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Content Creation Made Easy: 5 Benefits of Hiring an All-in-One Digital Content Marketing Team

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About 83% of digital marketers and content creators report prioritizing quality over quantity in their current digital content marketing strategies. Thanks to generative AI and other automation tools, mass content creation has never been easier. However, these recent strides in technology automation have not made it any less challenging to consistently produce valuable, engaging material.   If anything, the recent barrage of developments in digital content creation tools has left many in the field feeling overwhelmed and technology-fatigued. Already, nearly half — 45% — of sales and marketing professionals would prefer to reduce the sheer number of tools in their technology stacks. As such, an industry shift toward quality-over-quantity tactics makes the content creation process even more resource-intensive, requiring dedicated talent across writing, editing, design, and strategy. To meet these demands, companies are also ramping up their content marketing budgets, with 50% of marketers increasing their investment in content marketing this year. However, with rising investments comes the challenge of managing numerous moving parts. Many teams find themselves juggling various tools and platforms to coordinate efforts for a death march pace of daily publication across multiple channels. Express Writers offers a simple solution to this challenge. By centralizing all aspects of content creation — from strategy to final edits — in one capable agency, businesses can keep their teams on their primary tasks, while still ensuring timely delivery of top-quality content and dispensing outright with the hassle of managing separate contributors. The Complexity of Modern Content Creation  You probably know all too well how time and resource-intensive it is to manage content creation internally or with fragmented freelancers. Regardless of size and budget, all companies face the logistical complexity of coordinating multiple roles. For large corporate organizations, acquiring and retaining a diverse range of specialized content creation talents is at least feasible, even if it’s not particularly easy.  However, if you’re already outsourcing writing, it’s unlikely you’ve got the necessary resources to bring it all in-house. So, the familiar time and resource drain remains formidable. Marketing teams must dedicate substantial hours to briefing and managing separate roles — earning you repetitive feedback loops and increased project timelines in the process. Additionally, your already over-tasked teams still need to track individual deadlines, align multiple schedules, and ensure consistency across outputs that require ongoing administrative oversight. It’s altogether unsurprising that this patchwork process diverts focus from your primary business goals.  For companies looking to scale content, these operational inefficiencies only multiply with growth, limiting your ability to produce high-quality work quickly. What, then, does the alternative look like? What Do You Get from an All-in-One Digital Content Marketing Team? Here are some of the benefits you can expect from handing over your entire digital content creation process to an all-in-one agency. 1. Streamlined Communication When businesses work with Express Writers, they are assigned a dedicated content manager to serve as a single point of contact for all their content needs. This structure eliminates the need for back-and-forth with multiple freelancers or team members across different stages of your process. Instead, your content manager oversees everything — from initial strategy and briefing to coordinating edits and final delivery. With a single contact managing the entire team, businesses save considerable time and cut down on the casual miscommunications that plague processes requiring constant communication with multiple contributors. Your content manager keeps writers, editors, and designers on task, working cohesively toward shared goals and timely delivery. This setup improves efficiency and allows our clients to focus on what they do best. 2. Efficient Project Management Our all-in-one content team provides a structured, efficient approach to project management. At Express Writers, your content manager coordinates all phases of your projects, from initial planning to final edits. Having proactive oversight prevents common delays caused by independent contractors who typically work at varying speeds and create bottlenecks in the content pipeline. With each contributor aligned to the same timeline and quality standards, your team can transition from one stage to the next, with no accumulating downtime. Your writers, editors, and designers are always working with a shared understanding of your project’s priorities and deadlines. As a result, clients receive their content on time and consistently meet their marketing goals without last-minute rushes or missed opportunities. 3. Access to Specialized Talent and Expertise When clients sign on for our end-to-end content creation process, they gain access to a range of specialized experts across multiple content formats and professional fields. Rather than relying on a single generalist, our team includes skilled writers, editors, graphic designers, and video editors, each with extensive experience in their respective fields. As such, each element of your content — from written copy to visual media — gets the attention of an expert who understands the nuances of their field. For instance, our graphic designers create visuals with an eye for both enhancing written content and aligning with your unique brand standards and identity. Meanwhile, our video editors craft engaging video content designed to resonate with today’s audiences. By having a full roster of specialists, our clients don’t need to source talent independently. This saves them time and guarantees high-quality, polished results. 4. Consistent Quality Control In our experience, one of the most challenging parts of the digital content creation process to bring in-house is consistent quality control for every deliverable. At Express Writers, every piece of content we create for you passes through a structured quality assurance (QA) process, involving editors and QA specialists rigorously reviewing each detail for accuracy, readability, and brand alignment. We do more than just catch typos. We use the consensus of several pairs of eyes to guarantee your content exactly captures your brand’s voice and takes advantage of up-to-date insights into what appeals to contemporary audiences. When we create content for our clients, each piece undergoes a multi-step review. Writers bring their expertise to the draft, editors refine it for tone and clarity, and QA specialists confirm it’s polished, ready for publication, and free of any technical or formatting errors. … Read more

