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7 Rules to Creating Great Blog Content For 2015

December 31, 2020February 13, 2015 by Adam Oakley

Eager to jumpstart your content marketing efforts for 2015? The quality of your blog posts and the topics that you choose will be more important than ever for the success of your website. Google started a SEO transformation several years ago and today, the process seems to be complete. Content has gained central position when it comes to optimization and promotion. Do you know, however, what it will take to make your blog successful in 2015? 1. Length and Quality Quality content is focused and lacking fluff. This doesn’t mean, however, that the pieces should be short. SerpIQ statistics show that the top 10 Google search results for particular keywords are usually about 2,000 words long. Longer posts provide more flexibility in terms of keyword placement and they also boost the audience’s engagement. The conclusion is simple to make – write at least 1,500 words per blog post. If you have detailed knowledge of the particular topic, you’ll find the task to be a relatively simple one. Longer posts increase your chances of getting quality backlinks, they are shared more often and they will probably be quoted by others, as well. Make sure that you have a unique approach and look at the topic. The more original and in-depth your blog posts are, the more valuable they’re going to be. 2. Have a Distribution Plan Good content is essential but how about coming up with the right distribution plan? Knowing how and where to share your content will boost visibility and make it much easier for you to establish that loyal audience. Content creation doesn’t end when the posts are written. Focus a bit more on marketing and selecting the right distribution channels. Social media have become the standard in the field and your pages should have been developed by now. Try distributing your content through Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon and Scoop.it, among many other possibilities. Testing each of the channels and evaluating the response will help you determine which ones deliver the best results in terms of content promotion. Content distribution doesn’t have to be paid. Syndication and social bookmarking are two quite simple approaches, enabling blog and website owners to reach new, targeted audiences. 3. Content Repurposing That’s right, content can be repurposed. In fact, this approach will deliver great promotional results in 2015. Content repurposing doesn’t focus on the creation of new text. It simply makes the blog posts that you already have written available to a bigger number of people. In addition, you can use the content that you already have to create an informative piece for an entirely different medium. A series of blog posts, for example, can easily turn in a podcast. You can also change the length and the style of blog posts. An interview with an industry expert can easily become an opinion piece later on. You generate original content but you rely on source material that has already been created. Repurposing comes with a number of key advantages. It’s good for your website’s optimization, it enables you to reach audiences that look for information in different ways, it makes content creation easier and it gives you the possibility to capitalize on the most successful content you’ve written in the past. There’s no need to come up with something brand new each time. Some well-established topics and popular blog posts can easily be repurposed to simplify the task of keeping your blog updated. 4. Go Visual Are you still relying excessively on text? A few visuals will make your content much more engaging and interactive. Visuals grab the attention of the website visitor. If people like what they see, they’ll probably go through the text, as well. The human brain processes images faster than text. In fact, it perceives an image in 1/10th of the time needed to understand text. Statistics suggest that content containing visuals generates up to 94 percent more views than texts that are not accompanied by illustrations or photographs. Content that has both photos and videos will get 48 percent more views. Visual content can easily go viral and it will generate more inbound links. You have so much freedom, when it comes to picking visuals. Illustrations, slideshows, cartoons, diagrams and infographics are all audience favorites. Interactive graphics will be taking your visual content to the next level. These graphics can be clicked to reveal more information, which makes them interactive and highly engaging. 5. Do Competition Analysis Frequently The online world is highly competitive. You can set your clock by paying attention to what the competition is doing. If you haven’t been doing competition research until now, you’ve been missing on a huge source of inspiration. The blogs and websites of other entities inside the niche can help you come up with new topics. In addition, you’ll get to assess the audience’s response in order to determine which themes get people interested. Competition research can also help you come up with partnership ideas. Though many (including Matt Cutts) have claimed that guest posting is dead, this technique can still deliver excellent marketing and optimization results. Such partnerships give you access to a brand new audience. They result in more popularity for your website or brand. Optimization isn’t everything when it comes to being successful online. Joint efforts in the field of content creation can deliver excellent PR (as in press release rather than PageRank) results without being expensive. 6. Think about the Needs of the Mobile Crowd So many experts have said that 2015 is going to be the year of mobile. Take this fact in consideration when writing and formatting your copy. The same applies to the design of your website. Make sure that the mobile crowd is finding it easy to access, read and interact with your content. There have been claims about user experience affecting the Google ranking algorithm for some time. The number of individuals accessing web content through mobile devices is growing all the time. You cannot ignore and underestimate the needs … Read more

