There’s an incredible truth when it comes to the written word and ecommerce – a simple piece of content can mean thousands of dollars for your company. That’s right, just a handful of expertly crafted ecommerce web copy pieces will benefit your company with more revenue than you thought possible. You keep reading the 10 Reasons Why Content Is Important blog postings, but now it is time to look at a few case studies showing just how important content is. Nothing can beat a real time example or two.
Introduction to Brafton
Maybe you’ve heard about Brafton; they are a great content marketing resource that we use for many of our blogs. They provide great information and expert tips on how to get your brand out there effectively and awesomely. Their long slogan is, “Brafton fuels your brand with smart strategies and excellent content” and their shorter, easier to remember slogan is simply, “Fuel your brand.” Gives a decent image of what they do, doesn’t it?
The workers at Brafton started out crafting content for major businesses a decade ago and once the Internet search market began to grow, so did their business. Why? Because the sites they wrote for ended up listing high in the results. This made everyone want to use them and made them become a leader in the content marketing realm. They are a priceless resource that can teach you many useful marketing tricks.
Let’s Take A Look At One of Brafton’s Clients
Brafton works with an ecommerce company that sells trendy footwear in New York City. They started crafting short blogs for the company and publishing large images to connect with the company’s client base. Eventually, this company decided to make different landing pages for their most popular shoes: Nike and Jordan shoes. Unfortunately, the landing pages lacked keywords and other written content, meaning the company lacked site visits and orders.
When Colin, a Brafton employee, ran an organic search utilizing the keyword “Jordan Shoes” he realized that the company’s competitors were ranking 3rd and 4th on the SERP, which led to 11 percent and 8 percent total clicks (respectively). That is a lot of clicks and revenue for those companies and Brafton’s client was missing out. Colin pointed this out to his client and showed that even if they ranked 5th, the company would have approximately 15 clicks per month at a conversion rate of .0122. The average order value of $117.52 was calculated showing that the company was missing out on $21,506 a month in revenue. At first, the numbers seemed small, but it totaled up into a significant sum! This company was losing approximately a quarter million a year because of their lack of written content.
After implementing a few keywords, the Jordan shoes landing page is now generating 172 visits from organic search results and moved from ranking at 114th on the Google SERP to 25th. Are you starting to see just how important content is?
Now, Let’s Take A Look At One Of Our Own Clients
One of our clients is another great example of how content will help bring in more revenue amounting to thousands of dollars. Our client has a very niche ecommerce shop that only focuses on one product, getting rid of grey hair. This is definitely a market many people are interested in and there are many different shops out there, making it top priority to get our client noticed. Our client began by requesting three to five posted blogs from us with a wide selection of keywords to use (over 200). We focused on SEO for each blog, attempting to make each one stand out and make our client a leader in their field.
Our client reported to us how much success they had seen since requesting our services in mid-2013 towards late 2013 and the results are incredible. The report helped us to pinpoint the hot button topics for this client’s site, which helped us begin narrowing down the keywords for future blog postings. We also learned that we should adapt one specific voice style for all postings. We are using this information and are now posting weekly blogs using hot button keywords with that specific, consistent voice.
The report also showed that just one of our blogs, just one, brought in over $800 in revenue for our client! Other blogs brought in anywhere from $70 to $200. While those numbers might seem small, over the course of a year that number will be very significant, especially when you combine it with the $800 revenue.
When writing these successful posts, we made sure to write on hot topics within the community and wrote in a manner that spoke to our client’s customers. We always make sure that all of our blog posts end with a very clear call to action. This really helped bring in that revenue for the client.
Our client is very happy with the results and is continuing to see amazing growth in their niche market. The next step we are taking with them to help promote their store further is by having them set up a Google+ account to establish authorship. We are excited to see what the future holds for this company and how much more revenue they will begin to bring in once they switch to utilizing Google authorship.
