Content Marketing - Express Writers

How a Content-First Design Improves Your Website UX

August 2, 2022 by Alicia Oakley

88% of online shoppers reported that they wouldn’t return to a website if they previously had a bad user experience. Yet only 55% of companies currently conduct user experience testing on their sites. You may not realize it, but user experience could make or break your website. Meanwhile, many companies fail to see if their sites function properly and are easy to use. Without testing, your website could unintentionally be scaring away tons of potential customers. So, what’s the secret to creating a website that people want to visit and explore? You implement a content-first design that allows the high-quality content you create to be the focus. But wait! What exactly is a content-first design? And why is that so important to the overall experience your website offers to its users? That’s what we’re sharing in this post. What is a Content-First Design? A content-first design is one that prioritizes the content hosted on a website. Instead of designing and building a website and then filling it with content, you need to determine what kind of content the site will feature beforehand. Then, you shape the web design around that. This is beyond just thinking about a generic blog post. You’ll want to consider things like the photos on your site, whether or not you’ll use charts or tables, and even if you’ll embed videos. When designing your site, you’ll want to consider all of these types of content. Think about it like building a house. You aren’t going to start building the house without first knowing how many rooms it’ll contain and where each one will go. You’d map out the interior before you begin building. Think of your content as the interior and the beautiful web design as the exterior. When you focus on the content first, you ensure your message is effective and can stand on its own. The design is merely complementary. Whereas, if you opt to design your website before considering your content, you could wind up spending extra resources redesigning various web pages to work with your content. You may even find yourself making changes to your content to accommodate a design you already have. And, in doing so, you compromise the quality of your content. How a Content-First Design Improves Your Website UX Armed with a better understanding of content-first design, you may still be wondering how this is helpful. Well, there are a few reasons why prioritizing your content will improve the overall user experience a visitor has when exploring your site. Here are a few: 1. People Are Visiting Your Site for the Content Anyway The content you’ve created is why people are accessing your site in the first place. They clicked a link and opened your web page because of the promise of valuable content. They may have come across you via a Google search because you carefully used keywords in your blog post so you’d rank higher in an effort to attract readers. Or maybe they found you via social media and clicked a link to read your latest blog. However they found you, they went to your site to consume the content you worked hard to create. They aren’t there to admire your stunning site design. They’re on your site to be informed, learn, or maybe even for entertainment purposes. So, if a user is accessing your site specifically to enjoy your content, shouldn’t that be enough to make it your number one priority? When you direct your attention to the reason people visit your site, you can ensure the whole experience is enjoyable. Take a moment and pull up your own site to check out your latest piece of content. Is the experience a positive one? Or could improvements be made? If you can’t be impartial, ask someone to give you honest feedback so you can fix any issues you may have. 2. Your Website and Content Will Work Perfectly Together As mentioned above, you don’t want to design your website only to find out later that your content doesn’t fit. If this happens, you’ll wind up spending additional resources, like time and money, to redesign elements of your site. That’s simply not practical. Nor do you want your content to suffer because you had to make it work with an existing design that isn’t cutting it. Creating a powerful user experience with a content-first design means the elements should complement each other. Done right, your site will be a joy for visitors to explore. They’ll be able to easily navigate your site, effortlessly finding what they’re looking for. They’ll be able to read landing pages, fill out forms, and make purchases with zero hassle. 3. It’s a Reminder to Prioritize Accessibility When you focus on a content-first design, you’re reminded to make sure everything you publish is accessible to all visitors. Sometimes this gets overlooked because we forget that not everyone has the same abilities as we do. People who have vision or hearing impairments may visit your website and be unable to consume your content if you haven’t taken the proper steps to ensure accessibility. To do this, test if a screen reader can read your latest blog post aloud. Add transcripts for audio files and include captions on videos. Taking these extra steps goes a long way in showing your site visitors that you care. Plus, it gives them a reason to keep coming back in the future. 4. It’ll Help Your SEO in the Long Run Google doesn’t just consider your content when its algorithms decide where you’ll rank in the search results. Your web design is a factor, too. Having an SEO-friendly website is crucial because Google doesn’t want to send its searchers to poorly designed, difficult to navigate, or slow-to-load sites. And, don’t forget that it should be mobile-friendly too. A great web design built around your content will be beneficial in increasing organic traffic. Creating Your Content-First Design Now, the question is how do you create a content-first design? It might sound overwhelming at … Read more

