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.
The Future of Web Design: Predictions and Trends for the Next Decade
This is a guest post. In this article, we’ll look at major trends and predictions for the next decade. We’ll briefly look at the benefits of keeping up with major trends. Then, we’ll focus on technological advancements, changing user expectations, and evolving design aesthetics in web design. Advantages of Keeping Updated Before diving into the article, let’s consider why you need to read this article. There are many benefits to monitoring the prediction and future trends. Some are as follows: ● Competitive advantage ● Increased creativity ● Future-proof skillset and technologies ● Effective marketing strategies ● Higher conversion rates ● Informed investments ● Building brand loyalty ● Enhanced user interaction ● Staying relevant All of this will contribute hugely to your company. If you focus on higher conversion rates, you can implement engaging WooCommerce Popup Carts that showcase added items and encourage further shopping. Technological Advancements How we experience the web is about to get a significant overhaul, driven by exciting technological advancements. In this section, let’s delve into four technological advancements redefining web design in the next decade. AI and Personalisation This technological advancement allows website owners to create content and layout tailored to customers’ preferences. For example, the top suggestions would be articles the customers would love to read and products they’d use. It works through AI algorithms, which analyse vast amounts of data, including user behaviour and design trends. This allows the AI to automatically generate personalised layouts, colour palettes, and design elements. It’s like having a virtual design assistant working to optimise your website for maximum engagement constantly. AI can go beyond layout, churning out personalised content like blog posts, product descriptions, and video scripts based on user preferences and real-time data. It saves time and resources while ensuring content resonates with your audience. Immersive Technologies These technologies allow you to create interactive and engaging experiences for your website’s visitors. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are two technologies that help create experiences that blur the lines between the digital and physical world. AR will transform e-commerce, education, and entertainment in the next decade. Thus, web design must adapt to create seamless and intuitive AR experiences. For example, consider overlaying virtual elements onto your physical surroundings, trying on clothes virtually, or exploring a museum exhibit right from your living room. VR technology enables people to attend virtual concerts, explore interactive stories, or collaborate with colleagues in a virtual workspace. Web design must master spatial storytelling and user interaction to create compelling VR experiences. Voice Search Optimisation As voice assistants become increasingly popular, websites must adapt to how people search for information. This means optimising content for natural language queries, focusing on long-tail keywords, and ensuring intuitive and engaging voice interfaces. Thus, websites will need to have a more conversational design. In the future, web design must focus on micro-interactions like quick answers and voice-activated buttons. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) PWAs are apps made using web platform tech. They feel like a native app and offer offline functionality, push notifications, and a faster, more responsive experience. PWAs blur the lines between websites and apps, offering a frictionless user experience regardless of device or internet connection. This leads to higher engagement and conversions, making PWAs a must-have for future web design. Moreover, PWAs load faster and work offline, making them more accessible to users with limited bandwidth or disabilities. Shifting User Expectations The future of web design isn’t just about technology; it’s about understanding and catering to the ever-evolving expectations of the people using it. Let’s look at some aspects shaping how users will interact with the web in the upcoming decade. Accessibility and Ethical Considerations As technology advances, it is necessary to ensure everyone benefits equally. Users are expecting accessibility and ethical considerations in every aspect of web design. For this, websites will have an inclusive design, with features like screen readers, keyboard navigation, and clear visuals for low-vision users. Micro-Interactions and Storytelling In the future, delightful micro-interactions and captivating narratives will become the foundation of engaging user experiences. Micro-interactions will act as emotional touchpoints, creating a sense of playfulness and delight and weaving user emotion into the very fabric of the website. The shift towards interactive storytelling means that websites will transition from static information hubs to immersive storytelling platforms. Focus on Emotions and Connection Design isn’t just about aesthetics but forging emotional connections with users. The future web will leverage design elements to evoke empathy, build trust, and create meaningful relationships. Website owners must understand user psychology to apply principles like colour psychology, visual hierarchy, and emotional white space. Trust and credibility building is also necessary. Design elements like transparency, user testimonials, and clear communication make users feel safe and secure while interacting with the website. Data-Driven Design and User Analysis In the age of big data, understanding user behaviour is no longer guesswork. Web design will increasingly integrate data analytics to tailor experiences and optimise engagement. Websites will learn and adapt in real-time, using data to personalise content, test different design elements, and optimise the user experience based on individual preferences and interaction patterns. Analytics will predict user intent and anticipate needs, allowing for proactive design adjustments like pre-filling forms or recommending relevant content before users ask. The Rise of Micro-Communities and Niche Audiences The web is no longer a homogeneous space; it’s a tapestry of micro-communities with specific interests and values. Web design must cater to these niche audiences, creating experiences that resonate and foster belonging. Understanding niche communities’ unique needs and preferences allows for tailored design elements, targeted messaging, and a sense of community built into the website. Websites that can be customised and shaped by the community they serve are part of the future. They will allow users to contribute content, design elements, and ideas, fostering a sense of ownership and belonging. Evolving Design Aesthetics The visual language of the web is in constant flux, reflecting technological advancements, evolving cultural currents, and user preferences. In this section, we’ll dive into some
Top 5 Digital Marketing Blogs You Need to be Across
Do you work in marketing? Or want to become a successful blogger? Or are you the entrepreneurial type and want to improve your business’s marketing? Then you need to be across the following digital marketing blogs.
