Julia McCoy - Express Writers

SEO vs. Advertising: Does SEO Content Outperform Advertising? (Hint: Heck yeah, it does.)

August 26, 2022April 6, 2021 by Julia McCoy

SEO vs. Advertising: Does SEO Outperform Advertising? (Hint: Heck yeah, it does.)

SEO vs. advertising. It seems like a focus of hot debate … but is it really? Marketers selling you advertising space would love to debate the finer points and point out all the technicalities. But that’s exactly what they are – technicalities. With no real foot to stand on in 2021. According to research by Bright Edge, SEO makes up 53% of all web traffic that your website experiences. Just over half of your readers and customers find you in Google. ? Paid search? A measly 15%. ?️ But if that one data point is not convincing, plenty of other research out there backs it up. The debate of SEO vs. advertising isn’t even a thing. Here’s why an SEO content marketing approach outperforms paid search, and the statistics that prove it. 4 Big Reasons Why SEO vs. Advertising Isn’t Even a Real Debate Did you know that total Google searches more than doubled last year? In March 2020, we averaged around 3.6 billion Google searches per day. You can now hop onto Worldometers and watch it hit 7 billion every day. ? Show that to the people groaning about how SEO is dead. SEO will be dead when search engines are dead, and Google is going nowhere anytime soon. [bctt tweet=”Research by @brightedge says SEO makes up 53% of all web traffic to your site. Paid search makes up a measly 15%. ? This + 4 more reasons why SEO outperforms ads via @JuliaEMcCoy ?” username=””] But the ubiquity of Google use is just one reason why SEO is such a better investment than paid advertising. Here are four more reasons why a strong SEO strategy will outperform even the cleverest of advertising. 1. SEO is the Long-Term Game The internet is an amazing tool, chock full of mind-blowing opportunity … but there’s a catch that a lot of people seem to still not get in 2021. Success online requires consistency and long-term planning. Or as I like to put it, consistent quality over time brings success. SEO is that element of time in your work. The longer you focus on producing high-quality, keyword optimized content that attracts and delights your audience, the more you’ll build a presence in the search engines. In turn, the more you’ll land in front of eyeballs as Google rewards you for your hard work. And when I say long-term, I mean long-term. HubSpot once found that it takes about 400 blog posts before companies saw a significant spike in web traffic. Where do most people give up? Somewhere in the 30-40 post range. Nowhere close. ? Consistent quality over time brings success. If I had my own Triangle of Success, it’d look like this: [bctt tweet=”#SEO is a long game. ? The longer you focus on producing high-quality, keyword optimized content that attracts and delights your audience, the more you’ll build a presence in search engines & the more you’ll land in front of eyeballs. ?” username=””] 2. SEO Encourages Organic Traffic Organic traffic is traffic to your site resulting from people finding you naturally in the search engines. This means they typed something into Google and your website came up in the results. Organic traffic is the single most powerful means to get an audience and sales. Bright Edge found that some 53% of all web traffic comes from organic search. According to them, SEO drives 1,000% more traffic than even organic social media. Likewise, Backlinko once found that the number one result for any Google search averages a CTR of 37.5%. Even Google notes that the ROI of organic traffic is 5.3 times greater than that of paid advertising. And before you tell me that SEO doesn’t really work, consider this. According to Ahrefs, 90% of all websites get no organic traffic from Google. Is that problem with SEO … or is it with your site? ? Need help with SEO, stat? Get my FREE guide on how to rank in the top of Google. Look at all of these people who are not using SEO correctly (if at all)! Source: Ahrefs 3. People Use Ad Blockers The second big reason why SEO vs. advertising isn’t an actual argument involves the sheer percentage of your readers who are using ad blockers. The number has steadily increased in the U.S. over the past five years, from 21% to 27%. If you’re relying on ads to power your brand’s visibility, you’re now missing out on a solid quarter of your audience. Likewise, as privacy becomes a greater concern for internet users, whole web browsers are springing up that include ad block features. (For example, Brave’s usage stands at a minuscule 25 million users, but it’s a little different story when you consider that total users have doubled in the past year alone.) Of course, you could force your visitors to turn off their adblockers to view your content … but do you really want to be that site? Google results with uBlock Origin turned off… …and Google results with uBlock Origin turned on. See the difference? 4. Everybody Uses Google Last but not least is the fact that everyone uses Google. In January 2021, it was found that Google comprises 92% of all web search traffic. In other words, that’s where users search when they need to search for the answer to a question. (The other 10% was a mishmash of specialized search engines.) Sure, you could rely on Google ads, but you’re again facing the problem of ad blockers hiding your ads from viewers. Optimizing for Google, however, makes sure that you end up directly in the path of people searching for you. Without people feeling like you’re trying to sell them something. ? Go Where Your Audience is Looking There you have it. SEO vs. advertising isn’t even a real debate in 2021 and I’ve covered four big reasons why. From the fact that SEO is a long-term game to the reality that everyone uses Google, hopefully now you can … Read more

