Tag: Content Marketing

Blogging is a pain.

Not because content is hard to write (worse case you can just hire a writer or agency), but due to the fact that no one can guarantee that your blog post gets read or not.

Just think about it… you spend all this time writing content, but no one can guarantee that it gets seen, shared, or even linked to.

So, I thought it would be fun to analyze popular blog posts and see what common characteristics that they have.

That way you can replicate what they are doing and increase the likelihood that your post gets read.

Now for this study, we deemed a popular blog post as anything that generates at least 1,000 visitors a month from Google organic search (this was based on Ubersuggest data).

We also didn’t exclude any countries and looked at the data from a global level.

Here’s what we learned.

A popular post tends to rank for at least 38 keywords

A big thing in common was that popular blog posts rank for at least 38 keywords.

What’s interesting though is posts that generate at least 5,000 visits a month from Google rank for 51 or more keywords.

But the big difference between posts that generate at least 1,000 visitors versus 5,000 wasn’t the number of keywords that they were targeting, it was more so that they were ranking for keywords that were searched on average 984 times a month.

Now granted they didn’t get 984 clicks for each keyword that they ranked for, as no site really gets all the clicks, and there is no guarantee that they were in the number 1 spot.

When looking at this data we decided to dig in a bit more and we randomly picked 300 blog posts that generate at least 1,000 visits a month from Google to see how many keywords they mentioned on their page that contained at least 50 searches a month.

Can you guess what the number was?

Well, after we removed generic one-word terms that aren’t really considered keywords (such as how I mentioned words like “analyze, month, generate, data” within this post but I am not really targeting those keywords), the number comes out to a staggering 76 keywords.

But wait, how do you come up with 76 keywords for every blog post you write?

Before I break down how you can come up with a laundry list of keywords to include in every blog post you write, keep this in mind…

1. You should never stuff keywords in a blog post for the sake of getting SEO traffic. Your post should flow and adding the keywords should feel natural. (If you are hiring a writer, a good writer shouldn’t struggle with this.)
2. There are outliers and some blog posts generate a lot of traffic without targeting dozens of keywords within their content.
3. You shouldn’t write blog posts just for “Google traffic”. If the content doesn’t provide value to the user, it is going to hurt your website rankings in the long run as you can get hit by Google algorithm update if your site is deemed to have low-quality content.

Now that we got that out of the way, you can head to Ubersuggest and follow the steps in the video below to come up with blog post ideas as well as 76 plus keywords per post.

The average blog post that is popular contains 1839 words

Over the years the SEO game has changed. Generally, the longer your content, the more traffic you can get. But there are a lot of edge cases to that rule.

And Google doesn’t really care about word count these days as much as they do for user experience.

See, a user doesn’t really care if a blog post is short or long, they just want to be satisfied with what they have just read.

Nonetheless, we looked at the word count to see what the average post length was for a popular post.

What’s interesting is that posts that generated over 5,000 visitors a month on average weren’t that much longer than posts that generated 1,000 visitors.

The biggest difference was they included more popular keywords within their content. They didn’t necessarily rank for each of those terms, but this gives a post more opportunity to potentially rank and be found.

As I mentioned though, there are always exceptions to the rule. For example, there are popular topics like “how to tie a tie” and you don’t really need tons of words to explain how to tie a tie. You more so need images or even video.

Blog posts that are popular are somewhat new

When we looked at every popular blog in our database, we noticed that a lot of sites didn’t include a publish date or an updated date (updated date is used for content that was originally published years ago but was more recently updated).

But for the posts that did contain a date, whether it was the publication date or when the content was updated, we did notice something interesting.

Content that generates 1,000 visitors or more a month on average tends to be 388 days old.

And content that generates less than 1,000 visitors tends to be 593 days old.

This doesn’t mean that Google doesn’t want to rank new, fresh content as in both categories there was fresh, new content that did generate traffic. But a lot of the ranking blog posts were a bit old (but not too old).

Again, keep in mind there are always exceptions to the rule. Going back to the how to tie a tie example, even if that article was 3 years old, it probably would still be relevant as much hasn’t changed when it comes to ties.

But with over 1 billion blogs on the web, it seems like Google prefers newish content over outdated content.

If you have older content, don’t worry, you can always update it to ensure that it continually gets more traffic.

The way you would do this is by following these steps:

It’s so effective that I have a team of people who just update my old content.

Conclusion

Whether you like it or not, if you are going to write content you should do keyword research first.

Picking the right keywords versus the wrong ones can mean that your content doesn’t get traffic or gets thousands of visitors a month.

Now of course there are other elements to your SEO like links and on-page SEO, but for this analysis, we wanted to focus on the characteristics (ones that you can easily control) that make a popular post.

Out of curiosity, do you do keyword research before you write content?

The growth in podcasts is significant for listeners looking for a show that appeals to their individual interests. Plus, it’s great for marketers and business owners looking for new platforms to advertise on and new audiences to reach.

While you won’t find any lack of podcasts, the sheer volume out there makes it time-consuming to slim down your choices and find appealing podcasts.

In this guide, we explore both how to find podcasts as well as how to get your own podcast discovered.

How to Find Podcasts That Interest You

If you’re overwhelmed by the number of podcasts out there, it’s not surprising. How many podcasts are there exactly? The latest research shows there are over 47 million episodes available, and the number is growing.

As an article on Pacific Content states, there are “Too many podcasts. Not enough time.”

Keeping up with new episodes and freshly-launched podcasts are tough enough, and that’s before finding time to read the backlog of podcasts we’ve got lined up.

Even if we don’t listen to a podcast, 75 percent of U.S. adults are at least aware of them, and with mobile devices, I think it’s safe to assume this number will keep growing.

With so many podcasts available, how do you find the ones you want to listen to?

1: How to Find Podcasts by Performing a Discovery Google Search

The quickest and easiest way to find podcasts is Google. Just choose your niche, and type in “business podcasts,” “health podcasts,” “relationship podcasts,” or whichever topic interests you the most. Google isn’t your only choice, though.

2: How to Find Podcasts Using the Search Bar in the Main Podcast Host Sites

There’s no shortage of podcast hosting sites. With a quick search on Google, you’ll find:

• Buzzsprout
• Podbean
• Anchor
• Riverside
• Spreaker

There isn’t space to talk you through all of them, so I’ll use Spreaker as an example.

On Spreaker, go to the “listen” option at the top of the page and click. You’ll then get a list of subheads, including “staff picks,” ”crime,” and “featured,” where you’ll find plenty of podcasts to browse through.

3: How to Find Podcasts Using New and Emerging Podcast Discovery Tools

Regular podcast listeners may well be familiar with some of the newer discovery tools. These tools take the effort out of finding podcasts.

Below, I will outline some of the most prominent tools, explain how to use them, their advantages, and their main features, starting with Listen Notes.

Listen Notes

If you’re trying to find a podcast, Listen Notes calls itself “the best podcast search engine,” but it does a lot more than purely serve as a discovery tool.

To give you a better idea, you could:

• spot cross-promotion opportunities with other podcasters and use them for networking
• build podcast apps with Listen Notes API
• find information about topics for content ideas

The site is packed with features, too:

• “listen later,” where you create your playlists
• a “submit your podcast” option
• a discover tab for finding new podcasts
• the podcast academy, which provides tutorials and articles
• hot, best, curated, and “find similar podcasts” search functions
• classified ads, where you’ll find guest spots and cross-promotion opportunities

Listennotes.com takes you straight to the main search engine, so you can just type in “business growth” or “digital marketing,” or whatever interests you. Doing this will bring up a list of podcasts so you can dive in and see which ones appeal to you most.

It’s also worth typing in “trending” to see what’s happening and what’s capturing other users’ imaginations.

Another way to find podcasts is to go to the “discover” link at the top of the page. Here, you’ll find a drop-down list to select from.

Listen Notes is free, but you can sign up for a paid membership to access the “super” search engine and other features.

The site’s main advantages are its ease of use and navigation, and if you’re just looking for podcasts in your niche, you shouldn’t find any real disadvantages.

Pod Hunt

Pod Hunt promises “the best podcasts daily.” When you visit the site, you’ll go straight to the main search engine, where you can start your search.

In the example above, the search term is “technolog.” Once you’ve got a list of podcasts, you can click through to whichever one grabs your attention.

Along the top of the page, you’ll also find:

• episodes, for a list of recent episodes
• categories, which show an extensive range of A-Z topics
• collections, where you’ll discover curated podcasts
• feeds, where you can find the top podcast episodes

You can also sign up for the site’s newsletter or submit an episode from the main search engine page.

You might find Pod Hunt is not quite as sophisticated as Listen Notes, and there are fewer features. However, it’s a good site if you want to do a quick search.

Podchaser

Podchaser lets you find podcasts, curated lists, ratings, reviews, and guest appearances. The search page brings up a list of the latest episodes, or you can use the white search box at the top of the page to find podcasts in your preferred niche.

The right side of the page shows you the most popular categories, where you’ll find easy access to business, comedy, true crime, and news podcasts, among others. You’ll also find trending creators with well-known names like Barack Obama, Trevor Noah, and Joe Rogan.

It’s free, but if you want to “supercharge your broadcast planning and outreach,” you can request further details.

There are no apparent drawbacks. It’s a simply structured, easy-to-use search site.

Spreaker

Spreaker is podcast creation software and app. It organizes, curates, and delivers content through live audio feeds, simplifying everything and making it straightforward to find podcasts and import your podcast library.

Spreaker is also favorable to creators by using RSS feeds for direct distribution and monetization. It’s compatible with the iPhone and the iPad, and you just need to download the app to begin.

Its key features include:

• short-form audio highlights, enabling you to find podcasts of interest for you
• a personalized audio feed, which features recommendations
• a live playlist showing you the latest content
• nine categories, including “true crime” and “self-improvement”

The app’s biggest advantages are the time it saves looking for the content you want and how easy it is to find podcasts.

Castro

Castro is another podcast app you can download from the Apple App Store. It provides a single playlist known as the “Queue.”

Through Castro, you can manage large numbers of podcasts and choose whether you want to listen to the podcasts straight away or if you want them sent to your inbox for later.

Main features include:

• enhanced audio options
• push notifications for immediate listening
• customized playback speeds and reduced listening times
• podcast sharing

To use it, just download the app for free, or pay $18.99 a year to unlock advanced features.

Podible

Podible promises “more time listening and less time digging.” Download the free app from the iTunes store, and you’ll find podcasts and discover similar shows.

