On January 13, Google announced a core algorithm update called the January 2020 Core Update.
Immediately, site owners took to social media to express their dismay on (yet another) major change that could affect the years of hard work they’d put into reaching a top spot on Google’s SERPs.
Some posted despairing memes. Others begged Google “not to be cruel.” Yet others worried how their keyword rankings would be affected as the new update rolled in.
Should you be worried about it? Most importantly, what changes should you make to your site so you don’t lose your Google rankings?
Let’s explore this massive update in today’s brand new blog.
[bctt tweet=”Should you be worried about @Google’s January Core Update? What should you do to maintain your rankings? Find out in this new guide by @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
January 2020 Core Update: All You Need to Know (Plus Tips on How to Survive It) – Table of Contents
January 2020 Core Update, Explained
Experts and Content Creators Speak Up about the January 2020 Core Update
The Top Sites Impacted by the January 2020 Core Update
How to Optimize Your Site to Survive the January 2020 Core Update
5 Aspects of Content That Ranks Well on Google
1. Originality 2. Comprehensiveness 3. Expertise 4. User-Friendly and Trustworthy Presentation 5. User Value
5 Tips to Update Your Content and Continue Ranking Well Despite Major Google Updates
1. Write Content You Can’t Find Elsewhere 2. Improve Content Found on High-Ranking Sites for Your Keyword 3. Proofread to Perfection 4. Step into Your Audience’s Shoes 5. Forget Keywords
Moving Forward after the January 2020 Core Update
January 2020 Core Update, Explained
Google’s number one goal is to provide value to users. Because of this, it has made thousands of changes per year in recent years.
However, not all of these changes are noticeable. Most of them are tiny tweaks.
The January 2020 Core Update is different. According to Google, this update will have more noticeable and actionable effects for content producers and webmasters.
[bctt tweet=”The January 2020 Core Update is different. According to Google, this update will have more noticeable and actionable effects for content producers and webmasters.” username=”ExpWriters”]
What it boils down to is Google making a brand-new list of the top sites with the most value in 2020.
If your site takes a hit and falls in the SERPs, it’s not because it’s a bad site. It’s simply because users are changing. There are a ton of new sites online. And there are sites which have been online for some time, but whose value was never fully discovered.
Of course, top marketers and SEO experts had their own opinions.
Rand Fishkin’s interest was on the bolded ads, favicons, and brand icons featured in the update.
My theory on why this took so long to get to desktop: Google knows it obscures ads & thus increases ad CTR (according to @jumpshotinc data from 2019, the mobile change yielded ~15% more ad clicks), and wanted to wait until a quarter in which they needed to show that growth. https://t.co/5bMQoCLbS2
A few days after the release of the update, Glenn Gabe tweeted his findings on the “volatile” splash it had made.
The Jan 2020 core update volatility seems to be calming down, which makes sense. Danny announced on Thurs that the update completed, although we could see the effects for a week or two. But to me, major volatility should be done. Here are some of the trackers showing volatility: pic.twitter.com/b3nGzW8O31
The Top Sites Impacted by the January 2020 Core Update
In the few days since the January 2020 Core Update rolled in, various sites in different sectors showed significant change in SERP rankings. Let’s look at the winners and losers (so far).
1. Sites with Improved Rankings Since the January 2020 Core Update
According to data from Sistrix, sites in the health sector enjoyed gains since the update rolled in. OnHealth.com and verywellhealth.com saw a 37.7% and 34.72% change, respectively.
Source: Sistrix.com
Other sites with improved ranking include a football site, a movie tickets site, and two news sites. Could this have to do with trending news (the British Royal Family and the Holocaust) and entertainment content?
2. Sites with Lower Rankings Since the January 2020 Core Update
The data shows car buyer and finance sites also taking hits since the update rolled in. Could this be because of the pricing information within the sites? It’s interesting to note that boxofficemojo.com (a movie site just like fandango.com) also shows information related to money.
How to Optimize Your Site to Survive the January 2020 Core Update
Like tons of content creators and webmasters, you’re likely scratching your head over all this information. Luckily, Google has some advice on how to optimize your site for the update.
Let’s go deeper into what it takes to create the kind of content Google always ranks well, no matter what changes it makes to its algorithms.
5 Aspects of Content That Ranks Well on Google
When you add these killer components to your site, you don’t have to spend hours analyzing why one movie site enjoyed gains since the January 2020 Core Update, while another movie site took a serious hit.
1. Originality
Take a look at this piece on cats purring by WebMD.
The article is informative, plus it comes from a trusted domain. On the other hand, look at this one from WHISKAS.
A piece like this isn’t counted as plagiarism, as nothing is copied word-for-word from WebMD. However, almost everything is the same. There’s no originality and nothing new added to it.
The result? Although WebMD ranks 422 on Google global engagements, Whiskas ranks 1,752, 296.
2. Comprehensiveness
Comprehensive content dives deep into a topic rather than merely scratching the surface. It provides statistics, charts and graphs, guidelines, and relevant images. After readers go through the article, they feel they’ve gained an insider view into the topic.
Length is an important factor to consider when it comes to content comprehensiveness. It’s almost impossible to dive deep into a topic with a 500-word blog. According to various sources of data, the best length is between 2,000 and 3,000 words.
3. Expertise
When searching for medical advice online, what would you prefer to read? A blog written by a well-known doctor or one by an anonymous person who simply rewrites information they find online?
Expertise is important to Google rankings. Sites owned by people who’ve established authority in their industry do much better than random sites without clear credentials.
4. User-Friendly and Trustworthy Presentation
Imagine reading through a site teaching you how to use English grammar and noticing typos and the misuse of adverbs. Even if this site were owned by an authority in language, you’d still click the back button to look for something else. This shows how important it is for content to be free of sloppiness and errors.
Presentation also affects user experience. For instance, think of how annoying it is to read a blog and have a ton of distracting ads crop up. Or imagine opening a site on your mobile device just to find it’s not optimized for mobile users.
