Backlink Bonanza: Strategies to Skyrocket Your SEO Rankings

Guest post Don’t know what to do on a winter day in Adelaide? Want to get more traffic to your website or just simply want to know a tiny bit more about backlinks (who doesn’t like a bit of nerdy reading).   If you are reading this article, you probably are a bit familiar with the concept of backlinks, but just to be clear, let’s take a step back and cover the basics. Backlinks, at its core, is your website getting a vote from another website. The vote in this context is the link. It’s like saying “hey this website is trustworthy, and I recommend it”. Ideally you want votes from websites where there is a logical connection to your business. So for a copywriting business the most obvious recommendation would be getting backlinks from other copywriters. But if we zoom out a little there are more opportunities – startup founders, small business owners, freelancers and marketing managers are just a few. Building backlinks is a long-term strategy but when done ethically and with no “quick wins” methods, it is one of the best ways to boost your SEO rankings and give your business more leads and more revenue.   The goal of this article is not to go into details about the technical aspects and all metrics but instead giving you a more general overview how to approach building backlinks. Don’t think about links This is a link building article about backlinks. So the title may seem a bit strange but bear with me. Let’s say you are a Solar Installation company working in Adelaide and you want more business. Your primary instinct would probably not be “I need to hurry and build some backlinks”. No, you would probably have a few meetings (hopefully not too many of the boring ones) and define your ideal clients: what sort of clients do you want more of? What sort of clients do you want fewer of? The same goes for geographical areas. Are there any suburbs that are more interesting for your business? Maybe you see that the jobs you do in North Adelaide are bigger and more profitable than the ones you do in Marion. That is all very important and solid information that will help you when you are implementing a link building strategy.   Getting the foundations right You can have the best and most relevant links in the world, but if you don’t have your on-page factors in place, they will do very little for your business. It’s all about getting the foundations right! So after you have done the first step it’s time checking how your own website is doing. These are some of the things you want to make sure are in place: What is working for your competitors? Whether we are talking about link building, SEO in general or some other business related topic – you should always assess the market and do some market research. So choose three competitors that offer the same products or services as you do and then analyse their backlink profile. The goal is not to steal their backlinks. Instead, we want to look for patterns. What kind of links are they building? What anchor text are they using? What prospecting angles can you discover?  This is valuable information that you want to take notes on. Find people you like, not websites with names Human aspect first! To get valuable links you have to be able to actually make someone else understand that you not only looked at their website but show them in what way their audience would benefit from the type of link you are trying to pitch. So before you start emailing someone you need to determine what group (or ideally sub-group) you want to target and really define in what way they make sense to your business (if they don’t make sense to you, they will not make sense to search engines). Then it’s about finding these real human beings – and there are many ways of going about doing this. One suggestion is that you identify what specific keywords companies in that group or sub-group would rank for and add search operators such as +inurl: blog or “how to”, or “tips”. You can also go for an already pre-made list by typing your chosen subgroup and “100 best XXXX” XXXX being your subgroup. BOOM! 100 prospects right there. It’s all about being creative and thinking outside that very scary narrow box, because if you write target keyword + “write for us” (if you’re going for guest posts), chances are that thousands of link builders are before you in line and you will most likely have to pay your way forward. Email them and show who you are (quite literally) When you finally start doing outreach, make sure you email a real human being – not any info@addresses. You should have a clear plan of what kind of link you are going for, who you are targeting (and why) and what’s in it for the person receiving the email – and their audience.   Let’s say you are going for a guest post, you want to make sure you do some research beforehand and check out what other blog posts the website (ideally the person you are emailing) have published before. Was there something in particular that you actually liked (not fake flattery). I recommend using a proper outreach tool like Buzzstream but if you are a small business owner you can do it via your normal email, as long as you don’t mass-email thousands of people. Show the person in the first email some suggestions on topics and why these topics would be relevant and helpful for their readers. Be personable, be prepared to negotiate and always think about the human aspect first.   In this article I have discussed important steps to get more traffic and more leads from your website. The right types of backlinks are relevant to you and your

The Google Update is cutting down 40% of search results!

Google released a core search engine update in March 2024 and part of that update is to focus on a high-quality content. They predict that they will reduce search results of a low quality by up to 40% with this new algorithm update. Now you can join the dots here to see what kind of low-quality content they mean. Without saying it, it’s implied that AI-generated bland unhelpful content will be the first to go. So if your website is predominantly low quality content that doesn’t actually answer searchers’ questions or provide meaningful information using Google’s EEAT formula, then your SEO efforts will be a waste of time, and you won’t rank. ‘We’ve long had a policy against using automation to generate low-quality or unoriginal content at scale with the goal of manipulating search rankings. This policy was originally designed to address instances of content being generated at scale where it was clear that automation was involved. This is what Google said about automated content: … To better address these techniques, we’re strengthening our policy to focus on this abusive behavior — producing content at scale to boost search ranking — whether automation, humans or a combination are involved. This will allow us to take action on more types of content with little to no value created at scale, like pages that pretend to have answers to popular searches but fail to deliver helpful content.’ It’s not just your own content that will be reviewed and scrutinised but if you host third party guest posts or similar, that will also be taken into account. And you can’t afford to have even one poor piece of content on your site. You have until 5 May 2024 to change this. Take this opportunity to do a content audit of your site. ‘We’ll now consider very low-value, third-party content produced primarily for ranking purposes and without close oversight of a website owner to be spam,’ Google stated. As I repeat multiple times, the only way you can win with content when it comes to improving your Google ranking is by writing extremely well-written and high-quality content. Important to note: Google says ‘Expired domains that are purchased and repurposed with the intention of boosting the search ranking of low-quality content are now considered spam.’ Here are some helpful articles for improving your content: Does AI hurt your website? What is semantic search? How to write a blog post? Do your own website audit Get professional SEO content