Agile Marketing: What It Is and How to Get Started Right Away

July 26, 2022 by Adam Oakley

No company wants to be left in the dust by their competition. That’s why it’s important to prioritize things like flexibility and speed. You need to be able to handle any abrupt changes that arise, make decisions quickly, and then act accordingly. It’s essential to be willing to pivot when necessary. With that in mind, it’s no wonder so many people turn to agile marketing in an effort to be more innovative and stay relevant in a saturated niche. In fact, 51% of marketers surveyed said they used at least some aspects of an agile marketing approach in their work. That includes things like working in sprints. But what exactly does all that mean? In this article, you’ll learn what agile marketing is and how you can begin implementing it within your organization to create massive success. Let’s dive in! What is Agile Marketing? If you’re a small business owner or marketer, you’ve probably heard of agile marketing. It is a strategic approach largely focused on the ability to execute projects quickly. This type of marketing relies on rapid experimentation to help you find the best ways to reach your audience and drive results in business. Tasks that previously took months to complete can now be accomplished in just weeks. This is done by implementing a work schedule featuring short sprints, or bursts, when working to achieve goals. These sprints are short periods of time with intensive work to get things done quickly. It’s unlike traditional marketing, which typically requires large budgets and elaborate plans that take months to fully implement. With this approach, you constantly test new ideas and have the ability to tweak your strategy according to what’s performing the best at the moment. Then, once you’ve found something that works, you can build a full-fledged campaign. The best part of agile marketing is that you don’t really need any specific tools or software. You just need the right mindset to implement the appropriate strategies and the drive to keep pushing forward. Those qualities are crucial to keeping up in today’s fast-paced market. You can read the Agile Marketing Manifesto if you’d like to learn more. The Benefits of Going Agile in Your Business Whenever the idea to try something new in business arises, hesitation often follows. Will this really be worthwhile to pursue? Will you see a return on your investment or will it be a major flop? Truthfully, you never know until you try. However, there are some great reasons to give agile marketing a go if it sounds appealing to you thus far. Here are some benefits you can expect: Increased Efficiency:Working in sprints prevents projects from being unnecessarily drawn out for months. After all, if you give yourself months to complete something, that can be how long it’ll take. Give yourself a couple of weeks to accomplish the same task, and you’ll be more likely to make it happen. Boost in Innovation:By implementing this approach to marketing, you’ll get feedback sooner rather than later. This will allow you to act on that data at lightning speed, meaning you can make changes to your strategy quickly and effectively to drive your desired results. More Business Growth: When you’re dedicated to your work and focused on efficiency, growth at a rapid rate is more likely. Before you know it, you’ll have generated more brand awareness, you’ll see more engagement, and your sales will skyrocket. These benefits show just how powerful this approach can be, which is perfect if you need help getting your team on board and eliminating any skepticism they may have. How to Get Started with Agile Marketing Although agile marketing has been around for some time, it’s still a relatively new concept for many businesses. Not only that, but those that have adopted this approach have done so in different ways. That’s because there isn’t one set process to follow. It’s more about having the right mindset and implementing the practices that work best for you. There are a few methods you can use to get started. 1. First and Foremost, You Have to Set Your Goals Before you begin pondering the strategy you’ll implement, you need to understand exactly what you want to achieve from your marketing efforts. Knowing your goals means you can take action accordingly, pursuing the things that will get you closer to where you want to be. So, what results do you want your marketing to produce? Do you want more website traffic or to increase your social media following? Are you hoping to generate more leads per month? Do you have a specific sales goal you’re trying to hit? It all depends on your business focus at this moment. Take some time to figure that out so you can map your work sprints accordingly. 2. Decide Which Elements of Agile Marketing Make Sense for You Because there are different ways to go about agile marketing, you get to decide what this approach looks like for you and your team. Remember that it’s all about flexibility. That’s why there’s no such thing as a rigid framework you need to follow to create success. You can do what’s best for you. With that said, there are two main ways to implement agile marketing for your team. They’re known as Scrum and Kanban. Scrum revolves around sprints that last anywhere from two to six weeks. There will also be dedicated team members, such as the Scrum Master, to ensure everyone stays on track. Plus, you’ll incorporate meetings for planning, stand-up (daily 15-minute check-ins), and reviewing the work you’ve accomplished. But if your team finds it challenging to follow a predetermined timeline for a sprint, there’s Kanban. This approach is a bit more visual when mapping out the structure for your team’s workflow. There will be a board that displays tasks to complete, tasks that are being worked on, and tasks that have been completed. Boundaries will be put in place to outline how team members will accomplish tasks. And of course, regular … Read more

Content as a Service: Everything You Wanted to Know

July 19, 2022 by Korilynn V.

