guide - Express Writers

How and Why to Outsource Your Content Writing

January 13, 2024August 16, 2022 by Korilynn V.

When it comes to content creation, you have two options: do it yourself or outsource. While it’s certainly admirable to create content entirely on your own, it’s not feasible for everyone. That’s why many companies opt to have a mix of in-house or freelance writers, or they choose to outsource the task entirely. If you’ve been considering making the move to outsource content writing, you probably have a few questions you need answered. For instance, how do you know when it’s time to hire a writer? Will this investment really be worthwhile? How do you outsource anyway? This article shares everything you need to know if you want to get started with outsourcing. Knowing When it’s Time to Outsource Now that you understand how to outsource content writing efficiently, you may be wondering – is it time to hire someone or can I continue to manage my content on my own? This can be a difficult decision. Giving up control or seeking outside help isn’t always the easiest thing. However, sometimes it’s exactly what you need to propel your brand forward. Here are a couple of signs it’s time to outsource: 1. You’re Missing Publication Deadlines If you want to be successful with your content creation, you should consistently publish new. Doing this allows you to stay top-of-mind with your target audience. Plus, it helps you generate more organic traffic and will help position you as a thought leader over time. To be consistent, it’s helpful to have a set posting schedule. For instance, you could aim to publish a new article weekly. However, that’s often easier said than done. When building a business, there are typically tons of tasks on your plate. And sometimes, content creation takes a backseat to those other to-dos when you have limited time in your day to get things done. If you find you’ve been neglecting your content schedule by missing publication deadlines, it’s time to consider outsourcing. This will ensure you get back on track and have new content going out regularly. Then, you won’t have to risk being forgotten by your readers. 2. Writing Isn’t Your Strong Suit The truth is writing isn’t for everyone. Which is okay because you don’t need to be an expert writer or spend hours stressing about putting together a high-quality article. Instead of beating yourself up over it, call in the reinforcements. When you outsource content writing, you get to remove this task from your to-do list and focus on the things you enjoy doing for your business. Additionally, hiring someone who truly loves to write ensures you’re putting out better content than ever. 3. You Don’t Know SEO If you want to generate organic traffic, optimizing your content is a must. Search engines like Google are always evolving and updating their algorithms to better deliver users the content they’re searching for. And if you’re creating online content, you need to stay updated with these changes because they could impact the SEO strategies you’ve been implementing. But what if you don’t know a thing about SEO? Or what if you’re struggling to stay updated with what’s going on with Google? You don’t need to be an optimization expert. However, this is another good sign you may want to outsource content writing. A skilled writer will know how to effectively optimize your content so you can rank higher on Google. That will bring in more traffic and could increase engagement and conversions. 4. You Have the Budget Money is often one of the biggest roadblocks for businesses that want to outsource content. Sometimes they simply don’t have the extra funds to allocate to this. If you do, it might be time to move forward with outsourcing. Investing in content can help you make more money. In 2019, a HubSpot study revealed blogging alone can net you 13 times more in positive return on investment (ROI). But on top of that, you free up time to tackle other projects to grow your brand, so the investment only grows. The Benefits of Outsourcing Your Content Writing Even if you know you should outsource, there’s a good chance you’re probably a little hesitant too. Finding the perfect writer can be stressful. Plus, you need to create a new budget for this added expense. You might feel like that isn’t worthwhile, but you just need to understand the great things that can come along when you outsource content writing. Here are a few benefits that just might seal the deal for you: It’ll Save You Time:Instead of pouring hours into content creation, you can have someone else completely take over this task. Then, it’ll free up time in your day to focus on other things to drive your business forward. For example, you’ll be able to put more effort into creating new products and services. And relying on a skilled writer will often take less time than if you were creating the content. High-Quality, Optimized Content:An expert writer will deliver top-notch content carefully optimized so you can attract more organic traffic to your website. You’ll never have to question the quality of the content you receive, nor will you need to worry about staying updated with the latest SEO tactics. Your writer can handle that for you. Improved Rankings in the SERPs:Since you’ll now be publishing optimized content on your blog, there’s a good chance your content may start climbing up the SERPs. Landing on the first page of Google is quite a feat, and it’s something a skilled writer can help you accomplish. Higher rankings generate more visibility and lead to a boost in traffic. Increased Conversions and Engagement: A powerful article could be what leads someone to purchase with your business, especially if you include a well-written call to action at the end. You also may see engagement rates increase because of all this new content you’re publishing. Of course, those are just a few of the benefits you can experience when you outsource. Beyond that, you can feel confident knowing you’ll receive 100% original content every … Read more