5. User Value
Google’s number one goal, as mentioned, is to give real value to real people. This is what all the updates boil down to.
So, ranking well on Google isn’t about keywords. It’s not even about meta data, rich snippets, and title tags (although they help). What ranking well on Google IS about is making people’s lives a little better each time they visit your site.
[bctt tweet=”Content that continually ranks well on Google has these 5 killer components: 1) Originality 2) Comprehensiveness ☑ 3) Expertise 4) User-friendly, trustworthy presentation 5) User value ❤” username=”ExpWriters”]
5 Tips to Update Your Content and Continue Ranking Well
So how do you take the five aspects of good content mentioned above and add them to everything you write? Use these smart tips.
1. Write Content You Can’t Find Elsewhere
Choose a blog on your topic that ranks highly on Google. Read it thoroughly. Then, ask yourself this question: “What can I add to my blog that isn’t dealt with here?”
For instance, look at this piece from Wired titled Why Do Cats Love Boxes So Much?
To add unique information to your blog on this topic, you could dive a little deeper and do some research on how cats in the wild “withdraw and hide.” Provide information and details beyond what everyone else has already written about.
2. Improve Content Found on High-Ranking Sites for Your Keyword
Type your keyword into Google. Then, go through the sites that rank highest on the SERPs. Are they good? In-depth? As a reader, what satisfies (and dissatisfies) you about each article or blog? Your next step is to find ways to make your content an improved version of the highest-ranking content on Google.
3. Proofread to Perfection
Follow this five-step guide to ensure your content sparkles every single time.
Go over your content quickly to get a first impression.
Scrutinize each paragraph to see if it supports your big idea.
Attack your blog’s organization – ruthlessly pull sentences and paragraphs apart until they flow well.
Read it out loud to nail your tone of voice.
Read it again, this time from bottom to top.
4. Step into Your Audience’s Shoes
Why did users look up your topic? What do they fear, dream, desire? When you know your audience, you’ll know what they’re looking for in your content.
5. Forget Keywords
Write naturally. Use keywords because you’re dealing with the topic they surround, not because you need to reach a 3% keyword density.
[bctt tweet=”Want to survive @Google updates? 1) Write content you can’t find elsewhere. 2) Improve on high-ranking content. 3) Proofread to perfection. 4) Step into your audience’s shoes. 5) Forget keywords. ✅” username=”ExpWriters”]
Moving Forward after the January 2020 Core Update
The bad news is the January 2020 Core Update is huge.
The good news is it doesn’t matter.
Yes, your site can take hits and lose rankings. But in the long run, if you focus on becoming your users and knowing what they need, your site will always do well in Google search. You’ll rise above the January 2020 Core Update, or whatever updates rock the SEO world in the future.
Looking for expert blogs, articles, and more that are original, trustworthy, and comprehensive? We write content that ranks well in Google, no matter the updates. Check out our pricing.
It’s 2020 already! Are you ready to seize the new decade by the horns?
I sure am! We’re just a few short weeks into the year, and it’s already shaping up to be an exciting one in the world of writing.
If you’ve been paying attention to what’s happening in content marketing, then you’re already a step ahead of the curve.
Several ideas and innovations are maturing, bringing us more possibilities when it comes to writing and distributing our most magnetic content.
Wondering what the future of content marketing looks like? Check it out. I’ve rounded up my best predictions for the 2020 trends in content marketing.
This year is already roaring along at full speed, so we’d better get started!
The 5 Biggest Content Marketing Trends for 2020 You Must Embrace
1. “Good” Is Not Enough! Readers E-A-T Only the Best Content
Topic-Focused Content Builds Authority
Results-Focused Copy Builds Relevance
Customer-Focused Marketing Builds Trust
2. Pictures Become Worth 1 Million Words – If They’re Living
Visual Media Is Becoming Interactive
3. An Emphasis on Lasting Relationships
4. Brand Authenticity Approaches New Dimensions
Authenticity, Storytelling, and Story Creation
Conversational Marketing
5. We Cannot Ignore the New Ways to Search
[bctt tweet=”Excited to start the new year with fresh ideas to boost your content marketing to the next level? @JuliaEMcCoy shares the best content marketing trends in 2020 you should start following right now. ” username=”ExpWriters”]
The 5 Biggest Content Marketing Trends for 2020 You Must Embrace
While 2019 was all about refining what worked, the energy of 2020 signals that it’s all about seizing the day – or year. We’ve practiced, honed, experimented…
Now it’s time to put all that newfound knowledge to work to build those dreams as you’ve never built before.
Without further ado, here are the five content marketing trends for 2020 you must absolutely watch.
1. “Good” Is Not Enough! Readers E-A-T Only the BEST Content
The phrase “content is king” has been floating around the internet now for almost a quarter of a century. (Thanks, Bill.)
It’s a deceptively simple statement. Yet, 24 years later, we’re still discovering exactly what it means.
2020 may be the year that we (collectively) finally get it.
An emphasis on good content has existed for a while now, largely spurred on by Google’s constant (and often revolutionary) updates to its search engine algorithms. Last decade, we saw several seismic updates that completely altered the nature of search.
Google has a knack for doing that.
However, the last several core updates such as Google BERT and the January Core Update have been relatively unique. Not only have they continued to tailor their algorithms to the human element, but they’ve now begun sending a pretty clear message to the content creation (and SEO) community with every update:
Google really, really, REALLY wants you to stop overanalyzing the SEO situation every time it updates its algorithms.
Why? Because in 2020 SEO has ONE main rule:
Focus on delivering the best possible content to your readers.
Oh look, another deceptively simple statement.
In 2020, content and search engine ranking are fusing. It’s no longer going to be about either optimizing for people or optimizing for search engines. By crafting exceptional content, you’re now doing both.
If there’s anything you take away, it’s these three points for content trends in 2020. (Which are so important, we made an image for you.)
1. Topic-Focused Content Builds Authority
To establish authority in the search engines, you’ll need to prove to Google that you know something about a topic. That doesn’t mean posting one or two articles on the subject and calling it good. The average content pillar has been 2,000 and 10,000 words with 6-8 sub-topics (or pages) linked.