Did you know that 82% of marketers actively use content marketing? That’s because brands see the value of consistently publishing quality content for their audiences to consume. Investing time and money into content and doing it well is essential because your audience often seeks content that educates or informs. You can also use content to build thought leadership. And most importantly, it can convert someone into a paying customer. So, it only makes sense to apply your resources toward content marketing. To provide their audience with the right content, at the right time, and via the right channels, many brands turn to content as a service to truly transform their overall content strategy. But what exactly is content as a service? If you’re not sure what that means or the benefits this practice offers, you’re in the right place. This article will help you get started. What is Content as a Service? Content as a service, often abbreviated to CaaS, is a way for you to provide content on-demand to your audience. It works by storing the content you’ve produced as raw data in a content repository. When uploaded, it’ll have tags and metadata to categorize it. Then, when the content is needed, it’s requested and displayed to your reader. And that content will be presented in a way that’s optimized for the reader’s device, whether it’s a computer, tablet, smartphone, or smartwatch. It can even factor in systems such as websites and apps. Something like this isn’t possible with a single CMS (content management system). If you wanted to publish the same piece of content on another channel, you need to duplicate it. With content as a service, however, it’s basically like a headless CMS. It offers the ability to deliver content to multiple channels by using an application programming interface (API). These days, offering an omnichannel experience (where you’re focused on serving and selling to customers across multiple channels) is essential. You should aim to reach your target audience where they’re at. And that’s why content as a service has become a popular move for many, as it allows effective management and repurposing of content across various channels. The Benefits of Content as a Service It all sounds appealing, right? Before you turn your content strategy upside down, you’re probably wondering how content as a service might benefit you. Since you know the time and money it requires, you need to know that making this move will be a worthwhile investment. Here are just a few of the benefits that’ll make CaaS more enticing: It Offers More Flexibility:Wouldn’t it be nice to create a piece of content once and publish it everywhere without manually republishing it across multiple platforms? That’s what content as a service does for you. This will save you time since it won’t require additional effort while your content gains more traction across various channels. You’ll Gain Better Insight into Content Performance:When it comes to your content strategy, you need to know what works and what doesn’t to generate the desired results. Implementing this practice will help you better understand the content your audience is most interested in so you can create more of what they’re searching for. Content Can be Personalized to Your Audience: With more insights into your audience, you can tailor your content based on their demographics and interests. Then you deliver exactly what they’re searching for at the right moment. Personalized content is a great way to increase loyalty and drive conversions, so it pays off in the long run. At the end of the day, you need to consider how this would impact your target audience. Is implementing content as a service going to improve their lives? Will it help provide a more user-friendly experience that’ll keep them coming back for more? How to Implement Content as a Service for Your Brand If you’re ready to switch to a more content-centric approach and want to implement content as a service, we need to discuss how to get started. Simply follow this advice to get the ball rolling. 1. Understand the Content Needs of Your Audience Before you begin writing content, research your target audience if you haven’t already. Having a clear understanding of what your audience is searching for when opening Google will allow you to brainstorm relevant content ideas. It’s crucial that you create the content they’re looking for, or your content will go largely unnoticed. To get in front of your target audience, you must give them what they need. This means you want to be strategic about your focus keywords and how those keywords are used within your content. It’ll increase the odds of ranking high in Google’s search results, ultimately attracting more people to your brand. Because if no one is accessing your content, the advice that follows will be useless. Once you’ve generated some relevant ideas, you can begin writing. You can do this in-house if you have a skilled content creator on your team. Or you might want to consider outsourcing your content creation to a team of expert writers (more on that in a moment). 2. Determine How the Content Will be Made Available First, you’ll need a content management user interface to host all your content in one place. There’s no need to worry about formatting or anything like that. Instead, you just want to focus on uploading your best content and tagging it with the appropriate metadata so it can be properly categorized. This will make it easier to access the content later. But as mentioned before, you won’t be solely relying on a traditional CMS (such as WordPress) when pursuing content as a service. Instead, you’ll be utilizing an application programming interface, also known as an API. This is commonly done with a REST API, but there are other options. It’s the API that will take your content and present it in whatever way is requested by your reader. That could be your desktop website, mobile website, or app. An API could … Read more

What You Need to Know About Hiring Top-Notch Financial Content Writers

June 28, 2022June 21, 2022 by Adam Oakley

The internet is the world’s directory for products and services. Whether you need to order groceries, find a dog walking service, or locate a home repairman, a quick online search enables you to compare options and make a decision. One of the best ways to inform potential customers about your services is to produce online content attracting them to your website. Sheer content production alone, though, won’t continuously draw new customers to your business. Instead, effective new content—blogs, business services pages, product reviews—is paired with search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to get your content to the top of a consumer’s search results. Producing content for financial services providers or product sellers is no different. Consumers seeking to establish a new relationship with financial services providers, such as investment or wealth management, retirement planning, or financial planning advice desire an experienced company they can trust. Outsourcing your financial content writing to an experienced writing agency saves your business time, effort, and expense while increasing your market share and customer reach. Why Hire an Online Content Writer? Customers use online content to learn more about a company’s product or service before buying it. But what is “online content”? Everything from your business’s “About Us” webpage to your staff listing and product descriptions is valuable real estate. In an economy where 85% of customers find local businesses online, a strong internet presence is a must. Creating your online content optimized for online web search requires a trained in-house marketing staff familiar with SEO strategies meant to attract new and repeat customers. However, depending on the size of your business, this may not be feasible. Even if you have an in-house staff, budget constraints may limit the resources your in-house marketers can devote to content creation. Outsourcing content creation is beneficial to creating superior, typo-free, and relevant search-engine-optimized content. Perhaps this is why as much as 84% of business-to-business marketers and business-to-consumer owners outsource content writing. What is SEO? An effective writing service provider implements search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. Put simply, SEO is the process taken to get a website placed higher in the results provided by an online search engine (usually Google). You can consider SEO to be the free analog to paid advertising. For example, you can pay to have Google provide your website when a potential customer searches for specific keywords. On the other hand, you could optimize your website so that search engines such as Google place it higher on the list of results when a potential customer searches. Consider a blog comparing different types of retirement accounts. The most common are 401(k) accounts and Roth IRA accounts. If someone were searching for the differences between the two accounts, they’re likely looking for applicable income limits, contribution maximums, and investment strategies. If anyone were to find your blog, it would need to outrank other websites comparing these retirement accounts. Using SEO can pull you up in rankings. But SEO isn’t only about strategic keyword placement. It’s also about content and design. Writing Effective Content To make outsourcing your content creation effective, the content must be high quality. A high-quality blog will not only include relevant keywords, but it will also provide a solution to whatever problem it is that readers endeavored to solve. The longer your audience engages with your content, the more favorable the ranking by the search engine. Search engines also emphasize intent: Why did this individual search for this string of terms? Do they want to know how to do something? Are they looking to make a purchase? When your writer understands the target audience, they write more interesting and engaging content. Using Effective Keywords The keywords you choose will drive potential customers to your website. The particular keywords you target aim to attract different audience segments to your site. Imagine that you sell investment management services for clients able to invest at minimum $25,000. Ranking for a keyword like “cheap investment advice,” for instance, might garner thousands of clicks per month. But who would these clicks come from? People who might not have $25,000 to invest! Keyword selection matters because you need to choose specific words that naturally occur to your audience. Hiring a Content Writer in Your Field Consistently publishing online content keeps your business relevant to consumers. For example, an error-free blog written on timely topics adds credibility and authority to your services. When this content pairs with SEO strategies, you make it more likely that consumers or businesses see your posts. Outsourcing financial content writing will benefit your business in the following ways: 1. You can focus on your business. Some small businesses consist of a handful of trusted and capable employees. Mid-sized businesses may have an in-house marketing department dedicated to reaching new consumers. In either situation—and all of those between—outsourcing content creation saves time. Take a 1000-word blog explaining the difference between a certified financial planner (CFP) and an investment broker. While a relatively uncomplex topic, a thoroughly researched and well-written end product requires hours of sourcing and drafting. A content editor would need to review the first draft, while a manager would need to approve the product before posting online. Posting a high-quality blog would require at least two to three levels of review, taking multiple employees away from other tasks. When you outsource content creation instead, you allow yourself to focus on the business of running your business. 2. You keep costs down. Employing a team of in-house marketing strategists is beneficial for businesses with a steady revenue stream capable of supporting multiple salaries. These marketing strategists provide a return on investment by building your client base and brand awareness and developing goodwill and identification in your sector. But what if you could achieve all of these benefits without paying numerous salaries? Not to mention the additional employment taxes, employee benefits, and social security payments that you save on. When you outsource your content creation, you only pay for the final deliverable—your new content. No need to … Read more

