Website Content - Express Writers

Longer Is Better For Blog Content: Truth Or Myth?

January 1, 2021February 6, 2014 by Adam Oakley

350, 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000… all of these numbers have been thrown at us when it comes to creating blog content. Some sources say shorter blogs are better because your audience doesn’t have time to read. Other sources say longer blogs are ideal because they build credibility, authority and SERPs. Finally, there are still more sources that claim shorter is better because it does everything a long blog does in a short, sweet package. So, which is it? OK, so lately I’ve seen “shorter is better” circulating around on the Internet. While we DO have only 33 seconds to grab attention on a home page, a long-form blog over 2,000 words will actually get you noticed in search engine rankings. If you have a really good, poignant message in 100 words, but Google never ranks it—good luck Charley! Getting found is most important, and you can’t get found with a blog less than 500 words. Ideal Blog Length: Short Content versus Long Content Since Google dropped the Hummingbird patch, there’s been a new secret ingredient to getting noticed on the Internet: longer content equals higher rankings. Google indicated that content totaling 2,000 words versus 500 or less will rank higher on search engines. We here at Express Writers were skeptical at first. After all, up until this tidbit of information was released the rule of thumb was “less is more.” We conducted our own case study in an effort to test this new secret ingredient out. We switched from writing 300 to 600 word blogs to publishing 1,500 to 2,000 word blogs. We made the switch in mid-November 2013. We posted our new lengthier blogs daily. Each post included at least one, sometimes two, stock images. We followed our usual search engine optimization techniques and shared each post socially. By mid-December 2013, we watched in excitement as our rankings took a huge leap upwards! Before switching to lengthier blogs, we had 7 keywords in the top 3 rankings on Goggle. After switching, we had 35 top keywords in the top 3 rankings on Google! So, is shorter content better for blogging? Based on our study, we say this belief is a myth. Myths about Content Length When it comes to content length, we receive tons of input from all sorts of sources. Unfortunately, some of what we hear may sound great, but is really a myth waiting to be debunked. Let’s consider three: Reputation trumps content length. Tell me if you’re heard this: “He can write 100 words and get 100+ shares on it. Why? He’s been blogging for more than 10 years, and he reportedly blogged every day for that time. Today’s, he’s the “top blogger in the world.” Sometimes it takes that long to consistently build up a name.” Awesome! He built a name for himself. But the second his blogs lack value, his audience is likely to jump ship. Status means more than content. Consider Google’s Webspam Robot-Man. We like him. But really. Since he LEADS Google’s Webspam team, he can also write100 words and the entire world (well, Internet, well most of it…) listens. The rest of us can’t depend on our status to carry our content. Shorter content equates to more sales. When’s the last time you bought a product or service from a sales page that amounted to 500 words or less? In all likelihood, you haven’t. Potential customers want to know why they should buy from you. They don’t want hype and sales fluff, and they absolutely don’t want to be pressured. They want to be educated consumers, the sort who understand their purchase and clearly see how it will benefit them today and in the future. You can’t accurately convey this type of quality information in short content and expect to appear credible. What Truly Matters, Content-Wise QuickSprout.com published an article about long copy effects on rankings and the truths of content. They covered three truths that are inescapable when it comes to blog content: Quality content is king. According to a serpIQ analysis, Google doesn’t prefer lengthy content simply because it feels more valuable. Google also prefers it because the data indicates that audiences like longer, meatier content. The average length that scored as “most liked” was 2,416 to 2,494 words long. Sites rich with content get more links. The trend is that people feel more content offers more value. If your website is rich with well-written, longer content, it will attract more people and result in more links. Social media prefers lengthier content. A writer for Quick Sprout took the 327 blog posts they had written for Quick Sprout and sorted them into two categories. The first category held posts of less than 1,500 words. The second held posts greater than 1,500 words. The writer discovered that the posts with a length greater than 1,500 words received 22.6 percent more Facebook likes and 68.1 percent more tweets than posts that were less than 1,500 words. Lengthy content is also on the rise due to a notable change in user search engine queries. According to Hitwise, 8-word search queries have increased in use by 34,000 percent. People are far less likely to enter a keyword of 2 to 3 words into a search engine query. More and more users are using long tail keywords, or keywords that are anywhere from 4 to 8 words in length. The longer your content is, the more words you use and the more likely you are to rank when a person uses a long tail keyword. Does Short Advertising Sell More? Over the years, we have been conditioned to think that less is more and shorter ads sell more. While this might well have been true twenty years ago, today we live in a customer driven time where the customer’s want for knowledge outweighs our want to keep things short, sweet and simple. BusinessInsider.com published an article covering just why short copy doesn’t sell more. They gave five “most … Read more

