contentwritingchat - Express Writers

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Content Marketing Strategies for Bloggers with Lilach Bullock

December 31, 2020November 11, 2016 by Rachel Moffett

Are you searching for some great content marketing tips? You’ve come to the right place! We’re recapping our latest #ContentWritingChat, which was packed with tips you’ll want to start using today. Keep reading to see what our chat participants had to say! #ContentWritingChat Recap: Content Marketing Strategies for Bloggers with Lilach Bullock Join us for #ContentWritingChat on Tuesday, November 8th at 10 AM Central Time with @lilachbullock! pic.twitter.com/vPpJslCPOA — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) November 1, 2016 Our guest host for this week’s chat was Lilach Bullock. Lilach is a speaker, as well as a social media consultant and trainer. She joined our chat to share some of her top content marketing tips for bloggers. Q1: Discuss how important blogging is to content marketing. Of course we know that there’s more to content marketing than just blogging. However, blogging does play a huge part in our content marketing strategies. Here’s what some of Tuesday’s chat participants had to say about it: A1 Very, very important. Blogging offers one of the easiest ways to provide valuable content to audiences #ContentWritingChat — Lilach Bullock (@lilachbullock) November 8, 2016 A1 With a good blog, you can offer more value to your customers and increase your traffic #ContentWritingChat — Lilach Bullock (@lilachbullock) November 8, 2016 As Lilach said, blogging is very important to content marketing. She said it provides a way for you to give your audience valuable content. It becomes your place to consistently provide your audience with the information they need. She also said a good blog offers value to customers and increases traffic to your website. After all, people will want to head over to your website to see what you’re sharing! A1 Blogging is the cornerstone of content marketing! It’s your consistent content platform, voice, open book for readers #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) November 8, 2016 Our CEO, Julia, was spot-on with her answer! She said blogging is your consistent content platform. It’s also the voice for your brand, which is huge. A1: Blogging gives you a chance to showcase your expertise & offer valuable knowledge. #ContentWritingChat @writingchat https://t.co/CT9dWdRk7z — Polaris Direct (@PolarisDirect) November 8, 2016 If you want to showcase your expertise and offer valuable knowledge to your readers, blogging is where it’s at! A1: A blog can be where you send your audience to learn (more), take action; plus they can SHARE posts for wider reach.#ContentWritingChat — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) November 8, 2016 Sarah knows just how powerful a blog post can be. She said you can send your audience to your blog so they can learn more. Then, you can encouraged them to take action from your posts. Of course, it’s also great if they share your posts because it sends more traffic your way! a1 Blogging solid information to target audience is very important. Keeps audience engaged & keeps info fresh for Search #contentwritingchat https://t.co/T99kFINH3h — Debi Norton (@BRAVOMedia1) November 8, 2016 Debi knows just how important blogging can be. As she said, it’s important to share great information that your target audience would be interested in. It keeps them engaged and keeps the information fresh for search engines. Q2: How can bloggers get started with putting together a content marketing strategy? Now that you know just how integral blogging is to your content marketing plan, it’s time to create a strategy. How do you do it, you ask? Here are some tips to keep in mind: A2 There are 5 important aspects to remember: short form content for blogging, premium content for subscribers #ContentWritingChat — Lilach Bullock (@lilachbullock) November 8, 2016 A2 cont’d) SEO, designing visual content and creating audio content #ContentWritingChat — Lilach Bullock (@lilachbullock) November 8, 2016 Lilach believes there are five important aspects to remember here. She knows how great short-form content can be for your blog, however we also know long-form content is great as well. It’s important to experiment and see what your audience enjoys the most. She also recommends creating premium content for your subscribers. Next, she mentions SEO, designing visual content, and creating audio content. A2: I always say: First & foremost, KNOW THY AUDIENCE. Next, what goals do you want to achieve? Work back from there. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/pobpItkdoN — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) November 8, 2016 As Sarah said, you need to know your audience. That’s where it all starts. You cannot expect to create content without first knowing who your audience is. Then, figure out the goals you want to achieve and start planning to make them a reality. A2) Define your objectives, your niche and work out who your audience is. Plan before you do anything else #ContentWritingChat — Tim Fawkes (@Tim_Fawkes) November 8, 2016 Tim feels the same way! He knows it’s important to understand your audience, define your objectives, and then plan from there. A2 It all starts with your objectives. From there, define the goals/strategies/tactics to help you reach those KPIs. #ContentWritingChat — Olivia Dello Buono (@oliviadello) November 8, 2016 Olivia also knows the importance of setting objectives. Once you have them in mind, you can determine the strategies that will help you get your desired results. A2 Get to know your audience like they’re a friend. Speak their verbage. Map out a consistent editorial calendar #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) November 8, 2016 We can’t stress this point enough: get to know your audience. Speak their language so you appeal to them. And don’t forget to make an editorial calendar. When you plan in advance, content creation is much less stressful. A2 Begin with the end in mind: What action(s) do you want your audience to take as a result of your efforts? #contentwritingchat — Bill Skowronski (@BillSkowronski) November 8, 2016 Bill recommends beginning with the end in mind. What actions do you want your audience to take? It’s important to remember this when creating content for your blog. A2: have a solid marketing plan for all the platforms you use and make sure they integrate together smoothly #contentwritingchat — Stephanie Parks … Read more

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Practical SEO Advice for the Online Creator with Caleb McElveen

