Website Content - Express Writers

New Year, New Site: Why You Need One & How to Build (or Rebuild) a Great Business Website

November 11, 2022January 26, 2021 by Adam Oakley

Whether or not your business operates online, you need a website. Let me repeat that, with one addition: You need a GREAT business website. Why? It’s not just for looks. It’s not just for digital marketing, either. This year, having a great website is no longer a want… it’s a must. Last year, over March when the lockdown happened from the COVID-19 pandemic, Google search traffic went from 3.6 billion searches/day to 6 billion searches/day. The amount of people using Google to search answers to their questions has never been greater. (Worldometers) That’s double the amount of search volume in one week – which has impacted 2020 in a heavy way, creating a wide pathway for 2021 and our next years to have heavy digital foot traffic. More than the world has ever experienced. When you add to that these facts: 92.96% of global traffic comes from Google: Google search, Google Images, and Google Maps. (Sparktoro) SEO drives 1000%+ more traffic than organic social media. (BrightEdge) And 60% of marketers say that inbound (SEO, blog content, etc.) is their highest quality source of leads. (HubSpot) …You need that website. Building your own great brand website is all about giving your prospects all the tools, information, and trust they need in order to connect with you and, ultimately, to become your customer. You do want more customers, I’m guessing? And you want to keep the ones you have, right? If your answer to both questions is a big YES, you certainly should double-down on your business website this year. In this guide, I’m laying it all on the table – everything you need to know on how to build a truly great business website, including: All the deets on domain buying and hosting Why you should use WordPress to build and manage your site What and who you need to design and launch your site When to expect results Ready? Dive in with me. New Year, New Site: Why You Need One & How to Build (or Rebuild) a Great Business Website How to Build a Great Business Website: 5-Step List to Get Started 1. Choose a Domain Name 2. Purchase Your Domain 3. Find a Website Host 4. Understand Hosting Types & Costs 5. Connect Your Domain to Your Web Host Why Should You Use WordPress? 1. You Don’t Need Tech or HTML Knowledge 2. WordPress Sites Do Well in Search 3. WordPress Has Great Documentation, Plugins, Support, & Themes How to Design and Launch Your Business Website (What & Who You Need) 1. Case Study: Content Hacker Launch 2. Who You Need to Design and Launch Your Site 3. What You Need to Make It Successful Get Rockin’ – When Will Those Results Roll In? 1. Case Study: Content Hacker Launch ROI 2. Looking at the Income Sources a Business Website Brings In How to Build a Great Business Website: Start with Basic Domain Buying and Hosting If by now you’ve said to yourself, “Yep, I want a website for my business,” you’re in the right place. But, before you get too excited, we need to make sure some pesky tasks are out of the way. ☑ First things, first. You need to buy a domain name and determine where you’ll host your home on the web. 1. Choose a Domain Name If you’re approaching building a business website with an already-established brand, this part is easy. Keep these basic tips in mind and quickly check it off your list: Basic Tips for Choosing a Domain Name 1. Simply use your brand name (or an easily recognizable variation of it) as your domain name. 2. Your domain name will not make or break your website’s success, so don’t spend days or weeks agonizing over this part. (For example, sites like Buffer and Basecamp settled on variations of their brand names with no negative consequences.) 3. As a general rule, keep it as simple as possible. Great examples of simple, to-the-point domain names: contentmarketinginstitute.com tarzankay.com grammarly.com contenthacker.com You don’t want to over-complicate your domain name, make it difficult to spell, and too long or too hard to type. Not sure what it should be? Or if you have the right one? Go back to your content strategy and the core of your message. And just for you… Here’s a quick mini-guide on picking the perfect brand name: First, You should know YOUR area of expertise, and how to branch out into topics your audience wants to hear about. Finding your topic area is a fundamental first step here. Know your CDF – your Content Differentiation Factor. What makes you different — what makes YOU someone to trust and follow — rather than all the other content voices out there? Hand-in-hand with this, you need to consider what your place of authority online should be. Building your authority online can have a few different meanings. It can mean: Building your brand as a trusted source of information Building your brand as an authority website by Google’s standards Both are valuable to your content strategy, and you should do things that help boost your authority in both scenarios. Just one way to build your domain as an authority in Google’s eyes is to focus on publishing content on YOUR platform, i.e. a domain that YOU own – not proprietary ones like Facebook, Instagram, or Huffington Post (which sadly discontinued their guest blogging platform a few years ago – I, along with many others, lost my content profile and log in). That’s why we’re here today with a guide on how to build your own website. ? I call building authority online a content house. If you’re a real estate writer, you might want to own realestatewriter.com (your house, your position of authority, and your brand). If you’re a content marketing consultant for SaaS, you might want to own contentmarketingforsaas.com. So, your domain should be a blend of the interest of your audience and your position of authority to build over time. 2. Purchase Your Domain Once you’ve settled on a domain name, it’s time to purchase … Read more

You Need a Professional Content Writer – Now What? How to Hire & Collaborate for Superstar Content

