Leveraging content relationships & social proof for conversion rate optimization
Though content marketing has only recently reached buzzword status within the search industry, guest posting has been a popular method of promoting products and services online for a long time.
It’s often cited as a great link building technique and when done well, can help your website in more ways than just search.
Conversion rate optimisation (CRO) has long been a technical art within digital marketing, but there are also a few ways in which you can utilise guest blogging and the relationships you build in the process to help improve conversions:
Qualified Traffic
Search is a fantastic driver of traffic for many businesses but it can also be wasteful in terms of conversions.
This is where content marketing can have more of an impact, as you’re segmenting your market before you ever set out your stall. When quality content marketing campaigns are focused around specific sets of users, they can be a powerful tool to drive qualified traffic to a website.
Social Proof
Wikipedia describes social proof as “a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others reflect the correct behaviour for a given situation… driven by the assumption that the surrounding people possess more information about the situation.”
In other words, in observing the behaviour of others the decision process is simplified, providing us a convenient mental shortcut to responding to the task in hand.
The Blueglass UK website provides a prime example of using social proof from content marketing:
As you can see above, they have chosen to highlight their relationships with outlets that have featured their content as well as with other brands using their services, leaving visitors to ask themselves, “If it’s good enough for the Guardian, it must be good enough for me right?”
Authorship
While I could talk about the benefits of Authorship (and the fabled AuthorRank) all day, suffice it to say there is a huge amount of value to be had in including your author profile within content.
As you begin to write and publish more content, your author picture will become synonymous with your writing. Use the same image across all platforms and content and searchers will recognise the visual clue as a familiar and trusted face within the search results. Not only does this lead to improved CTR but it also allows the user to personify the company, transferring their views of the individual content creator to the organisation.
Relationships and Testimonials
Once you’ve placed your content with a high profile blogger, don’t let that be the end of the relationship. There are so many more mutual benefits to be had!
One such example is Testimonials. Rand Fishkin wrote about this method for attracting links back in 2009, but I find it serves a double purpose. Not only does the content creator get a nice link back to their website, but you get a glowing reference that can be used as further proof of your credentials to potential prospects.
Distilled does this very well on their consulting pages, thanks to their close relationship with SEOMoz (now Moz):
Custom Landing Pages
A personalised landing page can be a great tool to help create a seamless transition from your guest content onto your own website, and maintain the brand connection between the two.
This is particularly potent when looking to gather blog or whitepaper subscriptions without the user feeling like they are just being “handled”.
From these pages you have much more control over the user journey and can look to move the prospect onto a proven conversion path as soon as possible.
One great example of this is from James Agate who guest blogged for Raven Tools and used a custom landing page to squeeze users towards subscribing to his newsletter.
Simple, yet effective.
We all know that content marketing is here to stay, but as you can see there is so much more to it than meets the eye. By using the relationships we garner through our content outreach we can help further our business goals long after the article has been published.
Have you used social proof to help improve conversions? What are your thoughts on using brand relationships for CRO?
About the Author ~ Andrew Isidoro
Andrew Isidoro is a Cardiff-based SEO Strategist at Box UK, a software development consultancy, helping to run the digital marketing department. You can find him on his blog talking about digital marketing and the state of semantic search, or on Twitter: @andrew_isidoro.
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Bad SEO content, good Google rankings: What now?
June 17, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
So thank you and keep ‘em coming!
Today, Heather discusses a question that she gets all the time, which is: should I rewrite “bad” pages that have good Google rankings?
This is an excellent question, because a lot of folks have pages on their sites that position well, but the content itself doesn’t really thrill them.
So what’s an SEO copywriter to do? Listen in as Heather shares some strategies…
Are You Afraid To Fix Your SEO Content?
You may have SEO content that is doing well in terms of search rankings, but yet you’re not altogether happy with the copy. And this can be for a variety of reasons:
- The SEO copy may be “borderline spammy.”
- Your content may not have the right tone and feel.
- Conversions may be low and bounce rates may be high.
So while your content hasn’t been hit by a Google algorithm update, it may seem a little too keyphrase heavy.
Or, it might be that your copy isn’t really clicking with your target audience, which in turn may eventually affect conversions: you might find that conversions on certain pages are low, and bounce rates are high.
Now I understand that when you have a page that’s positioning well, it’s really scary to change it. But at the end of the day, if the content isn’t performing the way you want it to perform, it’s time to take the plunge and rewrite it.
So here’s some to strategies to use:
It’s Time To Take The Plunge
- Too keyphrase stuffed? Rewrite it. You may be able to use the same # of keyphrases.
If you’re feeling like the content is too keyphrase stuffed, it could be because of how it was written. Maybe you add more content to the page, and that way you still have the keyphrases there but they make more sense with a longer word count.
You can play with that, and you may find that you’re able to use the same number of keyphrases in the rewritten content. Or, in other cases, you may need to dial them back a little bit and see if that makes the content read better.
- Determine how to best rewrite the content (changing format, tone and feel, call to action.)
You’ll also want to determine the best way to approach the content from your reader’s perspective: do you need to change the tone and feel? Do you need to make the call to action more obvious? These are just examples of the tweaks you can make so your content is perfect for your readers.
- Upload the content and monitor rankings/conversions.
And then it’s definitely taking the plunge when you upload your content and see how it performs!
You’ll want to monitor both the page rankings and conversions to see if people are taking those action steps that you want them to take. Chances are, with a content rewrite, you’re going to see some success!
Certainly you can A/B test your content to see if you can further tweak elements to make it even more successful.
And if you notice a huge drop in rankings for whatever reason, then you might want to add a few more keyphrases, and maybe change up the content a little bit more – but you’ll know how to play with it, and you’ll be more happy with this new content because it will be doing its job!
Thanks for tuning in! Again, as this series draws its inspiration from you, please let me know if you have any SEO copywriting questions. You can find me on Twitter @heatherlloyd, or you can email me at heather@seocopywriting.com.
photo thanks to brian liu (RolutionAsia)
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5 SEO writing myths that cost you money
June 13, 2013 • written by Heather Lloyd-Martin
Quit letting money fly out the window. Tighten up your SEO writing campaign!
SEO writing doesn’t work. Google keeps changing their algorithm. I guess I’ll go eat worms..
(No, not really – although I couldn’t resist throwing in that childhood ditty.)
Although you may be laughing at the “eat worms” part, it’s true that many people are seriously confused about SEO writing. Instead of embracing it and seeing its potential, they pretend it’s “not important.”
The result? Potential profits fly out the window.
How sad.
Here are the most common SEO writing myths I (still) hear:
Why should I hire an SEO writer? Google “knows” what my site is about.
Google is not a person – nor is it a mind reader (yet.) Just because it’s clear to you that you offer industrial tubing doesn’t mean that Google “gets” that. Especially if the words “industrial tubing” don’t appear on your site. I’ve seen Google rankings go from so-so to spectacular after an SEO writer rewrote the existing content (and conversions went up, too.) Why wouldn’t you want that success for your own site?
I don’t need to research keyphrases. I’m sure I’ll use the “right” words when I write the content.
Sadly, I hear this mostly from freelance copywriters who believe that “SEO writing is a myth” ::sigh:: Yes, you’ll probably naturally use some of the keyphrases while you’re writing the content. But the keyword there is “some.” Keyphrase research gives you amazing insight on how people search for your product or service. Why ignore the data when it’s right there – and it’s free?
SEO writing is too technical. I can’t learn it.
Yes, you can. Really. Sure, the SEO lingo may be overwhelming at first. But I’ve literally seen thousands of people go from, “I can’t do this,” to “Hey, this isn’t as bad as I thought.” Is there a learning curve? Yes. Can you learn it (even if you come from a print copywriting background, or you’re a stressed-out business owner?) You bet!
People won’t call me if I include “too much” information on my site.
If you think being “mysterious” will increase your conversion rates, think again. If you want people to buy from you – or contact you for more information – the more content, the better. Plus, the more content you add, the more opportunities you have to position for even more keyphrases (which means getting found in Google more often!) Never be afraid of adding good content that answers your target audiences’ questions.
Why bother? Google is going to change the SEO writing rules anyway.
It’s true that Google has tightened up their SEO content requirements. The spammy copy that worked once upon a time is no longer effective (yippee!). However, Google is still rewarding well-written, quality content. Have there been some changes to how I approach an SEO copywriting client and write their content? Sure. Have the basic fundamentals stayed in place for over 15 years. You bet. Why let learned helplessness get in the way of great Google rankings?
