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How to Win with Zero-Click Search SEO Adaptation

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

The High Cost of Low-Quality Content: How Cutting Corners Can Damage Your Brand

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Content quality plays a direct role in how customers perceive your brand. Engaging, well-written content establishes authority and trustworthiness, showing customers that a brand values their time and business. On the other hand, poorly executed content loaded with errors, irrelevant details, or copied material sends a message of carelessness. Many companies believe they can save money by outsourcing to cheaper, less skilled writers. But what seems like a savvy business move can quickly turn into a revenue-draining mistake. A recent conversation with a potential client revealed a growing frustration: they fired their previous agency because they outsourced writing to low-cost, foreign writers. Their content ended up being plagiarized, poorly written, and riddled with basic language mistakes. Not only would this hurt a brand’s reputation to publish, but it would also cost time and money to rewrite it. Let’s explore the key reasons low-quality content is more expensive in the long run. The High Cost of Low-Quality Content: 6 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Cut Corners In today’s competitive online world, high-quality content isn’t just nice to have. It’s a necessity. Content is often the first touchpoint potential customers have with a brand, making first impressions everything. Unfortunately, many businesses learn the hard way that skimping on content quality to save a few bucks often backfires. Here’s how low-quality content can hurt your brand. 1. Brand Damage: Losing Customer Trust and Loyalty  When customers encounter sloppy content filled with typos, factual inaccuracies, or overly simplistic language, they’re less likely to trust that brand. It feels unprofessional and inconsistent, leading them to doubt the quality of the products or services offered. And once trust is broken, it’s difficult to restore. Quality can also decrease when brands focus more on pumping out tons of content to meet deadlines or self-imposed posting schedules. About 83% of marketers said they feel it’s better to focus on quality over quantity, even if it means posting less often. Example: Imagine visiting a website for a consulting firm and finding blog posts that read like they were written by a grade-school student. Instead of imparting expertise, this type of content can make a brand look amateurish. Low-quality writing can easily lead prospective customers to look elsewhere, costing the company potential sales and long-term loyalty. Solution: Professional writers and editors uphold a brand’s voice and credibility by producing accurate, engaging, and expertly written content. This creates a consistent brand image that customers can rely on. 2. Plagiarism Risks: Legal Issues and SEO Penalties Hiring cheap writers often means running the risk of plagiarized content. Not only is this a legal liability, but it also puts your business at risk of being penalized by search engines. Google is increasingly cracking down on websites that engage in content duplication, which can result in a lower ranking or even complete removal from search results. Example: A business unknowingly publishes plagiarized content supplied by a low-cost writer. The result? Not only does the website get penalized in search rankings, but it also faces potential lawsuits. The cost of cleaning up this mess far outweighs the savings from cheap content. Solution: Partnering with agencies prioritizing original, well-researched content eliminates these risks. Professional agencies use thorough editorial processes to ensure content is plagiarism-free, protecting a business’s reputation. 3. AI Overuse: Robotic Writing That Fails to Engage With AI technology advancing, many agencies are tempted to rely on AI-generated content, hoping it will save time and money. While AI can help with brainstorming or data analysis, it falls short in creating content with a human touch. Audiences today crave authenticity and unique perspectives that resonate on a personal level, which is something AI simply can’t provide. Example: A potential client receives AI-generated articles that come off as generic and robotic, missing the nuanced tone their brand requires. Instead of engaging readers, this content feels lifeless, leading to lower engagement rates and higher bounce rates. Solution: By working with an experienced content agency, you get real writers, editors, and strategists. Human insight and creativity are irreplaceable in crafting compelling, relatable content. 4. Time-Consuming Rewrites: Fixing Low-Quality Content Is Costly When a brand hires low-cost writers, the expectation is that the content will require minimal edits. However, this is rarely the case. Subpar content requires extensive editing or complete rewrites, consuming valuable time and resources. In the worst cases, businesses end up hiring new writers to redo everything from scratch, effectively paying for content twice. Example: A company saves money upfront by using cheap writers, but quickly discovers that most of the content is unusable. They spend additional time revising it in-house, only to realize they’re still falling short of their quality standards. Solution: Investing in quality content from the start prevents this costly back-and-forth. Partnering with a trusted content agency that provides high-quality writing from the beginning ensures your resources are used efficiently. 5. Client Retention: Low-Quality Content Costs Agencies Their Clients For marketing agencies, poor content has a far-reaching impact. It doesn’t just harm one client’s brand. It also damages the agency’s reputation and causes clients to look for other providers. If clients repeatedly receive lackluster results, they’ll quickly lose confidence in their agency and move their business elsewhere. Example: A marketing agency loses a major client due to constant complaints about poorly written content. The agency’s decision to cut costs by hiring low-quality writers has now resulted in lost revenue and a tarnished reputation. Solution: By collaborating with a professional content agency, marketing firms can offer their clients reliable, premium content. Consistent quality helps agencies retain clients and build stronger, long-lasting partnerships. 6. SEO Decline: Low-Quality Content Means Lower Rankings Search engines prioritize content that is original, insightful, and useful to readers. When a business fills its site with low-quality, keyword-stuffed content, it risks a drop in rankings. Search engines are quick to recognize mediocre material, and over time, this can significantly impact a brand’s online visibility. Considering 85.19% of all blog traffic comes from organic search, don’t you want to take advantage? You must … Read more

