farms (aside from their blatantly fraudulent nature) is the fact that, although the companies themselves are raking in the cash, the workers behind the hundreds of thousands of “likes” being produced on a daily basis are generally low-paid individuals from Dhaka, Bangladesh. These workers often make as little as $1 per 1,000 clicks and are subject to sweatshop-like working conditions.
The click-farm problem has gotten so bad, in fact, that Facebook recently stated that up to 14.1 million of its more than 1 billion total users are fraudulent accounts built by overseas click-farms. Given these numbers, it’s easy to see how celebrity social media accounts are able to utilize purchased social media followers to quickly inflate their follower base and boost the appearance of popularity.
The Problem With Fake Followers
Although it might be perfectly fine for an uber-celebrity like Kim Kardashian to have 40 million Instagram followers, this doesn’t fly for Every Man, nor should it. While the temptation to purchase followers can be considerable, bloggers, businesses and individuals are best off giving the fake follower scene a wide berth.
Fake Followers Aren’t Going to Beef Up Your Business
In addition to being exploitative to low-paid, overseas workers, there are plenty of completely valid reasons you shouldn’t buy fake followers for your business. First and foremost: fake followers don’t generally increase business. Although purchasing social media likes is touted as a way to increase conversions, it may actually have the opposite effect. Although purchased fans result in a spike in overall “likes” or follows, they don’t ultimately interact with your page the way a real human does. In other words, a fake profile that has been built solely for the purpose of providing fraudulent “likes” won’t also provide high-quality page links, mentions, page views or conversions. Since these are the things a web page ultimately needs to succeed, it is obvious that purchasing social media followers won’t do anything besides boost your subscriber numbers.
Fake Followers Drive Away Real Fans
Additionally, purchasing social media followers will ultimately dilute the experience of your real fans. By drowning your page in phony likes and spammy comments, it is distinctly possible that the presence of fake followers will intimidate or completely overshadow your authentic fans.
Because of the obvious presence of fake profiles hovering around your page, real people that may have otherwise interacted with you or your product will be less likely to comment, convert or join in than they may have been if more of your followers were authentic.
While celebrities don’t need to spend much time or brainpower analyzing their engagement rates, normal businesses and bloggers do and the presence of fake followers will make this process incredibly difficult.
Fake Followers Muddy Marketing Data
Additionally, fake followers make it difficult for you to track where your high-quality traffic is coming from, who is engaging with your brand and who is not and how you can best attract more users. Faulty marketing data makes it tough to have a successful business and, in many cases, purchased followers are to blame.
Fake Followers Lead to Disappointment and Huge Fluctuations in Numbers
Individuals who purchase fake followers in hopes of beefing up their social media numbers and lending a false sense of authority, permanence and popularity to their business or web page are likely to be disappointed when their thousands of fake followers suddenly disappear. Dozens of companies across the web have cracked down on fake followers. For example, in a move known as the “Instagram Rapture,” Instagram wiped millions of fake accounts from its platform, causing Justin Bieber 3.5 million followers while rapper Tyga and famous-for-being-famous celebrity Kim Kardashian both lost upwards of 1 million followers. Take a hint from the celeb world: when it comes to building popularity, do it the honest way in order to avoid social-media based follower cleansing.
How to Purge Fake Followers
Is there a company you admire that seems to have tens of thousands of followers? Have you been wracking your brain trying to figure out what they’re doing that you are not? They may well be buying followers and, what’s more, it will be easy for you to find out. “But how?” you ask. As it turns out, there are many ways to spot fakes.
If you’re a Twitter user, you can utilize an app like “Fake Follower Check” to generate an overview of follower activity and fake profile information for any page on the web. To follow up, use an app like Twitter Counter to view the page’s growth progression rate. When using Twitter Counter, watch out for sudden, sharp spikes or drops in subscriber numbers that would indicate the presence of click-farms.
If you’re scanning a Facebook page, you’ll have to dig for fake profiles by looking into your page’s overall interaction patterns, as there is no app to check for suspicious activity. The tell-tale sign of fake followers is a page that has a huge spike in overall “likes” without co-occurring interaction on posts and content. Facebook also allows users to run Graph Search in order to determine where a business’s fans are coming from. If 60% of the page’s clicks are borne from Bangladesh, it seems like a pretty decent possibility that they’ve bought themselves some love.