Did you notice that I didn’t include keyword density on this list? That’s because – after years of talking about it – I’m sure that people know it’s a myth. Right? Right?
What other SEO writing myths would you add to this list?
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SEO content marketing roundup, week ending June 12th
June 12, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
The SEO and search community discusses Google’s recent announcement regarding mobile SEO and rankings, its disavow links tool and analytics, author rank, SMX Advanced 2013 sessions, Bing developments, and PPC.
Meanwhile, social media marketers note Facebook’s cut-back of ad products and its killing off of sponsored stories, and discuss YouTube’s new one-channel design, the new Google+ dashboard, Twitter traffic, and social sales.
Enjoy this week’s picks!
Content Marketing
Lee Odden posts “How Much Content Should You Be Creating?” at OpenView Marketing Labs.
Discussing her recent research report, Rebecca Lieb posts “Where Does The Content Budget Come From?” at Marketing Land.
Bharati Ahuja shares a post and infographic based on Accenture’s survey of CMOs worldwide with “The Digital World Challenge Faced By The Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) in 2013” at WebPro Technologies.
Search Engine Watch Editor Danny Goodwin shares “5 tips to guarantee your guest blogging pitch doesn’t suck” at SEO Copywriting,
Tom Demers discusses “How to ‘Level-Up’ Your Guest Posting Efforts” at Search Engine Journal.
John Waghorn shares “10 Ways To Add Value To Your Content” at Koozai.
Sean D’Souza posts “The Power of the Double-Whammy Headline: How to Increase the Chances of Your Content Being Read” at Copyblogger.
Lee Odden shares “How Personas Guide Meaningful Content Creation & Optimization” at TopRank.
Joe Pulizzi posts “Break Through the Barriers to Enterprise Content Creation” at Content Marketing Institute.
Sandra LeDuc shares “3 Ways to Keep Content Zombies from Eating Your Brains” at Portent.
Sean Duran discusses “How to Hook New Customers with Your Explainer Video” at KISSmetrics.
Jordan Warman posts a short video on scriptwriting software, “How to Script Your Explainer Videos with Celtx”, at ReelSEO.
Heather Lloyd-Martin discusses “Why your video sales letter sucks…(and what you can do about it!)” at SEO Copywriting.
John Carvalho discusses “Image Influence: Placing Pictures for Maximum Impact” at Neuromarketing.
Gini Dietrich shares “Four Tips to Take Photos for Your Content” at Spin Sucks.
Boney Pandya discusses “Why You Should Be Focusing On Visual Content Marketing” at Small Business Trends.
David Rossiter discusses “The 5 Branded Content Channels You Need for Better Discoverability” at Content Marketing Institute.
Lee Odden shares “Content Promotion Tips for Online Community Managers” at TopRank.
Beyond a brand’s online community: Mackenzie Fogelson discusses building a company with “Meet Your Community-Building Team” at The Moz Blog.
Rachel Sprung posts “7 Trailblazing Brands That Won By Being First” at HubSpot.
Zach Bulygo discusses “Achieving Engagement with Email Marketing” at KISSmetrics.
Michael Truby discusses “Why email is a key element of mobile marketing” at Ragan’s PR Daily.
Gini Dietrich explains “The Differences Between Paid, Earned, Owned, and Shared Media” at AllBusiness Experts.
Heidi Cohen posts “20 Experts Select Key Content Marketing Metrics.”
Jakob Nielsen discusses the appeal of factually rich content with “Interesting Facts Make Web Pages Compelling” at his Alertbox.
MarketingSherpa’s weekly research chart, based on data from its 2012 Website Optimization Benchmark Report, finds 67% of medium-size companies implement unique landing pages (as opposed to other optimization tactics).
Carl Friesen posts “Why SEO May Be Irrelevant When It Comes to B2B Thought Leadership” at Content Marketing Institute.
In a rebuttal to Friesen’s CMI post (above), Lee Odden posts “Why SEO is Relevant When It Comes to B2B Thought Leadership” at Top Rank.
Tim Ash discusses “Helping Buyers Cover Their Butts: The Ultimate B2B Conversion Strategy” at ClickZ.
Greg Jarboe posts “Beyond Engagement: Harnessing the Power of B2B Video Marketing” at ReelSEO.
Marcela DeVivo posts “How to Enhance Your Content Marketing Strategy With Analytics and Benchmarking” at Powered by Search.
Events:
(John Hall lists a number of great conferences for online marketers, businesses, and entrepreneurs at Forbes).
SEO & Search
Referring to a recent Google announcement, Barry Schwartz reports “Google: Pages With Bad Mobile SEO Won’t Rank As Well In Future” at Search Engine Land.
Eric Enge discusses correct annotations, responsive web design, and more in an in-depth interview, “Mobile SEO with Google’s Pierre Far”, at Stone Temple.
Bill Dinan posts “DNI – What Mobile Search Marketers Need To Know About Online-Offline Attribution” at Marketing Land.
Dana Lookadoo and Virginia Nussey live blog Tuesday (6/10) sessions from SMX Advanced 2013, including “Authorship: The Deep Dive”, “Microdata, Schema, Rich Snippets”, “The Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors: 2013 Edition”, and “PPC Best Practices in an Enhanced Campaign World” at Bruce Clay, Inc..
Danny Sullivan posts an updated version of his famous Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors (referenced above, via SMX Advanced) with “Now Updated: The Periodic Table of SEO Success Factors” at Search Engine Land.
Reporting from eConsultancy’s Future of Digital Marketing conference, Shelley shares Will Critchlow’s presentation on “The Future of Search” at distilled.
David Iwanow shares “SEO Tools & Software – SEO Meetups Presentation June 2013” via SlideShare.
Greg Kumparak posts “Here’s The Live Video Stream For Apple’s WWDC 2013 Keynote” at TechCrunch.
Citing a Washington Post poll, Amy Gesenhues reports “Google Beats Apple & Facebook For Most Favorite Tech Company With 83% Favorable Rating” at Marketing Land.
Gabriella Sannino shares a G+ Hangout video, International Consultants talking on Google+, with “Strategies for your site globally” at Level 343.
Citing a recent Matt Cutts’ Google Webmaster video, Chris Crum reports “Matt Cutts: Here’s What You’re Doing Wrong With ‘Disavow Links’ Tool” at WebProNews.
Chuck Price posts “How to Use Google’s Disavow Links Tool the Right Way” at Search Engine Watch.
Michael Martinez posts “Answers to Questions About Search Engine Optimization” at SEO Theory.
Discussing Matt Cutts’ Webmaster video on whether Google will be evaluating the use of rel=”author” moving forward, Brafton posts “Matt Cutts to marketers: Embrace your online identity and reputation.”
Citing the same Google Webmaster video, Barry Schwartz posts “Google’s Matt Cutts: Web Spam Benefits From Using Rel=’Author’” at Search Engine Land.
Doc Sheldon makes the distinction between authorship and authority in posting “Will Google’s Agent Rank Ever Become a Ranking Factor?” at Search News Central.
AJ Kohn discusses why “Keywords Still Matter” at Blind Five Year Old.
Jennifer Horowitz discusses the death of SEO (again) with “Don’t Go Planning The Funeral Yet” at Level 343.
Avinash Kaushik posts “Excellent Analytics Tip #25: Decrapify Search, Social Compound Metrics” at Occam’s Razor.
Jayson DeMers discusses “How to Use Google Webmaster Tools to Maximize Your SEO Campaign” at Search Engine Watch
Bill Hartzer posts “In a Post Google Penguin World, It is Still Okay to Link Out.”
Michael Martinez posts “What Is a Link Scheme? Ask an SEO, Get a Wrong Answer” at SEO Theory.
Heather Lloyd-Martin shares snakeoil SEO tells with “When to run away from an SEO copywriting company” at SEO Copywriting.
Joseph Kerschbaum discusses “How to Use Google Analytics Visitors Flow Reports to Improve Conversion Rates” at Search Engine Watch.
Bharati Ahuja discusses “The Concentric Circles Of Quality Web Presence” at WebPro Technologies.
Garry Przyklenk discusses “Demystifying Direct/Bookmarked Traffic in Analytics Reports” at Search Engine Watch.
