Thought Leadership - Express Writers

How to Win with Zero-Click Search SEO Adaptation

July 22, 2025July 18, 2025 by Rachel Moffett

The rise of AI-powered search engines and zero-click results is reshaping the online space, forcing marketers and content strategists to rethink how they measure success. You’re not alone if your website traffic is dipping, but your conversions and on-site engagement are increasing. And you’re not doing anything wrong. That’s what you can expect in the era of zero-click search SEO adaptation. We’ll explore zero-click searches, why they matter, and how to optimize your content for this evolving search environment. We’ll also discuss why traditional metrics like click-through rates (CTR) are becoming less relevant and what marketers should focus on to stay competitive and drive meaningful results. Zero-Click Searches: Explained What are zero-click searches? Let’s break it down. Zero-click searches are queries answered directly on the search engine results page (SERP), so the user doesn’t need to click through to a website. Think of Google’s featured snippets and the AI-generated answers now populating the platform. These days, a majority of Google searches result in zero clicks. The data above shows that, in 2024, 58.5% of Google searches in the U.S. and 59.7% in Europe did not generate clicks. In other words, zero-click searches often mean users get their answers instantly, and usually don’t need to go further. It’s convenient for the user, but potentially frustrating for the publisher who invested in that content. Yet here’s the twist: this shift isn’t necessarily bad. It just requires a change in strategy. The New SEO Strategy: Adaptation Is a Must Traditional SEO focused heavily on driving clicks. There’s nothing wrong with still wanting to generate traffic. However, with AI-generated summaries and snippets giving users instant answers, we must adopt a new strategy: zero-click search SEO adaptation. This approach acknowledges that success can’t be measured solely by traffic volume anymore. Instead, it looks at other metrics to determine how your content is performing. This includes: Time on Page: How much time are they spending on a single page? Scroll Depth: Are they scrolling to the bottom of the page or stopping halfway? Conversion Rates: How many people convert by completing a form or purchasing? On-Site Engagement Metrics: How many people are engaging? How many are returning visitors? How many pages are being viewed per session? Why would we want to track these metrics? When traffic is low, we want to learn about the behavior of the users visiting your site. Those who click through are often further down the funnel. They’re more informed, curious, and ready to act. The Reality of Declining Top-of-Funnel Traffic With AI surfacing top-level queries right on the SERP, fewer users visit your website for basic information. Before you panic, it isn’t all bad news. This means your site may see: Lower traffic overall Higher engagement per visitor Lower bounce rates Higher conversion rates This isn’t a decline, necessarily. You’re reaching people who are further along in their decision-making process. As a result, you may see people exploring your website more or making purchases. Your Guide to Zero-Click Search SEO Adaptation How can you adapt your strategy to zero-click search optimization? Let’s break it down. Step 1: Restructure Your Content Strategy If most zero-click search results address the top-of-the-funnel questions, you need to invest more in middle and bottom-of-funnel content. The way to pivot is to create content for different search intents. For example: Top-level content (e.g., “What is X?”) should still exist but can be shorter, more concise, and optimized for AI or snippet capture. Middle-funnel content should answer comparative or evaluative questions like, “How does X compare to Y?” or “What features should I look for in X?” Bottom-funnel content should target purchase-related or decision-making keywords like “Best X for [use case],” “Where to buy X,” or “[Product] reviews.” It’s also smart to use a pillar-cluster model. Create pillar pages exploring high-level topics, then link to more focused cluster pages with specific keywords and subtopics. This helps AI and search engines understand the depth of your expertise. Step 2: Focus on Conversion-Ready Users Remember: not all traffic is created equal. One engaged, ready-to-buy user is worth more than 100 casual browsers. So, you’ll want to use on-page signals to nurture leads. You can do that by: Including clear calls-to-action (CTAs) based on visitor intent Offering downloads, checklists, or calculators to encourage engagement Embedding videos or interactive content to increase time on page Rather than focusing on impressions and CTR alone, you should start prioritizing: Engagement Rate: How many users engage with something on-page? Dwell Time: How long are they staying? Lead Conversion Rate: How many take the next step? These are the accurate indicators of content success in a zero-click world. Step 3: Make Peace with the AI Layer AI isn’t going away. It’s becoming the first touchpoint for many users. That means your top-level content isn’t wasted, but it’s being repurposed by AI to answer questions. That visibility still builds trust, even if you don’t get the click. For example, if your content is used in a featured snippet or quoted in an AI-generated summary, users may recognize your brand and return when ready to engage more deeply. To optimize for AI, try: Using clear headers and structured content Answering questions in the first few lines Writing with a natural, conversational tone Providing concise, factual, and trustworthy information Step 4: Reevaluate Your Keyword Strategy AI search is increasingly semantic and contextual, meaning it’s not just about matching keywords. It’s about understanding intent and creating your content with that in mind. Instead of stuffing the page with exact-match keywords repeatedly, try using variations naturally throughout the text so you don’t get penalized. Also, structure content in a way that answers a question, offers an opinion, or presents data. Let’s use this blog post as an example: Overusing the “zero-click search SEO adaptation” keyword would turn off Google and readers. So, it helps to use similar keywords such as “zero-click search” and “what are zero-click searches.” This post is also formatted with H2s and H3s, as well as bullet … Read more