How to Write Content for Email Marketing

January 10, 2024October 12, 2021 by Nicole Inge

How do you write content for email marketing campaigns that people will actually read? This is majorly important. Maybe more than you’d think. Why? Email marketing can change the game for your business if you do it right. Think invested and engaged subscribers. More conversions. More sales. More trust. It’s all possible with good email. (That explains why email earns a GIANT return on investment. For every $1 spent on email marketing, expect to earn about $55 back.) Not to mention, it’s one of the most popular types of marketing out there. It’s not only effective — it’s also an easy, accessible, personal way to stay connected to your growing audience. So, I’d say learning how to write content for email is really, really important, especially if you’re on a tight budget. Wouldn’t you? Hence: this guide. Keep reading for 10 tips to improve your email content game. Email Marketing by the Numbers Email as a technology is nearly 60 years old (!), but it’s still most consumers’ favorite way to get information online: The average open rate for emails across industries is 22.86%. 45% of email subscribers say they open emails based on who they’re from. 33% say they open emails based on the subject line. The most popular email clients are Apple iPhone (with 34.2% of market share) followed by Gmail (30.7% market share). During the 2020 pandemic, the most popular way to read email was on a computer. Using call-to-action buttons in your emails versus just text links may increase click-throughs by as much as 28%. How to Write Content for Email Marketing: 10 Timely Tips Email marketing is different than social media. It’s more personal, more targeted, and, as a result, higher-stakes. With this in mind, consider these practical tips for how to write content for email marketing. 1. Write a Good Subject Line The subject line is the gatekeeper in the world of email marketing. Write a good one and you’ll see a satisfying open rate. Write a poor one and you’ll suffer the sound of crickets in the background of your campaign. While there are dozens of great ways to write a compelling subject line, the best ones all have a few things in common: They revolve around grabbing a reader’s interest and keeping it. With this in mind, follow all of the standard rules that come with writing any great email subject line: include action words; address the reader directly; make it unique, succinct, and short; and differentiate it from anything else they’ll see that day. For an example of an email subject line done right, check out this example from Mark Manson: 2. Personalize Your Emails Personalized email copy performs better than general email copy. With this in mind, input your customer’s name into your email subject lines and be sure to target the body of your email so that it speaks directly to your audience and nobody else’s. While it can be easy to worry that your emails will be lost in the fray, the only way to ensure that they won’t be overlooked is to personalize them fully and differentiate them from anything else out there. 3. Make Your Emails Clear First, Catchy Second Catchy emails are great, but only if they’re also clear enough to make your audience want to click on them. With this in mind, focus on making your emails clear and descriptive first, catchy second. This ensure that your audience will understand the purpose of your emails, and that you won’t be going out of your way to develop email campaigns that don’t draw real results. What’s more, emails that are clear boost your authority as a company, since they promise only what they can deliver, and help readers develop realistic their expectations. 4. Ensure Your Subject Line Relates to Your Copy Even if your subject line is clear and catchy, it’s all for naught if it doesn’t also align with your body copy. Keep in mind that delivering what you promise is critical in the world of email, and only people who can truly do this succeed in the long run. With this in mind, keep your subject text in-line with your body copy. In addition to providing better value for readers, this will also go a long way toward enhancing your reputation as a company and making sure that customers want to click your material in the days to come. Need some inspiration for writing email subject lines? Check out our free resource: 20 Proven Email Subject Lines for Your Email Marketing. 5. Keep It Relevant Relevance is critical for a good email, so be sure to tie the content of your email in with something that will ground it as relevant and in-demand. Current events work well, as does some personal detail about the audience. By showcasing your relevance, you stand a better chance of grabbing the reader’s attention and keeping it. 6. Write Emails in the Second Person Second person is the best voice for email because it’s personal and unique. When you reach out and speak directly to your customers, it’s easier for them to relate to the voice and content of your email. This, in turn, also makes it easier for them to connect with your emails and enhances the likelihood that they’ll open your emails in the future – which is a good thing for everyone involved. 7. Showcase Benefits Over Features If you’re making an offer via email, be sure to showcase the benefits of said offer rather than the features. In addition to being more valuable for readers, this also helps present a realistic picture of your product, which goes a long way toward helping people understand what to expect from it. While most people focus on the features in an attempt to sell a product, focusing on the benefits can go much further toward helping the reader understand what’s unique and special about the product. 8. Keep It Short but Sweet Email marketing is not … Read more

#HowToWrite Guest Blogging Content: 10 Keys

September 5, 2022June 12, 2017 by Tara Clapper

Here’s the scoop on guest blogging: Google doesn’t appreciate paid links or content published just so you can “win” a link. However, if your guest post is informative, genuine, and helpful, including a relevant link back to your website is a great way to improve your exposure and relevance. Is guest blogging a worthy investment? It no longer results in the skyrocketing SEO as it did before Google started evaluating placed links more thoroughly. However, guest blogging still affords some pretty sweet rewards: Exposure to the blog and brand’s audience (hopefully including promotion on their social media and email list). Increased authority and reputation. Opportunity to expand or blog just outside your niche. Possibility of capturing secondary or tertiary audiences where they live. 10 Keys to Writing Great Guest Blogs If you’ve determined the blog presents a good opportunity for you, it’s time to create your guest blog. Let’s cover the basics of how to get it done. Guest Blog Writing Key #1: Read the Guidelines Quite simply, your guest post has the best chance of being accepted if it conforms to all the guidelines set forth by the editor(s). Ideally, you should read the guidelines before you even pitch. Guidelines usually include rules about: Images (including acceptable sources). Author biography and headshot. How many links you are permitted to include in the post. Word count. Tone, style, and level of formality. The editor should also be able to provide you with stellar examples of content published on the blog. Surprisingly, guidelines are often vague – even when editors are picky. In this case, don’t hesitate to ask questions. Guest Blog Writing Key #2: Let Your Expertise Shine Expertise isn’t just about what you know – it’s about what you do with it. Through successes (and failures) in webinar presentations, I’ve learned that audiences respond most sincerely to application and innovation. Anyone can look up how to do something, but knowing how to apply it to a particular problem is especially important. The best content connects the dots and enlightens processes for readers. You don’t have to give away every detail behind your process or way of thinking, but provide a window into your world. I speak often about merging the personal and professional brand – something you can do carefully and successfully if you decide it’s the right fit for your business and your life. When I decided to merge my personal and professional Twitter accounts in a “Twitter wedding,” I documented the process and received positive feedback about the transparency of the post. Depending on your audience, you’ll need to display expertise through a combination of: Story (how you did it). Data (proof that you did it). Example (the final product). Each guest posting opportunity presents a challenge to find the right balance of story, data, and example, so make sure to communicate with your editor or point of contact to ensure clear expectations. Guest Blog Writing Key #3: Let It Flow When it comes to keeping the reader engaged, flow is what makes your post stick. Your entire post should read as though it was written by one person in one sitting (even if took you days to put it together). Each tip or idea should connect to the next, and if it’s a how-to post (like this one), the order of steps should make sense. [clickToTweet tweet=”Learn the 10 key steps to writing an awesome guest blog post over on @ExpWriters!” quote=”Learn the 10 key steps to writing an awesome guest blog post over on @ExpWriters!”] Guest Blog Writing Key #4: Apply Search Engine Friendly Structure Google prefers a certain structure for blog posts. Best practices are as follows: Do not use H1 header tags except for the post title – use H2, H3s, and so on to neatly organize your post. Use short, clear paragraphs. Bullet point for clarity when applicable. Number your how-to instructions or recipe steps when appropriate. This also saves your editor time. If they can copy and paste your formatting, it makes their job much easier. Guest Blog Writing Key #5: Focus! While many copywriters are accustomed to writing for “keyword density,” you’ll find a more natural inclusion of a desired keyword occurs if you strive to use a focus keyword. Use your focus keyword in your: Post title. First paragraph. Body copy (a couple of times). Meta description. (Note: As a guest blogger, you may not be required to submit a meta description, but it’s a kind gesture and only takes a few minutes.) If you’re writing for a general keyword, consider using a more specific long-tail keyword as well. For example, this post focuses on “guest blogging” (a very general, high-competition keyword) and “how to write a guest blog” (a specific question or search phrase). Guest Blog Writing Key #6: Add Appropriate Backlinks While you want to put a link back to your own site in the piece, don’t forget to link to other authoritative sites, especially those with a high domain authority or Alexa ranking. Chances are you know some reliable resources on your choice topic, and including credited statistics and other citations with links back to those sites will help. It’s also best practice (and kind) to include an internal link – that is, a link to another blog post or page on the website for which you’re creating the post. Guest Blog Writing Key #7: Include Images Editors are used to receiving walls of text. Even properly formatted copy can start to blur together when it’s the tenth piece an editor has seen in a day. When guest bloggers provide visuals, however, it helps their copy stand out and shows they put some extra time into the presentation. Furthermore, it creates less work for the editor (as long as the images work in their approved format or layout, and come with all necessary permissions). Ideally, you should have some sort of visual break every 300 words or less. That can mean a custom image, a stock … Read more

