Tag: Content Marketing

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More people blog on WordPress than any other platform. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you need the right theme.

WordPress themes determine the layout of your blog, the impression it has on visitors, and how easy it is to navigate.

There are a lot of WordPress themes to choose from. Over the years, I’ve experimented with dozens of themes across my sites. As one of the internet’s most successful bloggers, I know what works.

Here’s my latest take on the seven best WordPress themes for blogs. This page is always getting updated as new themes come out and others outlive their use.

Keep reading to find my top picks along with a buyer’s guide that will help you make sense of your many good options.

#1 – Olsen Review – The Best WordPress Theme for Lifestyle and Fashion Blogs

If you are a lifestyle or fashion blogger looking for a place to store all of your content among a focused layout with crisp fonts, Olsen is the perfect theme for you.

It takes very little work to pull off a very professional blog. You’re not going to break the mold with something people have never seen before–Olsen’s strength is in it’s familiarity. Readers will immediately be comfortable with your layout, knowing how to navigate and share your content.

Providing a fluid and peaceful reading experience, Olsen is the theme for anyone who wants their images to stand out next to their content. Tell a story with more than just words.

Olsen is completely customizable and is the perfect place to show off your best work.

Two unique elements this theme offers are a  Featured Content slider and an Instagram footer widget. Both elements are great for sharing your work with readers.

The Featured Content slider is a little different from the average Featured Content add-on. This element allows you to pick up to six images or posts and include them at the front of your blog. The reader can navigate this slider by clicking the left or right arrow.

The Instagram footer widget is unique and doesn’t appear in any other theme on this list. This is the perfect add-on for a fashion or lifestyle blogger who wants to showcase their photos. It shows the widget at the bottom of your blog and features your most recent Instagram posts in a large single row.

The downside is for people who want the Instagram feature for free. Unfortunately, you must pay for the theme or buy a plan to use it, but we think this trade-off is worth it.   

You can get started with Olsen today for free. Upgrading to Olsen Pro is only $34.30 for a full year. There is also a Club Membership, which gives you access to many more themes and plugins, and it’s only $48.30.

#2 – Extra Review — The Best for Most Standard Blogs

If you are looking for a WordPress theme that lets you do it all–and have an easier time doing it–then Extra is my top recommendation.

With some themes, you can get pigeon-holed into a certain style or format. With Extra, you never have to worry about limits or boundaries.

Blogs of any type, digital magazines, portfolios, online stores–really any kind of blogging experience you are looking to deliver is possible with Extra.

Extra is from Elegant Themes, the same people who make Divi, which is the most popular WordPress theme in the world. If you are looking to build a unique website on WordPress, Divi is a great choice. 

However, if you are specifically focused on finding a theme for WordPress blogging, go with Extra. It gives you the same foundation as Divi, but it’s been optimized for bloggers.

The most important aspects are the new modules within the Divi Builder that help you curate your content for readers, including post feed, post carousel, post slider, and tabbed posts. All of these are tied to the categories you set and easy to arrange in an appealing layout.

Publishing the striking blog on the left is as easy as filling in the intuitive layout on the right.

With Extra you get the Divi Builder ability to create everything visually, but it’s within a framework that makes blogging easier. It’s a true drag-and-drop editor that lets you build elegant posts and pages very quickly. 

Start from one of more than 800 pre-made layouts and customize virtually every aspect from there. Colors, fonts, sizing, spacing, sizing is easy to adjust with clicks, not code. Whatever you design is fully responsive to any screen size. No extra work or double-checking on your part.

Here are some of the other ways that Extra helps people take their WordPress blog to the next level:

• Built-in ratings and review system
• Customizable menus and headers
• Automatic WordPress updates
• 24/7 customer support
• Optimized for WooCommerce
• Social media integration

All of these features work together beautifully. Your blog readers are greeted by an enticing layout and your site is effortless to navigate. They can read, review, rate, and share your posts across other channels.

Extra is available for purchase through a membership to Elegant Themes. That means for one price, you get access to Divi, Extra, as well as Bloom (email plugin) and Monarch (social media plugin).

This is a complete set of tools that can power your entire website with a modern and integrated blog.

Elegant Themes memberships are $89 per year, or $249 for a lifetime subscription. This includes 24/7 premium support and unlimited usage of every product.

The company is constantly adding new features. I’m talking about fresh layouts every week and new tools to help your blog stand out.

Try the whole suite of Elegant Themes products risk free for 30 days.