How to Write Location-Specific Web Content

December 31, 2020February 4, 2014 by Adam Oakley

Do you own a local business? Do you want to market it more effectively? Are you confused about how to rank well for your physical location? If so, you’re not alone! There are currently more than 23 million small businesses in the country, many of which have a brick-and-mortar location! And these small businesses are more impactful than you might imagine: they account for 54% of all sales in the U.S. economy and have created more than 8 million jobs since 1990. To put this another way: small businesses are powerful, and they deserve a marketing approach that understands that. This is where location-specific marketing comes in. By strengthening the presence of a company in a local environment, location-specific marketing makes it easier for brands to earn local customers and become household names. When you learn to write location-specific web pages for your company, everyone wins. Today, we’re going to talk about how you can ensure you’re creating valuable content for your local business – content that takes all your hard work, dedication, and commitment into consideration. Read on. Why Local Web Content Matters: Understanding the Big Picture It’s no secret that Google’s algorithms are getting smarter each year. As such, local business owners can’t afford to stay stuck in the stone age when it comes to their web content. Instead, you need plenty of “tricks” in your content creation arsenal. If you’re still not convinced that location-specific pages are that important, here are some local content stats to consider: More than 63% of smartphone users frequently use apps that require the input of the user’s physical location. This means that tailoring your content to be geo-specific can help them find you. More than 50% of people who visit Google Maps will select one of the top three SERP results. This is a major perk for the companies that manage to rank in those spots. In 2011, more than 60% of marketers reported that geo-targeted ads offered a stronger ROI than the alternatives. That number has only grown since then, thanks in large part to the mobile revolution. Hyper-local search engine marketing is cheaper and more efficient than broader approaches. Within the last ten years, the role of website content has grown incredibly. The world’s best-known search engines have realized that if they want online users to find the results they want, and the results that will be more relevant to them, they’ve got to start prioritizing local results, especially now that everyone and their brother has a smartphone. The Goal of Creating Location-Specific Web Pages Local content serves dozens of purposes. On the one hand, it educates your users, on the other, it provides a serious SEO boost. Here are the top things you can look forward to when you start investing heavily in your location-specific content strategy: More qualified site visitors More inbound links to your website Higher levels of social shares More brand awareness More sales! Possibly the best thing about location-specific web content is that it can do several things at once and that these goals aren’t mutually exclusive. A great local content campaign will serve all these purposes and more, which will help you improve your company from the inside out. Ranking for Local Search in the Modern Day Ten years ago, getting your website to rank at the top of the SERPs was pretty simple. All you needed to do was stuff your pages with keywords, and “presto!” Your website was automatically the top result. If a budget wedding planner in Los Angeles wanted to be among the high-ranking sites, all they needed to do was stuff the term “budget wedding planner Los Angeles” into the body copy and headlines a few times. Seem simple enough? Get this: the phrase didn’t even have to be contextually relevant. Nope. In fact, creating grammatically incorrect, fluffy, empty content was all the rage in the late 90’s, and it didn’t hurt your image one bit. Something pretty much like this: Today, however, that trend has reversed. It’s 2017, and search engines and users are smarter and more discerning than they’ve ever been. This means that things like relevant content and good keyword research are essential in today’s world. While it’s true that users search for more local content than they have in the past, they’re not just looking for crappy fluff that doesn’t do anything but clog up their devices. Instead, they’re looking for contextually relevant, helpful, value-dense material that will lead them to great local establishments. And it’s your job to deliver it! How to Create Location-Specific Content: 10 Steps So you want to create location specific content, but you don’t know how. Hold onto your hats, though, because you’re about to learn! Here are ten professional steps to follow: 1. Stay Unique Just because you’re creating location-specific web pages doesn’t mean you get to go and be boring. Exactly the opposite, in fact! Location-specific web pages should be unique, especially if you’re targeting various locations. For example, say you’re a computer repair company with locations in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. Even though the company behind those three places is the same, they geographies are so different that they’re virtually entire separate entities, and it’s critical to treat them as such. If all you do is swap out your geo-keyword (“computer repair in Los Angeles” for “Computer repair in New York,” for example), your readers are going to catch on, and you’re going to lose leads. Instead, you’ll need to create unique content for each page. For best results, aim to develop material that takes the individual factors of each location into account. 2. Focus On Web Pages, Rather Than Blogs We’ve all seen blogs trying hard to squeeze themselves into local SERPs. These blogs typically have titles such as the following: How to Select a Good Budget Wedding Planner in Los Angeles Why a Budget Wedding Planner Los Angeles Can Help You 10 Reasons to Hire a Budget Wedding Planner Los Angeles … Read more