The Ultimate Guide to Creating Your Best Blog Images: Sizes, Optimization & More

September 5, 2022June 5, 2017 by Adam Oakley

We’ve all heard the saying: a picture is worth a thousand words. But how does this impact blogging? Today, it’s virtually impossible to create a great blog without also creating strong visual content. In other words, your words matter less when they stand on their own. Modern readers want to be engaged on all fronts, and they look to visual materials to facilitate this. It’s proven: blogs with high-quality, original images rank better, get more attention, and earn more shares than those without. And with over 70 million blogs going out on WordPress each month, you can’t afford to stop and invest in real methods to stand out. One great method to use to stand out in your blogging is to invest in custom, high-quality graphics created to match your brand and blog topic. An eye-tracking statistic by Springer International Publishing has said that people following a set of directions (which is common to long-form blogs) respond 323% better with illustrations included along the way! This leaves one big question, though… How, exactly, do you go about creating “high-quality, shareable, original images?” What does that even mean? Here’s your complete guide. [bctt tweet=”Learn all about how to create themed, share-worthy, on-point blog images in our guide ?#blogging” username=”ExpWriters”] The Ultimate Guide on How to Create Your Best Blog Images Ever: First, The Importance of Visuals in Your Blogs 37% of marketers report that visual marketing is the single most important form of content for their business, second only to blogging. With this in mind, consider what happens when you combine the two! Visuals have always been a critical form of marketing. In addition to the fact that people are more likely to remember what they see than they are what they read or hear, content with images has a long history of performing better in search results and with shares on social media platforms. And, BuzzSumo once reported that blog posts with images every 75-100 words earned twice as many shares on social media as posts with few or no images! Adding images to your blogs is more important today than ever before. But, here’s where our guide comes in. It is not enough, folks, to simply slap a stock photo into your WordPress blog and call it a day. Stop right there. You’ve got to go the extra mile and create high-quality, custom images that provide relevance for your users, and context for your content. And if you use stock photos in the process, use them well. That’s what we’re here to talk about. How to Create Your Best Blog Images (7 Steps to Follow) Learning how to create or delegate the creation of blog images that are highly effective is a process. We’ve got a few key tips to help you get off to a great start. 1. Focus on Themed Images Here at Express Writers, we believe deeply in creating authentic, beautiful, and themed images for our blog. We invest hundreds of dollars monthly with an in-house designer that’s been on staff for years to create these custom graphic assets. We create custom themed blog images in our posts on The Write Blog that follow this set of criteria: We have 5 image assets created per blog: a feature header, an ‘inset’ that is easy to share on social media, a matching CTA that references our services, and then specific sized images for Pinterest and Instagram) We follow three bucket areas of approved styles for our designer to create, and specify which one when sending her the request: Custom designs are always preferred, like the one of the artist painting a photo on this blog you’re reading. Our designer hand-draws these and then creates them in Adobe Illustrator. If a stock photo is used, it’s created with an ‘overlay’ of colors in our brand palette. See this blog for an example. If we’re referencing events or talks that I gave, we provide images that our designer uses in blog headers. See this example. Here’s another one from CMWorld. I use my iPhone to take these photos. A cutout of me for my YouTube video recap blog header sets Clear Express Writers’ palette colors (sometimes we go off-grid from the main colors, but it’s always complementary) Check out some of our examples from the blog roll: See how engaging this is, vs. a typical stock photo structure? We won’t name names, but this is from a leading content marketer’s blog. Another good brand that follows a ‘themed’ blog image look has twelveskip.com. While most people imagine some hokey holiday thing when they think of “themed images,” the reality is much different. Themed images are actually a series of images that fall into a specific design structure. Of course, this design structure varies from company to company, but it’s always predictable, reliable, and recognizable. This serves a critical purpose. By making your blog content more recognizable to your consumers, themed images help promote brand recognition and develop a consistent branding presence. If you’re going to create themed images, keep things like your company’s color scheme, typeface, and voice in mind as you work through the process. 2. Hire a Designer While platforms like Canva have made it easy to create your own graphic content, it remains a difficult and time-consuming task for people who don’t do it frequently. If you, like so many marketers, have your hands full with other responsibilities, consider hiring a professional designer to create your images for you. Not only will you get a large batch of high-quality images all at once, but you’ll save the time you would have otherwise spent struggling to create them. This time can then be applied to more productive business pursuits that help grow your company and your social presence. Not sure where to find a designer? You can go through a content agency (Express Writers offers custom image design for social media and blogs!) or work on finding a freelancer on your own. 3. Develop a Format Regardless of whether you choose to design the images on your … Read more