Find the Blog Posting Frequency that Works for You

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You know having a blog for your business or brand is critical to drawing in new customers and keeping the ones you have. However, you likely have wondered what the right blog posting frequency is. Should you post once a week? Every day? Multiple times a day? What’s the ideal blog posting frequency for you? Of course, the answer depends on your needs, goals, and the size of your business/brand.  In this guide, we will answer these questions and help you craft the ideal content calendar for your blog. What Is the Ideal Blog Posting Frequency? At the end of 2023, there were over 1.1 billion websites. Of those, about 18% are active, which translates to over 200 million active websites on the web. Over these billions of websites, there are about 600 million blogs on the internet with millions of new blogs posted every day. With statistics like this, it can make you wonder how you could ever make an impact in your small corner of the internet. However, with the right marketing strategy and blog posting frequency, you are more likely to attract the attention of the customers you need. Knowing how often you should post blogs is a question that continually puzzles digital marketers because there is no single recommendation that fits every website. Smaller businesses may find blogging less often, like one to four times a week, works for them, while larger businesses may need to blog daily or even multiple times a day. There is also the consideration of what types of content you’re covering. If you operate in a small, niche area where information is stable and does not change frequently, you might find success with blogging less often. Another part of the blogging frequency puzzle is what your goals are for your blog. Most brands either want to drive organic traffic or increase their brand awareness. According to HubSpot, if driving organic traffic is your goal, you should blog more frequently, while increasing brand awareness doesn’t require as much content.   8 Considerations to Determine Your Frequency of Blog Posts While you can take a guess at the number of blog posts that works for you, you will have better success evaluating industry trends and considering your blogging goals. 1. Look at Statistics According to Orbit Media’s 10th Edition of the Annual Blogger Survey, blog trends have changed a lot in the past decade. While successful bloggers were previously posting every day, many of them are now posting less often. However, the difference is, their blogs are longer and more detailed. While a 500-word blog posted daily worked in the past, bloggers are finding longer blogs over 1,000 words posted less frequently get better results.  The survey shows the average blog post is 77% longer in 2023 than it was in 2013. As for how frequently bloggers post, the most popular responses were weekly and several per month.  2. Monitor Your Industry Just like any other part of your business or brand, it is a good idea to look at the competition. What are similar content creators doing on their blogs? Monitor 10-20 blogs in your niche and see how often they are updated. If you’re not posting as often, you could get left behind. This also means you need to keep up with any industry changes. If there are frequent updates in your industry, your blog posts need to reflect that new information. You can save time keeping up with this information by updating old content. 3. Consider Your Constraints A large multi-million-dollar company is going to have more time and resources to put into blogging than someone who is a solo content creator. If you try to keep pace with a multi-person team, you are most likely going to feel burnt out and the quality of your blogs is going to suffer. One option to increase your blogging output without overworking yourself or your staff is by outsourcing some or all of your blogging needs. Consider finding a high-quality writing agency or writer to help you expand your content calendar and keep up with the competition. 4. Focus on Quality Just like most things in life, it is better to deliver quality over quantity and Google backs that up. In late 2022, Google released an algorithm update that added an ‘E’ to the SEO acronym EAT. The new EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. You will get better Google results producing high-quality blogs, released less often than pumping out lower-quality blogs more often. If you can produce and publish a high-quality blog every day, that’s awesome. If your capabilities and mental load limit your blogging frequency to once a week, then that is ok, too. Just make sure whatever you publish is the best it can be. If you are struggling to produce high-quality content, hiring an experienced professional writer could be the best choice. Consider how much you could gain by publishing premium content on a regular basis. 5. Remember Your Goals It is easy to simply copy whatever your competitor is doing. However, that strategy may not give you the best results. Instead, you need to remember what your goal is for blogging. Why are you doing this? Consider the following questions: Are you prioritizing SEO? Are you trying to improve your brand recognition? Are you trying to get a higher position in your SERPs for specific keywords? The answers to these questions will help you refine your blogging purpose and frequency.  6. Focus on the Needs of Your Audience What does your typical customer/reader look for or need when visiting your blog? Are they looking for new information every day? Do they have specific questions that your blog can answer? Is there information missing from your website that would prevent them from moving through the customer journey? One of the primary functions of a blog, especially for a business, is to offer value. Publishing a blog that doesn’t add anything new, simply for the act … Read more