Content Generation: 10 Must-Read Tips for a Better Web

January 1, 2021January 17, 2014 by Adam Oakley

Anyone who has ever published a website is automatically familiar with the term “Content is King”. Lots of time, money, and effort goes into reaching top ranking on well known search engines such as Google, MSN, Bing and Yahoo!. But many of the people that invest in an attempt to get high page ranking on search engines give little thought to the chief elements needed in creating the foundation: content that is reader-friendly. New Year’s Mantra: Content Is for People, Not for Search Engines It is very important to understand that the content you write should be first and foremost for people, and not for search engines. Once readers value your blog or website content, they will definitely keep coming back for more and even share your content with others. If you follow the content generation tips below, you will not have a problem writing reader-friendly content. The cherry on the pie is when search engines begin to rank your website or blog high because your content is well-written and reader-friendly. If you invest the time to read a lot of articles on the internet about content creation, you will notice that it is nearly impossible to find an article that really hammers on the importance of writing for readers and not search engines. With the popularity of this trend, one will be compelled to ask “Are bloggers and web content writers totally ignoring readers and focusing all their attention on search engine spiders?” Hmm… it would be untrue to say that most bloggers and semi-professional website writers genuinely create content with the sole aim of educating their target readers. Most writers simply create content that will rank high in search engine results, period. Professional copywriters focus on 3 things before writing ridiculously effective content pieces. Professional writers have mastered the art of writing articles that will please both readers and search engine bots. Must-follow Tips for Better Webpages in 2014 1. Generate Content on What You Specialize In. There is no doubt that this is the most important thing for any writer to take into consideration. When you have in-depth knowledge on a subject, it provides you with the tools and inspiration to write compelling articles that will keep readers coming back to your web page for more. Specialization also gives you great confidence and helps you provide details about the topic you are covering. You are most likely to include facts and insights when writing a very familiar topic that may have not been covered by other writers who have written on the same subject. There is nothing more wonderful than seeing writers connect with your thoughts and nodding their head in agreement while reading what you have written. Have you ever read an article where you felt like the writer is actually in your home and understands what you are going through? Yes, that is the power of a compelling content – it connects with the reader. When you write on topics that you are most familiar with, it really sets you apart from the crowd. Visitors to your website will, in time, love your content and will definitely keep coming back for more. There is no Google algorithm change that will EVER affect this particular content generation tip – and you can take that to the bank! Search Engine Optimization Hint: Highly informative and well-detailed content are known to rank high on Google search results. 2. Group Major Parts of Content into Sub-headings. One of the content writing tactics to avoid includes using poor formatting. When you categorize your content into subheadings, this will help you structure your content better, and make it reader-friendly. People like to read articles that are structured and flow well. You should consider which headings need to be placed higher and which headings should follow. Even if an article is five thousand words long, if it is well structured, readers will keep reading from the top to the bottom. Search Engine Optimization Hint: When your article is well-structured, it will be a lot easier for you to create crisp, compelling title tags and headings for better SEO ranking. 3. Stay Focused on the Chosen Subject – Don’t Stray! There are times when you want to write about a subject matter, but you find yourself going on and on about another topic that is closely related to the main topic you are writing about. It is important to stay focused on the key topic of the article. You need to understand that the attention span of an average web user is short, and they do not have the time to waste on reading irrelevant content. Readers want to read well-written content on their enquiries. Concise and crisp articles are inviting to readers. Web pages and articles that lack focus seldom get repeat visitors and often NEVER get shared, tagged or pinned. Creating content that sticks to the subject matter is a great writing practice that every writer should stick to. Search Engine Optimization Hint: Having content that gets repeat visitors will help boost your search engine ranking with search engines, especially almighty Google. 4. Create Opinionated and Detailed Content. It is very easy to use your personal experience when you write on a subject matter that you specialize in. Providing your honest opinion wherever possible will come easily to you. People love to read an expert’s personal experiences and also want to know their honest opinions. Once they know that they can count on getting your personal contribution on the topic of their liking, there is a high possibility that they will bookmark your blog or website, share your content with others and keep coming back for more. Search Engine Optimization Hint: Having more visitors to your blog or website means having higher search engine ranking. 5. Include an Introductory and Conclusion Paragraph… Always. It is important that you follow a simple, yet important and expected writing style. Include an introductory and concluding paragraph wherever possible within your blog posts or … Read more

New Year Tips: What Do I Have To Worry About With Duplicate Content?

January 1, 2021January 15, 2014 by Adam Oakley

Some people copy content in order to fill a website; others have all original content except for a list of automotive parts that really can’t be reworded. The hot question circulating in the online community is how much duplicate content will hurt you? Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam team, says that today “something like 25 or 30 percent of all the web’s content is duplicate content.” For years, duplicate content has been a search engine optimization issue that has caused much debate. Some say matching content has led them to ranking ruin, while others claim it’s mostly harmless. Understanding Duplicate Content and Why It Must Be Avoided Simply put, duplicate content is the content that shows up multiple times in numerous places on the Internet. Search engines are on a mission to provide the best search experience. As a result, they avoid displaying identical material. There are three big issues with duplicate content: Search engine algorithms don’t know which content version(s) to include or exclude. Search engines cannot determine whether to direct link metrics to a single page or separate it between several versions. Search engines cannot decide which version(s) to rank for query results. You should avoid duplicate content whenever possible. It will only serve to decrease your SERP ranking and decrease traffic potential. Disclaimers, Legal Information, Terms, and Conditions Depending on the nature of your business, your service or product website might need to display a disclaimer, terms and conditions or some other sort of legal information. Let’s face it; nearly every website out there has something along these lines—even if it’s as minor as the same copyright information displayed on every page of the website. Duplicate content of this nature is going to exist. It’s virtually unavoidable. Here’s the good news: Google understands. If they were to rank websites negatively for duplications that arise from disclaimers, legal information and terms and conditions, they would likely cause a negative impact on overall search quality. In Cutts’ words, “I wouldn’t stress about it” when it comes to the necessary legal jargon. Ingredient, Product, Service and Other Lists Lists are another element found on almost any website. Companies display lists of ingredients, parts, specs, and so forth. Your website might have a list of affiliates. In general, these types of lists should not detract from your ranking. However, a word of caution does demand attention: if you have just an affiliate feed or the exact same paragraph(s) of text that mirror what everybody else on the web puts in their list, duplicate content could become a problem. Quotations and Citations Don’t worry if you use quotations or citations. It is okay to quote, provided you link to the original source and indicate that you are quoting. Google won’t see this as duplicate content. However, remember, quotes are the golden nuggets of copy. Don’t write copy that is quotation heavy. This will be seen negatively by Google’s eyes. Avoid “Fly-By-Night” or Duplicate Content Branding Duplicate content brands a website as “fly-by-night,” meaning the content was quickly copied and pasted from somewhere else just to get the website up and running with a shot at gaining quick SERP ranking. It’s important that your webpage content not give this deadly impression. The solution is simple: use original content as much as possible. By using original content throughout your webpages, little duplicates (such as the ones we discussed above) won’t carry much weight because your original content will far outweigh any matching material. In essence, showing that you are a reputable, established presence depends on value. How valuable is your content to the potential customer and the researcher who wants to be educated and informed? Keyword Stuffing is Deadly One of the largest contributors to duplicate content on the Internet has been the previous SEO strategy of stuffing content with keywords and keyword phrases. Up until now, this used to be a solid way to show up on search engine result pages and generate website traffic. Today, Google is smarter. Their search algorithms are able to identify synonyms and extrapolate relevant search results to a query based on concept. What does this mean for your content? Do not stuff keywords or phrases! It will create rapidly recognized duplicate information. Your search rankings will take a not so graceful swan dive, and you’ll likely be branded a “fly-by-night” website by search engines. The Practices to Avoid to Stay Free of Duplicate Content Cutts makes an interesting statement about duplicate content. He says that in general, “duplicate content is not really treated as spam.” Most of the time, it’s “treated as something that [needs to be] cluster[ed] appropriately.” It’s important to realize that search engines are endeavoring to preserve quality search results. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. If they are looking for a local mechanic, then their search engine results need to return with several unique hits. They will then surf their way through these before choosing which mechanics to contact. If their search query returned a page with 10 links, all to the same mechanic’s website just different pages, they would be frustrated. It’s likely they would avoid giving business to this mechanic due to the sheer frustration of only his pages appearing. Google wants to ensure the audience is happy. They’ll weed out duplicate content as their algorithms allow, and you don’t want to be a weed that gets pulled. Here are the practices to avoid: Keyword stuffing. Using the exact same paragraphs over and over on multiple pages. Reusing the same biography, about or general company/business information because that’s all there is. Using lists that appear on other websites. Creating multiple domains, subdomains, or pages with duplicate content. The Practice to Adopt How do you not worry about duplicate content? It’s really very simple: stay original. One of the best ways to ensure your content stays creative and original is to hire a professional. An expert copywriter or copywriting agency … Read more