David Mihm discusses “How Business Listings are Made” via Local Whiteboard Friday at The Moz Blog.
Ginny Marvin posts “Big AdWords Auction Insights Update: Now Get Competitive Data On Campaigns, Ad Groups, Keywords” at Search Engine Land.
Larry Kim posts “How Product Listing Ads Are Stealing Your Conversions” at WordStream.
Ginny Marvin also reports “Bing Ads Will Copycat Google Adwords Enhanced Campaign With New Bid Adjustments” at Search Engine Land.
Timothy Johnson posts the fifth of a six-part series, “Building Successful Low Budget PPC: Ad Extensions” at Portent.
Pauline Jakober discusses “3 Reasons Why SEO and PPC Are a Match Made in Heaven” at High Rankings Advisor.
Referring to Apple’s improved Siri now searching with Bing, Chris Crum posts “Can Bing Put A Bigger Dent In Google’s Searches?” at WebProNews.
Will Critchlow confesses “I Think I Might Have Been Wrong About Voice Search” at The Moz Blog.
Events:
Social Media Marketing
Corey Eridon posts “Facebook Kills Sponsored Stories, Cuts Ad Products in Half” at HubSpot.
Jason Miller posts “Stop Whining about Edgerank and Do Something About it” at Marketo.
Pete Prestipino reports “Facebook News Feed Ads Outperforming Google” at Website Magazine.
Cotton Delo reports “Rise of WhatsApp Could Slow Facebook’s Quest for Mobile Growth” at Ad Age|digital.
Matt McGee reports “YouTube’s New One Channel Design Now Live For All Publishers” at Marketing Land.
Zara Stone discusses “How to Make the Most of YouTube’s New Redesign” at Entrepreneur.
Greg Finn reports “All In +One: Google+ Dashboard Compiles Important Business Data Into A Unified Location” at Marketing Land.
Stephan Hovnanian posts “Is your brand listening on Google Plus? It should be!” at The Social Media Hat.
Heidi Cohen posts “Social Media: What Marketers Want to Know in 2013.”
Andrew McDonald posts “Branding your business through social media – or not” at Brafton.
Marketing Charts posts “For New Business Development, Agencies See Facebook As Overrated.”
Mitch Joel talks with Monetate’s David Brussin in his latest podcast, “The Truth About Social Media and Selling Stuff” at Six Pixels of Separation.
Craig Jamieson posts “Social Sales: 8 Steps to Removing Your Blinders” at WindMill Networking.
Mack Collier discusses “Five Ways a Small Business Can Use Social Media to Drive Sales.”
Sean Carlos posts “Is Being Found Part of Your Social Media Strategy?” at Search Engine Land.
Gini Dietrich discusses “What PR Firms are Missing: Ideas” at Spin Sucks.
Ryan Hanley talks “Adding Social Love to Your Facebook Marketing Strategy with Amy Porterfield” in his (#31) Content Warfare Podcast.
KISSmetrics posts an infographic derived from several sources on “How to Get More Likes on Facebook.”
Sarah Schager shares “Practical Examples of How Facebook is Affecting the Travel Industry” at Vertical Measures.
Michael Stelzner interviews Kim Garst for his latest weekly podcast with “Twitter Traffic: How to Double Your Traffic to Your Content (with Twitter)” at Social Media Examiner.
Leo Widrich posts “How to share your Tweets at optimal times: Followerwonk and Buffer team up” at The Buffer Blog.
Danny Brown shares “Three Cool and Inexpensive Tools to Track Twitter Hashtags.”
Rebekah Radice shares tools with “6 Essential Blog Editors Every Blogger Needs.”
Kimberly Reynolds shares “5 Creative Ways to Drive More Traffic to Your Blog Posts” at Social Media Examiner.
Mark Schaefer discusses “tricks of the trade” for improving the quality of blog posts with “Do you have to be a great writer to be a great blogger?” at {grow}.
Matt McGee answers a reader question on repurposing older content with “How to Promote Old Blog Content” at Small Business Search Marketing.
Julia Rosien posts “10 Commandments of Blogging” at V3 Integrated Marketing.
Events:
(For an all-in-one listing and description of social media, content & inbound marketing events, check out Neal Schaffer’s “The 12 Best Social Media Conferences to Attend in 2013” at Social Media Today.)
photo thanks to MIKI Yoshihito
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5 tips to guarantee your guest blogging pitch doesn’t suck
June 11, 2013 • written by Danny Goodwin
But every once in a while, someone manages to make their pitch stand out from the cesspool that guest blogging has seemingly become. What’s their secret? They get “it”.
What is “it”, and how do you get “it” if you don’t already have “it”? Let’s find out by looking at some actual examples of emails I’ve received from people who want to write for my website.
Are You the Keymaster?
At some point, you’ve probably read a story about how editors are the “gatekeepers.” Well, I’m one of those gatekeepers.
Considering that Search Engine Watch (SEW) is the longest running site dedicated to covering the latest developments in all thing search, naturally it attracts attention from people in the search marketing industry – and sometimes from even people beyond SEM. During a week, we may see anywhere from 25 to over 100 requests from people who want to write for SEW.
Like many sites, SEW has a pretty straightforward page for people who are interested in writing for SEW, fittingly called “Write for SEW”. If you’re so inclined, you can click on that link and go read those simple rules, which aren’t there just for SEO purposes. These rules are meant to explain to potential contributors exactly what we’re looking for so we can avoid wasting each other’s time.
Still, so many people seemingly go to that page and fill out the form fields and click submit without bothering to read the guidelines, or even put much thought into their pitch.
Rather than talk in generalities, though, let’s look at a few examples of guest pitches that suck, so you can know what to avoid and increase your odds of guest blogging or becoming a regular contributor for a website you really want to write for.
1. Don’t Tell Me Where You Write, Show Me
Actual email: “I would like to see if you have an opening for a writer! As a full service digital agency, I write for [REDACTED] on SEO, UX, web development, kiosks, media production, mobile, and social.”
Why This Sucks: Too generic and not nearly enough information here to stand out from any of the 100+ pitches I’ll see this week, all from people with the same/similar skillsets (and many of them also have a “full service digital agency”).
Tip 1: Don’t tell me where you write, show me: Link me to awesome posts you’ve written or at least to a bio page on another site. Trust me, gatekeepers at authoritative sites generally won’t make the time to hunt you down if you obviously haven’t spent more than two minutes on this form.
Additional (real) examples of things not to do:
“Please see my sample posts and let me know if you need anything else.” (No sample posts or links included.)
” ” (No, that’s not an error. More than one person has left the message where he/she should have included additional details, such as maybe a potential topic or links to previously published posts – or anything really!)
2. Your Pitch Isn’t About You
Actual email (excerpt): “[REDACTED] would love to expand his expertise by join SEW’s writing team. He is interesting in contributing articles that focus around SEO, social media analysis, content marketing and their relationship with new business.”
Why This Sucks: I’m instantly put off by someone who thinks that writing for my website will grow HIS expertise. (Remember: I don’t know you yet, so don’t expect me to fall in love and jump into bed with you (metaphorically speaking, of course) instantly!)
SEW wants to feature contributors who share their expertise with the greater community. SEW’s mission is to help marketers (our core audience) do their jobs better. If you need to grow your expertise by writing for us, you aren’t writing for SEW. The same will be true with other quality publications, regardless of the niche/vertical.
Tip 2: Your pitch should focus on the site you’re targeting: Show me how the post you want to write for SEW will help our readers, not you. Show me you’ve done some kind of research and we aren’t just a notch in your guest blogging bedpost.
Additional (real) examples of things not to say as your “pitch”:
“I produce a ton of good content. I’d love to become a contributor for SEW.” (You and 1,000 other people.)
“All I would ask is to be able to place 1-2 relevant do-follow links back to my client’s reputation management website.” (Asking for links is just asking to be ignored.)
“Kindly allow me to write here.” (Kindly, no.)
“I’m willing to become a regular contributor here at SearchEngineWatch.com. I have been following this platforms since many years and it would be really a good achievement for me to be a part of the platform I have been admiring.” (You may be willing, but I’m certainly not!)
“I am primarily looking to get my word out and write about something i have much passion in.” (Your word, eh?)
“I have been a reader of SEW for several years now, and would like to be a contributor on a bi-monthly basis. Thank you for your consideration. Looking forward to your response!” (But that first guy would “love” to be a contributor…you only would “like” to?