Uplevel Your AI Content Game with the Human Touch

Uplevel Your AI Content Game with a Human Touch AI is here, and while it has generated thousands of pieces of content already, those pieces of content are still not quite up to the standard you would expect (or Google for that matter) when it comes to expertise. If your company is using AI-generated content, you may want to consider hiring a Subject Matter Expert (SME) writer to follow up and help you optimize and more importantly, humanize your content so that you do not sacrifice your position in the SERPs. AI-Content Generation Doesn’t Understand E-E-A-T, But a Writer Does AI creates content by pulling words together based on the prompts you provide. It can optimize content with keywords, but not in a reader-friendly way. Likewise, the tool provides outdated stats, which means you could be quoting something as much as two years old – and in the content marketing world, that might as well be 10 years. Content marketing trends come and go more than the tides, and now that Google has made it clear E-E-A-T is the standard, quickly generating content with AI and not following up with human AI content optimization is a risky chance to take. What is E-E-A-T? E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. This was designed for Google’s quality search result analysis and helps feed into the infamous algorithm that every website owner is trying to attract.  While E-E-A-T doesn’t directly impact your rankings in the SERPs, it is a strong SEO factor that you cannot ignore and E-E-A-T is more likely to increase conversions, according to SEMRush, because if a customer trusts your site, they are more likely to use your service.  Examining How AI Struggles to Meet the E-E-A-T Expectations AI content is written by a computer, and while the technology can perform tasks such as intelligence, learning, reasoning, and even decision making, there is a lot that it cannot do. From the content marketing side of things, AI lacks significantly in terms of creating personalized narration, building character, establishing trust, and even being factually correct. Right now, ChatGPT3.5 only has data back to 2021. Asking it how many blogs there were worldwide created this response: As you can see, its knowledge goes back to September 2021, and worse, it didn’t even have an answer then.  In case you’re curious, there are more than 600 million blogs as of 2023.  AI doesn’t have the ability to pull statistics, and statistics build two very important components of E-E-A-T: Authoritativeness Trustworthiness If you cannot prove to your audience what you are saying is factually correct, where is your authority and how can they trust you? Easy, they can’t.  What is AI Content Optimization? AI-generated content has its flaws, but it definitely is cheaper and faster than your average writer. That said, despite AI automating numerous processes in our lives, it cannot go unsupervised – especially when it comes to content. Instead, you need content that has a human touch, essentially human-optimized AI content, so that your message gets across and leaves a profound impact on the reader. 5 Reasons to Consider AI Optimization Done by a Writer In most cases, you can generate hundreds of blogs for free, but you still want to optimize your content using a human. At Express Writers, we do offer human optimization for AI-generated content, and quite a few clients have used this service so far to help amplify their AI-created content without sacrificing their SERPs. For human optimization, we recommend using our General Blog service. It is affordable, has a human optimize for SEO, rewrite for flow, add branding and personality, and most importantly, infuse your content with up-to-date statistics.  Still not sure? Here are some reasons you need to use a human to optimize your content.  Humanized AI Content Offers Personalization AI is repetitive, robotic and has no personality, but it is a computer, so you can’t expect it to have a personality. Your marketing copy, however, and those who read it, do expect to see some personality in the words you provide.  We are overwhelmed with dozens of marketing messages, emails, blogs and social media posts each day, so you need something that stands out, and AI content cannot do that alone. Instead, it needs that human touch. AI might automate generating your blogs for you, but you still need a human to help that piece of content resonate with your audience and offer authenticity.  AI Has Writing Flaws AI is by no means perfect, and while they continue to learn and release new versions of AI-generation tools, they still have too much missing. AI does understand basic grammar, but the output sometimes repeats itself and doesn’t read well.  For example, I had ChatGPT3.5 write me a 100-word paragraph for a blog on “reasons to start running,” and requested it to write a catching intro. Here is the intro it came up with: Not awful, but also, not really catchy either. It tends to ramble, it doesn’t understand flow, and some of the text feels more like fluff/filler than something that hooks. Speaking of, where is the hook? Do you see a profound hook that makes you want to continue reading a blog based on this intro?  A human needs to go through these paragraphs and pick out what matters, refine points brought up, and here is the perfect opportunity to add an interesting fact or stat that catches the reader’s eye. A Human Writer to Help Infuse Stats into Your Content Stats are crucial for content. Not only do they provide backlink opportunities – yes, backlinks are still important to SEO, but they also help you satisfy the Authority and Trustworthiness requirements of E-E-A-T. When you have statistics to back up statements or claims within your content, the reader feels more confident in what they’ve read rather than just making a statement and offering no insight or high-value resources to back it up. Offering Accuracy Checks You can use AI to generate … Read more

