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Excerpted from article intro by KISSmetrics: "How do you successfully market your business on the world’s largest video site and #2 search engine? This guide will provide answers to those questions and much more. Whether you are a YouTube beginner or a seasoned pro, this post will serve as an in-depth guide for marketing on YouTube. YouTube is evolving from a “video-based site to a channels-based site where subscriptions rule.” With the new One Channel layout, your branding will work across all screens, you can turn non-subscribers into loyal fans, and you can show off more of your video content..." The article is very long, but it is analyzed with a lot of information. Read full article here: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/2013-youtube-marketing-guide/
Excerpted from article by Mark Walker and published on Content Marketing Institute:
"In this post we focus on executing your video content strategy, maximizing impact, measuring results, and ensuring that you create sustainable campaigns that add long-term value to your organization.
Step 1: Execution
The first thing you do is take your overall campaign and break it down into single, discrete messages, and hold yourself to one per video, where possible.
You then craft a storyboard around that message, with core components including:
- An attention-grabbing introduction/ initial characterization/ scene setting
- A setup/ problem/ challenge
- An action/ journey/ discovery
- A resolution/ punch line/ solution
- A call to action
With the core message laid out and a storyboard in place, it’s time to call in the professionals to help shape and refine them, and get you toward the finished product.
Step 2: Choose the right distribution channels
When considering how to get your video content out to the right audiences, you need to consider a few options. The obvious one is to place it on your own website. This should be done of course, but this alone is not enough.
A second option is YouTube, which is a great low-cost option to put your video content in front of potentially hundreds of millions of viewers. t seems like a no-brainer, but again, there are some limitations.
Therefore, you need to look for a more focused, business-centric distribution channel that gives you more control over how you capture leads, encourage direct sales, and represent your brand around the video.
Step 3: Encourage people to watch your videos
Once your video content has been sent out into the world through the right distribution channels, the next step is to encourage people to watch them, and this can be broken down into three distinct parts:
- Use SEO to help people find you on your chosen channels;
- Tell them why they should watch it;
- Offer social proof to overcome their skepticism.
Step 4: Make it spread virally
Once you’ve convinced someone to watch your video(s), the next stage is to encourage them to send it around their network, creating a viral effect that could considerably reduce your own marketing costs, and increase the number of views.
Step 5: Optimize for conversions
If you want the viewer to take an action other than sharing the video with their network, you need to optimize for conversions.
Here is how you can do that:
- Include a call to action...
- Keep it simple...
- Measure...
- Make it easy...
- Make it interactive...
Step 6: Maximize your video’s impact
Step 7: Analyze the results
Measuring success will ultimately come down to what your original purpose is, and what you decided the outcome should be, but here are four common examples:
- Sales and revenue...
- Leads...
- Market engagement...
- Brand awareness...
Step 8: Bring it all together, and repeat
Just like you can’t hope to create one product and reap the rewards forever, it’s the same for your video content campaigns. What was fresh last month won’t be next month, so you need to keep repeating the process, each time learning and getting better at it as you measure and refine your output.
My suggestion would be to aim for something new at least once every month, and base your campaigns on quarterly or four-monthly cycles..."
Each step is analyzed with more and detailed information. Read full, long and interesting article here:
http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/05/execute-video-content-strategy/
Excerpted from the article by HubSpot:
"We’ve all heard about how inbound marketers need to get more creative with their content format by incorporating visuals, audio, and images.
With all these content types, aren’t we forgetting something?
Oh right. SEO. Even with the new glasses, Google still can’t read and index images, video, and audio content without a little help. Luckily, we have everything you need to know about SEO for non-written content, from images, to video, to audio content.
- Best Practices for Image SEO:
1) Pick an image that's in a Google-supported format.
2) Name the file using keywords that describe the image.
3) Add in helpful alt text.
4) Provide context for the image within content.
5) Submit an image sitemap.
- Best Practices for Video SEO:
1) Save your video in a format that Google can crawl.
2) Name your video file strategically.
3) Embrace your keyword strategy in your title, tags, and video meta-description.
4) Try to host only one video per page.
5) Enable sharing with embedding and specific anchor text.
6) Create and submit a Video Sitemap to Google Webmaster.
7) Include a transcription.
- Best Practices for Audio Content SEO:
1) Make your podcast easily navigable from the iTunes SERP.
2) Optimize your content for strategic keywords.
3) Accrue subscribers.
4) Solicit reviews.
5) Factor in the age of your podcast.
6) Include a transcription.
- Best Practices for Non-Written SEO in Social Media:
With social networks becoming more visual, optimizing non-written content is more important than ever.
The goal for non-written SEO in social networks isn’t necessarily to be found by search engines, but to make sure you’re using non-written content to its full advantage.
Here are some resources for non-written SEO best practices for specific social networks..."
Each practice is analyzed with detailed information. Read full interesting article here:
http://blog.hubspot.com/search-engine-optimizing-non-written-marketing-content
Excerpted from article by SEOmoz:
" It's not that SEO is dead or that links are obsolete, or whatever all that crazy talk is that's been going around. It's that there's a way to integrate all the pieces into the big picture of building a better company by building an online community around it.
There are lots of benefits to building a community around your company, but if I had to choose a few, here are my top five:
1. It will help you weather Google’s algorithms;
2. It will add equity and value to your business;
3. It will help you have purpose;
4. It will help you stand out;
5. It will put the focus on goals, not tools.
Here is a super awesome infographic and the play-by-play breakdown of each step in the process.
Whether you’re building a community from scratch, or you’re working to grow an existing one, you can use this process to get your community rolling or optimize and leverage what you already have.