Steps for Creating Content that Connects with Your Audience

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Content that connects with your audience is worth every penny. Having a single piece of content that speaks to your desired audience, and connecting to your audiences meaningfully, often results in a higher ROI. It is essential, whether you are a small business or large corporation, that you know how to connect with your audience emotionally, and often that requires a special type of writer to do so. Not just anyone can connect; simply putting words onto virtual paper will not do the job. Instead, you need to know what your audience needs, their pain points, their reasons for seeking out your business, and when to offer help – timing is crucial here. Today, we will review a few ways to create content that makes a genuine connection and how to implement it into your content strategy for blogs, web pages, and even social media posts. Is Written Content Relevant for Today’s Audience? The age of YouTube has certainly changed how we all interact with search engines, and often we opt for a video over a blog to learn about something, but that is not the majority. Written content, specifically blogs, is still in high demand. 77% of internet users read blogs, according to Social Media Today – so obviously, there’s a market.  7 Steps Every Company Needs to Use to Create Content that Connects with the Right Audience Creating and maintaining a connection with your audience is crucial. Whether your target audience is B2B or B2C, you have a target audience, and you need content that speaks to them. So, how do you do that when your “audience pool” masses in the thousands? Easy…by following these key steps. 1. Embrace Empathy The pandemic has certainly taught us a lot and restructured the way a lot of us communicate or even work today. However, one of the biggest lessons from the pandemic was empathy. Thinking about your audience using compassion and your emotional intelligence is critical in your content. 2. Write As You Talk You want to connect to the person reading your content. What is a better way to connect than conversation? For some reason, being conversational in blogs and even landing page content got a bad rap somewhere but shouldn’t have. Being conversational is precisely what a reader needs to feel as though you are speaking to them. The robotic, encyclopedic text has its uses but rarely is that content that is designed to create a connection. Instead, that is created to educate.  Social media posts, blogs, and sales pages need to connect to the reader, or the conversions will not happen. So, as you write out your text, think of how you would talk to a friend, explain something to a colleague, and use that as your muse when crafting your “voice” within the text. 3. Use Media Words are powerful, but so too is imagery. You want to use different media types to help you connect with your reader. While the personal tone is equally important, include a picture of yourself in your bio on each blog, that way, the reader can picture who they are talking to.  4. Picture the Ideal Reader Just like you want your reader to picture you, you need to picture them. You know your target audience – if you don’t, that’s an entirely different topic – so now you can picture one member from your target audience as you create your content. Pick them from the crowd, and pretend you are conversing with them. When you picture yourself talking to a real person, rather than them reading what you have written, it helps you be more conversational. You aren’t lecturing a group of students at the university – just an intimate conversation between two individuals. 5. Put Yourself in the Reader’s Shoes – Address their Needs You can’t truly connect if you aren’t in your reader’s shoes. What are their dreams? Fears? You need to know their pain points to bring them up in the copy and almost catch them off guard. You want the reader to sit there thinking, “Yes! That is me!” and not just going through the motions. The more connected they are to the writing, the more likely they are to take action you request at the end of the page – whether it is a contact, submitting email addresses, etc.  You need to show that you can relate to their problem, then strike with the solution. If you don’t build up a relationship on mutual understanding first, you cannot offer a mutually acceptable solution.  Often, copywriters will come out of the gates swinging. They don’t hit that pain point and instead just start talking about the solution while touching here and there on the issue it solves. That doesn’t grab a reader and keep them hanging on for the ride. Instead, they see that you have a solution, make up their assumptions, and bounce. So, instead, build up the rapport first, then offer your solution. Take the reader through your journey, showing your understanding and relativeness, then add your solution and call to action. If you offer the goods right from the start, you will lose the chance to build a relationship with your reader first. 6. Work with the Emotions You Want to Pique in Your Reader Picture your reader’s emotions as they go through your text. If you aren’t getting a reader to laugh at a joke, ask yourself if you would have laughed. Would you cry at the same instance of emotion? Would you yearn for the same solution as profoundly as they? Allow yourself to feel something, express it, and create that connection. You may be surprised at how willing people are to reach out to you when you occasionally open yourself up in your content, whether it is sharing a personal experience, a humbling moment, etc.  7. Avoid Third Person The third-person POV does not connect with the reader. After all, if you read something in a third-person point-of-view, … Read more

What Does Done-for-You Content Marketing Mean Anyway?

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At Express Writers, you often hear us mention “done-for-you” content marketing in our blogs, and on our website, and we even boast about it in some social media posts.  But what does done-for-you content marketing entail?  For those who have wondered what DFY content is, how it works, and the benefits of seeking providers who can do it for you, look no further than this mini guide. Today, we will talk about done-for-you marketing and how you can get more out of your content while spending less time and money than you would going the traditional route (i.e., doing it yourself). Isn’t All Content Ordered Considered Done-for-You Content Marketing? Yes, and no. It depends on the service you are ordering and where you are ordering it. Some companies offer done-for-you content bundles, like Express Writers, while others offer DFY content, but it includes nothing more than writing content. It doesn’t necessarily include the expertise, research, and quality assurances you need to satisfy Google’s E-E-A-T and improve your website’s authority. Genuine DFY content is written by a subject matter expert in your niche – not a freelance writer who dabbles in that industry. Basically, your writer is a mirror of you – only they are saving you the time and effort of writing a blog yourself using the information you provide and leaning on their own experience and expertise in the niche to deliver top-notch content. Getting a content bundle is the best way to expand every penny spent on your content marketing and provide you with high-quality content that returns continuously year after year. What is a Done-for-You Content Bundle, and Why Should You Use Them? Yes, you could order a single blog written by a subject matter expert, but if you buy an entire bundle, you are unlocking even more benefits while saving time and money.  By bundles, we are talking about the blog, its meta, SEO research, images, and the expertise behind it.  A popular bundle option is our Authority Package service. Within the Authority Package, you receive: An In-Depth Content Strategy Designed around Your SPECIFIC Topic: A content strategist researches your desired topic and creates a click-worthy headline that touches high on the EMV scale. Then, they search for high-volume, low-competition keywords to sprinkle into your content so that you rank well in the SERPs. The strategist will look for strategic linking opportunities and even provide details for the writer to hit on to satisfy the topic with E-E-A-T in mind. A Subject Matter Expert Writing Your Content: Once you approve your content’s research phase, it heads over to an SME writer with genuine experience in your field (not only do they have 5+ years of experience writing in it, they have advanced degrees in that field as well). In-Depth Editing: To ensure everything is included and that you receive the highest quality writing possible, an editor reviews the content and fine-tunes it before delivery. Custom Designed Images: The Authority Package doesn’t use stock images. Instead, it includes custom images created in Adobe by an in-house designer. It includes a header image, inset, CTA image, two custom images or graphs, and four pull quotes to help specific text pop off the page. In 2022 alone, Express Writers provided authority packages for hundreds of clients saving thousands of hours of work.  Add social media posts and emails to go along with that package. You now have a blog with authority, an email newsletter to let readers know it is there and ready for consumption, and social media posts to sprinkle on your favorite platforms. What are the Benefits of Using DFY Content? Let’s break it down and look at the benefits you receive with  DFY content. You Get Three Professional Services in One Package Price Taking the Authority Package example, you have three core services in play. If you were to do these yourself, you would need to outsource to multiple freelancers for your SEO, writing, and professional design. In the package, you get all three professional services already vetted and ready to go from the same location. Saving you the hassle and time of searching for freelancers to fulfill these gaps yourself. You Unlock Access to a Team that is Up-to-Date on Google’s Wants and Needs Google does a lot of updates, and they all carry the same theme: authority and trust. Trust is not new to the marketing sector.  If you think about it, trust has been around since the dawn of content marketing. Sales pages, landing pages, Ebooks, emails…the goal has always been getting your reader to trust you.  So, what has changed? Google now wants to see that trust for itself.  When people do not trust your site, they will never purchase from you and will not return. You have that one shot at building trust, building up those relationships, and converting them.  Trust is a central component of Google’s latest guidelines with E-E-A-T. Trustworthiness doesn’t help your ranking directly, but according to Yoast, that “back” button when a client realizes they don’t trust you can. When you hire someone to do DFY content, they are more than aware of the latest algorithm changes and what Google demands in their latest E-E-A-T. EW writers are all trained on E-E-A-T and what it entails by offering an in-depth course within our university. So, when an SME writer tackles your content, they bring every aspect of E-E-A-T to the digital table: experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. You Save a Significant Amount of Time Think about how much time you would invest if you did each component of DFY content bundles for yourself. First, you need to subscribe to tools like Ahrefs and SEMRush to start generating your reports and researching your topic. You would need to familiarize yourself with the EMV scoring system and how to improve your titles so they are click-worthy. You would need BuzzSumo to help you find what is trending in your industry so that you can play off both trending … Read more