December 31, 2020November 4, 2016 by Rachel Moffett

Are you ready to catch up on this week’s #ContentWritingChat? We’ve prepared an awesome recap with some of the tweets from Tuesday’s chat, so get ready to dive in! #ContentWritingChat Recap: Practical SEO Advice for the Online Creator with Caleb McElveen Join us for #ContentWritingChat on Tuesday, November 1st at 10 AM Central Time with @cj_mce of @Searchtalklive! pic.twitter.com/Hvnvt43BfR — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) October 25, 2016 Our guest host this week was Caleb McElveen. Caleb is and SEO and content marketing specialist. He’s also a co-host on the digital marketing podcast, Search Talk Live. Q1: What are the basics of SEO every content creator should know? SEO doesn’t have to be hard to figure out! In fact, if you’re just getting started with optimizing your content, these basic tips are great to know: A1) Learn to correctly optimize title tags, meta descriptions, headers, & more. Understand how they impact performance. #ContentWritingChat — caleb mcelveen (@cj_mce) November 1, 2016 A1) Also, its important to understand user intent when creating content. It can heavily impact your SEO strategy. #ContentWritingChat — caleb mcelveen (@cj_mce) November 1, 2016 Caleb said it’s important to know how to correctly optimize title tags, meta descriptions, headers, and more. All of these things impact the performance of your content, so it’s helpful to know the best ways to optimize them in order to maximize your results. He also recommends understanding user intent when creating content because it can also impact your SEO strategy. A1: Keywords! How’s your audience using/searching for them? Use those thru-out copy, in <h> tags, description, etc. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/3b7WRAH6l9 — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) November 1, 2016 Sarah knows keywords are essential to SEO! She recommends figuring out how your audience is using and searching for keywords, which will help you choose the right ones for your content. You’ll also want to sprinkle those keywords throughout your content in heading tags, meta description, and more. A1) Proper keywording. Find those popular, relevant keywords about your content that will help people find it easier #ContentWritingChat — Jason Schemmel (@JasonSchemmel) November 1, 2016 Jason also agrees understanding keywords is very important! He recommends finding the popular and relevant keywords that will help your audience find your content. A1. SEO and readability should work together, not against each other, to make your content easily searchable + scannable #contentwritingchat — Kristen Dunleavy (@KristenWritesIt) November 1, 2016 Kristen is right on with her answer! She said that SEO and readability should work together. You should never sacrifice readability for the sake of trying to rank higher. Providing great content for your audience should always be priority number one. A1: Never overstuff with keywords! Write naturally and then use some SEO dust before publishing. #contentwritingchat — Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) November 1, 2016 One big SEO don’t? Keyword stuffing! It’s not cool to overdo it on the keywords because Google doesn’t like it and neither do your readers. We’ll have some more SEO mistakes coming up in the next question! Q2: What are the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to SEO? There are some common SEO mistakes people make when creating their online content. It’s important to know what they are so you can avoid them! Here are a few mistakes you don’t want to make: A2) Not having or using keyword/phrase correctly. Often it’s not used in titles & more, or there’s keyword stuffing. #ContentWritingChat — caleb mcelveen (@cj_mce) November 1, 2016 A2) Also, many forget to optimize images and other media that impacts SEO and how users can find them. #ContentWritingChat — caleb mcelveen (@cj_mce) November 1, 2016 Caleb knows many people make mistakes when it comes to keywords. In some cases, people fail to use the keyword correctly or don’t even have one. Make sure you’re using your focus keyword in titles and throughout your content without going overboard. Keyword stuffing is a big no-no! He also said not to forget about optimizing the images you share. They’re searchable as well and you want to make sure you take that extra step to optimize them. A2) Using keywords that aren’t used as often. Don’t waste space on useless words that won’t help you get noticed. #ContentWritingChat — Jason Schemmel (@JasonSchemmel) November 1, 2016 As Jason said, using keywords that aren’t used as often won’t help you see results. You need to do your research to find the right keywords for your content. A2: Ignoring SEO by thinking body copy isn’t necessary for success. They think it’s just page titles and meta. #contentwritingchat — Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) November 1, 2016 A2 Mistake 1 is ignoring SEO. 93% of online experiences start with a web search. #ContentWritingChat — Lex (@estherproject) November 1, 2016 Ignoring SEO is a huge mistake! If you want your content to be seen, you need to learn about the best SEO practices and start putting them to use with your own online content. @ExpWriters A2 – Writing for SEO purposes only, missing the actual personality and story. #ContentWritingChat — globalHMA (@globalHMA) November 1, 2016 a2: Thinking that it’s all about Google. Yes – rankings matter! But creating content people want to read is priority! #contentwritingchat — Jobs2Careers (@Jobs2Careers) November 1, 2016 Remember that SEO is important, but there’s so much more to you content than just the optimization process. You have to start with a piece of quality content that shows personality and tells a story in order to really attract people. A2 thinking they understand it by reading about it and not implementing it. I’m still learning everyday about SEO #ContentWritingChat — Tony Stephan (@OmnipoTony) November 1, 2016 Never stop learning. SEO changes and it’s important to stay updated on all the latest information. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you know everything about SEO. Make sure you’re actively learning about the best practices and implementing them. Q3: What steps can you take to get your content on the first page of search results? As an online content creator, one of your dreams is … Read more

#ContentWritingChat Recap: How to Grow Online & in Business by Improving Your Mindset with Michele Walsh