)
“It has always been a goal of mine to write on a regular basis for a quality source of information and SEW is, in my eyes, perfect for me.” (So, are you expecting me to start singing “Call Me Maybe”? Because I just met you, and this is crazy.)
3. Grammar and Spelling Count, Big Time!
Let’s stick with the same email excerpt from the previous section for a minute.
Another Reason This Sucks: Just as typos or grammatical errors will get your resume thrown in the trash, so too will a pitch with just wording as “by join SEW’s writing team” and “He is interesting in contributing articles” get your email deleted. If you want to write for a site, you better be able to, you know, show that you are able to write.
Tip 3: If you really want to write for a website, check your spelling and grammar before you send that email or submit that form. First impressions count. If you can’t get your pitch right, I assume everything about your content will be suspect, and you definitely aren’t worth the risk.
Additional (real) examples of bad grammar that kill you dead:
“Please let me know if you can allow me writing a guest post on your blog and I will send you my article for review.” (There’s a difference between can and won’t.)
“All of the content I provide is unique and written to a high quality ” (This is a huge warning sign that your content will actually be the opposite.)
“I writes passionaly about social media in reliance on marketing tactics, technique and on my marketing education.” (Passionaly? More like painfully.)
” I’m be interested in writing for searchenginewatch…” (Work on mastering writing first, OK?)
” I would like to contribute as a write to your prestigious portal” (Funny, I want to keep it prestigious.)
4. Your Contacts Have Names
Actual email (excerpt): “Hello Admin…”
Why this Sucks: My name is not Admin.
Tip 4: Do a bit of research: Find the “About Us”, “Staff”, or “Contact Us” page on the website or blog/publication you want to write for. There, you’ll likely discover an actual name of a staff member, editor, or webmaster. Show the blog owner or editor a signal that you know who they are. Make it personal.
Additional (real) examples of things not to say as your “pitch”:
“Hi {NAME}” (Wow. Just wow.)
“Dear Sir/ma’am” (My facial hair doesn’t give away my gender?)
“I’ve been reading your blog on searchenginewatch.com since long.” (Don’t use a domain name…use the publication, website, or blog name. Not to mention don’t use terms such as “since long”.)
“I was just checking out your blog…” (Obvious way to show you don’t know the website.)
5. What Are You Going to Write About?
Some people simply link to their writing samples. While linking to published content is helpful, by itself it is useless.
Tip 5: Clearly explain what you want to write about: If you’re targeting a search marketing publication, you should have some expertise in SEO, PPC, social, analytics, local, mobile, or video. What topic do you want to write about?
Even better, pitch a headline and blurb (teaser). This will be another indicator that you’ve given some good thought to your pitch.
Even better, do a site: search and make sure the post you’re pitching hasn’t already been written about. Identifying a hole in your target site’s coverage, or perhaps offering to update/rewrite an existing article, are two quick ways to potentially get your foot in the door.
You Can’t Game a Gatekeeper
Think of gatekeepers as if they’re Google. Google’s algorithm determines a website’s ranking based on more than 200 ranking factors and signals. So when you pitch a blog post, you can’t just focus on any one of the above areas, or even other “intangibles”, and expect success.
Spammy guest blog pitches will be wiped out of inboxes in the same way Google removes spam from its index. Sending editors all the right signals won’t guarantee success for any number of reasons, but you will definitely improve the odds of getting a reply to that email you’re waiting for.
Bottom line: Don’t be selfish. Be human. Be polite. Be smart. Be specific.
About the Author ~ Danny Goodwin
Danny Goodwin is the Editor of Search Engine Watch, the longest running search industry publication dedicated to covering the latest search and social news and trends, as well as providing how-to guides and actionable advice for marketers and advertisers of all skill levels. You can find him on Twitter.
photo thanks to Rachael Towne (stockerre)
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SEO Copywriting Checklist: Why your video sales letter sucks…
June 10, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
Greetings! Today’s video post of the SEO Copywriting Checklist series was inspired by an email Heather received, which linked her to a video sales letter. A very long video sales letter – as in, 12 minutes long.
Heather wrote the solicitor back, saying “I wanted to learn more about your product, but I don’t have 12 minutes’ worth of time to sit there and watch a video without having more information.
“So if you want to send me information in an email, great! But I read fast, so I like to have that information in text form.”
Heather is not alone in her dislike of lengthy video sales letters – or in her preference for text. So if you produce video sales letters, or if you’re thinking about adding them to your online marketing mix, tune in to learn some pointers on making them better both for your audience and for SEO!
Yes, They Can Be Successful…But Consider This
- Your audience may not want to sit through a video. At all. Especially a longer video.
I hear complaints about lengthy video sales letters from a lot of folks. They’ll go to a “help” site, or they’ll want to learn more about a product (as was my case), and instead of being able to read text, they’re faced with a video.
Some of these videos you can’t pause, you can’t rewind – you start them and they’ll just play on, some of them for up to an hour.
So while video sales letters can be successful in certain situations, consider that a large segment of your audience might not want to sit through it!
Even a small alienated segment of your audience represents lost sales – or lost good will if they’ve come to your site to learn more information.
Here are some things I’d recommend you try, no matter how enthusiastic you are about video sales letters…
Try A Little Bit Of Text And Check Conversions
- Transcripts are fantastic.
I might not watch a video, but I will read a transcript. And I have converted on sites that have video transcripts, because I have been able to read, and the company in question has given me that option.
- If you don’t want to provide a transcript, consider a bullet point summary.
If you don’t want to provide a transcript for whatever reason, consider including a really good, content-rich bullet point summary.
At least that way, the folks who don’t want to sit through your video have some context, and something to think about. Otherwise, they’re liable to bounce out of your site and not visit it again.
- Adding text is great for SEO, too – you can include keyphrases in your copy.
Adding text to accompany your video sales letter has the advantage of being good for Google, too. It gives Google copy to crawl and index, and you can certainly add keyphrases to your content.
It creates a nice win-win: it’s a great win for those folks who don’t necessarily want to view your video, and it can also help you in terms of SEO!
Thanks for joining me! As always, if you have any questions I would love to hear from you. You can reach me on Twitter @heatherlloyd, or email me at heather@seocopywriting.com.
photo thanks to Leo Fung (fung.leo)
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SEO content marketing roundup, week ending June 5th
June 5, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
Content marketers take note as Salesforce.com swallows ExactTarget, and discuss the role of SEO in their industry, video marketing strategy, blogging and PR, conversions, curation, and data-driven marketing.
The SEO and search community assess the impact of Penguin 2.0, and discuss the rise of the new link spam in the form of unsolicited guest blogging requests.
Meanwhile, Microsoft’s search ad revenue estimates face a sharp reduction while Google retains the lion’s share of the U.S. market. Other discussions center on Google’s Matt Cutts’ latest video on “SEO misconceptions,” analytics, new Google offerings, and mobile SEO/search.
Social media marketers talk up Google+, as it beats out Twitter as the second largest social media network of choice among U.S. users. Facebook’s verified pages and profiles, LinkedIn’s even richer updates, Pinterest’s rich pins, and Twitter’s pre-IPO ad exchange ambitions are also discussed.
Hope you have a big appetite – enjoy this week’s picks!
Content Marketing
Lee Odden posts “The Truth About Content Marketing & SEO” at TopRank.
Sujan Patel discusses “The Intersection of SEO and Content Marketing” at Search Engine Journal.
Andrew Chen discusses “10 Journalism Rules That Can Teach You Everything You Need to Know About Content Marketing” at KISSmetrics.
Heather Lloyd-Martin discusses “Why your site needs a newsletter. Right now” at SEO Copywriting.
Ritika Puri posts “Your Content Marketing Needs These 5 Things” at The Content Strategist.
Arnie Kuenn discusses “Conducting Data-Driven Content Marketing” at Marketing Land.
“All The Marketing Statistics You Need To Know” are gathered in one place at HubSpot.
Mitch Joel shares several of the more notable presentations from the All Things D event (D11) (including the interview with Apple’s Tim Cook) with “All Things Digital” at Six Pixels of Separation.
Joe Pulizzi discusses “Measuring the Impact of Your Content Marketing Strategy: The Pyramid Approach” at Content Marketing Institute.