Choose Your Own SEO Strategy Adventure
Four different SEO strategies for you to tackle I know a lot of us are always trying to configure our SEO and tweak it here and there to really suck the juice out of it. And I encourage that. SEO is an ongoing puzzle. It’s not just “set and forget” type of marketing activity. So with that in mind, I’ve proposed four overarching SEO strategies or components of an SEO strategy that I encourage you to look at this year. Now, depending on the size of your site or your brand, this can be a really overwhelming task. It might even take a whole team to action if you don’t have the resources; I suggest picking one of the following four strategies and really perfecting it to the best of your ability this year. Anything you can do will make a difference. Like I said above, if you don’t have the resources to tackle all of this yourself or have a team to help you, I recommend picking one of the four above, focusing on it and getting it really right before moving on to the next. You are better off diving in and making something work rather than doing bits and pieces here in there. So my recommendation is to pick either one or four above if you haven’t done a deep dive on either before. SEO strategy 1 – keyword optimisation Keyword optimisation is the process of researching, selecting, and incorporating keywords into your website content, meta tags, and other elements in order to improve your website’s visibility and ranking on search engines such as Google. The goal of keyword optimisation is to identify the keywords and phrases your target audience is searching for and to make sure that your website appears as high as possible in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for those keywords. The process of keyword optimisation involves researching and identifying the right keywords, analysing the competition for those keywords, incorporating the keywords into your website content in a natural and effective way, and continuously monitoring and refining your keyword strategy to ensure maximum results. Keyword optimisation is an important part of search engine optimisation SEO, as it can help drive more traffic to your website and increase your online visibility and credibility. The following are some techniques and methods you can apply if keyword optimisation is your chosen SEO strategy for this year. Again, if you work with limited resources, pick one and perfect it until you move on to the next. Keyword optimisation techniques for 2023 I want to explain a few of these terms a little further since they may be new to you. What are LSI keywords? LSI (latent semantic indexing) keywords are semantically related words and phrases that provide context and meaning to the main keyword. They help search engines understand the content’s topic and theme and can improve search ranking for the target keyword. The use of LSI keywords can also help avoid keyword stuffing and make the content appear more natural and relevant to the user. Examples of LSI keywords for the main keyword “pizza” could include “toppings”, “delivery”, “New York style”, “crust”, etc. What are topic clusters? Topic clusters are a content marketing and SEO strategy that organises related articles into interlinked groups, with one main piece of content serving as the “pillar” that provides comprehensive information on a particular topic. Each cluster consists of the pillar content and several “cluster” articles that are linked to it, providing in-depth coverage of specific subtopics related to the pillar content. For example, where my main page (and SEO keyword and content focus) is “copywriter“, I would focus on creating and improving content (specifically blog articles) that are directly related to “copywriter”. That might look like topics such as “what’s it like being a copywriter”, “how to become a copywriter”, “what you need to know when hiring a copywriter”, etc. Using topic clusters helps establish the website as an authority on the subject (which we know is vital for the EEAT formula), improves user experience, and increases the chances of ranking higher in search results for relevant keywords. What are local keywords? Local keywords are words that include a geographic location, such as a city, region, or neighbourhood. They are used to optimise content for local search queries. These keywords are used to target users who are searching for products or services in a specific area. Examples of local keywords include “pizza delivery in Adelaide”, “best hair salon in Melbourne”, and “coffee shops in Sydney”. The use of local keywords can help improve a website’s visibility in local search results, attract local customers, and drive more relevant traffic to the website. If you’re a brick-and-mortar business, you would absolutely make this one of your SEO strategy priorities. Especially if you rely on face-to-face service as your business. When you run an online and remote business like mine, it’s not so important. But I still occasionally look at doing as, say, a third-level priority when it comes to improving my keywords and SEO activities. The way to tell whether you need to invest your time in this is by doing good quality SEO keyword research, and if you notice a lot of search volume for, say, “copywriter Adelaide” (if that is your local area), then it’s definitely worth popping it on your to-do list. What is user intent? User intent refers to the goal, need, or purpose behind a user’s search query. Understanding user intent is crucial in providing relevant and valuable content that satisfies the user’s search request. User intent can range from informational (searching for information), navigational (searching for a specific website), transactional (searching to purchase a product or service), or commercial (researching products or services before making a purchase). By understanding and targeting user intent, marketers and content creators can optimise their content to better match the user’s expectations, improve search ranking, and increase user engagement and satisfaction. You can see in the image below that SemRush tells
Are You Ignoring This One Vital Thing for SEO?