December 31, 2020October 28, 2016 by Rachel Moffett

Are you ready to catch up on this week’s #ContentWritingChat? We’ve prepared an awesome recap with some of the tweets from Tuesday’s chat, so get ready to dive in! #ContentWritingChat Recap: How to Grow Online & in Business by Improving Your Mindset with Michele Walsh Join us for #ContentWritingChat on Tuesday, October 25th at 10 AM Central with @TheMicheleWalsh! pic.twitter.com/dr8Qwj3UEt — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) October 18, 2016 Our guest host this week was Michele Walsh. Michele is a business confidence coach and the author of The Big Shift. She joined us to talk all about the importance of mindset within your business. It’s a different topic for us, but she provided a lot of helpful advice you can implement in your own business. Q1: What role does mindset play within your business? We kicked off the chat by asking our Twitter friends what role they felt mindset played within their businesses. We received some great answers in return! Check it out: #ContentWritingChat Did you know mindset is responsible for more than 80% of the results you achieve? — Michele Walsh (@TheMicheleWalsh) October 25, 2016 #ContentWritingChat You can have all the strategies in the world but if you have the wrong mindset then the results will be sporadic at best — Michele Walsh (@TheMicheleWalsh) October 25, 2016 Michele shared a pretty important statistic with us. She said that our mindset is responsible for more than 80% of the results we achieve. So, it only makes sense that if we want to achieve big things in our lives, we need to be in the right frame of mind to make that happen. You need the right mindset in order to see major, consistent results. A1: A positive attitude yields more positive results! #contentwritingchat https://t.co/x5mNZXzEup — Polaris Direct (@PolarisDirect) October 25, 2016 To put it simply, a positive attitude will yield more positive results within your business. How can you expect to see positive results if you’re thinking negatively? A1 I think as with any part of life, positivity, determination, focus all help improve it. Forward motion is key! #ContentWritingChat — Amanda Vera (@amnda_vera) October 25, 2016 Amanda is right on with her answer. Positivity, determination, and focus are all key aspects of your mindset and important to achieving success in business. @writingchat A1: Everything! The attitude you bring each day is imprinted in every piece of work you do. #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/Cm9z4WWdfQ — Keystone Click (@KeystoneClick) October 25, 2016 Your attitude is imprinted in every piece of work you do. That’s pretty crazy to think about, right? When you have a positive mindset and you’re passionate about your work, people will take notice. A1. Everything. You can choose how to think and subsequently, how to live! I have a mindset of working hard every day. #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) October 25, 2016 For our CEO, Julia, she knows that having the right mindset can impact her life on a daily basis. She chooses to have a mindset that empowers her to work hard every day, which is exactly how she’s built Express Writers. @writingchat A1: A positive mind impacts the health, growth, & productivity of not only your business, but yourself! #ContentWritingChat — Tyler Brown (@__tylerbrown) October 25, 2016 Remember that having a positive mindset doesn’t just impact your business. It impacts you and your life in general. Q2: How can your mindset impact your content marketing efforts? Now that we know how important the right mindset is for business growth and success, let’s talk about content marketing. How could mindset possible impact our content? Here’s what some participants in Tuesday’s chat had to say: #ContentWritingChat Less marketing more aligning your mindset with your intentions, having trust and belief and the results will manifest — Michele Walsh (@TheMicheleWalsh) October 25, 2016 Michele said it’s important to align your mindset with your intentions. You need to have trust and believe in order to see your desired results manifest into your life. A1. I think that your mindset – particularly how you handle challenges – determines your success or failure. #contentwritingchat — Kristen Dunleavy (@KristenWritesIt) October 25, 2016 Kristen noted that your mindset, and especially how you handle the challenges you face, can determine whether you succeed or fail. Great answer! A2 Mindset impacts everything. In marketing, setting goals and having the firm mindset to hit them is tremendous #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/hUqjjpubfQ — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) October 25, 2016 As Julia said, it’s important to set goals and have a firm mindset that will help you meet them. That really is the secret to making things happen! A2: A good mindset breeds creativity and allows you to think outside the box for more innovative content. #contentwritingchat https://t.co/Ru9Q9Gyyt0 — Polaris Direct (@PolarisDirect) October 25, 2016 A good mindset breeds creativity and allows you to think outside the box. a2: Content is about reaching your audience, they can tell if you let your mood affect it. Stay positive and focused. #contentwritingchat — Jobs2Careers (@Jobs2Careers) October 25, 2016 The way you feel can easily show through in your content. It’s important to stay focused and positive! A2 If your mindset is internal, #contentmarketing will reflect it. If your mindset is to serve your audience, you will. #contentwritingchat — Bill Skowronski (@BillSkowronski) October 25, 2016 Bill said that if your mindset is focused on serving your audience, you’ll be able to do just that. Providing great content helps, too! A2 An open, flexible, bend-able mindset helps you empathize with your TA + understand better their needs, intents #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/JrxmG6wxR8 — Zala Bricelj (@ZalkaB) October 25, 2016 Zala recommends keeping an open mind. This will allow you to be more welcoming of new ideas. It’s also important to understand the needs of your audience. A2. I have found that when I have a negative or uninspired mindset, my content suffers. #ContentWritingChat — Bourbon & Honey (@BrittanyBrander) October 25, 2016 Brittany knows that the wrong mindset often means her content will suffer. If she’s thinking negatively or feeling … Read more

How We Outrank Every Competitor & Win Through Organic Content Without Spending a Penny on Ads (Express Writers’ Content Case Study)