What Are Google Core Web Vitals? A Content Creator’s Perspective

August 26, 2022March 30, 2021 by Julia McCoy

Think it’s just good content that will land you at the top of Google? Think again. Google is always looking for ways to improve the results it delivers to searchers. So, to absolutely no one’s surprise, it’s rolling out yet another set of ranking signals that content creators and developers will need to heed. They’re called Core Web Vitals. This isn’t even really news. Back in November 2020, Google announced that Core Web Vitals would become ranking signals in May 2021. Since then, we’ve been slowly ticking down to the moment. ⏲️ In other words, if your page loads slowly or doesn’t respond to user actions, it’s now going to negatively affect your SERPs. That’s a pretty big deal for content creators as well as developers. Here’s a closer look at what Core Web Vitals are, how the evaluator guidelines are moving steadily toward an emphasis on the page experience, and what content creators can do to improve their Core Web Vitals rankings. Let’s go! What Are Core Web Vitals? Core Web Vitals are specific factors Google considers important when determining the quality of the overall user experience your page provides. They consist of three metrics related to loading, interactivity, and visual stability. You’ll see them respectively referred to with three different acronyms: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). The amount of time it takes to render the largest visible content block. In plain English, that means the time it takes for it to be obvious to your users that the page is loading. First Input Delay (FID). The amount of time between when a user interacts with an element on your page – like clicking a link – and when that element actually responds. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). The sum total of all layout that which occur unexpectedly over the lifespan of the page. Layout shifts occur when a visual element like an image or heading unexpectedly re-arranges the content around it – such as when you make a browser window larger or smaller. In other words, Google is now interested in knowing how long your site takes to load, how quickly it responds to a user’s actions, and how well it holds its layout together in the face of different browsers, devices, or screen sizes. Google then uses numerical measurements to rank each Core Web Vital as “good,” “needs improvement,” or “poor.” The specific thresholds are as follows: To see how your site is performing, you can now find the metrics tracked in Google Console. Under the Enhancements section, there will be a Web Vitals Report. The Rise of the Page Experience Ranking Signals This shift towards page experience represents just one more way in which the internet is pivoting towards an increased emphasis on user experience (UX). Not that users haven’t been demanding good design and good experiences for ages. In 2021, 75% of all users are basing their opinions on your brand by how easy it is for them to use your site. Some 80% of them won’t trust you if you deliver a bad one. They’ll run. ?‍♀️ The decision to include Core Web Vitals as a ranking signal is simply a reflection of where things have been headed for a while. But, I hear you ask, isn’t this an issue for developers? What does this have to do with us? Why do content creators need to care about Core Web Vitals? ? Good questions! [bctt tweet=”What are Google’s Core Web Vitals? What do they have to do with UX and page experience? ? Most of all… Why should you care as a #contentcreator? Get the lowdown on @ExpWriters ☑” username=””] What the Core Web Vitals Mean for Content Creators We’ve known for a while that written content can be optimized for maximum readability. Things like giant blocks of text, illegible fonts, and badly formatted headings can negate even the most eloquently written content. However, for a long time, those were overlooked elements with ranking. Google focused highly on content quality – i.e. the quality of the writing itself – and it used to be that those things had minimal impacts on your SERPs. You might have experienced: Higher bounce rates Lower time spent on site Slower page load speeds Google would notice those, and you’d slip down in rank. But, by and large, you could recover if your keyword usage was on point with the search intent, or if you had robust, authoritative citations. What the Core Web Vitals now mean is that Google is evaluating your site against a set of criteria before it even receives feedback via user behavior. In other words, you now must pay attention to the user experience you’re creating when your content is created. That means things like: Paying closer attention to how text flows Using headings correctly Properly formatting and coding images or embedded videos Thoughtfully selecting your font Putting more consideration into what your buttons say (and where they’re located!) Whether you insert CTAs onto your page Whether you use pop-ups to encourage newsletter signups Core Web Vitals are just one more way that Google is encouraging us to take a holistic view when crafting content for our audience. While they’re quick to point out that good design doesn’t override exceptional content, they do expect that your content and your design complement one another. In short, content creation is no longer about just the content itself. It’s now about the experience you’re creating with your content. ☝️ The Core Web Vitals are just one out of many signals Google uses to rank your page experience. You should be familiar with others, including mobile-friendliness and HTTPS! Source: Google How to Improve Your Core Web Vitals (as a Content Creator!) Google wants us to create exceptional content, but they also want it to be easy to access and use. Bringing the Core Web Vitals online as a ranking signal is expected to shake things up, so make sure you’re ready. A study in August 2020 suggested less than 15% … Read more

In-Depth Tutorial: How to Update a WordPress Blog Post for More ROI

August 26, 2022March 16, 2021 by Julia McCoy

Picture this: You’ve built a solid WordPress blog that’s driving traffic to your site. You have a ton of content now. How do you continue to produce quality content that attracts new visitors and keeps people coming back for more? The answer is surprisingly simple. You don’t have to create brand new blog posts from scratch every single time: you just need to learn how to update a WordPress blog post. In fact, you can actually earn higher ROI more quickly by updating the WordPress blog posts you’ve already published, if you have a good bit of content published. Updating old posts is a HUGE strategy every content marketer should be using. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Instead, prepare to grab that low-hanging fruit and learn how to update a WordPress blog post for more ROI. Here at Express Writers, updating old content is 90% of our entire content marketing strategy for 2021. ? Why? It WORKS! Want to learn how to do it yourself? Check out my in-depth tutorial on YouTube. Then, read the blog recap. Enjoy! (Disclaimer: This blog contains affiliate links. However, don’t worry! I never promote tools I don’t personally use – and love. ❤) How to Update a WordPress Blog Post for More ROI (Video Tutorial) Why Update Old WordPress Content? Blogs are currently the 5th most trusted online resource. Updating your old blog posts helps you to provide the most accurate information and maintain your position as a dependable resource of trustworthy material. The fact is, almost all content will eventually become outdated as facts and figures, research findings, and even cultural norms change over time. [bctt tweet=”FACT: Almost all content becomes outdated eventually. ⏳ How do you keep earning ROI from even your oldest pieces? Update them. Learn @JuliaEMcCoy’s proven method here ?” username=””] To resonate with today’s readers, your content must be current. Updating old content is an invaluable way to stay at the top of your game while giving you an opportunity to increase your SEO. That’s what happened when we updated this blog post on how to build a digital content strategy. It was already a solid piece, but outdated. It mentioned 2020 statistics and had graphics referencing a past year. When we updated the whole blog and made it more current, we saw HUGE results. Not only did it earn a #1 organic ranking and featured snippet for our focus keyword — our newly-created custom graphics even ranked in Google Images for the featured snippet. What’s better proof of updating older content than earning the featured snippet AND the #1 organic position? Even before this happened, I decided to go all in and update the 1,300+ blogs on our site rather than creating new ones from scratch. Now, when you visit our Write Blog, you’ll find that roughly 90% of the articles there are older posts that we’ve updated. There’s no trick or gimmick to updating old content. It’s a lot of work, identifying which articles need a refresh and giving them the edits they need. But in the end, it’s totally worth the time. That’s why Express Writers’ current content marketing strategy is to focus 90% of our efforts on updating old content while just 10% is adding new content. We’re not the only ones who have seen updated blog posts generate positive results. Entrepreneur and marketing specialist Neil Patel uses this same tactic to boost his ROI. For every one blog he creates, his team updates 21 previously published blogs. This ensures his content is relevant, accurate, and continues to position him as an authority in his field. Sold on the idea but not sure where to begin? Read on to learn how to update a WordPress blog post. 3 Parts to Updating a WordPress Blog Post To effectively update an old WordPress blog post, there are three main things you’ll need. 1. A Team When updating old content, first build a strategy yourself. Then, use a writing team, content marketing service, or freelance writers to do the editing and optimize your posts for better ROI. I use my own team at Express Writers to make these changes for our site. My staff consists of writers from various backgrounds with different levels of expertise who are prepared to put in the research and quality work necessary to post the most up-to-date information for our readers. With ten years and over 1,300 blog posts under our belt, we have a proven track record of developing a content marketing strategy that works. 2. Tools There are three main tools I use for discovering and managing my updated blog posts: Airtable: This collaborative software helps me keep a schedule of blog topics and posts I want to update, identifies who is working on that project, and tracks their progress in our system. SEMrush: My monthly subscription to this tool helps me discover blog posts ranking in Google that we need to update. Ranking blogs are low-hanging fruit that are already earning you positive results. They should be the first ones you review for updating to boost ROI. SEMrush helps you identify quick wins to build more ROI through WordPress blog post updates. WordPress Backend: After logging into your WordPress admin account, you’ll have access to the backend of your site. There you can click on an old post and choose “Edit.” Make whatever changes you’d like, then click “Update.” As long as you don’t create a new post and copy and paste from the old post, you won’t break links or lose any comments or shares. Content writers: Already mentioned in #1, Team, but, worth another mention here. I hire my writers at Express Writers! Our expert blog writers work on all of my content. They are a huge catalyst in helping me get the task of updating old content done. 3. A Process It takes a well-planned strategy to accurately update your old WordPress blog posts. Watch my YouTube video to see a visual explanation of the six foundational steps to updating … Read more