Website speed is one of the key factors in improving your SEO and creating an effortless user experience. ‘In a 2019 survey by Unbounce, nearly 70% of consumers admitted that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer.’ ‘The first five seconds of page-load time have the highest impact on conversion rates. (Portent, 2019)’ and ‘website conversion rates drop by an average of 4.42% with each additional second of load time (between seconds 0-5).’ SEMrush declares that page load time is a primary ranking factor. It also effects conversion rate too. ‘A 1-second delay in your site speed can result in a 7% reduction in conversions.’ Why do you need to improve your site speed? There are several reasons why it’s important to improve the speed of a website: How to improve site speed There are many ways to improve the speed of a website. Here are a few general tips: These are just a few general tips to improve the speed of a website. It’s also important to regularly monitor the performance of your website and make adjustments as needed to ensure it remains fast and efficient. See below for tools that can help with this. How do you optimise images for site speed? There are several ways to optimise images for site speed: How many plugins should I use for good site speed? The number of plugins that you should use on your website depends on the specific needs of your site and how well-optimised the plugins are. In general, it’s best to use as few plugins as possible, as each plugin you add to your website can potentially add more code and resources that need to be loaded, which can slow down your website. That being said, there are some plugins that are essential for the functionality of your website and can actually improve the speed of your site. For example, a caching plugin can help speed up your website by storing commonly used resources on the user’s computer, so they don’t have to be downloaded each time the user visits the website. It’s important to carefully evaluate the need for each plugin you are considering using and to only use those that are necessary for the functionality and performance of your website. If you do use multiple plugins, make sure to keep them up to date and optimise them for performance. It’s also a good idea to regularly review the plugins you are using and consider removing any that are no longer necessary or that may be slowing down your website. How do plugins slow your website down? Plugins can slow down a website for a few reasons: By using as few plugins as possible and carefully evaluating the need for each plugin you use, you can help ensure that your website performs well and loads quickly. This is something that trips me up all the time. I love a good plugin, but I tend to overload my site with them and forget to disable those that are no longer working for me. And then my site crashes or takes ages to load. Oops! It’s also important to keep your plugins up to date and to optimise them for performance to ensure that they don’t slow down your website. How do you enable compression on your website? There are a few ways to enable compression on your website: Use a plugin: Many popular content management systems (CMS) have plugins that can enable compression on your website. For example, WordPress has several plugins that can enable Gzip compression, such as W3 Total Cache and Autoptimize. Use mod_deflate: If you are using an Apache web server, you can enable compression by using the mod_deflate module. To do this, you will need to edit the .htaccess file in the root directory of your website and add the following code: <IfModule mod_deflate.c> # Compress HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Text, XML and fonts AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/vnd.ms-fontobject AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-OpenType AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-otf AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-TrueType AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-ttf AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/XML AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/opentype AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/otf AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/ttf AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/x-icon AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/CSS AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/HTML AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/XML </IfModule> Use nginx: If you are using an nginx web server, you can enable compression by adding the following code to your nginx.conf file: gzip on; gzip_comp_level 6; gzip_vary on; gzip_min_length 1000; gzip_proxied any; gzip_types text/plain text/CSS application/JSON application/javascript application/x-javascript text/XML application/XML application/xml+rss text/javascript; gzip_buffers 16 8k; These are just a few ways to enable compression on your website. It’s important to note that compression can impact the performance of your server, so it’s essential to carefully consider the trade-offs between increased performance and increased resource usage when enabling compression. What is a content delivery network? A content delivery network (CDN) is a distributed network of servers that delivers web pages and other web content to users based on their geographic location, the origin of the webpage, and the content delivery server. CDNs are used to improve the performance and speed of websites by reducing the distance that data needs to travel between the user and the server and by offloading traffic from the main server. CDNs work by storing copies of a website’s content on servers located in strategic locations around the world. When a user requests content from a website, the CDN will serve the content from the server that is closest to the user, reducing the amount of time it takes for the content to be delivered. CDNs are commonly used by websites that receive a large amount of traffic or that serve users from around the world, as they can help improve the performance and reliability of the website. CDNs can also enhance the security of a website by providing features such as DDoS protection, SSL/TLS encryption, and rate limiting. How to use a content delivery network A content delivery network (CDN) is a network of