[Here are only main sections of article]:
[1] Define your business objectives.
So before you do that, think about this:
1) What makes your company unique?
2) Why do you care?
3) What do you want to build?
4) Who do you want to build it for?
[2] Elect your team.
Here’s a few tips for getting the right team in place so that you can start working toward achieving your goals:
1) Understand the roles;
2) Elect, don’t just assign;
3) Work together as one, big, happy family;
[3] Develop your strategy.
Think about strategy in three pieces: the what, the when, and the how.
1) The what: campaigns;
2) The when: execution calendar;
3) The how: ongoing efforts.
[4] Empower your team.
Do not skip this step.
I repeat. This step is important.
You can empower your team for success by addressing a few simple questions:
1) Why are we doing this?
2) How much work is involved?
3) When will we see results?
[5] Learn your industry.
One of your number one priorities in marketing your business online is providing the best possible customer experience. And you can’t do that if you’re not learning continuously.
[6] Create the value.
Ok, now we’re getting to the real good stuff. Value is what your community is built upon, whether that’s “tangible” stuff like blog posts, videos, resources, and tools; or an approach, perspective, or virtue that is the basis for common ground. Value that focuses on your customer and their experience is what attracts people to your business, your brand, and your community.
Foundational content is the more static stuff on your website...
The challenge with foundational content is to listen to your customer. Observe their needs, the things in life that they struggle with, and then communicate how your products or services address those things.
Community building content is the stuff that’s more dynamic in nature and usually lives on your blog. It’s the content that is less about what you do and more about what you know.
[7] Share the value.
It works like this:
80% of the time, share other people’s great stuff. But don’t just retweet it or hit the share button and place it on your feed. Read it. Internalize it. And then curate it. Tell people why it’s good. This helps you learn and also keeps the focus where it belongs: on the value that you're providing for the reader.
20% of the time, share your own stuff, but make it remarkable. This is the community building stuff that we just talked about.
[8] Build and foster growth.
There are lots of things that you can do to foster and grow your community. Here’s just a few:
1) Get in there;
2) Embrace offline efforts;
3) Acknowledge and show appreciation.
[9] Measure and analyze (and communicate).
Everything you do will include testing, feedback, measurement, analysis, adjustments, rinsing, and repeating. And then, you’ve got to communicate this data to your team (and/or your client).
Keep these final things in mind:
- This is about building a brand;
- Stay grounded in your goals;
- Don’t give up."
Read full, detailed and long article here:
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-to-build-an-online-community-for-your-business
Excerpted from article: "Let’s take a look at some of these recent additions and modifications, and what they mean for content marketers. - Pinterest launches new tools for businesses: You can convert your current personal account to a business one, or you can start a brand new account as a business. Pinterest gives business account owners some new buttons, badges and widgets for their websites and blogs, as well as giving them access to some visual marketing best practices and case studies. - Pinterest gets a new look: Pinterest is in the process of rolling out a brand new interface for users, and you can switch to the new look whenever you’re ready to dive in. But a word of warning — once you switch to the new look, it’s a permanent change — you can’t switch back to the old one. The new look gets you several new things: 1. Larger pins... 2. Better discovery... 3. No more “repin” button... 4. Settings are separated... Pinterest’s new look makes discovery easier for users — this means the images you pin need to be compelling and interesting, so they’ll stand out and entice people to click on them. - Website verification and Pinterest analytics: You can now verify ownership of your website within your Pinterest account. When your website is verified, other Pinterest users see a checkmark next to your domain in your Pinterest profile. Once you’ve verified your site and switched to the new look, you get access to a really great new Pinterest feature — their new Analytics module. Just scroll over your business name on the top right corner of any Pinterest screen, and select “Analytics” in the drop down menu. - Pinterest is still a great tool for marketers: Content curation is still the name of the game with Pinterest. People who do well on Pinterest (and develop a huge following) are good curators, which means they select the best content in their field, and share it on well-organized, attractive boards. Pinterest can be an amazing source of traffic and engagement for bloggers and content creators. So take this visual marketing tool out for a spin, and track your progress to see how it works for you..." Read full interesting article here: http://www.copyblogger.com/pinterest-2013/
Excerpted from article intro on Search Engine Watch: "If landing page optimization and conversion funnel testing are not on the list of items that you're currently focusing on, then you're not getting the most out of the visitors that are coming to your site. This is true for all types of websites, whether you want your visitors to make a purchase or donate so you can increase revenue, download a white paper so they can learn more about a specific topic, watch a video, spend more time engaging with the content on your site, etc. etc. During the Landing Page Optimization session at SES New York 2013, Justin Cutroni, Analytics Advocate at Google, discussed: - Why testing is important for your business. - How to identify opportunities for testing through data. - The different elements on a page you want to consider testing. - What types of tests are available. - Some tools you can use. - The basic elements of setting up a test." Each point is analyzed with many information. Read full article here: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2260335/Landing-Page-Optimization-How-to-Identify-Testing-Opportunities
Excerpted from article intro: "...doing research on huge datasets of hundreds of thousands and millions of rows to reach best practice conclusions. And those conclusions are great for experimentation with specific brands and audiences. But the real power comes when you begin analyzing your own, individual sets of data so you can find out what kinds of content, timing, and behaviors work best for your specific audience. Enter RetweetLab.com! Using this free tool, you can analyze any Twitter account -- including your account or a competitor's account -- to unearth the data you need to get more retweets. The tool works by allowing you to compare your current behaviors (the small graphs in the text) with the behaviors that are correlated with your account getting more retweets." Read full article how you can use this new, free tool to analyze and improve your own Twitter presence. http://blog.hubspot.com/hubspot-launches-free-tool-analyze-tweet-shareability Official website: http://retweetlab.com
From official website about this new, interesting and FREE tool: "BigWebStats provides detailed statistics about any website. Using our reliable stats of websites across the web, you can find out how your website is stacked up against your competitors. Here are key features about: - Website Traffic:
Discover traffic rank, estimations, visitors location and ranking insights for any website.