Boost your SEO with 4 powerful tactics

In the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape, staying ahead of the curve is essential to maintaining a competitive edge. Search engine optimisation (SEO) remains a cornerstone of online visibility, yet it’s crucial to adapt your strategies to align with the latest trends and algorithms. Here are four dynamic tactics you can incorporate into your SEO marketing to elevate your rankings and drive organic traffic. 1. Launch a YouTube channel and leverage it on your website Video content continues to dominate online platforms, with YouTube being the second-largest search engine globally. Starting a YouTube channel not only expands your reach to a vast audience but also presents an opportunity to enhance your website’s SEO. Here’s how: Create engaging videos: Produce high-quality, informative videos relevant to your niche. Whether it’s tutorials, product demonstrations, or industry insights, ensure your content is valuable and engaging. It’s best to do face-to-camera, as audiences respond so well to seeing someone’s face, and the YouTube algorithm will likely prioritise it. Optimise for keywords: Conduct keyword research to identify popular search terms within your industry. Incorporate these keywords naturally into your video titles, descriptions, and tags to improve visibility in both YouTube and Google search results. For example, if you have a channel dedicated to SEO, you might like to create a video about “how to boost SEO”. Embed videos on your website: Capitalise on your video content by embedding it strategically across your website. Whether on landing pages, blog posts, or product pages, incorporating videos enhances user engagement and dwell time, signalling to search engines that your site offers valuable multimedia resources. Remember that Google owns YouTube, so it actually counts towards your search results on your website.Identifying and optimising existing high-ranking content is a cost-effective strategy to bolster your SEO efforts. Rather than solely focusing on creating new content, allocate resources to amplify the performance of your top-performing pages. Do this by: Conduct content audits: Assess your website’s analytics to identify pages with high traffic, strong engagement metrics, and favourable search rankings. These pages represent valuable assets that can be further optimised for increased visibility. Optimise meta titles and descriptions: Refine meta titles and descriptions to align with current search intent and maximise click-through rates. Incorporate relevant keywords while maintaining readability and relevance to entice users to click through to your site. Refresh and expand content: Update outdated information, add fresh insights, and expand upon existing content to provide comprehensive resources for users. Refreshing content not only enhances its relevance but also signals to search engines that your site is regularly updated and authoritative within your niche. 3. Create link-worthy assets Earning backlinks from reputable websites remains a crucial component of SEO, indicating to search engines the credibility and authority of your site. To attract quality backlinks, focus on creating compelling, shareable assets that resonate with your target audience. Here are some examples: Infographics and data visualisations: Condense complex information into visually appealing infographics or data visualisations. Presenting data in a digestible format increases the likelihood of other websites citing and linking back to your content. Comprehensive guides and whitepapers: Develop in-depth guides or whitepapers addressing common pain points or industry challenges within your niche. Position your content as a valuable resource and outreach to relevant websites or influencers to encourage linking and sharing. These make the ultimate lead magnets, too – which are excellent tools for collecting email addresses. And you know that I’m a huge fan of email marketing because it’s so effective. Interactive tools and calculators: Engage your audience with interactive tools or calculators tailored to their needs. Whether it’s a budget calculator, interactive map, or diagnostic tool, providing value-added resources encourages user interaction and increases the likelihood of earning backlinks. You can see how valuable these would be if you’re in the finance or accounting industry, right? 4. Prioritise mobile-first optimisationWith the proliferation of mobile devices, adjusting your website for mobile users is no longer optional—it’s imperative for SEO success. Google’s mobile-first indexing spotlights the mobile version of your site for ranking and indexing, making mobile optimisation a top priority. Here’s what you can do:Responsive design: Ensure your website employs a responsive design that adapts seamlessly to various screen sizes and devices. A mobile-friendly layout enhances user experience and reduces bounce rates, telling the search engines that your site is user-centric. Essentially that means you need to make sure all your content fits on a tiny screen as well, without it all wonky looking. Reduce page speed: Mobile users expect super fast-loading websites, and page speed directly impacts user satisfaction and search rankings. Minimise unnecessary elements, leverage browser caching, and compress images to improve page speed and overall performance on mobile devices. It should ideally be under 3 seconds load time for positive SEO. Mobile-friendly content: Craft concise, scannable content optimised for mobile consumption. Use shorter paragraphs, descriptive subheadings, and bullet points to facilitate easy reading on smaller screens. By implementing these four focuses into your SEO marketing efforts, you can position your website for sustained growth, increased visibility, and improved organic rankings. And it doesn’t matter what the economy is doing, you can still remain ahead of the game and get the sales and clients that you desire. Get an SEO strategy today.