Less is Not More (Anymore): Secrets of New Year Web Content Ranking

January 1, 2021December 30, 2013 by Adam Oakley

In previous years, content marketers have held to the standard that “less is more.” As a result, we’ve kept web pages short, blog posts concise, and gotten a lot of practice condensing huge topics into 300 to 600 word shots. If you’ve struggled with this practice, you’re in for a treat as the trend to web content ranking makes a hard right turn. Google Hummingbird Sets the Standard for New Web Content In 2013, we weathered more changes in search engine optimization than any other year in the history of SEO. Since 2011, Google was dropping hints via Panda and Penguin updates; that search and ranking models and algorithms would change. Hummingbird marked the new SEO focus: quality web content containing substance. For those of us manning the SEO trenches, we’ve seen innumerable marketing hypes come and go. However, Google’s algorithm updates have resulted in more than just hype; an entirely new trend and best practice has emerged: content-driven search engine optimization for higher web content ranking. The Meaning of ‘Content-Driven’ What does ‘content-driven’ mean when it comes to SEO? It means your SERP (search engine results page) ranking will be directly related to your content quality. Google is listening to what consumers want, and they want to be educated buyers. As a result, it is imperative that your content contain well-written and relevant material in relation to your business, brand, product, or service. Content-driven optimization is happening as soon as a web page is created. As we create the web content, we inherently make our target audience the focus. As Eddie Choi says in his ClickZ article about content-driven SEO, “the semantic logic then follows naturally to hyperlink the texts, pictures, videos, and external and internal citations.” As a result, we connect ourselves with similar or associated social profiles. Google’s algorithms then “read” all of this information and increase your ranking accordingly. In essence, optimization is happening when the content is written. It’s not an afterthought or second process built in later. The New Secret Ingredient: Longer Content = Higher Rankings As we said at the outset of this article, the standard of “less is more” is dead. We used to cram keywords and keyword phrases into a short piece of web content to push search engine rankings. Those days are in the past, never to be repeated—at least as far as we can tell from Google’s rapid push to arrive at 100 percent of search keyword data returning with “(not provided).” What does this mean in terms of word count? Word count is about to go up. Google has indicated that content containing about 2,000 words versus 300 to 600 will rank higher. Skeptical? So were we. So, we tested the waters: At Express Writers, we took it upon ourselves to test whether or not long content really does matter. So, we switched over to 2000 word blogs approximately mid-November, 2013. These were posted daily with 1 to 2 stock images per blog, SEO optimized, and socially shared (as we did with all of our previous 300-600 word blogs). Mid-December, our rankings took a huge increase. We had about 7 keywords in the top 3 rankings on Google, and mid-December after we switched to 2000-word blogs, we achieved no less than 35 top keywords in the top 3 rankings. Folks, the cat’s out of the bag. IT WORKS! 2014 Web Content: What to Keep & Toss The new trend in web content is all about giving the audience what they want: a one-stop shopping experience. Your audience wants all the pertinent information from you, not 2 to 3 other websites that all drop breadcrumbs about the same topic. This means your readers want all the best info in ONE lengthy article. The best way to prepare such an article is to understand exactly what SEO is today: Analytics Content Marketing Social Notice, “keywords” is not included in this list. The surest way to kill your search engine optimization efforts in the New Year is to riddle your content with keywords and phrases over and over. Google’s algorithms are acutely attuned to synonyms. Flooding content with the same keyword or phrase is no longer necessary; variations are completely acceptable and absolutely encouraged! Keep in mind that your audience is composed of intelligent individuals. They might even understand more than you think, especially when it comes to technical information. Avoid talking down to them or reusing the same keywords over and over. Such methods are outdated and will quickly turn potential customers—and Google rankings—away, swiftly killing your New Year’s marketing. The Secret to Making a Difference The new frontier of search engine optimization focuses heavily on: Quality content Relevant content Longer content Social media presence Customer reviews Your web content plan should therefore focus on at least four primary areas: Product or service sales Company information Customer support Education, information, and resources Keep in mind that today’s content marketing is not a “one-size-fits-all” plan. You might have a fifth or even sixth, content area that fits your business and fleshes out your plan even further. However, you will need to include these four primary areas at minimum to ensure the building blocks for SEO are present. One of the most groundbreaking changes to the SEO frontier is Google’s move away from static. Neither Google nor your market is static. This means it’s time to rethink your strategy for ranking placement: You’ll need a local, national, and international plan so that searchers from any location will find you. Mobile searches are hot and heavy for the New Year, which is why marketing in each category equates to survival. Local search terms are vital. Anyone searching by mobile in your locale will find you, if you have local search terms built into your content. Customer reviews are about to be huge. This means what customers are saying about you means higher or lower search engine rankings. … Read more

