wordpress-923188_1920

4 Effective Ways to Elevate Your Website’s Blog

The power of blogging within online spaces is often overlooked, but this helpful little digital marketing tool is actually a wonderful way to increase brand engagement and visibility. Not only does it offer your business ample opportunity to develop its own online voice – which goes hand in hand with high-quality branding – it also increases your web page’s general level of visibility to potential clientele.

To learn more, stick around as we cover these four effective ways to elevate your website’s blog indefinitely.

1. Stick To A Schedule

Staying on track with a consistent schedule is one of the most important aspects of efficacious professional blogging. Attracting regular engagement without offering up-to-date and relevant content isn’t realistic or conducive to the idea of attracting website traffic. Drawing up a weekly plan that dictates which blogs are going live and when is always good practice, especially if you’re looking to elevate the overall appeal of your business’s digital platform.

2. Consider Collaborating

Collaborating with related brands and writers to deliver a quality standard blogging experience is definitely recommended. Engaging with other creatives or professionals within your field can expose your brand to wider and more diverse audiences, while integrating a whole new perspective into the content your website is offering as a whole. Though it may take time to build up a rapport with other companies that is strong enough to extend into a long term collaboration, this option is still completely viable to those who are willing to put in the work to establish themselves.

3. Direct Keyword Research

One of the more pertinent reasons behind implementing a blog into your digital platform should stem from the desire to optimise your brand’s SEO. SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is a term used to describe the processes behind boosting your website’s overall level of visibility within various search engine results. Consistent blogging is a strong contender for the most effective way to achieve this, as it allows you to integrate as many keywords into your web page as possible. In order to procure the most efficacious phrases that align with the context of your company while attracting the gaze of online algorithms, utilising handy tools such as keyword identifiers is crucial.

4. Engage With Customer Queries

Creating a dynamic with your clientele in which they feel genuinely heard is a massive part of successful customer service, even in the world of digital marketing. It’s hard to find your stride with blogging – or even to know where to begin with it – if your team isn’t making the conscious effort to take audience feedback on board. Taking it a step further by centering your blog posts around previous customer questions often results in a guaranteed increase in overall website traffic and engagement.

In Conclusion

That’s all from us when it comes to the essentials of curating a consistently successful blog that is holistically reflective of your brand. Though it may seem like there are a lot of guidelines to have to remember, remaining personable and finding your niche is always a great place to start!

optimise

Blogging and Copywriting Best Practices for Content Marketing

Getting good at copywriting can be really beneficial to people in the content marketing game, in fact, it can bridge the gap between customer and visitor. Any copy on your website has to be top quality if you want to entice users to engage with you and grow as a business, this goes for your blogs too! I’m sure you wouldn’t implement a blog on your site without knowing how influential it can be when used correctly, but in case you have, here are some of the best practices for your blog in terms of content marketing!

What Makes a Successful Blog

A successful blog has to incorporate a handful of things;

  • A clear content vision, staying relevant to a subject but covers a wide range within
  • Publishes content with some value
  • Regular posts
  • Quality content that isn’t essay-like

In theory, running a successful blog for your business isn’t too difficult. With sufficient planning and plenty of time, you can produce quality content that helps your SEO, attracts customers and brings you new leads. Now here’s where we get to the nitty-gritty parts, the planning, execution and upkeep of your blog need to be to a high standard – here are a few tips!

Write for SEO, Use Your Keywords

One of THE best purposes for a blog section is to increase your SEO rankings and get favour with Google. Whilst using a blog in general will help your SEO, there are a few tricks to boosting yourself even further. Using your keywords whenever possible will help Google rank your site above others when a relevant search query is entered. Also using CTAs, Internal and External links whenever appropriate is good practice for SEO and spreading your website activity.

Get Them Hooked in the Title

You may write the best blogs in the world, but without an enticing title no one is ever going to want to click! Reflect your valuable content in the title, use words that brew interest in a reader like ‘the best’, or even ‘how-to’ guides do pretty well. In any case, the title for your blog may even be the most important part, include your keywords and make it interesting. After all, it’s the title that will show up on a relevant Google search and I’m sure that many other blogs have got the same foot in the door.

Provide Something of Value

When a user clicks on a blog, more often than not, they will be searching for something – whether that’s knowledge or a purchasable solution, you should aim to be the provider. You don’t want users leaving your site feeling disappointed they didn’t find what they wanted, giving them the idea that visiting in future would be a waste of time is the last thing you need to help your growth! What’s that old saying.. ‘If you don’t have anything valuable to write, write something else!’ something like that.

