content strategy - Express Writers

New Year Resolutions: 6 Steps for Writing Content That Actually Ranks

January 1, 2021December 20, 2013 by Adam Oakley

The New Year is almost here and while you might be writing down some personal resolutions, how much effort have you put into some website resolutions? Let’s face it; Google has practically demanded all website owners to beef up their quality and stop fooling around, so your #1 resolution this year should be to take your website’s content seriously. Well, if you want to rank high that is. Content Strategies that Rank Websites We’ve drilled this concept into your head time and time again: content is crucial. But for the sake of being consistent we’re going to do it again. If you don’t have high-quality content, Google won’t rank you period. So if you’re ready to boost up your rank and (hopefully) increase your website’s earning potential, it’s time to take New Years to a whole new level with these critical steps for writing rankable (and bankable) content for 2014. 1. Create a Content Strategy…We’re Serious How many times have you seen the words “content strategy” from us? Well it’s clear: you need one. Everyone needs one. Even if you’re the best writer there is and you have the juiciest topics and greatest content, you still need a strategy. Think of it like you’re going to war. The search engine is the enemy, the competition is teaming up with the enemy, and now it’s time to find a way to take them both down. In a battle, would you just run full speed ahead and hope for the best (hopefully you don’t lose a leg…kind of like losing your search engine rank) or would you strategize so you keep your limbs (and your rank)? We’re thinking a strategy might be a good idea. We personally like our limbs…and our ranking. All right, so what’s a good strategy? A good content strategy is well thought out and it’s certainly not something you can write up in a day (if you did, you might want to review that one more time). Your website is unique, so we cannot give you the golden formula that tells you exactly what your strategy should say, but we can tell you what it should at least entail: You need goals. If you don’t have purpose when you write your content, you’re not really going to get results. Think of what you want before you write. Your unique selling point. Think about it. What makes your products sell? Why are you awesome? Only you know the answer to this and you had better use it to your advantage in your content. A defined target audience. If you don’t know whom you’re writing to, you’re not really going to reach them on a personal level now are you? We know you, that’s why you’re still reading this. These are the three critical things every content strategy needs. Audience Bloom has an article about how to write a “Kickass Content Strategy” and we highly suggest you breeze through it. 2. Show Your Audience You Actually Care Today’s audience is selfish and that’s OK. You should write to the audience and show them you actually care about your content. Be unique, fresh and actually give them something. When you dribble on and regurgitate the same old content out there already, you’re just telling your readers you’re too busy to show them you give a darn. It’s true. Sit down and take some time to write out your content. Give your readers some valuable insight that no one else has. You’re the industry and business expert, right? You know your products and you know stuff that the Average Joe or Jane doesn’t. Share it! Internet users want to learn and walk away from their computer screen feeling savvy. So, again, how do you show your audience you care? By writing high-quality, unique content By giving them something other than what they’ve already read 500 times By offering some real insight and value Think of the websites you follow. Do they teach you something? Do they give you something to walk away with and implement right away? You want your site to be just like that, so create content that gives to the reader and you will do just that. 3. Long-Winded is OK, If You Do It Right By long-winded we aren’t talking going on and on about nothing. That’s not good. However, the length of your on-page content needs to get a little fatter. Not just in quality, but in length too. Google wants more words on the page. While they’re not advertising how many words (keeping to their notorious reputation for being vague), the length seems to correlate with how Google ranks authority. Now, before you go off and write a 2,000-word blog about nothing, stop. Google feels a longer article or blog post showcases authority only if it has quality writing, value, and research. Filling a page with a wall of useless text is not authoritative and will not get you a high ranking with Google. According to WebDesignLedger.com, content with more than 1,000 words has a better chance for ranking higher. We think this is because Google looks at time and effort. When you take the time to do in-depth research, analysis and write up something that offers a multitude of value to the reader, it shows Google you’ve gone the extra mile. Since Google is all about quality, quality, quality, that extra mile means a higher rank. So, in 2014 try to sprinkle in a few longer posts — we’re thinking over 1,000 words will certainly do the trick. But, make sure each post is well researched, thorough and gives readers in-depth knowledge. 4. Stop Using Vanilla Headlines You obviously cannot smell through the computer screen, so we’re not talking about vanilla extract. What we’re talking about is boring, usual headlines. Headlines are in bold, but if the text isn’t as equally eye-catching, it won’t do your site much justice. Now, you’re probably asking what a headline … Read more