Other features include:

• listening to classics
• podcast recommendations
• playlist creation

Using the app needs little description: Just install it, and you’ll soon find your way around.

The most significant advantage is the ease of finding podcasts that match your niche, and it gets positive feedback for its user interface.

The recommendations feature needs some work on the downside, and it’s been some time since Podible has updated its social media content.

4: How to Find Podcasts Using Niche Podcast Discovery Apps

Another way to find podcasts is through niche apps. These further refine your search by narrowing it down to niche topics it’s true crime, business, comedy, or tech.

These apps are growing in popularity due to their time-saving abilities. To give you an idea of what’s offered, I’ve highlighted a few below.

Laughable

You’ve probably guessed the Laughable app is the place to go to find comedy shows, but it acts as a gateway to other genres as well. For example, you can discover Oprah’s and Barack Obama’s podcast through the app.

It’s regularly updated, so there’s always fresh podcast content available. Other features worth exploring are:

• curated episodes and download options for offline listening
• finding comedians when they’re hosting or appearing as a guest.
• different playback speeds and the “subscribe” button for listening to actors, musicians, and athletes

Laughable is extremely popular and often rated among the best. Its top feature is the easy search function, where you’ll find podcasts, episodes, and series.

As for negatives, some users would like to see a playlist, and a reviewer felt downloading podcasts was more complicated than necessary.

Pinna

On Pinna, you’ll find a host of resources to keep children entertained. Pinna doesn’t just limit its content to apps. It’s an ad-free service that offers audiobooks and music.

A yearly fee gives you yearlong access to the shows, and Pinna provides a month’s free trial to begin with.

Once you get on the Pinna website, choose the subheading that most interests you and get exploring.

You’ll find shows like:

• Hero Hotel
• The Totally Unauthorized Minecraft Fan Show
• Opal Watson: Private Eye

Click on whichever show grabs your attention or your child’s imagination, and sign up for the free trial to start listening.

They have various categories of content for different age groups, where you’ll find:

• bedtime stories
• car trip stories
• play along with content
• learning content

Leela Kids

Leela Kids searches the internet for audio content suitable for children. You can download the app from the App Store or Google Play, and there are three steps to accessing content:

1. Choose the age group and area of interest.
2. Check through the results to find suitable content.
3. Then, click and listen.

You can also opt into emails to get recommendations a couple of times a month.

Like other niche-specific sites, Leela Kids takes the effort to find podcasts online, and its ease of use is by far its biggest advantage.

How to Get Your Podcast Discovered

Maybe you’re a podcaster trying to get your show discovered, or perhaps you’re just thinking about starting one up, and you want to make it easier for others to find your podcast.

It might seem intimidating if you’re not sure where to start, but don’t worry. These next steps will help you promote your show.

Use keywords: You use SEO to get your other content discovered, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t make your podcasts SEO-friendly as well. You can research keywords with free tools like Ubersuggest, the Ubersuggest Chrome Extension, or Google Keyword planner.

When you’ve got your list of keywords ready, include them in titles and descriptions and add them to podcast directories for organic traffic.

Get social: That doesn’t mean just using prominent platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Instead, take advantage of the networking opportunities you’ll find on podcast directories.

Some directories listed in the article have a networking section so you can build relationships with fellow podcasters and get the word out.

Use your mailing list: Existing marketers have a ready audience thanks to their mailing lists. Share snippets and links in your newsletters and other marketing materials to help them find your podcasts.

Start marketing: Don’t just use your existing customer base. Start marketing to a broader audience. Finding guest post opportunities, issuing press releases when you’re doing something newsworthy, and writing guest blogs for your niche are a few ways you can spread the word.

Repurpose your content: The more places you share your podcast content, the better chance people will find the content you’ve created. For example, you could:

• share part of a transcript in your newsletter with a link to the whole show
• create short YouTube videos or get your podcast listed on apps
• make an infographic or meme to share on social media

Conclusion

Podcasts are growing in popularity, and successful shows like the Marketing School give absorbable content for listeners on the move.

However, the sheer volume of podcasts can sometimes make it hard to find the podcasts you’re searching for, which is where podcast directories and niche apps come in; they simplify your search to make it easier to find podcasts that match your interests. You can use similar methods to get your own podcast discovered.

If you want to advertise on podcasts or make one of your own but aren’t sure how. to get started, reach out to our agency. We can help!

Do you listen to podcasts? How do you find podcasts that capture your attention? Tell us below.

As a business or marketing professional, when consumer habits change, you must pay attention. Perhaps nothing is changing more rapidly or drastically than how people consume video content.

To leverage this shift, you must first understand two of the most common video consumption methods: video on demand (VOD) and over-the-top (OTT). We cover both in this guide.

What Is Video on Demand (VOD)?

Video on demand (VOD) is a technology allowing viewers to watch video content when and where they want and the click of a button or tap on a touchscreen.

VOD is also popular because you can pause, rewind, or fast-forward content—and, unlike DVDs, you can easily start an episode from the moment you stopped it rather than searching through a menu.

In short, it gives viewers complete control of what they consume and how they want to consume it.

One of the most popular VOD services is Netflix, which started as a DVD mailing service and kept ahead of the game by adopting streaming early.

What Is OTT?

Over-the-top (OTT) is a way of streaming video and film content over the internet at the user’s request.

The primary reason for this unusual name, over-the-top, is because it goes over the tops of traditional media distribution channels and distributes content directly to the consumer via an internet connection.

OTT platforms were made popular by streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, YouTube, and more.

VOD Vs. OTT—What’s the Difference?

One of the primary differences is the medium through which video content is delivered.

• VOD: Video on demand involves consuming any media content that isn’t played on a certain schedule or requires a physical DVD, tape, etc.
• OTT: This is strictly streamed content, not downloaded or otherwise stored offline, and can include media like videos and online radio programs, such as podcasts.

The other big difference is VOD can’t be live content, while OTT can, as VOD by definition can’t have a set schedule involved. However, live content can later become VOD if it’s allowed to stay online for future viewing.

OTT is often VOD, but not always, and vice versa. As you may have guessed, many platforms, like YouTube, are categorized under both VOD and OTT.

Are VOD and OTT Right for Me?

If you’re willing to put in the hard work to create a high volume of quality on-demand content, you may be wondering if VOD or OTT is right for you. Bearing in mind there is overlap between the two, here are some pros of each option to help you determine which best suits your needs.

Pros of VOD

VOD enables you to deliver on-demand content to users, which is incredibly popular among consumers. As a result, you could monetize your brand faster and easier via VOD.

This method is best suited to subscription-based businesses. For example, fitness coaches can use VOD platforms to offer monthly subscriptions for on-demand fitness classes.

VOD also works well for brands wanting to leverage sponsorship deals—more on these monetization methods in a moment.

However, to make money from VOD, you must have a large, high-quality content library, so make sure you have a team able to handle this workload.

Pros of OTT

OTT’s strength lies in utilizing the internet, resulting in OTT platforms being able to offer both video-on-demand services and live streaming. This is essential for brands that rely on live events in their business model. A good example is Wanderlust TV:

If live events are part of your marketing mix, OTT is the way to go for you and your brand.

How Do I Make Money With VOD and OTT Platforms?

As a marketer, you may be wondering how to use VOD and OTT to bring in revenue. There are several ways you can profit from your video content.

Monetizing OTT Advertising

To get started with OTT advertising, you need:

• The right technology: You can use third-party tools like Google Ads or have a custom solution developed to suit your specific OTT advertising needs.
• An audience: OTT advertising hinges on a large audience as advertisers typically pay on a cost per mille (CPM) basis.
• Data: Data on your audience demographics is essential to helping advertisers decide whether your platform will provide them with a healthy return on advertising spend (ROAS).

You have three options to monetize your OTT platform: video advertising networks, direct advertising, and scholarship deals.

1. Video Advertising Networks

One of the fastest ways to generate revenue from your OTT is to join a video advertising network (VAN). VANs connect you to marketers looking for ad space.

The major drawback to VANs is you lose control of the type of ads appearing on your platform—if something offensive plays, your audience may blame you. However, VANs are convenient as you don’t have to find advertisers on your own, so be sure to fully research any VAN you consider and read the fine print before signing.

2. Direct Advertising

Direct advertising allows you to take control of the kinds of ads you display on your OTT platform. To do this, you must develop a custom ad server to manage the ads you display on your platform.

Going the direct advertising route means you’ll have to find advertisers, negotiate with them directly, and set your rates. It’s a lot of work both on the business and development sides. However, you may get better returns as there’s no middleman.

3. Sponsorship Deals

Just as in the days of television, OTT sponsorship deals involve a brand paying for the right to advertise on a particular piece of content.

There are many ways to deliver your sponsored messaging. For instance, you can weave it into your content, show it as banner ads, or display it on launch screens.

An advantage of sponsorship deals is they can simplify your ad rotation because you only have to serve a few sponsoring brands. However, that can prove costly should any choose to end their sponsorship.

Monetizing VOD

Just like OTT advertising, you have three main options for monetizing VOD content: subscription video on demand (SVOD), transactional video on demand (TVOD), and ad-supported video on demand (AVOD).

1. Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD)

Subscription video on demand (SVOD) is one of the most popular ways of monetizing a VOD platform.

The SVOD model works by getting users to pay a recurring fee to access your content.

SVOD is often one of the most profitable ways of generating a steady flow of income from your platform as long as you have content people are willing to pay for.

Luckily, research shows the estimated revenue and usage of SVOD are expected to continue growing for the foreseeable future.

With SVOD, you can create different access levels at various price points, making your VOD content available to a wider audience.

2. Transactional Video on Demand (TVOD)

Transactional video on demand (TVOD) is a monetization method allowing users to access content on a pay-per-view basis.

You have two main ways to offer TVOD to your customers, namely:

• purchasing permanent access to a piece of content with a one-time payment, like we used to do with DVDs
• renting a piece of content at a lower cost than the purchase but with a limited access period

According to Statista, revenue in the TVOD market is growing and expected to reach $12,150 million by 2025.

With a dollar amount like that, TVOD may be an attractive option.

3. Ad-supported Video on Demand (AVOD)

Another excellent way to monetize your VOD platform is the ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) model.

Unlike SVOD and TVOD, where users pay to view your content, the AVOD model generates revenue solely from advertisers. Your users don’t pay a dime. Because of this, such platforms tend to attract large audiences.

How does this work?

Advertisers pay to place ads in your video streams. Instead of paying to watch your content, viewers see a few ads as they stream your video content. A popular example of this is the free version of YouTube.