Content Shop Changes for February: Word Count Ranges Simplified, Meta Cost Lowered, Infographics Added, & More

August 26, 2022February 24, 2021 by Julia McCoy

How is your 2021 going? Over here in Texas, we just experienced a weather event affectionately nicknamed by locals the “Texas snow-pocalypse,” otherwise known as Winter Storm Uri. It shook up our state, and left millions without power. Thankfully, we all survived, and now we’re super grateful for the simple things, like a light switch that turns on the light. (First world gratitude!) And de-iced roads. And now that we’re post-event, we can laugh at memes that were all too real for Texans this February, like “What if 2020 is just a trailer of 2021?” Jokes aside, I’m constantly thankful we run a global, work-from-home team at Express Writers. Most of our talent is in the United States, but we believe talent doesn’t just reside here in the U.S. We believe it’s worldwide. And that’s why our team includes a European writer, and an African copy editor. (Both of whom are amazing at what they do.) When the power was out in Texas, our team around the world was still working, lights on. That’s a good thing, because we’re getting ready for 2021 to be an incredible year for our clientele — the top marketers and agencies we serve. Google searches surged to double over one month last year. From 3.6 billion searches per day, to more than 6.8 billion, a number which still holds strong today. Here’s a lowdown on what we’re up to this year, and how we plan to make this a great year for YOU, our client. What’s New at Express Writers — Tied Into Decade-Strong Values This May, we turn 10 years old. Our business was started way back in 2011, when I was a new content writer forging my path on the internet. I had a simple set of core values when I started Express Writers, which you can still read about on our core pages today: Hire passionate writers, and together, create the best content on the web. [bctt tweet=”2021 is going to be an incredible year for our clientele — the top marketers and agencies we serve. Read the lowdown on what we’re up to, including fresh updates to the Content Shop ?” username=””] Like a team of Avengers, but content writers that cared enough to create better content than the average crap posted by the majority of marketers back then on the web. This would be the skill I would sell our clients at Express Writers. Boy, little did I know just how badly marketers needed this skill set. We’ve done it, and we’re continuing to do it. I’m a big fan of Jim Collins (BHAG, Good to Great, Built to Last). What he documented and witnessed in top corporations that withstood the tests of time revolved around something quite simple. That simple thing was a core set of values that allowed the corporation to breathe, thrive, evolve, but never change on core beliefs. He said oftentimes those core values could be counted on one hand. That’s us. We have a set of values that hold strong and firm. From there, we pivot and build and launch new offerings, new solutions, hire new writers, on the regular. In fact, you could say something new happens at Express Writers every day, and you wouldn’t be wrong. For example, when a client in a specialized industry needs ad copy, and we don’t have the writer yet — we go and headhunt. Hire. Train. We actively pivot to solve content writing problems that our clients have. I lead that initiative, and we never stop — the Content Manager and I put our heads together on reviewing new samples from writers all the time. It takes time, energy, and effort, but it’s what we love doing. Content is our world. And that world is evolving, constantly. If we aren’t ready to meet that evolution, we’ll quickly fall by the wayside. (I firmly believe that.) Our entire set of services in the Content Shop was born from direct clientele needs. What our clients needed, we produced as a solution. I’ve built internal training for everything we offer, that equips the rare talented writer we do find and hire to learn how to write for all the formats we offer. (Today, at The Content Hacker™, I teach students and now take my training outside just our team. Because everyone in marketing should know how to do content well.) And offering all of this as a done-for-you service has worked extraordinarily well. Here are the four biggest updates for us so far in 2021. 1. New Industry-Specialized Writers Last month (January), we brought in fifteen new writers in these industries: Marketing (Digital/Social/Content) & Advertising Technical Health & Medicine/Medical Industries Law & Legal Finance This month, we brought in another fifteen in the same industries, to serve as additional writers due to the demand we’re experiencing. We’re also training several of these new hires how to be what we call “all-industry” writers, writers with the ability to deep research and write on industries that are still deep and complicated but not quite law, tech, or finance (which we’ve found requires specific industry experience). That’s a total of thirty new writers in less than two months! And don’t worry, our old writing team is here and staying strong. You can still request previous writers and receive them. In fact, many of them rely on your repeat client orders for consistent work and income. A big thank you to our repeat clients! ❤️ [bctt tweet=”Simplified word count ranges, lowered meta cost, infographics added, and more — Read about all the changes at @ExpWriters for 2021 to simplify ordering and make your experience great ?” username=””] 2. New & Updated Services: Meta Add-On Cost Lowered, Infographics Added As of early February, our meta description and title writing cost has dropped to $10 instead of $20. The higher price didn’t make sense, if clients were able to order it as an add-on (we originally had it as $20 to protect our team from writing a $10 meta description as a one-off, standalone order — believe it or not, it … Read more