How to NOT Stuff Your Content Like this Thursday’s Turkey

January 1, 2021November 28, 2013 by Adam Oakley

Thanksgiving is upon us. (Happy Thanksgiving, if you’re reading this!) While everyone else is dreaming about a succulent turkey with all of the traditional fixings, perhaps you’re dreaming about better SEO rankings. Okay, maybe you’re thinking about the turkey a little more. No Content Stuffing, It’s Simply Not Allowed! In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we felt it was time to talk about stuffing. But we’re not talking about Grandma’s famous stuffing – we’re talking about keywords and how stuffing won’t be as satisfying as your Thanksgiving meal. Keywords Are Like Cranberry Sauce We all know cranberry sauce. It’s tart, sweet and just the right amount on the plate amplifies your Thanksgiving dinner to the maximum. Now, add too much cranberry sauce and your plate is overwhelmed and all you taste is that tart, bitterness that too many cranberries can give. It ruins your dinner. Keywords are like cranberry sauce. Stuff too much into your content and it comes off bitter not only to your readers, but search engines as well. Today’s Google looks at keywords like that red, iconic condiment of Thanksgiving: just the right amount to finish off your content is perfect. So what is keyword stuffing? If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it refers to a practice of loading blogs and web pages with keywords in high volume as an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings. Often, these keywords are awkward, placed randomly and really don’t improve the content — sometimes they are not even relevant to the content, according to Google Webmaster Tools. Filling pages with rapid fire keywords won’t do you much good and will certainly give your readers a reason to move on to a different site. An example of keyword stuffing: “SEO, SEO services, SEO Los Angeles.” Notice how there’s no sentence structure? Just a bundle of keywords? This is an extreme example, but hopefully you get the point. Here, read another, we dare ya! “Here at SEO Experts in Los Angeles, we sell the best SEO services in Los Angeles. So if you’re looking for SEO experts in Los Angeles, be sure to check out our SEO services. We’re the best SEO experts in Los Angeles.” It’s awful and quite painful to even read, right? Trust me, your readers will think the same, if that’s what they’re greeted with on your website. So Keyword Stuffing Doesn’t Work Then? Nope, not anymore. Google and other search engines have smartened up. Keyword stuffing no longer works because Google’s algorithms are trained to look over a site and determine if keywords are used improperly or in an unreasonable number. If you have an ultra-high density of a particular keyword, Google will drop your rank rather than increase it. If you’re a repeat offender you might notice your site is removed from the search engine index altogether. What Happens If I Keyword Stuff? Okay, so let’s say you add too many keywords to your content. Just like the cranberry sauce example, you’re likely to get: Less engagement and sharing on your site. No one’s going to rave about your turkey (content) when it’s smothered in cranberry sauce. You’ll be penalized by the search engines for keyword stuffing and recovery isn’t fun. Your conversion rate will drastically drop (or disappear altogether). No one will bother reading your content — would you? So How Do I Avoid Keyword Stuffing? It’s easier said than done. First and foremost, quit fretting about your keyword density — this isn’t as important as you think. Focus on long-tail keywords, as the Content Marketing Institute suggests. These are phrases with three or more words that offer a high volume of searches and are more relevant to your content — and also less likely to accidentally stuff. Review your keyword density before you publish. Less is always more with keywords so add a keyword or key phrase when it makes sense, but don’t focus on a density at a specific number. There is no magic number, but some say two to five percent is probably the safer goal to reach. No matter what you do, don’t load your pages with irrelevant keywords. According to a recent article by WebProNews.com, using keywords that aren’t relevant to your content or brand marketing can be detrimental to your rank. Some Tips for Success Create a 12-month content strategy that has topics, titles and keywords that you will use (naturally) within the content. Write to offer your readers value — don’t write for the search engines. Create content that is practical and helpful. Be unique and show off your expertise — that’s why people are visiting your site in the first place. Use title tags and descriptions for optimization. Make sure your content is never duplicated. Use spellcheck and grammar check — no one likes misspelled words.