January 1, 2021August 13, 2019 by Adam Oakley

So – you’ve decided to take the plunge and invest in your brand’s content (or your client’s). You want to hire outside help to do it. *cue Ghostbusters theme music* Who you gonna call? Content writers! A-hem. That is, a professional content writer (or a high-quality content writing service) will be your best bet. You can’t just hire anybody and/or leave the rest up to chance, though. ? You have to understand WHY pro content writing will make a difference in your content marketing, and you need to know the steps to take to make sure you achieve success. The thing is… Brands everywhere are realizing the value of great content and want to add it to their web presence. According to HubSpot’s 2018 State of Inbound report, 55% of marketers are setting blog content creation as their priority. Meanwhile, an additional 61% say generating traffic and leads is their top marketing challenge. Is that your problem? Zero traffic and not enough leads? …Well, the solution could be staring you in the face. Carefully crafted, purposeful content is ace at just that: generating REAL traffic and leads. It’s no wonder people are climbing aboard the content train. ? Now that you’re buckled in, the next step is understanding what a professional content writer adds to your marketing strategy. Then, we’ll discuss how to find your ultimate content writer for hire, plus tips for getting the best content possible when someone else is doing the actual writing. Onward! How to Find and Work with a Professional Content Writer: Table of Contents What Is a Content Writer, and Why Do You Need One? Content Writers Wanted: How to Find the Right Professional Content Writer Search Trusted Freelance Marketplaces Read Their Samples (Or Ask for a Trial Content Piece) Know What to Avoid in Your Professional Content Writer Search 4 Tips for Collaborating with a Professional Content Writer Seamlessly Don’t Leave Them Hanging Give Concrete Guidelines Provide Feedback Respect the Job [bctt tweet=”Looking for a professional content writer who you can trust to craft the content you’ve been dreaming of publishing? ? @JuliaEMcCoy lists down the best ways to find the perfect one for you, and how to best collaborate with them. ?” username=”ExpWriters”] What Is a Content Writer, and Why Do You Need One? So, why are you planning to hire a freelance web content writer? Is it because your hands are full with other marketing tasks? Or do you lack the time or skills to pull off rankings-worthy content by yourself? Whatever your reason(s), you’re probably aware of the value of great content. BUT – are you also aware of why content writers for websites can do it better? First, let’s define “content writer” – what this role demands, and what it doesn’t. A good web content writer job description might fall along these lines: A content writer is a creative who specializes in writing blogs, articles, web pages, ebooks, and other types of online content. They understand how to drive traffic with SEO and generate leads with user-centered writing techniques. Here is an example of content writing that serves both of those purposes (driving traffic, generating leads for the brand) from Farmers Insurance: The blog provides insights into the finances involved in owning and maintaining a boat. There are no sales pitches urging readers to get boat insurance or talk to an agent inside the blog – instead, the information is meant to stand on its own and build trust with readers while building the company’s authority about financial matters. On top of that, this blog is SEO-ready so people who are interested in this topic will find it via Google search. It’s ranking #1 for “maintaining a recreational boat.” Lastly (but never least), the quality of this blog is enough to make you want to read more. As you browse additional articles on the Farmers site, you’ll see all of them are of equal caliber – compelling stories, useful information, and great reads. You might become a follower, then a fan of this brand. Eventually, when you need insurance down the road, what’s the first name you’ll think of? You guessed it: Farmers. It’s a long-term game for lead generation, but the ROI is incredible once you start earning that trust and brand loyalty. THAT is the essence of content marketing – and a professional content writer’s work is the lynchpin in all of it. Writing search engine optimized, user-centered, engaging, readable content requires skill. When you hire a professional content writer for your online writing jobs, that’s the investment. [bctt tweet=”A content writer is a creative who specializes in writing online content like blogs. They understand how to drive traffic with SEO and generate leads with user-centered writing techniques. – @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] Content Writers Wanted: How to Find the Right Professional Content Writer for Your Website or Copy You’re ready to hire content writers. Where do you start? Right here. 1. Search Trusted Freelance Marketplaces Good professional content writers are out there, looking for exactly the type of opportunity you’re offering. To find them, it’s a matter of knowing where to look. To contract professional content writing services, check out one of these great job platforms: Cloud Peeps – This is a freelance marketplace where you can search for pro content writers, post a job, accept proposals from experts, and find the right fit for your needs. Fiverr – On Fiverr, content writers post “gigs” where they essentially market their skills. Comb through the “writing and translation” category to find blog and article writers, copywriters, technical writers, scriptwriters, and more posting web content job descriptions that match up with your requirements. nDash – On this platform, writers will pitch you content ideas (as well as their services) based on your needs. Psssst… our content writing agency at EW can help you out, too. We have dozens of hand-picked expert writers on our roster with a multitude of industry specialties. To see what we can do, check out how we … Read more

Product Description Writing: Your Master Guide for Creating SEO Product Descriptions That Convert