- Social Buzz:
The impact of social media is huge. Find out which are the best social networks spreading the buzz and referring traffic to your website.
- Search Engine Optimization:
Find out SEO insights about any website along with tips on how to improve website's on-page and off-page SEO.
- Domain Information:
Get detailed information about any domain including domain age, expiration, dns records, http headers data and WHOIS data.
- Similar Sites:
Discover up to 50 alternatives to a website. We collect and combine information about websites from many sources including the site itself.
- Technologies Used:
Find out what technologies are being used by any website."
Free to use.
Check out it: http://www.bigwebstats.com
"About" page: http://www.bigwebstats.com/pages/about/
Check out also review article by Search Engine Land:
http://searchengineland.com/new-tool-bigwebstats-aggregates-website-statistics-and-seo-data-154248
Excerpted from article on Search Engine Land: "Google Webmaster Tools can be a powerful ally. But, if you make a mistake or put this power in the wrong hands, it can mean trouble for your search engine optimization. In this post, I provide a basic SEO Guide to Webmaster Tools to help get you started if you aren’t taking full advantage of WMT yet. - Messages: Spam Warnings & Other Notifications
[Priority: Medium / High]
Many of us know that Google sends an email to Webmaster Tools if there is an issue with your site. If you don’t check Webmaster Tools messages frequently, you could miss an important piece of information. - Settings
[Priority: High]
In the settings tab, you can do three things: set geographic target, preferred domain and crawl rate. - Sitelinks
[Priority: Medium]
Every website owner wants good sitelinks. If you don’t know, sitelinks are the links that show up under your domain name in Google search results.
Sitelinks are determined based on how much authority the domain has for a particular query. In many cases, we build sitelinks to assist with online reputation management because it pushes negative information further down the page. - URL Parameters
[Priority: High]
Webmaster Tools has a setting that allows you to specify URL parameters and request that Google crawl certain URLs and not crawl others URLs. This is an incredibly powerful tool. If you make a mistake, it can mean that a large chunk of your site is removed from the index. - Change of Address
[Priority: Medium]
If you move, you need to tell someone correctly!
- Excessive Crawl Errors
[Priority: Medium]
If your website is not working and there are errors occurring on a regularly basis, this needs to be dealt with. In so many cases, I see sites with thousands of errors that are never addressed. Each error that affects usability can mean a potential lost customer.
- Crawl Stats
[Priority: Medium]
This report shows you pages crawled per day, kilobytes downloaded per day and time spent downloading a page. Incidentally, there is a new Google Analytics report that also shows time downloading a page. The Analytics report, in my opinion, is much cooler.
- Blocked URLs
[Priority: Medium / High]
In this report you can see the URLs that are blocked by robots.txt. In some cases, you will see areas of your site that are blocked which should not be. So, when you see this, unblock them!
- Fetch As Google
[Priority: High]
The fetch as Google tool allows you to retrieve a page of your website as if you were Google. This can be very helpful if you want to verify whether or not a page is accessible.
This tool also has the option to fetch pages as Googlebot-Mobile. This can be very helpful, particularly because of the elements that need to be put in place for the different forms of mobile optimization.
- Indexed Status
[Priority: Medium]
The index status report shows you how many URLs are indexed out of all of those that Google can find on the website. - Malware
[Priority: High]
When someone injects code into your forum or comments area, that is an issue. Google will see this and deem it malware. When someone then visits your website there is a chance a message will be delivered saying this site is not safe for users. For this very reason, it is important to check your malware report.
- Search Queries [Priority: Medium] ...
- Links To Your Site [Priority: Medium / High] ...
- Internal Links [Priority: Medium] ...
- Sitemaps [Priority: Medium / High] ...
- Removed URLs [Priority: Medium / High] ...
- HTML Improvements [Priority: Medium] ...
- Content Keywords [Priority: Medium] ...
Each point is analyzed with more information. Moreover there are also other points into guide.
Read full interesting article here:
http://searchengineland.com/the-seo-guide-to-getting-started-with-google-webmaster-tools-150345
Excerpted from this long and useful article by ProBlogger about Pinterest:
"I believe that blogs in any niche, not just DIY crafty blogs, are missing out on huge amounts of traffic and exposure if they are ignoring Pinterest. If you want to see your blog grow in leaps and bounds in 2013, you’ve got to pay attention to Pinterest.
I want to make sure that you fully understand the power of Pinterest, I’m going to start with the very basics before digging into the good stuff that will get you the blog success you’re looking for.
At least read through the basics and info about using Pinterest accounts so that you have a better understanding of what’s going on and how to apply that to your blog.
Here’s what I’m going to cover:
- What is Pinterest?
- Why care about Pinterest?
- Basics of using Pinterest.
- Strategies for using your Pinterest account.
- Get your pins maximum exposure.
- Get more traffic to your blog using Pinterest.
- Pinterest tools for bloggers."
Each section is analyzed with many details. Read full interesting article here:
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2013/03/05/heavyweight-help-the-complete-guide-to-getting-started-on-pinterest/
Excerpted from article intro:
"WordPress is not as SEO friendly as you'd think.