The AVOD model gives you two options:

• signing up for video ad networks
• direct advertising

Of course, the more viewers you have, the more likely you are to find advertisers.

What Platforms are Best for VOD and OTT?

Ready to launch your VOD services?

Not so fast.

You need a VOD hosting platform first. With so many of them available, choosing one can be a daunting task. Besides, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you may sign up for a platform that won’t meet your needs.

Here are a few platforms to consider.

1. Uscreen

One of the biggest players in the VOD hosting platform space is Uscreen. The platform is one of the most affordable, enabling even small businesses to use their services. For $49 per month, you get access to marketing tools, video hosting services, pricing control, and more.

2. Dacast

Dacast is a streaming solution offering both VOD and OTT functionality. Best suited for enterprise businesses and professional use, they provide hosting for high-quality video broadcasts and live streaming. A few of their notable features include video monetization, robust security, and API integrations. Plans start as low as $39 per month.

3. IBM Cloud Video

IBM Cloud Video offers an expansive feature set, making it easy to tailor everything to your needs. However, because it has tons of features, it can be challenging to navigate. That makes it best suited for businesses with expert broadcasters on their team. IBM Cloud Video runs at higher price points than the last two options, with their starter plan coming in at $99/month.

Of course, these aren’t the only three out there. In addition to some of the big-name platforms we’ve mentioned, others you can consider include:

• Muvi
• Wistia
• Vimeo
• Vidmind
• Maz

Because the industry is growing fast, you can expect new players to come on the scene.

Conclusion

With the right content, audience, and monetization strategies, VOD and OTT content have the potential to grow your revenue significantly.

Are you interested in creating a VOD/OTT strategy but don’t know where to start? If so, can help. Our agency also offers services like email marketing, SEO, content marketing, and paid advertising.

Have you ever used VOD or OTT to generate revenue? If so, what was your experience?

Evergreen content engages and educates readers for longer without a huge amount of effort. Once you master the art of writing “timeless” content, you can ensure your articles, e-books, and tutorials stay relevant for years to come. 

Below, I’m going to show you exactly why evergreen content should be part of every marketer’s content strategy, and I’ll explain how to craft your own timeless pieces. 

What is Evergreen Content?

Evergreen content is content that is optimized to stay relevant and drive traffic for months or even years at a time. 

It doesn’t have an expiration date. It’s centered around a topic that people will be interested in for years to come. 

Examples of topics that might be considered evergreen include:

• how to write a will
• how to lose weight 
• ways to cook chicken
• ways to generate passive income 
• how to optimize your site for SEO 
• how to build a blog 

It doesn’t matter what season we’re in, or what year it is: There’s always a healthy number of people searching for content on these topics. 

Marketers tend to write about evergreen topics because it’s a relatively easy way to bring organic traffic to their website. There’s always going to be some interest in the topic, so you won’t struggle to find an audience base.  

For example, if you Google “choosing the right SEO,” you’ll find one of my articles on the first page:

It’s evergreen because SEO isn’t fading out of style anytime soon. Businesses will be searching for SEO advice for years to come. 

A little later, I’ll show you ways to improve your chances of holding a first-page ranking for a long time, but for now, just remember one thing: If it’s evergreen content, it persistently matters to people, and you should be writing about it.  

Here are some examples of time-sensitive content that aren’t evergreen:

• seasonal articles e.g., Christmas gift ideas
• announcements and news posts 
• posts about current but temporary issues e.g., Covid-19 or a sports season

If it’s a niche topic you expect people to lose interest in overtime then it’s not evergreen, because people naturally stop thinking about it (and searching for it online). 

Here’s an easy way to remember it: 

Evergreen content is ever-relevant.

Why Is Evergreen Content Important?

OK, so that’s what evergreen content is, but why does it matter? Well, a few reasons, but here are the three most important. 

1. Evergreen Content Boosts Search Rankings

Did you know that 75 percent of people never scroll beyond the first page of search results? If you’re not on the first page, it’s unlikely people will ever find your content. 

Evergreen content helps boost your Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (“E-A-T”) score on Google. The higher your E-A-T score, the more likely it is you’ll secure a first-page ranking on Google. 

How can long-lasting boost your E-A-T score? By helping position you as an authority in your industry. 

To be clear, the level of “expertise” you’ll need to secure a good score varies depending on the subject matter. 

For example, you’re more likely to rank on the first page if you’re a highly qualified doctor writing an evergreen post about weight loss than if you’re a general member of the public talking about weight loss tips. 

Why? Because Google recognizes how important it is for someone to be qualified before they offer medical advice. 

If you have expertise in your industry, you can increase your chances of a first-page ranking by producing quality evergreen content in your field.

2. Evergreen Content Draws in Organic Traffic 

Organic traffic is simply how many people visit your website after finding you on a search results page, rather than clicking through a paid ad. 

How does evergreen content help you draw traffic? Here are a few ways: 

• It answers a question, which there’s always a healthy level of interest in, so you can assume people are regularly searching for an article just like yours. 
• Readers are more likely to find your content, since (you guessed it) there’s a sustained level of interest. 

The result is more organic traffic landing on your website. 

3. Evergreen Content Keeps Your Business Relevant 

It’s not just about generating traffic. It’s about ensuring you create valuable, relevant content for readers—and evergreen content helps you do just that.

Here’s why: Valuable content means lower bounce rates, since people stay on your page for longer.

Since evergreen content stays relevant, you can use it to show search engine’s that readers find your articles useful, which in turn helps boost your overall search rankings.  

The best part? The more valuable content you create, the more you impress readers—and keep your brand relevant in an increasingly competitive digital space. 

7 Tips for Creating Evergreen Content Right From the Start

To be clear, not all your content needs to be evergreen. Your audience wants to know you’ve got your finger on the pulse of your industry and understands current trends that impact them. Also, sometimes, people just want their fill of short, relevant, and entertaining news articles.  

However, it’s definitely worth crafting a solid hub of timeless, enduring content to impress your audience and set yourself apart from the competition. 

With all this in mind, here are seven relatively simple ways to write your own evergreen pieces.  

1. Choose the Right Topics

First, choose topics with persistent traffic potential. 

An analytics tool like Google Analytics can help here. Briefly, here’s how to distinguish between trending and evergreen topics. 

• Trending posts: Typically have a high initial search volume which drops fairly quickly
• Evergreen topic posts: Attract a high volume of traffic initially, but there’s still a sustained level of traffic over time

To get started, take a look at your own site and see what topics retain a high level of traffic over time. Are there related topics you can cover? 

Then, check out leading blogs in your niche. Identify potentially evergreen topics, run them through a competitive analysis tool to see which ones get long-term traffic, and decide how you can put your own spin on the topic to add value for your own readers. 

2. Use Appropriate Keywords

Now you’ve chosen a few topics you’d like to write about, you need to use the right keywords to ensure your posts appear in the search results. 

• Use a keyword discovery tool like Ubersuggest. 
• Type a search query into Google. Take some ideas for related keywords from the “people also ask” section. 

Let’s check out an example. 

Say you want to write about weight loss. When you Google “how to lose weight,” one of the top search results is a post from Diet Doctor. 

Here are the two main things we can take from this sample. 

• The first paragraph contains multiple related key phrases including “trouble losing weight” and “weight loss without hunger.” 
• Subheadings are also optimized around popular related keywords like “weight-loss pills.” 

Return to the search results and you’ll find people also ask:

• How do I lose weight naturally?
• How can I lose weight fast?

This is a quick and easy process, so give it a go! 

3. Avoid Specific Events and Dates

One of the quickest ways to “date” your content, and shorten its lifespan, is by using current dates and events. Here’s why: 

• If the date’s relevant to the context or the wider understanding of an article i.e., anything about working from home during Covid-19, it’s not evergreen.
• People stop searching for trending or date-related topics after a certain amount of time, so they won’t find your content. 
• If someone finds your article even just one year later, they might assume it’s outdated and they won’t click on it. 

If you must use dates, be smart about it. For example, you could turn a “2021 Guide to Digital Marketing” into the “2022 Guide to Digital Marketing”, and so on. Or, make a plan to update content with a date annually. 

In general, you’ll want to avoid using dates or referring to current news events, where possible. 

4. Create Case Studies

Case studies won’t work for everyone. It all depends on your audience and the type of business you’re running. 

However, if your audience values in-depth, analytical content, consider writing evergreen case studies. Here are a few benefits of case studies: 

• Case studies help boost your credibility within your sector. 
• Readers can derive true value from in-depth case studies. 
• You can make case studies evergreen by focusing on the core issues rather than dates or anything time-specific. 

Finally, by sharing real case studies with your audience, you can boost your company’s authenticity. Since 90 percent of customers value authenticity when choosing which companies to support, I’m thinking this is a win!

5. Write In-Depth Guides and Tutorials 

When people want advice, they very often turn to guides and tutorials. Why? Because they’re comprehensive enough to answer all the questions they have about a specific topic. (Or, at least they should be!) 

In other words, guides and tutorials make for excellent evergreen content ideas.

For example, if you type “keyword research” into Google, one of the top results is my own guide to keyword research:

It’s a guide, and it’s part of a comprehensive, three-part series on effective keyword research. I cover a huge amount of ground, and the goal is to ensure the guide is a “one-stop-shop” for your keyword research needs.  

What’s more, tutorials and guides are a chance for you to showcase your authoritativeness and build trust in your brand. (Which, as we know, can improve your search rankings.)

6. Update Your Content Regularly 

No matter how hard you work to create evergreen content, you’ll still have to update it occasionally. Strategies change, new research and tools come out, and content becomes less fresh over time. If you want to keep your content ranking well, you’ll need to update it.  

How does this work? By updating content, you’re creating a new publication date, which gives your post an instant boost: most first-page results are published within the last few years.

Here’s a few tips for updating content:  

• Add a little more information, or change a few stats. 
• Freshen up the images.
• Change any outdated details. 
• Double-check spelling and phrasing. Could you phrase something better?   

For a more detailed guide, check out this complete guide to giving your content a facelift. 

7. Repurpose Your Content

Finally, once you’ve got a great piece of content it’s time to make it work for you. One of the best ways to make the most out of great content—and reach as wide of an audience as possible—is to repurpose content into different formats. 

Here’s a few ideas: 

• Build an infographic to share elsewhere.
• Repost the content and remarket it across social media. 
• Around 85 percent of web users enjoy video content, so repurpose an evergreen article into a shareable video. 
• Got a positive review or customer testimonial? Use it to link back to your content.