5 Reasons to Hire a High-Quality Legal Content Writer

June 28, 2022June 14, 2022 by Gary Stroschein

Copywriting strategy to have high quality content

Recent legal industry reports highlight the power of legal content writing as 57% of surveyed respondents indicate they found their lawyer through an online search engine. This compares with 59% who found their lawyer through a referral source. This data shows law firms and legal professionals need a balanced approach to their marketing efforts and hiring a legal content writer can be an effective way to support the online marketing side of those efforts. No matter your practice area, firm size, or content publishing frequency, we break down some of the main benefits of hiring a legal content writer and how they can elevate your business by saving you time and money. Why You Need a Skilled Content Writer for Marketing Your Law Firm or Legal Service Business Several reasons support the decision to hire a quality legal content writer for your law firm, legal technology company, or other legal service business. We discuss those reasons in more detail within the next section. But first, some key context for why content writing is fundamental to your law firm’s future success in today’s market. Before the internet, lawyers and law firms heavily relied on word-of-mouth referrals from colleagues or current clients to attract new business. While that marketing source is still important, the internet offers those in need of legal services a new method for finding trusted experts to solve their legal problems. Your potential clients are increasingly likely to shop for a law firm on the internet and through other social media platforms no differently than they would for other products or services. In fact, potential clients are likely to vet your online presence even if a trusted referral source recommended you. Both short and long-form content is useful in executing a complete marketing strategy and can include, amongst others, the following types of content: Blog posts on your firm or substantive legal industry topics Practice area webpages Attorney bios White papers, industry guides, etc. Social media posts Emails and newsletters The shift in how people access legal markets means a couple of things for your law practice. One is that you need an online presence that gives prospective clients an opportunity to find you. However, a mere presence is not enough. Your online profile must effectively speak to two audiences. The first audience is your potential client’s search engine (e.g., Google, Firefox, etc.) which acts as a gatekeeper through how it ranks and presents your online profile through different queries. The second audience is the potential client who, after finding your profile, requires convincing that you are the right candidate for the job. Both audiences need regularly updated content that demonstrates your expertise and differentiates you from other market choices in the here and now. The 5 Reasons Your Law Firm Can Benefit from a Legal Content Writer As explained above, our business reputations increasingly exist via websites and other internet platforms. Providing information and thought leadership about your firm and your practice is essential to client development. However, using a legal content writer can provide significant cost and time savings compared with a do-it-yourself approach or using a non-legal specific marketing writer. You Can Focus More Attention on Your Legal Practice Law firms that don’t rely on a legal content writer for developing thought pieces and blog posts often depend on their attorneys to craft content. They may do this to save costs and because they know their attorneys have the industry knowledge (unlike generic marketing services that may lack the skillset to adequately write on a topic). While this practice may save you marketing expenses in the short term, it may also cut into your opportunities for generating revenue. Your law firm’s attorneys likely bill at an hourly rate. The time they must dedicate to drafting content for your website is time they could otherwise spend on billing to client matters, likely at a rate higher than what you would save on the cost of hiring a legal content writer. Optimize Your Legal Marketing Efforts for the Average Legal Consumer Aside from the revenue-cost analysis benefit, your attorneys’ style of writing also might not translate well to high-quality content built for attracting an online audience and ranking on search engines. For good reason, attorney writing is different from legal content writing. It requires precise use of technical jargon and restatements of law built for audiences of judges, opposing counsels, governments, regulatory bodies, and other sophisticated parties in a formal setting. In comparison, your legal content writing should still relay accurate information about legal issues but do it in a way that makes the knowledge accessible to the average reader or target audience. The benefit of a legal content writer is their ability to distill legal information and reframe that knowledge in a way that connects you to potential clients. Legal Content Writers Establish Credibility and Trust with Your Potential Clients and Referral Sources Legal content writing is about building credibility and trust within your community and leveraging that community to expand your market through their web of connections. Building credibility within your personal and professional relationships takes time. And traditional marketing methods can only extend so far due to your time constraints (e.g., meet and greet events, volunteering, attending conferences, speaking engagements, etc.). Legal professionals are also acutely aware of how their business often depends on the depth and breadth of their relationships with people. In the context of legal services, this largely centers around providing high-quality, effective work products (the main reason why referrals from current and former clients are so critical). However, the opportunity to showcase the quality of your legal services requires an initial investment of time and rapport building with your network, which includes the likes of: Family and friends The public Fellow colleagues (i.e., other lawyers and legal professionals) Other professional service providers (e.g., CPAs, financial advisors, insurance representatives, real estate agents, doctors, social workers, etc.) Legal content marketing gives you a platform to maintain contact and gradually strengthen the trust … Read more