#3 – Newspaper Review — The Best for Breaking Stories

Some people need a simple blog that showcases their portfolio. Others need a platform that delivers new content to their readers on a daily basis, whether they are breaking stories about their brand or community.

I’m talking about a blog experience where visitors show up to find a new arrangement of content every morning. If this describes you, then Newspaper is the WordPress theme for your blog.

It is the number one bestselling news theme of all time, and for good reason. You can use any kind of content or social media integration–it’s all going to look sharp. 

Beginners and professionals will love how easy Newspaper is to use. Whether you want to get set up in minutes or craft a trendsetting design, you’ll find the theme very accommodating.

Include sound, moving images, and other features to engage your audience with no more than a few clicks. And, you can rest assured that none of the changes you make will slow your site down.

This is true even if readers are on their phone, as Newspaper is completely integrated with the Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) plugin. 

Instead of a slow, cluttered experience–as you might get with another news-style WordPress theme–all of your readers can enjoy what you publish. Given how much traffic comes from mobile-users, this is a big deal.

None of this will require coding, so your whole team can take advantage of the theme. No graphic design degree necessary to edit images. With Newspaper, it’s a snap to create eye-catching, on-brand images that develop your story.

This means less steps to make sure your content, logos, headers, and footers are all working together to deliver a positive blog experience for your readers. And if you are constantly updating, the time-savings adds up quick.

With Newspaper, you can eliminate hours from your monthly workflows and free up your team to create.

Despite being able to do so much, management remains quite simple. Quickly gain mastery over your blog and use the great features included with Newspaper like:

• 100+ pre-built websites
• 1,000+ pre-made templates, pages, posts and sections
• Unlimited sidebars
• Live search display
• WooCommerce shortcodes
• Membership paywalls
• Rating and review system

Monetizing your blog is incredibly easy with banner ads, Google Ads, and Adsense. All ads are responsive, and Newspaper starts you off with 14 predefined and 5 custom spots. You can place ads where you want without disrupting the flow of your blog.

Pricing for Newspaper starts at $59 for a regular license. This includes free future updates and 6 months of premium support. You can extend support for a full year for $17.63.

There’s a ton included with the price, but if you want to add other plugins to optimize SEO, open an online store, or increase security, you can rest assured that Newspaper theme will integrate smoothly.

Get started with Newspaper today and start publishing a world-class blog every day.

#4 – Akea Review — The Best for Minimalist Style

Akea is a WordPress theme from GoodLayers, a company that empowers bloggers who live by the “less is more” mantra. 

Over the years, the company has released some of the greatest minimal blog themes. It’s best for people who don’t want too much information and stimulation a negative and expect readers with similar tastes.

You get total control over how your content is exhibited. Play with the spacing between items on your page. Tweak the size of thumbnails used for your blog. Use a single image to fit any screen size with the 100 percent fluid layout. 

Customize it until you get it just right. With Akea, you don’t have hundreds of templates, but you don’t have to squeeze anything into a pre-built mold. Instead, you get a relatively small selection of blog layouts and each one is an open field.

Upload your own font. Bring in any video, quotes, galleries in a slider. Make a bold impression using a few commanding content elements arranged just the way you like.

If you’re looking to jam the most content per square inch into your blog, this is not for you. 

This isn’t to say you can’t include sidebars, or menus, or give your readers tons of options. With Akea, that’s all easy to do. It’s just really focused on the minimal style, so all of these elements are unobtrusive and clean.

You get a floating navigation bar, so your readers always have quick access to more content, but you are never overloading them at any point.

That’s the spirit of Akea, which comes with a trim feature set designed for you to start making it your own immediately. Some of the essentials include:

• Drag-and-drop page builder
• Unlimited customizable sidebars
• 14 blog layouts
• Social media integration
• WooCommerce integration
• Custom skin colors for page sections

While you get comparatively few templates compared to other options, there’s a lot you can do with each one.

Akea starts at $54. It includes free lifetime updates and premium customer support for the first six months.

Because Akea is a newer theme, there are fewer reviews of the theme than some of the others I recommend. But GoodLayers has always done a solid job, and Akea works well with the latest plugins and WordPress updates.

This means less work on your end to make sure everything is running smooth, as the modern integration decreases problems and potential security issues.

It’s also fully compatible with the WordPress Gutenberg editor, which is now standard for all new sites. This is going to save a lot of time and make the final product look better with less configuration.

If you value simple, clean design for your WordPress blog, Akea is a theme you should check out today.

#5 – Pearl Review — The Best Corporate WordPress Theme

Pearl is an incredibly feature-rich and flexible WordPress theme that’s got enough options to outfit any business. 