January 1, 2021July 23, 2019 by Adam Oakley

Fact: Product description writing can determine whether a customer clicks “add to cart” – or whether they abandon the product page entirely. Great copy in your product descriptions is necessary to an enjoyable, memorable online shopping experience. Why? Because buyers can’t use four of their senses when shopping online to determine whether the product is what they want and/or need. That’s how many senses they miss out on when they shop online — but does it stop them? Heck no. In fact, e-commerce and online shopping is an industry that will include 2.14 billion people worldwide by 2021 (up from 1.66 billion global digital buyers in 2016). Whoa! So, we don’t care that we’re missing four of our senses when we buy online. But, your buyer does have to read and depend on the information you give them to decide if they’re ready to buy. It’s a delicate balance many online shops get wrong. For instance, here are a few common e-commerce product description errors: Provide too little information, and the buyer won’t know if the product is right for their particular problem. Describe the product too blandly, and the casual browser won’t become a buyer. Exclude the essential facts from your e-commerce product description, and the buyer will look to other sellers who answer their product questions fully. On the other hand, when you get it right, you’ll earn more buyers, more sales, and more happy customers. (A desirable trifecta, to say the least ) Ready to learn how to hone your product description writing services and get it “write” every time? Let’s get to it. Your Product Description Writing Guide: Table of Contents The Anatomy of a Product Description: 4 Essential Elements Focus on Product Benefits Address Look, Feel, Smell, Touch, and/or Taste in Your Product Description Copywriting Remember to Answer Buyer Questions Add Special Product Notes, As Needed 3 Rules on How In-Depth to Go with Product Description Writing Analyze the Product, Including What Your Buyer Already Knows About It Analyze What the Buyer Needs from Your Product Description Writing Go Brief or In-Depth Depending on Your Conclusions 6 Rules to Make Your Ecommerce Descriptions Irresistible (with Examples) Stay Buyer-Focused Describe the Problems the Product Solves (Benefits, Benefits, Benefits) Use Compelling Words and Phrases Optimize Correctly Keep Your Product Description Writing Easy to Read Stay Honest Product Description Writing is a Learned Skill You Can Master [bctt tweet=”Your customers may not feel, hear, smell, or taste your product online, but the right words can tickle their senses. Get your customers to click that ‘add to cart’ button with this #copywriting guide.” username=”ExpWriters”] The Anatomy of a Product Description: 4 Essential Elements of Product Description Writing You Must Include A product description (PD) is the copy that appears on a product page describing that product to the buyer. Ultimately, the product description helps the buyer decide whether or not to pull the trigger and purchase. So, how do you describe a product to a new customer? The best product description copy includes a basic foundation of elements that make it effective: Product benefits Descriptive words that appeal to the senses Answers to buyer questions about the product Anything unusual about the product that will affect the buyer’s experience: longer-than-usual production times, special shipping needs, etc. Let’s discuss them in detail: 1. Focus on Product Benefits The most important aspect of product description writing is including how the product benefits the buyer. Above all, the buyer wants to know how their lives will improve if they purchase. Beware: Many people confuse features with benefits. They aren’t the same thing at all. Features tell what the product can do. Benefits sell by relating how the product features help the buyer. Here’s a great example of the difference from Help Scout: So, the question is not “What are the cool features of this product we can describe?” but rather “How will the product features benefit the buyer?” Focus on answering this question in your product description writing, and you’ll have the beginnings of a great product page. [bctt tweet=”Features tell what the product can do. Benefits sell by relating how the product features help the buyer. More on #productdescription #copywriting ” username=”ExpWriters”] 2. Address Look, Feel, Smell, Touch, and/or Taste in Your Product Description Copywriting You may think your beautiful product photos will do all the work of showing off the look and feel of that particular item. The truth is, it’s often not enough. The buyer still can’t experience that product. They can’t truly tell what it’s like to use it: what it feels like, how it smells, and in some cases, what it tastes like. That’s why any good, creative product description writing takes the buyer and puts them right inside the experience of using the product. Your descriptive words should evoke at least one or two of the five senses. [bctt tweet=”Good product description writing takes the buyer and puts them right inside the experience of using the product with descriptive words that evoke at least one or two of the five senses. #productdescriptionwriting” username=”ExpWriters”] For example, if you sell hot sauce, describe the fiery zing it adds to even the blandest of foods. If you sell vacuums, describe how lightweight the model is and how smoothly it helps you go from cleaning carpet to hardwood floors. This PD from Truff Hot Sauce is a good description of the experience the buyer will get when they taste it (“heat experience,” “ripe chili peppers,” “black truffle,” “savory spices” “unprecedented flavor profile”): “Our sauce is a curated blend of ripe chili peppers, organic agave nectar, black truffle, and savory spices. This combination of ingredients delivers a flavor profile unprecedented to hot sauce.” 3. Remember to Answer Buyer Questions Before any customer commits to a purchase, they have questions that need answering. For example, when I want to buy a t-shirt, I need a few important details ironed out: Does this t-shirt come in my size? Does it come in a color I … Read more