Website Content Writing 101: Stop Worrying About Keywords, & What to Focus on Instead

August 25, 2022December 25, 2013 by Adam Oakley

If you, like me, have been in the world of website content writing services for a while, you remember a not-so-distant time when online writing was all about keyword inclusion. Namely, how many keywords could you cram into a given web content page, and would Google notice? While many marketers are still relying on tactics like these, Google and other search engines have changed drastically. It’s gotten to the point where marketers who have not evolved their content strategies are being left behind. While Google used to rely on keyword inclusion as a reputable quality metric, today’s search engine algorithms are much more sophisticated. Today, Google looks at things like social signals, site quality, SEO, link strategies, image inclusion, content layout and length, besides just keywords. While keywords still have an important place in the world of online content, focusing too much on keywords can come at the expense of your other content. In light of this, it’s time to toss keyword reliance to the wind and to focus, instead, on all of the other things that make the world of web content writing go around. Improve Your Content Writing on the Web By Focusing Less On Keywords Only In the days of old, a page needed few things to rank well. For one, it needed a high keyword saturation that helped Google interpret what the page was about. In addition to that, it needed a link strategy and some on-page content. That was about it. Today, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Google has gotten amazingly advanced in the last several years, and sites that are to rank well in today’s version of Google need to have dozens of different high-quality ranking metrics, including good SEO, high-quality visuals, a solid social strategy, following, and base of shares, and a relevant, long-tail keyword strategy. Unfortunately, marketers who are too busy focusing on things like keyword saturation and density often miss these nuanced things. The Modern Face of SEO Web Content Today, SEO is virtually unrecognizable to professionals who worked in the old SEO styling. Today, anything that’s considered to be solid in terms of SEO web content writing must optimize for two things: people and search engines. If this sounds like a tall order – you’re right! Modern SEO as a whole is complicated, and it requires a set of guidelines and a skilled team to execute it properly. Here’s a list of some of the basic foundations of modern SEO content mapping, to help you get a feel for how it works today: Modern SEO utilizes long-tail keyword phrases in natural ways It optimizes for people first and search engines second It seeks to provide value and solve problems rather than to sell directly It gains its success from click-throughs, conversions, and shares It is more conversational and less technical It adapts frequently to changing consumer desires and needs How to Improve Your SEO Web Writing Right Now: 5 Tips When it comes to content writing for websites in the modern world, improving SEO generally means making the web content writing more functional and valuable. While there are dozens of great ways to improve on-page content and ensure you’re making the most of common SEO standards and practices, the following steps are an excellent way to get started improving your SEO: 1. Get social with your web content writing Social media is a key element in great SEO, and it’s one of the most important things for both humans and search engines of today. While social media is often written off as a waste of time or a platform that’s more suited to leisure than it is to marketing, the fact of the matter is that great SEO often starts on social media. By using social platforms to distribute high-quality content, interact with followers, and build a base of devoted fans, it’s easy to improve your social following across the board and enjoy a boost in Google rankings, as a result. 2. Create a two-way dialogue in your online copy Want to encourage customers to keep coming back to your web content? Show them that you appreciate their existing interaction! While many companies brush over comments, likes, and shares, the trick to creating a successful online presence is to reach out and encourage engagement with your customers. Have a new Instagram comment? Take a moment to thank that person or company for taking the time to comment. Have a new Facebook question or mention? Respond to it! While this may not be directly an SEO writing tactic, it’s a simple step that can go a long way toward improving your overall visibility on the web and ensuring that your customers can find you, wherever they happen to be online. 3. Shoot for long-tail web content keywords Right now, long-tail keywords make up 70% of all search volume. Because of this, they’re a critical thing for marketers concerned about good SEO web content to target. While the whole point of this article is that it’s wise for marketers to avoid focusing on keywords too much, long-tail keywords are a wonderful thing to include in your overall content strategy. Since long-tail keywords are highly specific, including them in your copy is a wonderful way to target it to your customers and boost your SEO by ensuring that the people who visit your site are qualified leads who are there because they’re ready to purchase or convert. 4. Beef up your linking strategy in your website content Linking has been a fraught topic in the world of SEO for years. Before SEO advanced to the point it’s at now, so-called black-hat SEOs used to stuff content full of spammy links to trick Google into ranking it well. Since then, Google has cracked down on these exploitative practices. Today, links can benefit your copy, but they have to be executed correctly. This means plenty of high-quality internal and outgoing links that point to other, valuable content and (in the case of outgoing links) sites with a high DA score. This helps communicate … Read more