The Future of Blogging: Today’s Recipe for a Perfect Blog Post

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A craveable, delicious, delightful blog post isn’t much different from a pastry.  As long as you follow the recipe, steps included, you will create a post your readers are hungry to devour – and might even return for more. The good news is you won’t make a special trip to the grocery store to get started on the perfect blog post. Everything you need is in your virtual pantry – you just didn’t realize it.  Writing a blog post, especially in today’s competitive market, is intimidating. Once you break it down and understand the ingredients, however, you can whip up these readable bits on the fly and stay up with the trends for the future of blogging in 2023. So, What Do You Need to Craft the Perfect Blog Post in 2023? The future of blogging has certainly changed. What worked last year doesn’t necessarily apply today. Therefore, staying up on the latest blogging and SEO trends is essential so that you know what Google expects – and, more importantly, what today’s reader wants. The Perfect Blog Recipe Before you start to type, you want to make sure you have the following essentials ready to add to the mixing bowl: 1 click-worthy title 1 attention-keeping introduction A pinch of creativity A few cups of informative, scannable subheaders A splash of succinct body copy A handful of authoritative research and your expertise 1 part formatting 1 delectable conclusion A dusting of enthusiasm for the topic A garnish of passion for your niche Putting it Altogether – How the Future of Blogging will Change How You Use These Ingredients As you can see, the ingredients haven’t changed, but how and when you use them has.  We will break down each portion of this recipe so that you know how to mix it all in and get your readers to come back for more. Creating Your Title By far one of the most essential ingredients! Your title sets the stage for what the reader can expect, even determining if they ever get past the SERPs to read your blog. Spend time on this stage of your recipe. In fact, whatever you title it as your “working” title, be prepared to come back and rework it until it is just right later. Don’t hastily toss forth the first title you have in mind. Instead, let it sit and rest, and the flavors meld together. Think of title creation as a slow, steady simmer rather than a rapid boil.  A good title mixes intrigue and information and is not too long.  Yes, Google says there is no limit, and the length of your title will not influence your search engine results. Instead, it affects whether or not someone will click on it. The first 60 characters matter the most – so make those count even if you have a 100-character title. Whatever you do, don’t over-sprinkle in the keywords for your title – not only will it kill your readability factor and turn off any enthusiastic taster, but it will turn away Google too. Roll Out Your Introduction Your introduction supports your title. So perhaps you may not create it until you have solidified your intro – and that’s okay.  An introduction requires time and patience. While you will mix up something short, sweet, and enticing, you will also want it to rest a few hours before you revisit and rework it again. While adding a keyword to the introduction is essential, ensure it is not the highlighting flavor. An introduction gives readers just a taste of what else is to come, but the full flavor doesn’t explode until the end. Of course, if your introduction isn’t tasty enough to keep reading, the end doesn’t matter much.  So, take your time, rework it after the entire blog is done, and ask yourself, would I eat this up? Never Forget the Power of Creativity Too many recipes lack creativity. Think of those five-star restaurants – are they working with “vanilla” recipes used over and over again? Of course not. They are hashing out something unique that stays with their branding but still tantalizes the tastebuds.  Never leave out a pinch of creativity in your content – all of your content. Creativity should be tossed in from the start; if you can’t taste it, add more. Start Rolling Out Subheaders Subheaders help your reader scan and understand what they are about to digest. They should go in an even flow, make sense, and inform.  Ideally, subheaders are introduced every 300-500 words max (there’s nothing wrong with adding them in fewer words as long as the words in between pack a powerful punch). Subheaders are a great place for optimizing with secondary keywords but don’t overdo it. Time to Mix in Your Body’s Copy You have a working title, and you’ve rolled out the subheaders. Now comes the time to mix together your blog’s body.  But before you add anything, do your research. You may be an expert in your niche, but that doesn’t mean you won’t need resources to back up what you say. Today, using authoritative, high-quality links is still a must-have for any recipe. Search Engine Journal states that every site needs credible, authoritative, and trustworthy content – and a reader can’t take you at your word without some citations. As you mix up that copy, make sure to spice it up enthusiastically. Nothing turns a reader away more than negativity. So, likewise, be as passionate about your niche as you want your reader to be as you create your blog – if you are not excited about it, why should they be? A few other things to keep in mind while you mix up your body’s copy: Optimize Gently. Optimizing your content is like working gluten. Too much, and it’s gotten too chewy, stiff, and undesirable. Yes, keywords matter in 2023, but how and where you use them has changed.  Focus on Your Brand’s Authority. What Google praises more than keywords are brand … Read more

