authority content - Express Writers

#ContentWritingChat Recap: How to Create Authority Content for Serious Return in Your Blogging with Julia McCoy

December 31, 2020August 18, 2017 by Rachel Moffett

Are you wondering how to create authority content for your blog to see major results online? This week’s #ContentWritingChat is especially for you! Our chat participants shared some amazing advice that will have you creating high-quality content in no time at all. #ContentWritingChat Recap: How to Create Authority Content for Serious Return in Your Blogging with Julia McCoy Welcome to #ContentWritingChat! Today, @JuliaEMcCoy is guest hosting to talk about authoritative content! ? Who is ready to chat?! pic.twitter.com/ddWN2fk00b — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) August 15, 2017 Our CEO, Julia McCoy, joined in as a guest host for this week’s chat. Considering she provides valuable content on our own blog and for other websites, she’s a great person to teach all of us how to create authority content. Now, let’s dive into the recap! Q1: 2 million blogs go out daily. How can you create content that positions you as an authority in your field online? There are obviously a lot of blog posts being published on a daily basis. This makes it hard to stand out online, but it can be done if you position yourself as an authority. How do you do that? Check out this advice from the chat: A1 Have something to say that matters. 1) Know your audience 2) Write to be read 3) Be consistent with showing up. #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/hAIVhxyyWM — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) August 15, 2017 Julia’s advice is to have something to say that actually matters. She says you need to know your audience, write to be read, and be consistent by always showing up. A1: Know your audience so you can connect with them. By doing so, your audience will trust you, which builds authority. #contentwritingchat — Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) August 15, 2017 Lexie’s advice is to make sure you know your audience so you can truly connect with them. This is going to help you build trust, therefore establishing you as an authority with your targeted audience members. A1a: Provide practical/actionable solutions to challenges your target audience needs help addressing. #ContentWritingChat — Javier Sanabria (@SanabriaJav) August 15, 2017 When you provide practical, actionable advice that addresses the needs of your audience, they’ll appreciate you for it. When they see that you can solve their problems, it starts to build your authority and keeps them coming back for more. A1: Using data & citing reliable sources to back up whatever it is you are saying are great ways to establish authority. #ContentWritingChat — Simply Measured (@simplymeasured) August 15, 2017 Don’t forget that you need to use data and cite sources to back up the points you make. You don’t want anyone questioning whether or not your content is reliable. A1. Try not to focus on all those other blogs. Do your thing and do it better than anybody else. #ContentWritingChat — YourWebContentWriter (@WebContent4U) August 15, 2017 Focus on YOU. You should always strive to do your best when you create authority content. A1 #funfact Authority is only given to those who earn it. Dedication to your audience and to good writing is key. #contentwritingchat pic.twitter.com/cE76cBc2qq — HeyOrca! (@HeyOrca) August 15, 2017 If you want to be an authority, you have to earn it. Kristen said you need to be dedicated to your audience and to quality writing. Q2: Discuss how to find and reach your audience personally to create authoritative content at is of specific value to them. Are you wondering how to find and reach your audience when creating content online? Here’s what you need to know: A2a New audience discovery: research your market w/ Facebook Audience Insights & Google surveys #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) August 15, 2017 A2b Existing audience discovery: survey your list with a form that asks them questions. Call a few clients up. #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) August 15, 2017 Julia shared some great tips for getting to know your audience. She suggested researching your market with Facebook Audience Insights and Google surveys. For your existing audience, you can email your list a survey that asks questions you want answers to. Then, hop on the phone with a few clients and have a chat. A2: This is where #sociallistening comes into play. To provide value, you have to know what your audience needs. #ContentWritingChat — Simply Measured (@simplymeasured) August 15, 2017 Social listening is a great way to essentially eavesdrop on your audience. Figure out which platforms they spend the most time on and locate them. Pay attention to what they’re posting and talking about. A2. Most of the time, I find my audience through Twitter chats because this platform is so cool #contentwritingchat — Cheval John (@chevd80) August 15, 2017 A great way to perform social listening is through Twitter chats. Cheval knows how beneficial they are when it comes to finding your target audience. A2: Visit online forums/chats where the audience discusses their challenges; craft content around those conversations. #ContentWritingChat — Javier Sanabria (@SanabriaJav) August 15, 2017 Javier suggests checking out some online forums and chats where your audience is hanging out. Be present on those platforms by engaging with your audience. Figure out what they’re struggling with and you can create content that solves their problems. A2: Explore/ join Facebook Groups. Discover your audience + their FAQs. Create content based on those questions. #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/5ZGVXO0dq3 — Beth Farris (@bethbabble) August 15, 2017 Facebook Groups are a great place to hang out! You just need to find the ones your audience spends their time in. Then, pay attention to what they’re saying! A2: Look at your data and then ask ?’s. We need to stop assuming and start listening to our audience. #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/sQuwvLljhW — Seth Waite (@Seth_Waite) August 15, 2017 As Seth pointed out, we can also learn a lot about our audience from the data we’ve already obtained. Check out your Google Analytics to learn more about who your audience is and what they’re interested in, for example. Q3: What is one of the top authority content formats … Read more