Instagram, like Facebook, doesn’t offer a fake-checker app but it’s easy to spot falsies. If you click on a page’s followers and are confronted with a barrage of obviously fake profiles and names or profiles that don’t feature a profile picture, it’s safe to assume that many of the user’s fans are fake. Instagram profiles that only feature several pictures but have 30 thousand followers, nonetheless, are also often guilty of purchasing followers.
The Fake Follower Dilemma
When it comes to the issue of purchasing fake social media followers, all reputable sources say the same thing: don’t do it. In addition to being an exploitative practice that takes advantages of vulnerable workers overseas, choosing to buy followers can ultimately do more harm than good to your page. Additionally, the presence of fake followers on any social media page creates an environment that is alienating and even harmful for authentic fans. Finally, fake followers won’t actually help your business by providing high-quality links, page mentions or conversions, which is truly the final nail in the coffin.
Although the allure of fake followers can be strong, it is clear that the negatives of purchasing social media fans far outweigh the positives. The practice of buying social media fans only muddies the waters for honest businesses and makes everything from marketing research to garnering conversions infinitely more difficult.
When it comes to building popularity, authority and a strong fan base, you’re best-served sticking to the old standbys. By creating quality content, interacting with followers, doing ample marketing research and providing your fans with great stuff, you can build a fan base made up of real people and devoid of all the pitfalls of fake social media followers.
Because, hey, who needs to live up to Kim Kardashian’s social media standards anyway?
To learn more about building followers, interacting with fans and creating great content, visit the Express Writers blog.
How much do you think about the needs, expectations and opinions expressed by your past clients while churning out new web content pieces created to support your promotional goals?
If it took you more than a couple of seconds to provide an accurate answer to this question, then perhaps you’re doing something wrong.
Maybe you’re boring your audiences to death with mundane “who-we-are” type of speeches, fluff talk, and empty promises. If that is the case, now would be the best time to rethink your strategy and kick your selfishness to the curb, for your own good.
Today, it is less about you, and more about them- your clients, the ones who keep you in business.
Companies that are currently working on a unique web content creation plan tailored to their short and long-term goals plan have to maintain a fine balance between crafting branded content and elaborating user-oriented content with no brand affiliation whatsoever.
Let’s work on appealing to “them.”
Why Your Branded Web Content Shouldn’t Be Only about You
Let’s face it: no matter how well-researched and informative branded content may be, it can still fail to reach its target, simply because it is promotional by nature. Savvy online visitors can read between the lines and separate a truly useful, reader-oriented piece created to entertain, educate or inform an audience, from a shameless sales pitch. Branded content can serve your best interest, as long as you put the needs of your potential clients first. How do you do that? We invite you to try not one, but five awesome tactics designed to boost the value and overall effectiveness of your content, make it resonate with your public and make your company seem a less self-centered and more inclined towards the happiness and fulfillment of its clients.
1. Try to Become Less Egocentric and More Empathetic
First of all, check out your website and analyze your content. What kind of feeling do you get after taking a closer look at your landing pages? If you are egocentric by definition, chances are that you have stumbled across many “we do this and that”-kind of sentences. In this case, you may want to consider investing in a complete rewrite. Frankly speaking, your prospects don’t care about your products until you give them a reason to do so. In other words, they won’t try your goods until you come up with a combination of incentives (better quality, smaller price tag, freebies, special promotions and so on) that could raise their interest. You don’t have to offer substantial cash rewards to keep your readers on your website. Even the tiniest perks triggering negligible costs (free eBook or white paper download or a discount code) can cultivate the loyalty of your future and existing customers.
2. Write with Your Prospects in Mind and Avoid Promotional, Heavily Brand-Focused Web Content
Promotional content can backfire, especially if it puts your interests above the ones expressed by your prospects. This threat is real, judging by the fact that one year ago, even Facebook considered tweaking the News Feed to reduce the amount of overly promotional content that was being served to its users on a daily basis. Web content, and especially the one meant to be distributed on social media platforms, should become the epitome of interactivity.
Engaging posts usually comprise a plethora of elements that catch the reader’s eye and make him click on links over and over again.
For instance, according to KissMetrics, photo posts get up to 104% more comments and 53% more likes than the rest. Question posts also receive up to 100% more comments. Furthermore, the length of your content appears to be another matter of great importance, considering that posts under 80 characters obtain 66% more engagement than longer ones. Therefore, write with these numbers in mind and tailor the substance and appearance of your posts based on the particularities of your audience.