These are just a few suggestions, don’t limit yourself!

How to Maintain Your Evergreen Content Ranking

You’ve compiled your evergreen content and you’re ranking well. Great! 

Now comes the tricky part: how do you keep your first-page ranking for the months (and years) to come? Here are two suggestions. 

1. Promote your content to ensure people can always find it on your website. Share it on social media, and consider adding fresh hashtags to increase exposure. 
2. Link to evergreen posts on other pages across your site. Not only will this help you draw more traffic, but internal links are another simple yet highly effective way to boost SEO.

I recommend using these techniques alongside other strategies like content repurposing and refreshing to maximize your chances of maintaining a first-page ranking. 

Conclusion

Evergreen content is timeless. It never goes out of fashion. If you want to draw organic traffic, educate your audience, and position yourself as an industry authority, it needs to be part of your content marketing plan. 

Don’t just dive in, though. Identify the topics that matter to your audience, do your own research, and put a fresh spin on them. Use the right keywords to improve your chances of ranking on Google, and don’t forget to update your content whenever you feel it’s a little stale. 

What does evergreen content mean to you? 

Have you heard of data visualization? Even if you don’t know the term, you’ve probably seen some examples.

Data visualization refers to graphical images that represent and explain data trends or other numerical information, such as charts, maps, scatter plots, or graphs.

You can use data visualization in articles or on web pages to make numbers and data easily digestible to the reader. Especially when you are trying to distill down complex topics to convert more readers, data can add value and help you make your case.

The Benefits of Data Visualization

Visuals are a powerful addition to your articles and presentations.

Our brains process images at a rapid pace, according to an MIT study. Including visuals in your article not only breaks up the text and gives your reader something else to look at, but also may help them process the information more quickly.

Think about it: we’ve been communicating visually from the cave painting days. Data visualization just takes image communication to the next level, integrating stats and data into compelling visuals that your brain can absorb faster than just scanning numbers.

Plus, it’s more than just laying out the numbers. Data visualization is about presenting data in a very specific way to back up your claims or illustrate your point. It’s more than just a table of statistics the reader has to work through to figure out for themselves.

Numbers can often be the “proof” you need to convince your reader to take the next step or to make a purchase, but many people don’t want to take the time to read through all the data.

According to the Nielsen Norman Group, people don’t read word-for-word online, going back to the internet’s earliest days. Instead, they scan, looking for stand-out headlines and images that grab them. Data visualization gives you that opportunity to capture their interest and get important stats in front of their eyes.

Examples of Data Visualization

Are you inspired to start creating data visualization images for your content, or are you still needing some examples? Here are a few ideas to get you thinking.

1. USA Today Housing Bubble Graphic

Using an interactive map, USA Today created this graphic to help readers understand the data behind current housing sales trends. The simple color palette makes it visually appealing, and the ability to scroll over each state to learn more means readers may spend more time on the page, interacting with the data.

2. CNBC Job Change Graph

This visual from CNBC is an example of using a bar graph in a visually compelling way. At a quick glance, you can see what’s growing and decreasing. As you look closer, you can check out more detail about the numbers and specifics.

3. NY Times Nutrition Scatter Plot

Scatter plots can get complex, which is why this graphic from the NY Times uses images to help make the point. It also explains the XY axes, so readers understand what they’re looking at.

Types of Data Visualization

When it comes to creating unique images, the only limit is your imagination, but here are a few common types to get you started.

Bar Graphs

Bar graphs are a simple option. Think back to your school days and science projects. Bar graphs can be vertical or horizontal, with each bar representing the values of each category.

Bar graphs can represent any set of numbers you need to compare side-by-side, and you can use colors to reflect different categories. For example, you could compare salaries for different jobs, prices for different products, or populations of different groups.

Pie Charts

Pie charts consist of circles representing 100% of something, broken into “slices” of ratios or percentages.

They are a great way to illustrate how various categories compare to their larger context. For instance, you can show how many people of a certain group have different behaviors, habits, or preferences.

Tables

While not always the most visually compelling, tables can allow you to provide multiple data points or categories to help people understand the relationships among items.

On a table, you can lay out in rows the main categories you’re comparing. Along each column, you can include as many different topics as you need to.

Tables are simple and useful but can easily get cluttered. Make sure to highlight the sections that need your attention and use colors to make things stand out. Keep everything lined up and clear to make it easily scannable for your readers.

Infographics

A power horse of online images, infographics can mean almost anything. However, an infographic typically acts as a curated collection of charts, graphs, icons, and short text to share high-level information about a topic or tell a narrative.

They are usually vertically designed, with strong headlines and numbers. Its power comes in combining various elements to tell a story. Infographics are great for an overview, such as a brief history behind a topic or a quick lesson.

GIFs

What’s more visual than a GIF? Functioning as a quick video, a GIF can allow you to show growth, movement, regression, or progress. GIFs often involve an animated graph or chart that shows demographics or change over time.

Maps

When the information you present is demographically or locally focused, maps can help tell that story visually. You can connect readers with information relating to specific areas or groups of people in those locations.

Color-coding different areas of your maps can give your readers a quick visual of exactly which areas relate to which topics in your content. For instance, you can shade areas red or blue depending on how that region voted on a particular topic or election.

Heat Maps

A heat map can show areas of concentration or intensity. You can use this for actual temperatures, such as climate or record temperatures in certain areas, or you could use it for proverbial heat, showing intensity or even popularity.

Sometimes heat maps illustrate population density, for instance, or the behavior of users on a website, such as how often they interact with a certain area.

Scatter Plots

A scatter plot is a type of graph that shows the correlation or relationship between two topics on a horizontal and vertical axis, with dots scattered throughout to represent examples of that relationship.

You can draw a line through the area where the dots are concentrated to see trends. Your reader can see that as one factor changes, such as increases or heats up, the other factor tends to respond in some way.

Pair Up Simple Data Visualization Types

The above are just a few of the simple elements you can use to illustrate your data. The options are almost innumerable. Just about any kind of chart, graph, or map can be employed.

However, some of the best data visualizations integrate multiple types or pair up more than one element. For instance, you can use a series of pie charts to show how trends have changed over time.

Sometimes, matching up multiple elements can illustrate your point more fully or allow you to describe various points of your narrative better. You could even use a chart within a chart or lay them out in an infographic style to tell a story.

Make Data Visualizations Interactive

To make your data visualization work hard for you, you may want to consider interactive options.

Interactivity allows readers to scroll over or click on various parts of your charts or graphics to learn more about each section. Maybe each bar on your graph or each area on your map has more specific information that your viewers can read.

This not only provides more powerful data points to your image, but it also allows it to be a more relevant and customizable experience for more users.

Data Visualization Tools

You can create data visualization images for your content from scratch using design software or an online option like Canva. However, data visualization tools can give you a leg up by allowing you to create truly stand-out projects.

These tools can take the guesswork out of the process and let you focus on plugging in the data and cranking out designs that reflect your brand and convey your message.

The great thing about these tools is that they are made for the casual creator. You don’t need to be a developer or coder to get into making great charts or graphs. Here are a few of the plug-and-play options that can get your idea off the ground.

Flourish

Flourish advertises an easy option for creating and sharing data visualization. You can upload spreadsheets directly to the platform or create your images from scratch. It has a number of animated or interactive templates, which you can update with your brand graphics and elements.

Flourish has a free option that allows you to explore and create public data visualization. If you want to interact with your team or create private projects, it offers a few levels of paid options.

Datawrapper

Datawrapper promises to be easy to use, with no coding experience required. It provides several intuitive options, with tools such as a color-blind check that remind you of colors that are color-blind friendly.

With a variety of defaults in its templates, Datawrapper brings the details of each data visualization that newbies may not have thought through.

Infogram

This tool allows you to create charts and graphs that have the animation and customization you need to wow your audience. You can also use Infogram’s drag-and-drop feature to drag the images around and combine elements into a single, highly-effective visual.

Tracking the Success of Your Data Visualization Elements

The time and effort it takes to create data visualization and work it into your content can pay off if it helps drive people to your goals, like increasing readerships or leads. However, you’ll only know if they’re successful if you track the metrics.

Consider the Big Picture

As you start incorporating data visualization into your content, one of the easiest ways to track their success is to see how well your content is doing. The most basic questions to ask are: is the content with data visualization more popular? Do those pieces get more readers and more shares?

Dive Into the Data

One way to get a little geeky with your data is to set up a heat map tool, such as Hotjar. This can give you more data about how people behave on your page, such as how and where they scroll or click. This is especially useful for a landing page where you’re trying to convert people to sales.

Help Them Act

The only way to know if your data visualization is actually converting is to give readers a way to be converted. Once they have been convinced by the data you are sharing, what do you want them to do next? Make sure you keep clear CTAs near the data visualization. Clicks or email sign-ups can help you track the effectiveness of that image.

Conclusion

Data visualization can help you drive readership and more leads by engaging with them from the start. People come back to your online hub when they find quality content there. They’re also more likely to share your content with others when they find it interesting and engaging.

Data visualization can help you take complex or dry concepts and make them more compelling, helping drive home your point and increase sales along the way.

If it feels daunting to create and manage your data visualization elements, we are here to help out. We also offer services like SEO, content marketing, and paid media.

What kind of data visualization are you going to use in your content?

The post How to Use Data Visualization in Your Content to Increase Readers and Leads appeared first on Neil Patel.

As a business owner, you know your employees are vital to your company’s success. That doesn’t mean they always feel appreciated, however.

Regular recognition at company meetings is essential, but so is making your appreciation public. Employee spotlights let you tell the world about top employees and explore their contributions to your company.

Employee spotlights aren’t just a way to recognize and reward loyal, hardworking employees. They are an uber-effective (and perennially underused) marketing tactic. They can help humanize your brand and, ultimately, boost sales.

It’s time to stop taking our employees for granted. Here’s how to use employee spotlights to give your staff the recognition they deserve while growing your business.

6 Benefits of Employee Spotlights

First and foremost, employee spotlights are about recognizing the wonderful people who work for your company, but that’s not the only benefit.

They also make for incredibly effective marketing collateral. There’s no corporate sales message with an employee spotlight. Just authentic brand storytelling that shares what makes your company stand out.

That kind of message comes with some significant benefits—the kind that can send revenues soaring.

Boost Your Recruitment Strategy

Employee spotlights are a fantastic tool to help your company attract the very best talent. The kind of talent that takes your company’s sales to the next level.