The benefits of blogging (the right way) can’t be denied, it adds depth to your site and improves your SEO drastically. There are plenty of other content writing blogs here on Written Words to check out, stick around!

fabian-irsara-67l-QujB14w-unsplash

4 Key Features of Effective Persuasive Writing

When it comes to learning how to produce online written content in a way that is consistently impactful to readers and prospective clients alike, one element must remain at the forefront of the creative process: persuasiveness.

Thinking about it from a logical standpoint, it makes a lot of sense. The majority of digital copy and text-based posts that most businesses look to integrate into their websites are – at their core – a means of marketing. It is often the aim of the writer to influence the mind of the audience toward a certain aim or goal, which is where the persuasive dialogue reality comes into play. To elevate the quality of the writing your brand is producing online, read on we cover the four key features of effective persuasive writing.

A Clear and Concise Point

If there is one thing that bores online audiences, it’s content that takes on a rambling tone – content that never really seems to get to the point. Making sure you have a strong crux of engagement for onlookers to really get involved with is vital when it comes to successful copywriting and marketing. It is one of the only ways to ensure that your website is full of interactive posts that won’t bore prospective clientele. Remember to stick to keep circling back to the main headline of each blog, and always keep your written words relevant to the topic at hand.

Being Structurally Sensical

An article or written piece that is unpleasant to read is always a no-go, and it will generally force readers to click away from your website within seconds. Take the time to truly consider and plan out how you want to display your work to its key demographic in order to sustain optimal results. Be sure to follow a simple and constructive layout for each and every post to maintain consistency!

Staying Relevant to The Reader

Successful persuasive writing is all about connecting with the reader and getting to the heart of their wants, worries and fears. This is only possible through making a consistent and conscious effort to understand what it is your target audience is looking for, and which questions they need answered. Making sure that all of the written content on your website seeks to provide guidance and support, while staying relevant to the readers’ interests, is key.

Including A Strong Conclusion

Ask any published writer from a whole menagerie of literature-based mediums, and they will all generally tell you the same thing – the importance of the conclusion in each piece of written content should never be overlooked. It is generally the point in the publication or post where a call to action is issued, which is arguably the most significant part of the written work included on a professional website. Crafting a strong beginning, middle and ending to your posts allows your company to tell its branding story in an impactful and relatable way; one that will encourage the reader to want to pursue a further inquiry. The conclusion is a key aspect of executing this process well, so make sure to give it a lot of thought going forward.

A Quick Overview

Now that we’ve broken down a few key ways to curate efficacious persuasive writing, you’re one step closer to knowing how to optimise your brand’s literature-centered content in a holistic way. Learning to master writing of this caliber doesn’t have to be overly complex – sticking to the basics, but aiming to execute them well, is always good practice.

person writing audience on whiteboard

4 Key Ways to Keep Your Audience Engaged

When creating professional, business-based content for prospective consumers, keeping it fresh and engaging is absolutely vital if you’re looking to yield desirable results.

It can be easy to fall into the trap of recycling old content, or pushing uninspired and repetitive ideas onto digital onlookers, while trying to encourage interaction with your business online. Implementing a modern and ever-changing approach to content creation that is compatible with the fast-paced nature of social media can truly heighten your brand’s level of visibility in the public eye. To learn more and stay ahead of the trends, read on as we discuss four key ways to keep your audience engaged in 2022.

Encourage Customer Feedback

All too often, businesses make the mistake of creating a digital presence that is extremely one-sided and mundane, which is super counterproductive to garnering a wider client pool. It’s important to understand that the back-and-forth between company and consumer is vital to sustaining online relevance. Rather than posting whatever your brand currently has at hand, try to curate content that is designed with the audience’s response in mind – e.g polls, questions, and relatable anecdotes.

Keep It Fresh

Utilising the same old content format, talking points and topics can get really old really fast for prospective digital consumers. Integrating a splash of creativity and originality when planning out your brand’s online marketing technique is always good practice, so be sure to keep that in mind as an overall guideline. It’s this addictive and innovative feature of the internet that keeps it so engaging and fast-paced, which are great qualities to integrate into your company’s overall advertising campaign.

Promote Your Company’s Culture

It’s important to think about what it is that makes your brand truly unique when tasked with the concept of successful digital marketing. Remaining cryptic and impersonal never bodes well for overall customer-company relations, and so figuring out how to show your business in a favourable and dynamic light is key. Share a team selfie at the office, or give an update on the latest internal event going on in the office – just remember to keep it light, interesting and personable.

Acknowledge Your Key Demographic

It’s extremely difficult for a business or brand to successfully market themselves to a group of people they know very little about. The idea of getting to know the people behind the clientele should be a priority for your whole entire team, especially when navigating digital spaces. Understanding your audience’s queries, worries, likes and dislikes go a long way in the world of successful social media marketing; and it is ultimately what will set your company apart from the rest.