This guide will show you the necessary steps to optimize a WordPress website, focusing on modifications that apply to SEO.
Here are some quick links to jump to each step:
Step 1: Privacy settings during development;
Step 2: Permalink Settings - Search engine friendly URLs;
Step 3: Rename the Uncategorized category;
Step 4: Customized page titles & meta tags with the All in One SEO Pack plugin;
Step 5: Reduce 404 errors with the Category Pagination Fix plugin;
Step 6: Remove unnecessary links to images with the Remove Link URL plugin;
Step 7: Autogenerated HTML & XML Sitemaps;
Step 8: Google Analytics for WordPress;
Step 9: Responsive theme;
Step 10: Review & optimize your theme code;
Step 11: Optimizing your .htaccess file;
Step 12: Optimizing your robots.txt file."
Each step is analyzed with good information. Check out full article here:
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2251513/SEO-Friendly-WordPress-in-12-Steps
Excerpted from article:
"As a content marketer, you have probably heard the call for us all to become brand storytellers. While this sounds great in theory, the tricky part for many companies is determining how to develop these stories in the first place.
There are no hard-and-fast rules for developing your brand’s stories, but you can go back and look at classic storytelling and structure as a helpful map to guide you.
For example, the classic “hero’s journey” from Joseph Campbell’s. Later, in 1992, screenwriter and story consultant Christopher Vogler took Campbell’s structure, modernized it for today’s audiences, and reduced it to 12 stages in his book.
In Managing Content Marketing, Joe and I reduced Vogler’s stages to 10 steps for developing your content marketing brand journey. But before I jump in to explain those 10 steps, know that this is just a framework, not a “to-do” list or a template. The structure is meant to provide a platform to help you to develop a way to tell your story, or maybe to discover what’s missing from your existing story. It’s not a template for the story — this is an important distinction, because your story will be unique to you, your brand, and the experience you are trying to create.
Step 1: The conventional market;
Step 2: The challenge;
Step 3: The rejection of the challenge;
Step 4: Appointment of the sage;
Step 5: Crossing into the unfamiliar;
Step 6: Map the road of challenges;
Step 7: The final challenge;
Step 8: Looking back;
Step 9: The final renewal;
Step 10: The celebration..."
Read full article here:
http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/03/brand-storytelling-content-marketing-heros-journey/
Excerpted from article on HubSpot: "The need to create high-quality content, however, has put many marketers in a difficult situation: high-quality content takes a long time to create, and many just don't have the time to do it. While it'd be nice to say, "tough noogies, find the time," that's neither realistic nor helpful. So instead, I've opted to brainstorm a list of very quick things that don't add on much time to your content creation process, but will instantly elevate the quality of the content you create. 1) Fact Check:
While being accurate may not actively add anything to the quality of your content, inaccuracy in your content deals a mighty blow to content quality. Set yourself apart as the industry standard for unbiased, factually correct content -- the stuff your readers can always rely on. That kind of reputation is how thought leaders are born, and it elevates you next to your competitors.
2) Include Data That Backs Up Your Points:
When you're trying to convince your readers of something, data is a quick way to build instant credibility and convince your reader that -- to put it bluntly -- you know what the heck you're talking about.
3) Find Examples That Illustrate Your Points:
Just like supporting data points can help you strengthen your case, using examples -- whether you're coming up with hypothetical situations or, even better, using real ones -- can lend a lot of clarity to confusing concepts for your readers.
4) Use Visuals to Illustrate Points:
A picture's worth a thousand words.
5) Get Quotes From Thought Leaders and Subject Matter Experts:
No one is an expert in everything. But the content creator's dilemma is that they're often asked to create content around subjects they only know only a little bit about. That poses a problem for content quality, to be sure. But the best way to get around this -- and this will make your life so much easier when writing about things you don't fully understand -- is to reach out to a subject matter expert or thought leader in the space.
6) Remove Any Jargon:
High-quality content is easy to understand. Jargon, however, is decidedly not easy to understand. Remove any gobbledygook from your content before publishing it to ensure any of your readers can easily understand what you're talking about.
7) Do Some Formatting, and Incorporate High-Quality Visuals:
Add some bullet points, some numbers, some bold headers, and some images to make your content look much more palatable, and much more high-quality. Not only does formatting and images make your content higher in quality, but it also makes it more engaging and shareable, too.
8) Have Someone Edit and Proof:
A proofreader will look through your content and correct minor errors, like misspellings, misplaced commas, that sort of thing. This is important, sure, but it's no replacement for a good edit. An editor will actually work with you on the storyline, the phrasing, the order of your points, and help identify what's missing. If you want to instantly increase the quality of your content, hire a freelance editor..."
Read full original article here:
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34104/8-Ways-to-Instantly-Improve-the-Quality-of-Your-Marketing-Content.aspx
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Excerpted from article on SEOmoz:
"One of the really big advantages small business owners have over the titans of industry is that you can get much more personal with your target audience than they can. You have a face and a voice. You can be human with your audience. And, as it turns out, one of the best ways to do that is by talking to your customers.
Here are some of my favorite content marketing tips from experts around the web.
1. Don't build on rented land:
Publish your best content on web properties that you personally own (i.e., your own self-hosted website). Social media has hit the business world like a freight train, and there is great value in spreading your message far and wide via these cheap media channels. The point of all that chatter, though, is to get all those eyeballs back to your own site.
2. Help, not hype, your customer:
The goal of content marketing is to allow the potential customer to develop a trusting relationship with you. One of the best ways to develop that trust is by answering customer questions and offering information in a clear, honest, and transparent way.