2. Results-Focused Copy Builds Relevance
Craft content with a purpose. People use search engines to find answers to problems, but only 21% of searches lead to more than one result getting clicked. If your copy isn’t laser-focused on achieving a specific result (like solving the problem that person searched for), you won’t make it to the top of the list.
3. Customer-Focused Marketing Builds Trust
In 2020, the primary means you’ll build trust with your readers is by delivering helpful, useful content. Such content indicates a willingness to be helpful, to give without expectation of monetary returns. Turns out it works. According to research by Conductor, customers are up to 131% more likely to purchase from brands that provide early-stage, educational content.
[bctt tweet=”Don’t settle for good this 2020, go for GREAT! How? Focus on these three important points: the right topics (to build authority), ️ results (to build relevance), and customers (to build trust).” username=”ExpWriters”]
Take a moment to absorb these three points. They’re what underlie the rest of the content marketing trends for 2020.
BTW – Google is setting a high bar for what is considered quality content. And unsurprisingly, Content Marketing Institute found that 84% of brands outsource their content creation to pros. If you’re concerned about quality, this is the route to take.
[bctt tweet=”Did you know? @cmicontent found that 84% of brands outsource their content creation to pros. Stressed for time? Maybe it’s time to trust a pro writing partner. ✍️” username=”ExpWriters”]
2. Visuals Become Worth 1 Million Words – If They’re Live
Today, infographics and visuals remain incredibly powerful. We’re going to keep seeing them – but they’re getting a refresh. How?
Visual Media Is Becoming Interactive
Infographics are neat, but unless they’re designed and optimized for social media sharing (like Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook), they’re surprisingly limited. They can pique our interest for a few minutes or flash across our social media feed… but they can’t do much else.
In contrast, live video content is an experience. When something is real-time, we’re primed to think it’s unique. Plus, the real-time nature of the media amplifies the exclusivity and sense of connection with the brand.
[bctt tweet=” Got eye-catching infographics? Make sure they’re all optimized for social media sharing. Want to work on video content? Try going live to connect to your audience in real-time. Know the other content marketing trends for 2020.” username=”ExpWriters”]
Don’t believe me? Check out these stats.
80% of individuals would choose to watch a live video from a brand over reading an article
87% of people will choose to watch a live video if it means more behind-the-scenes or exclusive looks at a brand.
56% of individuals want “breaking news” live content over other forms.
67% of live video viewers go on to purchase tickets or seats to similar events.
Live video content is also unique because it blends user experience with one of the ultimate tools of content marketing: storytelling.
It gives brands a chance to apply classic storytelling techniques – in a way that includes the viewer.
Now, you aren’t just telling your story to your customers. You’re involving them in the creation of your story.
How’s that for being customer-focused?
Which brings us to our next major content marketing trend for 2020…
3. An Emphasis on Lasting Relationships
Make no mistake, your readers are smart. If you’re just out to make a quick buck, they’ll spot you coming from a mile away and vanish.
In 2020, they’re getting even smarter.
Possibly it’s because we’re now totally empowered with the ability to find information quickly, easily, and on-demand.
Some 60% of all searches are done on a mobile device – doubling from just 5 years ago.
This trend of instant consumption on the go is a mixed blessing. On one hand, it means readers will gravitate towards quick, bite-sized nuggets of information that won’t disrupt their life.
On the other hand, it means readers are also exposing themselves much more frequently to our content marketing efforts.
It’s that second feature on which we should focus. Our challenge isn’t finding and selling to customers (they’re already looking for us constantly). It’s keeping them.
This year, the prevailing trends will force us to really dive deep into what it means to build relationships and rapport with our readership.
According to the folks at the CMI, almost everyone (79%) is successful at educating their audiences and building credibility or trust (75%).
Fewer people manage to successfully meet goals associated with generating sales (53%) or building loyalty with existing customers (63%).
In other words, they’re putting out quality, helpful content but they’re failing to support their readers in further interactions with their brands. Their copy isn’t results-focused.
According to CMI, there’s a growing disparity between what successful content marketers are focusing on and what everyone else is doing. Successful content marketers nurture long-term relationships with specifics, while everyone else focuses on general (but still important!) goals:
What Successful Content Marketers Focus On…
Responding to specific audience needs
Using metrics and KPIs to track content performance
Crafting content according to customer journey stages
What Everyone Else Is Focusing On…
Creating sales funnels/lead generation
Producing high-quality content
Building authority organically (vs. using paid distribution channels)
[bctt tweet=”What successful content marketers focus on: a) specific audience needs b) metrics and real KPIs to track performance c) crafting content for customer stages. Everyone else: a) sales funnels b) content by itself. More: ” username=”ExpWriters”]
Remember: all relationships thrive with a healthy balance between giving and taking.
And – according to Sprout Social – some 70% of customers indicate that they feel closer to a brand after reading helpful, useful branded content.
When readers know you and like you, they’ll buy from you. Nurture that to create long-term relationships where you both thrive.
[bctt tweet=” Our challenge isn’t finding and selling to customers (they’re already looking for us constantly). It’s keeping them. This year’s the time to start interacting with your audience. Start by replying to their comments! ” username=”ExpWriters”]
4. Brand Authenticity Approaches New Dimensions
Brand authenticity has been a really big deal for a while. It was a content marketing trend for 2019, and it remains a major trend in 2020 as well.
I’ve hinted a little so far at what brand authenticity for the new decade looks like, but let’s dive in much more deeply.
Authenticity, Storytelling, and Story Creation
In 2020, expect authenticity and interactivity to blend. Brands are increasingly opening the door for more engagement from their customers with their content to include them in the storytelling process.
We’re already seeing this in the case of live video content as I mentioned before. However, there are a few other examples of where it’s also happening:
Augmented reality. It hasn’t taken over the consumer world by storm, but it’s definitely here.