In Conclusion

Keeping up with the constant change in online microtrends and digital tendencies in order to ensure audience engagement doesn’t have to be a chore – in fact, it can be what truly enables your business to stand out from a sea of others if executed properly.

pen writing on paper

4 Key Features of Effective Content Writing

The written content included on your company’s website plays a key role in how its services are perceived by potential clientele, and in its overall brand reputation.

Finding the right words to translate what your business is offering holistically, and communicating that information in an engaging and unique way, is no simple task. For brands that are just finding their feet in the digital marketing landscape, it’s important to know the essentials of efficacious copywriting from the get-go. Read on as we cover the four key features of effective content writing that are guaranteed to yield optimal results, especially when first stepping into the world of content curation.

Keep It Simple

Successfully writing for a wide audience means ensuring that your content is as accessible as possible to a multitude of people. Using flowery, overly complex vocabulary only serves to turn readers off; in fact it often makes them tune out of what you’re saying and what you’re actually offering them as a brand. Embracing a direct, yet captivating written voice is a great way to hold your website users’ attention for an extended period of time.

Understand Your Target Demographic

It’s difficult to leave a lasting effect on the reader if you’re unable to see your brand’s digital presence from their perspective. Understanding their wants, fears and overall desires is absolutely key when trying to connect with them through written content. Finding the right line that will stick in their minds and encourage them to come back for me should always be the goal.

Find A Consistent Tone

Part of building a unique and recognisable brand identity is staying consistent and reliable with the content you’re producing. A great place to start with this is by ensuring that the written text on your website remains tonically similar across your company’s entire digital presence. This makes it much easier for the general public to regard your establishment as one cohesive team and increases the likelihood that they will remember which services you’re offering.

Include An Impactful Headline

The headline is an integral part of what makes a piece of writing engaging and attractive to a diverse clientele, and it should never be overlooked or left as an after-thought. Putting a lot of work into crafting the perfect turn of phrase that succinctly identifies the point of a post is almost guaranteed to maximise overall brand engagement. Don’t skimp on learning the basics behind building a headline that will inspire emotion and interest in the reader if you want to see a consistent increase in website traffic.

In Conclusion

As you can see, content writing is a complex website feature with various different faucets and nuances behind its curation and online implementation. Now that we’ve covered the basics, you should have a general idea of what to keep in mind when writing for your website, which is an invaluable skill to develop in order to optimise your brand’s digital presence.

chain links

Improve Your Websites SEO With Internal Links

Assuming most of us know by now, the importance of Search Engine Optimisation to a website, you would surely be looking for ways to improve this process to get the best out of your online presence. Well with a bit of research I’m sure you’d find many different ways you can do this, some more technical than others. A great, and easy, way to improve your SEO is to use internal links, hence the subject of this post!

What are Internal Links?

Internal linking is the process of embedding hyperlinks to other pages of your website, this can be in a few different contexts:

Menu/Navigation

Navigation hyperlinks are the basic form of internal link, included in the majority of today’s multi-page websites. This is your standard bar or dropdown menu across the top of the screen, containing links between your website’s main pages. This may be the most basic link usage, but it’s also the most important and should be a prominent feature as it’s the first point of contact between your alternate pages and the viewer.

Footer

Similar to the primary navigation bar, the footer for your page should also include the links on the main menu. However, utilising more space on the footer for subpages, and social media links can prove very useful for audience retention across your other marketing channels and engagement on things like blogs and contact forms.

CTAs

Call To Actions (CTAs) are embedded in your website copy and usually include and link that is relative to the information you are providing in the text. An example may be ‘Find out more…’ with a link to your subpage containing a service or product in further detail, maybe with purchasing or contact options. These CTAs are great for converting visitors to customers and increasing your engagement through interactive elements and easy access to product pages.

Internal Vs External

External links are hyperlinks that connect your page to other websites, like references in educative text. In general, any sort of link to your website will benefit your SEO rankings. Google (or other search engines) looks at the number of links to your page, if there is a substantial amount it will believe your page is of value and rank it above others. This goes for Internal and External alike.

Why Are Links Important for SEO

Providing your links are relevant, trustworthy and have some variation, they can really boost your SEO and add credibility to your website. A few other benefits include:

  • Establishing domain authority
  • Increase brand awareness
  • Lowers bounce rate and increases audience engagement/ retention
  • Spreads visitors throughout your website

So if you’re looking for ways to benefit your online presence, ensure your website copy is sufficiently packed with links to relevant pages to help Google understand how trustworthy and great your site is!

panos-sakalakis-63sI4HO30tw-unsplash

How to Find “Your Voice” when Producing Written Content

When curating and writing content online, it can be incredibly difficult to stand out from the crowd.