June 19, 2024October 11, 2016 by Adam Oakley

Let’s face it. Getting traffic, maintaining traffic, and creating content they come back for—and keeping that cycle thriving for years—is hard work. Yet this is something we’ve been able to achieve successfully, day in and day out, at Express Writers. We’re a content writing agency that does what we do best for ourselves, before we sell it to others—creating winning online content that brings revenue, markets a business, and informs and helps an audience. Since I launched my website with a $75 investment in May 2011, Express Writers has relied on creating content for ourselves and publishing it online, organically, as the #1 source of all our leads, marketing, and revenue. We’ve focused on creating content without a thought to a sales funnel: and we’ve never paid a penny to advertise our services on Google. (You heard that right. We’ve never, once, invested in PPC. And the publications I write content for, guest blogs, don’t pay me a direct paycheck.) Instead, we’ve just focused on writing and publishing useful, outstanding content, on our site, consistently. Consistent guest blogging. Creating a Twitter presence that rocks out organically. Call me crazy, untypical, you-name-it… but it’s worked for us—extraordinarily well. I’m about to reveal it all to you, in a case study I sat down to create across a five-week span. We Are Our Own Success Story: How We at Express Writers Dominate Online & Outrank Competition Through Our Content Our major form of marketing is the actual service we sell: well-written, engaging, optimized online content. And for the first time, I’m pulling back the curtain in a major case study where we’ll reveal exactly where we stand with content, how we fare against our biggest competitors, and much more. (I’m using a pro account at SEMrush to pull every analytic.) Here’s a quick table of contents, so you know what’s coming: Ready for this? Sit back—you’re in for a ride! What does our organic online presence look like vs. competition? A five-year-old company (launched May 2011), we outrank our major competitors on average by 5% on Google. Check out this graph: We’ve climbed to over 4,100 total keyword rankings in Google. Our estimated worth of traffic and rankings is at $13,200 (what we’ve have to spend to achieve these rankings through sponsored ads). (Don’t worry about that dip in traffic. I have an upcoming post, How I Lost 30% of My Organic Rankings & Traffic (On Purpose) & Added 25% Additional Monthly Revenue By Going After the Traffic I Wanted, coming out soon to explain.) Over 300 keywords are indexed in the top 10 of Google (example in point, this is from the bottom of page 3, 100 results per page, in SEMrush): Back to our competitors. Here’s what a real-life look at our keywords vs. theirs look like—on Google, two out of four of our competitors don’t even have a presence for the keywords we rank #1 for: Overall, at first glance it looks like there is an extremely oversaturated market if you Google “writing agencies,” but only a few are worth really comparing ourselves to. Their funding: One of our two major competitors gained $700,000 and another $4.5 million for funding since launching in 2011; and the second competitor has been around for over 16 years, raising a private amount of seed funding in 2011. Our funding: We have zero investors. We don’t have a penny in outside funding. Yet we’re doing big things. I started Express Writers in May 2011 with a pocket investment of $75. It was a five-minute business idea born from a huge load of personal freelance writing I didn’t want to turn away. I learned how to code my first website; today, Josh McCoy leads our branding, building, and all our new upcoming development has been personally funded by ourselves. And without any outside funding, we’re launching a custom-built, 200% more efficient Content Shop that we’ve developed from scratch—coming out end of 2016/early 2017. Hand-in-hand with this will be the launch of custom writer team room systems we’ve built as well. (Get on the notification list for the upcoming launch!) And Josh is knee-deep in launching a boon to all content creators, Copyfind, which will offer the deepest content checking search for originality that’s on the web. (Get on that notification list here!) Yes, we have a lot about to launch. 😛 Today, we serve more than 1,000 clients worldwide, and we easily handle 300 pages in a given week. And we outshine most of our competitors’ quality because of a very personal, one-on-one mentoring environment we’ve given our writers—and because of incredibly dedicated, uniquely qualified experts I’ve been able to hire for our management staff. I won’t lie: to stay personally funded, I’ve put in many an 80-hour work week on my part, and invested 65% to 100% sometimes of our net profits from the company back in. It’s been hard to find good people, but thankfully, today I have just those people. It’s all been worth the intensive hard work to see growth happen this way. Organically, from hard work, without a huge million-dollar bank account solely responsible for and behind the growth—as is the reality with many, many other VC companies. How does our content perform? We have over 785 published blogs on our site, with the first one published live on our WordPress site in September 2012. The average word count of each is 1,500 (with the highest blogs at 3,700 words, and the lowest around 500—we’ve actually been working on adding more content to the shorter ones now). Our two most-shared posts are a blog published in December 2015, on how to do a website audit—coming in at 1k shares. An episode on my podcast with Sujan Patel, published in March 2016, coming in at 800+ shares. (But I don’t think shares mean everything! Here’s why.) The traffic, lead, and conversions that subsequently happen from our organic rankings bring in 90% of our company revenue. That’s right. That’s a six-figure gross yearly amount. The other revenue is brought in through cold lead … Read more

#ContentWritingChat February 9 2016 Recap: SEO in 2016 and Beyond with Jeff Deutsch