AI is Not the Tool for SME Content Creation – and Google Knows It

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AI is here, and there is no denying it. While AI can share the workspace with a traditional writer and editor for content marketing, there is one thing it cannot do – SME content creation. The only genuine SME (subject matter expert) out there in your niche is, well, you – and the talented freelance writers out there that know your field just as well as you. More importantly, Google knows it and expects to see that in your content. What is AI Content Generation? It seems like almost daily another AI content generation tool is launching.  Some are free, others are paid, but are any of these tools able to truly replace a genuine expert? TechTarget lists 36 AI generation tools in their 2023 guide, and while there are loads of tools to choose from, they are all based on the GPT-3 model.  AI content generation is content that is created by a platform utilizing the GPT-3 model. The content is generated and while marketed to be “new,” it really is not. Think about how AI generators work.  Generative AI tools take keywords, themes, and even voice/tone preferences, and it works to generate a blog, web page, or even a social media post, but it is not creating them out of thin air or using any expertise in the field to offer unique opinions and insights. Instead, AI generates your content by pulling information from the internet. It searches and scours the thousands of web pages and blogs already out there to piece together information and generate copy.  But, AI Doesn’t Understand What it is Creating…. While it is fascinating to watch AI work, AI has no clue what it is writing. It is solely based on an algorithm pulling data based on your input.  Only a Genuine Industry Expert Knows the Content for their Industry AI is incredibly fast and can write a blog post quicker than any writer, but because of its limitations in terms of understanding and having any expertise in the niche, it is not a specialist. Here is where you may hit a speed bump or two, if you are using AI generation for your content marketing: Let’s Talk about E-E-A-T and How AI Falls Short for Industry Professionals Seeking SME Content Creation In Google’s February release, they mention guidelines for using AI generation in your content, and make it clear that they reward high quality regardless of how it is produced (whether human-made or AI-generated).  Many took that as a green light to go ahead with AI, but that is not what Google conveyed.  Let’s go back to the double update released in December 2022 when the extra “E” was added to the E-A-T standard, making it now E-E-A-T. Image Source: Google Update, December 2022, Page 26 What was that extra “E” for?  Experience… Trust is crucial with Google. Some websites may fall short of the bar, no matter how experienced, professional, or even authoritative they are if they don’t have the reader’s trust, and one example given from Google within their update reveals the most consequential sentence that websites need to pay attention to: “…the content creator lacks adequate experience” means they will have a low E-E-A-T score.  For example, if the content creator reviews a restaurant, but never ate at the restaurant, they are not experienced or trustworthy, which means they have a low E-E-A-T to Google. Let’s break it down further by looking at each component of E-E-A-T. Experience Experience, in Google’s eyes, offers another level of dimension they can use when evaluating content. Content must demonstrate it was assembled with a degree of experience – after all, a reader will value a person’s content more if they have life experiences on the topic and they are not basing it exclusively on research. AI has no experience with your topic. Let’s take a look at divorce law, for example. You want to write a blog for your law firm on the latest guideline changes for calculating child support, but you will find a few speed bumps along the way using AI to do so: AI typically doesn’t access the latest data – so it may not even know or find the latest guidelines for calculating child support. Worse, it could create a blog on outdated guidelines that it notes as “updated.” AI has no actual understanding of handling child support cases. AI hasn’t had to calculate what a child support payment would be based on your state, the local laws, or the parent’s income. It has definitely never filled out the child support worksheets – but you have.  If you go off the premise of why “experience” was added by Google, you can see why AI might not meet the mark. AI is not an attorney or a financial expert, and therefore, there is no SME content creation happening when you use AI to draft your blogs.  Expertise SME content creation comes down to one important factor: credibility. A person without qualifications should not be writing a topic out of their realm of expertise. Period. Why? Google is unlikely to rank a website with content not written by a credible source over a website they know has content written by a believable source.  In areas where a subject matter expert is required, such as healthcare, Google has a higher level of scrutiny than things based more on personal opinion and less on facts. Authoritativeness Authority means you have proven you belong in the niche your website represents.  Sure, backlinks to relevant and authoritative sources will help build that authority, but only so far. If you only have quality backlinks, but don’t meet the other areas of E-E-A-T – well, you don’t have much to go on. There’s not much more to say there. Authority is a building block, and it requires more than one block to finish your foundation. Trustworthiness Now, we’ve already covered where AI falls short for SME content creation, but the biggest area you are going … Read more

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Generating Captivating Content Ideas for Your Brand