Trust is not built by pushing sales. Trust is built by selflessly helping people looking for help.
3. Write what people want to read, not what you want to write:
Repeat after me: It's ALWAYS about them, never about you. This is content marketing. It's not sales, and it's not advertising. If you want to do sales and advertising, that's perfectly fine, but just don't do it in your content marketing. Write for the reader, always.
4. Reference industry influencers:
Even if you are the undisputed thought leader in your specific niche or areas of expertise, it doesn't mean that you are the only person with something valuable to add to the conversation. In fact, you make yourself seem more trustworthy and confident when you reference other players in the marketplace.
5. Create content for all types of readers:
Branch out from your normal niche and target readers in a wider variety of related niche. This doesn't mean that you go way off on a huge tangent from your core demographics, but people do have other interests.
6. There is more to content than links:
A link from a reputable site is valuable because of the number of people that will click on it and come learn more about you and your company. And it just so happens that the search engines will love it for that exact reason too; win-win.
7. Don't forget the "marketing" in content marketing:
n general, if you're being helpful, people don't really care if your writing is a little rough around the edges. If you're getting people the information and answers that they're looking for, they will very easily forgive non-perfect writing. In fact, very often it can make you seem even more human to them.
8. It's all about relationships:
The bottom line with social is this: you have to be an active member of the team. It's not enough to just stop in and share a few things here and there, a day or two before you're going to need those same people to share your stuff for you. You have to be active. You have to be part of the team; a member of the community. It's not a wishy-washy kind of thing. It's a commitment; a commitment to your community. Your network depends on you to be there for them, just like they are there for you.
9. Think like a publisher:
Use your site to engage, entertain, and inform. That's all you really have to do. The hardest part is remembering to do that every time you sit down to write another piece of content. One of the quickest/easiest ways to do that is to write content that answers common customer questions. That sounds simplistic, but it's incredibly useful and engaging for people seeking answers.
10. Use other sites to find out what kind of content people want:
Read other good blogs on your topic and then just write similar articles with your own opinions and insights on the same topic, and try to make it better. I'm not suggesting that you copy anything from them obviously; just that you get inspired from them..."
Each tip is analyzed with more and detailed information. Read full original article here:
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/content-isnt-king-trust-is-king
Excerpted from article by Heidi Cohen published on Social Media Examiner:
"Here are seven steps for crafting calls to action to get your social community to do what you’d like them to and transform your social media marketing to get the results you want.
#1: Determine What You Want Prospects to Do:
Your call to action should encourage readers to engage with you further.
Make readers an offer they want. You can consider offering white paper downloads, ebooks, ongoing emails, discount coupons and/or free consultations.
#2: Create a Great Hook:
You’ll need to answer the question, “What’s in it for me?” This is what your prospects want to know.
And your request must make sense to them. This means not asking prospects to purchase if they’re still in an information-gathering mode.
#3: Motivate Prospects to Act:
Remember, you want to give your readers a reason to act.
Provide sense of urgency. Make people an offer they can’t refuse. Give them a one-time offer to encourage a response. Realize, however, they may only buy when you provide coupons going forward.
#4: Optimize Your Call to Action:
Like other aspects of your content, formatting matters! Here are some points to consider.
- Use a contextually relevant presentation;
- Make your call to action stand out visually;
- Qualify your offer;
- Limit selection choices;
- Place calls to action in multiple locations on your pages;
- Keep calls to action above the fold;
- Put call-to-action options in order of importance;
- Include social sharing.
#5: Maintain a Consistent Presentation on Landing Pages:
This is one of the biggest reasons calls to action don’t work. Send prospects to the appropriate step in the purchase process.
Make sure you use the same wording and graphics. The goal is to show continuity. Don’t let the reader think that you’ve sent them to the wrong place or they’ll leave.
#6: Test to Maximize Results:
Every element of your call to action can be tested. When testing, only modify one factor at a time or you won’t know what caused the change.
#7: Measure Results:
How can you measure your results? You want to track the impact of your social media calls to action back to your original objectives. Here are some metrics to track:
- Impressions;
- Click-throughs;
- Click-through rate;
- Completions;
- Completion rate..."
Each step is analyzed with detailed information. Read full article here:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-improve-your-social-media-calls-to-action/
Excerpted from article intro on Search Engine Watch: "Since March 26, 2009, I have been using Reader's "star" functionality to highlight SEO resources I feel will be useful to me again at some point in the future, or warrant sharing with my team. The result of this obsessive reading and starring of RSS feeds was an easily-accessible, hand-curated database of great articles covering almost any conceivable SEO topic stretching back 4 years. Google allowed me to get a backup of them as a .json file. The bad news was that no RSS reader (to my knowledge) had the functionality to import them alongside the feeds I subscribe to. End result: I was faced with the task of cleaning and formatting the data in the .json file if I wanted to still be able to access my 4 year-old collection of useful blog posts and news items. I soon realized that although this task was onerous, it would provide me with a great opportunity to: 1. Build a great resource for other SEO professionals 2. Understand how my perception of "a great SEO article" had changed since 2009 3. Rate the major SEO publications based on whose feed had received the most stars..." Read full original article here: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2263245/800-Best-SEO-Posts-of-the-Last-4-Years Download the full collection of just under 800 fantastic SEO resources: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/59063896/Rich_Kirk_Top_SEO_Articles_Since_2009.xlsx
Here are 9 tips you need to create a thriving Facebook community and improve your Facebook marketing.
Excerpted from article:
" #1: Know Your Voice.