What Blog Topics Get the Most Shares & Reads? A Data Driven Answer

January 1, 2021May 31, 2017 by Adam Oakley

You’ve listened to the data. You’re consistently writing great long-form content that’s supposed to be generating plenty of shares and traffic for your blog. But, for some reason, it’s not working. Over and over again, you’re finding that a large majority of your content generates minimal levels of social engagement. You’re not alone. After taking a look at over 1 million blog posts, the team at OkDork found that 89% of posts have less than 100 social shares. Yikes. (Remember the post I wrote a while back: social shares are not your best ROI tracker?) But why is this? And what can you do to make sure that more than 1 out of 10 of your posts generate 100+ social shares? It all starts with choosing the right blog topics. Marketing expert Brandon Gaille created a useful infographic that outlines the hottest blog topics by popularity and revenue. According to his research, the top 10 blog topics include: As we move through this article, we’re going to use data and examples to show you which of the above topics can help you get the most shares and reads. We’ll also take a look at some other topics that are proven to perform well. Let’s get started. The Hottest Blog Topics Today: 5 Topics That Attract Readers & Shares 1. Saving Time People love to read and hear about what they can do to save time. In fact, they love to hear about it so much that they’re willing to spend a whole lot of their time reading and sharing content on the topic. Take a look at BuzzSumo statistics for these two productivity based posts: While both articles are fairly basic, the headline promises to readers that they’ll be able to save “tons” or “loads” of time. And, since they’re able to deliver on that promise, they both generated over 450k social shares. Writer and speaker Laura Vanderkam leveraged the power of talking about time management in her TED talk, How to Gain Control of Your Free Time. The talk has generated almost 4 million views to date and has proved vital in helping Vanderkam grow her personal brand. People naturally want to be better at time management. If you’re able to find ways to help your audience become more productive, they’ll reward you with shares and reads. 2. Health & Fitness Just like time management, health and fitness shines in topic popularity because it’s something that everyone wants to be better at. When BuzzSumo created a list of the most viral content of 2016, three of the top 10 articles were in the health and fitness niche. This article, about healthy and portable high-protein snacks, generated over 2 million social shares. And this article, about the top 10 ab exercises, generated almost 2 million as well. Now, depending on your audience, talking about health may seem like an odd thing to do. For example, if you’re a financial consultant, writing about ab exercises isn’t going to yield the results that it will for a blog that already writes in that niche. What you can do, however, is generate health topics that are relevant to your target audience and the unique situations that they face in their daily life. In the financial consultant example, you could write an article for business owners about how consistent exercise contributes to increased productivity (which, in turn, contributes to wealth). And, if you can pull it off, there is clear evidence that people will share and read your content. 3. Money More time, better health, and more money. Hopefully you’re catching on to the trend. The blog topics that perform best are the things that people want most in life. The Penny Hoarder has generated tons of loyal fans by providing readers with advice on how to make and save money. Here’s an example of one of their most successful money based articles: The article isn’t overly in-depth, but it does provide brief information for readers on how to earn extra money. And that’s not the only article they’ve written on the topic that has yielded great results. Over the last 12 months, three of the top four articles around the term ‘making money’ were created by their writers. With social shares above 173k for each article, it’s safe to say that they have a pretty firm handle on what their readers want to hear about. It’s also safe to say that writing about money, and how to save and/or make it, is a great way to generate the type of interest that produces social shares and visitors. 4. Happiness and Getting What You Want Out of Life Want to be happy? Of course you do. And so does everyone else. That’s why content related to happiness, and achieving it, gets shared so much. Take a look at these six pieces of happiness-related content that have all been shared over 95,000 times to date. As we look at these BuzzSumo results, it’s also important to note the platforms where the content is being shared. The written articles about happiness were most likely to receive a majority of their shares on Facebook. The content that features quotes, however, received over 95k shares on Pinterest but only 88 on Facebook. As we move along in this article, we’ll dive deeper into the importance of considering the platform when deciding on a blog topic. 5. Travel Travel content doesn’t have the share power that the above topics do, but it can certainly produce solid numbers when the topic is implemented into your content strategy correctly. Not everyone is an adventurer. But as science tells us, there are quite a few people who are born to travel. And there are a lot of content creators generating massive shares from taking advantage of this. Take these articles for example: As you can see, Facebook is where the majority of shares are being seen for this topic. Pinterest is another platform where travel content works well, especially when it’s posted alongside … Read more

The Business Owner’s Guide: How to Work With Blog Writers to Create & Publish High-ROI Brand Content