11 Content Marketing Trends to Keep An Eye On in 2022

May 19, 2023June 7, 2022 by Adam Oakley

Content marketing is a wildly competitive arena, that’s why brands need to implement strategies that will allow them to stand out from the crowd. Brands need to do whatever it takes to remain relevant and get in front of the right audience. However, when you consider that the content marketing industry is forever evolving, this can sometimes feel like an uphill battle. You don’t want to invest time and money in the wrong places. Luckily, content marketing doesn’t have to be a guessing game. You can better map out your strategy for the year ahead when you consider top content marketing trends and begin incorporating them. Why It’s Important to Monitor Content Marketing Trends Before we dive into the top content marketing trends of 2022, you might be wondering if following what’s trending is worth it. While it’s smart to focus on implementing the strategies you know are effective for your brand, it’s also important to experiment. Being open to trying new things could help you discover other clever tactics for getting your brand out into the world. Here are a few reasons why you want to be aware of the trends: It Tells You What’s Happening in the Industry: Don’t ignore what’s happening in your industry, or you’ll quickly fall behind your competitors. It’s better to be aware of the directions of trends so you can adapt your strategy accordingly. Your Content Marketing Strategy Won’t Get Stale: Doing the same old thing all the time will get boring fast, for both you and your audience. If you’re looking to freshen things up, try experimenting with a new idea. It’ll be exciting to create something different and will give your audience fresh content to enjoy. Then, you can see what resonates most with them. It Could Help You Reach a Whole New Audience: Introducing a new medium to your content marketing strategy (like podcasting when you’ve strictly published blogs) can help you reach a much wider audience. You’ll generate more brand awareness that could lead to massive success. 11 Content Marketing Trends to Keep an Eye On in 2022 For 2022, 66% of marketers expected to increase their content marketing budget compared to 2021. Especially since content marketing is a powerful way to reach your target audience, drive conversions, and grow your business. But to use it effectively, you need to know where to direct your attention. Here are 11 content marketing trends to watch this year: 1. Greater Focus on Value-Driven Content When it comes to your inbound strategy, value-driven content is where it’s at. People are more receptive to content when there’s something in it for them versus when you’re focused on pitching an offering. That’s a turn-off that will send people running from your website. Now more than ever, being of service to your audience is essential. Instead of thinking about what’s in it for you, think about how you can provide readers, viewers, and listeners with content they’ll genuinely enjoy. To do this, create content on topics that will resonate with your target audience. Focus on providing a solution to their biggest pain points. Then, provide tremendous value that will position you as an expert immediately. Show them that you’re knowledgeable on the topic at hand and establish trust. This is a long-term game, but you can reap major rewards. It’ll help you develop a strong connection with your audience, while you step into the role of a thought leader in your industry. 2. Short-Form Video is Getting Top Priority Mirroring the success of TikTok, Meta launched Instagram Reels in 2020 and then brought the feature to Facebook in 2021. All three of these options are focused on short-form video. TikTok allows users to create videos up to three minutes long, although it is also rolling out 10-minute videos. Meanwhile, Instagram and Facebook have kept videos limited to the one-minute mark. Considering both TikTok and Instagram Reels have seen great success, it’s no wonder many brands are jumping on board. TikTok hit one billion active users in September 2021, with creators using it to share entertaining videos, dances, pranks, and more. And since influencers see an engagement rate of nearly 18% (consistently higher than Instagram and YouTube), it seems to be paying off. Over on Instagram, Reels are showing a 22% higher engagement rate than regular videos. If you haven’t yet jumped on board with short-form video on one of these platforms, start thinking about it. Brands can share actionable tips and tricks, helpful advice, or even behind-the-scenes content to build relationships. All are great options to use these one-to-three-minute video platforms. 3. Podcasting is Still a Worthwhile Avenue In 2021, U.S. consumers reportedly listened to 15 billion hours of podcasts. This statistic shows that podcasting isn’t going away anytime soon. And with the introduction of platforms like Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces, brands have been sparked to incorporate audio into their content strategies. While Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces offer an easy way to get started with audio content, podcasting is for those ready to get serious about this medium. Podcasting allows you to build a house to store all your audio conversations, which is often preferable when you consider they’ll ultimately expire on Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces. With a podcast, your content can live on for a long time. Podcasting is a fantastic way to generate more awareness for your brand and position yourself as an authority in your field by sharing valuable content. Not only that, but 60% of podcast listeners said they searched for a product after hearing it mentioned in a podcast. So, you can use this to drive sales effectively for your brand’s products and services. 4. Content Audits Will Become a Necessity If you’re not already conducting regular audits of your content, you’re missing out. This is one of the content marketing trends you simply cannot avoid if you want to get the most bang for your buck from the work you’re publishing. Content audits allow you to do a … Read more

