If you run a business, there’s no doubt you’ve been told you need to be busy on social media channels.
But, essentially you need to know that your efforts on those platforms are driving traffic to your website and making it quicker for customers to find you online. In short, you need to know you’re getting a return on investment.
The question is this: do social signals actually influence your SEO?
Social Engagement and SEO: The Answer Is Indirectly
Social media allows you the chance to impact your business’s SEO in an array of indirect ways.
How to Measure That Indirect Impact
Just because you can’t tie the indirect impact of SEO and social signs doesn’t mean it’s time to pack up shop and shut down all your social profiles. While there may not be a very specific formula for directly connecting SEO and social, it definitely doesn’t mean your social effort are futile.
Let’s say you have a ton of followers on Twitter. That doesn’t really guarantee that you’re going to enjoy higher ranks on Google and the other search engines. However, it also doesn’t mean that won’t change tomorrow.
For instance, in 2013 Google said that they did include social signals. A year later in 2014, they said they did not.
According to Justin Kirby, CaveSocial Co-Founder, if a business’s content tends to be drawing people from various social networks to your URL constantly, SERPS are going to view your content as respected and eventually your rankings will increase.
Social Is Much More than SEO Rankings
Increasing your business’s website rankings in search engines really shouldn’t be your only goal when it comes to social signals.
Just look at these other benefits:
Link building
Increased website traffic
Social profile growth
Content visibility
Each of these can, and will, contribute to increased rankings.
Now, SEO revolves around honest experiences and trustworthy brands which means your rankings get better as you provide quality content, delivered consistently from a variety of sources.
When you create a marriage between your social and content, you’ll see how your ranking and website traffic will improve.
Let’s not forget about social reputation and brand awareness, either.
“The correlation between social signals and ranking position is extremely high, and the number of social signals per landing page has remained constant when compared to with the values from last year’s whitepaper. … The top-ranked websites in Google’s rankings displays vastly more social signals than all other pages…. This is primarily due to the overlap between brand websites performing strongly in social networks and being allocated top positions by Google.”
Essentially, the more ways people are able to find you in search engines, the more you’re able to control your brands’ images. Simply open the first few pages of Google on a search of your product or brand. Be consistent in your efforts and you’ll be able to “own” some topics online with your killer content and, ultimately, your services and products.
So Many Reasons to Be Active on Social Media
While there may not be a clear recipe of what you should be doing on social for your efforts to affect SEO, that doesn’t mean social signals won’t affect SEO whatsoever.
There are plenty of reasons to be active on social, like engaging one-on-one with customers and growing your community. All the growth and social activity to see on your networks will lead to increase website traffic, increased interest in your offerings and more content views.
SEO Is Becoming More Dependent on Engagement
Human marketing, that is, having an online presence and engaging with your community, is good for all sorts of reasons. It’s especially good for your bottom line.
Search engines are hard at work building algorithms that are way more in tune with human thinking since at the end of the day, humans are the ones using the search engines. So the closer they get to being human, the better the results will be.
But don’t just take my word for it. Searchmetrics created a list of correlating factors between social signals and search engine positions.
What you can see here is that 8 out of 10 highest correlations between search engine positions and rankings are tied to social engagement factors. That means that those factors that tie in best with the search engine positioning is related to how people react to content on social media.
Human beings’ reactions on social media don’t happen because of numbers or because you’ve created a perfect site (from a technical viewpoint). It does happen because your content appeals to your audience; it resonates with them; they can relate. They’re human!
We could get into a whole heated debate about a link between causality and correlation. But there’s really one main thing we need to know: content that is likely to entice engagement has a better chance of higher rankings and content that ranks well will help your bottom line.
Matt Cutt’s Viewpoint
So, just how far is Google from using social media signals as factors for ranking? Can the SERPS use follower and engagement metrics from the likes of Facebook and Twitter to evaluate an individual’s authority?
The answers to those questions were certainly buried in the headlines in Matt Cutt’s video.
Supporting what Matt had to say, Google’s John Mueller has categorically stated Google doesn’t use social signals in its search ranking factors.
Okay, so let’s go in depth into Matt Cutt’s comments to try to understand why Google doesn’t do so.
Do Twitter and Facebooks Signals Play a Part in Google’s Ranking Algorithms?
That’s what Matt Cutts answered in the video. Let’s break it down.
1. Twitter and Facebook posts are treated like other web pages
Every individual tweet on Twitter, for example, is a standalone website in Google’s eyes. On Facebook, a re-share, a status update and even a link share are all “pages” on their own to Google.
What we need to understand here is unspoken implication. While a lot of people assume Google tries to index every single page on the World Wide Web, this isn’t true.
While the search engine’s resources are certainly vast, there are limits. What’s more, with the rate at which web pages increase, Google recognizes that not every page is equally valuable, if at all. So the search engine builds its own crawling bots algorithms in order to be selective in what to crawl.
2. Google is limited in how much social web it crawls
Matt has made it clear that Google can’t always crawl all the pages on social sites.
However, while Google can see every tweet posted in real time, for example, doesn’t mean they do actually index every tweet. In a study conducted in June 2015, it was found that Google still indexes less than 4% of all tweets.
3. Social signal correlations that have higher rankings for sites don’t equal causation of those rankings
Matt has made something very clear that caused a bit of a stir: several sites, particularly Moz and SearchMetrics, have published correlation studies depicting social signals like Google+1s and Facebook Likes as arguably one of the highest correlating factors for those sites that rank highly on Google. This has led many people to jump to the conclusion that social signals are the cause of higher rankings.
Then there’s the level-headed Cyrus Shepard from Moz who tried to explain that an associating factor doesn’t necessarily need to be a causal factor. The more likely explanation is that sites that seem to get higher social engagement tend to be sites that attract a lot of other signals that do contribute to their search ranking power.