3. When It Comes to Rolling out Branded Web Content, Make Sure It’s 100% Unique and Catchy
We totally get it: well-rounded, promotional web content can help you increase brand awareness, reinvigorate sales and attract new prospects. If you are planning on turning your branded content into one of the main pillars of your marketing strategy, at least do your best to individualize your writing and make it reflect your vision, expertise, tradition, relationship with clients and the uniqueness of your brand.
As Content Marketing Institute suggests, any business owner should start to think like everyday people, rather than striving to act like a CTA-oriented, old-school marketer. Self-appreciating content is anything but shareable, so work harder to get in touch with your buyer persona and gain insight into your public’s needs, demands and preferences, instead of trying to shove your products down your buyers’ throats.
4. Create a Community around Your Brand Through Engaging Content
Here’s another idea worth developing and implementing: start thinking like a customer.
Yes, you’ve got that right. If you were to shop around for a new detergent, what kind of selection criteria would you set up to make a great buying decision? Maybe you want to discover a formula that eliminates stains faster and more effectively than any other, or wish to spend less money on cleaning products. Or perhaps you want the best of both worlds and feel determined to go for a brand that fulfills your request.
At the same time, as a Forbes article points out, in order to craft engaging content, you should spend a lot of time talking to some of your customers.
Any feedback is much appreciated because it helps you make smarter changes when needed. Once you complete this phase, you should strive to catalyze connections. Socializing with your fans and followers is a relatively straightforward process; the real challenge is to stimulate them to bond with each other. The Red Bull’s success story revolving around a solid community of enthusiastic adrenaline junkies is only one example that may catch your attention.
An article signed by James O’Brien and published by Mashable provides the most logical explanation for Red Bull’s ever-growing popularity: this company is a powerful publishing empire that happens to promote and sell an energy drink. By generating content geared towards the passions and interests of a very specific audience, Red Bull manages to favor natural interactions between its fans and followers, while growing its influence (and profit margins) the easy way.
5. Identify the Perfect Niche/Players that You Can Work With to Promote Your Product from the Shadow
How do you promote your merchandise in an effective manner on social media (and every other online channel) without becoming annoyingly self-centered and redundant? Here’s the key to cultivating your empathy (and even faking a sense of modesty, if you will) while marketing your goods on social networking sites: create associations that make sense to you and your brand.
For instance, Christian Louboutin (@louboutinworld) is featuring some of the best photos sent by happy clients wearing the iconic red sole shoes. At the same time, the giant brand doesn’t hesitate to team up with other powerhouses, such as Louis Vuitton, to enhance the desirability and luxurious appearance of its products.
After all, shoes, handbags or accessories introduced by these two popular brands in the same picture represent Instagram gold and a magnet for likes and reposts.
Can You Really Be Yourself Without Being Too Much for Yourself?
At some point in our lives, we may get the impression that we are being too much for someone- a family member, a friend, an employer or a client. This situation may trigger our frustration and make us reconsider our attitude.
But the other extreme can be just as dangerous, especially for new businesses that need to grow fast. In today’s market being self-absorbed is a crucial sin that your clients and prospects will never tolerate.
Therefore, if you want to preserve your competitiveness, it’s your job to become less self-centered and improve your branded content to highlight the best attributes of your brand without suffocating your audience with sales presentation-like monologues.
If you are at a loss for words or want to let an expert take control of your branded content, hire a team of professional writers and let them ignite a powerful, unshakable desire in all your potential buyers, fans, and followers.
Joshua McCoy is our company COO and our all-around developer and web guru. Read more on the About page.
Did you hear about this story yet?
Chances are, if you’ve made any kind of rounds on the internet, you already have.
After years of being a massively successful link builder who made upwards of $50,000 each month by spamming Google, marketer Jeff Deutsch realized that he was building homes on the dark side of the moon.
I started out in SEO around 2010, and although many marketers around me did, I never followed suit and went the black hat way. I stayed white hat and inbound marketing friendly ever since I started out (which is why my role at our content agency, Express Writers, fits me perfectly). Yet, I know enough of the “dark” realms to have major respect for someone like Jeff telling his past as a black hat this transparently.