See, Content Really Is Important
Now you can see that the power of one blog can really impact your revenue and can create a successful business. You no longer have to rely on what you read in blogs – you have actual proof of how content will bring about success. You need to start taking content creation, including ecommerce web copy, seriously and begin crafting content that is both high quality and optimized for the search engines. Once you have done this, you will begin to see your business become incredibly successful and you will be grateful you decided to dedicate time and money into your content marketing. Get ready to see some excellent results and maybe do your own case study!
If you love award-winning historical movies that motivate you to pursue your most ambitious dreams, chances are that you have enjoyed (or will enjoy) The King’s Speech. This 2010 masterpiece directed by Tom Hooper won 4 Oscars in 2011 for Best Writing, Best Direction, Best Actor and Best Picture, outshining all its counterparts. Most people who watch this movie are inevitably moved by King George VI’s efforts to cope with his frustrating stammering.
This speech disorder stands in the way of his success and forces him to get expert help to be able to make his first radio broadcast in 1939. Naturally, skilled content creators will read through the lines and realize that The King’s Speech is not all about the new King’s attempts to control his stuttering, eliminate his fear of public speaking and find his own voice. This heartwarming story also encompasses a plentitude of useful copywriting lessons that can help marketers and content creators improve their tactics and obtain better end results in the long run. Here’s what I’ve learned from the King’s Speech.
1) Originality Is Not a Capital Sin. To overcome his stuttering condition that is putting his position at great risk, George VI decides to see a specialist. This is how he meets Lionel Logue, a respectable and highly controversial Australian speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush. The problem is that Lionel Logue is far from being the submissive servant that a member of a royal family would normally expect to rely on.
His methods are often unorthodox and innovative and he doesn’t seem willing to make any kind of compromises because he is fully aware of the fact that he provides top-notch, extremely effective services. Originality is not a crime; on the contrary, original content allows you to make a name for yourself, become a valuable source of inspiration for other players in your niche and stimulate the curiosity of your readers. You don’t have to adjust your methods or dilute the original quality of your content just to please the masses. If you do compromise, this will only make you lose repeat customers and put your reputation on the line. Once you’ve finally managed to come up with a good content strategy, personalize it according to your own needs, goals and expectations and stick to it.
2) Let Them Leave, But Keep the Door Open. We all know how frustrating it really is to invest time, money and energy in a successful content marketing campaign without actually managing to please your clients or collaborators. Some clients and prospects just don’t get your modus operandi. Some of them just need a little bit more time to get familiar with your unique approach, your marketing strategies or your writing style. This is perfectly understandable. This doesn’t mean that you have to cling to their feet and stop them from leaving.
Keep Up the Good Work. If you’re good at what you do, keep your head high and your standards higher. They will eventually come back. The King’s Speech supports this idea. Shocked and intimidated by his therapist’s radical approach to addressing stammering, Bertie, the new king, decides to find another specialist who could stimulate his progress. After a short period of time, he realizes that the tough love method set in place by Logue was the only one that could actually favor noticeable improvements. Therefore, Bertie goes back to Logue’s office and continues his therapy sessions.
Implement Your Own Selection Criteria When It Comes to Choosing Your Audience. In his instructional guide for business owners, entitled “Book Yourself Solid”, Michael Port talks about the so-called “red velvet rope policy,” and its impact on (content) creators. In short, the key to success is to filter your clientele and your business partners and eliminate nutcases who could make you feel insecure without a reason. To perform optimally, content creators and marketers should be surrounded by people who energize them, share their methods and creative vision and actually inspire them to come up with meaningful content pieces and distribution tactics that exceed every expectation.
Developing a Negative Feedback Obsession Isn’t Healthy. According to Copyblogger, “dangerous” feedback from your readers can make you steer in the wrong direction. If you focus solely on complaints and any other kind of negative feedback provided by your crankiest readers, chances are that you’ll lose your voice and drown in a sea of uncertainties. You don’t have to divide your visitors into two categories: Brand Evangelists and the Devil. The main idea is that you should deliver great value to the targeted audience that represents a good fit for you and worry less about minorities. You can’t please everybody.