What’s important to keep in mind is that social media exposure tends to increase the opportunities that sites will indeed link to your content.
4. Be active on social media to build your brand and drive traffic
According to Matt, there are some really valid reasons for being active on social platforms, whether or not social has an impact on rankings.
Marry up good network building and an active social presence and you’ll soon notice a growing brand reputation, the development of authority and trust, better customer service and increased traffic to your sites via the conversations you have and the links you post.
5. It all needs to be a long-term project
This is really important.
During the three year experiment of Google Authorship (which may just be coming back), one of the hot topics in the world of SEO was “author rank” – that is, the idea that Google could use the author’s individual authority for given topics as a factor in search ranking.
But Matt Cutts has made it clear in the video why using individuals’ authority as a ranking is a long-term goal for Google. Establishing a person’s identify and verifying it is hard.
Social Engagement and SEO – It’s All a Bit Like a Fine Wine
Google is incredibly careful in their search results. There is absolutely no incentive for them to rush an unreliable or incomplete signal into their ranking factors. In fact, there are enough disincentives to put them off.
Precisely evaluating and measuring the complex signals that could indicate how authoritative an organization or individual is on social media, particularly with regards to certain topic areas, is massively complex and made even more difficult when major areas where these signals exist are difficult for Google to get to.
This doesn’t mean that Google doesn’t value these signals. Every single indication we have had from Google spokespeople, has been that certain areas of social signals as well as authors as subject authorities continue to be areas of intense interest for the search engine.
In fact, during his 2013 Pubcon keynote speech in Las Vegas, Matt mentioned that social signals shouldn’t be looked at for short term benefits like direct ranking, but rather as long term efforts. In other words, over time the search engines will start watching who consistently gets great social signals over and over again as an indication of who is a trustworthy authority figure.
Just like a reputable wine maker wouldn’t serve a fine wine before its time, the search engines aren’t going to serve ranking factor before its time. While social signals are definitely important, and active use of social media has become essential, you need to be investing in them for the long-term.
You need to know that if you build real value that people will value, overtime, that is going to become valuable to the search engines as well.
Social Media Channels Are Search Engines
We think that social engagement already ties into SEO rankings.
People these days don’t just head over to a search engine to look something up, they use social media channels. Check out this article on why social is the new SEO.
So let’s say you’re active on Twitter. Then it is possible that people will find your business’s new content after searching for market-related tweets with Twitter’s search function. Likewise, brands that make use of stunning visual content can benefit from making that content visible on Instagram and Pinterest by categorizing their pins and using hashtags.
What’s more, if someone wants to look up your company, they’re more likely to open up Facebook and Twitter to do a quick search and check out your presence on each platform.
If Not Now, Definitely Soon
Ultimately, the World Wide Web is all about relationship building, expressing your identity, fostering audiences and sharing ideas. It’s intrinsically social and there is absolutely no reason why SEO best practices would chose to go against the grain – particularly since the rules governing SEO are supposed to make the web a more useful and enjoyable place.
Does social engagement really tie into SEO rankings? We sure think so – but right now, there’s no clear way to measure it.
What’s your take on it? Let us know in the comments!
Creating great web content online is the best way to help push site conversions and bring in awesome new clients. But, how can you create content that sells? In other words, have content ROI? Content that is crafted well has the ability to return on investment, or ROI, for your brand. In this infographic, we take a look at the top reasons you need great content, with 25 useful, fundamental tips to help you get knee-deep in the creation of copy that sells. Full transcript below. Enjoy! And if you like this, we’d love a share and comment!
Transcript
Why is Awesome Web Content Vital?
You have approximately 8 seconds to convince someone to stay – after that, you could lose them.
Around 96% of site visitors are not ready to buy yet, and content keeps them coming back until they do.
If you create and publish around 31-40 landing pages, you’re likely to generate 7 times the amount of leads than those who don’t. And 40+ generates 12 times more.
Visual content like product videos can increase purchases by 144%.
Research shows that Google consistently ranks posts over 2,500 words.
25 Surefire Ways to Create Web Content that Sells (Content ROI)
Here are some great ways to create wonderful content that can help boost your sales and bring you ROI.
Emotions Help Motivate. Emotions are an incredible way to motivate clients to act. Peer pressure, self-improvement tips, and more are excellent motivators. Weave these in your copy.
Create a Sense of Urgency. When writing your content, make sure you create a sense of urgency. Show that there is a demand for your product. Tie in brevity to urgency to compel your reader.
Create a Case Study. 63% of UK marketers think that case studies are excellent marketing tactics. You can use them to show customers information about your company and product, convincing them to choose you.
Create Evergreen Content. Well-researched, in-depth, long-form blogs that answer timeless questions are considered evergreen. These pieces can convert readers and rank you high in Google if done right. And, they’ll always stay relevant.
Have Excellent Headlines. Half of your content creation time should be spent coming up with a persuasive headline. Make it useful, have urgency, be unique, and specific. Plug in power words and adjectives to transform an otherwise typical headline.
Don’t Be Afraid to Have a Conversational Voice. Think of this like how you’d talk to a client who is also a friend over coffee. Enrich your content with a lively, fun, conversational tone. This can help immensely with building connections that will convert.
Find Your One “Thing.” Each company has a “thing” that sets them apart – yours included. Find your “thing” and focus on it with your content.
Research Audience Needs. Content that sells needs one crucial element – audience research. Know what your audience needs and create content they can use.
Stay Authentic. Marketing now requires authenticity, especially if you plan to market to millennials. Be unique, for example showcasing pictures of your office on Instagram, and your daily grind—and have fun while you’re doing it. Your brand fans will love it!