It’s a huge commitment for someone to take on a new role. Even more so if it’s senior management or an executive position. When all job adverts look similar, potential employees look for as much inside information as possible.

They want to know what it’s like to work at your company, who their colleagues might be, and what perks they can expect.

Employee spotlights highlight the day-to-day experience at your company and could be the deciding factor that sways a candidate’s decision in your favor. If you are hiring, you can run ad campaigns about job positions featuring real employees.

Foster Meaningful Connections Between Employees

There are few better ways to create meaningful connections between your employees than a series of articles and interviews that shine a light on individual employees.

Employee spotlights can be particularly powerful in large enterprise companies where it can be hard for employees to get to know people in different departments.

They break down barriers and silos that separate departments and give employees a nifty way of striking up a conversation between teams. This can increase productivity, communication, and your bottom line.

Increase Engagement and Reach on Social Media

Employee spotlights are usually incredibly popular when shared on social media. Employees, their friends, and families love to share posts about people they know. While corporate sales messages might only pick up a handful of shares, this kind of social media engagement can be transformational.

Each comment, like and share, gets your company in front of a much bigger audience. That could lead to new applicants and even new clients. Potential clients feel good about working with a company with incredibly engaged, connected, and happy employees.

As you can see, Twitch’s employee spotlight got over 250 likes and shares and showed off their company branding.

Win Over Potential Clients

Employee spotlights are a fantastic tool to win over new clients. When there’s not much difference between firms in terms of price or previous work, the decision can often come down to which company the client thinks will be more enjoyable to work with.

Think about which company you would choose to work with: a faceless corporation that doesn’t even have a team page on its website or a company that is proud of every single employee and goes out of its way to show them off?

Grow Existing Client Relationships

Employee spotlights aren’t just great for winning new clients. They can also improve the relationship with your existing clients. When you send out employee spotlights in your email newsletter, you give your existing clients another opportunity to engage with your brand and reaffirm their choice to work with you.

They can follow up on services that employee offers or learn more about their contacts at your company.

This may give you more business as a result of something mentioned in your spotlights.

Improve Your Company’s Reputation

Glassdoor and other job review websites have made it all too easy to dig up dirt on companies. Employee spotlights give you the chance to bolster your company’s image.

The time and money invested in creating employee spotlights show your company cares about its employees. The content of each spotlight can further bolster your reputation.

What gets said by employees can prove your company is committed to creating a rewarding and challenging working environment. That tells possible recruits there is a great company culture, and you have nothing to hide.

How to Create an Employee Spotlight

Now that you understand the many benefits of creating an employee spotlight let’s cover how to create them.

Before creating the content, ask yourself these three questions:

1. Who are you going to highlight?
2. What are you going to include in your spotlight?
3. Where are you going to post it?

Who to Highlight

No one should be off-limits when it comes to creating employee spotlights—unless they don’t want to participate, of course. (Don’t force employees to take part against their will.)

For those who are willing, however, make sure you highlight a broad cross-section of your team. Everyone from the executive leadership team down to the new intern deserves the opportunity to be recognized.

What to Include in an Employee Spotlight

While you can include whatever you like in your employee spotlight, there’s a common format that most employers tend to take.

The Essentials of an Employee Spotlight

There are several elements no employee spotlight should be without. These are:

• employee name
• employee picture
• job title
• direct quote

An employee spotlight doesn’t have to be as comprehensive as you might think. This information alone can be enough to achieve some of the benefits we covered above.

The Optional (but Recommended) Extras:

If you want to make your spotlights shine, consider adding a lot more detail to help readers get the full picture. For example:

• a detailed description of their role
• the length of their employment
• a question-and-answer session
• their hobbies outside of work
• anything else interesting about the employee

What to Ask Employees in a Spotlight Feature

A video interview or a written Q&A session can bring your employee spotlight to life. Make sure to ask questions that will make it easy for employees to talk favorably about your company and give readers and viewers a good idea of what working there actually looks like.

Here are some topics to cover:

• employee perks
• company culture
• company leadership
• the job role, and why it’s enjoyable
• why the employee took the job

Civis Analytics uses a Q&A style spotlight that helps readers get to know their employees.

However, be careful not to get too hung up in the minutiae of their roles or trying to get the perfect soundbite. Canned questions can result in stale answers. Instead, trust your interviewer instincts and delve deeper into anything interesting the employees share.

The more unusual and different each of your employee spotlights, the more likely people will be to read every one. That also means mixing up the format of different spotlights can work well.

Short-Form Spotlights Vs. Long-Form Spotlights

Your employee spotlights can be long-form written pieces of short-form snippets, videos, or social media posts. There are benefits to both short-form and long-form spotlights.

So, why choose?

If you’re going to the effort of creating employee spotlights, consider doing both. Start the employee spotlight with a short-form executive summary or introductory video so readers can learn everything at a glance.

Then go into more detail for those who want to spend time getting to know your employees. You could post the full-length video interview or transcribe your entire Q&A session. You could even have employees write an in-depth blog post.

Don’t be afraid to chop up long-form spotlights into short, digestible chunks that can be shared on social media platforms, either. The more ways you can repurpose the content, the more valuable they become.

Where to Post Employee Spotlights

Post your employee spotlights anywhere and everywhere. Your brand blog is a great starting place. Create a new post for every employee spotlight and have a dedicated section of your blog where readers can easily browse past spotlights.

Use social media to get the word out and link back to your blog posts. Platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are a great way to significantly increase the number of people who will read your spotlights.

Don’t be afraid of using video snippets or direct quotes from each spotlight to create posts, either. You can also spotlight employees by letting them have complete control over your social media accounts for a day.

It’s also worth including every new spotlight in your corporate newsletter. We’ve already discussed the benefit of showing potential and current clients your spotlights, and this is a great way to make sure everyone knows about them.

If you’ve filmed your employee spotlight, you should upload it to YouTube, too. Not only is YouTube a great way to host your videos, but these types of videos are also incredibly share-worthy and can increase exposure on the platform.

Finally, don’t forget to share your employee spotlights on your company’s intranet or instant messaging app. Spotlights are great for boosting employee morale and helping employees get to know their colleagues better.

What to Do After Publishing Employee Spotlights

Once you’ve completed the first few employee spotlights, spend time gathering feedback from your team and your audience. Ask them what they liked about the interviews, what they didn’t like, and anything they thought was missing. You can even ask who should be highlighted next.

Armed with this information, you can make your next batch of employee spotlights even better. Collect more feedback after and then optimize them again. Whatever you do, don’t stop creating them. The more spotlights you create, the more chance your business will benefit from them.

It won’t take long before employee spotlights become ingrained in your company culture. You’ll wonder how you ever did without them.

Conclusion

It’s not an over-exaggeration to say employee spotlights can transform your company for the better. You can use them to:

• attract better talent
• improve employee morale
• expand your reach
• win new clients
• build stronger relationships with existing clients
• improve your company’s reputation

It’s not hard to create them, either. A simple Q&A or a short video is all you need to start changing your company culture for the better and improving sales as a result. What’s stopping you from getting started today?

Who will be the star of your next employee spotlight? Share in the comments!

The post How to Use Employee Spotlights to Grow Sales appeared first on Neil Patel.

It’s no secret that blogs can be very profitable in the world of content marketing.

According to Demand Metric, businesses that utilize a blogging strategy get 97 percent more links to their website and are 13x more likely to see positive returns. What’s more, blogging results in a 434 percent increase in indexed pages and a 93 percent increase in indexed links.

This means more inbound traffic and more repeat customers for your brand.

That said, there are over 31 million active bloggers in the U.S. posting once per month, and that talent pool is only growing. To keep up and stay competitive, you need to be on top of the latest blogging trends and go after the best blog talent.

Here are some of the biggest blogging trends to look out for this year, along with quick and easy ways to implement them into your blogging strategy.

Blogging Trend #1: Highly Visual Content

No blogging trends list would be complete without reminding you of the importance of visual content.

There’s no doubt about it; visual content is on the rise. Studies have shown that readers can recall 65 percent of the visual content they’ve seen, even three days later.

That’s a big boost for your brand’s visibility and retention. As blogs become longer and more detailed, design and interactivity grow in importance. Visual content can offer readers a way to scan content without reading it all the way through.

HubSpot found that only 16 percent of online readers take in content word-by-word. The rest are scanning, looking for quick and efficient information.

If you want readers to stay on your page, be engaged, and promote your content on other platforms, make your information easy to scan by using visuals.

How to Incorporate Visual Content in Your Blog

Adding images and videos to your content breaks up heavy chunks of text and offers a new, responsive way for your audience to engage with your content.

It’s always preferable to use original content in your blogs, but stock imagery can still be useful when designing an engaging blog. For example, an infographic offers readers a way to easily consume your information without wading through the entirety of your post.

Here is a great infographic example from Oberlo.

Likewise, video content is another one of this year’s hottest blogging trends that offers readers a more engaging way of interacting with your posts.

Surveys from Wyzowl have found that people watch an average of 2.5 hours of video content per day, so integrating video content into your blog is a great way to improve time spent on your pages.

Blogging Trend #2: More Affiliate Marketing

Another important factor in today’s blogging trends is the implementation of affiliate marketing links in your blog content.

Affiliate marketing allows you to create an ongoing sales funnel outside your website.

For example, if you’re running a B2C business, you might hire a blogger to write a review post about your product. From there, you could offer their followers a discount if they buy it from that post.

Not only does this improve your sales reach, but it also introduces you to new audiences.

Blogs make up more than 40 percent of all affiliate commissions in the U.S. Of this same group, 35 percent make up to 20k in revenue from their affiliate links.

It’s no wonder affiliate marketing is one of the hottest blogging trends of the year. Now, how can you take advantage of this technique?

How to Incorporate Affiliate Marketing in Your Blog

When creating a blog, think about affiliate marketing techniques you could employ.

If you’re mentioning a product or service, reach out to that company and see if they have any affiliate programs you could join. You can do this with a simple Google search for: product + “affiliate program.”

It’s always best to choose a product you know and love, as your results depend on how well you sell it.

That said, no one wants to read a sales pitch. A successful affiliate blog should be educational and informative and should employ other blogging techniques such as SEO and visual content.

It’s also important to note that the FTC requires you to disclose any affiliate programs, which you can do with a simple byline in your post.

Blogging Trend #3: More Critical Readers

One of the more relevant blogging trends today is the inclusion of critical readers in your audience pool.