Content Writing Chat recap

When building your brand, coming up with ideas to fill your editorial calendar can often be a daunting task. When the creative juices just aren’t flowing, it’s a struggle to come up with fresh ideas that your audience (and Google) will love. So, what are you to do when you aren’t sure which topics to cover on your blog, social media, or other channels? Well, we have some ideas for you in the latest round of #ContentWritingChat! #ContentWritingChat Recap: Generating Captivating Content Ideas for Your Brand Welcome to a brand new #ContentWritingChat! 👋🏻 Today, we're going to be chatting about different ways to effortlessly generate content ideas for your brand. Perfect for filling up this month's editorial calendar! 🗓 — Express Writers | Your Content Writing Partner (@ExpWriters) August 2, 2022 Q1: Why is it so important to carefully choose the content topics you cover as a brand? A1: You want to choose topics that align with your mission, vision, and voice but also connect with your products, services, and market. Not necessarily in that order.#ContentWritingChat https://t.co/7fSkhSJfnZ — Kathryn Lang – hopesmith and dream ignitor (@Kathrynclang) August 2, 2022 As Kathryn pointed out, you want to write about topics that are aligned with your brand overall. Consider how the topics you’re covering relate back to your brand’s mission, vision, and voice. A1. The content topics that your brand chooses to cover will play a big role in the public messaging and theme of the company, it’ll be a significant determining factor on what kind of audience and attention the company will be able to draw in. #contentwritingchat https://t.co/sE5r0RDC4M — Andrew C. Belton, MBA (@AndrewCBelton) August 2, 2022 Your content is what will attract people to your brand. You need to make sure you’re writing about the topics that will bring in your desired audience. a1 I would say it's key if you want to start building authority around your brand. also, it's a way of keeping the content creation focused.#ContentWritingChat — joana rita sousa 🦄 💩💎 (ela/she) (@JoanaRSSousa) August 2, 2022 Content is also key for building authority, so you’ll want to cover topics that are centered around your area of expertise. Q2: A huge part of generating content ideas is understanding your audience. What should you know about them? A2. When crafting content for your audience its important to understand their painpoints, interests, communication preferences, cultural/geographic factors. Having some guidelines will contribute towards crafting content designed to resonate with the audience #contentwritingchat https://t.co/LpWWCLXRtd — Andrew C. Belton, MBA (@AndrewCBelton) August 2, 2022 As Andrew pointed out, knowing the pain points and interests of your target audience goes a long way. It’ll help you create content that will resonate with them on a deeper level. A2. You should consider what piques their curiosity. What gets them to stop scrolling and click through to your content – on email, on social media, YouTube or otherwise. It's something they need, it speaks to a problem they've been trying to solve.#ContentWritingChat https://t.co/3nbWv6RzzW pic.twitter.com/hqcvez3IYb — Andrea TheoJohn (@AndreaTheoJohn) August 2, 2022 Consider what gets your audience to stop scrolling and take notice! For instance, speak to their needs or a problem they’re facing. A2: When developing content you need to know: What they want to hear/readHow they prefer to consumeLength of content desired Also, be aware of how you REPURPOSE what you create to serve more folks.#ContentWritingChat https://t.co/SWZRlV8wOY — Kathryn Lang – hopesmith and dream ignitor (@Kathrynclang) August 2, 2022 Beyond coming up with the right content topics, you’ll also need to know how they like to consume content (blogs, videos, etc.) and how long they like content to be. A2: Know what they like reading, seeing and hearing. Ask your audience and routinely check out your analytics. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/3rLgM0rORZ — Carlarjenkins (@carlarjenkins) August 2, 2022 To help you figure all this out, Carla suggests checking out your analytics for helpful data and even taking the time to talk to your audience. Q3: Google Analytics tells you a lot about your website visitors. How can you use it to generate content ideas for your blog, social media, etc.? A3: Follow the Yellow Brick Road: pay attention to what content gets the most traction. The most visits, the most engagement, shares, etc. That's a big clue as to what your audience cares about. So DO MORE of that! #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/z70pqc2wLe pic.twitter.com/tn8rUnApvT — Andrea TheoJohn (@AndreaTheoJohn) August 2, 2022 It’s all about what gets the most attention! Andrea suggests looking at the pages that are getting the most traffic, engagement, and shares and use that as an indicator that your audience is really loving that topic. A3: Your website visitors tell you exactly what they want by the pages they visit, the topics they read about, the resources they download, and the high and low bounce rates they have from page to page. See what they like and brainstorm from there. #contentwritingchat — Iron Horse (@ironhorseio) August 2, 2022 It’s also smart to look at bounce rates to see where improvements can be made to your content and also to find ways to keep people on your site longer. Q4: Is it worthwhile to check out what your competitors are doing to gain inspiration? If so, what do you need to know about analyzing their content? A4. Always gotta check in with the competition: a nice pulse-check to see if anything's resonating with their audience, what seems to be working for them (or not). It gives you clues into what everyone else is doing / saying so you can offer something better. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/UZ3tnt1rsH pic.twitter.com/SwhwlWeYTS — Andrea TheoJohn (@AndreaTheoJohn) August 2, 2022 When checking out the competition, pay attention to what’s working for them and what’s not. Knowing what resonates with their audience gives you some ideas on what you can do with your own content. A4. It only makes sense to pay attention to your competitors, but do so in a respectful way. Try to understand differences & similarities between you, also how that’s … Read more

#ContentWritingChat Recap: How to Create Influential Content & Become a Strong Editor with Stephanie Stahl

#ContentWritingChat Recap: How to Create Influential Content & Become a Strong Editor with Stephanie Stahl