From utilising the correct keywords to understanding how to develop the correct “tone” in order to truly speak to your target demographic, finding “your voice” as a content writer is no easy task. There are a ton of moving parts to consider, and it can be hard to strike the balance between coming across as both genuine and professional simultaneously.

If you’re struggling and don’t quite know where to start, stick around as we break down a few simple key ways to find your authentic voice when producing written pieces online.

Understand Your Audience

A strong content producer is merely a reflection of the writer’s in-depth understanding of their own target demographic. Your audience generally gives you all of the information you need in order to write effectively; it’s just a matter of learning how to truly listen. The consumer’s age range, their general background, their interests and tastes – all of those varying factors should be what truly defines how you approach communicating with them.

Utilise an Amicable Tone

Don’t be afraid to get a little casual, or to interact with readers and potential clients on a friendly and personal level. You don’t have to dull down your tone in order to be a professional and efficacious content writer! Customers are always interested in getting to know the genuine people behind the face of their favourite brands, and this can be a truly effective marketing tool when utilized correctly. Stay warm, communicative and open in order to ensure that the clientele keeps coming back for more while developing your “written voice.”

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Writing is comparable to everything else in life, in that it is a matter of practicing and hard work above natural talent or inherent knowledge and ability. It takes time to truly identify, curate and develop your true linguistic identity, so don’t stress too much especially if you’re new to the role. One of the only ways to encourage this learning process is by writing and sharing as much as possible in order to truly gain artistic and professional control over your preferred written perspective!

Prioritize Consistency

Inconsistent and clunky writing is a big turn-off for potential readers and clients alike, and it is very counterintuitive when trying to develop a familiar and recognisable written voice. Remember to prioritise the same high level of English grammar and extensive vocabulary usage each time you sit down at the computer, as well as continuing to write in the same dependable manner and tone that will likely be compatible with your target demographic.

Now that we’ve covered the basics of recognisable content writing, hopefully the prospect of approaching and engaging with your brand’s audience feels a little less daunting! Though it may take a moment for you to really get into the swing of things as a writer, once you do, your personal and professional progress will be unstoppable.

If you’re looking to read on for further guidance on content development curation, take a peek at Search Engine Journal’s top seven content writing tips and tricks here for more information.

person typing on laptop

Top Tips For Writing Website Copy

Writing for websites is a whole lot different from your blogging or storytelling copy. With an abundance of alternative websites these days, it’s important to be quick to make a good impression, in seven seconds to be exact.

Every line of your copy, on your homepage especially, should help the user learn something or at least outline a service so that visitors can come away with something from your page. A successful writing strategy would ideally entice a user to engage with you or read further into your other web pages looking for quotes or services. Learning how to write intriguing website copy? Here are a few top tips to get you going!

Be Straightforward

When writing for blogs or books, it’s important to get the detail in and really transfer knowledge to the reader. Website copy is much different, users are more likely to scan over your page rather than read every little sentence, so don’t waste time and space with the details. In fact, it can be a good reason for the user to get in touch!

Using bold feature text to outline the aspects of the page you want visitors to focus on is the best way to grab their attention. CloudBook Accountants Ltd is a great example of this, their home page is relatively brief but conveys all the information needed whilst providing links to their other, more detailed pages embedded in the text.

Visuals and Spacing

Going hand in hand with being straightforward and reducing text amounts, it’s important to break up your copy with either imagery or a sufficient amount of white space. Web pages that are too busy are unattractive and will increase your bounce rate. Blank space can actually add to the appearance of your website, making things much clearer and easier to read for the user.

When using visuals, be sure to select relevant, high-quality imagery or make your own illustrations. Check How to Sell With an Image for some photography and imagery tips and tricks!

Use Your Keywords

SEO is so important for websites these days you probably won’t hear the end of it. Writing to enable SEO growth is crucial to getting your website visible on the internet. To put it simply, your company will have certain keywords that reflect you, some more common in searches than others. Do your research to find these keywords to implement into your SEO strategy and use them as often as necessary in your website content.

In summary, regardless of previous writing experience, producing top-quality website copy is a truly unique skill. However, with the right research and time spent, as with many other things, website copy becomes fairly straightforward.

oleg-laptev-QRKJwE6yfJo-unsplash

Establishing a Brand Voice When Writing Copy

The way you connect with the public, through website copy or marketing channels, can be labeled as your brand voice. A successful brand voice will give you another layer of identity. You can adapt a particular style of communication to add a persona that your customers can recognise, whether it be your tone, use of phrases, emojis, etc.