Create a Plan for Content. Plan out your content through various tools such as editorial calendars. You will find it easier to maintain a consistent content plan with one.
Make Important Info A Focus. Simple tip, but a vital reminder. This goes for pricing, calls to action, and any other pertinent info. Don’t let it get lost on site or else you’ll lose visitors.
Refine Your Approach. Compile a full list, or “brain dump,” of your ideas for content pieces. Next, narrow down and refine your approach. Create content on just a few of your narrowed-down, hot topics for impactful results.
Make Vital Points Standout. People only read about 20% of all of the content on your page – make what you want them to see stand out from the rest.
Remove Distractions. Too many choices can create higher levels of anxiety for visitors, which can negatively impact conversion rates. Focus on your highest seller or main pain point and dwindle down anything else.
Make Your Content Easy to Scan. Only 16% of readers will read all of your blog content, but 79% of visitors will scan. Writing easy-to-scan content will help you reach out to every visitor and reader. Break your content up with sub-headers.
Use the Power of One. The “power of one” helps you establish one big idea that you can focus on. This can often be your one “thing,” as well. Focus on one thought for every page or post.
Know Which Content Types Work Well. Multiple content formats are excellent, but before you jump into each, make sure you know which ones will work the best. Test, analyze, and check the engagement of your content types; and tweak or change your habits accordingly.
Utilize Visual Content. When an image is used, tweets see more engagement with 18% more tweets, 89% favorites, and 150% re-tweets. And Facebook saw a growth of 3.6x in the amount of videos used on the channel.
Write Long-Form Content. Long content gives the perception of added value, making people more likely to trust and read. Posts over 2,500 words also do very well in the rankings.
Create Relevant Content. You don’t want content that is outdated or doesn’t make sense to your audience. Instead, write content on trending topics within your industry as well as content you know your audience wants and needs to see.
Bloggers, Include a Subscription Box. Email subscription boxes are a great way to give visitors access to content, eventually converting them into leads. (For every $1 spent on email marketing, average revenue is $44.25.)
Test Different Calls to Action. Just by changing and testing the copy on their calls to action, Mozilla saw higher download rates for Firefox. They went from “Try Firefox” to “Download Firefox – Free”, and saw more clicks. Try and test actionable verbs and adjectives to convince people to click, purchase, and share your products and content.
Define Your Conversion Metrics. Define your conversion metrics by taking a look at the patterns and amount of people interacting with your content. This can help you know which content pieces work best.
Create Co-Branded Content. Working with an industry partner can bring your content to a wider audience. Consider getting together with even a competitor company to co-brand content like e-books to expand your reach.
Be Assertive In Your Writing. No one knows your product and services like you, which means you shouldn’t write hesitantly. Write with assertiveness once you know you’ve researched your facts and are presenting knowledge, and you’ll be able to convert more people.
40% of the world’s population has an online presence. In total, over 3 billion people use the internet; a number that went up from 738 million to 3.2 billion in the last 15 years.
With a visitor presence as strong as that, today’s marketing is best done online.
Add onto that the fact that many states have increased their tech-sector hiring; startups are popping up all over the virtual landscape. As startup agencies launch, and the need to have a powerful presence online increases, so does something else:
As copywriters, we’ve gone from suffering jokes at the hands of our doctorate or lawyer friends (“what are you ever going to do with that English degree?”) to being an in-demand, highly employable class of professionals in a highly dynamic climate.
As the market continues to shift, grow and change, one thing is clear: copywriters will continue to play an important part in creating and distributing the content that makes people sit up and take notice of new technologies.
In addition to being knowledgeable about good marketing practices, copywriters can also help new and established companies beef up their SEO game, create intriguing content and help birth campaigns that go viral. Fortunately, there are dozens of cities right now that are a virtual gold mine for copywriters. These cities offer exciting, diverse jobs in the tech industry through hundreds of well-known companies, some of which (LinkedIn, for example) are current in the inbound marketing and content marketing worlds.
According to Study.com, the need for copywriters is projected to go up 6% between 2012-2022 and according to GlassDoor.com, the national average salary for copywriters is over $58k annually. Because of this and because of the increasing demand the field is experiencing, being a copywriter is a hot gig right now.
The 8 Best Cities for Copywriting Opportunities & Jobs
We sat down to research the best cities for copywriters to find job opportunities in, and here’s what we found! (Updated December 2015.)
1. San Jose, California
It should come as no surprise that Silicon Valley is booming for talented writers. In San Jose, out of every 1,000 jobs, 126 are in the tech industry, which means plenty of jobs for copywriters and content marketers. Additionally, San Jose has one of the highest tech-related salaries in the country right now – an average of $130K each year. As home to big-name tech companies like Apple, Adobe and eBay, Silicon Valley is currently one of the best places in the country for copywriters who want to work in a fast-paced, tech-focused environment.
2. Minneapolis, Minnesota
If you’re a talented writer looking for work in the tech, advertising or PR industries right now, there’s no place like Minneapolis. In fact, the city is so rich with high-paying, unique jobs that some major media outlets are referring to the phenomena as “The Miracle of Minneapolis.” This is due in large part to the fact that the city combines affordable housing, great jobs and high salaries to create a highly livable market for skilled writers, editors and marketers. Minneapolis is home to several dozen huge company headquarters, including Novu, Target, Best Buy and C.H. Robinson, which have increased hiring in the tech sectors by 8.36% in the last six months. Companies like this are growing quickly and all of them need copywriters.
3. Seattle, Washington
The Seattle metro area has always been a writer’s paradise and today is no different. Home to tech colossuses like Amazon, Microsoft and Boeing, the city also boasts outposts of companies like Expedia, Zillow, Google, Facebook and Twitter. Within the Seattle area, 77 out of 1,000 jobs are tech-focused and those involved in the area’s tech industry make about $108K annually. In addition to the ample jobs in the area, the city also has a high quality of life and provides access to some of the best art, cultural events and food in the country.