How to Use Google Trends for Content Marketing & SEO

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Content marketing is recognized as one of the most effective ways to grow a business and attract new customers. To be successful with content marketing, you need to share high-quality content regularly. But it can feel difficult to constantly think of useful and insightful topics that attract the right audience. This is where online tools like Google Trends come in handy. Learning how to use Google Trends for your content marketing gives you a valuable resource for relevant, trending topics that people want to engage with. As you read on, we’ll explore how to use Google Trends for SEO and improve your content marketing strategy. What Is Google Trends? Google Trends is a search feature offered by Google that shows you the most popular search terms for a specific period. Current trends are from the past 7 days, while past trends date back to 2004. The Google Trends site also allows you to check the frequency of specific search terms. On the results page, you can see the interest over time, interest by subregion, and related topics. You can also adjust your search based on the industry, category, time frame, location, and type of search (image, shopping, news, web, or YouTube). Google Trends can be a valuable tool for conducting market research. It gives you insights into the seasonality of search terms or even helps you gauge how much interest your products have in a certain geographic region. Query vs. Topic in Google Trends Google Trends gives you information on both search terms and topics. A search term is a specific word or phrase, while a topic is a group of search terms that fit into the same general concept. Google Trends measures and ranks these categories differently, so accurately comparing search terms and topics is difficult. Instead, you should compare search terms to search terms and topics to topics. How to Use Google Trends: 11 Innovative Ways With the help of Google Trends, you can create better, more relevant content that your audience will want to read. Try these 11 ways to use Google Trends for content marketing. 1. Conduct Market Research Google Trends is a valuable tool for conducting market research. It can give you insights into the seasonality of certain search terms or even help you gauge how much interest there is for your products in a geographic region. For example, let’s say you are a brick-and-mortar business based in Columbus, Ohio. You are considering building a second location in Indianapolis, Indiana. By checking Google Trends, you can find the popularity of terms relevant to your business in specific locations. If the search volume is low, you might need to reconsider your plans. 2. Discover Relevant Trending Topics If your team struggles to find fresh topics for content each month, Google Trends is a great resource. You can explore the most popular searches nationwide or narrow it down to a specific location or timeframe. Use the charts to help visualize and compare terms. When choosing your Google Trends topics, make sure the topic: Is something you can write about with authority. Is relevant to your business. Is something that would interest your target audience. 3. Improve Your Keyword Research While creating high-quality, relevant content is the most important part of content marketing, you should also consider your search engine optimization (SEO). SEO strategies help improve your search rankings for specific keywords. And Google Trends can help you do better keyword research. Use the Explore feature and enter a keyword or phrase you are considering. You will see a breakdown of interest over time, along with the interest by subregion. Then you can try various search terms to see which are the most popular. More popular search terms will give you better results. This is because more common keywords increase the chances of someone discovering your content and are more likely to be used in regular conversation. When creating content, you’ll want to use these keywords naturally. Keep in mind that other businesses are likely to use similar keywords, so you should narrow down some long-tail or focus keywords that are more specific to your business and content. The “Related Topics” section on the Explore page is a good place to brainstorm similar topics and keywords. It can even help you discover a topic or angle you hadn’t thought of before. 4. Create Your Content Calendar A content calendar helps you organize your content strategy around the types of content you create and when you post. Engagement is a huge metric to consider as you plan the release of your content. Knowing how to time your content to trends and what people search for is a great skill to cultivate, and Google Trends can help you plan and schedule your content calendar accordingly. For example, if you want to write content about cooking, the Google Trends results show significant search peaks in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas. The weeks before these holidays would be the ideal time to share your relevant cooking content so it’s easy to find when someone searches for it. Another example is the term “wedding invitations.” This term shows a surge between early January and the end of February. That’s because there are likely a lot of couples who get engaged between Christmas and Valentine’s Day. While some keywords get used more often at certain times, other keywords will show you when to avoid talking about certain topics. This could be because of a lull during one season, like the summer, for certain keywords that are relatively popular the rest of the year. Utilizing Google Trends data for each topic on your content calendar will help you plan the best times to post your content. 5. Enhance Your Branding You can also use Google Trends to check the popularity of your brand. While this feature might be more effective for larger brands, even small businesses can use this feature by limiting the search to your local area. When you use … Read more

