blogging

Basic Tips For Blog SEO

/ nancyrubin

By now, most businesses will know the advantages associated with running a blog. It helps to get new leads, get a positive ROI, gain more links, etc.

However, it is all well and good having a blog, but you need to encourage people through effective SEO techniques to visit it. Some of the techniques can be found below.

  • Use breadcrumbs – Using breadcrumbs has a couple of advantages. Firstly, it effectively allows search engines to understand the structure of your blog by using clickable paths. Secondly, it helps to improve the user experience of your blog, increasing the time spent on a site and reducing bounce rate.

    Visually appealing posts – Adding tagged images to your post can seem pretty time consuming but it will definitely be worth it in the long run. It is easily achievable and can make your content rank a lot better. Additionally, an article by SEO Tribunal suggests that you use subheadings to break up your content, and use graphics and screenshots to better explain complicated terms. Not only will this help in SEO terms but it will also make your blog more visually appealing and encourage people to stop and read it.

  • Internal linking – This is one of the most important search engine ranking factors. A lot of blogs seem to focus purely on external links and forget about the internal ones, which is completely mistaken. When linking internally, you should use descriptive anchor texts and moderate the number of links that you use on one page.

  • SEO Plugins – Installing some basic SEO plugins will help give you a boost when working on your site’s SEO. A couple of examples include the Yoast SEO plugin that allows you to review each post based on a number of factors, and the WP Smush.it plugin which will compress images to improve the site’s speed.

Learn about some other cool ways to increase your rankings and improve your SEO strategies by checking out the informative infographic below.

72 Stats To Understand SEO in 2018

 

Consider These Digital Marketing Tips for Online Success

/ nancyrubin / 1 Comment

Research has shown that over 70% of Americans buy products online in a period of one month. With Internet you can check out various products and services online and decide what is best for you even though you will buy the products at a physical shop near your home. If you are a business person, you have to strategically plan how to market your products and services on the digital platform. This has proven to be a challenge for some brands, but that does not mean there is no way to make it work for you and your business. Here are some tips that will ensure your online venture is successful.

Establish your website blog

A blog helps you to connect with your target audience and you can post your blogs across social media networks in order to attract attention to your website. You can make use of certain keywords to help advance your SEO hence more people will be in a position to click your site because it moves higher in the Google search results. When you write a blog post, you are able to connect with other bloggers and thus gain more brilliant ideas on digital marketing. On the website, displaying USPs and explaining how it functions can convert your website visitors into customers because they are able to know how your business brochures and the products can reach them.

Collaborate with same customer-based businesses

Small business entrepreneurs should partner with similar customer-based businesses but ensure that those you partner with are not your competitors. Partner up with another business that is complementary to yours rather than a competitor who might steal your clients. For example, a mason and an electrician. Write about the value given to customers by your partners and give reasons why you support those values. Make a point of sharing this with various companies and ask them to enlighten their audience on this information. Consider establishing a deal with your partners on customer referral and when customers visit your partners businesses, they learn about your business even if it is by word of mouth. By doing this, both of the businesses will be at an advantage.

Sell your business on social media

It is important to share your values, ideas on improving your business, ways your customers can acquire your products on social media because so many people are on social media and this creates a great platform for your marketing. Some of the social media platforms that you should target include; Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. On Instagram for example, consider using Instagram stories or hashtags to promote your products. The stories appear on the Instagram home page hence making it easier for your audience to spot them. Twitter and Facebook live chats will enable you to engage with your targeted audience. Through these chats you can be in a position to understand your customers and get their opinion on your products moreover you will be able to grow your business.

Pay attention to your local customers

Let us understand this with an example. If you are a real estate entrepreneur, consider offering home renovation finance to your customers. They are more likely to accept your services if you fulfill their more than one needs. See how other businesses are doing in your local market and ensure that you give the best services or products to your local customers. You can also give back to the local community by sponsoring sports teams etc. Those that benefit will mention you when they are discussing issues with their friends hence more customers are channeled to you.

Come up with a logo

In digital marketing, a logo is fundamental because it usually passes crucial information to your target audience. Make sure your logo is eye catching with proper graphics and a few words on both print and digital. Your logo should essentially explain what your business entails. It can pass a message of your values, your brand promises, your mission and your professionalism. Your logo talks a lot about your business so you should pay special attention to making one that is worth it. Work with a skilled graphic designer to come up with a logo that best suits your business.