User-generated content. According to Convince and Convert, 85% of consumers think that brand-related content generated by other consumers is more influential than the content the brand itself puts out. Who are those users generating content related to your brand? They are your most avid fans.
Dynamic personalized content. What better way to include your reader in your story than to put them right in it with content tailored directly for them? We’ve mastered personalization. Now enter dynamic personalized content. It’s a form of hyper-personalization that ensures the content presented is both relevant to each specific reader, and fresh each time.
[bctt tweet=”More brands are now opening their doors for more engagement. You can see this through the popularity of live video content . It happens too through augmented reality and user-generated content from fans. ” username=”ExpWriters”]
What are the components of authenticity for 2020?
A real story: Create a genuine, relatable story.
The human element: Show off the human side. Give your readers a behind-the-scenes look.
Interactivity: Recast your brand as a conversation. Invite your readers to participate.
[bctt tweet=”How can one be more authentic this 2020? Know these 3 components: share your real and relatable story, show your human side, and ☕ interact with your readers!” username=”ExpWriters”]
Conversational Marketing
Conversational marketing is a new marketing philosophy that spun out of the discussions around interactive content and the way social media has changed customer service. In conversational marketing, a brand crafts its experience through – you guessed it – conversations.
What do these conversations look like? That depends on your brand. Among the most common conversational marketing tools that leverage content include:
Email marketing: But not just any cold email spammed out to a list of thousands. Conversational email marketing actively seeks reader responses.
Chatbots: Only recently recognized as a potential marketing tool, the content in chatbots can prove just as valuable as the content on your pages or in your blog.
Messaging apps: It’s a non-obvious solution to keeping in touch with your users. Nonetheless, some 79% of customers indicate they’ll use them if it means faster access to the answers they seek.
[bctt tweet=”Conversational marketing is IN. How do you start these conversations? Start with the most common tools like email marketing, chatbots, and messaging apps. ” username=”ExpWriters”]
All of these tactics are already deployed by savvy content marketers. However, as these tactics have coalesced under a single term, it’s worth watching this year to see what ingenious ideas people implement around conversations and customer engagement.
5. We Cannot Ignore the New Ways to Search
Last but not least, we return to the state of search.
Not how machines are searching, but this time humans.
Over the past year, Google’s core updates have emphasized the increasingly diverse ways that users are now searching for content. In particular, voice search has made significant gains in popularity.
According to research by Adobe, some 48% of general web searches are done using voice assistants.
This is a direct result of the popularity of using mobile devices to find information. The study reveals that users overwhelmingly report voice search as easy to use and faster than fumbling with an onscreen keyboard.
Last year, voice search was an innovative curiosity. This year, it’s a new digital reality.
[bctt tweet=”Voice search has made significant gains in popularity. ️ According to Adobe, 48% of general web searches are done using voice assistants. Don’t ignore this and start optimizing content for voice search. ” username=”ExpWriters”]
Seize the Year with Killer Content from Express Writers
Content marketing has become a sophisticated field… and that’s a good thing!
There are so many ways to plan, create, and distribute content to build an engaged readership. I’ve covered five of what I suspect will be the prevailing content marketing trends for 2020.
The future of content marketing is here. This year, the stars are aligning with one clear message: with everyone focused on putting out GOOD content, it’s time to set yourself apart with something EXCEPTIONAL.
Don’t leave that to chance. Secure top writing talent now and make 2020 a year to remember.
Want to learn how to write content for digital marketing or become a content marketing writer?
You’re in a good place.
The content marketing industry has reached an incredible high: it’s about to be worth $412 billion in 2021. What’s more: 91% of B2B marketers are using and implementing content marketing.
This demand naturally correlates to a demand for expert content marketing and digital marketing writers.
Content marketing is increasing as a $400+ billion industry = content marketing writers are needed!
Sadly, the fact though is that AP English and online content are two very different practices — and not enough writers are graduating with the right kind of knowledge to break into content marketing.
Despite the gap, it’s humans, not bots, who will craft the authority-driven, engaging written content that builds the trust and loyalty necessary for results.
Without content marketing writers, none of it would work.
But… what IS a content marketing writer?
What do they do?
What type of content do they write?
Who hires content marketing writers?
In today’s video, learn all about a content marketing writer, sometimes also called a digital marketing writer — and what they do! I’m going to cover easy ways that show you how to write content for digital and content marketing. This is a trade I taught myself back in 2011, and a method I’ve personally used full-time to grow four businesses. Let’s get into it!
The Future is Content Marketing Writers: How to Write Content for Digital Marketing (Video)
First, what IS a content marketing writer, if you define it in terms that a business looking to hire one would relate to?
A content marketing writer is an expert communicator who is responsible for creating online written content – blogs, articles, ebooks, white papers, social media copy, infographic copy, and more – that builds trust and loyalty with readers while engaging and informing them.
So, what do you need if you’re a newbie writer looking to break into this space?
Recap: 5 Ways to Become a Digital Marketing or Content Marketing Writer
Here are five points to know if you want to become a digital or content marketing writer.
1. Develop a Content Marketing Writer Background
Study the greats. I recommend reading and absorbing posts from SmartBlogger and Content Marketing Institute, and you can check out my blogs which focus on content marketing advice at Express Writer’s The Write Blog.
Secondly, you need some experience! Remember, action is critical. There’s no better first step then, well, taking the first step. The best way to learn is just to get started. Make a profile on a freelance site like Upwork, Freelancer, ProBlogger, job boards, and apply to writing gigs. (We’re hiring! Send samples here.)
I wrote a guide on how to find the 50+ best freelance opportunities — check it out at Content Hacker.
2. Understand Strategic Content Marketing & Why It Matters
Get some skills under your belt.
I recommend books, courses, and classes.
I wrote Practical Content Strategy & Marketing for new marketers, writers, and entrepreneurs that want to emerge and make a real difference in this field as a growth-focused content marketer, and it was recently listed as one of the top 100 marketing books of all time by BookAuthority, and an ultimate content marketing pick by Content Marketing Institute. Those two book lists also have fantastic book recommendations in the same genre!