Google Search Console: unveiling its crucial role in SEO

Why do you need Google Search Console? Further deep-diving into the world of SEO, let’s shed some light on a tool that’s absolutely essential for anyone serious about improving their website’s performance: Google Search Console. What’s Google Search Console? Alright, first things first. Google Search Console, often lovingly referred to as GSC, is a free web service that Google provides. It’s like the backstage pass to your website’s performance in Google’s search results. This nifty tool gives you a direct line to Google, where you can see how your site is doing regarding search visibility. The crucial role it plays in SEO Now, you might be wondering, ‘why should I bother with Google Search Console?’ Well, here’s where the magic happens. 1.    Indexing Insights: GSC helps you understand how Googlebot (Google’s web-crawling robot) sees your site. You’ll be able to spot indexing issues, such as pages that can’t be crawled or indexed. Fixing these issues ensures your content can be found by the search engine. 2.    Keyword Performance: Wondering which keywords are driving traffic to your site? GSC provides a treasure trove of information about the search queries that lead visitors to your pages. This data is gold for optimising your content and targeting the right SEO keywords. 3.    Mobile Friendliness: In this day and age, mobile-friendliness is non-negotiable. GSC alerts you to any mobile usability issues on your site, ensuring that both desktop and mobile users have a seamless experience. 4.    Structured Data: Structured data markup can make your site’s search results more informative and attractive. Google Search Console helps you validate and enhance structured data to make your listings stand out. 5.    Coverage Reports: Ever wondered why some of your pages aren’t showing up in Google’s search results? GSC’s coverage reports reveal any issues preventing your pages from being indexed, allowing you to take corrective action. 6.    Security Alerts: Your site’s security is paramount. GSC notifies you if Google detects any security issues, such as malware or phishing attempts, helping you keep your site safe. 7.    Sitemap Submission: You can submit your website’s sitemap directly to Google via Google Search Console. This ensures that Google knows about all the pages on your site, making it easier for them to crawl and index your content. 8.    Performance Metrics: GSC offers valuable insights into your site’s overall performance, including clicks, impressions, click-through rates, and average position in search results. This data helps you track your SEO efforts and measure their impact. In a nutshell, Google Search Console is your trusty sidekick in the world of SEO. It provides you with the information and tools you need to heighten your website for better search visibility and user experience. So, whether you’re a seasoned SEO pro or just dipping your toes into the digital marketing waters, make sure to add Google Search Console to your arsenal. It’s a powerful tool that can help you climb the ranks in Google’s search results and get your website noticed by a broader audience. Don’t worry, you don’t have to know how to navigate Google Search Console, especially since you already have enough on your plate. Why not sign up for one of my SEO packages today?

Does AI-generated Writing Hurt SEO?