Obtain your customers Email Addresses

Almost all adults in the United States of America have Email Addresses and this tells you that you can reach a large number of them using Email. This will enable you to pass all necessary information to your customers with no hitches whatsoever and create a connection between you and your customers. All that you will require is Internet to convey your important messages including changes in your services and products, bonuses or offers and your general business developments. On your website develop a form where your customers can fill in their names and email addresses.

Use information graphics as well as animated videos

Make your service page interactive and showcase how your product is beneficial. For instance, if you check Ford’s newly launched SUV, it has a 360-degree interactive graphics tour. These graphics not only attracts viewers to spend more time on your service page but also increases your conversion rate.

Having an informative funny animated video can also boost your business. Take time to create interesting videos for your audience. People will share your videos on social media and this will reach a lot of people. The videos attract more viewers and this may help simplify a complex business. For kids stuff for example you should focus on advertising your business using animated videos. All kids are lovers of animations.

Provide relevant information to other bloggers

Always be keen to provide useful information to any kind of visitors on your site. If influencers and journalists log into your site and they are able to get meaningful information, then it is to your advantage because they may mention you in their blogs too. This way you gain popularity among so many people.

Digital marketing is very important for any business to grow and gain trust from its customers. Pay proper attention to providing quality information on the Internet in order to benefit from digital marketing. Digital marketing is cheaper compared to other forms of marketing because it doesn’t require a lot of resources. All you need is a computer and Internet! All business marketers should opt to go digital on their marketing techniques in order to achieve the best out of the business.

On the Road Again: 4 Adventurous Career Paths That Don’t Require a Degree

/ nancyrubin

If you are looking for a career that provides you with a lot of adventure, there are many options out there. While some may require that you have a higher level of education, there are actually many that do not require you to have a college degree at all. These jobs can provide you with a significant amount of adventure and can lead to a very rewarding career.

Travel Industry

One of the best industries that you can work in if you are looking to get a job that provides you with more adventure is the travel industry. There are many different jobs out there that will allow you to travel to very exotic locations, take customers on excursions, and do a variety of other activities if you are willing to entertain and deal with traveling customers. Those that are in the travel industry will be able to choose from a wide variety of places to work and live. Further, most of these jobs require very little education.

Truck Driving

Truck drivers today continue to be extremely important and valuable members of our economic society. Since they are needed to ship products all over the world, truck drivers that are looking for adventure and excitement will be able to find some very interesting places and routes to work. Educational requirements for these jobs are often minimal and come through companies like Florida Truck & Trailer CO and can provide you with a great career path.

Commercial Fishing

If you enjoy being out on the open water and can handle some danger with your job, becoming a commercial fisherman could be a great option. Commercial fishermen work out of seaside communities all over the world. They are often very well-compensated and do not have to work all that frequently as they typically will earn enough during the high seasons to cover living expenses for a year. To become one, you will not need a degree as most fishing companies would prefer to hire those with experience and passion.

Travel Blogging

If you would like to see a lot of the world, you could also get a great job becoming a travel blogger. While you could get a job working for a newspaper or online magazine, those jobs often require degrees in English or writing. However, you could start your own blog and documenting your journey.

When you are looking for your next job, it is important to find one that excites you and that you are passionate about. This passion will keep you focused and help to improve your chances of obtaining professional success.


Meghan Belnap is a freelance writer who enjoys spending time with her family. She loves being in the outdoors and exploring new opportunities whenever they arise. Meghan finds happiness in researching new topics that help to expand her horizons. You can often find her buried in a good book or out looking for an adventure. You can connect with her on Facebook right here and Twitter right here.

Looking to Make Money Blogging in 2018? Six Smart Steps to Make It Happen

/ nancyrubin

The idea of making money blogging might sound like something straight out of 2005, but there’s no denying that savvy bloggers today are indeed making a full-time income from their craft.

Even in an era of ad-blockers, it is possible for those who’ve unlocked a buzzworthy niche and having some sort of product or service they can promote alongside their writing.

Beyond writing chops and motivation, what else do you need to do to make your blogging dreams a reality, though? We’ve broken down six steps to help you get started.