Skip the Degree, Save the Tuition. Build Your Dreams Instead! (My New Book Out Now)

February 10, 2021February 10, 2021 by Julia McCoy

If you’re like most people, you grew up with some specific ideas about how to be successful. Most of them revolved around school. ?? Get a degree, they said. You’ll be successful, they said. It’s the only way, they said. In the U.S. alone, two million recent college graduates enter the workforce every year, clutching their new and shiny diplomas. Yet, according to one study, only 13 percent of U.S. adults, 11 percent of C-level executives, and 6 percent of university trustees say college graduates have work-ready skills. That means most people are leaving college without the ability to earn a living from their degree. ? If only there were a way to invest in yourself, get the skills you need to follow your dreams, AND avoid that insane college debt… Turns out, there is. Dr. Ai Addyson-Zhang (#ClassroomWithoutWalls) and I wrote a book on it. In Skip the Degree, Save the Tuition (which is out today), we show you how to thrive as a confident, self-taught professional who makes money online with a valuable skillset. The Story Behind Skip the Degree, Save the Tuition (What Inspired My New Book) When I started writing this book… If I had set out to nail a “trend,” or just make money… I would have given up on the journey weeks in. Skip the Degree is a literal byproduct of both my co-author (Ai Addyson-Zhang) and myself setting out to TRANSFORM education. It is a heart mission for both of us. [bctt tweet=”In their new book, Skip the Degree, Save the Tuition, @JuliaEMcCoy and @aiaddysonzhang show you how to thrive as a confident, self-taught professional who makes money online with a valuable skill set. ? Learn more and get your copy ??” username=””] Dr. Ai has two degrees. Yet, she identifies as a “professor dropout.” Dr. Ai dropped out of a highly paid, well-respected position teaching college students PR and social media marketing. She resigned from her six-figure position when she saw firsthand in the classroom that her students weren’t going to graduate with real-life marketing skills. It was a wakeup call she couldn’t ignore. She took on educating herself first, becoming a practitioner, and today she’s teaching her students life-changing skills in entrepreneurship, dreaming big, and becoming digitally-savvy. I run a writing agency, Express Writers, that takes on 200-300 projects per month. We’ve been around for 10 years, mostly because we have high standards. Show up. Write well. Deliver on time. Consistently. No B.S. We have to hire, constantly. Those five traits are hard to find. What’s more, we often have to “unteach” college graduates their academic writing skills. And as of 2021, we’re still filtering through college grads, looking for immediate client-ready writing skills. Having to turn most of them away. Instead, it’s the self-started freelancer that followed a passion and taught themselves a skill that we’re able to hire. After nine years, and thousands of candidates we had to say ‘no’ to… COVID-19 hit last year. It created even more issues. The hiring dilemma became a problem I truly couldn’t ignore. Far more candidates flooded the online workplace, and our ability to hire went from 1% to .5%. Skip the Degree, Save the Tuition was a book I’d planned to research and write leisurely, to launch in 2022. It was the Holy Grail for this problem. It would teach everyone the pathway on how to uncover their passion and map a direct path to a digitally profitable skill set. When 2019 happened… I made it a goal to launch the book within a year. Well, we did it. We conducted 50+ interviews (but who’s counting), worked with countless people, and did immeasurable work to put forward the powerful information revealed in our book. And we did it all inside a year. Skip the Degree is our BIG, GROUND-FLOOR answer to today’s problem in education. Watch the full interview I recorded with my co-author, Dr. Ai Zhang, on YouTube: Get your copy now. How to Build a Non-Perishable Digital Skillset (in 4 Steps) What does it take to get ahead in today’s world? A lot. You’ll need grit ?, to break a sweat ?, and stay quick on your feet ?? while you adapt to the changing world. ? But most importantly, to succeed in today’s world, you need real, tangible skills that stay current no matter your industry. All the degrees can’t help you if you don’t have those. That’s why Dr. Ai and I wrote Skip the Degree, Save the Tuition. We put our heads together to combine her expertise in education with the knowledge that I’ve gained through a decade of becoming a self-made entrepreneur. We aren’t here to teach you perishable facts or static skills. Instead, we’ve built a pathway for you to develop your own skill set based on what we’ve done. The pathway to success is simple … but difficult. It goes like this: 1. LOVE What You Do. If you don’t absolutely LOVE what you do, you aren’t going to make it very far. You must not just love it, but breathe it, prepare to live it every second of the day – because as any successful entrepreneur will tell you, you WILL be for the first few years. ❤️ First, uncover your passion. Find your interests, your aptitudes, and what it is that fires you up. That requires self-reflection and self-awareness. Lots of tools exist to help you with this. From personality mapping to quizzes and more, we’ll show you how to deep dive into who you really are. 2. LEARN Everything You Can. Once you know what you LOVE doing, map your passions to a real skill set and start building that knowledge. ? In this step, forget college – the internet is your oyster. Anything you want to learn you can learn online. We’ll show you how to find resources that are worth your time, what to look for when you’re researching, and – most importantly – how to figure out … Read more