Public perception of online content is changing.

With terms like “fake news” and increased competition for content, readers are less willing to trust content that isn’t reputable.

Today’s reader needs reassurance that your content is accurate and fair. They expect citations, sources, and statistics to back up your claims. Likewise, you need to keep in mind the scope of content that’s readily available online.

Every year, more people and more brands enter the blogging scene.

To stay competitive and harness your SEO, you need to write content that is verified and well-sourced.

How to Write for Critical Readers

It’s important to write logical, truthful, and high-quality content that uses authoritative sources and consistent citations.

Making baseless, unverified claims is a good way to lose your readers. Not only that, but bad sources can actually negatively affect your SEO and overall page authority.

Here are a few easy tips to follow when writing for critical readers:

1. Write honest content that is backed by reputable sources.
2. Use backlinks to cite sources or include them as footnotes.
3. Do not make any claims you cannot prove.
4. Do not promise anything you can’t deliver.

The biggest takeaway here is to avoid writing anything that isn’t true or that can’t be verified with accurate sources.

Losing credibility can be a big hit to your business. Stay informed and improve your brand integrity.

Blogging Trend #4: Mobile-First Format

Blogging trends often come and go, but mobile-first formatting is here to stay. These days, everyone uses their phone to read online.

From news articles in your Facebook feed to swipe-up blogs on Instagram, your consumers are constantly surfing the web from their phones.

It’s crucial that your website, blog, and any other digital content you create is optimized for mobile. No one wants to click on an article only to have it pixelated or cut off on their screen.

If you don’t have mobile optimization set up, you risk readers logging off before they have a chance to read your content. Studies from Google show that 40 percent of mobile consumers turned to a competitor’s website after a negative mobile web experience.

How to Write in a Mobile-First Format

When creating mobile-friendly content, it’s important to consider how your content will look on a mobile screen.

One sentence on a desktop screen can look like a paragraph on mobile.

Therefore, breaking up your paragraphs, using short sentences, and ensuring your website is optimized for mobile are very important.

Here are a few other points to consider:

• Make navigation as easy as possible.
• Make your content easy to scan.
• Ensure the on-page loading time is fast.
• Use a mobile responsive web theme.
• Don’t use text wrapping for images.

As always, writing content that is simple, accurate, and concise can improve your overall mobile accessibility.

Blogging Trend #5: Estimated Reading Time

Another recurring theme in modern blogging trends is estimated reading times.

Estimated reading time can improve reader engagement by setting up their expectations from the start.

If you know a blog takes 15 minutes to read, but you only have 10 minutes before your next meeting, you might save that blog for another day. Likewise, if a blog takes two minutes to read, you may get excited about the convenient length of the article and open it right away.

Tempesta found that readers were 40 percent more engaged with blogs that included an estimated reading time. What’s more, search engines factor in estimated reading times when determining your rank. The longer your users dwell on your page, the better your chances are of looking authoritative to search engines.

How to Incorporate Estimated Reading Times in Your Blog

The average reading speed of most adults is 200-250 words per minute.

To estimate your blog’s reading time, divide the number of words in your article by 200 or 250.

Always round up your number when estimating reading times. For example, if your blog takes 1.7 minutes to read, estimate 2 minutes. This ensures your reader’s expectations are met and increases the likelihood that they read your entire blog.

You can also use online calculators, such as Read-O-Meter or Decimal to Time Calculator, to help you. Some web hosting services, such as WordPress, have plugins available to estimate the reading time for you.

Blogging Trend #6: TL;DR Summary

One of the latest blogging trends you shouldn’t miss is the “too long; didn’t read” summary.

Commonly referred to as TL;DR, these summaries act as an abstract of your blog, giving readers the most important information without making them skim, scan, or read through the entire piece.

This point is important in blogging trends as we continue to see global attention spans drop.

A study by Microsoft found that global attention spans have been declining since 2000, with the average person’s attention span now resting at a mere eight seconds.

By including a TL;DR summary at the start of your blog, you can appeal to the new generation of online readers.

TL;DR summaries can also have a positive impact on your SEO, as they answer questions for readers clearly and distinctly. For example, if a customer is looking for consulting services, they don’t want to read an entire post just to get to the recommendations at the bottom.

If you include your TL;DR at the top of your post, search engines can use that as the summary in search results as well (but there’s no guarantee that they will).

Answering user questions right off the bat can improve your ranking and get you more clicks.

How to Incorporate TL;DR in Your Blog

Your TL;DR should be the first thing your users see.

You can include this as a bulleted list or a paragraphed summary at the top of your blog post. Always have a catchy headline in your TL;DR to engage your reader and draw attention to your piece.

Similarly, your points should be succinct, clear, and short. Don’t write an entire essay in this space.

If you find a TL;DR formula that works for you, keep using it. Having a standardized format throughout your blogs will make your content consistent and reliable.

There are also online tools now offering TL;DR services. For example, TLDR This claims to help you summarize an article in one click. You can also use TL;DR-ify for similar services.

Conclusion

Now that you know some of the latest and greatest blogging trends, how will you implement them?

If your goal is to create a better content marketing strategy, you should be including most, if not all, of these blogging trends.

If your goal is to improve your SEO, you may want to focus on mobile-first formats or visual content.

Ultimately, tapping into each of these blogging trends can open up opportunities for new success.

What blogging trend are you most excited to use for your business?

The post 5 Blogging Trends to Capitalize on This Year appeared first on Neil Patel.

Businesses live and die based on leads.

Without leads, no one converts. Without conversions, no one pays. Without payments, your business dies.

But generating leads is easier said than done.

After all, it takes a long time for SEO to impact your business. PPC sports varied results.

Social media requires a lot of attention, and banner ads don’t really work very well these days.

So what’s the answer?

For some of you, Quora might be your next best lead-generation hack.

As of March 2016, the platform was up to 300 million monthly unique users.

But, I don’t want to assume that you’re familiar with the platform.

Maybe you’re new to Quora or have never even heard of it.

So let’s take a moment to talk about exactly what Quora is.

What is Quora?

Quora is kind of a social media platform, but it’s far different from most.

Quora is similar to Twitter in that you can follow other people, but it isn’t nearly as free-flowing.

It’s similar to Facebook because you can interact with other people, but not through direct messaging.

Quora’s individuality is what makes it so effective for lead generation.

In its most basic form, Quora is a social media platform for asking and answering questions.

You can play on either side of the coin. You can ask questions you would like an expert to answer or you can answer questions that other people have posted.

For lead generation, you’ll play the part of the expert more than the asker.

Starting to see why the platform is so effective for driving traffic and leads to your website?

It allows you to interact with your customers and prospects, answer their questions, and communicate with them in a way that no other social media site does.

But those are just a few reasons.

Here are a few more.

Why is Quora Good For Lead Gen?

Yes, Quora allows you to communicate with your customers.

But it’s more than that.

After all, you can communicate with your customers in a lot of different places.

Email, Facebook, and Twitter are just a few ways the Internet allows you to contact your prospects.

However, there’s something that Quora offers that helps it stand apart from the other platforms.

Namely, it’s the ability to interact with prospects and customers in a place where they are asking the questions.

While email, Facebook, and Twitter all have notoriously low click-through, open, and response rates, Quora doesn’t.

On Quora, the consumer starts the interaction rather than your business, which means that they are already invested in the conversation.

On Quora, your prospects and customers are already asking questions — questions that you have the answers to.

Here’s another reason to consider Quora for lead gen–their audience is more likely to have a college degree, be a manager, and have a higher income.

If that’s your target audience, then Quora is a good place to be.

If you join the platform and play the part of the expert, you’ll quickly enhance your brand’s image in the eyes of your target audience and drive leads to your website.

How, exactly, can you do that?

Specifically, here are 11 ways to make the most of Quora.

1. Create a Compelling Profile

The very first thing you need to do on Quora is to enhance your profile.

When someone sees that you’ve answered one of their questions, what’s the first thing they’re going to do?

That’s right. They’re going to click on your profile to see who you are, where you work, and what you’re an expert at.

If a user clicks through to your profile and sees something unoptimized, they won’t trust your opinion, even if you answer a question with detail and expertise.

In other words, the answers you provide for people are only as good as your profile’s optimization.

Here’s what my profile looks like.

For the most part, Quora will walk you through all of the optimizations you need to create a trustworthy profile.

But let me point out three important aspects of my own.

First, notice the part that says “Forbes Top 10 Marketer and NY Times Best Selling Author.” That immediately establishes a lot of authority.

People think, “Wow! This guy really knows what he’s talking about.”

You want to do the same thing with your profile. Include a few noteworthy accomplishments in this section.

Second, look at the credentials and highlights on the right side of the screen. Be sure to include your location and your business title to add some personality.

And lastly, choose your profile image carefully.

When someone sees your profile image, they form an opinion of you.

They could assume that you’re friendly, arrogant, approachable, or lazy all based on that little photo.

So, you need to make sure that you include an image that expresses how you want to be perceived.

Ideally, your profile picture will make you look professional, approachable, and smart.

Once you optimize your profile for visitors’ eyes, you can move on to these next tips.

2. Follow Relevant Quora Topics

Setting up your profile to communicate your expertise is the first step in your Quora lead gen journey.

The next thing you need to do is follow any topics that apply directly to your target industry.

This will allow Quora to consistently update you on relevant questions that people are asking.

That means that you won’t have to go searching for them. You can simply look at your home dashboard.

To follow different topics, type into the search bar any subjects within your industry that you want to engage in.

Then, click on the result with the word “Topic:” next to it.

This will take you to the topic page of your selected result. All you have to do now is click on “Follow Topic” on the right side.

Now, Quora will notify you about conversations going on under this topic.

Do the same thing with any other topics that you want to follow. Remember that you want to choose as many subjects within your industry as you can.

The more you follow, the more opportunities you’ll get to engage with customers and prospects and drive leads to your website.

3. Show Your Expertise on Quora

When you’re answering other people’s questions on Quora, you need to be sure to establish yourself as the expert.

You might answer a lot of questions, but you also need to give people a reason to trust those answers.

Unfortunately, they aren’t going to do it just out of the kindness of their hearts.

There are several ways to build expertise when answering a question.

The first way is to make sure you have a professional looking profile picture. Something like this, for example.

Also, you should write like you’re a professional who knows what they’re talking about.

If you write like you deserve attention, more people will listen.

But if you write timidly, then more people will be nervous about trusting you. Here’s what writing professionally might look like for you.