10 Website Copywriting Secrets to Get More Sales

June 19, 2024July 17, 2018 by Adam Oakley

Website copywriting matters. Correction. Your website copy REALLY matters. ‘Why?’ I hear you ask. It matters because your business website is the only digital asset you truly own and have control over, making it the single most important online platform you have. Think about that one for a second. While social media is a key part of an effective content marketing strategy, it involves using another organization’s platform, which means you’ll always be playing by their rules. In contrast, your website is 100% yours to bend to your will, and a killer site will attract traffic, convert prospects, and keep your customers coming back. That being said, not all websites are created equal. There is a real correlation between the success of a business and the effectiveness of its website, particularly the traffic it generates. In one study by Hubspot, the majority of companies exceeding their revenue goals had more than 10,000 visitors per month to their website. In comparison, 80% of companies not reaching their revenue goals had less than 10,000 visitors. And you can bet your bottom dollar those visitors weren’t going to the websites by accident. They happened to be there because of great website content. [bctt tweet=”@JuliaEMcCoy shares her top 10 website #copywriting secrets to gain more traffic and, of course, sales! ” username=”ExpWriters”] Why & How Website Content Is The Great Differentiator We know from experience that website copy, and high-quality content at that, can be what sets a brand apart from its competitors. Don’t take our word for it, though. More than 70% of marketers rate relevant content as their most effective way of obtaining website traffic, with content marketing generating three times as many leads as outbound marketing, and costing 62% less. [bctt tweet=”More than 70% of marketers rate relevant content as their most effective path to site traffic, with content marketing bringing in 3x as many leads as outbound marketing & costing 62% less. @JuliaEMcCoy ” username=”ExpWriters”] What’s more, small business websites that have blogs experience 126% more lead growth than businesses without, and B2B companies with a blog generate 67% more leads per month than companies that don’t have one. Not Just Any Old Content Will Do Like any other product or service, quality matters when it comes to website content. A recent UK study revealed that 59% of people wouldn’t use a company that had glaring grammatical or spelling mistakes on its website. In addition to this, a whopping 82% of people said they’d be put off by a website that featured content poorly translated into English. The scary thing is that poor website copywriting, instead of generating sales, can actually cost your business. That’s right. Poor quality content can actually turn away customers and create additional costs for your business. Writing expert and author Josh Bernoff says poor writing costs U.S. businesses $400 billion every year. From thedailybeast.com/bad-writing-costs-businesses-billions He names websites and marketing materials as the worst offenders, pointing the finger at lack of clarity, overuse of jargon and poor structure. Bernoff attributes the massive cost to the time that is wasted correcting and attempting to interpret poor writing. This figure doesn’t take into account other expected costs to business in terms of lost leads, sales, and reputation. [bctt tweet=”Did you know? Poor writing costs U.S. businesses $400 billion dollars every year. Read more: ” username=”ExpWriters”] Using poorly written content on your site can also have a significant effect on how Google ranks your site and your SEO (Search Engine Optimization). People Don’t Read Your Content So, here’s the thing. You may go to the trouble of crafting what you think is beautifully written content, but people aren’t going to ‘read’ it no matter how good it is. Numerous studies confirm what we already know. We don’t typically read much of the content we see. We scan or skim it. I do it. You do it. And so do your website visitors. Our average attention span is just 8.25 seconds – that’s one second less than a goldfish! We read at most only 28% of the words on an average web page – 20% is believed to be closer to the truth. So every single one of your words has to count. Reduce your content to the smallest number of relevant, and necessary, words possible without sounding stilted. 10 Website Copywriting Secrets to Win More Sales & ROI from Your Online Presence Want more in-depth tips? Check out my 365-page book on Practical Content Strategy & Marketing. You’ll learn the entire strategy for great web content. Bonus: Module/Section 5 is completely devoted to creation techniques – called Practical Content Creation! Creating effective website copy is an art. This is why many businesses turn to professional copywriting services or someone who specializes in online copywriting. Whether you hire website copywriters or decide to go at it alone, it helps to know the factors and qualities of great website content. Here are our top web copywriting tips. 1. Know Who You’re Writing For With more than 200 million pieces of online content created every minute, it can be difficult to stand out. One of the best strategies to cut through the competition and reach your audience is to create a target persona. Once you have your target persona clear in your mind, writing your content becomes much easier. Your target persona will guide what language and tone are most likely to resonate with your audience and inspire them to take action. 2. Create Eye-Catching & Skimmable Content Since we’ve already established that our attention spans are worse than a goldfish, you should make your website copy skimmable, as well as eye-catching. Start with an awesome headline. The headline is your hook and helps a reader decide whether they should click and read on. Make your headline clickable with power words. Use lots of white space around your copy. Incorporate subheadings and bullet points to break up space and create obvious landing spaces for the reader’s eyes. Break up text with images. Photos and videos not … Read more