4 New Year Content Marketing Resolutions That Will Explode Your Online Results

June 19, 2024January 5, 2021 by Julia McCoy

Content marketing never sleeps, nor dies. It evolves – constantly. It thrives in adversity. And it transforms a crisis – like the 2020 pandemic – into an opportunity. Maybe you’ve known about this opportunity already. After all, content marketing is an industry that’s growing in popularity by the day, and is about to be worth $412 billion. Still, the pandemic allowed us to see just how true and powerful content marketing can be. I mean, look at these quick stats. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, people across all generations turned to the internet. During which: Search rose by 3.6 billion searches/day to 6.9 billion/day — and this still holds steady! 53% of Americans found the internet to be an invaluable resource (while a good 34% deemed it important) – and that’s only the U.S., which is 4.25% of the global population. And in effect, global internet usage grew by 70%. Do you see the gold here? There’s no doubt that the global content consumption trends in 2020 have risen to unprecedented heights because of the pandemic. This means more eyeballs than ever, online! ? So how can you use this to your advantage? Just as the pandemic accelerated the already upward trend of the internet age, now is the perfect time for you to accelerate your online efforts as a content marketer. And, whether you’ve been in the business for quite a while or are just starting out, the new year is always a great time to reset. So here are four new year content marketing resolutions to take with you in your online efforts for 2021 – to help win you those golden metrics. [bctt tweet=”In 2020, search rose by 3.6 billion searches/day to 6.9 billion/day — and this still holds steady. How can you tap into this search traffic explosion for your #brand growth? ? Learn the top #contentmarketing predictions via @JuliaEMcCoy:” username=””] New Year Content Marketing Resolution #1: Make Trust and Empathy Your Number One Priority Why trust and empathy? Because – more than half of your potential customers rely on whether they trust a brand when deciding to purchase, second only to affordability. Ignore the importance of trust and you willingly hand over these potential new sales to your competitors. So here are two things you should do to earn your audience’s trust. [bctt tweet=”Trust and empathy should be a #1 resolution brands must make in 2021 to build more audience connections. ❤️ More #contentmarketing resolutions via @JuliaEMcCoy on @ExpWriters: ” username=””] Here’s How #1: Tell Your Story in a Real and Relatable Way Edelman found that 81% say trust is more important now because of the need to feel safe. And, 89% of consumers trust and support brands – that help people through the challenges of COVID-19. So, don’t just tell people who you are. Connect at a deeper level and tell people who you are to THEM, and what values you uphold that they can relate to. Nine out of ten customers are loyal to brands when they share the same values. So, dig deep until you find the core purpose of your brand, and be true to that purpose. Because this is what truly resonates to your audience. This infographic gives you a clear picture of what your story should (and shouldn’t) look like: Tell your story, but turn it around to focus on your customers. Source: ReferralCandy Here’s How #2. Deliver Consistent Value That Nurtures Your Audience Your story is just the beginning – the hook. And, if it isn’t authentic, your customers are going to see through you like glass. The key to building trust is following through from start to – well, forever. Keep the quality content coming. Show up consistently. Keep giving your customers a reason to stay. When you become that source of inspiration, or entertainment and distraction to your audience – building and enriching lives with your content, your voice – then 73% of your audience already have your back. Consider these when crafting your new year marketing campaigns: No to Last Minute Concoctions: Some brilliant ideas do pop up at the last minute, but more often, it isn’t. So, plan your new year content strategy ahead. Serve Fresh, Meaty Content: Don’t stop with great headlines. Make sure you give your audience what they clicked for – packed with well-researched and relevant information. Don’t Forget to Tenderize the Meat: Break those tough, long sentences. Chop those huge blocks of paragraphs. And, YES – visuals are your best friend to help deliver digestible content. Give a Steady, Healthy Diet: You’ve done it. People trust you. They rely on your content for constant nourishment. So, commit to your content schedule and, if you can, surprise them with dessert. A downloadable guide would be nice. Did I just make you hungry? If yes, then good. Because there’s more to devour in this post. ? New Year Content Marketing Resolution #2: Take the SEO-Focused Content Marketing Approach Some marketers will tell you to forget about SEO. Well, I’m telling you to forget about them. Here’s why. Organic search is responsible for generating twice more revenue for B2B and Tech Companies. And, it’s the top driver of website traffic, with social media falling way behind by 300%. PLUS, now there’s a jaw dropping 6 BILLION Google searches PER DAY – that’s twice as many searches than there was in 2019. – Talk about opportunity knocking at your door, right? Here are two essentials for developing your new year marketing messaging with SEO in mind. Here’s How #1. Audience First: Discover and Fulfill Search Intent SEO is no longer about hitting your keyword counts. It’s how well you know your audience and having the right content strategy. You have to understand what it is your audience is looking for. It’s not just “shoes”, maybe it’s “running shoes for flat feet”. Invest a good amount of time to research your audience and build your target persona – before anything else – to zero-in on exactly how you … Read more