Branding is important on social media. Your company should have a “voice” that matches your brand and your company philosophy.
If you are a one-person operation, these decisions may be easy. But if you have multiple employees and possibly multiple people posting to the Facebook Page, you want to have the “voice of the company” communicated clearly to the people who will be managing your Facebook Page.
#2: Have Access to Visuals.
Even if your business isn’t visual, make a plan for how you will add images to your posts. You can use things like:
- A screenshot of something you’re demonstrating
- An interesting photo with a quote about your niche
- An infographic with statistics about your niche
- Behind-the-scenes photos from your company events.
#3: Know the Rules.
As a community manager, make sure you know Facebook’s policies. Pages can be shut down without warning for violating these policies. Usually it’s very difficult to get your Page restored.
#4: Know the Industry.
If you are managing a Page for someone else, you need to know the industry so you can speak the lingo.
#5: Recognize Members.
A community manager needs to recognize contributors and members and get to know them. If you have a physical location, you can take pictures of your community members and recognize them on your Facebook Page.
#6: Answer Questions Quickly.
Promptly respond to posts or questions on your Page to create strong bonds with your community. Even if you don’t know the answer, let them know that you will get back to them. Or point them to a useful resource is another good option.
#7: Stay on Top of Changes.
Facebook changes a lot! There are changes to their official policies and in how things are working at any given moment. Make sure you keep track of Facebook’s official changes by following the Newsroom and the Facebook Marketing Page.
#8: Respond Calmly to Negative Posts.
If you get some angry posts for whatever reason on your Page, think before you fire off an angry response. Respond quickly (even if it’s to say we’ll get back to you), but don’t respond in the heat of the moment when you might feel like “telling them off.”
#9: Have Fun.
Find some ways to have fun with your community. Have a Facebook “live Q&A chat” time, do a Livestream or even (gasp) go over to a Google+ Hangout..."
Read full original article here:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/9-ways-to-become-a-better-facebook-community-manager/
Excerpted from article by HubSpot: "Landing pages are a fundamental -- and undeniable -- part of a sucessful inbound marketing strategy. They are the hub of your lead generation efforts, and that's why every campaign you run and offer you create should be tied to a custom landing page -- as opposed to an ambigious homepage where visitors have to guess what to do next. So to help you build good looking and high-converting landing pages, we wanted to share some design-related best practices.
1) Get to the point.
We all know people have short attention spans -- so why aren’t we considering that in landing page creation?
So when designing your landing pages, get straight to the point. People came to the page for a reason, so make sure you address that reason clearly and succinctly by highlighting the value of what you're offering and how it addresses their needs, interests, or problems.
2) Use contrasting colors.
Keep in mind that you always want your main call-to-action (CTA) to really POP off your landing page. So when you're encouraging visitors to fill out a form and click on that 'submit' button, make sure it's easy for visitors to see where they should complete that action. That's why using complementary and contrasting colors is a great way to call a visitor's attention to exactly where you want it.
3) Stamp on a logo.
Keep your brand top of mind when they're downloading your content and offers by making sure the viewer knows exactly where they are. All your landing pages should have your logo placed strategically on the page.
4) Avoid visual clutter.
While displaying extravagant visuals on your landing pages may sound like a fabulous idea, oftentimes it distracts the reader from the main point of the landing page, creation more friction on the landing page instead of supporing conversion.
5) Never underestimate formatting.
Formatting is probably the easiest design best practice to follow when crafting good-looking landing pages. It's also one that can go a really long way with little effort. Clearly laying out your headlines, images, copy, form, etc. can help you highlight the value of your offer and tee up conversion by creating a visual-friendly user experience that guides visitors to complete the conversion.
6) Add social proof.
This adds third-party credibility to your content and offers and can help boost conversions. Do you have any case studies or testimonials you can pull quotes from? Furthermore, try searching through social networks like Twitter, Facebook -- or another social platform of your choice! Consider embedding tweets from users who have downloaded your content and said nice things about it, or asking if you can quote someone who left a nice message on your Facebook page.
7) Be consistent.
A sense of consistency can help the end user know how to navigate your pages over time, eliminating the friction caused by having to get the lay of the land each time, and resulting in drop offs in conversion rates.
Each tip is analyzed with more information and examples. Read full original article and download 79 free landing page templates here:
http://blog.hubspot.com/7-landing-page-design-tips
Excerpted from article by Kristi Hines, author of Kikolani, posted on Search Engine Journal: "Here are some tools I use on a regular basis that you may not have in your toolkit just yet. The best part – they’re all perfect for SEO’s and businesses with smaller budgets. 1) iSpionage: it is known for their PPC research tools, but they also have powerful keyword research features as well. When you enter a keyword into their search, you will first see the top 10 PPC competitors along with a graph showing the advertising trend for the keyword. After a block of related keywords is one of my favorite parts: a glimpse of the top-performing, longest-running ads in Google related to your keyword. What’s nice about this is you can see how other websites are using the keyword. 2) cognitiveSEO: it offers a visual approach to learning about your competitor’s backlink profile that includes charts for deep link ratios, dofollow to nofollow, website types, website categories, link trustworthiness, and much more. 3) Broken Link Finder: this tool allows paid members to search for a keyword or keyword phrase and get potential broken link opportunities. 4) Whitespark: If you are working with a local website, then this tool is a must have resource. This citation finder will go out and find local search opportunities based on your website’s keywords and location. You will get to see the domain, direct submit link, type of website, Majestic SEO AC Rank, Domain Authority, and date discovered. The results are based off of backlinks / citations that other local competitors have gained. 5) Link Detox: If you think your website has been hit with a Google penalty based on you links, then the Link Detox report from Link Research Tools is a must have. You simply enter your domain or upload your links from Google Webmaster Tools. It will then mark your links as healthy, suspicious, and toxic. This will give you a better idea of which links to remove first..." Each tool is analyzed with more information. Read full article here: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/5-seo-tools-you-might-not-have-yet/
Excerpted from article by Search Engine Watch: "Looking for a nice selection of SEO power tools that will help diagnose technical issues and optimize your website, or perhaps gain insight on what your competition is doing? Below are 13 SEO tools (many of them free) to do just that. Even if you have little to no budget, you will still able to get the job done with this selection of search marketing power tools. 1. Your Eyes