How to Deliver Useful Content for Your Content Strategy Audience

January 1, 2021November 26, 2013 by Adam Oakley

Knowing who is going to be reading your content is key when you’re planning a content strategy. Marketing these days is hard, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s all about creating content that your audience will actually enjoy reading, continue reading, and even tell others to read. To make that to ‘die for content,’ you need a content strategy that dictates your voice and delivery, and this all starts with understanding your audience. So Who Is Your Content Strategy Audience? If you ask the average business owner to describe their target customer, you’ll often hear attributes of a too-good-to-be-true type of customer. Most target customers are based on assumptions and not facts, which is why a lot of great brands are never recognized — because they cannot create content that attracts their ideal customer (because they have no clue what their ideal customer is like). There’s no one-size-fits all audience solution according to Inc.com, so you can cross that off your checklist right now. Your customer type is as unique as your brand and the products/services under your brand. A legal client isn’t going to be the same as a wedding planner’s client list, now will it? Your content must be customized to your industry and the type of customer who is interested in what you have to offer. There are three basic questions you should answer with your content: Who is your primary audience? Are you targeting teenagers? Retirees? Single mothers? You have a target customer and they can be somewhat categorized, so pick a category. What purpose will your content serve? How is your content going to help the target customer? What’s your typical customer’s attitude toward your product? Be realistic — not everyone is enthusiastic about every product or service out there, even if they need it. Identify Your Target Customer A good content strategy has mapped out the target customer. You should know the average age of your shopper, gender, race, etc. For example, a home loan agency typically meets with people between the ages of 25-30, probably both men and women, and ethnicity can vary depending on the region. A company selling supplemental prescription coverage, on the other hand, might typically sell their product to retirees (above the age of 60) who need to supplement where Medicare and Medicaid lack. Decide Your Purpose Your content, service, brand, website, etc. serve a purpose. You are the answer to a potential customer’s issue — otherwise your business wouldn’t exist. What is your purpose? What are you solving for your target customer? According to the University of Maryland, you can’t write content without knowing what you’re solving for your reader. A website designer, for example, helps companies and individuals set up websites that they couldn’t otherwise do themselves. Therefore, a website designer’s content should address the concerns of the average website owner, show the reader they understand the difficulties of building a website, and offer their services as a solution. You’re the go-to man (or woman). You know all the codes, the tricks and you have a portfolio of awesome websites to back it up. Use that to prove you’re the solution. A personal injury attorney, for example, is there to help accident and injury victims receive compensation. Your content should be understanding, comforting and address the common concerns of your average client. You know your clients are probably worried about paying for their endless medical bills, getting their car back together, or paying for their mortgage. Address those concerns with a comforting, helpful tone. Remember Your Target Customer’s Concern Just because your services or products are necessary, doesn’t mean your customers are excited to buy them. Insurance, for example, is something everyone needs but no one wants to pay for or deal with shopping for. Address these issues in your content and call your customer out on their concerns. Have a valid argument against that issue so your customer has no excuse. Remember the Viral Factor Successful content is content that people want to share with others — and makes you go viral. It can be tricky writing that unique piece that people are compelled to share, but there are a few things that can increase the likelihood your content will go viral. Improve the Reader’s Social Standing – Most readers only share something if it improves their personal image or helps forge relationships with others. So, share content that a reader would want to share with other people to establish a better relationship. Use Triggers – There are things that can trigger emotions and emotions are popular in viral content. Use fear, anger, humor, sadness, etc. in your content (where applicable) to incite an emotion in the reader. One of the biggest causes for viral content is awe, second humor. Share a Personal Story – People like to know that there is a human being behind your brand. Share personal stories or have touching customer testimonials on your blog or website that reach your readers on a more personal level. Learn more about what makes content go viral in this article by Entrepreneur. Bottom line: if you consider your audience in your content strategy, you’ll deliver a much more powerful selling message than if you address what you think is your “target customer”. It takes time to research your ideal market, but that research investment pays off when you convert over 80 percent of your readers into customers.