How Creating a Holiday Content Marketing Strategy Helps Your Business

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The holiday season is a special time of year. Many of us spend time with friends and family, give thanks for the things we have, and share gifts with our loved ones. But when you run a business, the holiday season is likely the busiest time of the year for you. Planning in advance and creating a holiday content marketing strategy can help take some of the stress out of the holiday season for your business. Quality holiday content marketing can help you connect with your audience, appeal to new customers, and increase your brand awareness. If you are unsure where to begin with your holiday content, this guide can help you get started. What Are the Benefits of Having a Holiday Content Marketing Strategy? If you’ve never put together a holiday content strategy or tracked the analytics of your holiday content, you might not realize that there are a number of benefits for your business. Here are a few: 1. Increases Demand for Your Products and Services Consumers spend more during the holiday season than any other time of year. This naturally leads to an increased demand for products and services. With consumers in an active buying stage, this is an ideal time to roll out time-sensitive offers. These deals also work well with Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions and give customers an increased sense of urgency or a fear of missing out (FOMO). With the right holiday content marketing strategy, you can showcase high-value products and cater to customers who are ready to buy or could be ready more quickly. 2. Improves Brand Awareness With clever, memorable content during the holidays, you can give your brand awareness a boost. By creating customer-focused, engaging content for each holiday between Halloween and New Year’s Day, you can find a new target audience and build your loyal following. 3. Unleashes Your Creativity Customers respond best to creative, relatable content. The holiday season is the perfect time of year to show off the more personable side of your business. This type of content presents the chance to add some fun to your brand image. While you might not use this relaxed type of content any other time of year, the holidays give you more freedom to try new strategies and new content types. The addition of personality may earn you new customers and brand fans. So, don’t be afraid to take some risks. With so much holiday content out there, you don’t want to get lost in uninspired content. 4. Grows Your Business With a creative holiday content marketing strategy, you can potentially attract and retain new customers. This makes the holiday season the ideal time for business growth. In addition, keep an eye on the performance of your content during the holiday season and then implement some of the strategies that perform well in other parts of the year. This will be especially important if you discover a new strategy for your content. 5. Offers Opportunities for New Product Launches The holiday season gives many businesses the unique opportunity to release new products and services. That’s why you’ll often see big tech innovations come out near the holidays. Plus, many consumers enjoy holiday-themed products. If this is something your business can offer, consider releasing some limited-time products. Promote these new products on social media and through your other holiday content. Customers who are drawn in by your fresh products might be enticed to stay and buy other non-holiday products. You’ll find this is true if the new product performs well for them. 12 Content Marketing Strategies to Try During the Holiday Season Since most folks celebrate something during the winter holiday season, not having a content strategy for the holidays really isn’t an option. Take advantage of the buzz and popularity with a few different strategies. Here are 12 specific actions you can take to improve your holiday-themed content. 1. Start Early You might still feel the lingering heat of the summer, even if the leaves have already started changing color. No matter what season it is, you can never start planning too early for your holiday content. Do some market research to see what people are interested in this year, check out your competition’s content, you can even start planting hints of your upcoming content months in advance. It’s important to carve out plenty of time to craft creative, engaging content that will help you stand out from your competition, especially if your sales pick up in Q4. 2. Capitalize on Black Friday and Cyber Monday Consumers and businesses have long been conditioned to expect great deals and compelling offers during the holiday season. If it’s difficult for you to give customers a significant discount, think of a way to add value to your products or services. For example, if you are a B2B business, you could offer a free consultation with the purchase of a corresponding service. Use the first tip and start teasing your Black Friday/Cyber Monday offers in advance through email marketing. This will build anticipation. Then make your deal even more enticing by offering it for a limited time. It’s a great idea to include a countdown timer on the offer page to increase the FOMO. You could even take the opposite route like outdoor brand REI did with its #OptOutside campaign. It closed all its stores on Black Friday and encouraged people to head outside. Even though it was a controversial choice, it got people talking about the brand and made them a little more human. 3. Be Inclusive While the holiday season is packed full of traditions, you should consider moving beyond the norm to be more inclusive with your content. Many customers will quickly turn away from a brand if they feel its messaging excludes certain groups. Target did a great job of creating inclusive content with its 2021 holiday ad. To be more inclusive with your holiday content, consider: Staying neutral: Instead of focusing on and naming specific holidays, focus your … Read more

What Does the Google Helpful Content Update Mean for Content Marketing?

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Google Helpful Content Update Header

As an online content creator, it’s essential to pay close attention when Google makes algorithm updates. These changes can directly impact how your content ranks on the search engine results pages (SERPs). This means being prepared to adapt your strategy to the algorithm to secure a spot on the coveted first page of Google. You might think this task is challenging, but it’s all about staying up to date with Google’s best practices. The most recent update, announced in August 2022, is the Google Helpful Content Update. The update seeks to better identify low-value content, meaning high-quality, people-first content will generate more organic traffic and rank higher. And since it finished rolling out on September 9th, we wanted to explore everything you need to know about the Helpful Content Update and dive into what it means for you and your content marketing efforts. What is the Google Helpful Content Update? To better connect people with information that brings them value, Google says that they prioritize ranking “original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results.” Combined with the rest of Google’s ranking signals, this update will settle into an algorithm that detects low-quality content lacking meaningful engagement. It is a site-wide signal that homes in on sites with a large quantity of unhelpful content before penalizing them by decreasing site traffic. Frustrated users express on social media or blogs that they land on pages that provide no solutions to their search questions but rank on top pages in search engines. So, Google has taken these conversations to heart and wants to use the algorithm to reward creators who provide human-first content to their readers. The Helpful Content Update is just one part of a large effort to make it easier to find helpful content when searching. While this update might not feel widespread yet, it has caused some shakeup in search results as the algorithm works to recategorize sites. What Does the Google Helpful Content Update Mean for Content Marketing? Since websites that engage with their audience to provide helpful content will climb higher in the SERPs and generate more organic traffic, it’s important to know what will affect you as a content marketer. After all, when Google makes changes, you’ll also need to make changes to your content strategy. Here’s what you should know: Focus on People-First Content The term “people-first content” comes directly from Google. But what exactly does this mean? First and foremost, it’s about providing great content and a positive experience for your website readers. If you post content to your site, it’s your job to think about the target audience of your content and write with them in mind. Does this mean you should abandon the SEO best practices you’ve been implementing all this time? Absolutely not. It just means you should focus on creating high-quality content first and then incorporate search engine ranking factors to provide additional value to searchers. To ensure your website and its content have a people-first approach, Google encourages you to ask yourself the following questions. If you can answer yes to them, you’re likely on the right track. Does your intended or existing audience find the content useful because it came directly from your business site? Does your content establish first-hand expertise and in-depth knowledge? Is the purpose or focus of your site clear? When someone reads your content, will they leave feeling they’ve gotten enough knowledge to achieve their goal without needing to search elsewhere? Will reading your content leave someone feeling like their experience was satisfying? Is guidance for core updates and for product reviews kept in mind? Don’t Make Search Engines Your Primary Focus We get it. You want your content to rank, so you implement all the SEO best practices the experts recommend. While there’s nothing wrong with that, it does become an issue when that’s all you’re focused on. If you aren’t prioritizing your human reader, your content (and rankings) will suffer. To determine if you’ve previously been taking a search engine-first approach with your content, Google has shared the following questions to ask yourself. If you answer yes to the majority of these questions, consider reevaluating the content on your site to focus on people first. Does content draw people from search engines over prioritizing content made for humans? Do you produce large quantities of content on different topics in hopes that some could perform well in search results? Do you use automation extensively to create content on many topics? Do you end up summarizing other existing content without adding new insight? Is your content focused on what’s trending instead of topics you’d write about for your existing audience? Do readers finish your content and feel like they need to do another search for better information? Is all of your content a particular word count because you’ve heard or read that Google has a preferred word count? (They don’t.) Are you exploring a niche topic area but lacking real expertise because you thought you’d get search traffic? Does your content promise answers to questions that have no answer, like mentioning a release date for a product, movie, or TV show that hasn’t been confirmed? How to Abide by the Google Helpful Content Update There are a few things you can do to transform your content strategy moving forward. Following these tips will ensure you focus on your readers and keep Google happy by extension. 1. Stick to Your Niche Once you’ve narrowed down your niche, Google’s advice is to stick with it. After all, it would be a little confusing if we started publishing recipes on The Write Blog, wouldn’t it? We know our niche and understand that our audience comes to us to learn everything possible about creating high-quality online content. If you’ve been publishing content outside of your niche, it’s time to make a change. You don’t want Google to think you’re more focused on search engines and rankings than your human reader. From here on out, focus … Read more