How to Set and Achieve Content Marketing Goals

August 28, 2022May 24, 2022 by Nicole Inge

Your business needs strategy and purpose behind every piece of content. That’s why it’s so important to set content marketing goals. With clear goals in mind, it’ll be easier to determine if your efforts in business are worthwhile before you spend too much time or money on them. Plus, it enables you to make adjustments when your strategy isn’t meeting expectations. But how do you set goals that are exciting to pursue? And how do you achieve them with ease? This blog shares some helpful tips to guide you in making your content marketing efforts more effective than ever. How to Set Content Marketing Goals Content marketing is a powerful and effective way to help you reach your business goals, whether those goals include generating brand awareness, increasing sales and revenue, or improving customer loyalty. However, many businesses go wrong when they create content simply for the sake of creating content. They then fail to make their content memorable, and it gets drowned out by competitors. Instead of publishing content without a purpose, you need to set specific and measurable content marketing goals if you want your ROI to skyrocket. Your content marketing goals should always be formulated around specific business objectives you’d like to achieve. Just follow the SMART goals framework. Determine your big picture goals and then map out how your content can make it happen. These goals should be relevant to your business and its vision. And they should be time-bound, with a plan to reach your goal within a set time period. Content Marketing Objectives That Matter in Business In business, there are a variety of content marketing goals you could pursue. They can be short-term and long-term goals. You might even set goals based on different stages of the customer journey. To help you come up with exciting goals to go after, here are a few suggestions: Brand Awareness: It’s important to raise awareness for your business and communicate what makes you different from your competitors. You can measure brand awareness through website traffic, social media following, email subscribers, and social listening. Website Traffic: Without generating traffic to your website, it can be difficult to increase sales. Tracking page views and traffic sources to see how people discover your business and the content you publish means you’re always on top of any changes. Conversions: Now, conversions can look like a few different things. For instance, you might want to convert more website visitors into email subscribers or convert them into paying customers. Both are great and will require you to measure the success of your landing pages to determine if they’re encouraging people to take that next step with your business. As an example, if you want to generate more brand awareness, you might set a goal to increase website traffic by 50% over the next quarter. To achieve that goal, you could commit to posting one or two new blog posts every week that are optimized to attract organic traffic. This goal is simple but effective. 6 Tips for Achieving Content Marketing Goals With Ease Once you’ve set some content marketing goals to achieve, you’ll need to figure out how to make them happen. Here’s some advice to help you reach your goals with ease to ensure your business thrives: 1. Create a Plan to Make Your Goals a Reality Once you know what you want to achieve, you may be tempted to dive right into the content creation process. However, you should first create a plan that clearly outlines the steps necessary for making your content marketing goals a reality. By taking the time to map out a strategy, you’ll know what kind of content you need to create, allowing you to move forward with purpose. Plus, you will have identified any other actions necessary to create your desired results in business. When creating this plan, consider any resources you will need. Who on your team will be involved? How much time and money will it require to complete tasks? You don’t want to overcommit or underestimate what can realistically be accomplished within your designated timeframe. 2. Assign Team Members to Goal-Related Tasks You’ll need to get your team on board to follow the plan you’ve mapped out. Let them know your goals and share the plan you’ve outlined. During this stage, give them the opportunity to share their own suggestions for achieving your goals. They may have ideas that hadn’t occurred to you before. This shows you value their opinions. Then, divide up the workload among all the team members involved in the project. Base their assigned tasks on their unique strengths and interests. Everyone gets the opportunity to shine, which makes work more enjoyable for them. Plus, they’re able to direct their attention to specific areas as opposed to managing an entire campaign from start to finish. 3. Set Up Tracking Tools to Measure Success As mentioned before, it’s important to set measurable content marketing goals. If a goal isn’t measurable, there will be no way to know if you’ve achieved it. It’s the difference between saying you want more website traffic versus saying you want to increase traffic by 50%. The latter is something you can track and see within your analytics. So, before you begin putting your plan into motion, make sure you have the necessary tools to measure your success over time. For instance, Google Analytics is a go-to for content creators and marketers. It allows you to measure website traffic, traffic sources, and more. Additionally, the built-in analytics that social media platforms offer can help on your journey to becoming a content marketing master. However, there may be some other tools you’d like to use as well. SEMrush is a favorite for SEO and competitor research. Yoast is popular for WordPress bloggers who want to optimize their content. And, of course, BuzzSumo is great for discovering the most popular content in your industry. Determine which tools are most important to you and factor them into your … Read more