How to Build a Content Strategy for Your Marketing Agency Website

January 1, 2021November 25, 2013 by Adam Oakley

As a marketing agency owner you already know why your clients are hiring you: they need you to get the word out for them. But if your website doesn’t market your own services effectively, why would a business want to hire you to market them? Marketing agencies must be good at creating effective marketing campaigns that catches the eye of potential clients and promotes their clients brands. Therefore, it only makes sense that your marketing agency has a content strategy in place to market yourself first. Does My Agency Really Need a Content Strategy? Bottom line: if your marketing agency doesn’t succeed, your clients won’t either. Having a clear content strategy for your agency is imperative for determining your own success as well as the success of your clients. After all, as a marketing agency you’re likely to take part in developing your client’s content strategy too. Content is crucial for any business and more people are starting to catch on. So Where Do I Start? If you’ve never developed a content strategy for your business, now is a great time to start. According to the Content Marketing Institute, there are seven initial steps everyone should take when developing a content strategy: Define Your Goals: Why are you making this content? What do you need from your website? Record the Metrics: Decide how you will track whether or not you’re achieving your results. Gather Up Some Research: Research your typical buyer and how you can market your services to them. Do you market to home care agencies only? Or do you accept all business and industry types? Decide on Content: Decide the type of content you’re going to write for your marketing agency. Create the Content: Get writing! Distribute Content: Whether that means publishing it on your site or distributing it through press releases, you have to distribute it somehow. Follow-Up: Review your content and measure its performance. If it’s not meeting your goals, it’s time for a revision. Keep It Diverse—Like Your Customers As a marketing agency, you represent a variety of clients, industries and brands. If your content focuses on only one type of industry or customer, you’re going to limit your acquisition capabilities. A good content strategy should be diverse, just like your client list. Make your services appeal to the little guys as well as the corporate bigwigs. Make your content fun enough for those younger entrepreneurs, but sophisticated enough to attract the long-term owners. Press Releases are Crucial You’re a professional marketer, so you need to market yourself like crazy—literally. One of the best ways to get the word out about your service is through press releases. A press release is a news-like piece distributed through top press release distributor sites, like PRWeb or PRNewswire. Today’s press release, however, is a lot different than the press releases of a few years ago. Press release distributors are no longer allowing poorly written press releases through, and the information must be newsworthy. You can include keywords and links, but don’t think because you’ve done so your rank is going to shoot through the roof. Instead use press releases as a stepping stone to get potential clients to visit your site. Not sure where to start on your press releases? Here are a few tips for success. If you need more, read this article by Forbes on how to write a news worthy press release. Be concise. No one wants to read a 1,000 word press release and no one will read it if it’s a wall of text. Stick to 300 or 400 words maximum. Even better, use a numbered or bulleted list somewhere to drive your points home and sum it all up for the reader. Be newsworthy. Your story needs to sound like news and be something urgent. Whether you’re updating them on changes in-house or a new client you’ve acquired, it must be newsworthy. Consider the newspaper and what you read. You won’t see a post about a computer breakdown, but you might read about a company signing on with a new computer repair service to add to their pool of clients. Don’t sell. There should be no selling in a press release what-so-ever. Instead, tell the reader what news you have to share and redirect them to your site or blog for the sales speech. Release often. You should release press releases a few times per month (perhaps once a week). Get Blogging Blogging is critical. A blog gives clients a sense of your personality and your range when it comes to marketing. In fact, according to the State of Inbound Marketing in 2012, 56 percent of companies who blog at least once per month acquire a new customer. About 92 percent of blogs who post multiple times per day acquire a new customer. Blogs that are posted just once a day have a 78 percent chance of acquiring a new customer. So, if your marketing agency isn’t blogging at least daily, you’re halving your chances of catching new clients. You market your customers and you know how to sell. Show potential clients your skills by marketing yourself first. Creating a killer content strategy can help market your services to a broad range of clients and ultimately increase your business. If you just can’t put it to screen the way you intend, consider hiring a professional content writing service instead. They can take your goals, help you with your content strategy and get you the large customer base your company needs to stay competitive.