How to Set and Achieve Content Marketing Goals

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set and achieve content marketing goals

Your business needs strategy and purpose behind every piece of content. That’s why it’s so important to set content marketing goals. With clear goals in mind, it’ll be easier to determine if your efforts in business are worthwhile before you spend too much time or money on them. Plus, it enables you to make adjustments when your strategy isn’t meeting expectations. But how do you set goals that are exciting to pursue? And how do you achieve them with ease? This blog shares some helpful tips to guide you in making your content marketing efforts more effective than ever. How to Set Content Marketing Goals Content marketing is a powerful and effective way to help you reach your business goals, whether those goals include generating brand awareness, increasing sales and revenue, or improving customer loyalty. However, many businesses go wrong when they create content simply for the sake of creating content. They then fail to make their content memorable, and it gets drowned out by competitors. Instead of publishing content without a purpose, you need to set specific and measurable content marketing goals if you want your ROI to skyrocket. Your content marketing goals should always be formulated around specific business objectives you’d like to achieve. Just follow the SMART goals framework. Determine your big picture goals and then map out how your content can make it happen. These goals should be relevant to your business and its vision. And they should be time-bound, with a plan to reach your goal within a set time period. Content Marketing Objectives That Matter in Business In business, there are a variety of content marketing goals you could pursue. They can be short-term and long-term goals. You might even set goals based on different stages of the customer journey. To help you come up with exciting goals to go after, here are a few suggestions: Brand Awareness: It’s important to raise awareness for your business and communicate what makes you different from your competitors. You can measure brand awareness through website traffic, social media following, email subscribers, and social listening. Website Traffic: Without generating traffic to your website, it can be difficult to increase sales. Tracking page views and traffic sources to see how people discover your business and the content you publish means you’re always on top of any changes. Conversions: Now, conversions can look like a few different things. For instance, you might want to convert more website visitors into email subscribers or convert them into paying customers. Both are great and will require you to measure the success of your landing pages to determine if they’re encouraging people to take that next step with your business. As an example, if you want to generate more brand awareness, you might set a goal to increase website traffic by 50% over the next quarter. To achieve that goal, you could commit to posting one or two new blog posts every week that are optimized to attract organic traffic. This goal is simple but effective. 6 Tips for Achieving Content Marketing Goals With Ease Once you’ve set some content marketing goals to achieve, you’ll need to figure out how to make them happen. Here’s some advice to help you reach your goals with ease to ensure your business thrives: 1. Create a Plan to Make Your Goals a Reality Once you know what you want to achieve, you may be tempted to dive right into the content creation process. However, you should first create a plan that clearly outlines the steps necessary for making your content marketing goals a reality. By taking the time to map out a strategy, you’ll know what kind of content you need to create, allowing you to move forward with purpose. Plus, you will have identified any other actions necessary to create your desired results in business. When creating this plan, consider any resources you will need. Who on your team will be involved? How much time and money will it require to complete tasks? You don’t want to overcommit or underestimate what can realistically be accomplished within your designated timeframe. 2. Assign Team Members to Goal-Related Tasks You’ll need to get your team on board to follow the plan you’ve mapped out. Let them know your goals and share the plan you’ve outlined. During this stage, give them the opportunity to share their own suggestions for achieving your goals. They may have ideas that hadn’t occurred to you before. This shows you value their opinions. Then, divide up the workload among all the team members involved in the project. Base their assigned tasks on their unique strengths and interests. Everyone gets the opportunity to shine, which makes work more enjoyable for them. Plus, they’re able to direct their attention to specific areas as opposed to managing an entire campaign from start to finish. 3. Set Up Tracking Tools to Measure Success As mentioned before, it’s important to set measurable content marketing goals. If a goal isn’t measurable, there will be no way to know if you’ve achieved it. It’s the difference between saying you want more website traffic versus saying you want to increase traffic by 50%. The latter is something you can track and see within your analytics. So, before you begin putting your plan into motion, make sure you have the necessary tools to measure your success over time. For instance, Google Analytics is a go-to for content creators and marketers. It allows you to measure website traffic, traffic sources, and more. Additionally, the built-in analytics that social media platforms offer can help on your journey to becoming a content marketing master. However, there may be some other tools you’d like to use as well. SEMrush is a favorite for SEO and competitor research. Yoast is popular for WordPress bloggers who want to optimize their content. And, of course, BuzzSumo is great for discovering the most popular content in your industry. Determine which tools are most important to you and factor them into your … Read more