What We Do to Craft Consistent Quality Content at Express Writers

June 28, 2022May 10, 2022 by Nicole Inge

If you want to rise to the top of Google’s search results and outshine your competitors, you need to consistently publish high-quality content. Sounds pretty easy, right? Well, not necessarily. Great content can’t be created with the push of a button. It takes hard work and dedication to choose relevant topics that will appeal to an audience and turn them into something people will want to read and share with their communities. But what are you supposed to do when you don’t have time to create content? What if writing isn’t one of your strong suits? If you find yourself in either of these situations, then it may be time to outsource your content creation to the experts like the Express Writers team. You might be wondering… How do we provide quality content at Express Writers? To give you a better understanding of how our team creates amazing content for our clients, we’re sharing a few ways we make that happen. But first, let’s talk about why high-quality content is so important for brands like yours. Why Quality Content is Crucial to Your Success Gone are the days of cold calling and other old-fashioned marketing techniques to grow your business. Right now, it’s all about content marketing that outperforms those dated methods. However, it’s not enough to show up online and put any old content out there. It needs to be high-quality content, or people will scroll past. With competitive markets, that’s something you simply can’t risk happening. Here’s why quality content matters: It Increases Visibility: It’s more difficult for people to discover your brand if you don’t put yourself out there online. By publishing search engine optimized content on your blog, you generate a ton of new traffic to your website because you’ll start ranking in the search results on Google. And consistently publishing posts on social media will also send new people your way. You need to attract an audience to your brand if you hope to convert them to paying clients and customers. It’ll Position You as an Authority in Your Field: When you share valuable content with your audience, it allows you to showcase your expertise. Over time, people will begin to see you as an authority in your field. You’ll become their go-to resource for whatever you offer. That’s a huge element of building the Know, Like, and Trust Factor with your audience. It’ll Boost Your Conversion Rate: Once you’ve established authority and trust through your content, people will be more inclined to buy from you. That’s because your audience will have developed a connection with you. They’ll see you as a dependable resource, and, therefore, a worthwhile investment. The more sales you bring in, the more money you make, and the more success you bring your brand. You’ll Stand Out From Your Competitors: Odds are, you have a number of competitors in your industry that you’re always up against. And you don’t want to lose potential clients to them. That’s why you should use your content to stand out and showcase what makes you unique. It attracts clients your way, boosting sales in the long run. The best part is that content marketing compounds over time. So, when done well, that means your content will continue to attract traffic and leads month after month. Even if you take a break. That’s because well-written, evergreen content will still be of interest to your audience well into the future. At the end of the day, there’s no better investment you can make for your business because the long-term payoff ensures you get the most bang for your buck. How We’re Able to Provide Quality Content at Express Writers Now that you see how important it is to put amazing content into the world, the next thing to do is start writing. However, not everyone is a natural writer. And that’s totally okay! If writing isn’t your strong suit, you can easily outsource it to a content agency like our team. We’ve made quality content our mission, and there are three key reasons we’re able to provide it to our clients. Our 5,000 clients and more than 40,000 completed projects since the company was founded in 2011 speak for themselves. Here’s how we make it happen: 1. We Hire Experienced Writers First and foremost, we pride ourselves on hiring experienced writers with the skills and knowledge to create amazing content that readers (and Google) will love. These people are passionate about writing and content creation. We’ve compiled a team of people who love the work they do. Many of our writers studied Communications or Journalism in school, while others have previous experience working as a freelance writer or writing for publications. It’s important to us that they have experience in the field because it ensures they can confidently step into the role and take on a wide array of projects from our diverse clientele. We also have three levels of writers, which helps us match them with the projects that are the best fit. Here’s a breakdown of what those writing levels look like: General: Our general writing level is for those who have minimal writing experience. This means it’s ideal for entry-level writers looking to get started. Plus, they can level up after some time in the role. The general writers on our team still have natural writing skills and easily provide quality content at Express Writers. Level 1: Those newer writers who have a few months to two years of experience fall in our Level 1 tier. These writers are still top-notch and can be counted on to produce quality content. They’re also eager to learn and grow, which we give them the opportunity to do. Level 2: To be placed in our Level 2 tier, writers need to have at least five years of content writing experience. Not only that, but they also need to have regular experience with larger volume assignments, a proven track record, and industry specialization. Some fields will require … Read more

Why Does Getting Content Right the First Time Matter?