Tools That Are Essential for a Killer Content Strategy

January 1, 2021November 16, 2013 by Adam Oakley

You’ve taken the time to develop a content strategy, perhaps you’ve spent a lot of time creating a strategy, but it’s just not performing as you had hoped. Sometimes even the best content strategies need a little extra help. Luckily there are plenty of tools out there that help you during each stage of the content strategy planning process, implementation and analysis. Know What’s In Your Content Strategy Before Creating It Your content strategy should already include this, but if not, it’s time to add it. You should know what you’re posting and when you’re going to post it — that goes for web content too. There are a few tools out there that can help you keep track of your content and create an editorial calendar. Even if you don’t run a blog, having a calendar that schedules out everything from articles to press releases to social media posts is important. If you’re not sure how to create a calendar or you want to know how to organize it, read up on setting up your editorial calendar in this article by the Content Marketing Institute. Some great content planning tools to look into include: Google Docs – Google docs is free to use (as long as you sign up for a Gmail account). You can use the spreadsheets or use the Google Calendar to write down what posts launch and when they’re supposed to launch. Since you can add people to your calendars, you can keep the entire company in on what’s happening with your content next. WordPress Editorial Plugin – WordPress.org has an editorial calendar plug-in that you can integrate in with your WordPress website. The plug-in is free and works with most WordPress platforms. Make Sure Your Strategic Content Isn’t a Copycat There’s nothing more detrimental to your website’s rank than copied content. Even if you don’t intend to copy, you have dozens of websites that might carry similar content (which means a few words might register on a plagiarism checker). There are a few tools out there that can help you scan your content before it’s published to keep you copycat-free. Write Content That is Error-Free You might be the authority in your industry, but if your content is riddled with spelling errors and grammar mistakes, your readers won’t think you’re the “go-to” for advice. Poor grammar can also impact your brand and your SEO, according to an article on Business2Community.com. Luckily you don’t have to be an English professor to get your grammar right, especially with today’s grammar checking tools. PolishMyWriting.com – This unique tool offered by After the Deadline reviews your content for grammar, style, and spelling issues. Each correction is a suggestion, leaving you in control of what is changed. You can download the app directly into your browser to scan your content as you write it or just copy/paste into the site’s app. Copyscape.com – Copyscape is a paid subscription, but it is also one of the best checkers on the market. You pay about $0.10 per scan and that small fee goes far. Copyscape will flag portions of your content that are copied, tell you how much of your content is copied and highlight the copied text so you know what to correct. Grammarly.com – Grammarly offers a paid grammar checker that can catch up to ten times more mistakes than Word. It offers vocabulary suggestions, helps correct active and passive voice styles, and locates grammar errors instantly. PaperRater.com – Check the grammar, spelling and style of your content for free with PaperRater. While it may not catch as much as Grammarly, it will catch a lot more than you might proofreading yourself. Get Your Keywords Right Keywords are still crucial to your rank, but only if they’re used in combination with good content. While Google might have taken away their Keyword Tool, there are still options out there to help you plan out the right keywords for your website, including Google AdWords Keyword Planner. Once you know your keywords, you want a healthy density in your content. Avoid going over three percent, if you can. To check your keyword density there are plenty of free and paid tools you can try. Live-Keyword-Analysis.com, for example, allows you to plug in your keywords, copy/paste your content and quickly tells you the density of your targeted keywords in your content. Another free tool to try if your content is already published on your website is KeywordDensity.com. Simply enter your URL, the keyword or key phrase, and let the app analyze your pages for density. There are plenty of tools out there, plenty are free too, that can take your content strategy to the next level. With the investment you’ve made in making a content strategy, you can almost not risk wasting that effort by not using these killer tools.

Small Business Content Marketing: Why It’s Crucial, & How to Invest In a Successful Content Strategy for Yours

January 1, 2021November 15, 2013 by Adam Oakley

Is your small business practicing content marketing? If not, you could be missing out! Today, content marketing is an essential building block in a notable online presence – for businesses at every level, not just enterprise. Small businesses can greatly benefit from it. In addition to helping your brand build authority, great content marketing also promotes brand awareness, boosts your SEO, and labels you as an engaged and unique brand in the online world. From plumbers to SaaS companies: everyone can benefit from content marketing! Small Business Content Marketing: Defining How it Works For Your Small Biz According to Content Marketing Institute, “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.” Today, content marketing is everywhere on the web. You see it daily on social media, in blog posts, in white papers, and in the various ebooks, videos, and images brands create to interact with their customers. Used by brands ranging from Proctor & Gamble and Microsoft to small-town dog grooming businesses, content marketing is one strategy that works hard to build online recognition. What’s more, it’s popular. According to Neil Patel, 60% of marketers create at least a single piece of content every day. It’s also effective: content marketing leaders enjoy year-over-year site growth that is 7.8x higher than content marketing followers. Instead of pitching customers a sales message or tracking them down and asking that they by your product, content marketing focuses on value first. By working to create something that’s valuable and helps customers answer questions and solve problems, content marketing allows brands to stand out from the “content sea” and communicate with their customers more efficiently. Why Your Small Business Needs Content Marketing: 5 Reasons If you’re running a small business, you have a lot to think about. From hiring and managing employees to developing your product to providing all-star customer service, life is busy! That doesn’t mean, however, that you can afford to skimp on content marketing. Today, it’s easy for small businesses to be run over by larger enterprises or online companies. It’s tougher than ever to cut through the noise, and that’s where content marketing comes in. Ideal for helping small businesses communicate directly with and to their customers, content marketing shifts you from an obnoxious brand just looking for a sale to a helpful friend with the customer’s best interests at heart. Here are five top reasons you need content marketing in your small business right now: 1. Content Marketing Increases Brand Awareness If customers forget who your brand is and what it does, you can kiss success goodbye. In today’s world, it’s difficult to be a successful company unless you cultivate brand awareness. How do you do this, you ask? Through content marketing. When you publish new content at regular, predictable intervals, your customers come to trust your company and rely on it to provide value and relevance. This, in turn, helps your brand become a household name and ensures customers will remember you the next time they need a product, good, or service. 2. Content Marketing Boosts Your Authority Here’s an example: there are five dog-grooming businesses in your town, but only one has a blog that publishes helpful information on everything from how to stop skin itching in older dogs to how frequently you should bathe puppies. The other has no content. Which do you think customers will choose? If you guessed the one with the blog, you’re right. When brands demonstrate their expertise through content marketing, they become more attractive to their customers. This, in turn, helps boost sales and conversion rates. 3. Content Marketing Drives Customers To Take Action One of the most important aspects of content marketing is that it inspires customers to make a move. Through compelling calls-to-action and helpful answers, great content helps tip customers over the edge and encourages them to take that next step – whether it’s scheduling an appointment or making a purchase. 4. Content Marketing Helps You Earn New Customers Say you publish a blog that several of your existing customers like and share on their Facebook pages. From there, their friends and family see the blog post and read it because someone they trust recommended it. These people learn more about your brand and get answers to their questions through the post. The next time they need pet grooming, they remember that place their friend shared the post from, and they call you up. By creating shareable content, you make it easier to attract and convert new customers. What’s more, you increase the likelihood that existing customers will see your content and enjoy it, which is pivotal to creating a recognizable brand. 5. Content Marketing Boosts Your SEO Did you know that every page you publish is another opportunity for Google to index your business? The more content you create, the more you uplift your SEO. Here’s how that works: According to Search Engine Land, SEO has four key elements: Finding out what customers want and delivering it. Re-targeting customers, even after they abandon your site. Providing special offers for customers who “Act now.” Developing better content that is more appealing to customers. While meeting those four objectives might seem like a long shot, content does it effortlessly. In addition to building trust and authority in your given industry, great content also makes it easier to take control of your relationship with your customers and ensure it’s a symbiotic one. In this way, content marketing supports and uplifts your SEO efforts, and makes them much more successful than they would otherwise be on their own. Small Business Content Marketing: 7 Actionable Tips to Incorporate Content Marketing in Your Small Business Now that you know “why” content marketing matters so much for small businesses, let’s talk about how you can start incorporating it into yours. Here are some top tips to get started with small business content marketing: 1. Optimize for Local SEO If you have a … Read more