Writing Great Web Content: Your Ultimate Guide

June 19, 2024July 3, 2018 by Adam Oakley

Fact: There’s too much bad content on the web. In fact, there’s so much crap, people are having a hard time discerning which sources are legitimate, which facts are actually facts, and who can be trusted. People’s trust in the mass media has largely eroded, as a Gallup poll has shown. This distrust isn’t random – the internet has largely helped sow these seeds. So, what happens when you swoop in with accurate, valuable web content? It’s a light in the dark. Great web content is a torch that leads the way, setting an example for other content creators. Best of all, you give readers exactly what they want, need, and crave. That’s why we’re here with this extensive guide on how to write great web content. Learn how to build this type of lasting, strong web content, right now in today’s “ultimate guide.” The Ultimate Guide: How to Write Great Web Content 7 Ways to Write Great Web Content for Blockbuster Blogs 1. Make the Headline Sing Appeal to the Human Brain Keep It Clear, but Don’t Insult Their Intelligence Use Better Wording 2. Give Away Your Best Information in the Intro Start with the Hook Tell Them WHY They Should Care 3. Organize Your Points Explaining a Concept? Go from Basic to Complicated Writing a Tipsheet? Go from Most-Important to Least-Important Writing a Guide? Go Step-by-Step 4. Reference and Link to High-Quality Sources 5. Check Your Research 6. Write the Right Blog Post Length 7. Illustrate Your Points with Images 4 Ways to Write Great Web Content for Landing Pages and Web Pages 1. Write an Actionable Headline 2. Make the Body Copy Skimmable 3. Stay Benefit-Focused 4. Write a CTA That Shouts at the Reader Take Cues from the Headline Encourage, Inspire, and Motivate the Reader to Act 5 Examples of How to Write Great Web Content (the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), Plus: THIS Is How to Write Great Web Content Examples of Lackluster Web Content – Don’t Make These Mistakes! [bctt tweet=”When you create great web content, you help set the standard for publishing useful, accurate information online. More in today’s guide by @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] [bctt tweet=”Learn how to build lasting, strong web content in our ultimate guide on the topic via @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] What’s the Anatomy of Great Web Content? Writing good web content calls for hitting a series of bullseyes. All of them have to do with satisfying your audience. (No surprise, there.) No matter which industry you’re writing for, no matter what topic you’re covering, greatness always follows this anatomical structure: The Brain: Is it educational, informative, or practical? The Skeleton: Is it well-organized? Does it make sense as a whole? The Muscle: Does it pull you in? Does it make you want/need to keep reading? The Heart: Does it entertain you? Does it resonate? To make sure your web content hits home, include each of these vital parts. Here’s how. 7 Ways to Write Great Web Content for Blockbuster Blogs Web content like blogs requires a fair bit of finessing and fiddling to make them truly great. Take the time to check off each of these boxes, and you’ll be well on your way to web content greatness. 1. Make the Headline Sing A great piece of web content worth its weight in gold starts with an amazing headline. We’ve written plenty about how to optimize your headline for SEO, but how do you craft a headline that appeals to readers? How do you create one that’s just plain good? 3 Ways to Write Better Headlines 1. Appeal to the Human Brain Humans are really predictable. Luckily, when you’re sitting down to write your headlines, you can bank on this predictability. There are a few things we love to see in headlines, stuff that makes us far more likely to click them or keep scrolling to read the content underneath. Here’s what we know. Take these points into consideration when you write your headlines. Try to incorporate one (or a few) into your phrase/sentence: The human brain is attracted to numbers. In fact, a portion of our brain cells is dedicated solely to recognizing and interpreting numerals. When you include them in your headlines, you tap into the human desire to quantify value. Examples: “5 Easy Ways to Save Money,” “10 Tips for Baking a Delicious Cake,” “3 Great Reasons to Start a Savings Account” Humans hate feeling uncertain. Let’s put it this way: uncertainty = anxiety = stress. If you leave your headlines too ambiguous, you’ll stir up that unwanted uncertainty and drive people away. According to a well-known study by Conductor, most people prefer explicit headlines that help them understand what they’re in for if they read your blog or article. [bctt tweet=”A portion of our brain cells is dedicated solely to recognizing and interpreting numerals. When you include them in your headlines, you tap into the human desire to quantify value. @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] People are asking questions in search. In particular, more and more people are using voice search to get information, and asking questions in full sentences. Answer them in your headlines! Framing your headlines as answers will also help you rank for popular voice search queries. Examples: “How to Jump-Start a Car” “How to Bake a Birthday Cake “Here’s Why You Should Start a Savings Account” 2. Keep It Clear, But Don’t Insult Their Intelligence When writing headlines, many people forget about a key ingredient: clarity. Without clarity, your headline will be too confusing to appeal to readers. Plus, it will stir up the uncertainty we mentioned above, which is never a good idea. Of course, it’s just as easy to go the other direction and come up with a headline that’s way too simplistic and obvious. Case in point: Instead of stating the obvious, focus on readability. To help you keep it clear and understandable, consider using a tool that will score the readability of your text, like Readable.io. Just paste your headline … Read more