I recommend this to people whose blog is part of a larger website. Pearl is kind of overkill if you just need a blog, though you could make an incredible blog with it. 

On that note, it might be a good option if you are hitting your limits with your current WordPress theme. If there’s features and functionality you can’t swing now, Pearl will help you get there.

To put it simply, with Pearl you’re not making compromises–you’re making a blog that’s tailored to fit the needs of your industry and goals. Pearl offers an astonishing range of demos for virtually every vertical: agency, beauty, ecommerce, law, music, software, and more.

Each of these demos has been carefully designed to include a suite of features and layout to meet the challenges businesses face.

The Pearl Viral demo, for example, showcases your posts according to how popular they are, with professional category tags to help readers find what they want.

For a business in the entertainment industry, the out-of-the-box power of this blog layout and styling is obvious. The same is true for everyone of the many industries Pearl supports.

And your blog will be totally tied into the rest of your site, which is a must if blogging is a part of your business outreach. Readers can react to posts, leave a reply, share it on social media, or get drawn further into your site and company offerings.

You can add more than 55 different types of shortcodes (UI blocks) into your posts. This includes things like a music player, calls to action, events lists, icon boxes, galleries, pricing tables, and a lot more.

This is huge for corporate users who need a range of ways to communicate and interact with their audience. Some of the other standout features include:

• Visual Composer drag-and-drop builder
• Mega menus with three drop down levels
• Customizable headers and footers
• 800+ fonts
• Custom icons
• Sidebar builder
• 24/7 with live chat

There’s really not much you can’t do with Pearl, and most of it can be accomplished without writing a line of code. 

And all of this is available for the price of $59 for a regular license with free lifetime updates. Six months of maintenance is included, with additional coverage available for purchase. 

If you need a high-functioning blog, bear in mind that Pearl includes a number of premium plugins for free. You get WPBakery, Booked Appointments, Ninja Popups–in total it’s about $325 worth of premium plugins based on the going rates.

Pearl is a very reasonable price for what you get, and you’ll have to spend less moving forward. 

Get started with Pearl today, and forget about limitation. 

#6 – TinySalt Review — The Best for Food Blogs

For as popular as food blogs are, they can be tricky to create if you are using a multi-purpose theme. 

You can do it, for sure, but it’s going to take a lot more work. And it’s probably not going to come out as well as if you had just started with a WordPress theme built specifically for food blogs..

TinySalt is just that. It’s got every feature and formatting capability you need to blog in this space. 

Where a recipe would be difficult to get the formatting correct with an ordinary WordPress theme, TinySalt gives you turnkey options to produce this niche type of content immediately.

Breakdown your most complicated dish into a series of simple steps. Include photos where you think it will help. Add a button early in the post to let readers jump straight to the recipe.

And you don’t have to spend any time getting all of this to flow on your blog. TinySalt has 12 demos you can import to your website. Mix and match to deliver the exact experience you are looking for.

Readers can quickly search through your recipes with a convenient filter, or browse your beautiful blog. When they find one they like, they can print, rate, and share them with their friends on social media.

If they decide against a certain meal, your blog can automatically recommend related recipes at the end of a post.

Don’t let the Tiny in the name fool you, this theme is packed with potential. You get:

• 32 blog variations
• 10 post templates
• Recipe videos
• Unlimited colors
• 900+ fonts
• Featured recipes slider on your homepage

All TinySalt is missing is your recipes and imagination.

TinySalt starts at the low cost of $39 for a regular license. Future updates and six months of premium customer service is included at that price. Ongoing support is available if you need it.

At that price, it’s not hard to turn a profit with TinySalt, even if it’s just a side-hustle for now.

You’ll be able to see your own products with WooCommerce, or promote items through advertising and affiliate marketing. It’s also compatible with MailChimp, which means you can turn your food blog into a newsletter to build your subscriber base.

Eliminate the complex configuration that goes into food blogging and take your site to the next level. Stop cooking with the wrong equipment and get TinySalt today.

#7 – ConsultingWP Review — The Best for Promoting Your Business

I really like ConsultingWP for businesses that want their blog to make a splash.

Whether you are looking to make connections for providing services, or to get your brand out to the world, this is an empowering WordPress theme for business blogs.

You get tools to build that anyone at your company can use on day one. You’re not going to have to hire out a professional or lean on a single person in-house to keep everything looking great.

Never touch code and never compromise on the finished product.

Simply browse through the hundreds of templates offered by ConsultingWP, find the one you like, and begin importing it. You’ll have complete control over what plugins and options you want to bring over to your new blog.