It’s important to consider who you’re trying to appeal to, the way you write your copy should depend on your demographic. A law firm, for example, may prefer a more formal approach to brand voice than a Digital Marketing agency.

Shaping a brand voice can be tricky, there are a few things to consider:

  • What tone would suitably represent your brand?
  • Does your voice style comply with your brand guidelines? (Layouts, fonts, bold, italic etc.)
  • Do you have a slogan or specific phrase people may know? (I’m Lovin’ It – McDonalds eg.)
  • What sentencing and structure would suit the brand? (Short and Sweet, Long and Complex)

So, once a brand voice has been decided on, it’s time to attach it to your public image (The hard part). Here are some key areas you need to use your brand voice to help it stick.

Home Page Copy and Titles

The obvious first point of contact is your main webpage, especially in featured text. Your homepage will be the section that is viewed the most on your site, so if you want something to stick with your audience it’s most important to apply it here.

An ‘About Us’ Page That is Actually a Bit of You

When people look for information on your business or service, the about us page is usually high on the list of research points. Whilst this page may be all about what the brand offers, when it was established etc. using your brand voice will add some personality and further insight into how you like to work and present yourself.

Alternative Marketing Channels

Keeping your brand voice consistent across all your platforms is absolutely key to making it stick with the public. If you vary your style when posting in different areas, you develop a platform-based brand voice that is much harder for people to catch onto. Rather than having a confusing split personality, at least keep to some loose guidelines when communicating on the internet.

Communicating with Clients and Customers

If a customer is intrigued enough by your copy and service to get in touch as a potential client, it’s important to maintain the same style of communication throughout the encounter. Your tone of voice may even be the deciding factor in a potential customer’s decision to get in touch. Not everyone likes formal, corporate language, so changing your style once contact is made may deter them from further interaction.

In summary, the purpose of a brand voice is to add an extra layer of identity which can prove useful when attracting customers. Consistency is key to establishing this providing that your style is relevant to a target audience and easy to maintain.

marvin-meyer-SYTO3xs06fU-unsplash

Why SEO Matters In Digital Marketing

When considering the logistics behind garnering the ultimate level of exposure for your brand, especially in digital spaces, SEO (or search engine optimization) should come up fairly quickly. Truth be told, there’s no other tool that will guarantee your business the same level of effectiveness or the same caliber of relevance.

SEO is the process behind designing your website in a way that is attractive to various different search engine results in order to boost your brand’s visibility to potential consumers. From conducting keyword research to utilizing the correct alt tags, there’s a lot that goes into executing SEO well. Read on as we break down just why it’s so pertinent in the world of social media marketing.

SEO is the Primary Source of Website Traffic

Despite the utilization of numerous other digital marketing tools and consistent dedication to advertising your business online, studies show that SEO is perhaps the most vital aspect of garnering consistent exposure. Potential clients automatically trust their search engine of choice to show them high-quality results, and so it’s vital that your company’s website is able to tie its reputation into that positivity by aiming for great SEO. This, in turn, results in a lot of people visiting your brand’s web page and getting in touch with what you have to offer.

SEO Is Innovative and Forward-Thinking

The ever-changing landscape of social media and digital marketing means that SEO tools and research are constantly being updated, re-envisioned and modernized. This is extremely beneficial for any business’s website or online branding, because staying up-to-date and on top of the trends is one of the best things a company can do in terms of profit.

SEO is Super Cost-Effective

For the absolutely unprecedented potential success that SEO can inspire in your business’s website, it can actually be quite cheap to learn the ins and outs of it as a digital marketing tactic. There are very few other areas in social media marketing that produce such positive and consistent results without costing your business a pretty penny in the process.

SEO Is Free PR

Piggybacking off of the notion that SEO done right increases brand exposure and reliability in the eyes of the public, then it’s also fair to see that SEO often functions as free PR for your company. It’s not always necessary to pour tons of time and money into making sure your business’s reputation when the mere presence of your brand as a relevant and topical search engine result will do just that for you, much more efficiently.

SEO Puts You Leagues Above the Competition

When utilized effectively, good SEO can really send your brand into the upper echelons of digital marketing. If your company spends enough time collectively learning about and incorporating SEO into its marketing, while being mindful of how SEO interacts with the brand’s specific core ideals and values, then there’s really no telling just how far it can take you!

All in all, while it’s important to acknowledge that there are a lot of different moving parts when it comes to successfully curating your brand online, it’s clear that the pertinence of search engine optimization is one of the most important characteristics of the whole marketing process.