A Content Marketing Christmas Poem

January 1, 2021December 22, 2020 by Julia McCoy

To say “it’s a holiday season like none other” is an understatement. I’d explain why, but one word will suffice – (the) pandemic. And, while the world stocked up on toilet paper, I was grateful to have sustained my daily dose of caffeine without a single downtrend in daily produced word count. (Bonus: I never stopped writing—I wrote a book over the pandemic, launching February 2021!) But more than that, we at Express Writers have so much more to be grateful for. Number one being this was yet another year of fate telling me how right I was nine years ago, to pursue my passion for writing and build this amazing content creation team we have today. I’m so grateful we invested in a strong foundation of content many years ago that continues to bring in new leads and new business. However, we know that the investment never stops. We continue to invest in our content creation efforts – and did so despite the events of this year. And, if there’s one key takeaway from 2020, it’s to take nothing for granted. To start the holiday week off, we have a treat for you – an original Christmas poem, from yours truly. Keep reading below it to get to my two wisdom nuggets to take into 2021. [bctt tweet=”Wrap up the crazy year of 2020 to a fun, memorable close – check out this short original remake of a classic Christmas poem by @JuliaEMcCoy of @ExpWriters. #OriginalPoem ???? Happy Holidays!” username=””] ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, And All Through The Content… Let’s not forget it’s Christmas. I hope you get time to celebrate, relax, and enjoy. To get you in the spirit, we decided to give the year 2020 a fun close with a short remake of a classic Christmas poem featuring a relevant, to-the-times twist. Keep scrolling to watch me narrate the poem! ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, And All Through The Content… (A Content Marketing Christmas Poem) ’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not one skipped a hand wash, not even the mouse. All went to sleep, but for me, a marketer, Whose vacation never included leaving my front foyer. Out on the lawn with stars glittering above, My thoughts went adrift to the things that I love; Team members, clients, students, my own audience; Oh, how we survived this year with resilience. No ‘unicorn ninjas,’ just safe and serene, I laughed and recalled my pajama meeting, How close I had been to losing my sanity; Grateful, now my content has more empathy. As I cared more for people, up went my metrics; Thriving more than those with no online ethics. More leads and subscribers truly counting on me; My heart danced along with the wind in the tree. ’Twas the night of that year that the world saw it clear, Great content was the one thing that didn’t disappear. A splendid New Year awaits those who do it right; Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! Ready to uplevel in 2021? Check out G.R.O.W., my all-new live mentorship subscription community where you can achieve quick wins, high-level training, and direct and daily access to me + top mentors. Julia Narrates Our Content Marketing Christmas Poem 2 Big Takeaways for Conscientious Marketers to Remember in 2021 Here are two more wisdom nuggets that you should take with you into 2021. 1. 2020 Was The Year We Learned the Online World Will Never Die We watched the world shut down. Country after country. It was a year filled with uncertainties – but not for the online world. As we all kept indoors, we all had to rely on online support for help, online search for answers, and online content for updates. During which, brands who’d been neglecting their online presence (or content house), scrambled to meet customer’s needs as fast as possible. Everyone – across the globe – of every age, had to be online to thrive. As a result, Google’s daily searches ballooned, from 3.5 BILLION searches per DAY in 2019, to over 6 BILLION per DAY this year. That’s an average of 70,000 online searches per second! There is no greater time to be online than now. And, I’m beyond grateful that many years ago, I cared enough to introduce the Content Differentiation Factor to help brand’s rise above the cut. If it isn’t clear yet, this is your wake-up call to G.R.O.W. – online – now. 2. 2020 Was The Year Marketers Learned Building Trust is One of the Most Important Factors In 2020, an Edelman report listed brand trust as the second most important factor your customers care about, right next to price. And they found that it is built when you actually do what you say. More than that, 80-85% expect brands to help them, as well as make a positive impact to society. Even without Google’s numbers, marketers saw the opportunity – and took advantage in 2020 of the vaster online audience. Some, to a negative extent. There were the ones piggybacking on trends, and making sure that they had something to say for just about every issue. After all, isn’t that a strategy? Maybe, if you only want to go viral without tangible, clear results. But, if you want conversions, then it’s SEO strategy plus empathy. In the past, you could get away with “positioning” your brand as someone who cares about your customers, or the society, just by consistently posting blogs and newsletters, or having a great social media content strategy. Not this year. This year was all about supporting those, who deserved our support. And, as consumers all over the world experienced a great recession, we all made sure that money spent went to those who were helping make the world better. As Edelman’s brand trust report showed, when consumers trust you: 75% will reward you with loyalty, 60% with engagement, and 78% will become advocates, going out … Read more

New in Our Content Shop This Month: Sales Copywriting & Social Media Video Production

September 5, 2022December 15, 2020 by Julia McCoy

In my team here at Express Writers, we never slow down. For one, we interview hundreds of writers every month to find our 1-2%, the writers we put a lot of trust in to handle our clients’ projects. Since our clients rely on us to produce content that won’t add to the noise, and isn’t crappy… we need the best. Fulfilling that is our mission, no matter how tough that commitment gets. But we don’t stop just there. In fact, every few months we sit down and review, audit, fine-tune, and add to our existing services. (For example — this spring, we doubled what we pay our industry expert writers, which was a direct pivot to match the market. We couldn’t hire qualified legal writers anymore at the rate we were charging our clients, so we changed up our process and pay rate.) We believe in improving, evolving, and growing our own services, processes, and team. It’s a tall order, but one we’ll never drop. Growth and evolution is a part of success. Without change, a brand gets stagnant and behind the times. That’s why we’re here sharing two new services we’re now offering as of today in the Content Shop. ? ? Sales copywriting Social media video production When it comes to video, in 2020 and going forward, stats show that 54% of consumers actively want to see more video content, 87% of brands are using it, and — ready for it? in social media, video is THE favorite content format for consumers to watch. I’ve been playing with video myself for four years, and serious about producing video on our channels for two. I can say that video has added more direct clients and revenue to our bottom line. To be able to launch this as a service today, I convinced my talented producer to become a full-time contracted member of my team! ? We’ve been hard at work training the rest of the team on how to get ready for a whole new pipeline and format delivery. Sales copywriting is an answer to the rising need established brands have for persuasive copywriting. Now at Express Writers, your sales copywriting will be crafted by a Copyhackers-trained writer. A few of our top writers have stepped up to take on a Copyhackers certification and grow their skills. They’re working directly under me to get ready for your sales copywriting orders. Good copy can make the biggest difference between the conversion or not of a sales offer you are putting out. Wondering how much sales copy can do? It can be as much as 90% difference in conversions. Just this year, a marketing firm (VWO) published a study on what happened when they tweaked copy for a client of theirs, CityCliq. Their A/B Test of four versions of a single headline revealed that a single winning headline earned a whopping 90% increase in conversion rate over the original. If targeted sales copy, which is a skill and an art, could earn you a 90% conversion increase — what would that do for your business? Both video and sales copywriting are top content formats we couldn’t ignore any more. Social media video — you need it. Sales copywriting — you need it. We now do both. Keep reading for the full story behind our new services. It’s Here: Launching Two New Content Shop Services, Sales Copywriting & Social Media Video Packages In Q4 of 2020, we asked ourselves, “How can we continue to make Express Writers stand out as a provider that matches the times?” Besides sales copywriting, video was a format we couldn’t ignore any longer, along with persuasive, sales-focused copywriting that helps your landing pages earn that ROI you’re hoping for. Here’s the backstory. Social Media Videos & The Importance of Consistently Publishing Brand Video on Social When it came to video, I’ve heard this question for years — “Julia, why don’t you offer video at Express Writers?” Many of the people that asked were outsiders looking in. Peers, friends in my network. They were right — video is hot. But they weren’t right on the suggestion that we should just willy-nilly add it because it’s a “hot service.” I didn’t take those outsiders’ advice. (And you shouldn’t either.) If I did, it would have broken us. We were busy getting our core services right. The reason I didn’t was because of two big, giant P’s we couldn’t answer well when it came to video. People and process. You need both before you can even consider offering a DFY (done-for-you) service that your clients will love. [bctt tweet=”People and process. ? You need both before you can even consider offering a done-for-you service that your clients will love. @JuliaEMcCoy on launching new #contentmarketing and #videoproduction services at @ExpWriters ” username=””] You need a smart team of people ready to provide the team service you’re selling, and you need a great process for creation and production. I didn’t have either for video. We spent years getting our process for content writing together. It was only when I met and partnered with the video producer behind all my own videos that I began to dream again about offering video services from Express Writers. Here’s the gorgeous video our producer made to announce today’s launch of video production #meta. He’s mega talented. ⭐️ At Express Writers, we never slow down. We’re continually optimizing our services (track record: 9 years/30,000 projects ✅) for our clients’ best results. Today, we’re thrilled to announce TWO new services: #VideoMarketing and #SalesCopywriting. ? ➡️ https://t.co/2mQMyo1iJl pic.twitter.com/r3XGSrHNyQ — Express Writers | Your Content Writing Partner (@ExpWriters) December 15, 2020 Over the months, we nailed down our process for our own marketing videos. And it wasn’t easy. My team or I would write and script (we’d spend a day or two just in the writing alone), and then my producer (now our on-staff video producer here at EW!) would spend another few days in the creation stage. Then, we’d review, and there would be at least a few revisions for accuracy. Days, hours, over a … Read more