3) It Is Highly Recommended to Get Up Close and Personal with Your Clients. In orderto stimulate Bertie’s self-corrective abilities, Logue creates a powerful connection with his client. In a nurturing environment that supports the king’s progress, Logue tries to identify the factors that triggered his patient’s speech disorder in the first place. He makes Bertie relive the past and digs deep to tackle the real root of the problem. By understanding the unique impediments that stop Bertie from preparing and delivering a flawless speech, Logue manages to come up with the right solution to George VI’s pressing issue.
The Definitive Guide to Copywriting by Neal Patel and Joseph Putnam reveals that the web content that you write shouldn’t be about yourself, your brand or your personal ambitions and business goals. It should be about your readers. This is precisely why great copy involves a deeper understanding of your audience. Just like the great David Ogilvy once said, “advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.” Therefore, you should realize who you’re writing for, how your readers think and what exactly they want from you.
All in all, The King’s Speech provides a few useful valuable lessons enabling copywriters to enhance the quality of their work and build solider bridges between themselves and their clients and prospects.
Image credit: Copyblogger
If you are always all ears when it comes to receiving and filtering fresh news on traffic, conversions, content and design, chances are that you have already heard about Copyblogger’s May 2014 live training content event. Copyblogger succeeded in gathering some of the most prominent thought leaders of the moment under the same roof during its first-ever content event, called Authority Intensive. According to the host, this event was all about content marketing strategies and smart implementation methods, coupled with networking and great parties.
Copyblogger’s 2014 Authority Intensive: The Who, the What and the Why Factors
Several respectable influencers, including Seth Godin, Darren Rowse from Problogger, TopRank’s CEO Lee Odden, Brian Gardner, Bill Erickson, Ann Handley and Pam Wilson discussed the latest trends in design, marketing and content creation, highlighted the most important challenges in this department and provided key tips enabling the audience to identify and overcome them.
All speakers managed to send a crystal clear message in the content event: in order to survive and become noticeable on overly competitive digital markets, all brands should strive to differentiate themselves by using powerful, inspiring, properly optimized content as their ambassadors. Thought leaders shared more than a few tips and helped marketers and content creators follow a bright guiding star and avoid dangerous pitfalls associated with predefined templates, lack of creativity and motivation, fluff and a counterproductive “me too” approach. According to Lee Odden, you can be the best answer wherever your clients may be looking, so why opt for a tiresome monologue when you can start a meaningful conversation with your prospects?
Are We Witnessing the Decline of Vapid Content?
All the speakers have agreed upon one aspect: vapid content is not helping companies evolve. On the other hand, low-quality web writing can actually stop business owners from attaining their boldest goals. After all, we all know that what lasts doesn’t come easy and comes easy won’t last. This rule also applies to content creation.
This is precisely why marketers and content creators should intensify their efforts to think outside the box, resonate with their audiences and deliver content and strategies that are actually one-of-a-kind, people-oriented and designed to create a powerful positive impact on a certain segment of public. Cheap, de-humanized, irrelevant, overly optimized web writing is not doing us any favors and has a very short lifespan, so it represents a misguided investment. As more and more users are craving for premium web content, chances are that superficially crafted articles and blog posts without a real substance will soon become a thing of the past.