June 19, 2024May 17, 2017 by Adam Oakley

You’ve seen the data. You know that content marketing adopters have conversion rates that are nearly 6x higher than non-adopters. You’re finally ready to take the plunge and focus on content marketing as a key strategy in your lead generation arsenal. But then it hits you. How are you going to produce all this content? HubSpot is telling you that, in order to optimize your efforts, you need to publish 16+ blog posts per month. “16 per month?!? My team and I can’t produce that many high quality blogs per month!” Fortunately, you don’t have to go at it alone. The proven effectiveness of content marketing has helped to create tens of thousands of capable blog writers that you can handle much of the work for you. You just need to know how to efficiently find and work with them. And, through this post, we’re going to teach you how to do it. Let’s get started. The Business Owner’s Guide: How to Work With Blog Writers to Create & Publish High-ROI Content Let’s start at the fundamentals: outlining your writing standards. 1. Creating Writing Standards to Communicate to Writers If you have a blog, then you probably already have some type of vague writing standards in place. And while your current standards can be used, they will almost certainly need to be expanded upon now that you’ve decided to outsource your writing. Your standards set the stage for how you will communicate, hire, and work with your blog writers. Establishing the Goal of Your Blog The first thing you’ll need to do is to clearly establish the goal of your blog so it can be communicated to the writers you work with. HuffPost contributor Danny Wong provides a few options. Some of them include: Tell your brand’s story Express your brand’s identity Build an email list Attract top industry talent Build credibility Become an authority figure in your industry Connect personally with customers and fans Capture media attention Facilitate word-of-mouth Create a competitive advantage After browsing this list, you’re probably wondering why you can’t just focus on all of these goals. The simple answer is…because having too many goals and priorities doesn’t work. As Harvard Business Review contributors Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi have said, your business needs to stop chasing too many priorities. According to a survey they conducted, having fewer strategic priorities can actually lead to higher revenue growth for your business. If you’re determined to chase multiple goals, make sure they work together. For instance, your goal can be that you want to build your email list while connecting with fans and facilitating word-of-mouth marketing. Or, it can be to build credibility and become an authority figure in your industry in order to create a competitive advantage. Each example has three goals that work together. Hone your focus and create goals that you can clearly communicate to your writers. It will make working with blog writers a much smoother process. Helping Writers Create Amazing Content You know that creating amazing content is essential to high ROI content marketing. You may even know how to do it. Don’t assume, however, that the writers you’re working with automatically follow the same rules of creating great content that you do. If you’re looking for a checklist to provide to your writers, KissMetrics Director of Marketing Sean Marks created a great one. It includes nine ingredients. They are: Make sure the content is original Focus on creating a strong headline Make the content actionable Provide answers to reader’s questions Include accurate reporting and sourcing of information Make the content engaging Communicate through visuals Eliminate fluff and get to the point Update the blog regularly Your outsourced writers will be responsible for producing content that includes the top eight ingredients. You and your team will be responsible for the last one. Determining Content Length for Writers While it will obviously be much easier to get to 16 blog posts per month if they’re of the 400-500 word variety, the argument for long-form content is too convincing to ignore. If you want to achieve your blog goals, ranking for targeted keywords on search engines is the ticket to getting there. And if you want your content to rank on search engines, long form content is the way to go. Just take a look at this illustration produced by SerpIQ: Sure, it’s going to be more expensive to outsource long form content than it is to do the same for 500-word articles. As you can see, however, the ROI of long form content is significantly higher. And isn’t the point of marketing to achieve the highest ROI possible? Breaking it Down At this point, you should have a solid understanding of what you want your writing standards to look like. Now you just need to communicate them to your writers. Here’s a quick example of what you can tell them: Focus on the goal of our blog Utilize the ingredients of creating amazing content Make sure the post is long form (1,500-3,000 words) 2. How to Hire the Perfect Writers for Your Blog Your writing standards help create an overview of the type of writers that you want and need for your blog. Your job now is to seek out writers that have already proven capable of following the standards that you have established. This can, for the most part, be done in one of two ways; hire a freelancer or work with a writing agency. Freelancers vs. Writing Agencies Ahh, the great debate. Should you hire freelancers or go with a writing agency? And while there are many advantages and disadvantages to both choices, your decision should always come down to the value provided. Let’s break down the process of working with each so you can make the best possible decision for your business. Working With a Freelancer The typical process for hiring a freelancer involves a few steps. They include: Find a freelance job posting site. Upwork, Freelancer.com, Textbroker, and even Craigslist … Read more