4. San Francisco, California
Don’t jump to rope it in with Silicone Valley too quickly – San Francisco is home to plenty tech companies of its own and boasts a totally different environment than its neighbor to the South. Copywriters here can choose to work for companies like Google, Twitter, Pinterest, Yelp, Dropbox, Yahoo, Oracle, LinkedIn and Salesforce, among others. There are literally hundreds of copywriting jobs in this city and the lucky ones who get them will enjoy views of the bay and never-ending clam chowder with a side of job satisfaction.
5. Washington, DC
In the metro area that surrounds the country’s capital, copywriters can expect to find ample jobs. The area has a strong tech scene and over 79 out of every 1,000 jobs are tech-focused. The area also has over 1,000 startups, including companies like Urgent.ly and Soundtracker, which makes it a vibrant and dynamic place for copywriters and marketers alike.
6. Austin, Texas
In addition to boasting one of the best music scenes in the country, Austin is a formidable player in the tech and startup circles. Home to companies like Dell, RetailMeNot, Main street Hub and Yodle, 58 out of every 1,000 jobs in Austin are in the tech industry and copywriters won’t have any trouble finding a job they love. Additionally, the city is home to the South by Southwest festival, which debuts new technologies and provides one of the best possible networking and educational opportunities for copywriters, SEOs and marketers.
FYI: Our own Express Writers is located here!
7. Boston, Massachusetts
Unlike many areas in the country, which are startup-dense and mainstay-sparse, Boston offers a healthy mix of both. Ideal for the copywriter who wants to work for companies like HubSpot, Wayfair, TripAdvisor, WordStream, Constant Contact or HourlyNerd, copywriters in Boston can expect to find that roughly 57 out of every 1,000 jobs are tech-focused. The area does have high rental prices but the quality of living is outstanding and copywriters who land jobs in the area will enjoy the ample opportunity the city offers.
8. New York, New York
The original home of the fedora-clad, pipe-smoking, typewriter tapping writers of old, New York is still a formidable player in the tech industry game. The city offers hundreds of copywriting jobs at major companies like Chloe + Isabel, Saks Fifth Avenue, Entrée Health, Deep Focus, Wunderman, Barneys New York and Bed Bath & Beyond. Copywriters who land jobs in New York will have no trouble expanding outward into work with tech companies, advertising firms, publications or retail establishments, thanks to the ample opportunity inherent within New York and the sheer concentration of businesses the city has to offer.
Need a guidebook to help you boost your copywriting skills? Our CEO, Julia McCoy, wrote a bestseller on the topic!
The Vital Role of the Copywriter
Copywriters wear many hats – from writing web copy for companies to researching keywords, staying up-to-date on industry news, events and happenings and attending conferences to studying new platforms in the inbound and content marketing fields, copywriters are one of the major forces that allow web-based business to interact effectively and to expand their reach and message to new customers.
Although copywriters have always been an integral part of marketing and distribution, everything right now is online, which means that the need for copywriters has skyrocketed.
The Future of Copywriting Opportunities
Copywriting is a booming industry right now. As new companies are born and begin to flourish, copywriters become more and more in-demand. In order to stand out in today’s market environment, companies need highly skilled writers that are capable of developing and dispensing specific brand voices, conducting research on target audiences and creating web, print and visual content that catches customers’ eyes and helps the company differentiate itself from the crowd.
In many ways, it’s safe to say that it is virtually impossible for modern companies to attain success without the help of a dedicated team of marketing, SEO and copywriting professionals.
Today’s business environment runs on content and inbound marketing, and one of the only things that sets companies apart from one another in today’s overly crowded field is great content. Companies that can create great content that delivers true value and interest to readers are the ones that will snag sales, acquire new customers and achieve market dominance.
Looking forward, it seems like behind every great company will be a team of skilled copywriters who serve to make the magic happen. Because of this, it’s a great time to be a copywriter – and copywriter jobs are abundant. Even if you don’t make a pilgrimage to one of the 8 cities we mentioned above, it’s a safe bet that every company everywhere needs content.
From intriguing menus to highly technical eBooks and white pages, copywriters are the glue that holds modern companies together and the future, friends, looks bright.
Need to find a great copywriter of your own? Get a free content strategy call with us!
Much like a creepy haunted house, bad copy is riddled with cobwebs, scary verbal arachnids and misplaced modifiers that leap at you from behind cracked doors.
This Halloween season, the last thing you want to do is scare away your precious readers with bad copy.
Instead of entertaining this horror show, focus on creating spook-tacularly engaging content this Halloween season and watch your readers flock to your site…like witches to the cauldron.
15 Ways To Get Your Readers To Engage On Your Content Like Witches With A Cauldron
1) Add some cackle to your copy
Humor is important – especially if you’re writing about a topic others may perceive as “boring.” By infusing an approachable sense of humor throughout your content, you make it approachable, engaging and more relatable than content written from a stiff-upper-lip perspective. Need help on being funny – check out CopyBlogger’s “How to be 20% Funnier Than you Really are” post.
Keep in mind, though, that being funny doesn’t mean being fake. When you try too hard to be hilarious, your audience is going to catch on. Instead of straining yourself in the name of hilarity, try simply pointing out the industry truths that nobody acknowledges or approaching your own confusion or difficulties with a light-hearted air. This will help your readers breathe a sigh of relief and think “Phew! She gets it!”