How to Add Visualization to your Content Strategy

January 1, 2021November 14, 2013 by Adam Oakley

Pictures say a thousand words, so the right image can mean a lot more power for your content strategy. Words, of course, are the foundation, but images can add the appeal you need to boost it to the next level. Do you find yourself more prone to click an image or a word? Most people would answer with an image, funny meme, or even a personal picture from their own galleries. Applying Your Content Strategy: The Various Types of Visualization Take inventory of the sites you enjoy browsing: do they have a lot of pictures you can scan through quickly or paragraphs of text to read? When you are reading the news online, do you click on the headlines or the pictures that catch your eye? On average a user will click a picture almost double what they will click just words. How are you using that to your advantage in content strategy? Don’t say you just put up pictures and hope your audience finds it; if that’s the case, you’re missing out on traffic, big time! Just as you strategize the words you write, it is important to plan for your photos. According to Allison Carter of Raven Tools, images aren’t just for social media. Okay, so now that you know images are important, what exactly can you use to draw in your audiences? Stunning PowerPoint Presentations These are not limited to boardrooms or classroom presentations anymore but rather you can use these to communicate with your audience. The design on your slides should look professional. It is the first impression your followers will see so make it a good one. Be careful to not make the slides too busy with various fonts, mismatched colors, or overstimulating animations. The grammar and spelling in your slides should be correct. This can be the perfect opportunity to incorporate graphics and images within the slides. Even when users are sliding through the information, it shouldn’t be all text. Slideshare is a great platform, and if you have an expert create your presentation in a niche market, it’s not hard to go viral on Slideshare itself. Creative Creative Infographics By going beyond a spreadsheet or chart, these types of graphics can incorporate content with visual art. Use both text and creative images to get your point across. The primary benefit of an infographic is that it can be shared across various platforms where pictures are the main focus such as Instagram and Pinterest. Each graphic can state a whole blog post in just one picture. It is a very effective way to send a message using colors and words, marketing your brand. Think outside the box when it comes to creating your infographics. They are a popular resource these days so set yours apart from the others out there with unique designs, readable fonts, and clever styling. Cool Images Plain and simple, pictures speak volumes. Mike Parkinson of Billion Dollar Graphics has data to show that over 93 percent of communication is non-verbal and people process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. Images of any kind will add depth and details to content. Using images like clip art, photography or illustrations, your content can come alive and become a memorable work of marketing that is remembered by the readers. Keep in mind with images you should use professional images of high quality but not distracting images. When placing an image, it can break up text to give the reader a break from large blocks of text. The Ins and Outs of Images in your Content Just putting an image into your blog or content strategy is like inputting a keyword just for the sake of density. The word or phrase may not make any sense in the context, yet writers frequently practice this kind of keyword stuffing. Images follow the same principles. If it doesn’t make sense, find something else. There is a huge number of free pictures and graphic tools available online so you should never be without graphic options. The traffic generated by sites like Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, and even Twitter and Facebook is based on these sites’ ability to attract visual users. By scrolling and searching through pictures, users can quickly identify if they want to continue to your site or profile. Labeling your image is one tool that many users neglect and it can harm their web traffic. Did you know the search engines can read your photos when you label them? Of course, the searches can’t see your photo but they can read the titles. Every photo on your site should have a creative title so along with properly placed keywords, pithy titles, and labeled pictures, users can find your content quickly. Upload photos and avoid just using preview windows on social media pages as users can scroll through and never actually click on your links.