2014 Web Content and Google: The Year of the Informer

January 1, 2021December 23, 2013 by Adam Oakley

The year 2013 certainly marked some historical changes in content marketing. Thanks to all of the notorious algorithm changes, Google has made web content marketers wake up and smell the rankings. It’s no longer about who has the best keyword usage or who knows how to trick the search engines — it’s all about who can offer the most unique information to readers. At Express Writers, we think 2014 will be the year of the Informer. So basically if you’re not informing, you won’t be ranking. 2013: The Game Changer Google’s Hummingbird release really hit hard for most websites. If Google Panda and Penguin didn’t make it clear enough, Hummingbird has made it obvious that Google wants readers informed and not filled with useless Internet dribble. We all know it’s always been about content, but now it’s time to take that content seriously. We know more changes are coming and if you’re not a step ahead, you’re going to take a hit to your precious ranking. That is why we’ve devised a few content forecasts we see coming for 2014 and we’re going to share them with you. Content Will Be About Quality — Not Quantity Google values quality above all else and Hummingbird sealed the deal for content marketers. In 2014, we see Google putting their statements into action and taking websites with quality, not quantity. Hummingbird uses a more in-depth search approach that looks for answers to Internet user’s questions. It won’t matter so much about the keywords you use in your content; instead, Google wants to deliver an accurate, relevant answer to its user. It’s no longer about producing mass amounts of content just to rank. It’s all about the quality of that content. Google isn’t going to look to see if you post daily, they’re going to look to see what you’re posting and if it’s worth the time. The quality theory also applies to keyword usage. Google doesn’t want to see you use your keywords in a specific percentage. The day of meeting three to five percent will be gone in 2014 — or so we think. Sure, keep your keywords and targeted phrases in mind as you produce your website’s content, but don’t go crazy trying to fit them in. Your content should flow naturally and your keywords too. The SEO will handle itself, so you should just focus on quality first. Guest blogging was the “it” thing to do in 2013, but we see that taking a drastic decline in 2014. Matt Cutts already stated in his latest video that guest blogging should be “used in moderation.” Google is all about a site’s reputation, and guest blogging shouldn’t be your primary way to boost your reputation. Sure, use guest blogs here and there, but don’t make them the core of your content strategy for 2014. Lastly, in the quality category is relevance. If you were one of those website owners that used high-ranking keywords and backed it with irrelevant content, it’s time to change your ways. The future of content is all about relevancy. The new search engine algorithms know how to analyze a site for relevancy. So pop out the irrelevant keywords and start focusing on how your content can deliver useful, targeted information to Internet users. Authority Will Take Priority In 2013, it was made clear Google wants authority, but we see that statement really taking hold in 2014. Google and Internet users want stuff written by people who really know what they’re talking about. They don’t want someone guessing or filling their heads with factually incorrect garbage. To help boost credibility of the world’s countless number of Internet authors, Google is putting more emphasis on Google Authorship — as should you. You’ll want to link back high-quality articles to your Google+ page as much as possible, according to Copypress.com. Building a solid reputation for quality will increase traffic to your site and help you establish your virtual cred. Most of the competition out there is already working on building up their reputation. So instead of waiting for January 1st to roll around, start working on quality articles you can link to your Google+ page. Personality Will Matter Let’s face it; if you wanted a lecture you’d go back to school. Right? We predict more personality and branding in content for 2014 and for good reason: it is what people want to read! The average Internet reader is easily bored. Can you blame them? After spending hours sifting through Internet trash to find something interesting – that’s what they really want – something interesting. You need to leverage your own personal style and write some unique content that really showcases what makes your brand different from the rest. Now we aren’t saying use street lingo — unless you’re selling street clothes and that would be killer — but you need to speak to your target audience. Add the personality and conversational tone that your target customer would expect from your brand. There’s no need to take it too far. After all, you’re an industry expert so you know the people you’re speaking to and how they want to be spoken to. Think of it as if you were talking to that customer in person. How would you approach them? Discuss your products? If you were teaching them something, how would you talk? No matter what, avoid the snooze fest. It’s okay to add a little personality here and there, even on a very serious topic. Don’t force it, just be yourself, and be natural. The more natural and conversational your content is, the more likely it is to be shared on social media — which brings us to our next prediction for 2014… Your Social Status Could Come Into Play Social media is highly influential. Think about it. When you think of today’s top trends, where do you see those trends most? On social media, of course. Google has already stated that social status … Read more