December 31, 2020February 12, 2016 by Rachel Moffett

Rachel is our team Social Media Specialist. If you missed this week’s #ContentWritingChat, you’re in luck! We have rounded-up some of the best tweets from our chat on Tuesday, February 9th at 10 AM CST. Ready to dive in and learn more about SEO? Keep reading! #ContentWritingChat February 9 2016 Recap: SEO in 2016 and Beyond with Jeff Deutsch Join us Tuesday, February 9th at 10 AM CST for another #ContentWritingChat! Guest host: @jgdeutsch! pic.twitter.com/GGILjEbURu — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) February 2, 2016 Our guest host this week was Jeff Deutsch. Jeff is the VP of Marketing for Ptengine and a contributor to Inbound.org. (Check out the post where he got famous: Confessions of a Google Spammer.) Jeff is super knowledgeable in SEO. He joined our chat to share his expertise on the best SEO practices you should be using. We were so excited to have him joining us! Q1: How would you describe the process of SEO (in your own words)? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/YbhrZiOT2E — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) February 9, 2016 A1: Convincing search engine algorithms that your content is the most relevant and authoritative on the subject (1/2) #ContentWritingChat — Jeff Deutsch (@jgdeutsch) February 9, 2016 A1: BUT Google’s algorithms are trying to become as good as an expert human on the subject. So write for humans! (2/2) #ContentWritingChat — Jeff Deutsch (@jgdeutsch) February 9, 2016 A1 Optimizing your online content for the human-robot-search-engine that Google has become. #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) February 9, 2016 As Jeff and our CEO, Julia, pointed out, SEO is about optimizing your content for search engines. You want Google to view your content as relevant and authoritative in order to rank higher in search results. Jeff also gives us a very important reminder about making sure you’re writing for humans. Google’s algorithms keep getting better and better and you want to keep up – and this is a key way. Q2: What are some key ways to gain better Google rankings? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/rLlzKm7CbT — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) February 9, 2016 A2: ROI-focused keyword research. Most SEOs just look for keywords with huge search volume. That’s not enough. #ContentWritingChat. — Jeff Deutsch (@jgdeutsch) February 9, 2016 A2: Pick the right keywords to describe your content. Make sure keywords are in your title, content, alt-tags, etc. #ContentWritingChat — Kavita Chintapalli (@kavita1010) February 9, 2016 A2: Is your website optimized beyond keywords in the page title, body copy, etc. Think site speed & mobile. #contentwritingchat — Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) February 9, 2016 Kavita mentioned the importance of keywords in her answer. Make sure you’re selecting the right keywords for your content. Use keywords that people are actually searching for so you can reach them. Include keywords in your post title, throughout your content, and in the alt tags for your images. Don’t forget to think beyond keywords, too. Netvantage brings up a great point about making sure your website is optimized. Google favors websites that are mobile-friendly and have quick loading times. If it wasn’t already obvious by the answers from Jeff, Kavita, and Netvantage Marketing, picking the right keywords is essential! You want to target the keywords your audience is actually searching, otherwise you cannot expect them to find your content. Kavita added a great tip which is to make sure you’re including your focus keyword in your post title, throughout the post itself, and in the alt tags for your images. Very important! However, don’t forget to think beyond keywords. Netvantage Marketing reminds us the importance of having an optimized website. Google favors websites that are mobile-friendly and ranks them higher in search results. You also want to have faster page-loading times because that’s a good thing to Google! Q3: Describe good standards for SEO content in today and the future. #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/5uKTLzQOHL — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) February 9, 2016 Q3: Make your content relevant AND authoritative. Ask yourself, “Would an expert on this subject link to this?” #ContentWritingChat — Jeff Deutsch (@jgdeutsch) February 9, 2016 A3: Informative & engaging copy that answers users questions. Establish yourself as an authoritative & expert source. #ContentWritingChat — Ryan Clutter (@Ryan1SEO) February 9, 2016 What are some good standards for SEO content? Follow the advice from Jeff and Ryan and make sure all of your content is relevant and authoritative. High-quality content is key first and foremost! Try asking yourself Jeff’s question the next time you’re writing, “Would an expert on this subject link to this?” If not, you might want to step it up! Q4: How does SEO fit into “storytelling” content and why is it important? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/MPxzMnkK86 — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) February 9, 2016 A4: Storytelling connects the reader to you emotionally and makes her support you–and willing to share your content. #ContentWritingChat — Jeff Deutsch (@jgdeutsch) February 9, 2016 A4 Storytelling is MEMORABLE. We remember, share, identify w/ a good story. Storytelling = future of good SEO content #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) February 9, 2016 Jeff and Julia provided great answers for this question! Storytelling is important for building a connection between you and your reader. That kind of connection is memorable to your readers and is going to make them want to share your work. Focus on building a stronger relationship with your readers to grow your brand. Q5: What are ways to earn links naturally for SEO? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/mdzwS4jWVY — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) February 9, 2016 A5: Build a BRAND. Be known as “that guy” or “that woman.” This will build you a following that will share your content. #ContentWritingChat — Jeff Deutsch (@jgdeutsch) February 9, 2016 A5: Compelling content MIGHT earn some links on its own but w/o manual promotion you’re leaving links on the table (1/2) #contentwritingchat — Andrew Dennis (@AndrewDennis33) February 9, 2016 A5: If you’re investing time & effort into creating great content, you should put equal effort into promotion (2/2) #contentwritingchat — Andrew Dennis (@AndrewDennis33) February 9, 2016 To naturally earn links for SEO, focus on providing quality content for your audience. When you create valuable content for your audience, they’ll want … Read more

#ContentWritingChat February 2 2016 Recap: How to Use Periscope and Live Video in Content Marketing with Christoph Trappe