How To Use An Editorial Calendar In Your Content Strategy

January 1, 2021November 9, 2013 by Adam Oakley

Great content doesn’t just appear. Powerful content is strategized and planned so that each topic has a purpose and value in the marketing of a brand. The right amount of words, style, and timing are crucial to the content truly hitting its mark with consumers. Whether you have a personal brand or are working to promote a commercial brand, your content determines the success. Is that enough pressure for you to create amazing content? Don’t get overwhelmed with these types of requirements as you are probably more capable than you know of making this happen. Strategizing & Planning for Your (Successful) Editorial Calendar Getting Started with Great Content It’s no secret that planning helps promote success and one of the simplest tools behind a great writer is a content calendar. Do world-renowned chefs just cook whatever they want for their guests? Do athletes exercise and train in a haphazard way? No way. Those who are experts at their craft, make a plan. In writing and content creation, an editorial/content calendar is the way to achieve this. It doesn’t have to be complicated but any type of plan will work. Before you start planning, take a minute to analyze your writing. Here are some things to consider: Why do I write? – this will guide you to determine the style of writing. If you write for fun, think about fun topics. If you write for current trends and news, think about recent conversations you’ve had in your sphere and jot down those topics. If you write for informational purposes, read as much as you can about the markets and keep your ears open for juicy stories and details pertaining to that topic. How often will I write? – every writer starts off their plan with lofty goals. “I’m going to write three times a week” or “I’m going to have my team produce a new blog on a daily basis.” Be realistic with your writing routine and keep in mind if you or your team produces a lot of content in a week or two, it can be saved and spaced out. Will I add media to the pages? – this isn’t a huge deal but if you have to take the time to search for pictures, word art, or other media to go with every piece, you need to have enough time and sometimes monetary resources to purchase the media. Some websites will only hold a certain amount of pictures so if you are constantly implementing media to your blogs, it may clog up your site or cost you extra. Benefits of the Editorial Calendar Now that you know you want to write and why, it can be tempting to just make a note on your phone’s notepad as topics come to your head. This is a form of brainstorming and it can be helpful but in the end, this “willy-nilly” approach to your content strategy will not be effective. Still not convinced, what if you saw facts about why a calendar will be invaluable to you: You and your writers can work ahead. Just like in school, when you knew an assignment was due and you wanted to go out with friends that night, you could study ahead of time and still get a good grade. The same is true with an editorial calendar. Your content can be done ahead of the holidays, during downtime, and can be changed as necessary. Your content strategy will be current. When you plan ahead, your content can be moved around. For example, if you are writing about the similarities of the Superbowl and business success, you may want to plan it for January/February time frame when the game actually occurs. More people can identify with it during that time and may even find it through an unrelated search. You can measure the content success. As with any list or documentation, referring back to it can give insight on your marketing plans at that time. If you can look at your content titles, media used, keywords that were successful, it could be duplicated for another campaign. Past success and failure can be measured when there is an editorial calendar to guide. According to Beth Kanter, this is the main key to successful blogs and marketing. It allows team members to collaborate and also to work on the same page with topics and marketing tools. Setting up the Calendar Don’t make it complicated. Think about your editorial calendar like a menu for the month. Mondays you are offering one thing, Tuesdays another, and so on. Check out Contently’s blog with very useful tips about this. It can be helpful to have a brainstorming session to establish the tone and writer for each of the various topics. Some writers work better with other topics than others so finding that niche for you and your team is crucial. Set up the calendar as a way to keep everyone organized and moving forward; your writers will appreciate it and in the end, will probably stick closer to the deadlines. After all, what good is content if it doesn’t get out on time?