5 Questions Everyone Asks Before Jumping into Copywriting: How to Get Started (A Real-Life Guide)

January 2, 2021May 15, 2017 by Marcie M

A few months ago, I was asked by Express Writers to write about my own journey as a creative copywriter. It was thrilling. I strive to be honest with others, so I have to say that after a regular schedule of writing content for clients who take my words and use it for their needs, it was exciting to have something with my name on it. I shared it on Facebook without reserve. My husband shared it with the comment “my wife wrote this.” People liked it, and I was in writer’s heaven. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do. As a kid, I kept journals and I received high grades on writing assignments. For the last several years, while working with a nonprofit, raising three kids, and going back to school, writing has been at the back of my mind. I’ve always known I am a writer. “I just need to write.” (Jeff Goins) Searching for Answers (On Google, Of Course) If you type “how to get started in copywriting” into a Google search, you will see that there are almost 700,000 search results. There is a lot of different advice out there, including tips like: “You can become a well-paid freelance copywriter with NO experience!” “Get a job in sales to help you prepare.” “Become a freelance copywriter and earn a 6-figure income working from home.” While I respect the journeys that others have taken in their writing and the advice they can share, not all of these statements have been true in my own experience with copywriting. I never had a job in sales. I definitely don’t make a 6-figure income. And while it is true that you can work your way up to “well paid,” it doesn’t come without at least some experience (and a full pot of coffee, but maybe that’s just me). Every person who wants to get started in copywriting will be at a different place in life, have a different income requirement, and bring their own skills and experience to the industry. I would not want anyone to fall for a scheme or believe that this job requires little work for big bucks. Copywriting is not a get-rich-quick gig. At the same time, previous experience and/or an education could push you to the higher end of the pay scale in a faster amount of time. Low-end freelance writers can make anywhere from $3,000 to $15,000 per year, while those who are more high-end can eventually earn 6 figures. Moving from Writing Wannabe to Creative Copywriting: How to Get Started When you are thinking about moving from a writing wannabe to a creative copywriter, you will no doubt have some questions. Whether you are a recent graduate looking to break into the industry, a stay-at-home parent who needs extra income, or you just love writing, there are legitimate opportunities that can work with your schedule and abilities. Here are some common questions you might have: 1. Is online copywriting the same as general writing? Copywriting and general writing are two very different types of content. As Search Engine Journal reminds us, the distinction lies in the purpose behind the writing. Copywriting is used for promotion and in marketing, to entertain and draw the audience in so they engage with the company or brand. Content marketing is backed by an objective, a goal, that is supported by authoritative research in an effort to connect with the readers and sell the idea. It is professional yet warm, engaging yet relevant, and seeks to build trust while also maintaining a conversational tone. Copywriting can be sarcastic, funny, creative, or focused. It’s used by big and small companies, entrepreneurs, medical professionals, business-to-business (B2B) markets, and just about anyone who needs to promote a brand or message. 2. Do I need to be a fantastic writer to get started in freelance copywriting? First, writing needs to be, at the very least, something you enjoy. If content writing is something you are seeking out just to have some extra pocket cash, that’s okay, but there needs to be some passion behind it. Your level of writing experience could be minimal, especially if you are working with a company like Express Writers. When I first signed on, I had written previously on a casual basis, but not as a job. Thankfully, our team of editors has been patient and willing to guide me in the right direction as far as meeting the clients’ needs, etc. Over time, I have grown to really enjoy long-form blog writing (like this piece) and for those tasks I don’t like so much, I fake it. I research the particular industry and try to put myself in the place of a customer for that particular company. What would he or she be looking for? This is true for blogs, web page content, and social media posts. A copywriter will work to create high-quality content or improve the existing content to fit a specific need. So, you do need a basic understanding of proper grammar, proofreading, and sentence structure. At the end of the day, clients are counting on you to deliver to them a product that they can use. And you will find that the longer you continue to write, the more you will grow and continue to improve. 3. What types of writing should I be familiar with? (Source – by our CEO, Julia McCoy!) Depending on the position, a copywriter can receive a number of requests from clients with very different objectives. For example, a startup that is looking to jumpstart their business with powerful social media posts may request your copywriting services at the same time as a restaurant professional wants a website makeover. Web Content: This textual or visual content appears on websites of all varieties and may include images, video, and page descriptions. Web content should be original, useful, and relevant to the industry for which you are writing. Here are some content writing examples and tools to reference. … Read more

How to Blog for a Photography Business: An Essential Guide

December 31, 2020March 29, 2017 by Adam Oakley

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But that doesn’t mean that photography businesses get off the hook when it comes to content marketing. 😉 Today, everyone that has a business presence needs to blog. Blogging is essential in the current digital landscape, and photographers have a unique opportunity to harness the power of blogging for their benefit and online reach will fall behind. Fortunately, you can take proactive steps to learn how to blog for a photography business successfully and enjoy a more lucrative business, as a result. Here’s how. How to Blog for a Photography Business: Why Should I Blog? If you’re thinking, “Come on. I run a photography business! Why does blogging matter to me?” you’re not alone. Today, lots of companies are confused about how and why blogging has become so critical to a good online presence. The answer, however, is simple: blogging is the most efficient way to communicate with customers online, right now. What’s more, it’s seriously lucrative. Here are a few quick stats about how blogging impacts your ROI and bottom line, from Impact Branding and Design: Websites that blog have an average of 434% more indexed pages than websites that don’t blog. 47% of customers view 3-5 pieces of content before ever talking to a salesperson. Companies that prioritize blogging are 13x as likely as their competitors to enjoy a positive ROI. Compared to outbound leads, which have a close rate of 1.7%, inbound and blogging-focused leads have a close rate of 14.6%. Businesses that blog earn 97% more inbound links to their site. As many as 80% of customers ignore the paid ads at the top of Google’s results (this is a BIG deal for photo businesses!) and only focus on organic results. Blogs are currently the web’s 5th most trusted source of online information. We ourselves at Express Writers rely on consistent content creation to generate our inbound leads. (Here’s a case study on that.) As you can see, effective blogging has a massive impact not only on your company’s visibility on the web but also on the way people perceive your brand. If you’re bypassing blogging for paid advertising or (worse) no digital strategy at all, you’re missing out! How to Blog for a Photography Business: An Example of Success Jasmine Star is a great example of a Google success as a photography blogger. She writes a lot of posts and even offers tips that appeal to a typical photography buyer, but aren’t necessarily photography related. Her target clientele is marketers and those who need beautiful professional photography, and she blogs in a wide sphere of topics that will get the attention of her target clientele. How to Get Your Social Media Posts Seen By More People is one of her blog topics, for example. Are you sitting down for this? Her blog ranks in the top 3-4 organic results of Google for the highly competitive keyword photography blog. Jasmine’s consistent, awesome blogging has won her a top spot in Google’s organic results. And for a HUGE keyword. To find out just how huge, I took that keyword to my favorite SEO tool, KWFinder, and found that this keyword brings in 22,200 monthly visitors. Jasmine’s blog gets an estimated large chunk of that volume. Keep in mind this is traffic fueled by Jasmine’s blog, fully organic, without a paid advertisement. She gained this incredible keyword spot solely through her blogging chops! Take inspiration: your one time investment per blog, as long as it’s quality and matches what your readers would expect to read (and will love and share), can last for years! 5 Reasons Blogging Matters for Photographers, Specifically There are more reasons than the tremendous value in SEO traffic, although that’s pretty huge alone. While it’s true that blogging is critical for all brands, everywhere, it has some unique benefits for photographers. Let’s break it down: 1. Blogging Lets You Show Your Customers Who You Are For people outside the photography business, it might seem like all photographers are the same. Of course, you know this isn’t true! While all photographers take pictures, each has their own individual style, focus, and strengths. Luckily, blogging helps you showcase these. By using a blog, you can show your customers what’s important to you and what you value as a professional. This, in turn, helps you connect with the most valuable, relevant clients and build a sense of recognition on the web. 2. Blogging Allows You To Showcase Your Work Today, it can be tough for working photographers to find a way to display their recent photographs. After all, few photographers have physical galleries, and, even the ones who do don’t get tons of foot traffic to them. Fortunately, blogging solves this problem by giving you a centralized location to display your newest work and update your customers. This helps you keep your portfolio fresh and ensures that your clients always see your latest and best images. 3. Blogging Boosts Your SEO in a Way Portfolio Sites Never Could Some photographers address the issue listed in the point above by creating an online portfolio. And while this is a smart idea, it’s not a super effective approach when it comes to SEO. The reason being that portfolio sites don’t do much in the way of including keywords, offering indexable pages, or providing valuable, customer-focused content. They just exist. They seldom get lots of traffic, and they certainly don’t do much to appear in search engine results pages (SERPs). Blogs, on the other hand, are much more symbiotic – as we saw in Jasmine’s example. Designed to allow you to communicate directly with customers, blogs make it easy to target relevant keywords, keep your content fresh, and answer the biggest questions your customers have about your services, different photographic methods, and the industry as a whole. 4. Blogging Makes Your Content Shareable Imagine this: you shoot a wedding or maternity shoot. You post the photos on your blog and share them on social media (with your customers’ permission, of course). The customer sees them, loves them, and shares the … Read more