How to Write Reader & Conversion-Friendly Landing Page Copy

May 7, 2024September 26, 2017 by Adam Oakley

A landing page is chock-full of marketing ROI potential. If you do it right, a landing page has the power to work miracles. It can pull your visitor toward your brand, continue to pique their interest, and, finally, accomplish the Big One. It will convince them to hand over their personal contact details. They’ll become a quantifiable lead. ….*abra-cadabra*…. You can’t get there, though, without knowing how to write good landing page copy. This is basically copy that expertly guides the visitor, meets their expectations, persuades them, and builds trust with them –all at the same time. Because this is quite a Task, with a capital “T,” we’re going to divulge some tips for writing landing page copy that can do it all. First, there’s something you need to understand. What a Landing Page Is (and What It Isn’t) Some people use their homepage or contact page as landing pages. This is a huge mistake. The most common use for a landing page is giving visitors a place to “land” after they click on one of your ads. You’ve piqued their interest – they want to learn more. You got that click. But, if you take them to your homepage after telling them about an offer or deal in an ad, that’s confusing. That’s like taking them to an ice cream shop with 100 flavors but abandoning them at the entrance. You’ve given them no reason to try the ice cream – no idea which flavor is the best and no motivation to go inside. You’ve got to give guidance if you want them to convert. Your landing page, therefore, is all about the call-to-action. Because you’re trying to get the reader to do something, every other piece of information on the page needs to line up with that CTA. In short, every element on that page must work hard. No cop-outs or lazy writing, here. Every single sentence is important. Landing Page Copy, Deconstructed: 5 Elements of a Razor-Sharp Page that Works Landing page copy is composed of a variety of elements. Each will contribute toward urging your visitor to take you up on the CTA. Before you begin, though, you must know the answers to the following questions, according to Kissmetrics. They’ll give your page its direction and purpose: What am I offering? – You’re directing traffic to this page because you have an offer they can’t refuse. What is it? This is your CTA. Whether it’s “Sign up now!” or “Get your free download!,” it’s the most important part of the page. You must know what it is before you can start writing, according to Copy Hackers. How will the visitor benefit from the offer? – If you take too long to tell the visitor about the benefits, they’ll fail to care. They’ll leave, because they won’t know what’s in it for them. Tell them, and tell them quickly. What do visitors need to know to accept the offer? – Make sure they understand the offer inside-out so they’ll have no hesitations about proceeding with the CTA. Once you’ve got your answers, you can move on to writing the page. The most critical elements are the headline, the description, the benefits, the social proof, and the call-to-action. 1. The Headline No matter what kind of copy you’re writing, a good headline is indispensable. It’s no different for landing page copy. Make your headline echo your CTA. – Your visitors need to know exactly what you want them to do, and why they’re on the page, from the first few seconds. Make it abundantly clear and echo your CTA in your headline (and vice-versa). For example, if the offer is a discount on software, your headline should say something about that software. Tying into that, your CTA should be akin to “Get your discounted software today!” Look at how HubSpot’s headline echoes their CTA on this landing page for one of their products: Go bold. – If you can make a bold claim in your headline, do it. However, you must be able to back it up. If you can’t provide evidence, don’t say it. Get to the point. – Avoid filler words and fluff. These deaden your copy and make it harder to read. For instance, here’s a clunky headline: “In Order to Go the Distance, You Can Get a Faster Car.” Omit the filler phrases “in order to” and “you can.” The slimmed-down, leaner headline is more impactful: “Go the Distance. Get a Faster Car.” Be clear and simple. – Again, confusion is your worst enemy. The point of your entire page should be crystal-clear from the headline on. Spend enough time on your headline. – Your headline sets the tone for the entire page. Spend enough time on this piece to make sure it’s really good, and the rest of the landing page should follow suit. 2. The Description The next three elements – the description, the benefits, and the social proof – go hand-in-hand. Often, the description is composed of the latter two elements. The benefits show your prospective lead what’s in it for them. The social proof shows that it does what you say it will do. Basically, this is the space where you tell the person why they should follow through with the offer. Here is where you can provide evidence for your claims. You can also list compelling statistics, or generally show why what you’re offering is so great for them. The better your descriptive copy, the better it will lead visitors to the CTA. Just remember there are some basic best practices to keep in mind: A) Shorter and simpler are always better. – No matter what, always remember you’re taking up the visitor’s time as long as you have them on your landing page. You must make it worth their while. Unbounce calls this ROTI – “return on time invested.” If visitors feel like you’re waffling, waxing poetic, droning on, or wasting their time, they’ll leave without converting. B) … Read more

Decoding the Life Expectancy of Your Website Content

January 1, 2021June 7, 2017 by Adam Oakley

You spend hours, sometimes even days or weeks, creating engaging content that your audience will love. You post it to your preferred social media platforms and are slowly but surely generating some user engagement. But then it stops. No more shares, likes, pins, backlinks…nothing. Since you’ve optimized your content for SEO, your focus now shifts to working towards getting to the first page of the rankings. But how long does this take? And does there come a point where your content is no longer relevant to search engines or your audience? Put simply; what is the lifespan of the content you create? Let’s dive in and find out. What is the Average Life Expectancy of Your Website Content? As far as social media goes, content shelf-life is rather short. But this isn’t that surprising. After all, MarketingProfs estimates that there are over 2 million blog posts written and published every day. A large portion of those blog posts are then featured on social media platforms, which is why it’s just not possible for content to last long there. Check out these content lifespan stats from Boost the News… For a majority of these blog posts, about 74% of them, website traffic related to the post peaks on the day it is published. Within one week, traffic drops drastically by an average of 90%. And after one month, the average traffic to the content is a mere 1.7% of the peak total. Yikes! The life expectancy of your website content is looking rather dire. So, based on social media engagement and initial website traffic, we’re looking at a content life span between three hours and one week. That’s pretty disappointing. Especially after you spent about the same amount of time creating the content. But fortunately, it doesn’t stop there. Search engines provide the ultimate opportunity to extend the life of your content. And it’s where the majority of your focus should lie. The 4 Major Factors That Determine the Lifespan of Your Content Google makes changes to their algorithm at a rate of about 500-600 times per year. Many of these changes are subtle and go unnoticed. But that wasn’t the case when they introduced their new web indexing system, Caffeine, in June of 2010. The goal of the new indexing system was to provide 50% fresher results for web searches. What that meant for website owners was that, in order for their content to stay relevant and featured in search rankings long-term, they needed to take certain actions to make that happen. And while this ranking modification happened way back in 2010, Google continues to improve their indexing to value fresh content above all else. But what exactly is ‘fresh content’? And what can you do to make sure your content remains fresh? Let’s take a look at the four most important factors. 1. The Strength of the Content In any evaluation of the life expectancy of content, we’d be silly not to mention the importance of the actual strength of the content. It’s easy to judge the life expectancy of bad content. Maybe, if your headline is good enough and you share it on social media, it’ll last a few hours or even days. But is that what you’re really going for? Without great content, there are no backlinks. There is no engagement. There is nothing but a few hours of curious people clicking the link to your article and promptly leaving your website as they realize that you aren’t delivering what your headline promises. So, before anything else, you need to put in the work to create amazing, SEO optimized content. 2. Inception Date Like a lot of things with Google’s algorithms and ranking methods, the influence of the inception date is difficult to measure. What we do know, however, is that there can be two different types of inception scores. Justin Briggs, of Briggsby SEO, lays it out like this: Once the search engines have defined an inception date, it becomes a part of the Freshness Score of the content. Briggs simplified how this works through this graph: As you can see, search results initially lean towards the content with the most recent inception date. This is especially true when you’re dealing with queries that are date sensitive (ex. sports scores, data, statistics, etc.). But, after a certain amount of time has passed, the influence of the inception date is no longer as valuable. And, at this point, the factors that follow begin to take precedent. 3. Updates to Core Content As would be expected, regularly updated content receives a higher Freshness Score than content that’s never updated. But the amount and type of change also directly impacts how much the score changes. In Google’s 2011 US Patent application on Document Scoring, they mention: “In order to not update every link’s freshness from a minor edit of a tiny unrelated part of a document, each updated document may be tested for significant changes (e.g., changes to a large portion of the document or changes to many different portions of the document) and a link’s freshness may be updated (or not updated) accordingly.” As an example, let’s say you put together a blog post in 2014 titled ‘The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Ads’. If you were to go in today and simply change the link along with the date and time tags, Google would almost certainly ignore the change. If, however, you were to go in and update the content based on modern day best practices for Facebook Ads, you’d be much more likely to have your Freshness Score positively affected. And this all makes sense. After all, Google didn’t become the biggest search engine in the world by accident. They did it by ensuring that user search queries were consistently answered with the best possible results. The only way to do that is to provide updated, relevant results. At the end of the day, if you want to extend the life of your content, it’s crucial that … Read more