January 1, 2021February 5, 2016 by Rachel Moffett

Did you miss this week’s #ContentWritingChat? Not to worry! We have you covered with our weekly recap of our third-ever Twitter chat, on Tuesday, February 2nd at 10 AM CST. #ContentWritingChat February 2 Recap: Periscope & Live Video with Christoph Trappe Join us Tuesday, February 2nd at 10 AM CST for another #ContentWritingChat. Guest host: @CTrappe. pic.twitter.com/PTBY16g1sl — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) January 26, 2016 Our guest host this week was Christoph Trappe, the creator of the Authentic Storytelling Project, content marketer, a global keynote speaker, frequent Periscoper and blogger, and recipient of The Content Marketing Institute’s 2014/ 2015 Top 100 Most Influential Content Marketer award. We were thrilled to have him on! And, exciting times – once again we became a trending topic in the USA, ranking in at #47 this time! #ContentWritingChat is now trending in USA, ranking 47 — TT Mobile US (@TTMobile_us) February 2, 2016 Known as The Authentic Storyteller™, Christoph is a frequent Periscoper and shared his expertise with us specifically on live streaming video. Q1: Why should marketers join the trend of live streaming video? @CTrappe #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/CDuG0IMTiT — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) February 2, 2016 People are really engaged with people sharing their expertise on apps likes @periscopeco, @MeVeeApp and others. #contentwritingchat — Christoph Trappe (@CTrappe) February 2, 2016 A1 Simple: it’s huge. Periscope had 1 million users 10 DAYS post launch. Now it’s >10 million. Massive audience #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) February 2, 2016 A1: Livestreaming is an event. People get excited about events. It’s a shared experience by appointment #ContentWritingChat — Michael Kinney (@michaelkinney) February 2, 2016 With the growth of live streaming apps such as Periscope, MeVee, and Blab, many marketers are feeling the pressure to join these platforms. As a marketer, it’s important to be where your audience is if you want to reach them! Live video allows you to better connect with your audience as a brand and on a personal level. Plus, it provides such a great way to engage them when you can get immediate feedback. Q2: What are the best/hottest platforms for live video streaming? @CTrappe #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/MpIHmUHX9F — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) February 2, 2016 . @MeVeeApp is latest app. I love @periscopeco personally. https://t.co/YTrZXmCVg5 #ContentWritingChat — Christoph Trappe (@CTrappe) February 2, 2016 A2 @periscopeco and @blab are top, IMO #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) February 2, 2016 Our guest host, Christoph, mentioned that his favorite live streaming platform is Periscope. However, you shouldn’t count out the others. You should definitely give MeVee a try and Blab. Blab is great if you’re feeling a little nervous and want to have someone co-host with you. Grenae is right: live streaming is a great way to put a name with the face. Q3: How can live video streaming fit into content marketing? @CTrappe #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/x40vHvGc5s — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) February 2, 2016 A3: Live video is great addition to a the suite of content you release on a topic. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/IKSDBEyAKu — Maureen Jann (@MaureenOnPoint) February 2, 2016 A3. An opportunity to connect, build on customer relationship, put name w/ face. More personal #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/58luWNQGWn — Grenae Thompson (@DGGT) February 2, 2016 As Maureen pointed out, live video is just another layer to the content you’re already producing. It provides a whole new way to connect with your audience and get to know them. Strengthen your relationships with your customers, as Grenae said, and your audience is sure to love you. Q4: What are the best practices of “scoping” on Periscope? @CTrappe #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/VA2kDUYMJO — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) February 2, 2016 Best practices: Be real, share something of value, don’t be annoying. #ContentWritingChat — Christoph Trappe (@CTrappe) February 2, 2016 Best practices are a good starting point, but don’t be married to somebody else’s alleged best practices. #ContentWritingChat — Christoph Trappe (@CTrappe) February 2, 2016 A4: Promote, promote, promote in advance if you want a decent audience. #ContentWritingChat — Michael Kinney (@michaelkinney) February 2, 2016 Do you want to do a better job on Periscope? Take Christoph’s advice: be real! It’s so important to be genuine and show your audience your true personality through your live video broadcasts. When your audience gets to know you and like you, they’ll start trusting you! Michael’s tip of promoting your Periscope broadcasts in advance is fantastic if you want to get more live viewers. If you have a broadcast coming up on a popular topic or are just talking about something you really want your audience to hear, let them know ahead of time so they know when to tune in. Q5: How often should you scope or do a live video? Are there best times or days? @CTrappe #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/X2EllaDcws — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) February 2, 2016 As my friend @greggweiss has said: The best times to Scope are when you have something of value to say. #ContentWritingChat — Christoph Trappe (@CTrappe) February 2, 2016 A5 I HAVE heard that daily scopers see great results growing an audience base. But again, it’s about sharing quality #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) February 2, 2016 A5. Guess it depends on your audience & message, client availability. Be flexible #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/XHeQjGQgaf — Grenae Thompson (@DGGT) February 2, 2016 Broadcast on Periscope or do a live video stream when you feel like you have something to say. If you have quality material you want to share with your audience, go live. Our CEO, Julia, mentioned that daily scopers are seeing growth, so you may want to ramp up your presence on the platform when you’re just starting out. It will help you be seen and grow your audience quickly. However, you should also keep your audience in mind, as Grenae mentioned. Think about what time it is before you broadcast because you don’t want to go live when a majority of your followers are likely in bed. If you want live engagement, you have to give people the chance to join! Q6: How can you interact with and grow your fan base through live video? @CTrappe #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/AAl48yGpi3 — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) … Read more

#ContentWritingChat January 26 2016 Recap: Best SEO Practices With SEMRush Strategist Elena