2) Information and interest and valuable content, that’s what good copy is made of
Why do you write the things you do? Because you’re bored? To prove something to your college English professor? To engage your readers with valuable content? That last one is more like it. In order to be valuable, though, your copy also needs to be informational and interesting. To ensure your content is meeting the bar, spend some time putting yourself in your readers’ shoes. What do they want to know about? What are they struggling with? What would be helpful to them? Answering these questions in your copy can ensure that it stays interesting and engaging for years to come.
3) Stay on this planet
Nobody wants to wade through dense analogies and when your readers need a roadmap to understand what the heck it is you’re getting at; you can bet that you’re going to lose a good deal of them. That said, it’s important to continue being relatable, even when you’re discussing a dense topic. One of the best ways to do this is to provide relatable analogies for complex ideas. To do this, think about something that all of your readers can relate to. The rental market, for example, or going to the grocery store, and use these commonplace topics to illustrate a dense idea like web hosting or coding. This will help your readers understand the ideas you’re presenting them, even if the topic is intricate.
4) Offer breaks
It’s tough and intimidating to confront a page filled with tiny, single-spaced text and no images, paragraphs or links. Somewhere deep down, smart readers are still like little kids who love pictures, text-sparse pages and sensory detail. And as they should: content written in this fashion is much more interesting and useful than text-only pages that require a magnifying glass to dissect. Because of this, it’s wise to give your readers small breaks within your copy so that they don’t feel overwhelmed. Break text into small chunks, use headers and sub headers and consider serializing posts about dense topics into mini-series. This helps make your copy more approachable and keeps your readers interested.
To take this a step further, consider branching out into different types of content. If you only write blog posts, consider offering a podcast or two or creating an infographic. In addition to keeping your text engaging and interesting, this also serves to help you meet your fans on the platform of their choice and gives readers even more ways to interact with your copy.
5) Incorporate pictures into the brew
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a great infographic, video or meme is worth ten times that, at least. If your story is ho-hum – the ins and outs of a new platform, for example – consider resorting to visuals to tell it in a stylish and intriguing manner. Never worked with any of these content types before? No worries, it’s easier now than ever to create them on your own.
6) Interview like-minded guys and ghouls
By bringing industry experts into your site, you do several things: first of all, you create a larger following by bringing your guest’s following to your blog. Secondly, you pique your fans’ interest by showcasing new views and adding some variety to your posts. Plus, when you allow your site to become known as a melting pot of ideas, innovation and creativity, you draw people who want to engage with you, which is great for building a community of other writers while also expanding your reader base.
7) Give your fans a fright…in a good way!
Not a literal fright…again, your copy shouldn’t be scary. While we don’t want you driving your fans toward the hills with poorly constructed web copy, we do want you to use specific, hardcore statistics to shock your readers. Even the most engaging topic in the world risks feeling a little dry if readers don’t have anything to sink their teeth into. Take, for example, social media marketing. When I say “social media marketing is an effective way to draw more leads” you probably nod your head, eyes wide, and think “Thanks, Captain Obvious.” When I tell you, however, that LinkedIn generates new leads at a rate 277% higher than any other social media platform, your eyes probably pop open for a different reason. The latter is interesting, the former – not so much.
8) Survey your fans
Want to know what your fans would find interesting? Ask them! Brainstorm a series of topics with your team and ask your fans which of the batch they would prefer to hear more about. Alternately, ask them how they feel about every blog you write–and make sure you’ve addressed all their questions–by placing a comment at the end that says something like “What’s your question? Let me know in the comments!” Take Tim Ferriss’s blog, for example, which does just that.
9) Be candid
There is nothing more appealing in a writer than the willingness to be candid. Candor helps readers see the entire story – not just the shiny face most people would like to present. And while this may seem counterintuitive (“Why would I want to show people my failures?” you ask), it can actually help your readers bond to your brand and have a fuller understanding of the topic. Plus, if you’re selling the illusion that things go off seamlessly every time, you’re selling fake goods. Instead, bring a certain amount of candor into your writing. Make a big mistake lately? Things went a different direction than you thought they would? Talk about it! Fans will learn more from you and they’ll appreciate your willingness to be honest and transparent.
10) Do away with babble
You write differently than you speak, don’t you? It’s okay. We all do it. But the key to creating more interesting content is to eliminate babble and write the way you speak. Chances are, when readers come to your site, they do so hoping for genuine advice, not to feel like they’ve been run over by a semi loaded down with confusing phrases, wacky metaphors and long-winded explanations. For some sound advice on being a better writer, check out the Dilbert Blog’s piece titled “The day you Became a Better Writer.” There you have it – pare your sentences, eliminate the things that aren’t necessary and clarify, clarify, clarify – your readers will thank you!
11) Be helpful to avoid being boring
Wallpaper – it’s often thought of as one of the most boring substances in the world, right? Until, that is, someone needs to learn how to tear it off or put it up and they find a detailed blog post in which you’ve addressed those exact topics. When you set out to write this season, remember the wallpaper example – helpful things aren’t at risk of being boring. By writing content that solves a problem for your reader or helps him or her answer a question, you land solidly in the “This is so interesting!” category.
12) Keep up with the times
By keeping an eye on current events and trends in your industry, you can provide your readers with content that is not only useful but is also relevant to today’s climate. This is a big deal. In addition to ensuring that your content is interesting, keeping up-to-date on social media and news can help you harvest ideas for articles and interact effectively with other people in your industry.
13) Use Quora
Quora is a great reference for people who want to create engaging content. Quora is a user-generated question site that is literally filled to bursting with questions about everything from relationships to coding. Spend some time combing through the archives and you’ll come away ripe with content ideas and, more importantly, with a genuine understanding about the types of questions, issues and hurdles your target audience is struggling with. To make the most out of Quora, jump right in and ask and answer questions. This will serve to deepen your understanding and also to help establish you as an expert in your industry, which will do great things for your traffic and readership numbers.