Want to learn how you can create influential online content? Wondering how you can strengthen your editing skills and polish everything you write before hitting publish? Well, you’re in the right place! In this month’s #ContentWritingChat, we talked all about becoming a better writer and editor. Let’s dive into the recap! #ContentWritingChat Recap: How to Create Influential Content & Become a Strong Editor with Stephanie Stahl Welcome to #ContentWritingChat! ?? Our guest host for today’s chat is @EditorStahl. Stephanie is the General Manager for our friends over at @CMIContent. She’s joining us to share her tips on creating influential content and strengthening our editing skills. ??‍? pic.twitter.com/py84AgF6Vb — Express Writers | Your Content Writing Team (@ExpWriters) June 4, 2019 Our guest host for this chat was Stephanie Stahl. She’s the General Manager for our friends over at Content Marketing Institute. And we were so thrilled to have her joining us to share some of her top content creation and editing tips with us! Q1: What qualities make a piece of content influential? We all want to create influential content that resonates with our target audience, right? But you might be wondering what exactly makes a piece of content influential and which qualities you should embody. Here’s what you need to know: A1: Everyone wants to create content that people want to share. But to make it contagious, it needs three things: credibility, creativity, and emotion. #ContentWritingChat — Stephanie Stahl (@EditorStahl) June 4, 2019 Stephanie feels influential content contains three key qualities: credibility, creativity, and emotion. Does your content have these things? A1 What qualities make a piece of content influential? ??A solid understanding of your audience! You need to understand their -needs -wants -habits -interests -behaviors in order to create content that is: -compelling -relevant -creative -of value#ContentWritingChat — Bentley University (@bentleyu) June 4, 2019 For Gaby, it’s all about having a solid understanding of who your audience is. You simply cannot create the content they’re searching for if you don’t take the time to get to know them! A1a) 4 words -> Invoking an EMOTIONAL reaction. People are drawn to content they connect with. That’s why the word “resonate” is tossed around so much. If your content does not touch an emotional connection with the user, they’ll ignore it.#ContentWritingChat — Jason Schemmel – Speaker & Podcaster #GSDChat?️? (@JasonSchemmel) June 4, 2019 Jason feels influential content should trigger an emotional response in your reader. This is a huge part of establishing a connection with your audience. A1 #ContentWritingChat Is it well written, well researched, and show deep insight? Is it from an author who has developed trust and shown expertise in previous pieces? Are people talking about it within professional circles? If yes to all the above, that is a good sign! https://t.co/EcwlDK7c2H — Gene Petrov – Ultra Human Leadership Coach (@GenePetrovLMC) June 4, 2019 According to Gene, influential content should be well-written, well-researched, and show deep insight. A1: Influential content requires authority. That can come from experience, but is also shown through research and opinions. Studies have shown having an opinion or research is what makes your content the most linkable (yay #backlinks and #SEO!) #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/dSN3jijPae — Kristen McCabe (@AusmericanGirl) June 4, 2019 Authority is a must for influential content! Kristen feels you can show your authority through your own experiences, but also through research and opinions. A1. I find content influential when the writer has an authoritative voice over the subject matter + projects it in their content. Also, I tend to stay away from content that’s meant to be informative, but is littered with opinion-based statements or anecdotes. #ContentWritingChat — Rebecca Reynoso (@G2Rebecca) June 4, 2019 Rebecca also feels that influential content should have an authoritative voice. A1: Content is influential when it makes you think and act. It also provides you with new information in an organized fashion. #ContentWritingChat — Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) June 4, 2019 Lexie said that content is influential when it makes you think and act. Is your content inspiring your readers to take action? A1: Content should be engaging. Instead of creating and sharing content that’s redundant, offer your audience something useful like a downloadable asset, an informative video, or a stunning graphic. #ContentWritingChat — Alexa Drake (@G2Alexa) June 4, 2019 Alexa’s advice is to make sure your content is engaging. She also said you should provide something useful to your audience, not something redundant. Q2: How can you be sure you’re creating content that resonates with your target audience? It’s important that our content is written with our target audience in mind, but is there a way to make sure it’ll resonate before hitting publish? Check out this advice: A2: Treat your audience like your best friend. Get to know what they like, what they don’t. What makes them want to hug you? Study your content performance data, talk to subscribers – really TALK to them. Don’t just make assumptions about their content needs. #ContentWritingChat — Stephanie Stahl (@EditorStahl) June 4, 2019 As Stephanie said, you need to treat your audience like your best friend. Get to know what they like and what they don’t so you can create the content that’s most appealing. A2: Research, research. If you don’t know what will resonate with your audience, you aren’t ready to start writing yet. #contentwritingchat — Kylee Grace Schmuck (@KyleeSchmuck) June 4, 2019 Kylee knows that you can’t start writing unless you’ve done your research about who your target audience is. A2: Until you get to know your audience, it will be hard to create content that resonates with them. Build a relationship with your target audience so you can ask for feedback and learn what they really want. #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/YnsidSvqGt — Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) June 4, 2019 Lexie agrees that it’s all about getting to know your audience first. Talk to them and build a relationship first so you can understand their needs. A2. How can you be sure that you are creating content that resonates with your … Read more

How the Right Content Creator Can Completely Redefine Your Brand

How the Right Content Creator Can Completely Redefine Your Brand

Thinking about hiring a content creator for your business? Just do it. You’ve probably heard that line a few thousand times before. The magic of Nike’s signature call-to-action wasn’t built by accident. The content creators, writers and marketers behind the campaign crafted a line that would make the brand feel more inclusive. It speaks to everyone, not just athletes, by urging them to follow their aspirations. Plus, it’s catchy as heck. Would you want the same thing for your brand? A lot of your success and reach online comes down to finding the right content creator. This is a necessary step when it comes to building your brand. 91% of B2B marketers agree. Adding an expert content creator and writer to your creative team will save you time, money and shape your brand’s identity. So what are you waiting for? Just do it. Let’s talk more about the role of a content creator in business, why a content creator benefits you, and a brief history behind today’s modern content creator. What is a Content Creator? You may already be familiar of the job of content writing and content creation without ever having come across the terms. Unlike some of it’s comrades that disguise themselves in tricky acronyms – LBO, BT, BI, SQL, GN – content writing and creation is exactly what it sounds like. (By the way, at least one of those acronyms doesn’t exist, see if you can find it!) Content writers create content to garner interest in your brand. Blogs, web pages, ad copy, social media posts, ebooks, how-to guides, videos, this very paragraph you’re reading – it’s all the work of highly skilled content creators. The main difference between anyone simply making a WordPress site, creating a post and jotting down their feelings and a content writer is the hidden technicality of this type of writing. As you read this blog you’re coming across keywords, links and other techniques that content writers weave in to the content to optimize it for the web. Can you tell? I hope not. Content creators are ninjas of the written word. They adhere to the rules of SEO by sneaking them in without interrupting the natural flow of the content. No matter what, the ever-changing algorithms of optimizing online content will always fall behind the number one rule. The one rule to rule them all: creating high-quality content. Why You Need a Content Creator Unless you plan on heading up your company by day and transforming into a content writing ninja by night, the best solution is to hire an expert content writer. Fulfilling a detailed content strategy shouldn’t be another box to check on your daily to-do list. Gaining the full benefits of content writing requires 100% attention. You want someone passionate about growing your brand who can bring fresh eyes and follow through on your content strategy. Not convinced? Let us show you why you need to hire a content creator: 1. It’s Cost Effective How often do you come across ways to both grow your business and save money? Outsourcing content creation to a freelance writer or agency will save you the time and cost of training them. In fact, the highest percentage of outsourced content marketing is content creation. Content creators charge a multitude of prices, so the best strategy before hiring is to know what you want and how much you’re willing to pay. Remember that quality is key to successful online content. You may be able to get a cheap deal on Fiverr, but quality content isn’t something you bargain for. We break down our pricing into three quality levels to cover a range of content needs. 2. It Will Save You Time Content writing is more complex than churning out a few blogs when you feel like it. It takes time to produce high quality content because it’s more than just writing. This type of content creation is a mix of research, editing, proofreading and formatting to craft high-ranking and high-traffic content relevant to your brand. It’s okay that you don’t have time to memorize the latest SEO trends for 2018. This responsibility will be taken on by your content writer. 3. Fresh Content Will Keep Your Brand Relevant Bringing in a content writer to be the voice of your brand will give your audience a whole new perspective. Content creators are like students taking a course on what your company is. They will learn the ins and outs of your brand identity and turn it into a conversational piece to relay to your clientele. Consistent content will also keep your online presence up to date. Posting fresh content across all platforms will help you rank higher in search engines. Are you convinced yet? Before you hire a content creator it’s important to have a clear understanding of what you want. Set your goals so that you can communicate them: How do you want to sell your brand? What type of content do you need? What is your budget? Do you want someone in-house or outsourced? Answering these questions will point you in the right direction. How Did We Get Here? The History of Content Creators Content writing wasn’t born out of thin air. It comes from a long ancestry of using messages to communicate. Finding a connection between a blog centered on Apple’s new iPhone robot and Egyptian hieroglyphics may seem like a stretch, but just hear me out. From the prehistoric era to today, writing has been one of the top modes of disseminating information. Perhaps we’ve traded out wooden tablets for Android tablets since then, but at its core, the goals of writing have always remained. Where Today’s Content Writing Originated: Going Back to Mesopotamian Cuneiform in 8,000 B.C. The essence of all writing is described as a “system of graphic marks representing the units of a specific language.” The first recorded writing system was the Mesopotamian cuneiform, which evolved into four phases from 8000 to 1500 BC: Clay tokens: stood for … Read more