From there, you can customize the blocks, fonts, headers, layout, and so on on. Instead of having to mess around editing PHP or CSS files, everything is a few clicks.

Up to this point, what I’ve described is a very good WordPress theme for blogs, but where ConsultingWP steps away from other easy/powerful options is the business-focused feature set.

One of the most useful is the Cost Calculator Builder, which lets clients price out your services on your blog. Instead of having to call for a quote (which can be a tricky step to get people to take) people can investigate on their own using the simple calculator.

Normally, creating an interactive form like this would take some serious effort. And, if you wanted to make changes to your pricing, it might be a hassle to get it right.

With ConsultingWP, you have full control over this simple feature. Run promotional pricing without worrying it’s going to break your site and confuse potential clients.

Some of the other fantastic built-in elements include:

• eRoom Zoom meetings and webinars
• Professional booking for appointments
• 100+ page templates
• 500+ theme options
• Customizable menus
• Events manager
• 24/7 customer support

For businesses, the all-in-one feature set is really attractive. I mean, you can do all of this with a hodge-podge of third-party plugins, but there is zero guarantee they are going to work well together. At best, you’d have a lot of maintenance to keep things running smooth without slowing your site to a crawl.

With ConsultingWP, on the other hand, businesses get a toolkit that’s been designed to work in harmony. This means less work for better results.

Starting at $59 a regular license, this is a great deal. Trying to match the feature set by downloading individual plugins would be far more expensive and frustrating.

A regular license comes with six months of premium customer support. You can choose to extend support for an additional cost.

If you are looking for a professional blog that establishes your business as a leader in your space, I highly recommend ConsultingWP.

What I Looked at to Find the Best WordPress Theme

Now that you know our seven best theme recommendations, it’s important to understand what matters.

Make the right decision by following these considerations.

Know Your Blogging Niche

It sounds self-explanatory, but it’s relevant when choosing the perfect theme. Today we looked at the seven most common blogging niches, and how each theme suited for those niches is different.

When choosing a theme, you must know your blogging niche because you don’t want to install TinySalt if food blogging is your focus. Different niches require different themes with distinct features, layouts, and designs.

I would suggest creating a list of your most passionate hobbies and start there.

Customization is Key

Having a customizable theme is crucial for an easily-navigated blog.

It’s okay if you are not interested in investing money into your blog. However, many free themes have limits on customizing, whether for headers, colors, or layouts.

Every theme on this list is customizable to some extent, some more than others, so it’s important to look into the nitty-gritty before installing.

Features

Every theme listed here today has some incredible features that work best for its particular niche. However, some themes have more unique elements than others, and it’s critical to weigh whether you need them.

Paid themes are more likely to have more unique elements, such as Olsen with the Instagram footer widget, and the premium plugins that come free with Pearl.

If you know you won’t need an Instagram footer, it’s best to keep your money in your pocket.

Some basic features that are imperative for most blogs include:

• Custom colors
• Site logo
• Flexible display
• Classic menu
• Widgets

So, make sure you look for these when installing any theme.

Conclusion

Running a successful WordPress blog isn’t easy. Having the right theme helps a lot.

Here’s the complete list of my top recommendations:

1. Olsen – Best for lifestyle and fashion blogs
2. Extra – Best for most standard blogs
3. Newspaper – Best for breaking stories
4. Akea – Best for minimalist style
5. Pearl – Best corporate WordPress theme
6. TinySalt – Best for food blogs
7. ConsultingWP – Best for promoting your business

Extra is a great all-in-one blog solution that’s going to cover most people. No matter what direction you take, you’re always going to get the latest features to experiment and engage your audience.

Some of my recommendations work really well in particular niches, like Olsen and TinySalt, whereas others play to a certain style. Akea favors minimal content with maximum impact, whereas Newspaper is going to give readers dozens of posts to read at every turn.

ConsultingWP and Pearl are safe bets for any business blog. I’d lean toward the former if you are looking for something sleek for your company, and toward the latter if your blog is part of a more complex site.

What matters most, of course, is what you do with your WordPress theme. Even the best products can only get you so far. Check out my guide on how to get your blog posts to rank in Google’s top 10 search results.

Hope this helped. Happy blogging!

Whether it’s for a loved one or a colleague at work, getting a gift for someone is never easy. 

One reason is there are billions of options to choose from. The other reason is most people don’t have the time to look through millions of catalogs to pick one.

That’s why if you run an e-commerce store, you should make it easy for your customers to select one of your products as a gift.

To do that, you must equip your customers with a gift guide to help make the selection process easier.