Hear This! Voice Search Optimisation Should Be Your Priority
What is voice search? Voice search is a technology that allows users to search the internet or access information on their devices using voice commands rather than typing out a search query and can be used to search the internet, access specific websites, find information about local businesses, and more. Voice search is often used through voice assistants, such as Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Siri, software programs allowing users to interact with their devices using voice commands. Voice search is becoming increasingly popular, as it allows users to easily and quickly access information and perform tasks without typing out a search query. ‘…Around half of all internet users in the US… are users of voice search‘ and ‘27% of the global population is using voice search on mobile devices.’ It’s especially convenient for users on the go, as it allows them to access information and perform tasks without typing on a small smartphone keyboard. It is also helpful for users who may have difficulty typing, such as those with disabilities or mobility issues. Overall, voice search is important for businesses and website owners looking to reach and engage with consumers. What is voice search optimisation? Voice search optimisation is the process of optimising a website or its content to improve its ranking in the results of voice search queries. There are a few key strategies that can be used to optimise a website for voice search: By following these strategies, you can improve the ranking of your website in voice search results and make it more easily accessible to users through voice assistants. What are long tail keywords? Long-tail keywords are specific and highly targeted keywords that are typically longer and more specific than shorter, more general keywords. They are usually made up of three or more words and are often more descriptive and specific than shorter keywords. For example, “red leather shoes” is a long-tail keyword, while “shoes” is a shorter, more general keyword. Long-tail keywords are often more effective for voice search optimisation because they more closely match the way people naturally speak and ask questions. Using long-tail keywords in your website’s content can help improve its ranking in the results of voice search queries, as they are more specific and relevant to the user’s search. By including long-tail keywords in your content, you can make it more likely that your website will appear in the results of voice search queries related to your business or industry. What is structured data? Structured data is a standardised format for providing information about a webpage and classifying the page content. It allows search engines to understand the content of a webpage and provide more relevant and accurate search results. Structured data can be added to a webpage using a variety of formats, including JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data), Microdata, and RDFa (Resource Description Framework in Attributes). The most commonly used format is JSON-LD, which is a simple JavaScript notation that can be added to a webpage’s HTML code. By adding structured data to your webpage, you can help search engines understand the content of your webpage and improve its ranking in search results. This is especially important for voice search optimisation, as structured data can help search engines understand the content of your website and present it more accurately in voice search results. There are many types of structured data that can be added to a webpage, including information about products, events, people, organisations, and more. By including the appropriate structured data on your webpage, you can help search engines understand the content of your webpage and improve its ranking in search results. How to add structured data to your webpage? There are a few different ways to add structured data to your webpage: Regardless of which format you choose, it’s important to make sure that the structured data you add to your webpage is accurate and up-to-date. This will help ensure that search engines can accurately understand the content of your webpage and improve its ranking in search results. What headings should you use for voice search optimisation? When optimising your website for voice search, it’s important to use clear and concise headings and subheadings to make it easier for voice assistants to understand and present your content. Here are a few tips for choosing headings and subheadings for voice search optimisation: Why should you optimise for voice search? There are a few key reasons why you should optimise your website for voice search: Overall, optimising your website for voice search can help increase its visibility, improve the user experience, and increase its reach to a growing market of users accessing the internet through voice assistants. How many people use voice search? It’s difficult to accurately estimate the number of people who use voice search, as this can vary widely depending on a number of factors, including the specific voice assistant being used, the device on which the voice search is being conducted, and the region in which the search is being conducted. 