#ContentWritingChat Recap: 2017 Content Creation Tips and Tricks

#ContentWritingChat Recap: 2017 Content Creation Tips and Tricks

This week on #ContentWritingChat, we decided to switch things up a bit! As you may know by now, we typically have a guest host join us every week. Well, this Tuesday we decided to have a community chat and just let our participants be the main focus. After all, we do love each and every person who joins us for an hour of fun every Tuesday! This community chat went so well that we’re actually going to incorporate them into our #ContentWritingChat schedule every month. We’re even going to give you you the opportunity to give input on upcoming chat topics, so stay tuned! But for now, let’s dive into the recap of this week’s chat where we talked all about content creation tips and trick for 2017! #ContentWritingChat Recap: 2017 Content Creation Tips and Tricks Welcome to #ContentWritingChat! Today, we’re having a community chat all about content creation tips and tricks! ?? pic.twitter.com/fNahyGR0hz — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) July 11, 2017 In Tuesday’s chat, we invited everyone to join us and talk content creation. Being that so many members of our #ContentWritingChat community are writers, it’s no surprise that they all had some great advice to share. Let’s get to it! Q1: When it comes to content, what’s the first step you should always take before you begin creating? Before you dive head first into writing content, there are a few things you should do beforehand! What might those things be? Here’s what a few of our participants believe are the essential first steps: A1: Think — what does my audience/ideal customer need to see? #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/f0CaOh27Pk — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) July 11, 2017 Sarah is spot-on with her answer! She knows that you have to determine what your audience needs to see before you can start with content creation. After all, if you aren’t sure what your audience needs, how can you create content that will resonate? A1: Get to know your audience. Learn what information they need and how they want to receive it. #contentwritingchat — Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) July 11, 2017 As you spend time getting to know your audience, you also want to determine how they like to receive content. Do they prefer a specific content format or a certain platform? These are all important things to consider before you create. A1. Date your audience. Get to know them before asking them to take a content journey with you. #ContentWritingChat — Bourbon & Honey (@BrittanyBrander) July 11, 2017 We like the way Brittany put it! Date your audience to get to know them before taking them along on your content journey. A1 Have a message! If you have no takeaway point, then your content becomes rather meaningless! #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/lghgUkqHXI — HeyOrca! (@HeyOrca) July 11, 2017 Having a message behind your content is important as well. You want your audience to read your content and be able to walk away with something of value. Make sure your content always serves a purpose. A1 Be really clear – know WHY you’re abt 2 create this content. What purpose does it serve? Are you creating to create? #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/vNHy0UdugG — Zala Bricelj (@ZalkaB) July 11, 2017 Zala also agrees that your content needs to serve a purpose. Everything you publish online should add value to your audience in some way. A1. Research! #ContentWritingChat — Megan McCarthy (@ImMeganMcCarthy) July 11, 2017 As Megan mentioned, research is a very important step to content creation. Before you can begin writing, you may need to conduct research to learn more yourself or so that you have sources to back up your ideas. A1 Discover trends/ research topics that do the best on the specific platform you’re writing for. Analyze audience & SEO #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) July 11, 2017 Julia’s advice is to begin by discovering trends and topics and perform the best on the platform you’re writing for. You can then analyze the audience and SEO. A1: Define goals, marketing objectives. How will content help you get closer to achieving those goals #ContentWritingChat — GetApp_Marketing (@GetApp_Mkting) July 11, 2017 You can’t forget to set goals either! When you have clear goals in mind, you’re able to create the content that will help you achieve what you want. Q2: What types of content do you create to build and maintain an authoritative, ROI online presence? There are all kinds of content types out there in the online world! For that reason, it can be difficult to choose what’s right for you. Here’s some advice for you if you want to create authoritative content that helps you get results: A2 Whatever types your audience prefers. Authority is a measure of trust, and speaking their language builds trust. #ContentWritingChat — Lex (@estherproject) July 11, 2017 Les knows that it’s important to consider the content types your audience prefers. If your audience loves to read, they’ll probably enjoy your long-form blog posts. If they’re more visual, they’ll be happy to watch your YouTube videos and live broadcasts. Always keep their preferences in mind! A2: Relevant, helpful content via a variety of mediums – must consider that people absorb information differently #ContentWritingChat — Elizabeth Greenberg (@BettaBeYou) July 11, 2017 Elizabeth recommends trying multiple mediums for your content. This is a great opportunity to see what performs best for you and what your audience likes the most. Whichever content type you choose, it’s crucial that you share a relevant, helpful message. A2 NEVER overlook your core content types if you want to build a killer authority SEO presence – blogs & landing pages #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) July 11, 2017 Julia urges you not to overlook your core content types. Make sure you aren’t neglecting your blog and the various landing pages you have on your site. A2: To build your brand as a thought leader, I find the best form of contents are Infographics & blog Articles #ContentWritingChat — J. Pablo H3 (@HinoIII) July 11, 2017 Infographics and blog posts are two ways … Read more