Want to Be An Online Success? You Need to Be An Authority (& The Backstory of How I Launched Authority Content)

June 19, 2024February 27, 2017 by Adam Oakley

Around Thanksgiving of 2016, I launched a new content level after training my staff for a few months on how to deliver it and having Josh, our CTO, develop a matching product in the Content Shop. Authority Content. Before then, we had two levels: general, and expert writing. For my new Authority level, I trained a handful of my best expert writers and built a structure around it that kind of looked like this (my rough internal sketch): It’s far more than what I can represent in one circle, though. In one piece of Authority content, no less than five of my team members at Express Writers are involved in creation: our team content manager, a Content Strategist doing a tad of SEO research, an Authority Writer that I’d personally trained, our designer to create themed graphics for it, and a high level content marketing editor to review it all at every stage. I work with our content director to help train and pick the Authority writer, so you might as well say six. Why did I launch this? It wasn’t just to launch a content level with a high price tag (this is our highest cost service yet, ranging from $300-$900+ per piece). It was after I spent a year studying, watching, and listening to the trends in content in online marketing. I digested thousands of articles, analyzed even more headlines, and wrote hundreds of blogs myself. Some of which rose to the top, some of which didn’t. I saw a formula starting to distinguish itself. I saw something repeat itself over, and over. Those that were practitioners of this emerging formula were creating this level of content, and promoting it in their niches. Content tailored correctly, to the right audience. But beyond just catching my eye, if the content was created right, at a true authority level, it held my gaze – and I subscribed for more. [Keep reading for the full story.] Content Creators That Reach Authority Level Are the Ones that Win Online Let me give you two examples of the content I came across last year that held my gaze. Last year, there were a LOT of new bloggers coming on the scene. I mean it when I say a lot. For example, I’m in a Blogging Newbies group, with the member numbers in the 100,000+ range. I saw day after day, sometimes moment after moment, an announcement from someone about their new blog going live. In my LinkedIn groups, I saw the phenomenon, group after group. I saw it across my connections online, on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram. New blog up! New blog up! [MarketingProfs says that 2 million blogs are now created every day.] It’s kind of scary, isn’t it? Almost a doubt that can whisper in your ear: there’s no way to stand out. But there is. Out of all those new blogs from last year, quite literally millions, two bloggers still stick in my memory today. TWO! So yes, you can stand out, but you can’t be any less than an authority to do so. Let’s talk about who stood out. The Two Bloggers that Stood Out in One Year, Grabbed My Eye, & Held My Gaze 1. Tor Refsland This dude grabbed my eye early in the year. I invited him on the Write Podcast and published his guest episode in October last year. (Check it out here.) In 2016, Tor was known as timemanagementchef.com, but now he’s over at torrefsland.com. Which is smart, because I mean, look at this list…he’s a celebrity with a known name by now: Top personal development blog of 2016, Wisdom Times Award Won Most Epic blog post from one of my favorite bloggers, Jon Morrow himself Top 100 personal development blogs Wrote a blog that generated 20,000+ page views in 6 days! Public speaker on stages with gurus like Rand Fishkin Featured everywhere…podcasts, guest blogs, just Google his name These feats were accomplished by Tor within his first 12-18 months of blogging. So he’s a pretty epic authority. What caught my eye was one of the content pieces he published. One of many with a very similar structure. Read it here. Thousands of words, and Tor’s unique style: a TON of one-liners. 3,000-5,000 words on average and tons, tons, tons of scrolling – but it’s so easy to read, you don’t even notice. (Don’t get any ideas that that’s the “emerging formula” I’m talking about, by the way. That’s just Tor’s epic style.) Check out one more blog Tor did last year that I loved. Does that grab your eye or what? The blog itself is very in-depth and there are some fantastic lessons for all bloggers (read here). 2. Michael Pozdnev Michael caught my eye from an Inbound.org post mid-2016, and I’ve been following him since. His blog iwannabeablogger.com features incredibly long-form, intense blogging guides that are jam-packed with information. The crazy part? He’s been creating for 15 years, so this guy is by no means new. But something he created in 2016 and shared on Inbound.org made waves enough to catch and grab my attention. Here’s the title of that post: Dude. This post ROCKED. I read a few of his other blogs, grabbed his free ebook, and I realized this guy was an authority to be reckoned with. I recommend following Michael on Twitter: @MPozdnev. And go check out his content. Why We Remember, Learn, Use, and Share Content Online Why do you share content? I can bet you it falls in one of these categories: Simply put, it’s the answer to a question you searched. It’s the most thorough answer. You learned something. You’re going to put to use what you learned (create that garden, build that birdhouse, promote that blog, build that website). Simple? It sounds like it. But creating content that triggers the “remember / share / use / love” button from a reader isn’t simple, by any means. Content that is created at Tor’s level, at Michael’s level, and at the level of all … Read more