14) Write directly to one person
When you sit down to write a blog post, who are you writing to? Sure, we know there’s an “Audience” out there but it’s a little hard to write well to 1,000 people, isn’t it? Instead, focus on writing to one person. One person from that vast, faceless “audience”, that’s it. Ideally, you should know who this person is, whether it’s a man or a woman, how old he or she is, where he or she lives, etc. etc. Creating a target persona is the best way to glean this information. By using words like “you” and “your,” you can pull your audience into the content with you and create posts that they will find genuinely interesting and applicable.
15) Be confident
In writing as in life, confidence pays. When you set out to create content your readers will love, one of the best things you can do for both yourself and for them is to be confident. Stand by your voice. Don’t say things like “in my opinion” or “possibly”. This is weak language that makes you seem doubtful and uncertain. Plus, the reader already knows it’s your opinion! Don’t stress about the people who (inevitably) won’t like your content and, most of all, keep creating! You’re the expert here and when you stand by your knowledge, your voice and your writing, you’ll be in a better position to create engaging content time and time again. What’s more, you’ll also be a source of inspiration to readers who may be trying to find their voice!
Conclusion
There you have it – our 15 best tips for spooky good content this Halloween. So go ahead, stop scaring your audience with bad web copy and, instead, give them something frightfully good to sink their teeth into!
For any kind of marketer, Twitter is a hugely powerful tool. This social media platform has more than 304 million monthly active users: it’s a way for information to travel faster and broader than almost any other platform on the web.
That said, within those 304 million users, who are the ones worth following as content marketing leaders? That have similar interests to us as marketers, and are leaders within the content marketing space? Let’s take a look!
60 Top Content Marketers You Should Follow (Today) On Twitter
My list of these top 60 content marketers is made up of the crème de la crème of the industry. These content marketers specialize in everything from Content Marketing 101, SEO and how content fits into that, all the way to advanced branding techniques. I follow these guys and have engaged with them regularly.
Good stuff will follow if you start following them today – you’ll probably learn a few things as you consistently see and read their content.
Here you go (all their names are linked to their Twitter handles), in no particular order:
1. Rand Fishkin. Rand Fishkin is an author, blogger and founder of SEO Giant Moz. People who follow his tweets can look forward to ample marketing, SEO, technology and startup information.
2. Jay Baer. Author of the New York Times bestselling book Youtility, Jay Baer is a global keynote speaker, and digital media entrepreneur as well as being president the strategy consulting firm @Convince.
3. Brian Clark.CEO of Rainmaker Digital, Brain Clark is also the curator of several successful content marketing websites.
4. David Burn.David Burn is a content strategist, writer and brand specialist who assists content marketers in learning to distribute content effectively and write pieces that will draw readers in.
5. Michael Brenner.Michael Brenner is a renowned speaker, author and blogger with @MKTGInsiders as well as being Head of Strategy @Newscred. Brenner is also the former VP of Content Marketing with @SAP.
6. Mitch Joel. President of Mirum, Mitch Joel is a marketer, speaker, author and self-proclaimed “media hacker.” Additionally, Joel is a blogger at Six Pixels of Separation. People that can’t get enough of Joel via Twitter can check out his new book Ctrl Alt Delete.
7. Brian Fanzo.I enjoy catching Brian on Periscope as well as watching all of his keynote speeches. He’s an energetic social media advocate, going by the title “Change Evangelist”, has a huge following, and is behind the iSocialFanz site. Follow him for great insights on how to run your social media.
8. Sue B. Zimmerman.She’s the “Instagram Expert”, a successful entrepreneur, speaker, and Instagram coach. This lady is the go-to expert when it comes to Instagram, and she’s hot on Periscope too.
9. Neil Patel.Neil Patel is a renowned entrepreneur and blogger who has started two analytics companies: @CrazyEgg and KISSmetrics. He’s a top followed content marketer (I read and enjoy all his stuff).
10. Pamela I Wilson. Pamela I. Wilson is the owner of Big Brand System. She also manages the CopyBlogger blog and produces educational products for the company.
11. Jeneba Jalloh Ghatt. Jeneba Jalloh Ghatt is an attorney-turned-content marketer who was named one of the Top 50 Rich Media Influencers to follow.
12. Paul Roetzer. Paul Roetzer is the Founder of The Marketing Performance Blueprint & The Marketing Agency Blueprint as well as being the Creator of Marketing Score (@MKTScore).
13. Aaron Orendorff. Aaron Orendorff’s mission is to “save the world from bad content.” He is also a contributor for publications like @EntMagazine, @FastCompany, @BusinessInsider, @SuccessMagazine, @CopyBlogger and @Unbounce.
14. Lee Odden. Lee Odden is the CEO of @TopRank, where he specializes in online marketing. He is also a B2B Content Marketing consultant and a social media and PR specialist.
15. Bob Geller. Bob Geller is a PR and content specialist as well as being the president of Fusion PR.
16. Joanna Wiebe. She is the genius copywriter and Internet marketer we all aspire to be. CEO of Copyhackers and top-notch wordsmith, Joanna has been featured in numerous places and sites.
17. Jeff Deutsch. Jeff Deutsch is the VP of Marketing for @ptengine. He also contributes content to @HubSpot.
18. Ryan Hanley.Ryan is the host of the popular Content Warfare podcast and author of the book by the same name.
19. Amanda Subler. Amanda Subler is a former journalist turned public relations, content marketing and video production specialist. She is also a PR and Media Manager for @CMIContent.