The iconic image below was all too perfect for the crazy tale that subsequently fetched 150,000 views and over 94,000 shares alone on Facebook.
He didn’t quit black hat SEO because the income wasn’t good or the lifestyle pleasant (quite the opposite, as Jeff details).
It was because the SEO model he had created was impossible to maintain in the face of increased awareness about link builders and aggressive Google programs like Panda and Penguin.
In Deutsch’s powerful confession piece, “Confessions of a Google Spammer,” the author chronicles his rise and subsequent downfall as a black hat link-builder. He transparently allows readers see the ugly truth of how the life of a professional, black hat SEO can quickly spiral out of control, becoming a merciless and often empty money-machine that leaves the spammer devoid of real skills or knowledge of white hat tactics.
When his link-building business begins to fail, Deutsch becomes anxious and addicted and realizes that he is ill suited to survive in the post-de-indexing world.
After a hellish 18 months, he finally realizes that to be truly white hat, he needs to cross over into the world of inbound marketing and high-quality content instead of continuing to run on the “anxiety-inducing treadmill of using black hat SEO to get traffic.”
Although this story may seem anecdotal, it is more than just a come-to-SEO-Jesus moment.
9 Lies SEO Marketers Like To Tell Themselves (And Stay Comforted In Their Sleep)
This story is a perfect example of how SEO’s often tell themselves things that involve the following nine lies, which lead not only to their personal downfalls, but also to the mucking-up of the entire SEO industry.
1) My latest hack will fall below Google’s radar yet again
Although there are loopholes in every system, Google is a particularly good one and with developments in de-indexing as well as programs like Panda and Penguin, it’s highly unlikely that a hack will evade Google’s radar for long.
What’s more, once Google catches on, there is a solid chance that the hacker is in for a rapid de-escalation of lifestyle like the one Detusch experienced after his $100,000 per month business was lost to de-indexing.
2) Those tiered links won’t get figured out anytime soon
Since tiered link building is a decidedly black hat technique and search engines are on a mission to destroy black hat techniques, it’s a safe bet that tiered links won’t work the way SEO’s want them to.
Google’s algorithm relies on at least 200 ranking factors arranged in order of their impact on total rank with contextual links being the crème de la crème of the linking world. Not only does tiered linking not work but it is likely to be found out due to the fact that a large number of low-quality links throws out a huge number of negative metrics, which acts as a footprint for Google’s spam filters, which are now built specifically to obliterate spam-filled tiered links.
3) My pyramid linking scheme still works
Pyramid linking is a risky business and since it is so intrinsically reliant upon wobbly pillars like tiered links and ongoing hacks, it is liable to crumble and, when it does, the SEO is in deep trouble.
Once again, one needs only to turn to Deutsch’s article for an example of this. After the Authority Link Network began to crumble, Deutsch found himself in the position of watching his clients loose their clients and so on and so forth. Although a pyramid seems like it might touch the sky, there is no way for the top to stay intact when the bottom begins to crumble.
4) I can post crappy content that a $5 Fiverr gig author wrote
Content is king, as it turns out, and there’s really no way to get around this fact. Nowadays, crappy content sticks out like a sore thumb and Google doesn’t appreciate spammers who add millions of words of spam to its index.
As a result, there have been several updates to the system that are designed specifically to target cheap, spammy content. With increasing focus on high-quality content and strong, white-hat links, it’s gotten harder and harder for crappy content to rise through the ranks.
5) I still think I can succeed with .gov links
Links are an important topic to white- and black-hat SEO’s alike but the essential difference lies in the type of link being used. Links can either help or hurt SEO or simply be ignored altogether by search engines. .Gov links happen to fall into the latter camp.
White certain types of .gov links can be beneficial to SEO ranking, they do not often rank as high as other types of links. The reason for this is that, historically, black hat SEO’s have used .gov and .edu links to lend false authority to their spammy content and, like it always does, Google caught on.
6) My article spinner isn’t broken
Simply put, article spinning is poor form for any SEO and, as search engines continue to evolve, the use of article spinning software continues to become a worse idea. One of the main reasons for this is that article spinners produce amazingly awful content, often resulting in unreadable or garbled articles that negatively affect SEO ranking.
As article spinning became more and more popular, Google responded by creating Panda, a software that is designed specifically to de-index sites that feature low-quality content and spun articles so, in addition to being ill advised and unethical, there’s a solid chance that today’s spun articles won’t even get past Google’s spam filters.