How AI Content Creation Complements Human Writers but Doesn’t Replace Them

September 24, 2024 by Sarah Damron

You can buy mass-produced pens in stores for less than $1 each, yet people are still willing to spend $50+ for handcrafted pens. Even though technology offers ways to mass produce products, services, and content, audiences are still drawn to the magic of human craftsmanship. Even with the appeal of human-created products and services, content consumption will be led by AI, just not in the way most people expect. AI isn’t in competition with human writers but will instead help readers discover and consume content more efficiently, making the role of human writers even more crucial to the content-creation process. Here’s a look at one potential future of content consumption that combines human writers with AI content creation. What Does AI Not Do Before diving into the potential of AI, let’s step back a second and look over where AI falls short. AI Is Limited by Current Content AI does not create content out of thin air. It requires a starting point, prompt, and data to produce results. From the prompt, the AI content creator can scour its database to pull responses and generate content from that prompt. However, the content it creates is still limited by what information is available to the AI tool. As a result, AI struggles to produce original ideas. Human writers can pull new ideas and topics without being prompted. Human creativity and experience is enough inspiration to craft thought leadership. AI Does Not Have the Full Story AI follows patterns to deduce the next step. Think of it like the game of Clue. Throughout the game, you try to guess the primary suspect in the mystery. However, you only have part of the story. As people show you their cards, you get closer to narrowing down the suspect. AI works the same way. When you ask it a question, it can only provide an answer based on the cards in its hand. Sometimes, those cards are from unreliable, outdated, or biased sources, resulting in a biased or inaccurate AI tool. Human writers know when they only look at some of the cards and can take steps to discover the rest of the information before making claims. For instance, most journalists know that a front cover story of a gossip magazine does not equate to hard facts. Yet, most AI wouldn’t know the difference between an exaggerated human-interest story and a researched fact. AI Does Not Use Critical Thinking One of the most challenging parts of AI is its inability to use critical thinking. It cannot correct itself other than looking for variances in patterns. However, it misses small nuances in writing that might not match a usual or natural pattern. It also struggles with empathy. Humans can identify powerful opportunities to publish timely content or identify times to hold back on making statements that might be in bad taste. These are just three of the top reasons you cannot replace human writers with AI content creation. The Relationship between AI and Humans AI was never meant to shine in the creative arts. While many people demonstrate AI’s ability to write, create art, and compose music, this is not where AI was meant to be most effective. Placing AI in the role of people is like using a snow shovel to dig in your garden. Yes, a snow shovel may look like a garden shovel. It even digs like a garden shovel. Despite the similarities, a snow shovel was not built to dig dirt, and a garden shovel is highly ineffective at shoveling snow. Just because AI content generators can create content like people doesn’t mean that’s what you should use. Not when you have highly effective human writers that can infuse so much heart into content. You should also not throw out AI based on its ability to write any more than you should call a snow shovel useless because it can’t dig an effective hole in the garden. Instead, before incorporating or rejecting AI, you need to dive into what it was built for and its potential to transform how humans interact with content. How to Use AI for Content Creation without Removing Human Writers Let’s look at the future of content creation and how AI will play a valuable role in doing what it does best: analyzing and summarizing vast amounts of data. 1. AI Connects Audiences to Relevant Content Google has used AI for years, helping readers find the most relevant content. Its algorithm can identify subtle differences in searches and user behaviors to identify what each user would find most relevant. That’s how Google search pulls different search results for someone in Canada and someone in Florida looking for coffee shops near them. Google can also use its algorithm to understand what someone wants when they search for a driver. For instance, it can distinguish whether they mean someone who operates a vehicle, computer software, or golf equipment, based on past searches, user behavior, and context clues. Thanks to AI, marketers have search engine optimization and can create content that their audience might find. To take advantage of AI, writers should create optimized content that uses keywords, context clues, and relevant links to associated topics to help Google’s AI-powered algorithm match your content with an appropriate audience. 2. AI Summarizes Longform Content Have you ever sat in a meeting that took over an hour and left thinking, “That could have been a one-paragraph email?” That’s how some people feel when they’re looking for information online. Think about the last time you searched for a recipe online. Before seeing a list of ingredients, you had to read through paragraphs of the author’s backstory. You don’t have time for that. Many recipe authors understand that not everyone wants the backstory of their family’s famous green bean casserole. That’s why you can often find a button that allows you to jump straight to the recipe. While that button is not AI-run, Google offers a much more complex “jump to recipe” button. It … Read more

Have You Discovered Your Unique Content Differentiation Factor? Why It’s Harder than Ever for Brands to Be "Unique"