Ann Handley, Andy Crestodina, Mark Schaefer are top authors I recommend who will share nothing but practical, useful advice with you — a must if you’re going to work in the content marketing industry. (Be careful. There are a lot of ‘fluff’ marketers and content out there trying to ‘guide’ in this industry.)
Shoutout to my amazing producer, Renata, for inserting this in today’s YouTube video — a quick slide of my recommended authors:
3. Find Your Niche of Expertise
Picking an industry sets you apart from all the rest of the digital marketing and content marketing writers out there. Is there any industry you had a previous life in? Were you an attorney, a customer service representation, maybe you worked at a software firm? You could write blog content for law firms. You could specialize in an angle; if you worked in customer service for years, position yourself as a writer that thinks of the customer. You could write blog, web and ad copy for SaaS brands. This list of opportunities goes on and on. It’s important to pick something that you’ll enjoy doing.
4. Know Your Worth (The Average Content Marketing Writer Salary)
Indeed, Glassdoor and PayScale offer good baseline ideas on salary, if you’re looking for employment. Freelance pay can be all over the place. If you’re going solo and freelancing, price based on your skills. Clients will pay good money, for example $100/500w, if you’re an amazing writer and know both content creation and your industry.
Here’s an easy way to price your writing expertise in a way that is both fair and makes solid income. If you’ve chosen an industry, match your rate to the hourly rate of an expert in your industry. For example, an accountant or attorney can charge upwards of $100-250/hour or more. However, avoid charging hourly. Charge by the project and word count, so you can get it done in less time as you pick up practice and writing speed and still make great income. As an industry expert, you can easily charge $250/1000 words.
How many words can you write in an hour? 1,000? Think of matching your hourly rate to offering a ‘fixed-rate service.’ However, hot tip: Never, ever charge hourly. Know what you can produce or do in an hour, then put a ‘fixed price’ rate and offering on that. As you get good at your content marketing writing craft, you should be picking up speed at what you do (and it’s okay if it’s never done in one day — content should, and will, take days plural — I’m talking more about your process overall getting quicker), you don’t want to lose money and time unnecessarily for getting locked into time, rather than project rates.
5. Demonstrate What You Can Do as a Content Marketing Writer
You need a portfolio! Show off your best samples, and prove that you can create great content for your clients’ digital and content marketing campaigns.
6 Types of Content & Copy You Need to For-Sure Know as a Content Marketing Writer
1. Headlines
2. Blogs and Guides
3. Ebooks and Lead Magnets
4. Creative Copy
5. Landing Pages
6. Calls-to-Action
The Future is Content Marketing Writers: How to Write Content for Digital Marketing (Video)
Last week, we rolled out several exciting changes to the Content Shop for 2020! ?
These changes included:
More word count ranges on most of our services in the Content Shop
A new content plan just for marketers launching new websites, brands, or software
Updated social media plans
Legal blog packages added
Rate increases on our expert blogs and packages to continue to help us source and retain the best talent
Read on to learn all about the improvements we rolled out that went live last week. Plus: a few words from yours truly on the state of content creation and hiring great content creators in 2020.
What’s New in the Content Shop for 2020: Price Increase (& Why), New Features in Blogging Plans, New Products & More
[bctt tweet=”Get to see what’s changed in our Content Shop for 2020 in this post by @JuliaEMcCoy. ?️Launching a new killer website? Need expertly-written legal blogs? We can totally help you right now! See what’s new. ?” username=”ExpWriters”]
Here’s the lowdown on the changes in our Content Shop for 2020.
1. Our content rates increased for 2020.
Not by a ton — by about $5-10 on our industry expert blogs, and $100+ on our blog packages and social media plans. We also added more word count ranges to our Content Shop offerings, which means you don’t need to get boxed in for large ranges. We noticed a need for customizing our ranges more.
We also added some new services and refined our packages! (See a shortlist of updated prices and offerings on our Pricing page.)
Why did we increase our rates?
Well, that brings me to what it takes to hire a great content creator. Facts: Every year, recruiting content writing talent increases both in price and time. This is especially true for 2020.
The bar for great content has risen, seriously, in the past few years.
Just click to read more about my prediction for 2020 (and I’m not the only one predicting this): 1. Amazing, Niche, Expert Content Which Meets or Exceeds Google’s E-A-T Standards.
TL;DR — Content is a powerful tool today for online marketers.
Over 70% of ALL web traffic originates from a Google search, according to Backlinko/SparkToro. Your users are Googling for your content!
Publishing content generates 67% more leads than NOT publishing content, says a HubSpot study.
71% of B2B buyers read blog content during their buying journeys (3-5 blogs is the norm).
[bctt tweet=”Our content rates increased for 2020: about $5-10 on our industry expert blogs and $100+ on blog packages and social media plans. ? With this, you’re paying for the work, time, and training required to deliver you high-quality content. ?” username=”ExpWriters”]
But content is only powerful if you’re building amazing content.
More people, brands, and marketers in your industry are getting wise to how well it works, and so you’ll continue to have to hit a high bar to succeed in 2020. With the sea of content rising, the place to put your focus on is “amazing.” In 2020, it’s not just bad content that will fall flat. It’s mediocre content, the “not bad,” and the “good enough” content. To rank with Google and readers today, your content must go far into the “exceptional,” “amazing,” and “wow” territory.
When it comes to content you publish on your website today, Google actually defines what “quality” looks like.
Hit Google’s definition of quality. In their Webmaster Guidelines, Google references helping, being information-rich (comprehensive), and including the right words (optimization) in content.
Prove you’re an expert in your industry and topic area. Google talks about the importance of expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) in its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines. Google itself called these guidelines a good indicator of how they define high-quality (and low-quality) content, in an article from August 2019 on the Webmaster Central Blog.
Create & publish amazing-quality content consistently. Inconsistency in content is a recipe for catastrophe. Failing to update your content regularly (whether that means tweaking older articles or pages or posting new ones), as well as failing to maintain your quality standards, will ultimately hurt your search visibility.