Learn How to Improve Your Content Writing: 7 Easy Ways to Buff up Your Content Now

January 1, 2021April 5, 2017 by Adam Oakley

What’s the one thing you need to do to master a new skill? Practice, of course! This is as true with learning to play tennis as it is mastering content writing: the more you practice, the better you get. Today, content writing is a critical talent, and mastering it can help you stand out in the crowded online world. Sound hard? Don’t worry, it’s easier than you might think. Just follow these seven simple tips, and you’ll be on the top of your content writing game in no time at all. How to Improve Your Content Writing: Why Creating Great Online Content Matters So Much Unless you’ve been living under a rock for all of 2016 (and maybe the decade before that, as well), you’ve probably interacted with some form of online content. Whether it was a blog, a webpage, a social media post, or even a product description, online content has touched your life in one way or another. This industry is nowhere near dying. In fact, it’s the opposite. Today, online content is one of the primary sources that humans use to communicate with one another. Sound crazy? Think about it! Regardless of what you do for work or fun, chances are that you interact with some form of digital content every day. Do you read blogs? Do you surf the web? Do you shop online? If so, you’re interacting with online content! According to Adweek: The average person interacts with 285 pieces of content every single day. This rounds out to 54,000 words (the length of a novel) and 1,000 different links – consumed daily. A whopping 63% of that content is written, while 37% is media content. If that doesn’t put the importance of online content in perspective, I’m not sure what will! Due to the rise of digital content, and the level of importance that consumers now place on it, learning how to improve your content writing is one of the smartest things you can do. How to Improve Your Content Writing in 7 Steps Regardless of whether you’re a marketer, blogger, small business owner, or just an online enthusiast, improving your content writing is one of the best ways to succeed in the digital world. Here are seven tips to help you head into 2017 strong: 1. Up your image game For most people, “adding an image” to a blog means plugging in a stock photo for the featured picture. This is not enough. Today, images make all the difference in a person’s willingness to read your content. In fact, HubSpot reports that content that includes a relevant image gets a massive 94% more views than content that is only text. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a professional photographer to add images to your posts. Today, there are dozens of free and high-quality stock image sites you can take advantage of. You can also hire out custom images, or create your own on a site like Canva. No matter what you do, make sure any images you include in your posts are high-quality – there should be no blurring or odd proportions – and relevant. 2. Dig deeper than average to verify facts and statistics It’s easy to fill your writing with general statements. It’s much harder, however, to go to the source and find relevant, solid statistics to back up your claims. This is one simple way to beef up your online writing. Today, it’s easier than ever to find quality statistics for any industry you’re involved in. A simple Google search with the word “statistic” at the end will reveal thousands, if not millions, of hits. Before you go plugging them into your content, however, you need to know how to determine what is a high-quality source and what’s not. One fantastic, 100% trustworthy tool for determining this is Alexa. Alexa is an Amazon subsidiary that allows users to access traffic and rank estimates based on mass browsing behavior. Alexa’s ranks are updated daily and the tool offers a quick view of sites that are high-quality and sites that are low-quality – the lower the site ranking number, the better it’s doing online. To use Alexa, just head to Alexa.com/siteinfo, and type in your target URL. If it ranks over 100,000, it’s a high-quality link that you can include in your content. Save this handy-dandy visual guide: 3. Add an infographic Right now, infographics are shared and liked on social media three times as often as any other type of content out there. For an example of how an infographic can be used in a piece of online content check, out our recent post “Five Tips for Creating Irresistibly Tasty Holiday Content for Your Readers.” This piece features the five tips as copy and designed into a fun infographic, hand-drawn and custom created in Adobe InDesign by our lead designer. While we could have just written the tips out, HubSpot’s statistics show that people play close attention to information-carrying images. Never created an infographic before? It might be best to leave it to a pro. We offer full-service infographic creation! Visit Infographics in the Content Shop. Like any image, the infographics you use in your content must always be high-quality, relevant, and professional. 4. Publish a case study A case study is one piece of content that announces “I have arrived!” Here’s why: case studies are not something that every content writer produces. They take time, they take expertise, and they take real, demonstrable success that your clients are willing to let you share. Because of this, they are an incredibly powerful type of online content that can serve to enhance your reputation and help you land more customers. If you’re interested in publishing a case study, you’ll have to set a time frame and start paying close attention to your results. If you have a specific job or interaction with the client that you believe would be fodder for a case study, reach out to the client and ask for permission to share the details. Once you’ve done … Read more