May 30, 2024May 30, 2024 by Adam Oakley

Being seen and heard on the web is getting harder every day. There are nearly 2 billion websites in existence… But a mere fraction of them receive any traffic (only about 400 million – 15-20% – are even active). Thousands of new websites are created daily. About 4 million new blog posts are published every 24 hours. The problem? Barely anyone will read them. The lion’s share of the traffic, clicks, and visits (and thus, the attention) will go to top contenders. These are the people, brands, businesses, and organizations that are making their voices rise above the heap. In the vast wasteland of the internet, these people have nailed their content differentiation factor and lean into it. They know how to make people sit up and listen (and/or click their links, read their content, and buy into whatever they may be selling). In a landscape of utter content saturation, where every topic under the sun, moon, and stars has been exhausted 20 times over… This is a big deal. Being unique enough to stand out online is everything. At the same time, it’s ridiculously hard. Let’s explore why standing out from the crowd is one of the most difficult parts of content marketing. Then, we’ll look at a few amazing brands killing it with their uniqueness and content differentiation factor. Finally, we’ll dive into some tips on how to discover your own uniqueness online. Go time. ?➡ Have You Discovered Your Unique Content Differentiation Factor? Why It’s Harder than Ever for Brands to Be “Unique” 2 More Reasons Why It’s Hard to Stand Out Online (And Why You Need a CDF) Content Shock Is Real Consumers Are Inundated with Information 3 Brands Killing It with Their Content Differentiation Factor Backlinko (Brian Dean) Spotify Tasty My Best Tips to Dig Deep and Find Your Content Differentiation Factor Step Away from Work and Go Internal Step Away from Work and Have More Conversations Your Content Differentiation Factor Is Key 2 More Reasons Why It’s Hard to Stand Out Online (And Why You Need a Content Differentiation Factor) Back in 2018, I came up with a concept called the Content Differentiation Factor. Basically, this concept comes down to asking yourself (or your client, your boss — whoever you’re managing the brand for) this question: “What separates our content from the rest of the content out there? What makes my brand different from all the others out there like me?” You have to have something truly different to stand out from the crowd (more on this and examples below). And you must spend time on this to figure it out before going full-force into content creation. (It’s worth it). A content differentiation factor is a key to standing out. But, first, you should know what you’re working against. 1. Content Shock Is Real Mark Schaefer’s classic, groundbreaking article on content shock explains why and how content marketing will reach a breaking point. As he explains, we have free content coming out of our ears on the internet. You can read blogs and articles on every topic that’s ever been studied, thought about, or questioned. The problem lies in supply/demand. There is more content in existence than any person can legitimately read in a lifetime – let alone their free time. So, to break away from the information overload and stand out, content marketers are paying to get their content seen. Of course, that’s not sustainable at all. Only those who separate themselves uniquely from the information mountain – who provide unique value to their audience – will continue to see ROI from content. (It will not be whoever pays the most money for Google Ads.) 2. Consumers Are Inundated with Information As we mentioned, content is exploding. Anybody can make a free blog and publish whatever they want. Businesses are blogging because they know the ROI could be amazing – but unfortunately, that leaves us with MILLIONS of blogs that are mediocre at best. Think about the sheer number of new blog articles that appear on your feeds daily, and how many you have to skip over vs. read. Think of all the news articles, videos, tweets, social media posts, emails, ads, and search results that flow in front of you without stopping. You have to make micro-decisions all day, every day, as long as you have the internet or a smartphone. You have to sift through the mountain and decide what’s worth your time and what isn’t. 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created daily. Yes, daily. And, according to Domo’s Data Never Sleeps 7.0 infographic, by 2020, 40x more data bytes will exist than there are stars in the observable universe. With so much information and content flying thick and fast on the web, we only have the bandwidth to pay attention to a limited amount. Who and what gets our attention? The brands, people, and content that manage to rise above the rest because they differentiated their content and message successfully. 3 Brands Killing It with Their Content Differentiation Factor These three names have found their content differentiation factor and lean into it – with amazing results. 1. Backlinko (Brian Dean) Want to see a perfect example of simplicity as a differentiator? Look to Backlinko, Brian Dean’s brand and blog. When he says his advice is zero-fluff and practical, he’s not kidding. His introductions to his blog posts are a great example. He doesn’t try to convince you how clever he is or wind you up with a story. He doesn’t hook you with examples other than ones from his own experience and tested results. He tells you what to expect and what you’ll get out of reading the post. That’s it. Simple. Straightforward. To-the-point. No fluff. Understandable. That’s Brian Dean’s style in a nutshell, and it has differentiated him from other SEO experts in a big way. He explains SEO concepts so clearly that you don’t feel like learning. But you are. Also, note Brian’s use of the … Read more

Why Use Content Marketing to Build Brand Loyalty

December 20, 2022 by Alicia Oakley

Many businesses are so focused on gaining new customers, that they sometimes forget about the ones they already have. Your loyal customer base is one of the most valuable resources you have. Show your customers you still appreciate them with valuable content. Content marketing for brand loyalty is a great way to invest in your customers. Research from the Harvard Business Review shows that a 5% increase in customer retention leads to a 25% to 95% increase in profits. With statistics like this, it just makes sense to use content marketing to build your brand loyalty. If you’re wondering how to use content to connect with your customers, we will show you how. In this guide, we will explore why content marketing is so important and offer 10 tips you can use to improve your content marketing strategy. What Is Content Marketing? Content marketing is marketing focused on creating and publishing valuable content (blogs, videos, social media posts, infographics, etc.) relevant to your brand and your customers’ experiences. This content is created for and targeted toward a specific audience with the goal of attracting new customers, retaining existing ones, and building brand recognition. One of the most important keys to a successful content marketing strategy is creating content that your target audience wants to read, watch, and share. Ideally, your content should add value to your products, entertain your audience, and keep your customers engaged with your brand. How Content Marketing Builds Brand Loyalty Your existing customers likely already enjoy using your products and services. Marketing statistics show that current customers are 50% more likely to try new products than new customers. With content marketing aimed at your current customers, you can introduce them to new products while getting a better return on your investment. Loyal customers want to read and watch the content you produce. These interactions create a strong bond between your business and your customer base. This, in turn, leads to a better bottom line. 10 Tips to Use Content Marketing for Brand Loyalty There are numerous ways you can communicate with your customers through content. These are 10 of our favorite tips to build brand loyalty. 1. Connect with Your Customers on Social Media According to the Pew Research Center, 72% of Americans use one or more social media platforms to connect with the people and things they love, including businesses. Focus on a couple of the most popular social media platforms based on your customer demographics. For example, if most of your customers are young Millennials or Gen-Zers, you should probably open a Tik Tok account. Or, if your audience tends to be a bit older, you will likely find them on Facebook. Social media content should be eye-catching and engaging. Check out the latest trends to see if they will work for your brand image. Social media is also an excellent place to share your latest content from other platforms, like your blog or YouTube. You can break down long-form content into shorter, more digestible segments better suited for social media. 2. Create an Automated Customer Communication System Whether your customers are contacting you or you are reaching out to them, you should have regular communication. Use a customer management system (CMS) to keep track of your interactions. If too much time has passed after the last communication, program your system to automatically reach out to your customers with a pre-written email (this counts as content). It could say something like, “We miss you! Come check out our latest products with 10% off your purchase.” A message like this shows your customers you still care about them, and a discount may entice them to make a new purchase. 3. Produce Regular, High-Quality Content Producing as much content as possible is not the key to success. You need to focus on high-quality content, especially content that appears on your website and blog. Search engines like Google, along with your customers, can tell the difference between high-quality content and something that adds little to no value to your website. The more value you offer your customers, the more likely they are to come back for more. In addition, create content in a variety of formats: Blogs Product demos Videos Podcasts FAQs How-to guides Onboarding materials Infographics If this many formats feel overwhelming, keep in mind that you should repurpose your content. For example, if a blog includes numerous tips and statistics, this could be reworked as an infographic. Or, you can create a YouTube series where one of your product experts works through your FAQs in a visual format. Some customers will prefer learning through video instead of text. High-quality content also works best when you have a plan. Have regular brainstorming sessions with your marketing team to create a list of upcoming content ideas along with a content schedule. If your business struggles with creating the caliber of content you need, outsourcing your content is always a respectable choice. This gives you access to experienced, professional writers who understand SEO and other content marketing principles. 4. Look at the Customer Journey Ideally, you should have content that addresses every stage of the customer journey. The typical stages of the customer journey include: Awareness Consideration Purchase Service Loyalty Offering valuable content at each step reduces the effort your customers must put in to interact with you. When customers find it easy to do business with you, they are more likely to come back and spend more. 5. Show Customer Appreciation from the Beginning Earning a new customer is a critical stage in the buyer’s journey. Show your excitement and appreciation for them from the start with engaging onboarding materials. This should include a welcome email and some basic instructions on how to use the new products or services they just bought. You can also include links to how-to videos or introduction blogs. Keep these customers engaged with regular communication that gradually introduces them to new features and products. The onboarding process lays the foundation for … Read more