Steve P. Young shares “The 4 C’s of a smokin’ hot YouTube marketing strategy” at SEO Copywriting.
Chris Atkinson shares a brief post and infographic, “Which Video Marketing Metrics Matter?” at ReelSEO.
Adam Singer posts “Getting Visual: Your Secret Weapon For Storytelling & Persuasion” at The Future Buzz.
Megan Totka posts “Not All Content Marketing is Created Equal: Location, Size, and Scope” at Marketo.
Barry Feldman posts “Content Marketing: Will You Be Writing Big Checks Or Cashing Them?” at Social Media Explorer.
David Moth discusses “11 things I’ve learned from writing 1,000 blog posts” at eConsultancy.
Ryan Hanley posts “Picking the Brain of a Professional Blogger with Kristi Hines” at his (#30) Content Warfare Podcast.
Lilach Bullock shares tips and tools with “How to make your blog mobile friendly” at Socialable.
Marketing Sherpa’s weekly research chart finds that “84% of marketers consider blogs at least somewhat effective for inbound marketing.”
Good question: Doug Kessler posts “What’s So New About Content Marketing?” at Content Marketing Institute.
Christopher Penn discusses “What Salesforce + ExactTarget means for marketers and PR pros” at Shift Communications.
Lisa Buyer posts “Blogging PR Secrets and Style Guides – What’s In and Out” at ClickZ.
Gini Dietrich takes a look at “The PR Firm of the Future” at Spin Sucks.
Kristen Matthews posts “Blogger Outreach: The Sexy Name for What PR Pros Have Been Doing for Years” at Social Media Today.
Neil Patel shares “30 Quick Conversion Tips Every Marketer Needs to Know” at Quicksprout.
Peter Sandeen posts “How to Make Buying from Your Website Inevitable” at KISSmetrics.
Dustin Sparks discusses “The Most Dangerous Landing Page Mistakes & How You Can Fix Them” at Unbounce.
Tyson Goodridge posts a blog and infographic with “The 6 Types of Digital Consumers and Their Paths to Purchase” at Compete Pulse.
As Reader’s demise nears, Matt McGee reports “Feedly Outlines RSS Roadmap, Touts 68% Conversion Of Testers To Active Users” at Marketing Land.
Anna Pedersen shares “Time-Saving (& Free!) Curation Tools For The Modern Multitasking Content Marketer” at aimClear.
Robin Good shares his Pinterest board featuring different examples of “Content Curation Visualized.”
Heidi Cohen posts “Content Curation: 19 Definitions.”
Mitch Joel discusses “The Inferior Brand” at Six Pixels of Separation.
Seth Godin posts “What does your brand stand for?” at his blog.
Denny Hatch posts “Time to Reevaluate Your Website? Too many Web designers don’t know squat” at Target Marketing.
Heather Lloyd-Martin calls for a truce with “Freelance copywriters and IT: Can’t we all just get along?” at SEO Copywriting.
Events:
(John Hall lists a number of great conferences for online marketers, businesses, and entrepreneurs at Forbes).
SEO & Search
Barry Schwartz summarizes the latest Google Webmaster video with “Google’s Matt Cutts On SEO Industry Misconceptions: Updates, Revenue Goals & Link Building Obsession” at Search Engine Land.
Discussing the latest Google Webmaster (Matt Cutts) video, Chris Crum posts “Google Insists Panda, Penguin Not Designed To Increase Its Revenue” at WebPro News.
Based “on years of observation”, Danny Sullivan posts “Infographic: The Matt Cutts Debunking Flowchart” at Search Engine Land.
Adam de Jong posts “In the Aftermath of Penguin 2.0, Branding Is Now a Major Ranking Factor” at HubSpot.
Danny Goodwin discusses “Google Penguin 2.0 Casualties: Why Sites Got Hit” at Search Engine Watch.
Barry Schwartz reports that “’Text Link Ads’ Was Latest Hit By Google’s Actions Against Link Sellers” at Search Engine Land.
Peter van der Graaf posts “Backlink Monitoring: Keeping Track of Your Existing Links” at Search Engine Watch.
Barrie Smith discusses “Identifying a Bad Backlink Profile” at Majestic SEO.
Ann Smarty shares a Google Products forum thread which indicates “For Disavow Analysis all you need is an export from your Google Webmaster Tools” at Threadwatch.
Grant Simmons predicts what might come into Google’s crosshairs next with “Beating a Dead Penguin” at Search Engine Watch.
Chris Liversidge addresses “Big Brand SEO & Penguin 2.0” at Search Engine Land.
Michael Martinez discusses smart guest blogging/linking practices with “How to Drop a Search Sledge Penalty on Your Foot” at SEO Theory.
In a similar tone, Carter Bowles posts “Warning: ‘Real’ Bloggers Don’t Want Your Guest Posts” at Northcutt SEO.
Dave Snyder also discusses the “Post Penguin Wasteland” and attendant “guest posting scourge” with “Defining Authorship: The Difference Between Contributors and Guest Authors” at Search Engine Watch.
Justin Briggs posts “How Does Google Authorship Impact CTR?” at his blog.
Bryanna Baldauf shares “10 Top Link Building Tools to Make Your Life Easier” at Vertical Measures.
A “Big List of FREE Keyword Tools” (23 in all) are posted at Website Magazine.
Gianluca Fiorelli posts an amazing odyssey through the W3 cosmos with “A Universe of Graphs” at The Moz Blog.
Carrie Hill discusses “2 Underutilized Opportunities for Schema on Your Website” at Search Engine Watch.
David Rodnitzky discusses Google evangelist Avinash Kaushik’s presentation on understanding the full value of mobile with “Fifty Shades of Full Value” at Search Engine Land.
Kristina Kledzik discusses “Choosing the Right Mobile Site Platform” at distilled.
Rand Fishkin discusses “Building a Marketing Flywheel” (Whiteboard Friday) at The Moz Blog.
Ginny Marvin posts “New Content Experiments API Launches To Power A/B Testing With Google Analytics” at Marketing Land.
Carrie Hill shares “Tips For Analyzing The Impact Of Your Marketing Activities In Google Analytics” at Search Engine Land.
Ralf Haberich discusses diminishing marginal returns with “Web Analytics: How deep should you dig?” at Web Analytics World.
Aaron Wall has some choice words about industry doublespeak with “Inbound, Outbound, Outhouse” at SEO Book.
Larry Kim posts “News Flash: PPC Is Inbound Marketing” at WordStream.
Timothy Johnson posts the fourth installment of six with “Building Successful Low Budget PPC: Crafting Engaging Ads” at Portent.
George Fischer discusses “How to Dominate the Entire First Page of Google” at Search Engine Watch.
Jeremy Vest posts “LinkedIn Skills Beat-up Your SERPS” at Search Engine Journal.
Rebecca Murtagh discusses “6 Reasons the Website (vs. Social Media) Should Be the Ultimate Destination for the Brand” at Search Engine Watch.
Will Scott discusses “Hyperlocal Social News On Patch” at Search Engine Land.
Peter DaVanzo discusses optimizing an SEO business with “Growing An SEO Business By Removing Constraints” at SEO Book.
Frederic Lardinois reports “Google Will Soon Launch Google Web Designer, A Free HTML5 Development Tool For Creating Web Apps, Sites and Ads” at TechCrunch.
Citing eMarketer’s revised predictions, Ginny Marvin reports “Microsoft Search Ad Revenue Estimates Get Major Downgrade; Google Retains 74% U.S. Market Share” at Search Engine Land.
Kara Swisher reports “Microsoft Ponders Major Restructuring, Amid Renewed Wall Street Focus on Stock” at AllThingsD.
Josh Constine reports “Yahoo Shuts Down Mail Classic, Forces Switch To New Version That Scans Your Emails To Target Ads” at TechCrunch.
Events:
Social Media Marketing
eMarketer reports “Google+ Trumps Twitter, Earning Second Place for Total US Social Account Holders.”
Mark Traphagen posts “Google Plus Redesign: What It Means for Business Users” at WindMill Networking.
Amie Marse posts “5 Reasons You Can No Longer Afford to Ignore Google Plus (for Business)” at Small Business Trends.
John Anyasor compiles the “Top 20 Blogs to Help You Become a Google+ Expert” at UpCity.
Ramsay Taplin shares “29 Essential Tips from the Top Google Plus Geeks” at Blog Tyrant.