Why Should You Create Gift Guides for Your E-Commerce Site?

Besides making it easier for your customers to decide which of your products to buy as a gift, gift guides serve many other purposes. Here are a few more reasons why you should create a gift guide for your e-commerce site:

Gift Guides Boost Brand Awareness

One of the most significant reasons to create a gift guide is to help boost brand awareness. Particularly during holiday seasons, holiday gift guides are a popular form of content. Because they’re helpful in inspiring purchases, consumers are likely to share them with their networks. As a result, you’ll enjoy a boost in brand awareness.

Gift Guides Can Increase Sales

Every business-related activity you undertake must ultimately have an impact on your bottom line. That’s exactly why you must invest in a gift guide for your e-commerce store. A well-designed gift guide is an effective tool in helping you increase sales on your e-commerce store.

Gift Guides Provide Blog and Social Media Content

Another reason to invest in creating a gift guide for your e-commerce site is gift guides provide you with engaging content for your blog. They also make for excellent social media posts. As a result, you’ll be able to maintain high engagement rates with your target audience.

Gift guides are also able to help you achieve many of your marketing and sales goals.

How to Create Unique Gift Guides for Your E-Commerce Business

Now that you know what a gift guide is and why having one on your e-commerce is essential let’s dive into how you can create one.

1. Identify Your Audience

Audience research is one of the most critical steps in creating a gift guide. That’s because knowing your audience is key to developing accurate buyer personas.

For your gift guide to be appealing, you must understand your target audience enough to create personalized recommendations.

Here are a few tips:

Collect Demographic Data

Demographic data refers to your target audience’s physical attributes. Examples include:

• age
• gender
• marital status
• occupation
• geographic location

Understand Your Audience’s Psychographic Data

Psychographic data is information about your target audience’s:

• values
• attitudes
• interests
• personality traits
• beliefs

Both demographic and psychographic data are essential to understanding your customers’ needs, pain points, and aspirations. As a result, you can tailor a gift guide that will be relevant by offering personalized product recommendations.

2. Choose Items to Include in Your Gift Guides

Once you understand your audience, the next step of creating your gift guide becomes easier: choosing the products to include in your gift guide.

Though you may be armed with rich customer data, choosing the right products to include in your gift guide can be a daunting task. A few tips to guide you in choosing unique gift ideas include:

Look at Your Sales Data

The most effective way to choose items is to look at your sales data. Your data will give you insight into:

• buying trends and habits
• popular products
• unique segments

Besides your own sales data, you can also leverage tools like Google Trends to identify emerging opportunities in your niche.

Ask Your Customers

Another effective way of figuring out what to include in your gift guide is to ask your customers. The best way to do this is to leverage interactive content like surveys, polls, and quizzes. These will give you insight into your audience’s preferences. To leverage interactive content, you can invest in an interactive content tool. Alternatively, you can create polls on your favorite social media channels.

Consider Creating Gift Bundles

Not sure what to include and exclude in your gift guide?

Then consider creating gift bundles.

Gift bundles are an excellent way of showcasing your product range. For your bundles to be effective, you must get the right mix. Tips for getting the right mix include bundling:

• complementary products from your product range
• products you’ve succeeded in cross-selling
• fast-selling products with slow movers

You can also consider collaborating with other brands that target a similar audience to yours but don’t sell the same products you do.

Consult Your Suppliers

Your suppliers are another avenue you can leverage to know which products to include in your gift guide. Ask them which products are moving fast in their inventory or those they anticipate to be buzzworthy.

The success of your gift guide lies in knowing which products are relevant to the season. Invest time in ensuring the products you include will resonate with your target audience.

3. Craft Headlines for Your Gift Guides That Evoke Emotions and Inspire Action

Like all other types of content, your gift guide depends on a powerful headline for success. Take your time to craft one that:

Evokes the Readers Emotions

Gift buying is usually an emotion-driven endeavor. When your customers shop around for a gift, they do so (in most cases) for someone they have an emotional connection with. Hence, they want a gift that will have an emotional impact.

That’s why your gift guide headline must evoke your target audience’s emotions.

To craft such a headline, use personalization. Speak directly to your customer by using the word “you.” You can also create emotion-evoking headlines by using words that trigger an emotional response in your readers.

Inspires Readers to Take Action

Your gift guide headline must also inspire readers to take action, preferably purchasing one of your products. To do this:

• use active voice and avoid passive voice
• use power words
• paint a picture of the benefits of reading your gift guide

A well-written headline is essential to hooking your target audience and getting them to browse for the perfect gift for their loved one or colleague.