2. IIS SEO Toolkit
3. Screaming Frog
4. Majestic SEO
5. Adobe Site Catalyst
6. Google Analytics
7. SEMrush
8. Google Webmaster Tools
9. Bing Webmaster Tools
10. SEO Tool Set
11. Google Trends
12. HitWise
13. You Get Signal."
Each tool is analyzed with more information and external links.
Read full article here:
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2199683/13-Essential-SEO-Power-Tools
Excerpted from article on HubSpot:
"Marketing Pilgrim published a great blog post by Michael Lieberman called "10 Ways Inbound Marketing Drives Results This Month."
The best inbound marketers do, indeed, play a good long game, but you can use inbound marketing tactics and strategies to move the needle immediately, too. So to add to Lieberman's already stellar list, here are ten more ways you can borrow from inbound marketing to see immediate positive changes in your marketing.
Michael Lieberman's 10 Ways for Inbound Marketing to Drive Results This Month [http://bit.ly/10cQwj9 ]
To catch you up to speed, here's an abbreviated version of Lieberman's recommendations.
- Make sure your website has the right messaging to help visitors pass the blink test.
- Add visual calls-to-action to your site.
- Add offers to your website that appeal to visitors and leads in all stages of the funnel.
- Start blogging, and strive for a frequency of three to four times a week.
- Share your blog content with social media followers.
- Share educational content with relevant LinkedIn Groups.
- Create dedicated, conversion-optimized landing pages.
- Nurture leads with campaigns that bring them further down the funnel.
- Share educational content on sites your target audience frequents.
- Track and test all of your activities so you can get a more accurate gauge of what's working.
10 More Ways Inbound Marketing Drives Results This Month (by Hubspot)
1) A/B Test Elements of Your Email Marketing Campaigns;
2) Implement a List Re-Engagement Campaign;
3) Identify a Long-Tail Keyword Phrase With High Search Volume;
4) Newsjack;
5) Invest in a Social Media Ad Campaign;
6) Build a Free Tool;
7) Respond to HARO;
8) Start Using Tracking Tokens;
9) Create a Blog Subscription Landing Page;
10) Create Social Media Visual Content."
Each way mentioned by Hubspot is analyzed with more information. Read full article here: http://blog.hubspot.com/get-instant-results-with-inbound-marketing
In addition, check out also full article on Marketing Pilgrims: http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2013/03/10-ways-inbound-marketing-drives-results-this-month.html
Excerpted from article by Copyblogger: "One job you have as a content marketer is to think of your reader as a tuning fork. You need to publish great content in order to create resonance with that reader — to get that person to emit a particular tone that gets them to know, like, and trust you. Let’s look at some tips on resonance, and how to build harmony with your readers. Seth Godin is a master at creating that “in tune” feeling with his readers. His posts makes his readers virtually vibrate with harmony — they strike a chord. As readers, we believe what Seth is saying is correct, and that makes us want to read more and buy his products. Don’t assume that a post has to be about a positive topic in order to create harmony. You don’t need to talk about unicorns and rainbows in every piece that you write. Sometimes you can get people to agree with you by giving a piece of difficult-to-hear (but crucially important) advice. Try being: - Specific — Each article should be simple and direct, no matter what length it is. - Useful — Useful stuff is memorable, and it resonates with your audience. - Brave — Don’t be afraid to say the things no one else is saying. if you’re out in front of the rest of the pack, you could be talking about something everyone else is afraid to talk about. - Emotional — Good content gets us worked up. It stirs up emotion, whether that feeling is wonder, awe, happiness, sadness or anger. Maria Popova, Chris Brogan, and Neil Patel are writers who are masters at creating resonance and harmony with their readers. Whether you’re aware of it or not, your favorite bloggers are creating harmony with you every time they write a great post. It’s one of the main reasons you love them. They are listening to your needs and desires, and they are agile." Read full original article here: http://www.copyblogger.com/resonant-content-marketing/
Excerpted from article:
"If you don’t have a good landing page, it’s like going fishing without a net: you might land a big one on your hook, but you won’t be able to drag it into the boat.
You don’t want people to just visit your page. You want them to take action once they are there. So make it as easy and compelling as possible for them by including these elements found in a landing page that CONVERTS:
C = Clear Call to Action
O = Offer
N = Narrow Focus
V = VIA: Very Important Attributes
E = Effective Headline
R = Resolution-Savvy Layout
T = Tidy Visuals
S = Social Proof
CLEAR CALL TO ACTION:
Whatever it is you’ve decided will move people further along your conversion funnel. That’s what you should be asking them, clearly and temptingly, to do. Don’t distract them with lots of other requests. The best pages accentuate only one CTA.
OFFER:
An offer is anything you give your visitors in exchange for getting them to do what you want. This can mean offers in the traditional sense of coupons or discounts, but it also can mean a free trial, a free version of the product, a whitepaper, or a matching gift.