10 Keys to Create Killer Blog Content

January 1, 2021March 1, 2014 by Adam Oakley

Developing killer blog content is important. Why? Let’s just put the amazing benefits in a tiny nutshell, shall we? Quality blog content can promote new traffic from the search engines to your website, improve relationships with your direct audience and consumers, and show people that you know what you are talking about, by establishing you as an authority. What is Blog Content? That’s really great. But let’s check out the fundamentals first. What is a blog? If you google “what is a blog”, you will find over 4 billion results, and without actually following any links, you can learn the following: A blog is a website on which a person or company regularly posts opinions, informational links, and other useful or promotional content. Blog as a verb means to add new content or updates to a blog. The word blog originated in the 1990s as a shortened version of the word weblog. So if this term has been around since the 1990s, and continues to increase in prevalence, shouldn’t you have gotten on board with it already? The answer is yes. And if you haven’t, well, let’s put it nicely—you’re about to get run over by a Mac track in obliterated SERPs rankings if you don’t get moving on starting a blog. (Sorry, that may not have been all that “nice”.) But I’ve got good news. Luckily for you, due to the popularity and importance of blogging, there is a ton of information available to help you get started. 10 Great Tips for Developing Killer Blog Copy Because there is so much information available, you may have trouble sifting through it all to find good advice for creating great blog content. To simplify your search, what follows is a list of 10 great tips for developing killer blog content, gathered from the masses of information out there. What’s in a Name? Shakespeare may be right when he says that a rose would smell as sweet by any other name, but would you be likely to stop and smell the roses if they were called garbage, or feet? The title of a blog post gives it a name, and is assuredly one of the most important things to think about when creating content. The title will draw the reader in and make them want to read more. You might think that a title is there as a place holder, or just as a convention, but according to Pamela Vaughan, it is a potential reader’s first impression of your content, and can make all the difference. A strong blog title is: Concise, about 7-10 words in length Informative, sums up the content Catchy, makes a reader stop to look further This may seem like a lot to ask from a simple sentence, but these are just title basics, which can make or break your blog post. Start out with a solid title, and the rest will follow. Heading in the Right Direction Blogs need structure in order to be more easily read and understood, and the best way to structure your content is with headings. There are different levels of blog headings, which are described in great detail by Joost de Valk on Yoast.com. Some important heading information found here is: H1 is the most important heading, and there is usually only one H2’s and h3’s are sub-headers which break the text into sections Headings should contain valuable keywords Headings help a reader effectively navigate a piece of writing In the case of your blog, the H1 would be your title, the name of your post, and would be the largest text in the piece. Any further subheadings would be smaller, and serve to break the text up into manageable sections and make it easier to read. A piece looks much less intimidating if it is structured with headings, and readers are less likely to get lost in or impatient with large blocks of text. Get the Picture? They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and that means using pictures can sometimes convey just as much information as an entire blog. In fact, people would often prefer looking at a picture to reading an article, so if you incorporate images into your blog, you are appealing to your readers. Some great information about images in blogs can be found at problogger. There are many different kinds of pictures you could use: Infographics Photographs Diagrams Illustrations And more… Images are more likely to catch a reader’s eye than a block of text, and can be used to emphasize a point. Content becomes more stimulating and attractive when there are images to provide variety and perspective. It is important to remember that while images are a great way to spice up a blog post, they need to be relevant to the material. A picture of a kitty cat can be very nice, and in fact many a cat picture has been shared and viewed on the internet, but it is unlikely that it will have an effective part to play in your blog content. Be sure you are using images properly, and not throwing them in haphazardly. Appropriately incorporated images can take blog content to a whole new level. List of Demands As a few tips have already discussed, breaking up your text is important to make the reader more comfortable and more likely to continue reading. Lists are an excellent way to diversify your text and present information in a clear and simple manner. There are many different ways lists can be used, and 3 main types of lists for content marketing blogs: Brief Lists – these usually contain short, informative statements or words, often with bullet points. Detailed Lists – these often communicate more complex information, and each list item is a complete thought or paragraph. Hybrid Lists – these combine elements of both list types above, and are very versatile for blogs. Lists can change the appearance of a blog post to … Read more