When it comes to hiring writers for great web content, all of these guidelines — which is a big component of our values at Express Writers to uphold and adhere to (why else would you buy content from us?) — are very difficult to hire, train, and retain writers for.
I’ve found this true since the beginning.
One other barrier here is that people that we hire — freelancers, content writers — think that they can graduate college with these skills.
Writing skills that earn rankings in Google, engagement with online readers, and ROI from the business who hired you.
A growing number of entrants to the content creation industry are disillusioned. Sadly, this only grows the more the years go by and college doesn’t get reinvented on this point.
I have to un-teach many academically trained writers on how to be content creators. It’s one reason I launched an SEO writing course a few years ago.
Back in 2011, when I started out, because of the way content was (less competition, less intelligence in Google’s ranking AI), you could get away with an Upwork writer to write a darn good blog for the price of a takeout meal or two.
But not anymore.
The writers you need to find today must have these six characteristics to be successful at creating your online content:
Know the industry they’re writing for (now a requirement with Google’s E-A-T standards)
Know how to optimize for Google
Know how to write to engage online readers
Know how to skip the fluff (because that doesn’t get read)
Know how to find, source, and include the right statistics and competitor-free links
Be open to ongoing critique and mentorship
[bctt tweet=”.@JuliaEMcCoy says it takes these six skillsets for an online writer to succeed: 1. Know the Industry 2. Know SEO Optimization 3. Write to Engage 4. Skip the Fluff 5. Source and Cite 6. Be Open to Critique ? ” username=”ExpWriters”]
I spend hours every week finding and retaining the right writing talent. We go through hundreds of applications to find our one to write your content.
The main area we’ve also seen that requires a need for rate increases include hiring more savvy proofreaders and editors that know content marketing standards (we go through about 150 applications to find one editor!) and continuing to select industry writers that are skilled at the craft of engaging content. Not only do we hire writers that know all six skillsets, but when we bring new creators in, we train them continually on these standards. Facts: I write a lot of the team-only, internal training we give to our writers. We don’t send them to an outside class or school — we train them ourselves using my teachings. (And last year, I charged $10,000 for one workshop to a group of 15. This training and mentorship we give to our team are invaluable.) Our Content Manager, Korilynn, is the bomb dot com at assisting me in this. She selects and refines writers for client accounts, and keeps them assigned to the same clients for content consistency, training them on your standards. It’s important that the expert writers we find are open to critique and ongoing training — and not many are! It takes a special writer. And those are the ones we work hard to find. Talent, knowledge of the craft, and a willingness to continually improve their trade. By paying our slightly increased rates now live for 2020, you’re paying for our standards that we commit to without compromise, even when it requires extra time, investment, and work on our end. We never want to let you down by getting a poor-quality content piece. Our goal is quality content — at all times.
2. We’ve got some new Content Shop improvements and offerings!
Our new offerings are ready to rock in the Content Shop for 2020! ?
Here’s a short list:
Legal Blog Packages are here. Perfect for law firms looking for an expert attorney-slash-writer to craft monthly content for their blog! (Yes, we hire those!)
Our Social Media Plans have been brought back with a new structure! You get better content and the right prices to hire and edit social media writing talent. Get your social content created with our team. Previously, our structure of social posts inside of our plans didn’t make a lot of sense. Now, they do. You get a set number, per platform, and we make sure you have custom-made images for all your Instagram posts.
Website Launch Package – Have a new website, additional brand, or new software launching? You need our easy-to-use website launch package. I’m super excited about this new plan. We’ve had several people ask about this over the years, but I never got around to putting it together. For 2020, I changed that. This plan includes a content strategy call & editorial calendar; 5 web pages; 2 blogs; 3 social media posts; and meta content and titles.
Our Expert Blog Packages (for any industry!) now include NEW services included in Levels 3 & 4. You’ll get a custom-made, designed WordPress blog header set now for both levels! See an example.
Access better word ranges now in the Content Shop. We used to offer 5-8 ranges on our Industry Expert Blogs. Look at the difference now! You can order more customized ranges in our much larger and expanded word choices:
[bctt tweet=”We’ve done a lot of changes in our Content Shop to serve you better! ? More word count ranges, a content plan for new site launches, better social media plans, legal blog packages, and rate increases in expert blogs and packages. – @JuliaEMcCoy ” username=”ExpWriters”]
Content Works — Our Proof is in Our Pudding
Not many content agencies can say they were solely built through what they sell — content.
We can.
At Express Writers, we consistently rank at the top of Google because of our commitment to consistency and quality in content. Case in point: For nine years (yes, years), without missing a beat, we published one blog/week.
We’ve stuck to this rigorously, and it has paid off. Today we rank for over 23,000 keywords in Google, and 99% of our prospects come to us through organic search.
In 2020 and beyond, content isn’t going out of style. (Never.) Great content is going to come out of heightened knowledge, expert writers, and a better understanding of what it takes to rank in 2020.
Need help learning how to write SEO content that ranks in Google and earning your reader’s attention? Grab my free SEO cheat sheet below. ⬇️
That covers the majority of our Content Shop changes so far!
Questions? Want to invest in one of our new or updated packages? Send us an email, start a chat with us now with the little green button on the right, or click below to see our prices.
See you on the content flip side (… yes, that means real ROI from your content)! – Julia & Team
In this report, we’re giving our Write Blog readers one of the most intensive insights we’ve ever put together on our internal content production.
This report is a real look at the content creation our team undertook for our clients for one year.
We’ve never done a transparent income report before on the Write Blog, so this is the first one. The data below comes from our e-commerce Content Shop, and the month-by-month data is generated from inside our own platform as over 50-60 monthly clients order from us.
Two years ago, our consistent top selling service was general blogs, and our team was producing over a million words per month. This year, our top seller was industry expert blogs.
We saw a major transition in demand from general writers into expert writers this year, comparatively from 2018 to 2019. We believe this will only continue, as content marketers realize the level they need to hit to perform well with readers and Google.