Do Online Content Marketplaces Really Work?

December 13, 2022 by Adam Oakley

A crucial part of modern digital marketing is content marketing. To use content marketing effectively, you should regularly add content, like blogs and videos, to your website and other channels. While some businesses can manage their content marketing on their own, others prefer to outsource this writing. One choice for outsourced content marketing is online content marketplaces. Using a content marketplace gives businesses access to freelance writers and other content producers. It can be a valuable resource if you get the right person. However, content marketplaces do have some drawbacks that might make them a poor choice for some businesses. Today, we’re exploring the benefits and drawbacks of content marketplaces and comparing those to a professional writing agency. Read on if you’ve ever wondered how online content marketplaces work. What Is a Content Marketplace? A content marketplace is an online platform where freelance writers and other creators can offer their services to anyone who needs them. Two popular online marketplaces are Fiverr and Upwork. Marketplaces like these give content creators a safe place to make business transactions while paying a small fee to use the platform. Most marketplaces are open to everyone and there is no quality guarantee. Depending on the platform, you can either browse through writer profiles to find one that matches your needs or post a one-time job offer and sort through interested writers to see who qualifies for the role. Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Content Marketplaces Using a marketplace for content can come with several pros and cons. For example, if you run a small or medium business, you might find that they’re a good fit because of the access you get to writers. But you might want to weigh more advantages and disadvantages, so let’s explore what those look like. 1. Costs for Content Marketplaces Advantages: In general, the writers and creators you can hire through a content marketplace offer reasonable prices for their services. Content marketplaces tend to be more affordable than professional content services or writing agencies because you cut out the middleman. It should be noted that lower prices do not necessarily mean low-quality work. Usually, it’s a side effect of the high competition in the marketplace encouraging writers to work for lower rates. You’ll still find that the highest-rated writers usually have higher rates. In some online marketplaces, the writer sets the fee for the content they provide, which can help you establish budget expectations if you don’t have any. Other marketplaces have a model that lets you set your prices while freelancers pitch their ideas to you. If you have a strict budget, this might be useful. Overall, content marketplaces can give you more freedom to shop for writer fees that match your budget without being locked into anything. Disadvantages: In a content marketplace, you may not have the option of a regular payment schedule, which can make budgeting for your content marketing more difficult. Additionally, there is an added time commitment that goes into hiring the best freelance writers. It may end up being more expensive than working with a professional agency, so you should consider the manpower costs that go into navigating an open marketplace. 2. International Writers Advantages: Here in the United States, most businesses look for native English speakers for their content. However, if you operate in other countries or serve a specific non-English-speaking population, you might need content in another language. Because content marketplaces are open to anyone, there tend to have more international writers. You can likely find a writer who is fluent in the language you need. Disadvantages: Many non-native English speakers sign up for content marketplaces to earn money. These people may be excellent writers in their native language but struggle with some of the idiosyncrasies of English, especially when writing about more complicated topics. 3. Freelancers’ Skills and Expertise Advantages: Freelance writers tend to have well-rounded knowledge and the ability to write generally on a broad range of topics. Some writers may even offer SEO and keyword research as part of their services. Disadvantages: If you need expert-level writing, you might struggle to find a freelance writer with the right expertise. This lack of industry knowledge means many businesses turn to professional agencies when they have higher-level content needs. Does your business cover multiple content topics? If so, you will likely need to work with multiple freelance writers. This can change your deadlines while waiting on content and you may end up managing multiple sets of instructions. Should you be the only person at your company managing content, you are likely to be pulled away from more important tasks that need your attention. 4. Workload Management Advantages: Freelance writers in a content marketplace have the freedom and flexibility to choose which projects they take on. Since most freelancers only take on the amount of work they can manage well, you can probably find a writer to take on an urgent project. You can also work with them closely so they’ll make it their top priority and listen to your feedback to make any necessary changes. Disadvantages: Some freelancers end up overextending themselves and take on more than they can handle. When this happens, some projects get pushed aside, they miss deadlines, and writing quality begins to suffer. These writers may also struggle with doing even simple revisions because they are overworked. 5. Schedule Flexibility Advantages: Freelance writers are usually not tied down to a typical 9-5 workday schedule. Many prefer to work odd hours. This could be advantageous to you if you have a last-minute project that you need by the next business day. Once you build a working relationship with a writer on these marketplaces, you can work with them again, meaning it’s easier to access them. Disadvantages: Because freelance writers do not work set schedules, you may have more difficult contacting them. The issue could be exacerbated further if there are significant time zone differences. Plus, freelancers might charge extra if you need work done quickly in … Read more