Content Strategy Tips: 6 Ways An Amazing Press Release Works

January 1, 2021November 8, 2013 by Adam Oakley

Have you ever wondered what sets a press release apart from an ordinary article? What makes them so special and how do you format a press release to serve its purpose? In order to achieve the goals set forth by a press release, it can be helpful to know what it is supposed to do in the first place. While there are many good press release examples, there are also plenty of poorly written ones. A Press Release: The Start Of An Amazing Content Strategy When writing a press release, there are several goals you should keep in your mind in order to stay on course with the word count and purpose. 1) Write the Right Type of Headlines. Too many times a writer may say something like, “Samsung to Unveil a New Product” and while that title isn’t the worst title ever, it doesn’t draw the reader in. What if the reader doesn’t recognize Samsung as a provider for the electronics they use? You may encounter people who will associate Samsung with TVs but in reality, you are writing a press release for an innovative new phone. The audience will glance over the release and move on if they are looking for a new phone. Try a headline like this instead, “Samsung Launches never before seen Features in a New Phone.” This type of headline gives the reader an exact idea of what to expect when they continue reading. 2) Provide the Necessary Info Quickly and Succinctly. No guesswork and no digging. You wrote the press release to disseminate information, yet sometimes the press release can leave the reader wondering where to buy the item, when it will be released, what to expect, and even who is responsible for the release. This works for the release of a new item, opening of a new venue, and even the announcement of a new hire. Maintain the fine line between giving away all the information and luring the reader in to read the website, in depth feature list, and obtaining more information. You want the reader to be alerted to the news item but to also desire to find out more. According to several journalistic sites, the shorter the press release, the better. Keep it under 400 words. In fact, you will probably be forced to narrow it down if it comes in over that word count. Short and sweet will get the point across and not consume the reader who just wanted to know the quick version of the news. 3) Make it Fun! When constructing a press release, it is vital to keep in mind the purpose is to release news, but the balance between interesting and professional can be met when you learn the correct way. A fun headline, quirky quotes, and even humor about the past can bring the audience into the story in a humorous manner. Consider writing a headline that twists the words around to create an angle that will be clicked on such as: “Brave Mountain Lion Fends Off Group of Hikers” instead of “Hikers Injured Fleeing from Mountain Lion.” There are other examples where the author has sensationalized the headline a bit but the article itself still has the facts and necessary points to make it a worthwhile piece. Check out some of the controversial and eye-grabbing headlines on the Mirror. 4) Create Headlines, Sub-headlines, and Other Techniques To Help The Reader Skim. Not only will this help the reader glean the necessary information, but also it can give the reader a quick idea if this is an article they really want to read. With so many authors writing misleading headlines, the sub-headers can assist in the overall goal of the piece for the legitimate press releases. By making the release digestible for the reader in a tablet form or even on a cell phone screen, you are ensuring the maximum amount of exposure. When was the last time you got a link for an interesting article, clicked on it through your phone, and closed out of it based on the fact that your screen was full of text that didn’t let you scroll through it quickly? 5) It Should Be Worthwhile Reading. The Internet is not called the “Information Superhighway” for nothing! It isn’t called the little dirt road of information but rather denoted as the biggest mode of transportation, and your press release can get lost in the midst of all the options. Not only will there probably be other articles on the same topic but some will have graphics, charts, and crazy pictures to go with it. What will yours have? If a reader can get the main idea through skimming bullets, headers, and quotes, your press release can be the one referenced in their encounters throughout the day. Not only will they use your information and possibly spread your link, but you can have the satisfaction of knowing the public is learning about this news worthy item through your work. 6) Quotes! Use quotes—but only the ones that matter. If the company is opening a new store, hiring an exceptional new employee, introducing a new product, it is safe to assume they are happy with it. So by stating the obvious, “the team is happy with the news,” you are wasting good space and the reader’s attention. Would they really be announcing the news if they hated the new hire or were embarrassed by the new release? Probably not, so steer clear of the obvious so as not to offend or annoy the reader base. You’ve probably read some great press releases examples in your search on the web. One of the best ways to create that catching piece is to go back and read the ones that caught your eye. What was it that made you continue reading? The title, the headers, the pictures, the easy to understand terms, or the way the reader engaged you throughout? By emulating those features, you can write an outstanding piece with … Read more