5 Free Content Lessons From Thought Leaders At Copyblogger’s Content Event
In what content and marketing strategies are concerned, in order to find your own voice you should follow in the footsteps of those who have already managed to build their own empire. Here are 5 extremely valuable lessons that the speakers from this recent event have taught us: 1) Fluff Is Not Your Meal Ticket. As tempting as it may seem to create and post web content just because everybody else is doing it, don’t fall into this trap. It is useless to churn out frequency in an attempt to boost website traffic. According to Darren Rowse, speaker at the content event, this is not how it works. A plentitude of posts delivered religiously won’t help you make a name for yourself, unless you are actually providing real value to your readers. Is your content sharing fresh ideas, educating your public or solving pressing problems? If your answer is no, now would be a good time to come up with a brighter plan based on premium on-site content and blog posts with a reasonable frequency. 2) Every Single Content Piece Should Be Considered an Essential Component of a Balanced Ecosystem. In order to succeed, you must count on a solid plan. An editorial calendar paired with the highest dosage of creativity, tons of accurate, recent information and a pinch of inspiration are the main ingredients that you should mix to come up with a series of interesting, on-point, awe-inspiring blog posts that have to make sense not only as individual pieces, but also as a cohesive whole. According to Ann Handley, every single piece that you write should be a part of a well-balanced ecosystem that is powerful enough to withstand any series of changes. 3) Content Should Be Presented in a Meaningful Visual Manner. During multiple sessions, several speakers including Pam Wilson, Bill Erickson and Brian Gardner have accentuated the fact that content based solely on text is outdated and considerably less effective than its innovative counterparts reflecting a combination of text and video and audio elements, which ensure a superior design experience for all users. It seems that content creators and marketers who still embrace and promote poorly designed content will no longer be able to get away with it. 5) Write for People, NOT for Sake of Creating Content. Content is king, and still it still needs to be validated by a vast audience. After all, what would a king be without his people? This is the main reason why content should be built around the common needs, questions and concerns of a carefully delimitated public. In the absence of fresh ideas and a proper segmentation, content becomes a bent arrow that keeps missing its target.
At the end of the day, all the thought leaders who agreed to attend Copyblogger’s content event have proven once again that they’re good at what they’re doing and even better at giving expert advice. They have predicted the fall of cheap, vapid web writing and encouraged the audience to put the user first on any occasion, while also anticipating the gradual ascension of on-point content that takes the reader on an exciting journey.
Apparently, Google doesn’t plan to stop pulling rabbits out of its white hat anytime soon. Over the past weekend, Google has started rolling out a brand-new algorithm update designed to win the battle with spam, in all its forms.
Most likely, to reinforce its efforts to ensure a superior web experience for all users while fighting the creation and promotion of low-quality, meaningless content. As a matter of fact, according to The Moz Blog, Google actually gave the green light to 2 updates: Payday Loan 2.0. (which addresses “very spammy queries”) and Panda 4.0.
Meet the Winners and the Losers of Panda 4.0
Some of the biggest players on digital markets have already been hit hard by this new update that impacted their website traffic: Search Engine Journal reveals that ask.com, ebay.com and biography.com are only 3 of the giant well-known websites that witnessed a drastic traffic reduction of over 33%. Yikes! Panda 4.0 also announced a few lucky winners that managed to display substantial traffic gains, including emedicinehealth.com, medterms.com and zimbio.com (revealing an astonishing 500% traffic increase!)
Can you guess what separates the winning side from the sore losers? Content appears to be the game-changer. At this point, these numbers are difficult to interpret. However, most of the players that were brought to their knees by Panda 4.0 promoted duplicate or syndicated content, so this may be one of the causes of their recent failure. However, taking into account that the new update is not entirely rolled out, we can still expect to witness many more ranking changes.
Should We Feel Intimidated by the New Panda 4.0 Algorithm Update?
Each and every single time Google is getting ready to throw unscrupulous spammers to the lions (or to the cranky Pandas, in this case) without giving us a heads-up, we can’t help but wonder: how it this change going to impact websites and everyday people who depend on a regular content flow to grow and run their online businesses?
At this point, according to Search Engine Land, Google is now affirming that Panda 4.0 affects 7.5% of all English-language queries, while the Payday Loan update influences approximately 0.2% of the overall number of English searches.