4. Find Quality Product Images

Once your customers click through into your gift guide, you must immediately grab their attention. The best way to do that is to use high-quality product images. Here’s an excellent example from Brightland’s gift guide:

Besides attention-grabbing, images also help:

• Give instant information: Human beings are visual creatures and process images faster than text.
• Make your gift guide easy to scan: Images are an excellent way of helping your readers scan your gift guide.
• Images encourage sharing: People love sharing helpful stuff they find on the internet. Those who love your gift guide are more likely to share it if you use high-quality images.

Getting the images to use in your gift guide is quite easy. Your first port of call would be to get your manufacturer’s product images. However, a better option would be to hire a professional photographer and take your own images. Doing so allows you to place your products in a setting of your choice, resulting in personalized images.

5. Determine the Format of Your Gift Guides

Gift guides come in all shapes, sizes, and styles. As you plan on creating your own, you must determine which is the best format for your guide. Examples of the gift guide formats include:

• blog post
• slideshow
• infographic
• video
• social media post (like Instagram posts)

How do you know which content format to use?

There are a couple of factors you can use to guide you on the best format for your gift guide:

Your Audience

When deciding which content format to use, the first port of call must always be your audience. Check your blog and social media analytics to see which content types perform well with your audience.

The Platforms You’ll Market Your Gift Guide On

The platforms you use to market your gift guide are another factor determining the format of your guides.

Your Niche

Finally, another essential factor that impacts the format you should use for your gift guide is your niche. If you’re in a visual niche, your gift guide may not need as much text as one in a niche where info plays a bigger role in driving conversions.

6. Market Your Gift Guides

With your gift guide ready, it’s time to show it to the world.

How do you get eyeballs on your gift guide?

Here are a few tips to help you market your gift guide to the right audience.

Share It on Social Media

One of the best marketing channels for your gift guide is social media.

With over 3.6 billion monthly active users, social media gives you access to over half of the world’s population.

That’s not the best part.

Particularly when you run paid ads, you can hyper-target your campaigns to reach people who match your ideal customer profile (ICP).

Send It to Your Email List

Another excellent marketing channel for your gift guide is email. Although it’s one of the oldest and most basic digital marketing channels, email is still one of the best when it comes to marketing your gift guide.

One of the best advantages of email marketing is most of the people on your list are already interested in what you have to offer. The chances of them knowing other people interested in being gifted with your product are also high.

Another advantage of email is you can segment your email list, enabling you to create personalized messaging. You can also consider making a personalized gift guide for each segment, increasing the chances of conversion.

Leverage SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is still applicable to marketing your gift guide. While basic, it’s easy to forget to implement best practices like:

• keyword research
• adding tags to your images
• strategic linking
• focusing on user experience (UX)

Make it easy for your customers to find your gift guide when they’re looking for gift ideas. Having an effective SEO strategy is exactly what you need to do that.

Creating your gift guide is only half the battle. Getting it in front of the right people’s eyes is the other half. With your well-designed gift guide and these three gift guide marketing tips, chances of your gift guide succeeding in driving sales.

FAQ: Gift Guides Best Practices

Shopping for gifts is never easy. It becomes a more difficult task if you have a long recipient list. That’s why your customers appreciate a helpful gift guide. While we’ve covered how you can create a unique gift guide for your e-commerce site, you probably have a few questions regarding gift guide best practices. Let’s quickly answer a few before we wrap up.

Conclusion

Creating a gift guide is a must if you run an e-commerce business. They don’t just boost your sales during holiday seasons; gift guides also help raise your brand awareness.

Gift guides are the perfect marketing tool as they attract high-intent shoppers.

That’s why you must include them in your marketing strategy. However, for them to work, you must ensure yours is unique and well-crafted. Use the tips above to create your first (or next) gift guide for the next holiday season.

Have you ever used gift guides to boost sales on your e-commerce store?

Copywriting is hard. Whether you’re writing product descriptions or PPC ads, there’s a huge volume of work involved, and the repetitive nature of the tasks can drain your creativity.

Could you give a machine a few instructions and let it generate engaging copy while you focused on more pressing tasks?

Well, now it’s possible, thanks to AI copywriting tools powered by machine learning. Let me introduce you to how it works and how it could transform your marketing strategy.

What Is AI Copywriting and How Does It Work?

AI copywriting is essentially computer-generated writing created using natural language processing tools.

First, you decide what you want to write about and the type of content you need. This could be anything from a blog post to a short ad. Then, you set certain parameters for the AI tool to follow. For example, maybe you decide you want a social media post advertising a new yoga class.