Will Google automatically penalise you for using AI-generated content? No. Especially with their announcement that they will be releasing their own AI software, Bard, to the public mid to late February 2023. Here’s what Google says about using AI-generated writing when it comes to harming search engine rankings: ‘Our focus on the quality of content, rather than how content is produced, is a useful guide that has helped us deliver reliable, high quality results to users for years. Focusing on rewarding quality content has been core to Google since we began. It continues today, including through our ranking systems designed to surface reliable information and our helpful content system. The helpful content system was introduced last year to better ensure those searching get content created primarily for people, rather than for search ranking purposes.’ But be careful! It’s not all roses… ‘Using automation—including AI—to generate content with the primary purpose of manipulating ranking in search results is a violation of our spam policies.’ So what can you do to ensure you’re not penalised when using AI-generated content? ‘As explained, however content is produced, those seeking success in Google Search should be looking to produce original, high-quality, people-first content demonstrating qualities E-E-A-T.’ So if you are creating your content with the help of AI, you must make sure it’s meeting the EEAT standards. As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, AI software is fine for filler content, but you really want to be doing all of the following to help appeal to search engines and your audience. Make the content your own You can do this by adding in personal anecdotes and case studies and really expanding out the text with examples of your own. Make sure you include examples that have actually happened in your real life or in your business life. Because, at the moment, the software can’t replicate that. Add recent statistics To stand out from other AI-generated content, consider adding statistics, quotes, and data that are recent. At the moment, chatGPT can’t access data after 2019. So you can set your content apart by adding in statistics from the past couple of years. And it’s good practice anyway to try and add statistics to back up your messages using data from the past 12 months anyway. And on that note, it might be worth you going through old blog posts and updating them with recent statistics, links and resources now. Did you really think you were going to read one of my blog posts without getting homework? As if! Create a tone of voice guide and use it One of the things about AI-generated writing is that it can often sound like a machine or robot. So one of the things that I’ve been doing with my content— and with my clients’ content— is deliberately making it sound more human-like so that it stands apart from the rest of the generic content that exists out there. And also ensuring that it talks more closely to their target audience. Before you start blogging or creating a website, I recommend creating a tone of voice document that you will always adhere to. If you’ve already started, it’s never too late to create this tone of voice document, or style guide, as it can be a really handy reference tool to go back to and pluck out words that you will use in your content. Plus, it really guides the language and style that you use time and time again. It takes some of the guesswork out of having to plan how to write something. Again, giving you a distinctive voice and sets you apart from the generic content that will soon hit many blogs. One of the easy ways I am able to be so prolific when it comes to my blogging and copywriting clients is that I use voice dictation to take down my key messages and write paragraphs for me. This gives the dual purpose of being able to produce content relatively quickly. Plus, it writes it in my unique voice because it’s so easy to talk in my natural sounding way, using everyday language. You might like to try this hack next time you write a blog post. And who knows, this actually might be a quicker way for you to write rather than getting generic content from AI and having to basically edit it from scratch. As a professional writer, I often find it takes just as long to edit a piece of work as to write it from scratch. And with voice recording, it’s done in literally a matter of seconds. Editing Always ALWAYS edit your content so that it sounds like you and it has personalised dialect and nuance in it. You would be crazy just to cut and paste any AI-generated content straight into your blog or website without editing it within an inch of its life. Rewrite it so that it sounds like you, your business or your brand because audiences are not dumb! They will know generic copy straight away and will zone out and won’t pay attention to the important stuff that you’re trying to tell them. Make sure that you check any AI-written stuff for plagiarism and spellcheck your work. Don’t forget that you need to add your SEO factors to the content as well to actually start ranking. It’s not enough just to have this content written for you. Want to learn to write better than software ever could? Join BLANK TO BRILLIANT now. This post contains affiliate links for software that I genuinely use and recommend.

2023 is Your Year to Write a Blog

Why 2023 is a great time to be blogging For months you’ve been saying it. ‘I’ll start blogging soon. If I just do a bit of writing this weekend, I’ll get started on blogging and then I’ll be motivated to post every week.’ And then the weekend comes and goes, and you haven’t written a sentence. And then another week passes.  Well, that’s enough of that! Because this year, 2023, will be the year you create a rip-roaring blog. No excuses. You’ve got me to egg you on, so now is the perfect time.  There are many reasons why 2023 might be a great time to start blogging. Here are a few that I want to share with you to get your creative juices flowing: How to get started blogging in 2023 I have a strong passion for getting as many people blogging as possible. Whether it be for personal enjoyment or to boost your business’s marketing.  Here are a few steps to get started with blogging in 2023: What is the most important thing to remember when starting a blog? There are many things to keep in mind when starting a blog, but one of the most important is to be consistent. Consistency is key to building an audience and keeping your readers engaged. This means posting new blog posts on a regular basis, using a consistent tone and style, and engaging with your readers through comments and social media.  Check out these tips on consistency.  It’s also important to remember that blogging takes time and effort, and it may be a while before you start to see a lot of traffic or engagement. It’s important to be patient and to keep working at it even if you don’t see immediate results. Give it at least (at the very least!) three months of weekly publishing before you decide to call it quits.  It’s also a good idea to develop and stick to your own voice when blogging. That way, it’s much simpler to write, and you’ll be able to be more consistent because it’s easier to be authentic.  How to share your thoughts via a blog? Sharing your thoughts and ideas through a blog is a great way to connect with others and share your perspective on a variety of topics. Here are a few tips for sharing your thoughts through a blog: So make 2023 your year to start your blog and achieve those blogging dreams of yours. 