20. Tim Ash. Tim Ash is the CEO of Site Tuners and author of the bestselling book Landing Page Optimization.
21. Meryl K. Evans. Meryl K. Evans is a writer, editor, social media specialist and content marketer. Her tweets are aimed at helping content marketers adapt to web standards and boost site traffic.
22. Doug Kessler. Doug Kessler is a content marketing, B2B copywriting, social media and tech marketing specialist who focuses on helping content marketers learn to promote their brand and write better content.
23. Matt Heinz. Matt Heinz focuses on helping B2B companies produce more revenue via focused marketing strategies. He also helps companies produce more demand from customers and hone their sales process.
24. Bernie Borges. Bernie Borges is the host of The Social Business Engine Digital TV Show & Podcast as well as being the CEO of popular B2B digital marketing firm Find and Convert.
25. Neal Schaffer. Neal Schaffer is an author at @MaxYourSocial as well as being the founder of @msocialbusiness and @socialtoolssmmt.
26. Bryan Eisenberg. Bryan Eisenberg is the founder and CMO of Ideal Spot. He is also a keynote speaker and author.
27. Rebekah Radice. She’s an award-winning social media author, speaker and strategist. She works at the uber-cool PostPlanner and is behind #InfluencerChat, as well as a co-host for #ViralChat from Post Planner on Thursdays.
28. Jay Acunzo. Jay Acunzo works on content at @NextViewVC, and is the host and producer of the Traction podcast, where he discusses and features super cool entrepreneurial stories.
29. Lisa Petrilli. Named one of the Top 20 CMO’s by Forbes, Lisa Petrilli is dedicated to empowering women in positions of business & leadership in the world of digital communication.
30. Andrew Davis. The founder of Monumental Shift, Andrew Davis teaches marketers how to find and target a niche in order to grow business and produce great work.
31. Heidi Cohen, Heidi Cohen is a speaker, professor and journalist. He shares tweets on social media, content marketing and how to create successful small businesses.
32. Henneke Duistermaat. She calls herself someone who’s on a mission to stamp out “gobbledygook,” and for that alone we love her. CEO of Enchanting Marketing, she is uniquely known for her “doodles” on her blogs and books and has been featured in podcasts and more.
33. Kim Garst.She’s been called the First Lady of Periscope, and rightly so; she’s just a joy to watch. Kim is a Forbes Top 10 SM Influencer and author of the acclaimed Will the Real You Please Stand Up.
34. Ann Handley. Ann Handley is the Head of Content at Marketing Profs. She is also the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Everybody Writes.
35. Joe Pulizzi. Joe Pulizzi is a content expert at @CMIContent. He is also the author of Epic Content Marketing.
36. Kathryn Hawkins. Kathryn Hawkins works with @EucalyptMedia, a booming content marketing agency that focuses on teaching startups, universities, and B2B companies how to manage their clients and produce high-quality content.
37. Erika Heald. Erika Heald is a content marketer, social media coach, writer, editor and blogger. She is also the Head of Content with @HighwirePR.
38. John Jantsch. John Jantsch is a small business marketing consultant at Duct Tape Marketing.
39. Joe Lazauskas. Joe Lazuskas is Editor-in-Chief for @Contently. He was also named one of the Top 10 Content Marketing Influencers to follow.
40. Kari Lloyd. Kari Lloyd is a writer who specializes in content and SEO. She currently uses her content marketing skills to help @VonageBiz boom. She was also named one of the Top 50 Content Marketers to Follow on Twitter.
41. Seth Godin. Seth Godin is an author and blogger who is gaining notoriety for his unique approach to content creation.
42. Guillaume Decugis.He’s a highly successful entreprenuer, content marketing expert, and the founder of curation platform Scoop.it (over 2 million users). Bonus: He’s very approachable! I interviewed him here.
43. Ann Smarty. Ann Smarty is a brand manager with @NinjasMarketing, creator of MyBlogU, and an all-around smart content marketer.
44. Daniel Newman. Daniel Newman is the CEO of @Broadsuite. He often speaks on the topics of social, mobile, big data and cloud computing. Additionally, Newman is the host of #CloudTalk.
Twitter Chat Content Marketers
In addition to offering a wide variety of content marketing specialists, Twitter also provides a platform for Twitter Chats, interactive, web-based communities that offer a space for interviews, collaboration, communication and networking. These chats provide a great way for content marketers to interact with new contacts and build authority in their niche. Additionally, participating in a Twitter chat can be a great marketing tool, in and of itself.
For the best content marketing-focused Twitter chats available on the web today, check out this list:
45. Cathy McPhillips (Twitter Chat: #CMWorld) Cathy McPhillips is the Marketing Director for @cmicontent. Her Twitter chat, #CMWorld |is focused on discussing all things content marketing related.
46. Kelly Hungerford(Twitter Chat: #BizHeroes) Kelly Hungeroford is a Digital Marketer. Her Twitter chat #BizHeroes is focused on helping companies build better customer experiences and promote solid marketing communities.
47. Buffer(Twitter Chat: #BufferChat) We love Buffer… and we love their chat! Buffer is a social media app that lets you schedule posts out to all your platforms. Happening every Wednesday at 11 CST/12 EST, they talk about all things social/content/bookworm related – a wide variety.
48. Sheila Scarborough(Twitter Chat: #AWCConnect) Sheila Scarborough is a writer and speaker with @TourismCurrents and @PerceptiveTrav. Her Twitter chat, #AWCConnect is designed to enlighten and educate women in the professional communications field and takes place on the 1st Thursday of each month.
49. Mack Collier(Twitter Chat: #BlogChat) Mack Collier is dedicated to helping companies build their brand and create winning content. His Twitter chat, #Blogchat, discusses blogging topics for the professional, business and personal fields.