Real Estate Blog Writers: How to Write Helpful Content People Want to Read

August 28, 2022December 8, 2020 by Julia McCoy

So, you want to start writing a real estate blog? That’s a great move for your practice and your brand. According to Demand Metric, businesses with a blog generate 67 percent more leads and 97 percent more traffic. Imagine that many more interested buyers and sellers walking through your door every month. Of course, writing a real estate blog isn’t your typical walk in the park. From questions around Google’s quality requirements to how to structure real estate blog content for the greatest impact, there’s a lot for you to consider. Here’s a closer look at what all good real estate blog writers know, and how to create articles on real estate topics that people actually want to read. Let’s go! [bctt tweet=”Writing a real estate blog isn’t easy. ?? From questions around Google’s quality requirements to how to structure real estate content for the greatest impact, there’s a lot to consider. Find out how to write for this tricky niche on @ExpWriters ✔” username=””] Your Blog Is Real Estate – Make It Valuable! Ah – buying a home. For many people, it’s the ultimate accomplishment, the pinnacle of the American Dream. However, every truly great accomplishment is at first impossible… if not utterly overwhelming. The decision to buy (and also to sell) a home comes with looots of questions attached. (The fact that there are over 50,000 titles on Amazon dedicated to advising first-time homebuyers stands as a testament to this.) If you’re thinking about starting a real estate blog, you need to keep this in mind. With so many people blogging and writing books, what are you going to do to stand out from the crowd? Your readers will come to you because they’ve got questions, confusion, and all manner of pain points. But that’s good news, really. It means you’ve got your work cut out for you. Your goal? To create a resource that’s as valuable as possible by being as helpful as possible. Incidentally, helpfulness is one thing that Google looks for when determining SERPs. (The Search Evaluator Guidelines mention helpful content 19 times.) Is a Real Estate Blog YMYL Content? One more thing to consider before you start writing real estate blog articles is whether your real estate blog falls under the YMYL category. YMYL stands for Your Money or Your Life. It’s Google’s shorthand for content that may impact a person’s health, wealth, happiness, or life quality. This content is subject to special quality rating requirements to ensure that only the absolute best content makes it high in the SERPs. In Section 2.3, Google lists all categories that fall under YMYL. While most things are obvious – financial blogs, medical advice, etc. – real estate isn’t explicitly mentioned as a YMYL topic. Nonetheless, the guidelines do note that “housing information” qualifies as YMYL when it may impact a person’s happiness or financial stability. In other words, you may have some real estate blog articles that count as YMYL and others that don’t. When in doubt, always ask yourself: can this information impact a reader’s health, wealth, happiness, or financial stability? If you think the answer might be yes, make sure you’re serving up the very highest quality content for your readers to E-A-T. Not every site needs to adhere to YMYL, but all content should strive to satisfy EAT. [bctt tweet=”Before writing real estate blogs, consider: Will your content fall under Google’s YMYL category? ? This content is subject to special quality rating requirements so only the best content makes it high in the SERPs. ? Tread carefully.” username=””] How to Write Real Estate Blog Articles That Inspire Confidence Writing expert real estate copy takes a lot of skill. Not only do you need to know your industry and your local area, but you need to find a way to stand out from your competitors who may also be publishing blogs of their own. Here are five things that you can do when writing real estate blog articles to help catch the eye of current and future home buyers or sellers. 1. The Problem-Solution Formula Shines with Real Estate Blogs Few things in life inspire more questions than buying or selling a home. That’s great for writing a real estate blog because you’ll have no shortage of topic ideas. Strive to make your blog as useful as possible by providing valuable content that answers questions or solves problems. To get started, I recommend spending some time brainstorming the most common questions or problems that your current and potential clients have. Then, use the problem-solution or question-answer formula to structure the content of your posts. It looks like this: 2. Get Down with Local SEO for Real Estate Targeting Ever walked by a bench at a bus stop and see an ad for a real estate agent? That agent likely works in that immediate neighborhood and knows it well. Local SEO is the digital equivalent of that park bench. It lets you target a very specific area to attract clients who are looking at the neighborhoods you know and sell (or buy) within. You can harness the power of local SEO through a number of different ways: Create a Google My Business If you’ve got a formal office, create a Google My Business account, and get it listed. Create content around local news stories. Did something newsworthy happen in your neighborhoods? Blog about it! Optimize for “near me” searches. Include your location prominently on your site. That’ll help it bubble to the top when users do local searches. Got SEO writing questions? Check out my 20+ page ebook, The SEO Content Writer’s Cheat Sheet, to brush up your skills. ? 3. Play Up Your Real Estate Blog Content Differentiation Factor In my book Practical Content Strategy & Marketing, I introduce a concept known as the Content Differentiation Factor, or CDF. I define this as the thing – the perspective, angle, or unique voice – that helps your content stand out from your competition. Your … Read more