August 4, 2022January 29, 2016 by Rachel Moffett

As you might already know, we recently launched our Twitter chat, #ContentWritingChat. We had our second ever chat on Tuesday, January 26th at 10 AM CST, and our topic was Best SEO Practices for Online Writers. We had such a great turn out that we went “viral” on Twitter, trending at #50 in the USA on Twitter–again! Second #ContentWritingChat in the books, trending again at #50 hottest in the US on Twitter!! See you all next week! pic.twitter.com/tJov7cPxUM — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) January 26, 2016 #ContentWritingChat January 26, 2016: Best SEO Practices With SEMRush Strategist Elena For this week’s chat, our lovely guest host was was Elena Terentyeva, strategist at SEMrush, the leading SEO software online. Elena joined us to chat all about SEO. We’re thrilled that so many of you have been joining us for the chat, but we’ve compiled some of the best tweets just in case you missed it. This week’s chat had so many amazing content creators and SEO experts ready to share their best advice! Let’s dive into the recap. Q1: Describe “SEO” in your own words. #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/R9axhepz1I — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) January 26, 2016 A1 “Search engine optimization” = process of optimizing a site & writing great content so Google ranks (& readers love). #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) January 26, 2016 A1 SEO is not an extra activity. It’s not like topping for the ice cream – it’s a flavor #contentwritingchat — Elena Terentyeva (@LenaTerentyeva) January 26, 2016 Our CEO, Julia, couldn’t have described SEO any better! It’s all about creating quality content and optimizing it so search engines can rank you higher. As Elena (our guest host) pointed out, SEO is not an extra activity. It’s essential to your online presence and something you should always do! We love Netvantage Marketing’s example of PB & Jelly (SEO + the writer), and Ryan put it point-blank! Q2: Just how important is SEO to the online writer? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/0HB4s1Z9m0 — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) January 26, 2016 A2: Extremely. Why create content if it isn’t well optimized? SEO & online writers go together like PB & jelly! #contentwritingchat — Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) January 26, 2016 A2: Extremely. If you’re a writer and you’re not optimizing your copy, then what’s the point? #ContentWritingChat — Ryan Clutter (@Ryan1SEO) January 26, 2016 A quick note to all the content creators out there: SEO is a must! Good words from Julia and Ecreativeworks. Q3: What are the key factors of good “SEO content”? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/oNPslSUfIi — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) January 26, 2016 A3 Above all, strive for quality. Dig deep, think like a writer – produce what readers will LOVE #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/x9y7t1Z4ua — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) January 26, 2016 A3. First and foremost: well written text. Followed by: quality H1 and H2 headers. Images with alt text also. #contentwritingchat — Ecreativeworks (@ECWseo) January 26, 2016 High-quality content is essential! Focus on writing something great and then add in those keywords, headers, ALT tags, and more. Remember: no keyword stuffing! Use keywords in a way that’s natural. Grenae brings up being good at editing your content, a great point. Q4: What are some essential SEO skills for an online writer? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/Bdm5BSloOu — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) January 26, 2016 A4 Keyword research – would undoubtedly be the next step. Find out why, how and where a writer can find keywords #contentwritingchat — Elena Terentyeva (@LenaTerentyeva) January 26, 2016 A4: The most essential #SEO skills is to know that SEO never stays the same. Stay on top of the changes. #contentwritingchat — Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) January 26, 2016 A4 Able to write good headlines & copy, Skilled at editing, use keywords naturally, use images #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/08rCjFYHpI — Grenae Thompson (@DGGT) January 26, 2016 What skills do you need to have? First and foremost, you need to focus on strengthening those writing skills. Then, make sure you know how to effectively do keyword research to find the right keywords for your content. Don’t forget that SEO is always changing, so you have to stay updated! Alejandro says it well: know your objectives. And Elena’s example of Backlinko was superb! Q5: What are the best practices for doing SEO keyword research? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/29Tds1h8K9 — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) January 26, 2016 A5: Knowing your objectives, this will help you determine if a certain keyword will bring you the readers you want #ContentWritingChat — Alejandro M. (@AlejandroSMO) January 26, 2016 A5. Think about the keywords people actually use, not necessarily the terms or industry jargon you use. #contentwritingchat — Ecreativeworks (@ECWseo) January 26, 2016 A5 Love @backlinko’s idea about getting niche keywords from Reddit https://t.co/4MIeOHXe3a #contentwritingchat — Elena Terentyeva (@LenaTerentyeva) January 26, 2016 Make sure you’re using the right keywords to attract the audience you want! Q6: How often should you do SEO keyword research for your content? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/3x3o1PRh9V — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) January 26, 2016 A6 IMO keyword research can’t be done often enough. I use @semrush to check positions & new opportunities every few days #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) January 26, 2016 A6: With every new piece should come keyword research & refresh for older popular pieces. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/HzGTzKZ5xC — Maureen Jann (@MaureenOnPoint) January 26, 2016 Do SEO keyword research every single time you create new content. You need to make time to optimize your content if you want it to get noticed! Q7: What are some of the best SEO tools to use? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/pl8WZnBNoY — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) January 26, 2016 A7 Use https://t.co/0kewYqvkqW for keyword research and exploring what topics people are looking for to the topic #contentwritingchat — Elena Terentyeva (@LenaTerentyeva) January 26, 2016 A7 Use https://t.co/0kewYqvkqW for keyword research and exploring what topics people are looking for to the topic #contentwritingchat — Elena Terentyeva (@LenaTerentyeva) January 26, 2016 A7 Some of the best tools out there @semrush @wordtracker @BuzzSumo. We use them consistently & with great results #contentwritingchat — Alecs Ianko (@Alecs_Ianko) January 26, 2016 A7: Google Analytics & Search Console, Screaming Frog for 404s, Moz, Raven, Majestic, SEMRush. #ContentWritingChat — … Read more

#ContentWritingChat First Episode: What is a Copywriter? With Julia McCoy Recap

August 4, 2022January 22, 2016 by Adam Oakley

We launched our very first #contentwritingchat this week, Tuesday the 19th at 10 AM, and it was a raging success! Over 300 tweets were sent back and forth in the short hour. I was the host, and the topic was all about my favorite subject, What is a Copywriter? As the host, I answered the key questions put together by my social media team on this topic. We had some great participants join in and add superb thoughts to the conversation! Our Very First #ContentWritingChat Makes it To #42 Hottest Talked About on Twitter The most exciting part was when we were told by TMobile that we ranked #42 in the USA on Twitter. We had to take a screenshot of that one: Our 1st #ContentWritingChat was a success, trending @ #42 in USA on Twitter! TY, attendees! Special guest next week! pic.twitter.com/AxCgGIIlQe — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) January 19, 2016 Our chat featured writers, content creators and some of the experts who make up a large part of the content writing world. Let’s dive right in on the recap! A copywriter works to build up a business. They work to make a business better from the ground up. Q2: What are the top skills of a good copywriter? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/OYJmSwAbZf — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) January 19, 2016 A2: They’re original, have technical skills such as SEO, HTML, CSS, WordPress & know how to be social media savvy. #ContentWritingChat — Anneliese Sparks (@iamanneliese) January 19, 2016 According to Anneliese Sparks, a good copywriter must have tech skills, be savvy and original. We agree. Q3: What are the top factors of “good copy”? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/jsYxEnfTT4 — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) January 19, 2016 A3 It’s well written, engaging, and targeted to the right audience/niche. Incorporates SEO (natural, relevant keywords). #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) January 19, 2016 Content that is engaging and targets an audience will pull the people in. Content that is well written will keep them in. Q4: How does online marketing influence copywriting? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/NrOqEiotSJ — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) January 19, 2016 Q4. Online marketing + Copywriting = Content Marketing #contentwritingchat — Olivia Dello Buono (@oliviadello) January 19, 2016 Content marketing is the best of both worlds for Olivia. She knows what it is all about and we know that the two often go hand in hand to get to content marketing. Q5 never come out as planed, but here it is now! pic.twitter.com/HaGrkbluh5 — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) January 19, 2016 A5: Social media posts, unique & quality content for websites, optimised content for good SEO @ExpWriters #ContentWritingChat — GML Team (@GMLConsulting) January 19, 2016 Nearly everyone uses it, so it is important that social media content is unique. SEO is equally important because, let’s face it, who doesn’t use Google on a daily basis? Q6: What SEO skills should today’s copywriter have? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/8TCkgKFNxf — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) January 19, 2016 A6: Ecommerce writers capture long-tail phrases used by audience, then reply to expressed intent #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/7i4HGOnrYf — Michael Stricker (@RadioMS) January 19, 2016 While we know there’s much more to SEO, long tail phrases are the newest way to get the content marketing results that you need for your business. They’re a great place to start. Q8: In which scenario is a professional copywriter is needed? #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/MMwQyEEUte — ContentWritingChat (@writingchat) January 19, 2016 A8: When you want to optimize your content for search and expect the results to grow your business and brand awareness. #ContentWritingChat — Ryan Clutter (@Ryan1SEO) January 19, 2016 Businesses need copywriters because most of them don’t have the skills for online writing. Copywriters provide professional service and great information that a business may not have been able to put out otherwise. You should also consider using a copywriter … A8 When yo’ grammar ain’t perfect. #ContentWritingChat #IHadTo https://t.co/WKO7QrHMH0 — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) January 19, 2016 We are looking forward to seeing all of you next Tuesday at 10AM (Central) on the #ContentWritingChat! Our guest host will be none other than Elena from SEMrush, discussing content strategy tips for the online SEO writer. Join us on Twitter @ExpWriters!