The final ways to establish expertise with your answers is by starting off with a brief explanation of why you’re an expert.

Quickly explain why you know a lot about the topic or why people should trust you.

You do something similar to what Da Zheng does with the beginning of his answer.

Regardless of which tactic you use to establish yourself as the expert, make sure that you take the extra time to explain why you know a lot about the given topic.

Then, when people are upvoting answers, yours will be at the top.

4. Be Genuinely Helpful

Before you get carried away with establishing yourself as an expert, remember that you also need to be genuinely helpful.

The people who gain the largest followings on Quora are the same people who provide authentically meaningful answers about topics they are actually familiar with.

The last thing you want to do is talk about why you’re an expert and then have a cruddy answer to the person’s question.

You’re the expert, so be the expert.

Answer questions in a way that will actually help the people on the other side.

Otherwise, you’ll waste your time.

Consider the value that Tanya Russell gives in her answer to a question about social media.

Her response is remarkably long, and I couldn’t capture the whole thing in a screenshot.

But here is the introduction.

She goes on like that for quite some time, providing true value with each new point.

Your answers should do the same thing.

Consider this response from Joyce del Rosario.

Again, this is just the introduction.

Joyce includes lots of images, bolded text, and helpful advice to guide her reader.

If you do the same thing, it won’t just help your readers, though. It will also establish trust with your prospects, build brand awareness, and even drive traffic to your website.

5. Contact Your Quora Followers

On Quora, you can only direct message people who have their settings adjusted accordingly.

Unfortunately, that’s going to severely limit how many people you can get in touch with privately.

However, you have another option as well.

Instead of direct messaging your prospects and customers to learn about their questions, desires, and pains, you can ask them a question publically.

Doing so is quite simple, and it’s a great way to learn about your target market.

All you have to do is click on “Followers” on your profile page.

Then, you’ll see a list that looks something like this.

Decide who you want to ask a question and click on their name.

This will take you to their profile. From there, you can click the “Ask Question” prompt and start engaging with them.

You could ask them about what they think of your business, what their favorite online tools are, or how they would rate your customer service.

And the best part is that, since the question is public, other people can comment and engage in the thread as well.

6. Track Your Quora Analytics

Unlike most social media platforms, Quora also has an analytics dashboard for all of its users.

You can see your number of upvotes, views, and shares all in one place.

And checking this dashboard regularly is critical to your Quora lead-generation strategy.

After all, if you don’t know how well your current tactics are working, then you won’t be able to learn, adapt, or iterate.

So make sure that you check your stats dashboard at least once per week.

Doing so is simple.

Just click on your profile image at the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Then, click on “Stats.”

You’ll see a dashboard like this that is full of valuable information for you to digest.

When numbers are good, try to identify what you’re doing right and replicate your actions.

When numbers are low, identify what you’re doing wrong and learn how to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

Either way, you can learn and iterate your marketing strategy.

7. Leverage Trackback Links

To leverage all of the benefits that Quora has to offer, you need to understand what trackback links are.

Basically, they are Quora’s version of backlink, or links that go from an external website to your website.

When this happens, that link tells Google that an external website trusts your URL, which can massively influence your SEO.

In fact, generally speaking, the more backlinks a website has, the better they’re going to rank on Google.

Now, let me clarify.

I’m not telling you to constantly stuff backlinks into your answers so that it becomes annoying.

I simply want you to be aware of trackback links so that you can include backlinks to your website tactfully in your Quora answers.

Remember, the whole point of answering questions on Quora is to provide genuine value. If you stuff hyperlinks into your answers, that will hurt any trust you’ve built up with prospects and customers.

Here’s what a trackback link looks like on my profile.

Here’s what it looks like in an answer to a question.

Include these links to win some SEO benefit, but don’t go over the top. You want to insert links where it will be genuinely valuable for other users. Otherwise, leave them out.

8. Create Content Around Quora Questions on Your Website

One of the greatest benefits of Quora is that it tells you what your target market is looking for.

Often, marketers have a difficult time discovering the true desires, concerns, pains, and knowledge-lacking areas of their ideal customer.

With Quora, you can discover those things instantly.

All you have to do is type your target industry or topic into the search bar.

Then click on the result you want with the word “Topic:” next to it.

This screen will show up.

You can repurpose all of those questions into titles on your own website’s blog.

Since these are the questions that people are asking regarding your industry, you’ll attract a lot of people by answering them.

Simply take a title, alter it a bit, and create a piece of content around it.

9. Share Your Most Popular Quora Answers

As you engage more and more on Quora, some of your answers will perform better than others.

Every once in a while, you’ll hit a goldmine of attention. Users will view, upvote, and share your answer more than any of your others.

The last thing you want to do is let all of that potential go to waste.

While your Quora followers will pay plenty of attention to the answer, you can gain even more attention by sharing the answer on your social media channels.

Go to your profile and click on “Answers” on the left side of the screen.

Then, find an answer that is particularly lucrative and click on the share buttons in the lower right-hand corner.

From there, you’ll be able to share your answer, generating more traffic to it, and even drive traffic to your website if you include a backlink.

10. Automate Your Quora Process

After you spend some time on Quora, you may find yourself buried under piles of strenuous and monotonous work. There’s no way around having to spend hours researching relevant topics and keeping track of answers. 

Although Quora is relatively easy to navigate and has some impressive build-in analytics features, you may want to try ad hoc tools for streamlining the workflow. 

There’re not many tools that feature necessary tracking and question-research capabilities. One of the few working solutions is QuestionsPro, a software that aims to automate lead generation on Quora. 

The best thing about QuestionsPro is that find questions relevant to your website, Quora profile, or even a YouTube channel. This tool also incorporates several valuable metrics, that will help you estimate the traffic you get by answering this or that question on Quora.

11. Use Quora Ads  

Most of the strategies I’ve included here are organic–you answer questions and drive traffic over time by offering value.

However, there is a quicker Quora lead gen strategy: Quora ads.

Just like other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, Quora also lets you pay to reach their audience by paying.

The platform allows you to create ads based on objective, including conversions, traffic, and, yes, lead gen. Then you define your budget, audience, and select your bids.

Quora uses native ads, which disrupts the user experience less.

Quora ads can be used as a stand-alone strategy, or you can supplement some of the organic lead gen strategies above with a few ads.

Conclusion

Quora is a fantastic platform to grow your business’s bottom line.

You can generate the leads that your business requires to survive and thrive.

To leverage all of Quora’s potential, though, you need to understand how to use it.

Start by creating a compelling profile and following relevant topics.

Then, answer questions while showing your expertise and being genuinely helpful.

Finally, ask your followers public questions, track your analytics, leverage trackback links, create similar content on your website, and share your most popular answers on social media.

Don’t forget about Quora ads — they can be incredibly helpful at driving targeted leads to your site.

Do all of that, and few competitors will be able to keep up with your lead-generating Quora activity.

How do you use Quora to generate leads? Have you tried Quora ads? What results have you seen?

The post Need Leads ASAP? Quora Marketing is the Best Lead Gen Hack appeared first on Neil Patel.

How confident do you feel about your digital marketing strategy? If you aren’t seeing the results you hoped for, this guide will walk you through a 21 day digital marketing challenge that will help you reach your digital marketing goals.

A Digital Marketing 21 Day Challenge

Whether you are a hardened digital marketing veteran or a complete newbie, we all need a bit of help from time to time. That’s why I created this day-by-day challenge to help you create a marketing strategy from scratch in just 21 days.

These steps aren’t necessarily in sequential order, and, in truth, it doesn’t really matter what order you complete them in. The point is to break down something kind of overwhelming, like creating a marketing strategy, into small and manageable bite-sized chunks.

You’ll only need to complete one marketing task each day. Although, don’t let me stop you from skipping ahead and checking off several tasks a day. I’ve just provided the framework. How you complete the challenge is up to you.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 1: Competitor Research

There’s a lot you can learn from studying your competitors. From working out why they are outranking you and developing new blog post ideas to coming up with new product offers and marketing ideas for your social and PPC ads, spying on competitors can lead to some big wins.

If you want to outrank your competitors, I highly recommend using Ubersuggest (and the accompanying free Chrome extension). When you enter a competitor’s domain name into the search bar, you’ll immediately be able to see important information like their top-performing keywords, best pages, and backlinks.

You can dig deeper into this data, too, so you can see precisely where their backlinks came from and what you need to do to start competing for their keywords.

That’s not the only competitor outreach tool I recommend, however. Check out this list of 12 competitor analysis tools that you can use to improve your site.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 2: Audit the Content of Your Website

We all know that Google loves fresh, relevant content. That’s why it’s essential to run a content audit of your site every six months or so to identify articles or pages that need to be removed or updated.

Start by making a list of all of your site’s pages. You can do this by hand or use a tool like Ubersuggest or Screaming Frog to do it for you.

You can ignore core pages like your homepage and service pages, but you’ll want to go through every other page of your site in turn and look out for issues like:

• Thin content
• Out of date content
• Duplicate content
• Gaps in your content
• Missing meta data

Next, prioritize pages to update. You won’t be able to do everything at once, so it’s important to focus on the most important pages first.

Check out my detailed guide for more information on how to run a content audit.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 3: Do Keyword Research

Good keyword research is the foundation of any successful online marketing campaign. You want to find out two things:

1. What your audience is searching for
2. How to rank for those terms

You probably already have a decent idea of the keywords you want to rank for. However, do you really know every keyword your audience is using? Probably not.

That’s why using a keyword research tool like Ubersuggest is super valuable to uncover EVERY keyword you can target. Start by entering a keyword to see a list of highly related keywords, their traffic, and how difficult it is to rank for them.

Find even more by clicking through the Related, Questions, Prepositions, and Comparisons tabs. Next, make a note of every relevant keyword.

Do this for every keyword, and you’ll get a list of hundreds or even thousands of keywords you can start targeting. If you’re a smaller site, make sure to start with less competitive terms and go from there.

If you need more help, check out my YouTube video below.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 4: Diagnose and Fix SEO Issues

When executing a killer marketing plan, the last thing you want is for rookie SEO mistakes to hold you back.

First, you’ll need to find them. The easiest way to find SEO issues is by using Screaming Frog. Simply download the tool and enter your website into the search bar.

Screaming Frog will then crawl every page of your site and report back on just about every important on-page metric there is. You’ll be able to find the following:

• 404 pages
• Duplicate content
• Thin content
• Issues with meta data
• H1 and H2 issues
• Pages that don’t index
• Much, much more

Go through each category, noting the offending pages, and then prioritize the repairs.