Thank You for 9 Years in Business! Celebrating 19,900 Projects Completed

March 24, 2022May 26, 2020 by Adam Oakley

It’s hard to believe that this May marks nine years in business for my team at Express Writers. We’re very fortunate, if you consider the scary statistics surrounding business tenure. 20% of new businesses fail in their first two years, 45% fail in the first five years, and a whopping 65% don’t make it in the first ten years (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Here’s the thing, though. Our ‘fortune’ didn’t just accidentally happen. Back in May of 2011, when we began, it was with every chance of failure. Literally — 100% chance of failing. I was a college dropout with a dream to write for a living and build my own business. I had $75 cash to my name in the bank, and I was searching for a route to create a business out of my passion. (Pssst… I’m writing a book due out 2021 on this topic! Get on the waitlist here.) All my life, I loved to write. It was an obsession — an addiction. At 19 years old, while I was still in college, I decided to look up “how to write for a living” one morning. That same day, I discovered a booming if not premature market of “freelance writing,” and I signed up immediately for a freelance profile on oDesk (now Upwork). I worked hard every day following to learn this trade and take on paying freelance writing gigs, inspired to get up at 4 a.m. and work my butt off simply because of the sheer fact that I was following my passion. It was a literal, simple inspiration-struck-and-I-took-action sequence. Three months later, I had more work than I could handle or keep up with, and I created a business within five minutes — Express Writers. Truth be told, I did not think it would last the year. Here we are, nine years later, celebrating our #19,900th project (a number that grows daily). We published our first-ever income report last year, which highlights how we serve 50-60 clients each month with custom content writing services. We have a team of almost ninety rock stars — a full-time Content Manager, an editorial staff, writers in expert niches, writers trained to write for almost every format. We serve clients around the globe. It’s incredible that we made it to nine years. And I have many of you to thank, reading this post. We wouldn’t be here without your support. So, thank you. To celebrate, I sat down and wrote some reflections for you. Here you go — my nine lessons from nine years in business, and nearing the 20,000 projects completed mark. [bctt tweet=”If you’ve been a part of @expwriters at all — reader, subscriber, client, student, team member… I can’t thank you enough. Without you we wouldn’t be celebrating 9 years today. ❤️ Read my 9 lessons in 9 years: ” username=”ExpWriters”] 9 Lessons From 9 Years of Business and 19,900+ Projects That headline is all made up of nines—how crazy is that?! That was a complete accident, but not a bad way for the data to line up on our celebratory post. Let’s get into my nine reflections. 1. One core marketing commitment, centered around your clients/audience (not you), is all you need to earn clients. If I could tell my younger self one phrase, it would be this. Keep going, you have everything you need to earn clients consistently simply because of your core commitment. I had no idea just how much the simple marketing commitment I made at the beginning would be worth it to our success throughout the years. Back in 2011, I committed to one goal — growing our business through what we sold. Essentially, existing as the proof of our own pudding. And that’s why we’ve maintained a marketing presence explicitly based on content. Our Write Blog has brought in the majority of our clients. For nine years, I’ve written a blog every week. For nine years, I’ve sent at least two emails every week. With help from my own team at Express Writers, consistency in weekly onsite content has been a practice we’ve never dropped. And today, our site earns over 100,000 visitors each month; we have over 1,300 published blogs; and our site ranks on Alexa as the #25,700th most popular website in the world. Not to mention, we rank for over 19,000 keywords indexed in Google, the cost of which would be over $200,000 in an ad campaign! Decide on one core marketing medium and stick to it. Become the best at what you do. Create the most in-depth content on that topic. This is how you succeed at serving your audience so well, they want to become your clients. [av_image src=’https://staging.expresswriters.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cta-Profitable-Content-Marketer-Cheat-Sheet-banner-01.jpg’ attachment=’79076′ attachment_size=’full’ align=’center’ animation=’no-animation’ styling=” hover=” link=’manually,https://staging.expresswriters.com/resources/the-profitable-content-marketer-cheat-sheet/’ target=’_blank’ caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’][/av_image] 2. Every chance of failure is a great opportunity for success. As I look back today on the beginning, I know that the simple realization I had back then — I have every chance of failure here — was a great launchpad for everything I’ve been able to do since. Just being aware that you will, might, or can fail, and then getting ready to shrug it off and pick yourself back up, is a surefire way to succeed in business. [bctt tweet=”As I look back today on the beginning, I know that the simple realization I had back then -‘I have every chance of failure here’ – was a great launchpad for everything I’ve been able to do since. via @JuliaEMcCoy ” username=”ExpWriters”] 3. Never give up. As stereotypical and over-quoted as this sounds, it’s the truth. Time and time again we’ve hit what feels like “the end of the world” — unexpected roadblocks, hiring and firing, growing pains. But we’ve never given up. As simple as that sounds, it’s the way to success. 4. It’s okay to feel like everything’s broken sometimes. Each time you hit a slump or a roadblock, it will truly feel like the end of the world. You can’t simply ignore … Read more

There’s Nothing Magic About Brand-Building: How to Build a Brand That Lasts Organically Despite the Ups and Downs