The How-To of the How-To SEO Content Article

When it comes to writing a helpful SEO content article, there are many factors to consider.  What type of blog post will help you reach your target audience?  Firstly, to create a blog post that hits the mark, you need to ask yourself: what are your business or marketing goals? Are you looking to generate leads, increase brand awareness, or drive traffic to your website?  The answer to these questions will help you determine the type of blog post that will be most effective in helping you reach your desired outcome.  Here are a few different types of blog posts that can help you achieve business and marketing goals: How-to posts These types of posts provide readers with step-by-step instructions on how to do something related to your industry. They are typically informative and helpful and can be a great way to generate leads. Product reviews Writing product reviews can be a great strategy if you’re looking to increase brand awareness or drive traffic to your website. Be sure to include links to the products you’re reviewing so readers can easily purchase them. Case studies Writing case studies can be beneficial if you want to show potential customers that your product or service is effective. Sharing stories of how your product or service has helped solve a problem for a customer is a great way to build trust and credibility. Lists/listicles  People love lists! Whether it’s a list of tips, resources, or even just fun facts, these types of posts are easy to read and provide value to the reader. If you want to increase website traffic, consider including listicles in your content strategy. You know the ones, they’re the ones that are often titled ‘6 ways to become better at your job’ etc. Fun fact: listicles are said to have been around since 1000CE in Japan.  Newsjacking This term refers to the act of writing about current events or hot topics in your industry to generate traffic and increase brand awareness. Suppose you can provide insightful commentary on a timely topic. In that case, you’ll be more likely to capture the attention of readers and media outlets. How-to articles are the most popular blogging format. Orbit Media reports that ‘76% of bloggers are publishing “how-to” articles. Lists (54%), long-form guides and ebooks (45%), and news and trends (41%) are also popular blogging formats. Stats further show that roundups, gated content, interviews, infographics, and lists are most likely to deliver strong results.’ It’s important to know that lots of readers are on the lookout for instruction via blogs, even in the day of Youtube video saturation. ‘33% of people would read a blog that teaches them how to do something new.’ How to write a how-to SEO content article If you want to improve your business or marketing goals, one type of blog post you can write is a how-to article. This type of article provides readers with steps they can follow to complete a task. When writing a how-to article, make sure to: How to choose a how-to topic If you want to improve your business or marketing goals, writing a how-to blog post is a great way to do it. But how do you choose a topic?  Here are four tips: First, consider what your audience wants to know. What questions do they have that you can answer?  Second, make sure the topic is something you’re knowledgeable and passionate about. You’ll be able to write more convincingly if you believe in what you’re saying.  Third, choose a topic that’s specific enough to be exciting but not so specific that there’s no room for discussion.  Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment. Try different topics and see what works best. How to provide clear and concise instructions in a how-to article When writing a how-to article, the goal is to be clear and concise. No one wants to read a long, drawn-out explanation of how to do something. They just want to know how to do it! So, keep that in mind when you’re writing your next how-to article.  Here are some tips:  When writing the steps, ensure that you write in the correct order with enough detail before your reader moves on to the next step because ‘When reading and following instructions, a person will act in the same sequence in which action items are presented in the text. Writing instructions according to the sequence of actions the reader needs to take may lead to better results. For example, “do A before doing B’ is a superior form of wording instructions than stating, “before doing A, do B,”…’ Keeping the objective front of mind is the most essential thing that will help inform your article through the planning, drafting and finalising stages. What do you want your readers to take away from your SEO content article?  Helpful exercise Write it down as a clear mission statement at the top of your page, or stick it near your computer.  ‘By the end of the article, the reader will…’ and fill in the blanks. For example, ‘By the end of the article, the reader will be able to build their own chicken coop.’ If you start with this objective, you can work backwards and write up the steps. Want super clear how-to SEO content articles written for your business? Step one: email me.

Copywriting Tips for the Wellness Industry

The wellness industry is expected to reach a value of US $4.24 billion by 2026 in the United States. Whether you own a yoga studio or are a massage therapist, or sell oracle cards or self-development books, you need to stand out in this crowded marketplace if you want to catch the right people. Not just capture the right people’s attention but at the right time for them, since wellness is often a fluctuating and personal journey. There may be a specific timeframe when they require your services – perhaps they are experiencing a nasty breakup or find themselves with low energy all the time after childbirth. And putting your message and brand right in front of them at the perfect time is key to increasing your sales and customer base.  Even if you’re not a copywriter yourself or you have a copywriting team working for your brand, these copywriting tips are going to help you improve your wellness industry marketing.  Why? Well, because there’s a lot of competition out there. So taking the extra effort to ensure that your copy is up-to-date and high quality will help you stand out from the crowd. What is copywriting? Copywriting refers to writing copy that can be used for advertising purposes. It may include sales letters, website landing pages, blog posts etc., but it usually comprises email newsletters as well.  If you’re wondering how copywriting applies to your business and what exactly we mean by “copy” (or copywriting), here’s a brief definition: Copy (noun) — written text used in marketing and advertising. Even the more “subtle” sales copy, such as informative blog posts or video scripts, are still part of the copywriting toolkit.  It might sound simple enough, but there are many copywriting techniques that you can use to make your copy more practical, such as copywriting formulas and copywriting advice. Even if you don’t consider yourself a creative person, there are some copywriting tips and tricks that apply to all kinds of people who work in the wellness industry. Tips for copywriters in the wellness industry: Write about other people. Highlight benefits, not features or facts. Make it personal. Now let’s dive into these copywriting tips more. 1. Write about other people Whether you’re working for a company or writing your own blog posts, make sure to include quotes from other people in addition to your own thoughts on the subject. Not only does this help with SEO, but it also makes your content more engaging.  You might like to create case studies from previous clients who have had success with your services or product or create a heartfelt story about how you have helped someone’s life. The more a personal and authentic story you can tell, the more chance that other people will significantly identify with it and seek you out to also help them.  Create a connection with the reader. Write your copy as if you are addressing one person directly rather than a group. For example, ‘I will do this for YOU.’  Remember to always get your clients’ or customers’ permission before using any identifying details in your marketing.  2. Highlight benefits, not features or facts When you’re giving instructions on how to use your product or talking about its benefits, focus on what people can do rather than what they are. Instead of saying “it’s organic”, say “you’ll be left with glowing skin!” A feature is something that your service or product has. For example, a feature of a scented candle is the scent. But a benefit of the same scented candle is that it makes you ‘feel more relaxed than a day at the beach or it ‘directly transports you back to your twenties.’ Let’s take the app Headspace as an example. Whilst one of their FEATURES (what it contains/offers) is that they have over 500 meditations available, one of their clearly defined BENEFITS is ‘get the best sleep ever.’ And how enticingly written is that benefit? Who doesn’t want more of that? 3. Make it personal Include personal anecdotes, case studies, and storytelling techniques to enhance your copy and directly connect with the people you want to read it. Use real-life examples of how the techniques or products that you provide have enhanced, healed or softened your life or solved your problems.  Here is why you should inject storytelling into your copywriting: • People like to read about other people – you’ll find more success if you can write from experience or from research rather than from generalisation. • Storytelling makes your message memorable – studies have shown that stories stick in our minds better than plain facts. • Stories offer an opportunity to explore emotions – something which your copy may not otherwise touch upon. • People can relate to stories more easily than specific facts – it’s easier for them to connect with a story, rather than just being told how things will be. It’s also important to remember that copywriting is an ongoing process, especially in online marketing where content needs to be updated regularly. You might write something once and think it’s done, but there’s always room for improvement. And the more you write, the better you will get at it.  Do you work in the wellness industry and want to improve your marketing assets and increase sales? You’ll love my handy guide Promote Your Spiritual Business.