57% of Australians use voice search, and it’s now the second choice for mobile search behind using the mobile browser. Overall, it is clear that the use of voice search is increasing all the time and that it is an important consideration for businesses and website owners looking to reach and engage with consumers. Disadvantages of optimising for voice search While optimising your website for voice search can have many benefits, there are also a few potential drawbacks to consider: ‘Traditional search and SEO focus mainly on the keyword terms and how your website ranks for them. You can get clicks from Google if your website appears on the first page and even if your website ranks at position number two, three, five, or even ten. Voice search focuses on searching in a more conversational tone. For example, when you Google search “What are the best basketball shoes for kids?” it will return a page with a variable number of paid ads (usually three or four on top of
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
Copywriting Tips for Recruitment Agencies
Recruitment firms can benefit from white hot copywriting to capture leads and generate interest in their business. From writing adverts to content, copywriting is the art of selling through words. With ‘approximately 7300 agencies in Australia‘, there has never been a better time to stand out amongst your competitors. Recruitment agencies can sometimes struggle to produce truly world-class recruitment marketing copy. They need to approach the task with a professional, dedicated and somewhat unique mindset. For those involved within the recruitment agency business, you’ll know it’s crucial for to understand your client’s businesses and marketplaces really well. Recruitment is such a delicate animal that you must always ensure you’re fully aware of your client’s company ethos and target audience before you start crafting any campaign or campaign piece. Otherwise you risk alienating them and becoming an automatic PR disaster. All too often agencies enter into their marketing campaigns without taking these details into account and as a result they face negative media attention, poor reputation management results and reduced profits as a result of this lack of professionalism. So, what are the specific challenges faced when writing recruitment marketing copy? 1. Recruitment agencies need detailed client information in order to write content that engages effectively with their audience (which is extremely difficult without any client access). 2. Content must be written in language suitable for potential applications (and not necessarily agency employees or clients themselves). 3. Client brands need protecting; it’s vital that all recruitment marketing copy avoids sounding like an advertorial for the company who has hired the agency but still educates and informs candidates of key benefits available to them. 4. An inherent problem is that by being so close to your own business you can sometimes struggle creating content which focuses on the needs of a third party. Recruitment marketing is all about making the client look great and encouraging their target market to engage with them. 5. Recruitment marketing content must be easily digestible, well written and engaging, all whilst writing for two different audiences. Recruitment consultants should follow the following copywriting tips when making any content for their marketing activities. Ensure you start off right by understanding your client and their business first, don’t go straight into writing copy without first exploring how they work and what makes them unique as an organisation or brand. Keep sentences short, clear and exciting. Sentences with an average of about 20 words are best suited for job seekers and clients alike. Use language that people use every day, not jargon or specialist terminology that only you understand, even if you are recruiting for a particular industry. Make your copy positive. Reflect a buoyant job market and use language the inspires hope and motivation. Avoid clichés and overused expressions such as ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ as they turn into noise for the average website scanner. Why not try writing more specifically. Why is the opportunity of a lifetime? Is it because the job is 100 per cent remote based with an exceptional salary? Point it out. If the copy is for an ad, focus on the advantages for the candidate and how they will benefit from working for your client. Keep content interesting and relevant; it’s OK to be enthusiastic about what you offer but avoid overplaying certain aspects. Be realistic but optimistic. Keep copy consistent with other copy on your website and social media sites. Show that you know about that industry you are recruiting for. Use the correct terminology and phrases and stay up to date with trends and demonstrate that through your digital marketing copy. Demonstrate your warmth through your writing. Job searching depression is a recognised thing, and the kinder you are to candidates, the more they will work with you to find the right job. They will likely remember your service and recommend it to others too. Have a solid tone of voice plan to ensure you constantly communicate the way you need to foster client relationships and find suitable candidates. Have a go at writing your own copy but don’t forget that help is just an arm’s length away with my professional copywriting services. I love working with recruitment firms!