June 29, 2022April 19, 2022 by Nicole Inge

Why does content matter? Publishing high-quality, valuable content is a huge element of any brand’s digital marketing strategy. If your content isn’t great, people won’t bother reading it. Nor will they be interested in visiting your blog in the future. Unfortunately, there are still some people that aren’t taking their content creation very seriously. To help you see why you need to get your content right the first time, we’re sharing why ranking in Google can be challenging (plus how they rank pages) and a few other advantages to publishing great content now. Why Ranking in Google Can be Hard According to Ahrefs, 90.63% of pages get no organic search traffic from Google. That means a lot of creators are missing out on tons of potential traffic getting sent their way each month. It’s essential to optimize your content and avoid ending up in this situation. If you aren’t sure how to properly optimize your content, you could accidentally implement some SEO tactics that Google isn’t fond of. For instance, keyword stuffing or adding junky backlinks. If you’re not an expert in SEO, this is when it’ll be smart to outsource the content creation and optimization to someone who knows best practices. How Google Ranks Pages To ensure search results deliver exactly what a user is looking for, Google designed an algorithm and system to rank content. There are tons of factors you’ll want to consider if you hope to land that coveted top spot on the first page of search results. Here are some of the things Google looks for when ranking pages: Relevance of Web Pages: Google’s algorithms will analyze a web page to assess the content it contains. If its content is deemed relevant to a user’s search, it will show up in the returned results. To determine relevance, Google looks for on-page keywords and other data. Quality of Content: Priority number one is delivering searchers quality content that pertains to their queries. Google’s systems identify which web pages show expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) on a specific topic. Usability of Web Pages: If your website isn’t easy to navigate, Google isn’t likely to send many visitors your way. Proper site functionality is necessary on both desktop and mobile, so make sure there aren’t any errors preventing people from browsing. So, why is content so important? Well, if you’re not publishing content, you’re not going to rank in Google’s search results. And if you’re not ranking in search results, it’s not likely people will find your website on their own. Why it’s Essential to Publish Great Content From the Start A strong content strategy isn’t just going to help you climb to the top of Google. There are also some other reasons why it’s essential to start publishing great content right away: 1. Content Educates Your Audience In many cases, we’re Googling topics that we want to learn more about. If you can provide all the information someone needs in a single post, readers are sure to be appreciative. Plus, they won’t be inclined to venture to your competitor’s website. Always strive to create great content with tons of valuable details because first impressions make a huge difference. 2. You’ll Become More Visible Online Showing up consistently by posting regular blog content is a sure-fire way to get noticed. The more optimized content you publish, the more blog posts you’ll have showing up in search results. This is a great way to drive traffic and boost awareness for your brand. Before you know it, people will see you as a go-to resource for your area of expertise. 3. It’ll Build Your Authority in Your Field When people see you as an authority in your field, they’ll be more inclined to consume all the content you publish. They’ll recommend you to their friends. And they’ll potentially purchase products and services you offer, thus generating more revenue. Trust Express Writers to Create Great Content Our team of skilled writers is ready to create optimized content that will get you noticed by Google and your readers. Instead of wrestling with SEO on your own, let our experts take over. Contact us if you have questions or visit our Content Shop to see our content offerings.

5 Benefits of Custom Content for Business

June 29, 2022April 12, 2022 by Alicia Oakley

According to HubSpot’s State of Inbound report, 80% of marketers feel content creation is a top priority. We have to agree. To stand out online, the best way to do that is through your content. While many marketers recognize the importance of great content, not everyone is in the same boat. Sometimes it takes some extra convincing to get people on board with the investment, for instance, those higher-ups on your team. For those who understand the value of content, we know it’s worth the commitment to show up consistently with irresistible blogs and social media posts. However, if you’re someone who needs a little extra convincing, this post shares the benefits of content for business. This way, you’ll see the value in content planning and creation. 5 Benefits of Content for Business Here are five benefits you can expect for your business when you get serious about content creation: 1. By Optimizing Content, You’ll Become More Visible Online It’s not enough to publish content on your blog. You need to take extra steps to optimize your content so you stand a better chance at ranking high in search results. When you rank on the first page, for example, you’re going to see a significant boost in traffic. That extra traffic will generate more awareness for your brand, meaning more people will know who you are and what you do. As people begin to see you and your content everywhere, they’ll be more inclined to purchase your products or services over a competitor. 2. Great Content Gives Your Audience a Reason to Come Back A key element of success is getting people to return time and time again. You don’t want them to visit your website, then leave and never return. Once your target audience discovers you through an initial piece of great content, they’ll want to keep coming back for more. Provide value and address their pain points, and you’ll soon become their go-to resource. 3. It’ll Help You Build Trust and Authority Building the Know, Like, and Trust Factor (also known as the KLT Factor) is an essential element in your success when growing an online business. People do business with those they trust. However, you can’t build trust without first helping your audience to get to know you and start liking you. And the best way to do that is through the content you share. Focus on publishing quality content around the topics that interest people in your target audience. In time, they’ll begin to see you know what you’re talking about, positioning you as an authority in your field. Trust builds from there because they’ll start to realize they can always count on you for reliable, informative content. 4. Content Can Lead to More Sales One of the benefits of content for business is that it can increase sales and profits. For instance, a simple call to action at the end of a blog post can lead potential buyers to check out your products and services. It’s easy to implement, but it can spark massive change within your business when revenue skyrockets. We even have a great case study from one of our past clients, Marketing Labs UK. After partnering with Express Writers, they boosted an agency client’s revenue by a 77% increase year-over-year. And it all stemmed from our team writing new product descriptions! 5. It’s an Affordable Way to Market Your Business If content creation isn’t your strong suit, there’s no need to worry. Outsourcing the writing to a skilled team lets you focus on other important tasks within your business. When you work with Express Writers, you get access to our vetted team of writers while netting savings in HR costs and employing writers. You can also save on advertising costs because people can find your business from organic searches rather than PPC campaigns. These searches bring in traffic without you having to lift a finger, simply delegate to an expert in your industry and let the writing do the work. Let Us Create Content for Your Business Inside our Content Shop, you’ll find all our available services, including blog posts and social media content. Those two content formats are essential to standing out online and attracting the right people your way. Get in touch with any questions and learn how we help with your content needs. Then visit the Content Shop to see how our expert writers can serve you.