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Measuring Content Marketing Success With Amanda Webb

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Content Writing Chat recap

You spend quite a bit of time, effort, and money when it comes to your content marketing efforts. So, don’t you want to make sure you’re seeing a return on your investment? Of course! That’s why it’s crucial you take the time to measure your content marketing success so you can see what performs well and what doesn’t. This way, you’re able to focus on creating the content that’s going to generate the best results, allowing you to get more bang for your buck. But how do you go about tracking this type of data? We’re breaking it all down for you in this month’s #ContentWritingChat. Let’s dive into the tips! #ContentWritingChat Recap: Measuring Content Marketing Success With Amanda Webb Welcome to another round of #ContentWritingChat, friends! This month, we're joined by Amanda Webb (@Spiderworking). She's a digital marketer and will be sharing some tips on measuring content marketing success. Be sure to give her a warm welcome! 😊 pic.twitter.com/313OvENGU3 — Express Writers | Your Content Writing Partner (@ExpWriters) May 3, 2022 Our guest host for this month was Amanda Webb. Amanda is a digital marketer who knows a thing or two about diving into your analytics to determine whether or not your content marketing efforts are paying off. After all, her mission is to help boost your ROI in business! Q1: Why is it important to track the success of your content marketing efforts? A1: Creating content takes time, a lot of time. Is that time being spent wisely? Are you spending time on the right thing? You need to measure to know you aren’t wasting that timePLUS most importantly, that you are delivering results for your or your client.#ContentWritingChat — Amanda Webb – Digital Marketer 👩‍💻 (@Spiderworking) May 3, 2022 As Amanda pointed out, it takes time to create great content. And because our time is precious, it’s important that we’re being smart about where we’re directing our attention. You wouldn’t want to continue investing a bunch of time into something that isn’t working out, would you? By measuring your content marketing success, you’re able to spend your time more wisely. A1: By tracking the success of your #ContentMarketing, you'll have a better understanding of what resonates with your audience. Then, you can create more of the content that WORKS. #ContentWritingChat — Rachel | Mindset Coach + NLP Practitioner (@rachmoffett) May 3, 2022 When do a deep dive into your analytics to see how your content is performing, you’ll also gain a better understanding of what resonates with your target audience. This will allow you to create more of the content they want and enjoy. A1. The first goal of content is to provide value for your target audience. Without measurement, you’re only guessing about whether or not you’re doing that. #ContentWritingChat — Dana Lemaster (@DanaLemaster) May 3, 2022 Dana knows it’s all about providing value to your audience. But how will you know you’re providing value unless you actually review the data to see how people are responding to your content? You won’t! Tracking key metrics will allow you to create a more effective strategy moving forward. A1: If content is king, why risk appointing the wrong content for your audience? Tracking helps determine what works, but it also helps a strategy evolve with the times.#ContentWritingChat — Iron Horse (@ironhorseio) May 3, 2022 Don’t risk publishing the wrong content! Do the research to figure out what your audience wants to see from you and you’ll drive more traffic, engagement, and conversions. Q2: How do you know which metrics are important to track? Should you track the same things for every piece of content or does it change with each content marketing campaign? A2: Each piece of content needs a goal. ➙Is it designed to grow your audience? ➙Is it designed to improve brand awareness? ➙Is it designed to grow your email list? ➙Is it designed to sell? When you know the goal measurement becomes easy.#ContentWritingChat — Amanda Webb – Digital Marketer 👩‍💻 (@Spiderworking) May 3, 2022 A2: Some metrics will be the same for every campaign. ✓You’ll want to know if you are reaching people. ✓You’ll want to know if the people you reach are consuming the content.But after that, you’ll need different metrics depending on your goal.#ContentWritingChat — Amanda Webb – Digital Marketer 👩‍💻 (@Spiderworking) May 3, 2022 Always make sure to set goals for every piece of content you create. Amanda shared some great examples of common goals you might work toward, including building brand awareness, growing your email list, and increasing sales. A2. Typically the most important metrics would be associated with your marketing goals as the most impactful with your audience. It may vary by campaign, especially if campaigns are being run for different objectives. #ContentWritingChat — Andrew C. Belton, MBA (@AndrewCBelton) May 3, 2022 The metrics you track will always be tied back to your marketing goals. And as Andrew pointed out, this can vary by campaign depending on what the purpose of the campaign is. A2: Determining which metrics to track ultimately goes back to the goals you've set for your content/campaign. This can change from time to time. However, it's always smart to track traffic, engagement, conversions, etc. #ContentWritingChat — Rachel | Mindset Coach + NLP Practitioner (@rachmoffett) May 3, 2022 A few metrics that are always smart to track include: traffic, engagement, and conversions. Those are things we all want to see as creators. A2: For me anything that starts a conversation and/or gets a sales conversion are important metrics for me. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/cC79EUy7UT — Carlarjenkins (@carlarjenkins) May 3, 2022 For Carla, it’s all about tracking conversations and conversions. Both are crucial metrics to pay attention to when you’re a business owner or marketer. Q3: What about vanity metrics? Are they worth tracking? A3: Everything can be a vanity metric even leads & sales.You can get 100s of leads but they’re not good if they don’t convert.You can get 6 figures in sales but is only relevant if … Read more

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