NARROW FOCUS:
Research has shown that the more choices you offer people, the longer they take to make a decision. So the clearer and simpler you make your page, the more likely you are to get someone to take the action you want.
- Do you really need that navigation bar?
- Do you really need to talk about your company philosophy?
- Do you really need to collect all that information?
VIA: VERY IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTES:
We’ve all heard stories of companies that reserved a catchy URL, put up zero information about what the site was for, and harvested 1 million email addresses before they even launched.
You should assume that’s not going to happen to your company.
Instead, you’re going to have to give visitors some good reasons they should do what you want. Those reasons are the VIA: Very Important Attributes.
EFFECTIVE HEADLINE:
People coming to your site are going to decide in a split second if they want to go back to their game of “Words with Friends” or stay and see what you are all about. A key way to keep them is to tell them in plain language what your site is all about.
RESOLUTION-SAVVY LAYOUT:
Do you know that there are people out there still surfing the web on 800 x 600 monitors?
Keep the most essential parts of your message – logo, headline, call to action, a supporting visual – in the center top of the screen, with supporting messaging lower down on the page.
TIDY VISUALS:
As with the headline, distracting elements can work when you’re trying to get attention. But when people are on your site, you don’t want to sidetrack them with a bunch of visual junk.
SOCIAL PROOF:
As social creatures, humans tend to place greater value on things that other people have already approved. That is why most sites will tend to display evidence of such social validation."
In the original article there are more information about: "Considerations for strategy", "Considerations for design", "The cautionary tale", "Doing it right" and some examples. Check out full interesting article here:
http://blog.kissmetrics.com/c-o-n-v-e-r-t-s/
Excerpted from article:
"According to the Harvard Business School, increasing customer retention rates by 5 percent increases profits by 25 percent to 95 percent.
In order to help you increase your own retention rates, we’ve compiled a list of our 15 favorite tips (backed by academic research and case studies) on increasing customer loyalty, divided into five easy-to-browse sections.
- Communication
It’s hard to create loyal customers if they aren’t paying attention to you. Given this fact, below are our favorite bits of research on clear communication with customers.
1. Stand for something;
2. Utilize positive social proof;
3. Invoke the inner ego;
- Selling
If customers don’t enjoy your selling process, they’ll likely never do business with you again. Thus, selling to customers the “correct” way is an integral part of creating customer loyalty. Below are a few studies to help you improve the process.
4. Use the words they love to hear;
5. Reduce pain points and friction;
- Reciprocity
Reciprocity is the social construct that makes the world go ’round… or in your case, keeps your customers coming back. The premise is simple: Go above and beyond for customers and get rewarded with repeat business. The execution, however, can be trickier, so below is a compilation of interesting research on how to improve reciprocity with your customers.
6. Realize that budget is negligible;
7. Utilize surprise reciprocity;
8. Make it personal;
- Support
This one is a no-brainer: You can’t create a tribe of loyal customers without an exceptional customer service experience that keeps them coming back. In this section, we’re going to bust a few customer service myths wide open, as well as tackle some important things you need to keep in mind when offering support online.
9. Speed is secondary to quality;
10. Customers enjoy businesses who know them;
11. Choose the right platform;
12. Make it a communal effort;
- Loyalty Programs
The key to creating customer loyalty programs that work is to know why customers use them and what gets customers to keep using them. Below you’ll find consumer research that answers these questions.
13. Get people started;
14. Get ideal customers to be VIPs;
15. Label your customers..."
Each tip is analyzed with more information. Read full article here:
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-marketing/15-important-tips-to-help-you-keep-your-customers/
Excerpted from article: "A page full of drivel is no better than a gleaming white screen. When you're writing content as frequently as most inbound marketers do, you're bound to stumble over a few duds. You know, where the topics you're publishing just don't seem to be hitting the mark with your audience. So here are a few techniques we've picked up over the year for finding the right topics for your audience so you can publish the kind of stuff people will love to read.
- Find Topics That Matter to Your Audience
Here are the venues you could be using to do that.
1) Keyword Research:
Start reviewing keywords that readers have entered to find you -- and heck, keywords they've entered for which you're not getting found -- and seeing if there's a topic you could write around it.
2) Sales/Support:
Your customer service and sales staff -- or anyone interacting with leads and customers on a daily basis -- often have the closest view into the challenges your customers face and the questions your prospects have. Create a forum for them to send blogging and content ideas to you based on feedback from their customer interactions.
3) Internet Forums:
If your staff and keyword research doesn't give you enough to work with, take a look at external forums and sites for some relevant topic ideas. Quora is one of the best sites to check out, particularly for B2B marketers.
4) Historical Data:
You can also rely on your historical data to determine which content topics perform best for you.
5) Expertise:
Finally, the best content provides an opportunity for you to learn something new, and teach other people about it.
All this being said, you don't always have to just on the new big thing to be an expert. You have tons of knowledge on which you can draw to create excellent content around really helpful topics. Think about what your audience needs to learn how to do, and that you can teach them.
- Position Yourself to Address Content Topics
So you've found a good topic. That's half the battle. Now you've got to figure out how best to write about it. Considering the steps below will help you to further ground your topic and create content that's worth reading and sharing.
1) Determine how advanced your response should be.
2) Find data.
3) Conduct interviews.
4) Run an experiment.
5) Choose the right format.
Read full interesting article here:
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34160/How-to-Identify-Content-Topics-That-Hit-Home-With-Your-Readers.aspx
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21 Business blogging tips worth bookmarking for a monthly review!