Charles Arthur sees Google+ through an Orwellian lens with “Google+ isn’t a social network; it’s The Matrix” at The Guardian News.
Lee Odden discusses social content curation with “Social Media Hubs for Brands – Best Practices & 9 Examples” at TopRank.
Gerald Weber most favorably reviews the social sharing tool Viral Content Buzz with “Under the Hood; Viral Content Buzz” at Search News Central.
Brian Solis posts “Plugging into the Future of Humanity: Exploring the Human API” at his blog.
Anita Li shares Mozy’s infographic condensing the history and current anatomy of “What’s in a Meme?” at Mashable.
“Facebook Verified Pages and Profiles” headlines Social Media Examiner’s weekly news.
Tim Peterson reports “Twitter Prepping Online Ad Exchange to Rival Facebook’s” at Ad Age|digital.
Big data visualized: John Koetsier posts “Twitter paints the world with your geo-tagged tweets” at Venture Beat.
Drew Olanoff posts “Twitter Redesigns #Music To Further Highlight Charts, Offering A Hint Of What’s To Come Site-Wide” at TechCrunch.
Brad Knutson shares “6 Steps to Organically Increase Your Twitter Following” at his blog.
Ann Smarty shares “7 Free Tools to Find Twitter Influencers Who Interact with You” at Small Business Trends.
Jennifer Horowitz discusses Pinterest’s launch of “rich pins” at Level 343.
Stephanie Buck interviews Pinterest Data Scientist John Rauser with “Building a Better Pinterest Through Data” at Mashable.
Kristi Hines posts “How to Use Pinterest Rich Pins: What Marketers Need to Know” at Social Media Examiner.
Barry Schwartz discusses a new Pinterest search feature that allows you to “Search Your Own ‘Pins’ On Pinterest” at Search Engine Land.
Citing research by Curalate, Ryan Tate posts “This Is the Perfect Pinterest Picture, According to Science” at Wired.
Greg Finn reports “LinkedIn Updates Get Richer: Upload Images, Documents & Presentations In A Post” at Marketing Land.
Jeff Bullas shares “39 Awesome Tools and Resources for Blogging and Social Media Marketing” at his blog.
Jamie Turner shares “5 Mobile Social Media Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Business” at Social Media Examiner.
Jeff Ogden posts “How the famous marketing expert Guy Kawasaki Manages Social Media” at Fearless Competitor.
Rachel DiCaro Metscher posts “Ensure That Strategy, not Tactics, Drives Your Social Media” at MarketingProfs.
Ken Yeung discusses “How Facebook could turn Home around by expanding integration with its own feature set” at The Next Web.
Based on Social Media Examiner’s 2013 Industry Report, Heidi Cohen posts a blog and infographic on “B2C Versus B2B: The Most Important Social Media Platform.”
Also citing research by Social Media Examiner (and Technorati Media), Jonathan Espinosa posts “Brands allocating most of social marketing budget on Facebook, uncertain of worth” at Inside Facebook.
Competing with the big boys: Ken Doctor discusses digital advertising dollars with “The newsonomics of climbing the ad food chain” at Nieman Journalism Lab.
Michael Brito discusses the recent “Altimeter Report: The Collaborative Economy Is Disrupting Business” at Britopian.
Events:
(For an all-in-one listing and description of social media, content & inbound marketing events, check out Neal Schaffer’s “The 12 Best Social Media Conferences to Attend in 2013” at Social Media Today.)
photo thanks to Taro Taylor (tarotastic)
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The 4 C’s of a smokin’ hot YouTube marketing strategy
June 4, 2013 • written by Steve P. Young
In fact, with Channel partners such as the Warner Music Group and Machinima, its video content rivals that of popular streaming services Netflix and Hulu.
It’s no wonder that an astounding 87% of online marketers use YouTube video content in their marketing mix. In addition, YouTube is the number 2 search engine on the planet, making it a fantastic platform to grow your audience.
In this post, I’ll walk you through the four C’s you need in your online video strategy to successfully drive traffic and sales from YouTube:
- Captivation
- Consistency
- Conversion
- Community
Captivation
Simply put, you need to hook your viewer from the start and continue to engage them throughout the video. This is especially important since YouTube has changed its algorithm to give more weight to average watch time than number of view counts.
Also, videos that retain viewers throughout the entire video rank higher in YouTube search and are more visible in YouTube’s related videos algorithm (suggested videos at the end of each video and related videos on the right sidebar).
But how do you go about captivating your audience? Here are 3 easy steps that you can implement today:
1. Compelling Content Comes First
Many viewers decide whether they are going to keep watching your video within the first few seconds. Attention spans are short, and viewers are just one click away from abandoning your video.
Having an animated intro is a great way to instantly captivate your audience. You can find some great templates over at VideoHive or get a custom one at SmartShoot.
It’s even more important to have an animated intro if your video only uses one camera angle (such as a webcam) or is a talking head video.
If you are creating a “how-to” video, consider showing the final outcome first then show the instructional steps. Hooking the viewer from the onset will keep them engaged through your video.
2. Vary the Camera Angle
There’s no hard and fast rule to how long you can stay on one angle, but I would recommend that you keep it at about 30 seconds and no longer than 1 minute.
Think about a trailer to your favorite movie. There are multiple cuts to different scenes and no scene receives longer than 15 seconds of airtime.
If you’re doing a talking head video, consider varying the angles or background for the different sections of your topic.
3. Add Transitions, Overlays, and Graphics
Caution: adding a transition does NOT mean inserting a “page over” effect on your video.
Transitions can be as simple as a single frame that introduces a new section or topic of a video.
An excellent example of adding a simple transition to break up different sections can be found in this video by CopyHackers’ Joanna Wiebe.
Remember, it does NOT need to be complicated.
Consistency
“Consistent audience requires consistent content!” – Freddie W., Top YouTuber.
We all understand the importance of consistency when it comes to growing a blog.
And although creating a video can be more time consuming, the same principle of creating consistent content should be applied to marketing on YouTube.
By creating regular content on YouTube, you will keep your channel feed active, increase your reach, and build more subscribers. While there’s no hard and fast rule for how often you should produce content, YouTube suggests a minimum of one video per week.
However, the right amount of content depends on your audience and your goals.
A quick and easy way to create more frequent content is to do a Google+ Hangout interview with an expert in your industry. You can then use this material for your YouTube channel and blog.
Here’s an example of a video SmartShoot created from a Google+ Hangout expert interview, outlining the process that goes into creating an animated explainer video.
Conversion
While conversions are always top of mind on your website, they somehow become an afterthought on YouTube.
Remember, online video is an interactive experience and prompting your viewers to take action will help you build engagement and a larger audience.
Depending on your message, you can use the middle or end of the video to prompt your viewers to take action.
Here’s a sampling of a few actions that you can use on your videos:
Here’s a great example from the Nerdist channel using Conan O’Brien to ask viewers to subscribe to their channel:
Community
While YouTube is a massive online video platform, don’t forget that it’s also one of the biggest social networks.
People are drawn to online video because unlike regular broadcast television, they can interact with their favorite channels and YouTubers. From video responses to parodies to musical covers, YouTube is an engaged community of viewers and creators.
So, listen to your audience and speak to them in a way that grows your following and empowers them to become your biggest ambassadors.
3 Easy Ways to Build Your Community on YouTube:
1. Ask the Viewers
Ask viewers for their opinions, ideas, or feedback on videos by leaving a comment. Ask them if they have any specific questions that they’d like you to cover.
Rather than asking general questions, ask specific questions. This will lead to more responses and a more engaged community.
For example, rather than saying “what would you like me to cover in my next video?” instead say “would you like me to cover a) Facebook marketing; b) Twitter marketing; or c) YouTube marketing?”
2. Feature the Community
Once you have feedback from your viewers, feature them and their content in your video. The goal is to make your community feel as if this is their channel by highlighting their comments and/or user-submitted content.
Consider doing a Google Hangout Q&A with a few of your most loyal fans. Seeing other viewers within your videos will not only build a loyal following, but also encourage passive viewers to become more active on your channel.
3. Reward Your Super Fans
Beyond the typical mention in your videos, look for ways to reward your super fans (both on and off YouTube).
Simple things such as a discount code, free month to your service or even a t-shirt can go a long ways to building an engaged and loyal following on YouTube.