Across even our highest-volume client accounts, industry expert writers are now becoming a “must-have” over a more generalized, non-expert voice.
This is a necessary evolution, as Google continues to enforce E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) and Y-M-Y-L (an even higher level of quality needed for Your Money or Your Life industries) in ranking content in search results.
Expert authors and creators are absolutely a must for brands and publishers today.
Without further ado, let’s get into our year-to-date content creation recap.
2019 Content Creation Report: A Year in the Life of A 500,000+ Word/Month Content Production Team
Our Top 6 Hottest Content Creation Service Offerings for the Year
Expert Blogs
Custom-Quoted Projects
Expert Web Pages
Custom Images
Product Descriptions
Blogging Plans
[bctt tweet=”500,000+ words written per month? ✍️ It’s true, for an agency with 90 writers on staff! Read @JuliaEMcCoy’s first-ever income and production report for @ExpWriters in this Write Blog.” username=”ExpWriters”]
3 Content Creation Insights from Our Year of Content Production in 2019
I’m thrilled to see our company continue to stand and grow in the industry, and 2019 was another great year for Express Writers. We had the opportunity to partner with and collaborate on some incredible content projects, serving clients all around the world with fabulous written content for their blog, site, PR, social media, advertising, and other copy needs.
1. Quality Over Quantity in Team Size
Jeff Bezos said it best: “Every internal team should be small enough that it can be fed with two pizzas.” (He continues to apply this rule in Amazon’s upper management.)
After surviving eight years of HR trenches, I’ve found that my leadership runs best when it’s a small, productive team of people. We don’t have crossovers, we avoid ‘too many cooks in the kitchen,’ and everyone works together incredibly well.
[bctt tweet=”.@JuliaEMcCoy says a small team is best. ‘You don’t need a massive team to produce amazing content. After surviving eight years of HR trenches, I’ve found that my leadership runs best when it’s a small, productive team of people.’ ” username=”ExpWriters”]
You also don’t need a massive team to produce amazing content. We have 90 writers on staff, and 30-40 are always busy full-time—several of whom work and train directly under me. The others remain on-call for various niche project. One writer only writes content for a luxury yachting brand; another only writes content on outdoor sports, fly-fishing and hunting. One is a retired J.D. that writes copy for legal websites and blogs. Those are just some examples of the niche writers we’ve head-hunted to add to the team.
While our writing and editing team stays around ninety people consistently, our leadership team has stayed small this year. Our management and leadership team is less than six people. Korilynn (writing/editorial team management), myself (marketing/HR), Josh (our CTO), Lorien (client onboarding and assistance), Kira (scheduled for calls by appointment, on-staff Content Strategist), and Danielle (our content and editorial specialist, as well as support for my courses).
2. Higher Word Count Doesn’t Always Mean More Revenue
High revenue doesn’t always correlate to a high volume of words and production, as you’ll see from the statistics below. In fact, many times, it’s quite the opposite for our team. For example, a general blog can cost $45; a single 500-word page of a case study by one of our top-tier marketing writers can cost $150. Typically, the higher the quality desired, the higher the price; and less words can end up being involved in a project like that as opposed to a lower-quality, higher-word count project.
So, this has pushed me towards ways we can work smarter, not just harder.
[bctt tweet=”Higher ‘production’ doesn’t always equal more revenue. Work smarter, not harder. This and other lessons from @JuliaEMcCoy’s year-end report for @ExpWriters 6 MILLION word/year: ” username=”ExpWriters”]
Our lowest-revenue month was a month where we were completing a big general content project for a client, and our content creation was ridiculously high-volume. But our income was low. Since general content is one of our lowest-priced services, that was a low-revenue month.
3. Evergreen Business Growth is the Best Growth
The biggest catalyst for our growth continues to be our own Express Writers’ Write Blog, which is a “slow and steady” race—reminiscent of a turtle plodding forward, day after day. We haven’t taken a vacation from blogging in eight years. I’m three months ahead with the content schedule, and we publish a blog once every Tuesday. I also publish a YouTube video every third Monday. After eight years, our blog is now at 100,000 visitors/month.
[bctt tweet=”Slow and steady growth is the best growth, @JuliaEMcCoy says. It’s taken them eight years to grow the Write Blog to the presence it has today — nearly 100,000 visitors per month.” username=”ExpWriters”]
Some of the catalysts for our continued growth I can trace back to my most massive projects I launched. Back in 2016, I wrote and published my first book; in 2017, I published my second book and my first course, The Content Strategy & Marketing Course, that went hand-in-hand with the book as a video curriculum. Today, we still receive forms and inquiries from prospects who were first readers of my book and even students of my courses. Creating and launching such massive “content projects” in our industry has given our brand a terrific boost. These projects were not easy—to launch them, I did most of the work myself and pulled many 90-hour weeks. It was slow, rough, and hard going. But I look back and know today that the hard work was completely worth it.
A Look at Our Month-by-Month Content Production
January:
$78,466.10 in revenue
212 orders placed
605,000+ words written
Top Seller: Industry Expert Blogs, Custom-Quoted Projects, General Blogs
This was our lowest-margin month of the year. We had heavy staff turnover, starting with Hannah, our former Content Director, who resigned from the team and quit the first week of the month. After she left, we discovered a great deal of holes in the team including poor deadline management, quality dropping, writers allowed to be consistently late. All in all, out of 90 people, 40 were either quit or were let go this month. It was an unexpectedly crazy month for us.
February:
$95,772.65 in revenue
223 orders placed
601,000+ words written
Top Sellers: Industry Expert Blogs, Expert Web Pages, Social Media Posts
This was a busy month for me. We hired 45 people in total by the end of February, filling our writer and editorial gaps. We got back on track and fixed the issues in our consistency with deadlines and quality holes. Korilynn, a writer and expert remote worker who has been in my team since the very beginning, joined as Business Development Manager in January when Hannah quit, eventually transitioning into a full-time Content Manager role she has as of today. Korilynn has been an extremely efficient, go-getter manager, who can be trusted to get everything done with quality and speed while working from her home office. To date, she’s one of the best managers I have ever worked with.