March 24, 2022May 14, 2020 by Adam Oakley

Ever wonder why some brands vanish into obscurity while others enjoy viral popularity? Or why certain brands pop into your head when you see certain colors? Why some businesses withstand pandemics, a decade of ups and downs and make it… while others die by the wayside? Building a brand that lasts is a process of commitment. Integrity. Hard work. (Did we mention commitment?) Brand building is also a process that involves coalescing the mission and message of your business into a cohesive, comprehensive identity that customers recognize, trust, and get excited about. Every time they see you appear in their inbox or flash across their news feed. In 2020, it’s the authentic expression of your company’s core values and mission, done in a way that connects with your customers. When you nail it, you not only create a memorable, enduring brand but one that drives your company’s growth. (71% of customers say it’s important to them to purchase from brands they recognize.) Here’s what I’ve learned over the past nine years building the Express Writers brand from the ground up through a content-first approach – no magic, no gimmicks, no shortcuts. 5 Ways to Build a Brand That Lasts and Grows Organically 1. Roll Up Your Sleeves and Get to Work! 2. Commit to Consistency 3. Put Your Customers First In Everything You Do 4. Make Integrity a Core Value 5. Keep Every Promise You Make [bctt tweet=”Trying to discern how to build a brand that lasts? It seems mystifying, yet the answer is quite simple. It’s all about brand development strategy – not luck or happenstance. Learn more in this post by @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] The 5 Keys to Building Strong Brands That Enjoy Organic Growth There is nothing mysterious involved when it comes to marketing or building strong brands. If you’re wondering how to build a brand that lasts, you could sum it up in five quick parts: work hard, be consistent, emphasize customer service, practice integrity, and keep your promises. It’s that simple. And that hard. Let’s dive in. 1. Roll Up Your Sleeves and Get to Work! If you want the harvest, you have to spend time in the dirt. It’s a super simple concept, but you’ll be surprised at how few people understand this. Consider this: According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, only 60 percent of Americans believe that hard work is the key to getting ahead. A full 39 percent think hard work doesn’t necessarily lead to anything. In other words, over a third of Americans are unlikely to work hard because they’re not convinced it will do any good. They can’t all be resigned to never succeeding at anything. So, might there be successful entrepreneurs in that second group? Maybe, but the data isn’t optimistic: Data mined from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 29 percent of business owners worked more than 50 hours per week. Some 86 percent worked on the weekends. Just 60 percent took just one vacation per year (and then three-quarters of them STILL worked). So, roll up those sleeves and get those hands dirty. Successful freelancers, entrepreneurs, and business owners know that there’s no way around the hard work. Our willingness to engage in it constitutes a defining feature – we wear our 90-hour workweeks like a badge of honor. Still, hard work is the key to success but it’s the key we frequently don’t see. A lot of people out there also don’t want you to see it. They’d rather you buy their book, course, membership, etc., that promises to divulge some secret that makes you rich overnight – ignoring the reality that it takes between two and three years on average before a business becomes profitable. Next time you’re marveling at some on-point branding or the truly-well targeted marketing of one of your competitors, remember that you’re looking at the harvest, not the dirt. 2. Commit to Consistency. Hard work and consistency are linked. If you’re showing up every day to water your crops, they’re going to grow. However, that’s not all consistency involves. A lot of research shows that consistency directly impacts your business’s organic growth whether we’re talking about branding efforts or content publishing. According to Demand Metric, brands that present a uniform presence across all of their platforms are 3.5 times more recognizable than brands that don’t. A consistent brand increases revenue by up to 23 percent. According to HubSpot, companies that published at least four blogs every week saw the highest levels of organic traffic. In short: If you build it, they will come – but you have to keep building even when they’re not coming. As you start to build your brand, commit to consistency from the ground up to give yourself a solid foundation to build. That includes (but isn’t limited to): Aligning your core mission, business goals, and content: You should be articulating the same message across your entire enterprise. Carefully curating your voice and vibe: From your brand identity to your user interface, your customer experience should have a uniform feeling. Cultivating your topic clusters: HubSpot’s 2020 Content Marketing Strategy Report identified topic clusters as the single most powerful strategy for building brand authority. Crafting authoritative, valuable content: Many people believe long-form content is dead thanks to our goldfish-like attention spans, but this isn’t true at all! Long-form content (above 1,000 words) thrives if it’s useful. Publishing strategic content on a schedule: Your readers and customers should know when to expect new content from you – and you must deliver. Updating and revitalizing your brand presence and content to reflect your growth: Content isn’t meant to be published and forgotten about. Spend time auditing your web presence, customer experience, and content to ensure it remains consistent over time. Do these things look familiar? They should. They’re the core of a strong content strategy, your single most potent tool for building a brand that grows over time. Tip: Want to learn more? I dive deep into … Read more

Recap of Julia’s Live Talk: How to Step Past Your Inner Critic and Develop Heartfelt Content

September 19, 2022May 8, 2020 by Amy K.

This is a blog by staff writer at Express Writers, Amy Kang. You can request Amy to write your content in our custom industry expert copywriting service. As of April 2020, there were about 4.57 billion active internet users worldwide, making up 59 percent of the global population. Now more than ever, there’s tremendous opportunity for businesses to increase their presence online and see sales and profits grow like never before. With many businesses leaping at the chance to grow by harnessing the marketing potential of the internet, there’s a general acceptance among marketers that content will always be king. While building a strong online presence can propel businesses to greater heights, it’s not a low-hanging fruit. The following blog post explains how to step past your inner critic and create great content that engages online visitors and keeps them yearning for more. [bctt tweet=”4.57 billion active internet users worldwide equals tremendous opportunity for businesses to grow their online presence, sales, and profits. The key? Heartfelt content. ♥ Learn more in this recap of a live talk from @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] Live Talk Recap: Creating Content That Converts: How to Step Past Your Inner Critic Looking for ways to create content that delivers real results for your business? Check out these insightful tips from Julia McCoy’s live talk on Facebook this April 2020, called How to Step Past Your Inner Critic & Develop Heartfelt Content. This is a presentation she’s written and given for other audiences. Watch the replay here! Creating Content That Does Matter In this information era, content is increasing in volume as the general attention span continues to diminish. When people search the internet, they expect to get quick answers to their questions. When writing content for a brand, you’ll need to ask them to provide you with a description of the kind of content that they’re looking for. Equipped with this information, you’ll need to come up with the appropriate topics and keywords for the content you intend to produce. [bctt tweet=”How do you get content read? Know your audience, tap into your most authentic self (your inner creativity ), and know your topics/keywords. More tips for engaging, heartfelt content:” username=”ExpWriters”] A great way to generate topics and keywords that’ll rank well on local SERPs is to type in and search potential topics and keywords that online visitors might be searching. You don’t have to use the exact topics and keywords that top-ranking sites use, but can find inspiration to craft catchy titles and choose relevant keywords for your content. The ultimate goal must be to provide content that online users will find with minimal hassle. Writing content that matters to online users forms a foundation for consistent ROI. Creating Content That Engages Informing readers is one thing, getting them engaged is a totally different thing. Online readers don’t just want to get informed – they also want to be engaged from the very beginning. Therefore, you should endeavor to create content that captivates your readers while solving the problems they may have. This may involve conducting a lot of research to understand the problems your target readers may have and providing workable solutions to those problems in a way that readers understand easily. Choosing the appropriate narrative perspective for your target audience is also vital to keep readers engaged. Additionally, use a professional yet friendly voice that makes your audience connect with you. Reader engagement, or the lack of it, can make all the difference when it comes to determining how long readers remain hooked to your content. Creating Content That Adds Value to Your Existing Content Before creating content, ask yourself if the message you intend to convey is useful. In SEO, useful content refers to any content that brings something new to the existing body of knowledge. Your content doesn’t have to be a novel to be considered useful. You can research topics that have already been covered and introduce a new angle to them. To create content that is TEN TIMES better than the top-ranking piece found in Google ranking for that topic, you have to follow a series of steps. [bctt tweet=”To create content that is 10x better than the top-ranking piece found in Google : 1) Gain deep insight into your topic and get to the core of what people care about. 2) Present content in a unique and powerful way. Learn more:” username=”ExpWriters”] First off, you’ll need to gain deep insight into the topic you’re going to write about. This is the only way to get to the core of what people care about. You’ll also have to be exceptional in your approach to writing the piece. If you have a witty side, for example, use it to keep your readers glued to their screens. Another way to create valuable content is to develop powerful methods that provide online users with the answers they’re looking for. For example, you can use data and statistics to corroborate your claims and provide correct links to such sources. Make sure you use credible sources to gain the trust of your audience. Finally, present content in a unique and powerful way that’ll grab the attention of online users. This may come down to knowing your content differentiation factor. For example, using visual aids such as quality photos and videos can help to emphasize the message you want to communicate to your audience. Consistently Publishing Content Posting high-quality SEO content isn’t a magic bullet that’ll get your website ranking well overnight. You have to produce a consistent stream of quality content before your efforts bear fruit. You must observe discipline and practice patience to succeed in the highly competitive world of online marketing. [bctt tweet=”Posting high-quality SEO content isn’t a magic bullet that’ll get your website ranking well overnight. You have to produce a consistent stream of quality content before your efforts bear fruit. ” username=”ExpWriters”] The good news is, you can always convert existing content into multiple formats to improve its ranking. For … Read more