Turn Your Content into More Content – 20 content ideas

Here’s how to turn your existing content into even more content (skip to the bottom for the content ideas) Every business owner and marketing manager knows that you need to have much content on your site. And HubSpot recommends that if you want to maximise your organic traffic (people that find your website naturally by Google searching what they are after) should publish between three and five posts per week! With the right amount of content, people will be able to find what they are looking for while browsing through your site, helping them with their decision to purchase from you (and also making it easier for Google and other search engines to find what they’re looking for). However, there’s one drawback: time. As a business owner or marketer, you may not always have time to create new content, especially if you’ve already got plenty of orders/customers/projects going at the same time. Luckily, there’s an easy solution: turning existing content into more content. What do I mean by “turning existing content into more content?” This means taking the existing text, blog articles, information or visual media on your site and changing it around to create something new. For example, if you’ve already got a sales page for one of your products, why not turn that page into a blog post? You could also take some of those paragraphs and change them together to create an ebook download, an effective lead magnet.  What benefits do I get from turning my content into more content? By turning existing content into more content, you will: Increase the number of pages on your site; thus improving Google’s search results for any keywords related to your business (and increasing the number of people who find you online) Increase your number of backlinks, which helps with SEO and builds domain authority and online credibility. Gain a better understanding of how you can improve your current website content to make it more appealing to potential customers/clients, thus allowing you to increase conversions and boost your bottom line. Get more email subscribers and leads by turning existing content into lead magnets. Saves you time on having to research from scratch and guessing which content will be more popular with your target audience. What kind of content could I turn into more content? Anything! Seriously— there’s no limit on the type of content that you can turn into more content. The only limiting factor is your creativity and time. You could take existing blog posts written a while ago and add some new paragraphs for publishing on social media sites such as Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest or even create an ebook out of several blog posts. This is a great way to use the content you already have with little work, and it’s also a great way to build links from other sites back to your own. Read below for more ideas. How can I turn my existing website content into more content? With these steps: 1) Start by copying and pasting the text from your site into a document on your computer. Make sure that this document has enough room between paragraphs for adding some new ones; usually, 2-3 spaces work well. You may even want to make a few headings or bullet points if you think they will help when creating the new content. 2) Determine what type of “more content” you would like to create. Do not forget your end content goals and content writing strategy (to get more new customers, help inform current customers, relieve staff time, etc.) 3) After figuring out what type of more content you’d like to create, start adding new content around your old text. Add in some headings (either bullet points or whole paragraphs), indent some paragraphs, whatever works best for your latest creation. You may also want to move things around so that the most important sentences are at the beginning of each section; this is especially true if you plan on creating something like an ebook where some parts will be read before others. 4) Do a thorough audit of any existing content and determine what works well, what is getting reads, where your readership is hailing from and whether the content converts to contact or sales. You can find all this out with the help of Google Analytics. 5) Do a survey, questionnaire or have a conversation with your current and potential clients or customers to find out what their questions, pain points and needs are so that you can expand your content to address these areas. Can’t think of what type of new content you can create? Here are a bunch of ideas.  20 ways you can repurpose and create more content: Gather up your content articles, expand them, and include more facts, statistics, and case studies to create an ebook.  Repurpose your content into social media posts. Take select paragraphs and paste them directly into social media updates or turn them into graphics. Take the most important facts, quotes and statistics from your articles and create an infographic with them. Turn your blog posts into SlideShare presentations. Gather pull quotes from your content articles and design them into quote graphics in Canva or PicMonkey and use them in your social media marketing. Take any existing video content and transcribe and edit it into a brilliant content article or blog post. Or vice versa! YouTube videos, when embedded into your website, can help with SEO. Turn your existing content articles into a video series. Or an online course. You can either turn it into a full-scale course that you can charge for or mini-courses that will help collect leads for your email marketing lists.  Create a new content hub with the best of these pieces, and use it as a reference point for all future readers who want to know more about this topic. Turn your existing blog posts into podcast episodes or vice versa.  Go back to the last grant or project application you wrote. Where can you take