50. Brian Katz(Twitter Chat: #Mobilebiz) Brian Katz is a mobile marketing expert whose Twitter chat is dedicated to all things mobile. Great for content marketers who want to learn about how customers interact with their content on a mobile basis, #Mobilebiz discusses the ins and outs of a mobile world on a weekly basis.
51. Maria Elena Duron(Twitter Chat: #Brandchat) Maria Elena Duron is a Marketing Coach and Personal Branding Specialist. #Brandchat is ideal for content marketers who want to learn more about how to market their unique brand.
52. The Social CMO(Twitter Chat: #MMchat) The Social CMO CMO runs #MMchat, which stands for “marketer Monday” and offers conversations with executives from a whole host of different marketing and social media content firms.
53. Brian Honigman(Twitter Chat: #InsiderChat) Brian Honigman is a Content Marketing Consultant and CEO of @HonigmanMedia. #InsiderChat, which offers interviews with expert influencers to help people “win at marketing and business.”
54. Jenise Fryatt(Twitter Chat: #ContentChat) Jenise Fryatt is a Content Marketing Strategist for Smarter Shift as well as being the Moderator #ContentChat. #ContentChat offers a place for content marketers to discuss the latest developments and trends in the content marketing world. Additionally, the chat offers interviews with thought leaders and plenty of opportunities to network.
55. SEMRush (Twitter Chat: #SEMrushchat) SEMRush offers ways for content marketers to take their business to the next level. Twitter users who follow #SEMrushchat will get high-quality industry updates and tips as well as the chance to connect with top influencers.
56. CoScheduleApp(Twitter Chat: #CoChat) CoSchedule is a drag-and-drop marketing calendar designed to help content marketers create content distribution schedules. The company’s Twitter chat, #CoChat, helps people learn more about editorial strategies, content creation and distribution.
57. Pam Moore(Twitter Chat: #GetRealChat) Pam Moore was named a Forbes Top 10 Social Media Influencer. Her Twitter chat #GetRealChat focuses on how to boost business, maximize existing content and develop new content that readers will love.
58. Kelly Lieberman(Twitter Chat: #PinChat) Kelly Lieberman is a Pinterest expert and, considering the fact that a recent study proves that Pinterest drives more people to websites than LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+ combined, it’s possible that you might want to follow in her footsteps. Content marketers can tune in to #PinChat for tips on how to use Pinterest to drive engagement and distribute great content.
59. Marketing Cloud(Twitter Chat: #ETcafe) Marketing Cloud’s Twitter chat covers digital marketing and the latest trends and topics in the industry. Previous topics include how best to use social media and how to personalize content.
60. Express Writers & Julia McCoy(We’ll be launching a Twitter Chat soon!) Excuse the self-promotion, but it’s just; I’ve been most-read on many of the guest blogs I post at. And we post fun stuff at Express Writers! I specialize in content marketing, distribution and content creation, and share what I know, or stuff I read all over the web that I love. My team shares on similar topics. Follow us, and I hope you enjoy reading what we share!
The Case for Twitter: A Content Marketer’s Paradise
Twitter is a veritable paradise for the content marketer who wants to learn. In addition to offering a platform to access some of the world’s most talented content marketers, Twitter also provides near-instant communication with many industry specialists and chats areas, both of which can help content marketers step up their game and become truly competitive.
One of the most important purposes Twitter serves is to act as an ignition point between interested content marketers and industry experts. Because the social media platform provides the basis for rich and informative connections to take place, content marketers are truly unhindered in the depth to which they can take their Twitter-based connections.
Twitter also offers a formidable way for marketers to stay in the loop. Because Twitter is one of the main social media platforms where news goes to break, interested content marketers can ensure that they will always be on the cutting edge of the content marketing field. This, in turn, ensures access to the best and most up-to-date information as well as an effective and important way to disseminate information of your own.
Lastly, Twitter is a great place for young marketers to build authority and gain notoriety by re-tweeting powerful content and curating a Twitter persona to attract engagement and encourage interaction from other inhabitants of the Twitter-sphere.
The Power of a Twitter Chat
Have you heard how hot Twitter chats are? Many of the experts I’ve quoted above are in Twitter chats.SEMrush hosts #semrushchat, a busy Wednesday morning chat that has had thousands of tweets in it’s lifetime and guests like Hubspot. Sprout Social, hosts #SproutChat on Wednesdays. Ann Smarty hosts #MyBlogGuest, every Thursday at 11 am EST. (I’ve linked to more Twitter chats above.)
Well, I recently found out just how powerful a Twitter chat can be. The first week of September, I started really ramping up our Twitter chats, and one day we joined about 8, including #semrushchat, #bufferchat, #SMchat, #SproutChat, #SmallBizChat and more. That one day when we joined that many chats, we had a huge surge in website traffic. And I’m talking about 2,000 visitors. Incredible, right?
Right now, Express Writers is joining up to 5 Twitter chats each week. This is due to the fact that Twitter chats have the power to seriously enhance any business. Twitter chats are so effective, in fact, that 34% of marketers successfully generate leads using Twitter chats. This iSocial list does a great job of compiling the best Twitter chats for marketers to join and interested content aficionados can find plenty of good stuff in any one of these Twitter chats.
If you’re going to engage in Twitter chats, though, be sure that you’re being a polite Twitter citizen. Our Tweet Chat Etiquette Guide will help you learn the in’s and out’s of Tweet chats so that you can better promote your company and connect with knowledgeable people in your niche.
Yeah! Join a Twitter chat, and follow your industry leaders. It’ll be huge for you. I promise.
Finally.. Did I Miss A Content Marketer?
Let’s make this more than 60! I’d LOVE to know what marketer I missed – even if you want to add yourself to the list, feel free to comment below. I’ll edit this post if you’re (or your suggestion is) worthy!