How to Work from Home and Not Lose Your Sanity: 10 Tips from a Fully Remote Business (for 9 Years Running)

January 1, 2021April 6, 2020 by Adam Oakley

These are trying times for everyone. COVID-19 is the biggest crisis we’ve faced since World War 2. As of writing this, the number of infections has passed the one million mark. Lockdown measures are enforced on a third of humanity. School closures impact the education of 87% of the world’s student population. In the business sector, there has been a sudden increase in the number of employees who work from home. Yes, these facts are heavy-hitting. Chances are, you’ve been affected by the coronavirus crisis and are struggling to make sense of what’s going on. Maybe your boss has ordered you to work from home. What’s more, your kids’ school is closed and the young ones are around 24/7. They’re feeling grumpy, bored, and even act out more just from being stuck at home around the clock. Ever felt this one? Suddenly you find yourself in the middle of the kitchen with a pile of dirty dishes to wash. The toddler is crying, and your teen is sulking in his room. It’s mid-afternoon, but you haven’t finished even a third of the work your boss assigned you. What do you do? Can you survive this lifestyle until lockdown ends? What if things don’t get better soon, but worse? If this sounds like you, take a deep breath. That’s it. In and out. Then, start moving forward. In this blog, I’ll show you how to juggle working from home and taking care of the kids. I’ll share the secrets I use to run five brands on a completely remote basis (for now, I’ve put two brands completely on hold to find margin and juggle it all with homeschooling now added to my to-do list). You’ll find out: How to be more productive than you ever were at the office How to create the perfect workspace What to do with the kids when you need to work And more! I’ve also gathered input from my team of expert writers, content strategists, and QA personnel who work entirely from home. Their suggestions and tips are gold because like all freelancers (except the superhuman ones who work passionately from dawn till dusk) they too once struggled with productivity. So, are you ready to start turning things around? Let’s begin! What’s in this post: The Top 10 Tips You Need to Work From Home without Going Insane 1. Remind Yourself it’s not the Weekend 2. Throw Your PJs in the Laundry Basket 3. Feel Free to Stretch and Look out the Window 4. Find Your Biological Prime Time 5. Send the Kids Away 6. Set Boundaries 7. Surround Yourself with Comfort and Beauty 8. Invest in Quality Tools 9. Keep Your Social Life Alive 10. Take Care of Yourself Three Tips on How Businesses Can Help Their Teams Work from Home 1. Set Your Team Up with the Right Tools 2. Keep Communicating 3. Provide Training Working from Home: Is it Possible to Do it without Going Insane? [bctt tweet=”These are trying times for everyone. Lockdown measures now affect 1/3 of humanity. If you’re forced to work from home… now what? These 10 tips are here for you via the #WFH veterans at Express Writers ♥” username=”ExpWriters”] The Top 10 Tips You Need to Work Productively at Home without Going Insane Unless you were homeschooled (I was! My life in a cult growing up meant I was homeschooled every day until 12th grade), you started following a structured lifestyle from the age of three. Playgroup. Kindergarten. Elementary school. High school. College. Work. Get up in the morning. Have breakfast. Go to school/work. Get home. Dinner. Homework/assignments from the boss. Watch TV. Sleep. Yes, you groaned and complained about it (good-humoredly, of course). But the fact is human beings crave routine. It makes us feel secure. It helps us avoid the “unknown.” It satisfies us because it forces us to get things done. So, what happens when our routine is suddenly removed? When we have to let go of our structured lives and face day after day of fluid time we don’t know what to do with? Chaos. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Read on to find out 10 secrets expert WFH’ers use to put their own structure on life. 1. Remind Yourself it’s Not the Weekend Feeling tempted not to set your alarm for Monday morning? After all, you don’t have to arrive at the office at 9am sharp. Just do it. Just set that alarm. “Working from home – luxurious or tedious? The answer – BOTH,” says Cassie, our team QA and content writer at Express Writers. “For someone who has never worked from home before, it can seem like a great time. However, it takes a lot of time, commitment and perseverance to get into a routine that works. Routine is the key word, because, without it, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with everything on your list of things to-do. Start by building a schedule that fits your work and family’s needs. Then STICK TO IT! No matter what.” [bctt tweet=”Working from home – luxurious or tedious? The answer – BOTH. – Cassie, QA and content writer for EW. Read more tips and lessons from our 100% remote staff ‍ , now on the Write Blog.” username=”ExpWriters”] The key is to get structured. Wake up at the same time each morning. Make breakfast a special time for your family. Set a specific schedule. Don’t limit yourself to writing a To-Do list. Set a time for each item on the list. Plan activities for the kids in advance. I love Khan Academy Kids and Education.com as resources for great activities that also educate. Go to bed on time. “Plan your day ahead, because you won’t have as much time available as you think,” says Lorien, our team’s client success agent based in South Africa. “Try to set a schedule for yourself during your ‘working hours’ so that you remain productive. If you spend a lot of time behind your computer, … Read more