This October at Express Writers: Expanded Team, Two New Services

September 5, 2022October 25, 2016 by Adam Oakley

Hi, blog readers! Happy October, and thanks for joining me today…you’re in for some fun stuff. First up, I’m sharing all about the staff changes and implementations we’ve done here at Express Writers this month. Next, it’s all about the super cool new services launched today in the Content Shop! Ready? New Staff Members & Improved Quality Processes This month, at Express Writers, we’ve been through some serious changes…although it’s been an absolutely crazy month, we’re ending on a very strong note. For the past three weeks, I’ve been busy prepping and training our writers and managers for our two new services that are now live today in the Content Shop, Authority Content & Case Study Creation. The training I wrote and put out for Authority Content is super detailed – over 20 pages of exclusive, directional content that you won’t find anywhere else. I’ve worked one-on-one with our case study specialist, an inbound marketing expert, to craft the perfect case study for us before we started formulating how to sell it. So, needless to say, I’m super excited about these two new high-ROI, turnkey content marketing services–read below for more details on both. And, this month, we’ve been on-boarding and training new faces in the management staff to support the volume of incoming client inquiries and high-level project support. It’s been extremely hard to find reliable, high quality team members in the staff that can fully pass our rigorous tests and nail every part of the process, and be in our team every day working hard. We’ve had several people in staff come and go this year, who weren’t devoted to performance and the hard work it takes to survive in this industry. It’s taken us a while to find the right people, but we’ve been able to onboard a fully dedicated staff editor for large projects ($8,000+ per month client spend), and a dedicated WordPress posting editor, besides our regular editing team. Bringing in a wealth of experience on all fronts, our new editors have our quality at heart! Earlier, in September, I had the honor of hiring the talented Tara Clapper, who comes from SEMrush and brings a wealth in years of content marketing experience to Express Writers, from knowing the ins and outs of online content strategy to hosting webinars and networking at events. Tara has been very successful at helping us on the editing team and giving our clients spectacular insights for their content success. Janeka, one of our social media experts, was recently multi-tasked with the role of Content Support Specialist, and she’s been rocking it out. New Logo & Content Shop Icons As most of you know, we’re on the verge of a major relaunch we’ve been building for 1+ year: a custom developed Content Shop and teamroom. Till then, we decided to run with some major brand improvements early! Our new logo is an expression of how our brand has truly taken flight this year, despite all the difficulties in our way. ✈️ As a content agency, we are constantly evolving, adapting, and growing. Writing is a skill that takes great mentoring and lots of practice to perfect. That is what we believe in, and our goal and mission as a content writing agency. This year, we’ve never been more focused on our mission and more capable of delivering amazing quality – the content that 2016 marketers need. It was time to take our paper plane and let it fly! New look in the content shop: 40+ brand new icons for each of our services, shaped and colored in the flat, poly style of design that our new logo is in. Our designer rocked these out in less than a week! Other fun stuff: we’re going to be hitting up the Search Engine Journal Summit in New York City on November 2: my CTO Josh, Tara, myself, and our SME Krystal! (Want 15% off tickets and a chance to get a copy of my book for free? Check out the details here!) Come say hi if you’re in the area. We’d love to meet you! Now… ready to hear about our new services that went live today? What Are the Two New Writing Services at Express Writers This October? Let me start the new product discussion (yay!) by asking you a question… Does there ever come a time when you write, create, publish, publish, rinse, repeat… And you stand back and realize: Where is the ROI in all this content that I put out? There’s so much information out there about how to do it. More content, not less… but hey, let’s not forget quality over quantity… How do you trim the fat? Create powerful, effective, meaningful content that WILL get ranked well and read, shared by real people who actually got something from your content? There’s only one way: by creating the most authoritative piece on the subject. But that means a ton (and I mean a ton) of work has to go into it. First, you have to research to find your perfect low competition, high volume long-tail keyword before you even write it. Second, you have to write an authoritative, expert, long-form post (1,500-3,000 words is what Google ranks the most) that nails the specifics of what the topic should give the reader, and is written in an engaging, readable, optimized style. Thirdly: you’ll need to create custom graphics and visuals for your long-form piece to represent the key points, and finally, a feature graphic branded to you that will go with it everywhere on social media. The Answer to Your Most In-Depth, Amazing Content Need: Authority Content I took those points into consideration, picked the best four writers out of my team of over 50, and over the past month I sat down and created a workflow process where we nail all three of those points, called Authority Content. You know what? The workflow means four people are involved in creating one post. That’s what it looks like nowadays when you want to nail content. Be the biggest name in the book. Outshine every other result in the SERPs and be THE result people WANT to click on… And when they click through, present them with the content piece that answers every question they had on the topic. Then, and only … Read more