Create Your Own Content Hub

By creating your own content hub where you share blogs, tips, quotes and maybe even videos and images etc. you can take advantage of one dead easy way to rank higher in Google without having to spend hundreds or thousands on advertising. That’s right: when it comes to search engine optimisation (SEO), Google likes fresh new content that is well written and relevant to your niche. Sharing this regularly around the web gives Google plenty of reasons to include your site in its regular updates. The more often they update their index with new content from your site, the more likely your site will shoot up in rankings. A content hub is a website or web page that serves as the content home base for readers. Content hubs are typically full of content to help connect readers with valuable information. What I mean by a content hub is a whole robust collection of: content articles blog posts  resources infographics downloadables  ebooks  checklists  and even videos that are all hosted on your website.  There are many benefits of creating your own content hub. Here are the main ones.  You will become a sought after expert in your niche, with a hub of content articles. People will be interested in what you have to say, and you will gain credibility. According to Contently, ’47 percent of millennials indicated they’d be more likely to trust a financial services company if it created useful content.’ That is a fair chunk of the millennial market that you could be capturing if you work in that industry simply by creating quality content. A content hub can be helpful to readers who may not know much about you or your company if it may be their first time visiting your content or web page. Content hubs are extremely valuable to companies online because they provide individuals with easy access to valuable content right from the start, rather than having them search through different sites or articles before finding anything valuable to them. You might like to get my Blog Post Template It helps show others that you are trustworthy, reputable and knowledgeable about the industry you work in.  When the time comes to do a hard sell, e.g. offer a new service or product or get your readers to invest in spending money with you, a lot of the hard work has already been done. You’ve created a bunch of warm leads that will be more likely to buy from you when the time comes because they have been reading and trusting your content for a while.  Business owners want their target audience to come back time and again, so they continue buying what they are selling without thinking about alternative options for fulfilling their needs. We want them hooked! We want them predisposed towards purchasing our products or services. For this reason, when writing articles, the goal is to give away great content to build trust with potential customers. What business owner wouldn’t want that? And the Content Marketing Institute reports that ‘Small businesses with blogs get 126% more lead growth than small businesses without.’ To start your own content hub, be sure to choose a topic niche. You don’t want to blog about everything and the kitchen sink; you want to blog about (and create significant content assets such as infographics etc.) specific topics that relate to your industry and business and are in line with your Content Writing Strategy. Get professional content writing to build up your content hub now.  

The Best Website Copywriting Steps

You want more website traffic? More website conversions? More clicks on website advertisements? Then website copywriting is the answer to your website problems! If you’re time poor, skip down to the bottom of this post for my step by step instructions and your FREE TEMPLATE. First of all, website copywriting is the art and science of convincing website visitors to take a certain action. The “action” could be clicking on your website advertisement or visiting your website product page. Whatever you want them to do, it’s up to you! Good website copywriting does two things: grabs attention and persuades readers to take some kind of action. That means we need compelling headlines and content that pulls people in and makes them think “I MUST read more!” We also need good persuasive writing so we convince our readers to click that link or buy that item. Now, let’s talk about what not to do when it comes to website copywriting. The worst website copywriting you can do is to use cheesy, convoluted language that doesn’t make any sense and just rambles on, trying desperately to sound professional but actually sounding like some kind of unhinged person. Another thing not to do is to repeat yourself over and over or write very long paragraphs about one simple point. This does not increase understanding; it just bores the reader. The best website copywriting has a specific goal for your website visitor in mind so you know exactly what you need them to do when they finish reading your article or website page. That means more conversions for you! So take a moment to think, does each of your webpages have a clear process or goal? Can both you and the reader understand what that goal is straight away? Writing website copy is basically storytelling. If you can get people to read your website advertisement or website article, they’re going to remember it better than just some generic rambling about one idea. Let’s go over easy tips for improving website copywriting so that every time someone reads something on your website, they think “I MUST buy this!” How do I write great website copy? Articulate the problem first before proposing a solution because this shows an understanding of what readers want and need. As a general rule, smart brands understand their customers’ needs before attempting to sell them anything, whether that be online or offline, so make sure your website copy reflects this understanding. Write in an active voice, not a passive one because nobody likes things to be done to them; they like things they do! For example, “The website is visited by many people” sounds kind of boring. On the other hand, “People visit the website every day!” is much more exciting and grabs reader’s attention immediately. Make sure that you’re really familiar with your website product or website service before you attempt to sell it to anyone! If you don’t know what makes your website service so great, how are you going to convince other people? That means research time for you. And researching competitors and how people respond to them also. Know who your target audience is so you can write for them directly instead of talking about them in general terms. Yes, website copy is persuasive and yes, website copy needs to be convincing but website copy also needs to accurately represent your website product or website service in a way that makes sense for the people you’re trying to sell it to. Don’t waste time trying to sell to people a completed website when they are really just looking for a book on how to do it themselves. Be concise! Cut out filler words and phrases wherever possible. For example: “Any person who wants this website service” can become simply “Here’s a website service” with no loss of comprehension whatsoever. Avoid overusing website jargon because nobody outside of your industry (or brand) will understand what you mean. If you must use jargon, make sure you explain it in layman’s terms right after so they don’t get lost halfway through your website copy. Here are my at-a-glance steps for improving your website copywriting: GET A FREE DOWNLOADABLE TEMPLATE TO HELP TRACK AND PLAN THESE CHANGES.