March:
$96,002.05 in revenue
253 orders placed
537,000+ words written
Top Sellers: Industry Expert Blogs, Custom Services, General Blogs
March was a solid month. We had a consistent amount of orders and hired a few additional writers and editors.
April:
$93,904.75 in revenue
277 orders placed
560,000+ words written
Top Sellers: Industry Expert Blogs, Custom Services, General Blogs
April was another solid month. We had few changes in the team and overall, stayed consistently productive.
May:
$90,662.90 in revenue
213 orders placed
660,000+ words written
Top Sellers: Industry Expert Blogs, General Blogs, Custom Services
May was another great month. We stayed busy all month working on content orders for reoccurring clients.
June:
$82,382.55 in revenue
233 orders placed
503,000+ words written
Top Sellers: Custom Services, Industry Expert Blogs, Expert Web Pages
During summer, we always experience a lull in orders when marketers take time off. It either hits in June, July, and sometimes in August. This was that month. We had a drop in orders, but still saw our consistent client accounts continue to order with us. Another change about this month was the amount of custom-quoted content projects. We handled the most we’ve ever done in this month.
July:
$98,756.80 in revenue
278 orders placed
595,000+ words written
Top Sellers: Industry Expert Blogs, General Blogs, Custom Services
This was another fairly busy month, especially for July. We came very close to the six-figure mark for the month and worked on quite a few expert blog writing projects.
August:
$101,580.40 in revenue
285 orders placed
628,000+ words written
Top Sellers: Custom Services, Industry Expert Blogs, General Blogs
In August, we had a catastrophe occur. Korilynn was called to the hospital with a family emergency and was unable to come back to work. The loss of a great manager so suddenly was felt most heavily in October, when the reverberations of pulling overtime hours on my part to both find a new manager and fill in actively hit us. I had quite a few moments this month where my head was hitting the desk. We went through manager after manager this month, unable to find a good fit for our team leadership position that Korilynn was so effective at. I even tried to go local, meeting and hiring a managerial candidate in a coworking location in Austin. That person did not last more than a week. With Korilynn managing a high volume of tasks so well for months, it was hard to find someone to replace her effectively and quickly.
September:
$91,478.19 in revenue
229 orders placed
513,000+ words written
Top Sellers: Industry Expert Blogs, Custom Services, Product Descriptions
I can’t express how grateful we were to be able to re-hire Korilynn back to a salaried, differently structured management position. She came back as Content Manager later in August, and we allowed her to set her own hours daily to care for her mother that had suffered a stroke. Our team was thrilled to have Korilynn’s firm, experienced, organized hand at the helm.
October
$86,797.05 in revenue
302 orders placed
600,000+ words written
Top Sellers: Industry Expert Blogs, Custom Services, Expert Web Pages
We had a slower month due to the management problems we’d experienced a few months ago. We got back on track with the team, our project deadline management, and pushed ahead.
November
$98,589.95 in revenue
261 orders placed
630,000+ words written
Top Sellers: Industry Expert Blogs, Product Descriptions, Expert Web Pages
This was a good month. We had a consistently high amount of orders and return clients.
December
$76,997.30 in revenue
199 orders placed
200,000+ words written
Top Sellers: Industry Expert Blogs, Custom Services, Expert Web Pages
December is always a slow month due to the holiday weeks of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the upcoming New Year’s Eve and Day. Despite the lull in orders placed, this was still a solid month, with consistent clients returning for more.
Conclusion: 2020 Will Be Another “Year of the Expert Content Writer”
Content marketing is an incredible channel to build your brand name. It can truly do SO much for small and large brands alike.
Content taps into the major traffic potential that is Google search (70.6% of web traffic originates there, per Backlinko/Sparktoro).
Creating strategic content on your site generates 67% more leads than NOT publishing content, says a HubSpot study.
More than 71% of B2B buyers read blog content during their buying journeys (3-5 blogs is the norm).
If you’re on the receiving end of those stats, building amazing content to grow your brand, the rewards are huge. More people are getting wise to how well it works, and so we’ll see more content from more brands in 2020.
To build great content, however, the word you need to focus on is “amazing.” Without that qualifier in your content, you don’t have a chance.
In 2020, it’s not just icky content that won’t work. Even mediocre, “okay” pieces will fail to land. To rank with Google and readers, your content has to go far into the “exceptional” — the impeccably well-written, expert-sounding territory.
The bar for awesome content keeps rising. Marketers who have been doing content forever know this now, so they’ll up their game in response.
The result: Content in 2020 will be better than ever – and more brands than ever will be embracing a consistent content presence.
How can you keep up with your content in 2020?
Hit Google’s definition of quality. In their Webmaster Guidelines, Google talks about just which benchmarks to hit. Help your user, include the right terms, offer high-quality content.
Prove you’re an expert in your industry. Google discusses the importance of expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) in its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines. Google itself says this is an indicator of how they define high-quality (and low-quality) content, in an article published in August 2019 on the Webmaster Central Blog.
Create & publish amazing-quality content without stopping. Inconsistency in content is a recipe for catastrophe, both in rankings and in building up a loyal audience over time.
At Express Writers, we consistently rank at the top of Google because of our commitment to consistency and quality.
Case in point: For 8 years (yes, years), without missing a beat, we published one blog/week. Not taking a ‘vacation’ from content has paid off. Today we rank for over 23,000 keywords in Google, and 99% of our prospects come to us through organic search.
Ready to up your game in content in 2020?
Here at Express Writers, content is our speciality. I handpick and train each writer and editor myself. We have over 90 writers and a well-structured team, ready to take on your projects. Our marketing writers craft email copy; we have industry expert SEO writers that can tackle your blogs and web pages; and we also craft ebooks (fully designed and written from scratch), and blog writing plans where we create and post to your site, complete with images, meta descriptions, and a great headline. Get in touch with us today about your project.