There is a great deal of speculation regarding the overall impact of this new algorithm update and the supplementary measures of precaution that webmasters would be forced to take to avoid search engine penalties and stay friends with Google. Could this brand new wind of change reflect Google’s intention to throw a rope to small business owners who are struggling to make a name for themselves and improve their bottom line by simply boosting their premium content creation efforts?
Could We Be Dealing with a Less Aggressive Panda This Time?
During the Search Marketing Expo, Matt Cutts announced that Google’s search team is currently working on a new Panda update that may be cataloged by many people as “softer”. Furthermore, according to Search Engine Land, Cutts has explained that this update is specifically designed to lend a helping hand to small-scale businesses, by enabling their websites to perform better in search results. Could the 4.0 update represent the less aggressive approach to helping small company owners that Cutts was talking about not too long ago? It’s still too early to jump to conclusions.
Small business owners may expect an increased level of visibility in local search results, which would represent a great advantage. After all, unlike large corporations that set bigger goals and have the means required to reach a broad audience, most small companies choose to promote their business and market their goods locally, because most of their clients are recruited from the local sphere. In this particular content, one question comes to mind: would Google actually be willing to soften its Panda update? Sure, why not? Chances are that Google has actually embraced this approach, especially since it already counts on a solid precedent: the softer version of the Panda algorithm rolled out in July 2013 (one of our infographics explores the timeline history of SEO and Google’s most feared algorithm update).
All in all, even though we still don’t have all the details required to get the bigger picture when it comes to evaluating the fresh Panda 4.0 update, it seems that small businesses could actually benefit from this softer version allowing them to improve their online visibility.
Many webmasters probably feel that they are wandering in the dark and are most likely asking themselves the following question: how do we have to act from now on to cope with this change and adapt to new challenges?
Better Content Will Always Represent the Key to Success
There is only one good answer to this question: by investing more time, money and energy in original, reader-oriented, properly optimized content pieces that have nothing to do with spammy, black-hat SEO practices and any other attempts to deceive search engines. As long as you play by the book and realize that premium content created to provide value to your readers is the solid foundation of any successful strategy, you will manage to protect your business against the powerful wind of change without worrying that Google’s never-ending series of changes could nuke your company and burry it 6 feet under the ground.
Should SEO Experts Stop Trying to Make the Pig Fly?
These 2 new algorithm updates have created quite a stir in the SEO community. After all, many businesses that got hit by Panda never managed to recover, so the fact that changes implemented by Google make most webmasters tremble in terror is perfectly understandable.
But does this mean that this crazy zoo counting an angry Panda, Penguin and Payday Loan should make SEO experts quit their jobs and run away with the circus? Absolutely not! According to Bruce Clay, the president and owner of Bruce Clay Inc., (cited by Search Engine Journal), great search engine optimization strategies relying on orthodox, Google-friendly tactics, still manage to prove their effectiveness even with all these updated rolled out by Google. Google is constantly cracking down on superior quality, so as long as you maintain a user-friendly website with a logical architecture displaying premium, optimized, regularly updated content, you have nothing to worry about.
Keep in mind that neglecting Google’s rules and guidelines would be like swimming against the current: tiresome and pointless. All in all, above-the-average content is your one and only way of salvation.
Instead of spending a significant amount of time rubbing your crystal ball and trying to find out what the next update may bring, you could always redirect your resources towards content creation to enhance the value of your web writing and make it become truly irresistible in the eyes of both human readers and search engines.
As sad as it may be, the times are quickly moving away from print and heading towards online content. It is more expensive than ever to get something printed because of the decline of the printed word. This means one of two things: 1) either you can spend a lot of money participating in antiquated methods or 2) you can save money and get a lot of bang for your buck.
Online content is a great way to gain access to a wider audience and a much wider audience than you got with paper content. This blog is going to explore why today is YOUR (and our) day; the day of online content; and how this powerful tool can benefit you.