Concluding Thoughts
While online video in general is still a confusing medium to most businesses, it does provide a fantastic platform for businesses looking to grow their audience beyond their blog.
Remember, Blendtec, a company that some may say sells a boring product (blenders), has over half a million subscribers on YouTube and is proof that when done correctly, YouTube is a powerful social network to attract new customers!
About the Author ~ Steve P. Young
Steve P. Young is the Director of Product Marketing for SmartShoot where marketers go to get stunning photos and video from the best local photographers and filmmakers. Connect with Steve on Twitter or LinkedIn.
image thanks to Maurits Knook (mauritsonline)
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SEO Copywriting Checklist: Why your site needs a newsletter. Right now.
June 3, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
In today’s video, Heather addresses a content must that a lot of small business owners – and even medium- to large-sized businesses – completely forget about, and that is having an email newsletter.
This discussion came up when Heather was doing the SEO Copywriting Certification training in Phoenix last week. She was talking about how newsletters can be really good for business, and people came back with: “Why do I need to worry about a newsletter? I already have a blog. Why would I have a newsletter on top of a blog?”
Tune in to hear Heather’s response: Here’s why your site needs a newsletter. Right now…
Think A RSS Feed Is All You Need? Think Again.
The folks at the SEO Copywriting workshop had a really good question about why the need for an email newsletter as well as their blog, because a lot of site owners think “Oh, I have a blog, and people can subscribe to it through my RSS feed, so I’m good. I don’t need to worry about taking that extra step.”
But the thing is…
- Many people don’t know what RSS is or how it works.
- Weekly (or monthly) newsletters provide quite a few benefits – and are definitely worth the time and effort.
Email Newsletters Have Some Great Advantages
Some of the benefits of email newsletters are…
- They can drive traffic to your site and increase social shares.
So for example, the SEO Copywriting newsletter that I run comes out every Tuesday. Even if I couldn’t tell the day of the week in analytics, I could certainly see that spike in web traffic and know it must be a Tuesday, because of the surge in social shares and site visitors.
And what I do to encourage that with my newsletter is to include a little preview of what the blog post is about, and then a link that takes readers directly to that post on the site.
So the article isn’t printed in the newsletter, just a little snippet with a link that sends readers back to the site.
- They provide you an opportunity to “connect” with your readers.
Newsletters are a fantastic way to keep in touch with your readers. One of the things I enjoy doing with my newsletter is to write a brief introduction that maybe talks about the theme of the newsletter, or just about what’s been going on.
Especially if you are the brand, this is a great way you can connect with your readers as well!
- They are a great way to build a loyal following.
Newsletters also can help build an incredibly loyal following. You’ll have this core group of people who are really excited to read your newsletter every week. And they’ll even email you if they didn’t receive it, and say “I didn’t get your newsletter – can you send it to me? I really look forward to reading it!”
And that’s always fun!
- Newsletters help you sell more stuff.
Finally, newsletters provide an ideal channel for selling more stuff!
If you’re writing blog posts on a daily basis, chances are those posts are not promoting your products and services – because you’re writing strong, quality, informational content.
But say you’re having a sale, or there’s something special going on that you want folks to know about? Within the body of the newsletter, you can always include a little call-to-action block letting readers know about your sale or special event.
You can even set it up so that your newsletter subscribers are the first to know about sales or other special events. That way you can have that V.I.P. “velvet rope” appeal to readers, granting them access to exclusive benefits just by signing up!
So if you don’t have a newsletter, I encourage you to get one going. Or if you do have a newsletter but you haven’t done much with it in awhile, you might want to think about kicking it back into shape – and figure out what you need to do in order to build a bigger subscriber list and get more folks visiting your site.
Because I guarantee, once things start rockin’ and rollin’, you’re going to see some huge benefits!
Thanks for joining me! As always, if you have any questions or comments please let me know – you can leave them here in the comments below, or find me on Twitter @heatherlloyd, or email me directly at heather@seocopywriting.com.
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SEO content marketing roundup, week ending May 29th
May 29, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
Since Matt Cutts’ announcement of the Penguin 2.0 rollout on his own blog a week ago, SEO and search professionals have been buzzing about SEO content and linking strategies to deal with the Penguin update, sharing resources and Penguin recovery stories, and analyzing how deep the rollout went in affecting websites.
Content marketers share tools of the trade, and discuss content quality and optimization, blogging, branding, news and media, as well as B2B, mobile and email marketing. (And WordPress turns 10!)
Social media marketers chirp about Twitter lead generation cards, chats and tools, digital advertising, Facebook ads and its (new) newsfeed, Google Plus, LinkedIn’s design changes, and personal brand marketing on social media.
Enjoy this week’s picks!
Content Marketing
Lee Odden posts “In Search of Voodoo: Empathize to Optimize Your Customer’s Journey on the Search & Social Web” at TopRank.
Mitch Joel and Tom Asacker discuss “Believable Marketing” at Twist Image’s latest podcast, via Six Pixels of Separation.
Henneke Duistermaat discusses “7 Lessons Apple Can Teach Us About Persuasive Web Content” at KISSmetrics.
Stefanie D’aulizio discusses takeaways from the book Sounds Like Branding with a video post, “Can you hear me now? The importance of sound in content marketing” at Brafton.
Matt Jessell posts “The Keys To Quality Content Are Information Density & Utility” at Marketing Land.
Kevin Cain shares “4 Ideas for Crowdsourcing Content Creation and Promotion” at Content Marketing Institute.
James Tipton shares “3 Strategies to Succeed in Today’s Mobile Marketplace” at Search Engine Watch.
Kate Maddox posts “Mobile marketing is finally becoming a priority for B2B” at BtoB Magazine.
Bill Blaney is featured with “9 Myths about BtoB Marketing” at Fearless Competitor.
Nick Stamoulis advises “Make Sure B2B Content is Information Based” at Brick Marketing.
Kevin Cain posts his interview with Lee Odden via “Content Marketing or SEO? Lee Odden on What Drives Top Online Marketing Strategies” at OpenView Labs’ Labcast.
Christina Zila discusses “5 Content Lessons & SEO Opportunities From Bloomingdale’s” at Search Engine Watch.
Pratik Dholakiya shares “7 Things Content Marketers Can Learn From Fiction Writers” at Convince and Convert.
Roger C. Parker posts “Follow These 7 Guides for Successful Content Marketing” at Content Marketing Institute.
Michael Statford shares “4 Time Saving Content Curation Tools” at Jeffbullas’s Blog.
Sharon Hurley Hall shares PowerPoint alternatives with “19 Free Presentation Tools to Wow Your Audience” at The Daily Egg.
Brian Proffitt posts “WordPress Hits The Decade Mark: An Appreciation” at ReadWrite.
Referencing John O’Nolan’s open-source blogging platform Ghost, Christina Warren posts “Is This Kickstarter Project the Future of Blogging?” at Mashable.
Andy Betts posts “Guest Blogging vs. Guest Posting: Imagine A World Without Links” at Search Engine Watch.
Matthew Barby discusses “How to Build Links to Your Blog – A Case Study” at YouMoz.
Lexi Mills posts “How to Approach Blogger Outreach in a New Market” at BuzzStream.
Mack Collier discusses “How to Use Topic Buckets With a Business Blog” at his site.
Mark Shaefer shares “10 Maxims of Successful Blogging” at {grow}.
Ronell Smith posts “How To Use A Blog To Enhance Your Content Marketing Strategy” at his own blog.
Samuel Pustea shares no less than “50 Ways to Promote and Market your Blog Posts” at Jeffbullas’s Blog.
Ken Lyons posts “Boost Your Blog’s SEO Mojo with These 6 Simple, Actionable Steps” at Search Engine Watch.
Gini Dietrich discusses “Three Data Points to Measure Your Blog Efforts” at Spin Sucks.
Alison Howen discusses “The Brand Revamp Process” at Website Magazine.
Level 343 discusses “5 Mistakes You Can Make To Kill Your Brand.”
Sean Ellis discusses “4 A/B Testing Mistakes That Can Kill Your Business – And How to Avoid Them” at KISSmetrics.
Piyanka Jain posts “The 80/20 Rule of Analytics Every CMO Should Know” at Forbes.
Dena Levitz talks mobile news with “Best Free Newspaper Apps: Serving a Niche, Providing Utility” at PBS Mediashift.