How to Create Great Blog Content from Your Webinars & More

December 31, 2020February 10, 2014 by Adam Oakley

Stuck on blog ideas? It happens to the best of us. Constantly coming up with new content for your website or blog can be one of the most frustrating tasks. Have you ever thought about turning your latest company webinar into a solid, long-form blog? If not, it’s high time you did! Blog Content: Creating Something from Almost Nothing Remember the old saying, “creating something from nothing?” I remember hearing this saying a thousand times over in high school. My art teacher was the most notorious for saying it. She’d put a blank paper or canvas in front of the class and encourage us to stretch our creative muscle by creating something from the nothing in front of us. It takes talent to create something from nothing, and most of us are up to the task when the challenge arises. However, when it comes to our business we often don’t have the time to magically create web or blog content from scratch. So why not create something from almost nothing? Turning a Webinar into Killer Content The Content Marketing Institute published an article discussing some of the flaws with webinars. They are often incredibly lengthy and unsuited for those in our audience who are constantly busy. The Institute went on to recommend using your webinars to create compelling, high quality blog posts suitable for a larger, more diverse audience. We thought their idea held merit, and did a little research of our own. Webinars are a proven means of reaching out to your audience and sharing your experience. They grant you the opportunity to be more visible online, and they provide thought leadership. While these little content gems can offer clear and specific value, they can also help you when you’re running dry on blog content ideas. A great way to repurpose content for a hearty blog post is to reuse your previously released webinars. You can even condense your webinars into video blog form, turning them into more easily digestible online content pieces. Not only will the transition take minimal time and effort since the bulk of the work is already complete, but it will also grant you access to an untapped pool of killer content ideas when you’re struggling for blog topics. Hubspot published a formidable article about how to repurpose a webinar into awesome blog content. Here are the key points to keep in mind: Create a short blog video. You can repurpose your webinar by condensing it into a 3 to 5 minute video reel to display on your blog. The script for the video reel can be displayed below the video in the blog. Since most webinars consume upwards to 60 minutes, these condensed bursts can attract a new audience. Turn the script into a blog. A 60 minute webinar is created from a lengthy script. With a little editing and the addition of a few fresh facts, you can repurpose the script into a well-written, lengthy blog that is search engine optimized. Use leftover Q&A. Often your webinars will have a decent amount of Q&A that you’ve cut out for time purposes. You can utilize this leftover content for blog post ideas and content. Create New Blog Content with Interviews Another way to fill your topic inventory is to use interviews to create new blogs. Forming a piece of content around an interview is one of the oldest and most compelling ways to improve your blog posts. Here’s why interviews pack a punch: They create timeless content They make an impact, regardless of the situation They leave a strong, often emotional, impression The trick to creating a compelling blog around an interview is conducting the interview well in the first place. This means you need to ask questions that open the door to gleaning large amounts of relevant information. If you’re working with an old interview, hopefully you kept good notes. You’ll need them to make the writing process as effortless as possible. If you’re interviewing in the future, here are some tips to follow to not only conduct a great interview, but also set yourself up for creating great blog content in the future: Consider your audience. When crafting questions to ask the professional you’re interviewing, it’s vital to consider what kind of information will bring the most benefit to your target audience. Focus less on technical information and more on the value your audience has come to expect. The mini case study. Ask the subject to talk about their life. Branch into personal terms, not just business. By doing so you will be able to extract how their quality of life and work has improved. Conveying this information to your audience will help them feel a strong emotional connection. Ask for out-of-the-box resources. By asking your subject to provide a list of their “best kept secrets,” you’re likely to walk away with resources your audience will find highly unique and valuable. Tap into inspiration. Ask the subject to share two or three things that have kept them going no matter the challenges before them. This single question can transform the interview, providing a goldmine of information the audience can easily connect to. If you ask questions correctly and dig for in-depth answers, you’ll suddenly find yourself with a ton of information. You will be able to create a series of shorter blogs delving deep into each interview question, the response you received and how it applies to your audience. You’ll even find yourself able to create a solid, long-form blog covering the entire interview and drawing conclusions. Video Blogs from Google Hangouts Google Hangouts are growing more and more popular. Since Google’s search engine algorithms catalog posts to Google faster than anywhere else, it’s in your best interest to tap into this tool. We recently came across an article that discussed how you can use Google Hangouts to create fresh blog content. Crafting video blog content is a great way to add to your content marketing efforts. Busy audience members … Read more

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