10 Critical Content Types To Invest In When Launching a New Site

December 31, 2020March 22, 2017 by Adam Oakley

When you launch a new website, investing in the right content is critical. In addition to “beautifying” your site with great copy that supports your company’s goals and talks to your audience, good content helps you gain online exposure in the SERP results, rankings, leads, traffic – and boosts your chances of converting new clients. But which types of content should you invest in, if you’re just starting out? It can be tough, with questions like do I start a blog, do I create 11 or 50 pages of web copy, launch social media content (and if so, how?), just to name a few. We’re here to help with a guide on ten critical content types for every new site. Keep reading! Content By The Numbers: 5 Reasons to Invest in Content First, let’s explore why you should be considering a long-term investment in content marketing if you’re just launching a site. Consider a few content marketing statistics: 1. More Than 200 Million People Are Currently Using Ad Blockers. While this might not seem like it matters much for your site, it means that great content is one of the only ways to access the inboxes and computers of the customers you want to reach. 2. Content Helps To Produce Brand Recall. In 2015, IBM did a Digital Experience Survey that proved that 56% of content marketers believed that personalized content helped promote a higher engagement rate with customers. The easier your brand is for customers to remember, the easier it will be for you to drive engagement through content. 3. People Spend An Average Of 37 Seconds On Content. If you want people to spend more time on your website, one of the best ways to do it is to invest in content that makes them feel something. According to Content Marketing Institute, high-quality, relevant content encourages readers to stay on your website longer. 4. Content Marketing Is 62% Less Expensive Than Outbound. Although many people assume that content is expensive, it’s quite a bit cheaper than traditional advertising and outbound methods. What’s more, it’s also three times as effective. 5. Content Drives Higher Conversion Rates. When people adopt content for their marketing strategies, they enjoy conversion rates roughly six times as high as those of their competitors. With these numbers in mind, it’s clear that not only can you not afford to invest in content for your website, but that deciding which content works best with your brand is crucial to overhauling your online marketing strategy. 10 Content Types Every Website Needs If you’re building a new site, don’t launch it without first ensuring that you have each of these ten types of content: 1. Web Pages What would a website be without web pages? While many of today’s websites are long-page, one-page sites, it’s still crucial you have some pages for your site. For most companies, an “About Us,” “Contact,” and “Services” page will do, although you may choose to add or subtract pages as you see fit. Remember that the length of your web pages is an important consideration. Too long and you risk losing your reader’s attention, especially if you don’t format your pages correctly. Too short, and you risk not providing enough information or detail to be helpful for your readers. As a general rule, web pages should have at least 300 words of copy on them. While this will be too short to cover most topics, it’s a good benchmark to keep in mind as you start creating the web pages for your new site. 2. Ongoing Blogging Listen carefully: you need a blog. Without a blog, your website will not only not perform as well as you’d like it to, but you’ll miss a valuable opportunity to provide your readers with relevance – one of the most coveted and important factors in online marketing. Although many companies underestimate the importance of a blog, Impact Branding And Design reports that: Websites with blogs tend to have 434% more indexed pages than their competitors. What’s more, 47% of customers interact with 3 – 5 pieces of content before they ever talk to a sales rep. And my favorite blogging stat (Hubspot): Businesses that publish over 16 blogs/month (4+/weekly) get 3.5x MORE traffic than businesses that publish 0-4 posts. Wow! 3.5x more traffic than your competitors, just from consistent, volume blogging. So why are you not already? Having a library of quality, relevant content can make all the difference between converting a customer and losing them to the sea of other companies vying for their attention. If that weren’t enough to change your mind, B2B marketers that blog regularly earn an average of 67% more leads than marketers who don’t. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to integrate a blog with your website. Today, content platforms like WordPress offer built-in blog functionalities that are easy to manage and use, even for beginners. To manage your blog effectively, use its scheduling feature to post consistently and give your readers something to look forward to regularly. One of our favorite content services is ongoing, consistent blogging maintenance. We write, schedule, create imagery, and publish in our blogging packages. 3. Meta Content Meta content is an often-overlooked form of online content. While it doesn’t get as much attention as sexier forms of content like blogs or social media, it serves a crucial role in the online world. When you Google something, meta content is the snippet of material that appears on the search engine results page or SERPs. Here’s what it looks like: Meta content works to give you an idea of what information an article contains, and helps you understand what you will learn from a given piece of content. As such, it’s crucial to get it right. If you don’t know how to write meta content on your own, it’s smart to hire someone who does. When done correctly, meta content will boost your SEO and help improve your click-through rate, both of which can have dramatic and long-lasting impact on the salience on your website 4. Product … Read more