How to Get Your Staff to Contribute to Content Marketing

Getting your staff on board with your content curation and marketing efforts can be a daunting task. Many business owners get so wrapped up in “we need to start a blog” that they forget that it takes more than just a few social media postings and a dream to make their content campaigns successful. And I see it time and time again: leaders trying to eke out content from their staff who are reluctant because they are too busy, resistant or don’t realise how much they know and how much of what they know is beneficial. Everyone knows content curation is good for content marketing. However, finding content ideas can be a struggle. That’s where your staff comes in. Whether you’re looking to write content in-house or want someone to manage your content, you need the buy-in from everyone to ensure that content really reflects the absolute best of the business. And no one knows the industry inside and out like your staff do. Furthermore, they often know how customers and clients think better than top-level executives. And your staff are so busy working on their core roles that contributing to content could be an extra burden for them even if they get taught the brilliant benefits of content for the organisation. In this article, when I talk about content, I’m explicitly talking about content articles/blog posts. But this information can be applied across all your content marketing. Set a goal  Both you and your team members should know how, when, where, and why you’re going to promote your work online in advance. Without goals, both short-term and long-term, it’s difficult for employees, foundational partners or board members to understand what you want from them when it comes time to add content curation into your daily routine. An extra tip is to plan so far in advance that you can give staff plenty of warning when you might expect something from them, which alleviates the pressure and burden. Build a content calendar Your content calendars should act as guides that list everything you’re planning to post online and what content needs to be created. Rather than just telling your staff when they can post content, it’s essential to tell them what’s coming up to know what types of content or products they’ll need to market beforehand. Communicate with partners and team members  Communication is vital for getting everyone on board with content curation. Without open communication, people will feel like they don’t understand where their role fits into the process. Or why it’s even necessary that they are involved, especially if their role is in bookkeeping or business development or engineering! Don’t over-promise  Estimating content marketing efforts can sometimes be complex since you don’t always know what types of content will resonate among your audience, especially when you start out. It’s easy to get carried away and over-promise results that content curation won’t be able to deliver on. Avoid this pitfall by not promising more than you can provide. Having said that, content curation can help you reach new target audiences or share content in a way that wasn’t possible before. If you keep your expectations reasonable, it’ll make it easier for team members to understand the process without feeling overwhelmed or confused at any point along the way. Highlight the benefits Explain the short and long term benefits to them clearly. If content is already a part of your content marketing strategy and you’re looking for content contributions from other staff, explain how content writing will directly benefit them. You could say how it improves search rankings, boosts their online presence and helps with internal communication. If you are winning more clients or customers with the help of content, then be sure to share the rewards and the recognition with them because, without their contribution, it wouldn’t be happening. Staff bonuses or staff members awards are great ways of doing so. One of my favourite things about content is that it acts as an extra staff member or customer service operator (which I discuss more in my copywriting book) in that it will answer a whole heap of common questions that your customers or clients have and prevents your staff from having to repeat themselves and spend time in meetings and on phone calls with them. Essentially, by spending an hour or two on a few pieces of content, they could save hours and hours throughout the year. Be sure to highlight that as a benefit for staff! Hire a professional By hiring a content marketing professional, like a freelance copywriter, you can streamline the process. A professional will know precisely the right questions to ask your staff and mine juicy nuggets of content without spending hours and hours doing so. Plus, they can write the content in alignment with the most up to date copywriting and SEO principles. How do I convince my employees? It’s unlikely that your employees are going to volunteer to help you with content curation and writing. It would help if you made it clear that their efforts will directly benefit themselves, their colleagues and the business as a whole. You don’t have to use fear to motivate them but, instead, use positives and possibilities to inspire their thinking beyond their role. Offer them the perspective that content writing is one hundred per cent an opportunity (not a burden), and show your employees how content can help them progress their careers. Once they see how helpful content is and how this will add value that directly affects them, they’ll be much more receptive when making requests for content contributions. Here are my final tips: 1. Ensure there’s a system in place so everyone knows who owns the content and clear formatting for who should contribute when. This might mean delegating shared responsibilities amongst team members or maybe changing content marketing responsibilities. A spreadsheet will do, but there is great software out there. 2. Sometimes, content is a support system for other priorities, so