10 Critical Content Types To Invest In When Launching a New Site

December 31, 2020March 22, 2017 by Adam Oakley

When you launch a new website, investing in the right content is critical. In addition to “beautifying” your site with great copy that supports your company’s goals and talks to your audience, good content helps you gain online exposure in the SERP results, rankings, leads, traffic – and boosts your chances of converting new clients. But which types of content should you invest in, if you’re just starting out? It can be tough, with questions like do I start a blog, do I create 11 or 50 pages of web copy, launch social media content (and if so, how?), just to name a few. We’re here to help with a guide on ten critical content types for every new site. Keep reading! Content By The Numbers: 5 Reasons to Invest in Content First, let’s explore why you should be considering a long-term investment in content marketing if you’re just launching a site. Consider a few content marketing statistics: 1. More Than 200 Million People Are Currently Using Ad Blockers. While this might not seem like it matters much for your site, it means that great content is one of the only ways to access the inboxes and computers of the customers you want to reach. 2. Content Helps To Produce Brand Recall. In 2015, IBM did a Digital Experience Survey that proved that 56% of content marketers believed that personalized content helped promote a higher engagement rate with customers. The easier your brand is for customers to remember, the easier it will be for you to drive engagement through content. 3. People Spend An Average Of 37 Seconds On Content. If you want people to spend more time on your website, one of the best ways to do it is to invest in content that makes them feel something. According to Content Marketing Institute, high-quality, relevant content encourages readers to stay on your website longer. 4. Content Marketing Is 62% Less Expensive Than Outbound. Although many people assume that content is expensive, it’s quite a bit cheaper than traditional advertising and outbound methods. What’s more, it’s also three times as effective. 5. Content Drives Higher Conversion Rates. When people adopt content for their marketing strategies, they enjoy conversion rates roughly six times as high as those of their competitors. With these numbers in mind, it’s clear that not only can you not afford to invest in content for your website, but that deciding which content works best with your brand is crucial to overhauling your online marketing strategy. 10 Content Types Every Website Needs If you’re building a new site, don’t launch it without first ensuring that you have each of these ten types of content: 1. Web Pages What would a website be without web pages? While many of today’s websites are long-page, one-page sites, it’s still crucial you have some pages for your site. For most companies, an “About Us,” “Contact,” and “Services” page will do, although you may choose to add or subtract pages as you see fit. Remember that the length of your web pages is an important consideration. Too long and you risk losing your reader’s attention, especially if you don’t format your pages correctly. Too short, and you risk not providing enough information or detail to be helpful for your readers. As a general rule, web pages should have at least 300 words of copy on them. While this will be too short to cover most topics, it’s a good benchmark to keep in mind as you start creating the web pages for your new site. 2. Ongoing Blogging Listen carefully: you need a blog. Without a blog, your website will not only not perform as well as you’d like it to, but you’ll miss a valuable opportunity to provide your readers with relevance – one of the most coveted and important factors in online marketing. Although many companies underestimate the importance of a blog, Impact Branding And Design reports that: Websites with blogs tend to have 434% more indexed pages than their competitors. What’s more, 47% of customers interact with 3 – 5 pieces of content before they ever talk to a sales rep. And my favorite blogging stat (Hubspot): Businesses that publish over 16 blogs/month (4+/weekly) get 3.5x MORE traffic than businesses that publish 0-4 posts. Wow! 3.5x more traffic than your competitors, just from consistent, volume blogging. So why are you not already? Having a library of quality, relevant content can make all the difference between converting a customer and losing them to the sea of other companies vying for their attention. If that weren’t enough to change your mind, B2B marketers that blog regularly earn an average of 67% more leads than marketers who don’t. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to integrate a blog with your website. Today, content platforms like WordPress offer built-in blog functionalities that are easy to manage and use, even for beginners. To manage your blog effectively, use its scheduling feature to post consistently and give your readers something to look forward to regularly. One of our favorite content services is ongoing, consistent blogging maintenance. We write, schedule, create imagery, and publish in our blogging packages. 3. Meta Content Meta content is an often-overlooked form of online content. While it doesn’t get as much attention as sexier forms of content like blogs or social media, it serves a crucial role in the online world. When you Google something, meta content is the snippet of material that appears on the search engine results page or SERPs. Here’s what it looks like: Meta content works to give you an idea of what information an article contains, and helps you understand what you will learn from a given piece of content. As such, it’s crucial to get it right. If you don’t know how to write meta content on your own, it’s smart to hire someone who does. When done correctly, meta content will boost your SEO and help improve your click-through rate, both of which can have dramatic and long-lasting impact on the salience on your website 4. Product … Read more