Why Your Niche Marketing Strategy Needs to Be About Your Content Differentiation Factor

November 11, 2022December 1, 2020 by Julia McCoy

Question: Does a niche marketing strategy still work today? Answer: Yes, but not in the way it used to. To understand what I mean, imagine this. It’s Friday night, and you’ve just completed an exhausting week of work. You’re so ready to chill. But right now, you’re hungry. But since you’re also tired, the idea of going home to cook something from scratch in your kitchen is appalling. So, you decide to eat out. As you stand on the sidewalk, you notice two restaurants side by side. One serves fast food. The other serves delicious vegan-friendly dishes. Now, let’s say you’re: A vegetarian An animal lover A person who doesn’t mind spending for quality food Which restaurant would you pick? That’s right, you’d go for restaurant #2. As you walk inside, you notice all kinds of people. Koreans, African Americans, Indians. You notice young couples, elderly people, and hurried businessmen. (Or, maybe you’re in the long drive-thru line — and you notice all the people in the cars around you, or coming out of the restaurant with their to-go bags neatly packed under their arms.) Why did these people choose to dine in the same restaurant as you? For sure, it’s not because you share the same demographic. You’re not all the same age, color, and race. It’s because the restaurant’s unique differentiation factor called out to your needs and beliefs. So yes, niche marketing strategy still works today. But the term “niche” should no longer be about a certain age, race, or gender group. Instead, it should be about your content differentiation factor, and how it speaks to your audience, no matter where or how old they are. Let’s dig deeper. Niche Marketing Strategy: It’s No Longer About Age, Gender, and Race If you ask a ton of marketers today how you should go about promoting your brand, they’ll likely tell you an overblown, outdated lie: “Find your niche.” And you’ll likely believe them, go to Google Analytics, and find out how old your audience is. Or where they live, and whether they’re male or female. If you find out that five of your audience members are women in their 20’s who live in Chicago, you’ll then go ahead and address all your marketing materials to them. The problem is, you’re leaving out a ton of people who could benefit from what you’re offering. According to Jeff Goins, the world has changed. We’re connected in ways never dreamed of in the past. Source: fizzle.co Which means, your audience can be anywhere. They can be high schoolers, savvy entrepreneurs, or work-from-home moms. They can be Irish, Canadian, Japanese, or Filipino. What ties them together is the same thing that tied diners at the fancy keto place together: what you offer, and how that can help them. When you present this to them in written words, you’re expressing your content differentiation factor. The Express Writers’ Story: How Breaking the Old-Fashioned Niche Marketing Strategy Made Success Possible If you’ve taken a freelance writing course, you’re familiar with this outdated statement: “Hyper-specialize, or you’ll never enjoy success.” To follow this advice, you need to pick one writing niche. For instance, email writing. Then, zero in on your potential clients. Let’s say it’s plumbers in Chicago. When you build your website, you’ll craft a headline like, “Email writer for plumbers in Chicago.” And that’s OK. Maybe one or two Chicago plumbers will need a bunch of emails written for them. But honestly, you’re limiting yourself and potential clients who NEED your services. At Express Writers, we do the opposite. Source: expresswriters.com We offer blogs, video scripts, white papers, ad copy, social media posts, and every type of content needed for a content marketing campaign… …to anyone in the world who needs it. So far, we’ve written for dog breeders in Canada, chiropractors and dentists in the U.S., marketers in England, and more! You can be anyone, anywhere in the world, and still order great content from us. The only “niche” you need to fit? The belief is that great content will do wonders for your brand. That’s it. And trust me, this open-bordered niche marketing strategy has led Express Writers from a tiny $75 startup to a thriving brand worth $5 million. Imagine what we would have been if we narrowed it down to “emails for 40-year-old lawyers in Austin, Texas.” How to Find Your Own Content Differentiation Factor Your CDF (content differentiation factor) is different from your USP (unique selling proposition). While your USP is what makes you different from your competitors… …your CDF is the unique way your present your brand. For example, take the keto restaurant in the introduction. Its USP: Delicious, keto-friendly food. Its CDF: Keto-friendly meals don’t have to be messy, time-consuming, and bland; we’ll create delicious, unique, healthy dishes for you as you relax and listen to soothing music. So, how do you find your own content differentiation factor? Here are three steps to follow. 1. Forget About Your Products or Services I know, products or services are the main reason your brand exists. But when finding your content differentiation factor, you need to set them in the background. Instead, think of how you’ll solve your audience’s problems in a unique way. Show them you’ll serve them better than your competitors. For instance, other keto-friendly restaurants already offer 100% organic ingredients. You can do the same, PLUS promise food that tastes better than the fried chicken at your customers’ favorite fast food chain. 2. Focus on Your Audience Sit down for a moment and step into your audience’s shoes. Imagine them. They believe in eating healthy. They believe in boycotting animal-based products. They’re exhausted from a long, busy workweek. They love delicious food. Trying new dishes and flavors excites them. Notice: it’s not about their age, background, race, or political affiliations. It’s about who they are, what they believe in, and how you can serve them. 3. Skip the Features, Focus on the Benefits Yes, you could … Read more