Express Writers Launches #ContentWritingChat, Our First Ever Twitter Chat

December 31, 2020January 18, 2016 by Adam Oakley

At Express Writers, we’re thrilled to announce that we’re launching our own Twitter chat this January 2016, #ContentWritingChat. We’re excited to share this opportunity with all of you, and can’t wait to get to work building an awesome community of content writers, business owners, and marketers! Open to all, our first chat is happening Tuesday, January 19, at 10 AM CST / 9 AM EST. Join us and look for the questions to come from our Twitter profile, @ExpWriters, as well as our exclusive Twitter chat handle, @writingchat! Those of you who have used them know that Twitter Chats are an amazing way to connect and interact with fans and Twitter followers. Available in every type of business niche from marketing to sales, Twitter chats allow people to develop a community, promote a brand, and meet like-minded individuals in their industries. So, What’s All the Fuss About Twitter Chats? 4 Key Reasons to Regularly Join One (Besides ContentWritingChat) When you join a Twitter chat, the conversation is focused around a specific hashtag (in our case, # ContentWritingChat). This hashtag allows a wide variety of people to follow and interact with the Twitter chat, which commonly lasts for an hour at a scheduled weekly time. These chats end up creating a lively and varied ongoing conversation around important industry topics. On average, Express Writers joins 20 Twitter chats in a given week. Some of our top favorites are #CMWorld by Content Marketing Institute, #SEMrushchat by SEMrush (I love this one, strong community and great engagement: I’ve seen over 2,000 tweets fly around inside their scheduled Twitter chat hour!), and #bufferchat by Buffer. I’d offer these four key benefits as great reasons you should join a Twitter chat: 1. Enhanced social media presence Social media is everything right now, and Twitter chats are a great way to promote your company’s social media presence. Because Twitter chats are hashtag-centric yet still public, millions of people have access to the conversation. This means that, when you participate actively within the conversation, you have the potential to reach millions of new people all the time. 2. Real-time feedback Want to start a conversation with your Twitter followers? No better way to do it than a Twitter chat. Twitter chats create a dynamic, real-time conversation that can be hugely beneficial for everyone involved. 3. Community If there’s one thing a Twitter chat is great at, it’s fostering community. When people interact in a Twitter chat, they tune in one time each week to interact with everyone else in the group. This creates an environment that’s ripe for connection with like-minded individuals and marketers who can help you become more efficient and knowledgeable. 4. Support Trying to learn new things? Want to become a better content writer or marketer? Joining a Twitter chat is a fantastic place to start. You’ll be in the presence of marketers who are in a similar place in their careers and will learn valuable new skills. Stay Tuned For # ContentWritingChat! Sold on the idea of Twitter chats? Great. Now, it’s time to talk about how to get involved in ours. The first step is to head to Twitter and to follow @writingchat. This will help you stay updated on our chat itself. You can also follow @ExpWriters, as questions will come from both of these accounts. The next step is actually joining the Twitter chat. Even if you’ve never done it before, joining a Twitter chat is incredibly simple. You’ll simply need to head to Twitter and join the conversation by searching the hashtag #ContentWritingChat on Tuesday, January 19 at 10 AM CST. This will take you directly to the conversation room and, from there, you’ll simply need to participate by adding your own comments accompanied by the associated hashtag. 5 Key Reminders to Prep For Joining a Twitter Chat You’ll also need to know how to be a great Twitter chat participant. To do this, you’ll want to follow these tips: 1. Get ready You want to be prepared for your first Twitter chat, right? Right. Before you join the conversation, jot down a few thoughts you’re interested in sharing and, if they’ve been made available (as they will be with our chat) you should review the descriptions or the questions that the host provides. This can help you participate actively and get the most from the Twitter chat. Be sure you know your time zone, so you can be there on time (simple tip but hey, I’ve messed up here before!), and the hashtag (#ContentWritingChat, in our case). 2. Send out a high-volume warning to followers Your followers should know that they can expect to see more tweets than usual from you during the scheduled chat time, so send out a high-volume warning beforehand. This will explain your increased activity and may also draw some of your followers into the chat. 3. Mind Twitter chat etiquette Just like everything else on the web, a Twitter chat comes with its own set of etiquette rules. We created a guide on this for your reference. In short: always use the Q and A format (answer the questions with A and the number the question is, example: A1 “your answer here” A2 “your answer here”, etc.), and the hashtag for the chat, for your answer to properly count. 4. Follow and engage Don’t be shy! A Twitter chat is an awesome place to build your community. Like tweets that you learned from, and follow the people you liked. It will mean return followers and engagement for you! Always respond to retweets and likes, as well. 5. Branch out Branch out to other Twitter chat conversations to build your community. Check out our list of the 25 best Twitter chats every marketer should join. Sneak Peek: Question 1 From Our First Ever Chat Topic, What Is a Copywriter? # ContentWritingChat Interested in a super-exclusive sneak-peak of our upcoming Twitter chat? Check out the first question we’ll be asking our followers during our first … Read more