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Long-Form Content: Distribution & Promotion Tactics, & Best Examples with Lisa Dougherty

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Long-Form Content: Distribution & Promotion Tactics, & Best Examples with Lisa Dougherty

There’s no denying that long-form content is where it’s at when it comes to the world of online content. That’s why we had to host a #ContentWritingChat all about this topic that’s so crucial for content creators. If you’re ready to learn more about the benefits of long-form content, how to create it, and how to promote it, you’re in the right place! Now, let’s dive into the recap! #ContentWritingChat Recap: Long-Form Content: Distribution & Promotion Tactics, & Best Examples with Lisa Dougherty Join us for #ContentWritingChat on Tuesday, May 2nd at 10 AM Central Time! Our guest host is @BrandLoveLLC from @CMIContent! pic.twitter.com/lBerwOZFyj — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) April 26, 2017 Our guest host this week was Lisa Dougherty. Lisa is an entrepreneur and she’s also the Blog & Community Director over at Content Marketing Institute. CMI is one of our favorite resources and we were thrilled to have Lisa join the chat and share her expertise on long-form content. Q1: Why should you consider long-form content in this age where so many talk about short-form content? You’ve likely heard that we as human beings tend to have short attention spans. So, if this is true, then why are people pushing brands to create long-form content online? Here’s how longer, valuable content can actually benefit your brand: A1a: Long-form content (2k+ words) typically performs better on social, increases website authority, plus links. #ContentWritingChat — Lisa Dougherty (@BrandLoveLLC) May 2, 2017 A1b: Long-form content is more likely to generate backlinks signaling search engines quality content that ranks higher. #ContentWritingChat — Lisa Dougherty (@BrandLoveLLC) May 2, 2017 Lisa said long-form content typically performs better on social media, plus it also increases website authority and earns you links. @ExpWriters A1 Short answer: long-form WORKS. More rankings, shares and reads actually happen w/ long-form! #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/F9OsBb6i65 — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) May 2, 2017 More rankings, more shares, and more reads! Need we say more about why long-form content ROCKS? A1: Long-form content goes deep with customers, strengthening connections with them. #ContentWritingChat — Sara Tetzloff (@que_sara) May 2, 2017 Sarah feels long-form content allows you to go deep with your customers and strengthen your relationship with them. After all, when they fall in love with the valuable content you create, they’ll truly appreciate your work and become big fans of your brand. A1: If it’s meaty, long-form content gives readers a lot of value. Still needs to be concise, actionable. #ContentWritingChat — Darcy De Leon (@darcydeleon) May 2, 2017 Darcy knows longer content can provide readers with tremendous value, which they’re sure to love you for. Make sure that you keep your content concise and actionable to ensure they’re engaged. A1 Long-form content offers a more complete narrative, which means you have to stay lively to keep attention throughout. #ContentWritingChat — Jim Katzaman (@JKatzaman) May 2, 2017 As Jim mentioned, you’ll have to work in order to keep the attention of your audience when creating longer content. You don’t want them to tune out before finishing your post. Q2: How do you ensure longer blog posts are captivating and hold attention all the way through? With longer content, you’re going to have to hook your reader in the very beginning and then hold their attention to get them to read through your entire post. What’s the secret to making that happen? Check out this advice from Tuesday’s chat: A2a: Capturing attention is hard in a noisy world. Tell your story w/ emotion. Use personal experiences. #ContentWritingChat — Lisa Dougherty (@BrandLoveLLC) May 2, 2017 A2b: Write for your reader, not search engines, so they’ll keep coming back. #ContentWritingChat — Lisa Dougherty (@BrandLoveLLC) May 2, 2017 Lisa encourages you to tell your story and infuse it with emotion. Share your personal experiences. It’s this kind of content that will leave people wanting to read more. She also said to write for your reader, not the search engines. While it’s fine to optimize your content for search engines, you need to create with your reader in mind. It’ll help you develop a stronger connection with them and they’ll continue to come back and read more. A2c: Headlines attract attention. Intros lure readers in. Keep both interesting and short. #ContentWritingChat — Lisa Dougherty (@BrandLoveLLC) May 2, 2017 Lisa also shared some great advice when it comes to writing your long-form content. As she mentioned, headlines will attract attention. They are what will get people to your content in the first place. What will get them to read is your introduction and the content that follows. Make sure you keep it interesting and drawn them in. A2 Put drafts aside for a day or two. Then read with fresh eyes. If your long-form content bores you, you have problems. #ContentWritingChat — Jim Katzaman (@JKatzaman) May 2, 2017 When it comes to editing, Jim suggests letting your drafts sit for a day or two. Then, once you’ve had some time apart, you can come back and edit with fresh eyes. As he said, if your long-form content bores you, you have problems. You need to find a way to change it up before you hit publish. A2: Long blogs require strategic formatting to keep reader interest: graphics for visual support, a captivating voice #contentwritingchat — Elizabeth Greenberg (@BettaBeYou) May 2, 2017 Elizabeth knows longer blog posts will require strategic formatting in order to keep your reader interested and to lead them through the post. It’s also important to showcase your brand’s captivating voice. @writingchat A2: Format them properly with headings, subheads, etc. Make sure blog posts have a good flow from 1 point to the other. #ContentWritingChat — Pinpoint Laser (@PinpointLaser) May 2, 2017 How you structure your blog posts also plays a major role in keeping people hooked on your long-form content. You’ll want to use headings and make sure everything flows. Headings are great for separating individual ideas and it helps to break up big blocks of text. And making sure everything flows is important because you … Read more