Will Barnes & Noble Survive? How The Publishing Industry is Changing in an Internet-Based Era

January 1, 2021October 1, 2019 by Adam Oakley

The publishing industry, as we know it, is radically different from what it was 10 or even 5 years ago. More tumultuousness arrived back in June of 2019 when Barnes & Noble, the U.S.’s largest bookstore chain, was sold to a hedge fund (Elliott Management). The sale comes after a slew of top-level management troubles, fierce competition from online booksellers like Amazon, and the closure of more than 150 stores in the last 10 years. In the New York Times article describing the transfer of B&N from one pair of hands to another, it’s very clear, before the sale, many people feared the bookstore chain was in danger of dying. Why should we care? Because, as content creators, we need to keep our fingers on the pulse of the publishing industry. We’re ALL technically publishers, ourselves. Books are a type of content, whether they appear in print or digitally. The print industry and digital content are linked. They’re two sides of the same coin. Finally, Barnes & Noble is one of the biggest players in the publishing industry. What happens to them will have a ripple effect. So, what is the future of Barnes & Noble? What does that mean for print publishing? As content creators, should we bother with traditional publishing at all? ? Let’s discuss. First Things First: What Does the Future of Barnes & Noble Look Like? Joanna Penn addressed this topic recently on The Creative Penn Podcast during an interview with Mike Shatzkin. He’s an author and thought leader on what the digital future means for book publishing. He’s also the CEO of The Idea Logical Company. Here’s what Shatzkin had to say on B&N’s future: “I think Barnes & Noble, very much like Waterstones, is really not configured for the future. The very large store with a very big selection was mooted by Amazon. It’s 25 years later but even now I believe that they are past their sell-by date. Then the question becomes, if all your leases are large retail establishments and it doesn’t make sense to build them with a hundred and twenty-five thousand titles, what else are you going to fill them with?” ? In other words, Barnes & Noble is running on an outdated retail model. Nobody buys books the way they sell them anymore. Hundreds of thousands of books in one store are far too many options for the average book shopper, who can find whatever they want online. Right now, although it’s not going under, the future of Barnes & Noble is shaky. To persist and thrive in this tough atmosphere for print publishing, they need to make some changes. Honestly? For B&N to survive, they’ll need to change the way they operate drastically. [bctt tweet=”What’s going on in the publishing industry these days? Author @JuliaEMcCoy has some thoughts. Read all about it ? ? ” username=”ExpWriters”] In the interview, Shatzkin suggests B&N shift to smaller stores or even mini stores-within-stores, such as taking over the book department within another retailer’s real estate. Interesting Tidbit: Audiobooks Are on the Rise Meanwhile, Joanna Penn emphasized the growing popularity of audiobooks, which can’t be ignored. “…what we’re actually seeing right now in some markets is audio first. We’re seeing Storytel, for example, growing markets as well as obviously Audible… I think I’ve seen my own behavior change to an audio-first listening preference, especially with nonfiction which traditionally I would buy in print.” This preference for audiobooks is actually a growing trend. According to the Audio Publishers Association, audiobook revenue grew by 24.5% from 2017-2018. In 2018, total revenue was $940 million. Usage looks promising, too. In 2019, 50% of Americans, 12 and older, listened to at least one audiobook (up 6% from 2018). [bctt tweet=”After 150 stores closed and being sold to a hedge fund, the future seems unclear for Barnes & Noble — and print publishing. @JuliaEMcCoy answers why content creators should care and how self-publishing wins over traditional. ? ” username=”ExpWriters”] The Rise of Self-Publishing Alongside the preference for digital formats and shopping for books online, self-publishing has grown in both popularity and legitimacy, too. In fact, the digital publishing industry has made self-publishing viable and profitable in the first place. Here’s how Mike Shatzkin puts it in the aforementioned podcast interview with Joanna Penn: “…book publishing is the business of content and markets. And if you’re a publisher, what you need to understand is the content that you are publishing and the markets to which you can appeal. Now a lot of small players have the capability to develop content and some idea of the markets. But if it were the year 2000, you might have all that knowledge but you would have to go through the intermediary distribution system to get your books to the public. There would have been no other way.” 20 years ago, there was no way to self-publish without bearing a huge burden in terms of cost and marketing. Today, that has radically changed. Thanks to the internet and services like Ingram and Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, people can self-publish a book and immediately have a method for distribution online. Thanks to social media and blogs, you can market your book and reach an audience. For example, when placed side-by-side, today both self-published authors and traditionally published authors are on the same playing field in terms of earnings: What’s really surprising: About 77% of self-published authors make at least $1,000 from their writing. Only 9% of traditionally published authors make as much. [bctt tweet=”More content creators are choosing self-publishing over the traditional, thanks to the internet. In fact, 77% of self-published authors make at least $1,000 from their writing. @JuliaEMcCoy shares the pros and cons of self-publishing. ? ” username=”ExpWriters”] Should You Self-Publish, or Publish Traditionally? That brings us to the question of the day: If you’re a content creator, writer, or author, should you self-publish? Or should you go the traditional route? Both of my books are self-published. These are the pros … Read more