7 Key Factors That Make Up An Exceptional Website Content Writing Service

January 1, 2021December 16, 2013 by Adam Oakley

Your site is nothing more than a pointless parking space for your logo and brand, if you don’t have good web content on it. But there is a lot more to good content than offering up useful information. Today’s internet reader becomes bored easily, so you have to offer up something fresh, creative and engaging every time — that is, if you want the reader to come back for more. Enter the secret: Talented website writers from a website content writing service, that can create expert copy for your niche and brand. Let’s face it. Not every business owner is a good writer. Or handy with SEO. Or a conversion expert. And let’s face it: a real copywriter, an expert website content writer, actually is all that. Your investment will come back tenfold. Let’s explore the key qualities a top online writing service will have. Hire A Website Content Writing Service to Serve Up the Right Content So how do you nail awesome content each time? We’ve compiled seven key tips that exceptional website content writers will utilize in creating great content. Keep your content flowing and producing this year by hiring the right web writing service. 1. They get to the point & skip the fluff Like we said, today’s reader wants you to get to the point and keep it as concise as possible. Don’t ramble on and on or go off on an irrelevant tangent — that’s just poor content marketing altogether. Your web content should have an introduction that clearly tells the reader what he or she will gain by reading on. Then, your content must deliver on what you’ve promised. Use as many words as it takes to bring your point across and eliminate any unnecessary fluff just to reach a particular word count. A knowledgeable web creator will know this. 2. Lists are loved & put to use List formats are awesome! List-based sites, according to Grammarly.com, get tons of page views. Why? Because everything is grouped in neat little points and it’s easier for a reader to digest. The title also clearly states what the reader is gaining by reading your web content. For example, if you title your content “Top 10 Copywriting Tips” the reader knows he’s going to get ten copywriting tips if he reads further. 3. They are headline gurus Headlines can make or break your content. If you have a drab, uninteresting headline no one is going to click and read more. Think of a headline as an invitation to a web content party. The party is your content and your headline is what encourages people to join in on the fun. So how do you write a catchy headline? According to an article by Social Media Today, a good headline is one that: Is clear and tells the reader exactly what she’s gaining by reading your article; Makes a promise to the reader; Tantalizes, teases and even hits a nerve — compelling the reader to go forward; Is a one-liner that is easy to share and understand. 4. They don’t make it just about you Your web content shouldn’t be about you, ever. People don’t want to read about you, they want to know how you can help them. An expert website content writing service will know just how to tactfully do this. Don’t expect many conversions if you boast about your product, service and how it all benefits you. Instead, turn it around and make it all about the reader. Tell the reader exactly what benefits they’ll receive by reading your content or buying your products. The word “you” should be throughout your content so that the reader feels as though you’re talking directly to them. 5. They’ll break up that wall of text A wall of text turns readers away instantly. After all, if you walked up to a big wall would you want to climb it or walk around it? Reading web content online is the same thing. No one wants to sift through a wall of text — they want it broken down so they can easily climb over it, or, even better, walk through it. Shorten up your paragraphs — quit being epic. Use short, concise sentences. Put powerful statements, call-to-actions, and other important notations in their own paragraph, on their own line for maximum impact and visibility. Just like we’re doing here. 6. They’ll infuse personality into your content If you’re a dull dud, it’s time to add a spark of personality to your web content. Be personable, talk to your readers as if you’re talking to a friend, and be true to your brand. Are you a youthful brand? Think of your target customer and how they would relate to a person talking to them. If you’re targeting older individuals, you will want to keep it professional, but still friendly. If you’re targeting the 21 and younger crowd you better toss in a few slang terms, add some fun to it, and be social. The tone you use in your content, according to Search Engine Watch, should suit your brand’s personality and your target customer’s personality. Obviously, if you’re selling legal services you should sound professional and avoid slang, but you can still be friendly in the process, right? 7. They’ll offer expert insights People want web content they can trust. There’s too much content out there that doesn’t showcase authority or a company’s expertise in the industry. Make sure your website content writing service offers expert advice. Ask for a few “how-to’s” or guides that are in-depth and teach the reader something. Conclusion: Get Your Best Website Content Writing Service Yet The more effort you put into your web content, the more your content can do for you. If you want to increase your conversion rates or get more social media recognition, consider your content first. By following even a handful of these tips here you can give your content a much-needed face lift and make your content work for you. We are a high-quality, proven website … Read more

A Blueprint to Quality Web Copywriting

January 1, 2021November 27, 2013 by Adam Oakley

You may have the most beautiful website design in the whole world, but if you fail to implement good web copywriting—that is, if the content on your website basically sucks—you may not get readers to take the “desired action” after reading the content on your site. When creating content for the web, it is important to understand that the Internet community is a jungle filled with information hunters. Websites that have been designed to convert readers and visitors should have “words crafted to convince;” period. Believe it or not, web copywriting is an art and there is no software on the face of the planet that can come up with words that can touch the human soul the way an experienced and gifted writer can. What is the Rule of Thumb In Web Copywriting? Be clear and concise. A large number of Internet users simply scan sites for the information that they are searching for, so you need to create content that is clear and concise. You want readers to easily locate the gist of every paragraph as fast as possible. Fancy words and highly complex sentences are practically useless on the web. Seriously, why would you want to use a fancy word like “obtuse” when you can simply use “stupid” instead? No one has the time or patience to reach for a dictionary when they read your content. Another important copywriting rule to follow is to make your content easy to read. How Do I Learn the Art of Drawing Readers In? It is certainly no secret that great web copywriting is a vital online marketing tool for drawing, retaining and turning visitors to loyal customers. But, how do you create content that draws people in? Once you know the secret of drawing readers in with words, you will be way ahead of the competition. Here are some surefire ways to draw readers in: Keep the Copy Short. Remember, the attention span of an average online user is short, so for Pete’s sake do not babble. Place the “juicy meat” of all your points right at the beginning of your web copy, instead of burying them at the nosebleed section of your webpage. If you interest your target readers up front, they will read the details and stay on your page for much longer, thereby increasing the possibility of buying your product or service or taking desired action that will benefit you in the long run. Get In Style. Having a unique writing style will not only make your site standout, it will also do a great job of drawing readers in. For a lot of websites, an informal but lively voice is the best way to go; it will help achieve easy readability and simplicity. The online community typically prefers websites that have content written in an informal and conversational style. Know Your Audience. Who are your target readers? When you know who your target audiences are, then and only then, will you be able to create content that will speak to them. Build an Emotional Connection. An effective web copywriter strives to connect with readers by making them smile, cry or laugh out loud. The content should strive to make readers feel any emotion besides indifference. Look for a way to connect with your readers the way the competition isn’t. Think about it, why was the Oprah Winfrey show loved so much, by so many people, for over two decades? Her show has a way of connecting with viewers in the most powerful way. Do Not Fake It! Readers can sense when you are not writing from the heart or trying hard to be what you (or your brand) are not. You need to be true to your voice. It is important to understand that people hate fakes. Wait A Minute, What About SEO? The 1990s is history and search engine algorithms have become more advanced. Quality web copywriting no longer involves keyword stuffing, but search engine optimization (SEO) is just as vital as ever. Keywords are important to your webpage, but should be included in the title and body of your content in the most natural way. Many copywriters use applications like Google’s Keyword Planner in order to add a little bit of scientific dimension to their God-given intuition. Hyperlinking: How Exactly Does That Work? Hyperlinking is very important when it comes to creating content for a webpage. A hyperlink is the most convenient way to provide more information and attribution to readers. For instance, if you mention a proven fact in your content, but you do not wish to go into the details, all you need to do is to just link to another article that clearly explains that proven fact. The process of hyperlinking is very simple, you can either write something like “for more details see this research,” or link on the word “research”. Or you can highlight a particular word, which will provide readers with a clue as to what information that link will provide them. See what Matt Cutts said on links in content marketing. Just ensure that the link is set to open in a new window or tab, this way, the readers will find it easier to get back to your website. Or else, readers could get carried away by the new information they are getting from the other site and even forget that they began their search on your webpage. Direct Readers With a Call to Action When it comes to effective web copywriting, your “Call to Action” is the main item you want readers to click on. If you write great content and fail to give readers a directive on what to do next, then congratulations! You have just won the award for “Dumbest Mistake to Make with Your Web Copy.” According to an interesting article on Moz, a lot of webmasters make horrible mistakes when it comes to content marketing—do not be one … Read more