Screaming Frog won’t highlight everything you need to fix, however. Make sure to check out my guide on the most common SEO mistakes, too.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 5: Create a Backlink Strategy

Earning high-quality backlinks is one of the most effective things you can do to improve your SEO. That’s why it’s crucial to implement a clear and repeatable backlink strategy.

There are dozens of strategies for earning backlinks to your site, but I prefer to focus on specific, repeatable methods.

The first is creating skyscraper content. Coined by Brian Dean of Backlinko, skyscraper content is content that is measurably better than anything else found on the web. The idea is that you pick a reasonably competitive keyword and create the very best article on that given topic.

Once it’s published, reach out to websites that link to the content that currently ranks for your topic and ask them to link to your (much better) version instead.

The second is creating an infographic. Everyone loves sharing infographics because they’re an easy, visual way to understand pretty much any topic. Create your own infographic about something interesting in your niche and reach out to other blogs to share it.

Finally, you can sign up for HARO, which stands for Help a Reporter Out. Every day they’ll send a list of journalists looking for information on various topics. If you have something relevant to say, you can respond and get a backlink as recognition if a journalist picks you.

If that’s not enough backlinks for you, then discover how you can find 50 backlink opportunities in 20 minutes.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 6: Update Your Old Content

Now that you’ve done a content audit, it’s time to update all of the pages that were out of date. Outdated content is a big no-no in the eyes of Google and suggests that the content on your site may not best serve their users.

Fix this by making sure all of the content on your site is up-to-date and relevant. I recommend starting with content that is already ranking as Google has already indicated this content is relevant.

If any of the content is out of date, update it with the most relevant research in your niche. Next, do fresh keyword research for each post to ensure you are targeting the most relevant and searched-for keywords.

One word of caution: don’t get caught up updating content for the sake of it. If some pages on your site are no longer relevant, you’re better off deleting them and creating a 301 redirect to a more appropriate page.

Watch my video below for more information.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 7: Launch an Email Marketing Campaign

Did you know email marketing is one of the best ways to turn prospects into customers? All it takes is creating an effective campaign.

The first step is to get permission to email people. You can achieve this by giving a guide or resource away for free in return for a user’s email or simply by promising great content.

Once you build an email list, you need to follow up with regular, high-value emails that help your users solve their problems. Eventually, you can send one or two sales emails that point subscribers to one of your own products.

Don’t overdo it with the sales emails, however. Sending too many sales emails without providing value is a sure-fire way to drive people to unsubscribe.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 8: Hire Quality Writers, Editors, and Subject Matter Experts

Your time is valuable. You don’t want to spend it writing new blog posts when you also have a business to run. That’s why it’s essential to hire high-quality writers and editors sooner rather than later.

Two of my favorite ways to find writers and editors are Upwork and the Problogger job board. Make sure to vet each candidate thoroughly.

Signs of a good writer or editor include:

• A portfolio of work
• Client recommendations
• A professional website
• An articulate cover letter

I highly recommend having each writer complete a paid test article before working with them. It’s easy to make a resume look impressive; it’s much harder to follow through with great work.

For more information, check out my article on hiring an SEO freelancer.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 9: Optimize Your Social Media Accounts

Some people don’t think social media is important. They’re wrong.

Social media is one of the easiest ways to build a following and stay in touch with your fans. Al of that is only possible if you have well-optimized social media accounts.

First, choose the social media accounts you want to focus on. I recommend using Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for starters.

Next, fill out your profile in full on each platform. Different platforms allow you to add different information. Where possible, include your:

• Business name
• URL
• Address
• Opening Hours
• Description of your business

This is just for starters. To nail your social media presence, you’re going to want to read my complete guide to social media marketing.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 10: Write a Guest Blog

Guest blogging is a fantastic way to build your authority and get backlinks naturally. You should make this a regular habit, but for now, let’s just start with one post.

The first step is to find guest posting opportunities. Specifically, you want to look for sites that are in your industry, have engaged readership, and accept guest posts.

A good way to find these sites is to use Google searches with your keyword followed by “guest post” or “submit a guest post.”

Read each website’s guest posting guidelines carefully, then pitch three ideas to each. Make sure to clarify the benefits to their readers—not just what you get out of it.

Only start writing once your pitch is accepted. That way, you don’t have to worry about wasting your time.

Check out my guide for more information on guest blogging.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 11: Join an Affiliate Network

If you want to start making money from your blog, affiliate marketing is the way to go. You don’t have to worry about creating your own info product, SaaS tool, or eCommerce store. You earn money by promoting someone else’s products.

Amazon Associates is the most popular affiliate program, but the commissions aren’t the best. Alternatives include ClickBank, CJ Affiliate, and ShareASale.

Don’t be afraid to approach companies directly, either, especially if you work in a small niche.

If you’re serious about making money from affiliate marketing, then my advanced affiliate tips are a must-read.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 12: Create a Content Calendar

What do you do when it comes time to write a blog post?

Do you stress about what to write, or do you open up your content calendar, select the next topic and get to writing? Creating content becomes so much easier when you have a well-planned editorial calendar.

A content calendar is super easy to create, too. All you need is a spreadsheet and some ideas. Open up Excel or Google Sheets and create a simple calendar for the next six months based on how often you want to post.

For instance, if you only plan on posting content once a week, you only need 26 rows.

Next, go back to your keyword research, select the highest priority topics, and add them to the spreadsheet. If you outsource the writing, add your writer’s name next to each post. That’s all you need to do to create a simple content calendar.

For a complete guide, read my post on creating an editorial calendar.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 13: Choose a Project Management Tool

By now, your marketing strategy is getting pretty complex. It’s time to make things easier with a project management tool. A project management tool helps you get clear on what you need to do—and when.

Keep in mind, you don’t need a team to get value from a project management tool. They are great for one-person shows, too.

There are plenty of tools to choose from, including:

• Trello
• Wrike
• Jira
• Asana

Make the right choice by reading my guide to project management software.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 14: Build a Chatbot

You must make the most of every person who visits your website. That means making your site a lead-generating machine. One of the best ways to do so is by building a chatbot.

Chatbots can help with more than leads. A well-scripted chatbot can also provide exceptional customer service.

Here are a few other ways chatbots can help with your marketing plan:

• Gather feedback on customers
• Improve the customer experience
• Upsell and cross-sell products

Creating a chatbot isn’t easy, however. That’s why I wrote an in-depth guide to building a chatbot.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 15: Optimize Your CTAs

Another way to increase leads and sales is to improve your Call to Actions (CTAs). There’s a lot written about changing the color and copy of your CTAs to make it “perfect.”

The truth is there’s no such thing as the perfect CTA. The trick is to keep tweaking and testing your CTAs forever.

There are several strategies you should try to improve your CTAs:

• Personalize the copy
• Change the size of your CTA
• Change the location
• Make your CTA more appealing

Don’t do everything at once, however. The secret is to make one tweak at a time, test the results, and then optimize again from there.

Find out more about optimizing your CTAs with my in-depth guide.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 16: Carry Out Audience Research

Do you know exactly who you’re speaking to? Okay, you know they are interested in your niche, but do you know anything else about them?

If not, then it’s time to perform audience research. In-depth audience research will tell you:

• Who they are
• What their pain points and desires are
• What other sites they visit
• How your product serves them

When you really understand your audience, you can start creating content they care about. The better you serve your audience, the more likely they’ll be to convert.

Find out how to carry out your own audience research and get started.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 17: Subscribe to Newsletters and Podcasts from SEO Industry Websites

As good as I think this marketing challenge is, you’re going to need ongoing advice to keep your marketing strategy going. There are plenty of great newsletters and podcasts about the SEO and marketing industries.

However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the two I create.

Marketing School is a daily podcast hosted by myself and Single Grain’s Eric Siu. We deliver short snippets of hard-hitting marketing advice from the trenches.

If podcasts aren’t your thing, my own newsletter will keep your inbox packed with the freshest marketing advice to help you beat the competition.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 18: Create a Podcast or Video Series

I can’t overstate the power a podcast or video series can have on your brand. Both have helped me to grow my audience significantly.

Whether you start a podcast or a video series will depend on your skillset. Most people will probably find it easier to start a podcast.

That’s why I created a guide to starting a podcast from scratch in 14 days.

Check it out and see what a podcast can do for your brand. If podcasts aren’t your style, create a video marketing plan—even if it’s just posting a few videos a month.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 19: Promote Your Content

There’s no point putting content out into the world if you aren’t willing to promote it. Even the world’s best content won’t get many views without someone promoting it.

That’s why you need a plan to promote every piece of content you publish.

At the very least, send out notifications to your audience via social media and email marketing when you publish a new post. Let’s not do the bare minimum though.

To get the most out of your content, I recommend repurposing content into images, infographics, and presentations to maximize reach.

The more forms your content can take and the more ways you put it out in the world, the more people will see it.

I also recommend reaching out personally to influencers and anyone you mention in the post to encourage them to share it, too.

For more information on promoting content, see my guide.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 20: Set Up a Process for Tracking Content Performance

Congratulations, you’ve made it to the last two days of the challenge.

Remember when I said there’s no point in creating content if you don’t promote it? There’s also no point in promoting content if you aren’t going to track its performance.

First things first, you need to be clear on your content’s goals. Next, set up Google Analytics to track where your traffic comes from. Finally, you’ll need to set up advanced conversion tracking within the GA dashboard to calculate how many conversions your content drives.

This can be a little complicated, which is why I created a dedicated content tracking guide to help you out.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 21: Find Tools to Automate Your Processes

It’s the final day, and now it’s time to put your marketing on autopilot.

The secret is picking the best marketing automation tool. The problem is, there’s a ton of options. That means there’s a tool for everyone, from enterprise teams to bootstrapped startups, but it can make it difficult to choose the right tool.

That’s why I’ve shortlisted a few tools for you to check out. They are:

• Hubspot
• ActiveCampaign
• Freshworks
• Pardot by Salesforce
• Act-On
• Trello Butler
• Zapier

Read my in-depth rundown of the best marketing automation tools for more information.

Conclusion

Creating a winning marketing strategy is no easy feat, but now you have a successful foundation to build one.

Next, revisit some of the tasks on this list, like writing a guest post and building backlinks to make sure your marketing strategy grows and evolves.

If you need a little help, don’t hesitate to reach out. My team can implement these strategies so you can focus on what you do best—running your business.

How did you get on with the 21-day marketing challenge? What was your favorite or least favorite task?

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