10 Ways to Boost Your Copy With Engaging Visuals in Your Content

10 Ways to Boost Your Copy With Engaging Visuals in Your Content

Quick: what’s black and white and sad all over? Online copy with no visuals! Today, great visuals are everything to engaging, readable online copy. In addition to making your material more exciting, they also help pull readers through your text, making it easier for them to engage with and connect to it. Without visuals, content is just a sad shell of text, and won’t make it far. Here’s everything you need to know about why visuals matter and how to use them in your online content. What the Numbers Say About Visuals in Your Content When you were a kid, you loved books with pictures, right? The illustrations just added something to the text, and you enjoyed learning about new worlds and people through colorful images. Today, it’s no different. While it might be true that we’re older and that the visuals in question now aren’t so much illustrations as they are graphics, screenshots, and infographics, visuals are just as important as they’ve always been, and adding them into your marketing copy can take it from “blah” to memorable. The reason is simple: visuals tell a story, and that story helps enhance your online content. Without visuals, the words must stand on their own, which makes your material less compelling and exciting for readers. Here are some visual marketing statistics on the power of visuals in your content: 37% of marketers report that visuals are their most valuable marketing asset, second only to their blogs 74% of social media marketers add visuals to their social updates While people only remember 10% of the information they hear, they remember an average of 65% of what they see, making visual information the way to go for companies that want to encourage brand recall. In 2016, 51% of B2B marketers were prioritizing the creation of visual assets. By the end of this year, experts are predicting that 74% of all web traffic will be dedicated to video content. Infographics earn 3x as many likes and shares on social media as any other type of content. Tweets that have images in them receive 150% more retweets than text-only updates. Facebook posts with images earn 2.3x the engagement of text-only posts. With these numbers in mind, it’s clear that visual marketing is here to stay, and that engaging in it can be the most productive thing you do this year. 10 Ways to Use Visuals in Your Online Copy New to the world of visual marketing? Don’t fear. Start by using these top ten visual tricks: 1. Add Images To Every 200-300 Words in Your Blogs & Create Social Shareworthy Inset Images This is one of the easiest and most straightforward ways to incorporate images into every blog you publish. But don’t just “add images.” Here are some rules of thumb: Add a screenshot per every 200-300 words. By nature, the brain responds more to visual stimulation than text, so you’ll want to break up your content with a lot of visuals. Screenshots work well to illustrate points. Design (or have designed) a beautiful blog topic image, sized for optimal social sharing. Things to consider: theme it to the color code of your logo, have a custom artist design it. Here’s an example of a couple creative blog headers our designer has put together that gained a good deal of traction on social media: Need custom image creations? We can help! 2. Create A Custom Infographic Check out this crazy stat about infographics: Source: MassPlanner One of the most valuable things you can do for your marketing is to create a custom infographic. It’s seriously worth the investment. We create one every quarter (sometimes more): and to date, this content type has been our most-shared. The header of one of our many infographics, 10 Blogging Resolutions. Unique because it’s designed specifically for your company and helpful because it addresses the concerns and interests of your target audience, this form of visual content will help to differentiate your brand online and help you stand out from the crowd. Infographics perform better on social media than other types of content, so you’ll earn a solid ROI from your infographic. If you’re looking for a team to create infographics for you, look no further than our creative infographic services! 3. Create Custom Blog Headers that are Themed In Your Colors Custom blog headers can give your content a unique look and help your blog feel more cohesive. This is the “featured image” section of your blog. Ideal for brands of all shapes and sizes, custom blog headers are some of the most useful things you can create for your brand. For best results, create headers that use your company’s colors, utilize your logo, and incorporate a streamlined and cohesive design. Check out how we do this for our content on The Write Blog. The end “blog roll” look is visually engaging: We’ve been experimenting with drawing “visual story steps,” too. As of late 2016, we added unique, storytelling imagery to our content shop, which is a new variation in our visual products. Here are a few examples from our Process Page, to give you an idea of what these look like. 4. Screenshot Everything that Has a Visual Explanation If you’re writing a tutorial, how-to, or instructive post, you need to be including screenshots. Visually explain what you’re talking about. Screenshots help your readers understand what you’re saying and synthesize your post accordingly. This, in turn, makes it easier for them to connect with your content and absorb the meaning of your posts. It also helps your content be more useful to your readers. Be sure that if you’re going to include a screenshot, to add one that’s in-depth and detailed, not a broad overview that won’t help your readers or that they could just as easily find on their own. One tool I love is the Full Page Screen Capture, in the Chrome app store (free). I use Chrome daily, and to get a full-length screenshot without zooming and messing up the focus, the Full Page Screen Capture … Read more