7) ScrapeBox is still my BFF
Although ScrapeBox can very occasionally be helpful in legitimate link building, it is primarily a spam services that allows black hat SEO’s to scrape links, mine Wordpress, leave keyword-laden anchor text comments on blogs and drive traffic to low-quality money sites.
Like many other black hat SEO techniques, Google and other search engines are on the lookout for ScrapeBox spam tactics and as the digital world continues to evolve, it is becoming more and more likely that ScrapeBox content will not make it through spam filters.
8) I don’t need to conform to all of Google’s latest changes
Yes, you do. Google’s latest changes have been instated for the sole purpose of raising the content bar and ensuring that the links, websites and pages that show up in search results are high-quality and authoritative. Failing to adhere to these changes means that your content will consistently rank low or be flagged as spam.
9) MozBar’s DA is the greatest authority metric there is
While MozBar’s DA can be a helpful authority metric, it is by no means the golden standard. A great example of this truth is the fact that Moz’s last index accidentally included 24 billion Chinese spam domains, which served to artificially inflate DA rakings across the board.
Although Moz is a company that certainly attempts to do its best to provide a reputable DA source to writers and SEO, DA scales with spam and Moz, like many other software platforms, is not immune to spam.
Throughout the course of digital history, many SEO’s have been tempted to cross over to the dark side. By telling themselves lies about why and how they spam as well as who is truly benefiting or suffering at the hands of the spam, black hat SEO’s have managed to get by for a number of years, contributing crappy content to Google’s indexes and mucking up the waters for the white hat SEO’s among us.
Fortunately, those days are slowly coming to an end. As Detusch’s article points out, black hat SEO techniques and the lies that go along with them are ultimately not sustainable and, in this current “content is king” era, they are being obliterated by enhanced search engines and spam filters on a daily basis. The Internet has spoken and the cries for high-quality content, inbound linking strategies and authoritative domain links have been heard, loud and clear.
Because of this, we’ve reached an era in which SEO lies no longer hold up under the pressure of the actual market and black hat SEO’s will ultimately find that, in order to build a successful business model, the focus needs to be on content and ethical linking practices.
Fortunately, the SEO community gets a bit closer to this reality every day and internet users, writers, SEO’s and content marketers will soon be able to reside in an internet world that is (largely) free of content spam and the SEO lies that fuel it.
Need great content that is more Jedi-like than Darth Vader, when it comes to SEO optimization? Check out our Content Shop.
You’ve spent days researching your next blog post. You’ve double-checked all facts, reworded each fragment very carefully and analyzed and improved your CTAs.
At the end of this lengthy, time-consuming process, you’ve redirected your last drop of energy towards the headline.
While trying to come up with the perfect title, you finally realize that creativity has flown out the window. Should you sacrifice a few more hours of sleep to draft several versions and pick the most suitable one, or should you just make a quality compromise and settle for a headline that doesn’t do your body copy any justice?
Why Headlines Will Always Matter (A Great Deal)
We can all agree that an informative, original, and creative headline marks the beginning of a fulfilling reading experience. What you may not know is that the quality of your headlines is influencing your conversion rates a great deal.
New research conducted by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism introduces a set of interesting findings cited by Marketing Land.
According to this source, 51% of the visitors who land on search sites looking for fresh news affirmed that an interesting, catchy headline represented the reason they chose to click on a certain story. The source of the information and the social signals linked to it seem to be less important. 37% of the respondents said they clicked on web content from a website that they knew and trusted while only 11% revealed that they clicked on a story recommended by a person in their social circle. These numbers are easy to interpret, and the lesson that you need to learn and apply is pretty straightforward: Do you want to rewrite your success story? Start by writing better headlines!
What Should You Expect from a Good Headline?
Aside from its originality and high dosage of creativity, what are the other key aspects that separate good headlines from terrible ones? According to a guide published by Columbia University, good titles must be correct (in implications and facts), should command attention, and lead to a deeper connection with the audience. They must also match or set the tone of the written material. While all the pieces of the puzzle are equally important, do keep in mind that you should never sacrifice accuracy on the altar of creativity.