Let’s Clear Up The Myths, First
The Internet isn’t the swamp monster. It isn’t here to destroy everything you hold dear. In fact, it is here to promote what you hold dear and make it successful. Your business is close to your heart and you want to see it succeed; the best way to do this is to jump into the 21st century with both feet. Once you’ve jumped in it is time to get ready for some awesome results!
How Can Online Content Work For Me?
Simple. It can bring in more customers than you could have dreamed of when you were relying on print content. All someone has to do is type in a keyword with the location and your business will show up on Google’s results page. Did you realize that one simple investment into an online press release can be instantly published to over 4,000 online media locations? Pretty awesome, huh? This is what online content can do – it can get you more coverage than ever. It is super exciting!
What Types Of Content Do I Need, Sensei?
Let’s take a quick look at a few forms of content that will be excellent for your business: 1. You’ll Need A Blog. Have you watched the latest Sherlock series? If not, we are sure you’ve at least heard of it. In the series, Sherlock’s cases come to him not just from the police but also due to Watson’s blog postings. Sherlock tends to scoff at the postings, but the reality is not everyone is keen on the different types of pipe tobacco ash out there. Watson understands how important a blog is to a small business and he utilizes this so that he and Sherlock can actually afford their rent payments for that London flat.
Just as it is important for Sherlock’s consulting detective business, blogging is important for your small business. It is a great way to interact with your customer base and provides you with an amazing way to give updates on what is going on in the company. If you are worried about staying up with a blog or writing great quality, you can always hire a copywriter who is trained in SEO (search engine optimization) and will craft excellent content for your site. 2. Online Press Releases Are Very Important. Just as in print, press releases are still crucial to a successful business. These are great ways to let everyone know what your company is up to and what to expect in the coming year. It lays everything out in a professional format and is easy for news outlets to use. The main change to the modern press release is the need for it to be social media ready. This is crucial when it comes to anything written for the Internet, which you will see in the next point. 3. Let’s Talk Social Media. If you aren’t on social media, now is the time to create a profile. It isn’t as terrifying as news outlets make it sound and, in fact, is very crucial to a successful small business. You don’t have to be an expert in using social media; you can have someone else in your company be in charge of that aspect. Just find a person who knows, and understands social media, and ask them to take over. The most important outlets are Facebook and Twitter, though many companies are finding Instagram and Pinterest to be very beneficial, as well. Social media gives your client base a way to interact with you and your company, and also provides you easier access to advertising specials coming up in your shop. It is important to remember to use this to your advantage but don’t abuse it (i.e. Don’t over-share on social media). 4. Don’t Scoff At Email. Email campaigns still bring in a lot of success for many a small business. Reports show that people are checking their email constantly throughout the day and many of us check our email when we are still in bed. We wake up and check our email on our iDevices. This is a great opportunity for you to create marketing campaigns that will lead to some awesome sales for your company. Again, don’t abuse this excellent tool! Learn how often your customers expect an email from you and don’t go over that expectation. You don’t want to annoy them into avoiding or unsubscribing from your email updates. 5. Does All Content Have To Be Long? No! Short content is honestly one of the best approaches to having a successful marketing campaign. Shorter content is also one of the best ways to go viral, according to Quicksprout. You can hire graphic designers to craft short, sharable content like an infographic. These are really handy tools to use for Internet content, as they tell about your company and highlight the important information you want customers to know. You can also do videos, write shorter articles, and even repurpose your content to make it last longer. You don’t have to be constantly creating new and unique content. Utilize the content you’ve already crafted and you will get a lot of mileage out of it! It’ll also save you significant amounts of time.
The Internet Is Good, Use It
Don’t let the naysayers scare you away from using Internet content, if you do, your business will absolutely suffer. Print is going the way of the Model-T, and no matter how much we lament that fact, it is still a fact. Start coming up with great content strategies and set a portion of your budget aside for content marketing. You can always hire professionals to help get you started on making excellent content. Once you start doing this, you’ll watch your business flourish!