How Copywriting Works: A 101 to the Writing that Fuels the Web

December 31, 2020February 16, 2017 by Adam Oakley

Most copywriters know exactly what this conversation feels like: “What do you do?” “I’m an SEO copywriter!” “Oh…great! So, what do you do?” When you say you’re a writer, most people assume you’re an aspiring Hemingway, tapping away at your typewriter in pursuit of the next great American novel. Unless someone has experience in the digital marketing, content marketing, or online world, few people know what a copywriter does. (Not a copyright-er. I have another post on that.) That said, though, everyone is familiar with the work of copywriters, whether they know it or not. In a world as marketing-dense as ours, copywriters essentially make the digital web spin. They write the scripts for television commercials, radio ads, mail and email marketing materials, and articles that help people find answers to problems and learn new things. In other words, copywriters are everywhere! As such, it’s never been more critical than it is right now to understand how copywriting works, and what a massive role it plays in our modern world. What Copywriters Are (and What We Aren’t) First things first: not all copywriters are clones of Don Draper. Although romantic to imagine, that was way back when. Today, it’s 2017. There’s much less drama, smoking, and drinking in the office in this industry than what you see in the Mad Men series. 😉 That said, however, copywriters today fulfill a vast selection of positions. Here are just a few of the things that define what copywriters are: 1. Copywriters Write Copy for Various Industries and Specialties Depending on a copywriter’s unique job description, he or she might create marketing copy for a website or work one-on-one with an SEO company to write their website or create their Facebook posts. In other cases, copywriters write physical text material, like books, pamphlets, and educational sheets. No matter what industry they work in, copywriters work with words daily. 2. Copywriters Work with Other Teams to Create Marketing Copy In most cases, copywriters work with other specialists, like SEOs and sales teams, to create well-rounded marketing copy that fulfills a broad series of goals. 3. Copywriters Wear Many Hats A great copywriter is also a part-time marketer, editor, and publisher. While copywriters typically work with teams of editors, these skills are indispensable, and the best copywriters must know how to evaluate their content for quality and figure out what will and will not work for a client. What today’s copywriters are NOT: 1. Novelists. While copywriters do sometimes create text copy, they’re not developing books that sell as novels. Those are typically ghostwriters or other forms of writers. Instead, copywriters may create ebooks, articles, or white papers. 2. Machines. Good copywriters pay a lot of attention to each piece they create. They don’t just churn out work in a one-size-fits-all manner. Instead, they collaborate closely with teams and managers to build customized material for each client. 3. Outbound Marketers. The wheelhouse of copywriters is to create material that makes people want to connect with a company. They don’t typically push themselves or their content on other people. Instead, they work hard to create content that delights readers and makes them want to interact with a brand. The following graphic applies very much. 😉 What’s Under the Hood at a Copywriting Agency: What Express Writers Does Here at Express Writers, we know a thing or two about copywriters. Not only do we hire them – we are them! Before I founded my company, I worked as a copywriter on various freelancing platforms. I landed hundreds of gigs and dozens of clients, and within three months of self-teaching as an online copywriter, I went on to start my agency. (Check out my full story here.) Today, my agency has a full-service Content Shop with over 40 products: And our content agency staffs a team of more than 50 copywriters, strategists, and editors, handpicked by moi (more on our standards here), who specialize in writing, creating, and publishing the following types of content: Blogs and blogging packages Web pages, landing pages Product descriptions Infographics Meta copy Interviews (with our writers, strategists, project managers) Research In-line and developmental editing Keyword strategy Content planning/editorial calendars Expert copywriting in all areas, including Financial, Technical, Creative, Legal, Medical, & more Press Releases Ebooks Slides (PowerPoint or PDF) Ad Copy Slogans/Taglines Scripts Sales Pages Whitepapers Email content Social media posts and custom imagery Social media plans, profile creation Here’s an example of what we create in a year, per our year-end report for 2016: ALL this content is created by our handpicked copywriters, strategists, and editors, who specialize in different industries, content types, and services. This gives you a pretty good idea of exactly how diverse copy offerings can get! What Qualifications do Good Copywriters Have? The field of copywriters is a very diverse one. While some copywriters attended school for degrees in English or Journalism, others have spent their pre-copywriting lives working as attorneys, cooks, or dog mushers! Copywriters come in all shapes and sizes, and this unique assortment of backgrounds allows copywriters to bring their experiences into the field, creating more diverse and interesting copy. As it stands today, there is no one-size-fits-all educational program for copywriters. Instead, a copywriter that’s going to succeed in the industry just needs to possess a few key traits. These are as follows: 1. Creativity First off, copywriters need to be creative. While many people assume creativity is only necessary for people writing novels and short stories, and not people writing marketing copy, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Since copywriters write for such a diverse selection of clients, they need to be agile enough to think on their feet. Storytelling is central to great copywriting, and the best experts out there know how to access their creativity to weave compelling, unique copy that will engage an audience and help a brand meet its goals. 2. Strong Writing Skills While copywriters don’t need a college degree to excel in the field, they do need strong writing skills. While it’s true that copywriters write about everything from firearm … Read more