Kurt Krejny posts “Engage a Wider Audience by Optimizing for Personalized News Readers” at YouMoz.
Dani Fankhauser interviews “Elizabeth Spiers on Launching Media Brands” at The Content Strategist.
Beth Hayden shares “3 Quick Ways to Perk Up Your Email Marketing Efforts” at Copyblogger.
George Passwater asks “Are You Making These 3 Email Marketing Mistakes?” at his blog.
Jakob Nielsen discusses usability for senior citizens with “Seniors as Web Users” at his Alertbox.
Danny Brown’s The Sunday Share features “7 Awesome Quotes from Steve Jobs” via Shyamanta Baruah’s SlideShare presentation.
Rachel Sprung shares “101 Awesome Marketing Quotes, Revisited” (SlideShare) at HubSpot.
Mitch Joel shares “25+ Mind Blowing Stats About Business Today” at Twist Image’s Six Pixels of Separation.
Seth Godin posts “A hierarchy of failure (from brave to shameful)” at his blog.
Events:
SEO & Search
Jennifer Slegg reports “Google Penguin 2.0 Update is Live” at Search Engine Watch.
Chris Crum posts “Matt Cutts: The New Google Penguin Update Goes Much Deeper Into Your Site” at WebProNews.
A collection of video posts by Heather Lloyd-Martin on SEO content strategies for the Penguin update(s) is featured with “Of Penguins, linkbait, and the user experience: SEO best practices” at SEO Copywriting.
Art Enke shares a wealth of helpful, quality links with “Penguin 2.0 Resources, Tips & Insights” at Vertical Measures.
In a reality check on the Penguin update, Dr. Pete (Myers) asks “Penguin 2.0/4 – Were You Jarred and/or Jolted?” at SEOmoz.
Danny Goodwin reports “Google Penguin 2.0 Spam Form Now Available” at Search Engine Watch.
Christoph C. Cemper posts “Deep Dive into a Penguin 2.0 Victim – Penalty Analysis and lot’s of spammy links” at Link Research Tools.
Jayson DeMers posts “Penguin 2.0: Your Roadmap to Recovery” at Search Engine Journal.
Adam Stetzer discusses “Google Penguin 2013: How to Evolve Link Building into Real SEO” at Search Engine Watch.
Julie Joyce asks “Are You Taking Advantage Of Content Byproducts?” at Search Engine Land.
Ted Karczewski posts a brief blog and infographic, “How to avoid a fight with Google’s link-crushing Penguin,” at Brafton.
Danny Sullivan discusses Google I/O’s OK Google with “Google’s Impressive ‘Conversational Search’ Goes Live On Chrome” at Search Engine Land.
Carrie Hill posts “Make your SEO content shine in search with Schema” at SEO Copywriting.
Joost de Valk discusses the rationale behind Yoast’s adoption of the Schema.org code with “Schema.org & Genesis 2.0” at the Yoast blog.
Cyrus Shepard posts “Disavowed: Secrets of Google’s Most Mysterious Tool” at SEOmoz.
Barry Schwartz reports “Google: Use The Disavow Tool Like A Machete & Not Fine-Toothed Comb” at Search Engine Roundtable.
Eric Enge discusses “Removing URLs From The Index In Bulk” at Search Engine Land.
Jacob Klein discusses “Why Webmasters Make Great Consultants” at Distilled.
Chris Gilchrist discusses “The Anatomy of a Perfect Web Page” at Hit Reach.
Discussing the new Google Trends feature, Jessica Lee posts “Google’s Top Charts Offer Engaging Visuals for Popular Searches Over Time” at Search Engine Watch.
Bryson Meunier posts “New Tools Bring Major Changes To Mobile SEO” at Marketing Land.
Peter Da Vanzo reviews Jaron Lanier’s book, Who Owns The Future?, with “GoogleMart” at SEO Book.
Tom Pick discusses web presence optimization and Google updates with “Where Google Moved Your Digital Cheese” at Webbiquity.
Miranda Miller posts “7 Steps to SEO at Scale: How to Ramp Up Your Search Engine Optimization Strategy” at TopRank.
On the other end of the spectrum, Chris Warden posts “Local SEO – ‘Citations & Linking’” at Search Engine Guide.
Rand Fishkin discusses “Conducting Market Research Before Investing in Tactical Execution” (Whiteboard Friday) at SEOmoz.
Melissa Mackey posts “A Preview of Bing Ads’ Keyword Distribution Graph” at Search Engine Watch.
In the third on a six-part series, Timothy Johnson posts “Building Successful Low Budget PPC: Keywords” at Portent.
Amanda West-Bookwait posts “How To Analyze & Optimize Your Mobile Bid Modifiers In Enhanced Campaigns” at PPC Hero.
Ryan Hanely interviews Jessie Wojdylo on “Google Plus and the New SEO” in his Content Warfare Podcast.
Sean Carlos posts “Communicators, Take Note: The Deplorable State Of Social Search Is Changing” at Marketing Land.
Events:
Social Media Marketing
“Twitter Lead Generation Cards” headlines Social Media Examiner’s weekly news.
Citing Social Media Examiner data, eMarketer reports “Social Gives SMBs Maximum Exposure” (“Traffic was second biggest social benefit”).
Michael Learmonth posts “Twitter Deepens Ties to TV With Media Deals, Ad Targeting” at Ad Age | digital.
Amy Vernon posts “The Best Twitter Chats for Marketers” at MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog.
Rebekah Radice posts “Use These 8 Twitter Tools Now or Hate Yourself Later” at her blog.
Emily Price discusses “How the Facebook Developer Platform Has Changed How We Use the Web” at Mashable.
Kathryn Aragon interviews Appliances Online “social gurus” with “Facebook Marketing: From 2,500 to 1 Million Fans in Just Two Years” at The Daily Egg.
Eric Enge posts “The new Newsfeed with Facebook’s Jeff Kanter” at Stone Temple.
Merry Morud posts “Facebook Ads Updates: Bigger Images & News Feed Option Placements” at Search Engine Watch.
Eli Goodman posts “As Digital Ad Effectiveness Measurement Improves, Are Branding Ad Dollars Ready to Follow?” at comScore.
Reposting from Bloomberg News, AdAge | digital reports “Google Catches FTC’s Eye Over Dominance in Display Ads.”
Deseré Orrill discusses real-time bidding with “Digital advertising: it’s time to get real” at memeburn.
Martin Shervington posts “The Ultimate Guide to Google Plus Posts” at his blog.
Stephan Hovnanian posts “The Google Plus Hovercard: Your calling card across all of Google” at WebSIGHT Hangouts.
Matt McGee reports “Quora Says Its Metrics Are Up 300 Percent, Doesn’t Say From What” at Marketing Land.
Alyson Shontell reports “Another Blog Platform, Automattic, Joins Tumblr In The $1 Billion Valuation Club” at Business Insider.
Tammy Kahn Fennell discusses “3 Ways to Make Your Tumblr Blog More Social” at WindMill Networking.
Victoria Ipri discusses “More BIG LinkedIn Design Changes” at Social Media Today.
MarketingProfs’ Marketing Smarts Podcast features Mitch Joel on his new book, Control Alt Delete.
Heidi Cohen posts “2013: The Future of Social Media” (Research/Charts) at her site.
Patricia Redsicker discusses “15 Actionable Takeaways From Social Media Marketing World 2013” at Social Media Examiner.
Kevin Glacken discusses “Mapping the Customer Journey with Social Intelligence” at Social Media Today.
Ian Barker posts “Best social media analytics tools: 8 of the best to use” at TechRadar.
Lee Odden posts “Social Media and The U.S. Military – 3 Lessons for Business” at TopRank.
Danna Vetter posts “Be a Tool: Properly Resource Your Enterprise for Social Media” at Brian Solis’ blog.
Mathew Ingram discusses “Crowdsourcing the news: Do we need a public license for citizen journalism?” at paidContent.
Jeff Bullas discusses “How to Market your Personal Online Brand on 10 Social Media Networks” at his blog.
Debbie Hemley shares an A to Z post of “26 Ways to Create Social Media Engagement With Content Marketing” at Social Media Examiner.
Events:
(For an all-in-one listing and description of social media, content & inbound marketing events, check out Neal Schaffer’s “The 12 Best Social Media Conferences to Attend in 2013” at Social Media Today.)
image thanks to marycat879
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