5 Categories of Bad Headlines That You Should Avoid at All Costs
Headlines with puzzling, unintended meanings are some of your most dreaded enemies, which could easily affect your reputation and credibility on any niche. If you’re striving to improve your headline writing skills, here are a few bad examples that you should analyze before putting pen to paper. 1. The Ridiculous, Illogical and Unintentionally Hilarious Headline In a recent post, Diply rounds up some of the most unbelievably ludicrous headlines that you might have read so far. As the result of illogical thinking or a failed attempt to explore the power of the dramatic, situational or verbal irony for emphasis, these headlines make us raise an eyebrow and ask ourselves: What were the authors thinking? One-of-a-kind pearls of wisdom such as “Mayor Parris to Homeless: Go Home”, “Threat Disrupts Plans to Meet about Threats”, “One-Armed Man Applauds the Kindness of Strangers” make us want to rethink our titles and question our logic over and over again to avoid such catastrophic public displays of ignorance and negligence. 2. The Dull Headline That Nobody Has Time For People have very little desire to invest their time, patience, and energy in reading activities that cannot be associated with groundbreaking revelations. They want to get the latest info on high-interest topics that could influence their quality of life (career opportunities, promotions and discounts, special events that they may be interested in and so on). At the same time, they ignore headlines covering mundane facts and have very little or no desire to read headlines that they’ve seen on dozens of other websites. A lack of originality expressed through the headline may be an accurate indicator of the body copy standards. As we have stated in a previous post, people usually judge a book by its cover, and won’t hesitate to evaluate your piece without actually reading it based on the attractiveness of its title. Dull headlines are your worst enemy, so take all the time you need to make your final version eye-pleasing, intelligible and as creative as possible. 3. The Mysteriously Incomplete Headline Let’s assume that you open the newspaper, or land on a website and stumble across the following headline: Board of Directors Meeting Takes Place. So what? Why is this event a matter of great importance? Does it lead to massive layoffs or a string of promotions? Why should we, the readers, care about it (and move on to the body copy)? You may be inclined to think that an aura of mystery expressed through your title may compel your readers to read, or at least scan your piece. Unfortunately, this is not how it works. You have to provide a minimal amount of information to arouse the curiosity of your audience. Highlight the reasons why they need to take a closer look at your article and deliver the promise of a captivating, useful reading experience. 4. The Headline with an Information Overdose Poles apart, headlines containing massive amounts of information are equally puzzling, annoying and ineffective. We can all name more than a few books with incredibly long, hard to grasp titles. The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade by Peter Weiss, and Don’t Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never-Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems by David Rakoff are only two of the most eloquent examples that come to mind. At a first glance, you will probably be asking yourself the following question: who would actually read these books? After all, if a writer has a hard time summarizing his thoughts into a great title, the quality of his overall work may very well be truly questionable. Nobody is particularly interested in verbose sentences, and this is something that you should take into consideration before delivering the final version of your headline.
We can all recognize those awfully long titles featuring percentages, dates, and tons of unnecessary adjectives and adverbs used as embellishments. To avoid crafting a headline that will make your readers bounce off your page, rewrite your title until you finally manage to convey your message in as few words as possible. This way, you will manage to ditch unnecessary adornments and express your ideas clearly and concisely. 5. Confusing Headline Some headlines are downright illogical and funny (revisit the examples listed above, in the first set of bad titles) while others are simply confusing and leave you wondering: Who did what? What just happened? Why am I reading this?
“Huh?”-inducing headlines such as “Dole and Bush Dead Even in Kansas Poles” or “Clinic Gives Poor Free Legal Help” are the perfect examples illustrating this category. Quite often, puzzling titles represent the end-result of faulty punctuation. Some of the funniest mistakes that you may encounter online or offline show you how a comma can change everything. As a matter of fact, the difference between Let’s Eat Grandma and Let’s Eat, Grandma suggests the fact that a comma may even save lives, and help you keep your headlines clear and error-free.
Can You Use Certain Patterns without Losing Your Own Voice?
Great headlines are a magnet for readers. These days, you can rely on plenty of sure-fire formulas that you can personalize as you see it to seduce your public. Versions promising a quick, painless solution to a pressing problem, introducing a secret or a little-known fact that can be beneficial for your audience, or acting like a challenge to your prospects will offer you great results in the long term. If, for some reason or another, you feel unable to personalize these patterns and take them to the next level to recreate the perfect headline, hire a team of skilled copywriters and achieve success without spending a dime on tiresome DIY trial-and-error processes.