Once the machine receives the instructions, it generates content based on these parameters by analyzing similar preexisting content from around the web and processing it into something new and plagiarism-free.

How are companies using AI copywriting? I’ll give you an example.

JPMorgan Chase used an AI copywriting tool to improve its CTAs and online ad copy for home equity lines of credit. They asked human copywriters to perform a similar task, and then they compared the results.

The findings? While the “human” copy generated 25 home equity applications, the AI copy generated 47. With the help of AI, JPMorgan Chase generated more potential customers than before. Impressive, right?

Why Should You Use an AI Copywriting Tool?

There are a few reasons why marketers and copywriters might check out AI copywriting tools.

First, AI copywriting saves you time. These tools can analyze data much quicker than humans can, so they can instantly generate full articles. They work 24/7, too, so you can literally craft content in your sleep!

Also, just think about how convenient AI copywriting is. If you need bulk content, such as product descriptions, AI copywriting handles these jobs for you, so you’re free to focus on more demanding marketing tasks like lead generation and KPI tracking.

Finally, AI copywriting tools can save you from the dreaded “writer’s block” that every writer experiences at some point. Whether you need help brainstorming ideas or generating some content, an AI tool can help you get going again.

If you’re a busy content creator with multiple deadlines or dreams of scaling your content production, it’s worth exploring how AI copywriting may help you.

AI Copywriting Limitations

Like any digital marketing tool, AI copywriting has its limitations.

First, although AI tech is impressive, AI copywriting tools don’t write anything truly original. Remember, we’re talking about a machine. They’re “fed” articles and content written by human copywriters and essentially mix them up to create something new.

AI tools produce great copy, but just because it’s “new” copy doesn’t mean it’s original.

What’s more, AI tools can’t replicate human emotion. Why is this a drawback? Well, emotion matters in marketing. In fact, when it comes to consumer buying behavior, feelings are more influential than any other variable, so you should try to invoke emotion through your content.

In short, while it’s great for bulk projects, you might not find AI copywriting helpful for crafting those more emotive posts that need a personal touch and true creative thought.

Finally, the AI tools we have right now aren’t great at picking up “awkward” phrasing. Although the writing (usually) makes grammatical sense, you’ll still need to proofread the copy to identify any incorrect phrases and awkward wording.

The takeaway? AI copywriting tools can support your marketing efforts, sure, but they’re not a complete substitute for human content creation. Just think of them as another highly useful tool in your toolbox.

5 AI Copywriting Tools for Content Creation

Ready to try out some AI copywriting tools? There are plenty out there, but here are the five I suggest you try first.

1. CopyAI

Got writer’s block? CopyAI is here to help. From brainstorming topics to crafting social media posts, CopyAI can help you go from stuck to inspired within minutes.

How does it work? It’s a simple enough concept. CopyAI uses a highly advanced machine language model, GPT-3, to produce authentic, human-like copy almost instantly. You just select a copy type, provide some words, phrases, and descriptions to base content around, and watch CopyAI do the rest.

Key Features

One thing that’s great about CopyAI is how simple it is to get going. You only need to provide a few words to generate copy including Instagram captions, product descriptions, and even product value propositions in seconds.

What makes CopyAI stand out, though, is its suite of idea generation tools. Whether you need a viral post idea or you’re just stuck on what to write about next, CopyAI gets you moving again.

Pricing

You can choose from two packages. The “Solo” package costs $420 a year (billed monthly at $35) or $49 for rolling monthly subscriptions, and it gives you access to all CopyAI tools, unlimited runs, and around-the-clock support.

The “Multiple Seats” package is better for larger businesses because it includes collaboration tools to support multiple teams. Prices are on request.

Not sure if CopyAI is right for you? You can try it free for seven days.

2. Wordtune

Do you have trouble saying exactly what you mean? Wordtune can help you get the words right. This AI copywriting companion works alongside you in real-time, helping you rephrase and reword your content without sacrificing flow, tone, or meaning.

Since it’s not a fully-fledged article generator like CopyAI, it’s best for marketers who want to write copy and need help shaping it. It could save you time spent agonizing over word choice and sentence structure while giving you the creative freedom to write your content.

Key Features

Designed with the discerning content writer in mind, Wordtune can assist with everything from sentence length to full-length article rewrites. This could be great for marketers looking to repurpose content across different platforms who want help condensing and rewording their copy.

Once you add the Chrome extension, you can instantly use it across popular websites such as Twitter, Grammarly, and LinkedIn, making it one of the most efficient AI copywriting and grammar-assistance tools out there.