Copywriting Tips for Yoga Teachers
If you’re a yoga studio owner and you want to increase your clientele, then there’s one thing you need in your marketing arsenal: copywriting. Well, after you take those gorgeous photos, of course. Even if you aren’t familiar with copywriting it’s still important that you understand how good copywriting can help you attract new class attendees and drive up sales. Before we go any further let’s look at what the term copy’means. According to Wikipedia it ‘is text crafted to persuade readers to take action.’ In other words, it’s marketing material. Professional copywriters (like myself) write website content, blog posts or email blasts for a living. As well as basically anything that will appear online or be sent out to potential customers. From your About Us page and contact details on your website, all the way down to your one-line bio on Instagram. All these things make up a complete picture and your copywriting could be the very thing that draws in potential customers. Writing good copy is an art form. You need to make people want what you’re offering without being too pushy about it (especially in the more heart centred realm of yoga), and it’s all about carefully choosing your words so that your visitors know exactly what you want them to do next. Ie, should they sign up to your enewsletter? Should they attend a free class? Here are some basic copywriting tips to keep in mind next time you are producing any marketing material. Use keywords in your copywriting. You do this by incorporating industry-related terms into your website copy and marketing materials. This is the best way to get noticed because search engines love websites with lots of keywords. Search engine crawlers will then prioritise your page higher when someone searches on that term or phrase. If you’re new to SEO, check out my collection of helpful SEO blog posts to help you get started. Tell a story through your copywriting. Yoga is more than an exercise class. Yoga is a beautiful, life altering philosophy as well as an artform and a journey. So let your customers know this by telling them what it’s like to take a class there or why you started teaching yoga in the first place. Take your potential student on a journey with your words – all before they have even walked past your reception desk! If you imagine your potential student as the main character, your studio the setting and their path to wellness as the plot, write a story that sees them take the most beautiful trip in the near future. They won’t be able to help themselves feeling inspired and motivated once they imagine themselves in the shoes of that main character. Testimonials and feedback Collect and showcase as many testimonials as you can from anyone who steps into your studio – even if it’s a longterm friend. Create opportunities for people to leave written feedback that you can use in marketing wherever possible. Through email competitions, social media platforms, hard copy forms, verbal discussions… anything that helps! You can even have your customer showcase why they love your class, studio or certain teachers at the end of their testimonial. This helps create trust-worthy promotion about you as a brand because people just crave social proof. What is the repeated feedback (informal and formal) that you get about your studio or classes? Do people say that it’s ‘such a healing space’? Or that they come to class because they need to escape their family for an hour? Or have been sleeping better? Take note anytime anyone says something and add it to your website and social media marketing as these are the HIGH selling points of your studio. Have some negative feedback? Use that as well! If you’re not in a position to change something that people have offered their criticism about, then that’s totally okay and can be used in your marketing. Let’s say, for example, someone says that they find the classes ‘just too hard.’ Perfect! Use that in your copywriting. ‘Our classes tend to be a little harder than others you have experienced…’ Not only will attract the exact right people for that class but you will be spinning a negative into a positive. Meet people where they are Just because you have done the training and study the sutras or the Vedas or other philosophical texts, doesn’t mean that your clients have. In fact, they might not even be aware of how it feels to live in their bodies! Often, particularly in your marketing (given that is the first place people learn about you) you need to meet your potential new clients where they are. Use word and terminology that they are familiar with, peppered with some aspirational outcomes. For example, ‘We know that getting enough sleep is not happening for you right now. But our classes teach you how to relax your body and mind, so it’s possible.’ Yoga teachers are often a place people come to for support, information and wellbeing guidance. But it can be more than just on the mat. It would be hard for even the most dedicated student to get all the wisdom they need in that 60 to 90 minutes in class. Students and community members need guidance outside of class. That’s why creating and sharing supportive and informative content articles are an ideal way to nurture your beloved students. As well as position you as an authority in the industry and improve your SEO. Next time someone is looking for a new yoga class to attend, who will they choose? The one that make them feel held and safe with a free flowing of information at their fingertips? Or ones that just have a stock standard website? Want 39 blog post ideas? Having trouble coming up with blog post topics? I’ve compiled an instantly downloadable pdf with THIRTY NINE BRILLIANT YOGA BLOG POST IDEAS. Get your FREE copy now.