Blog Writing Frequency: Do This, Don’t Do That!

December 31, 2020November 22, 2013 by Adam Oakley

Starting a blog and maintaining blog writing these days often stems from the need to generate income. You CAN earn a living using a blog. Whether you’re using a blog to attract visitors to your business website or you’re writing a blog just to gain income off advertisements, getting real traffic is the first and most important thing for success. After all, if you don’t have readers, your blog won’t serve you much of a purpose. Blog Writing By Volume A lot of blog owners ask how frequently they should blog because either they want to know what the bare minimum is for success or because they want to know what threshold they must meet to have a successful blog and maintain blog writing. Whatever the reasons are for you reading this post today, it’s important to know that there’s not a one-size-fits-all answer to how frequently you should post. First Things First Before we jump into your frequency for blog writing, we must cover an important rule for blogging: don’t write poor content just to increase your traffic — it won’t work. Your content is judged by readers and search engines, so even if you’re posting twice a day, crappy content could put you at the bottom of the ranks, especially after the release of Google Hummingbird. Learn more about how that can impact you in this article by Forbes. Good content is something that: Engages the audience Meets the expectations of your audience Teaches your audience something Encourages your audience to come back for more Content is Key Your blog is all about the content — literally. The content you publish on your blog ultimately determines what type of reader you’ll get, if they’ll follow and whether or not they’ll share your content. What makes your blog writing unique stems from a combination of your opinion, expertise, your personal style, and your blog’s overall freshness. The frequency with which you post is also tied into your content. So How Often Should I Post? The amount of blogs you post and how frequently you post them will ultimately determine your traffic volumes. According to a recent study published by HubSpot, organizations who blog 15 times or more per on a monthly basis get up to five times more traffic than organizations that don’t. Companies that increase their blogging frequency have been shown to double their leads too. For a decent amount of traffic, experts recommend at least three to four 500-word blog posts per week. By just blogging one 500-word blog per day 50 to 80 percent of your SEO rankings could be because of that blogging routine. Bottom line, if you want a high-ranking blog using quality blog writing, you’re going to have to post more than once a month or even once a week. Posting frequency is important and how much you should post is based on your ultimate goals. Some good guidelines to follow, according to About.com are: Blog a few times per day for maximum growth. Blog at least once a day for steady growth. Blog two to three times per week for slower growth. Blog once a week for very slow or limited growth. Does Blog Writing More Frequently Attract More Visitors? Absolutely. Blogging on a frequent basis attracts visitors in two ways: Frequent content encourages readers to visit your blog on a daily basis to see what you’re offering. Frequent posting encourages search engines to rank your website higher, which results in higher visitor counts. Every new post is another opportunity for people to stumble across your blog when they input a new search query. How Else Can Posting Frequently Help Me? Posting your blogs and maintaining blog writing on a frequent basis will attract more visitors and encourage people to subscribe to your blog. Also, every time you post a new blog, subscribers will receive a copy of that blog in their email or in their feed reader — giving you more opportunities to encourage them to click and look for more. How Do Images Help? Original subscription and stock photo images can significantly help a blog in two ways: adding visual elements, and another SEO element. If you tag the purchased stock image with your keyword, that’s an original image that can be organically crawled in Google Image Search. If you use blog writing management services, make sure they are optimizing and using an original image with your blog along with writing and posting it. So What Should I Not Do? We’ve covered what you should do with your blog in terms of frequency and we’ve left the door open for you to decide how often you want to blog (based on your blogging goals). But, now it is time to discuss what you should never do when blogging. Once you establish a blogging frequency, stick to it. There is nothing more detrimental to your search engine rank than blogging consistently and then dropping off the radar for a few weeks or months. Google penalizes you for infrequent content and taking a hiatus from your blog might actually force you to start all over in terms of gaining readers, attracting readers and increasing your rank. So, whatever you do, pick a frequency and stick to it. If you’re blogging once a week, do once a week. Got a vacation coming up? Prewrite and schedule your blogs so they still post while you’re on the beach in Tahiti (or wherever you go). If you don’t have the time, consider hiring a professional to do the blog writing and posting for you. You can have your blogs written in batches or submitted daily. In some cases you can even have a company write and submit them for you — so your blog is 100 percent maintained while you focus on operating the core of your business.