Pricing

If you just want help rewording a sentence or two, there’s a free plan.

However, if you want access to features like sentence length controllers, tone controllers, and word searches, sign up for Premium. You can either pay $24.99 a month or save money and pay $119 for the year. You’ll get access to all features other than team billing.

Do you have a larger business or multiple teams working together? Check out the Premium for Teams tier. The prices vary depending on the scope of the services you require.

3. Copysmith

Need help scaling your marketing and driving growth through copy? Check out Copysmith.

Whether you’re a freelancer or you’re managing an in-house marketing team, Copysmith gives you the tools you need to actually accelerate your growth through tailored marketing, not just create great copy.

Key Features

Copysmith boasts a really impressive range of tools for busy marketing teams and copywriters.

For example, if you run an online store, Copysmith can generate a whole FAQ section for you plus unlimited product descriptions. Need taglines to boost your brand profile? Copysmith can turn your brand vision into engaging, memorable ad copy, and you can store all your client copy in one place.

Pricing

Unfortunately, there’s no free option, but if you’re happy paying for AI copywriting support, you have three choices.

First, we’ve got the Starter package. For an annual subscription, it’s $192 which works out at $16 per month. However, you can instead opt for a monthly subscription, which is $19 per month. For your money, you’ll get 20 plagiarism checks per month, Google Ad integrations and Chrome extensions so you can access copywriting support within your browser.

Next, there’s the Professional tier, which costs $600 per year (working out at $50 per month) or $59 for a monthly subscription. You’ll get everything in the Starter package, plus extra plagiarism checks and 100 generated blog posts to get your creative juices flowing.

Finally, there’s the Enterprise package, which comes in at $5,088 annually or $499 if you pay monthly instead. It comes with unlimited plagiarism checks and blog ideas, plus a suite of integrations including Shopify, so you’ll never be stuck for a product description again!

4. Wordsmith

Do you rely heavily on data for your day-to-day decision-making? If so, check out Wordsmith. This platform generates natural-sounding content based on analyzing large data sets, so you can use it for everything from journalism to financial reporting.

Key Features

Like Copysmith, Wordsmith is all about scale. All you need to do is create one template, set up a few variables, and Wordsmith will generate multiple alternative scripts. For example, you can write chatbot scripts for responding to various complex customer requests or write a video game script.

Wordsmith is also great for presenting financial data in understandable English to help you with your financial reporting and tracking needs: The AP uses it to publish more than 3,000 financial reports every quarter!

Pricing

The pricing structure isn’t public, so you’ll need to request a free demo and tell Wordsmith a little more about your business and content needs to get a quote.

5. Writesonic

Looking for an AI tool you can scale as your business grows? Writesonic might be for you.

“Trained” on successful copy from popular brands, Writesonic can help you generate everything from landing pages to Facebook ads, and it’s designed to maximize your chances of ranking well on search engines. Simply select a template and supply a few lines of description, and Writesonic will provide multiple copy samples for you to choose from.

Key Features

Writesonic is great for marketers who want to automate their more mundane writing tasks like welcome emails and SEO meta descriptions. The billing structure is really flexible, too, so you can scale your package to suit your evolving business needs.

However, one of the standout features is the landing page generator. By supplying just a few key details, you can instantly generate an optimized, engaging landing page. Check out an example of a landing page for Monday.com.

Pricing

There are three pricing tiers.

• Starter: It’s $29 per month (or $25 per month if you pay for an annual subscription) to get 75 credits and access to basic features like SEO tags and the content rephraser.
• Professional: You can pay $99 for monthly rolling subscriptions, but it’s cheaper to buy an annual subscription and pay $89 per month. However, you’re capped at 150 credits per month for features such as blog outlines.
• Business: Coming in at $449 per month for annual subscriptions or $499 for a single month, you get everything in the Professional package plus 1200 credits for advanced features like full article writing.

Writesonic offers 10 free credits so you can check out the functionality before committing to a paid package. You can also pay-as-you-go rather than buy a monthly subscription if your content needs vary from month to month.

Conclusion

Whether you’re a digital marketer or a busy copywriter, AI copywriting tools can help you scale your content creation and achieve your business goals. They’re easy to learn and fun to use, and best of all, they produce natural, engaging copy to support your content needs.

Since every AI copywriting tool is slightly different, it’s best to check out a free trial or two before you commit to a purchase. This way, you’ll get a sense of how the tools work and which one best supports your business strategy.

Have you tried AI copywriting tools yet?

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?