Sort Out Your “Paperwork” First

Whether you already have a blog or are starting from scratch, you need to make sure you actually have avenues to create revenue via blogging.

From ensuring that you have appropriate terms and conditions on-site to not getting short-changed by affiliates, there’s quite a bit of setup that goes into a monetized blog from both a legal and technical perspective.

Much like the challenges of a compliance manager, combing through details, metrics and legal loopholes to keep things running smoothly, you need to keep a watchful eye on both the front and back-end of your blog.

Choose the Right Affiliate Offers

Riddling your site with affiliates is bad news for your site and visitors; therefore, you need to pick and choose carefully when it comes to offers.

Sure, you can feature tons of products via Amazon, but the payout is oftentimes paltry unless you’re selling high-ticket items. As such, try to incorporate offers for software or online tools that produce a better ROI.

For example, there are tons of marketing bloggers out there promoting email marketing tools (like ConvertKit) or even blogging tools (like Grammarly) that would be relevant to their audiences. These types of offers and subscription services are ideal versus one-off product purchases.

Create Your Own Products

Perhaps the best way to get paid through blogging is by promoting your own products so there’s no middle-man involved. Such options which have become the bread and butter of bloggers include…

  • Online courses via Udemy which teach your audience an exclusive skill
  • Digital products such as webinars or e-books which can be created for next to nothing
  • Access to a subscription-based service such as a mastermind group

Nurture Your Community

You can’t expect to create a long-term sales funnel with random organic traffic. Instead, you should strive to create a community with the help of platforms such as Facebook (Groups, specifically) or an email newsletter. Given that both types of communities can be started for absolutely free, either is viable even for those with little to no budget.

Link-Building is a Must

For the sake of time and efficiency, link-building campaigns are crucial to the success of any modern blog. Given how long it takes to drive organic traffic, it pays to take a more proactive approach to outreach and link-building these days.

As long as you have in-depth, link-worthy content (think: long-form, valuable, not fluff) then you likely have link-worthy assets to promote already. By reaching out to fellow bloggers and influencers, you can get your name out there and sow the seeds of a much larger audience over time.

Reinvest Your Earnings Wisely

Once your blog’s success starts to snowball, it’s crucial to keep the momentum going. Reinvesting the earnings from your blog might seem like a gamble, but will ultimately make your life easier and boost the earning potential of your blog. Such investments to consider include…

  • Paid tools on-site, such as lead capture forms, CRM software or paid email marketing
  • Facebook ads, the high ROI of which are well-documented
  • Hiring a virtual assistant or content creator to help you expand via outreach and SEO

Sure, getting started with monetization might seem like an uphill battle, but the initial legwork is totally worth it for those with enough motivation. Rather than sleep on your potential money-making idea, consider how you can put these tips into action ASAP.

Clicks, Customers and Communication: Perfecting Your Business’s Online Presence

/ nancyrubin

In a world where everything is now becoming downloadable and digital, it is now fundamental to have a business with a strong online presence. Many consumers won’t even consider investing their money in a business if you can’t find it online, read reviews or follow them on social media. If you’re new to running a business or aren’t sure how you can up your game in the virtual world there are several things you can do to make your company stand out from the crowd. From social media tactics to effective web design, these methods might seem time consuming and daunting at first, but they will truly help you to take your business to the next level.

Dazzling Designs

A website is the first go-to feature for building a strong online presence; your potential customers will head straight to your site and will want to see exactly what you can offer them. It needs to be speedy, slick and smart, so you might want to consider a company which can offer professional web design for seo. With SEO optimization and a stunning, eye-catching design your company will jump to the top of search engines and draw in a higher volume of potential consumers.

Advert Advantages

Online advertising is a must have if you want to be discovered on the web. Your brand name, service information and promotions can easily be displayed on the web using pay per click adverts. This is an extremely effective method of marketing as you don’t have to pay until someone physically clicks on your advert and visits your website. Set your own budget and assess how well it works for you; you might be able to increase this over time as your online presence and engagement increases. Within your advert you should include some form of enticing ‘free’ deal, where people input their email addresses into a form and receive a special offer. This will allow you to gather a collection of contacts which you can then target with email marketing campaigns. You get two birds with one stone, using a relatively low cost tactic.

Consumer Communication 

Make sure you’re actively engaging with your potential clients when they ask you questions about your product or services. You have the power to persuade them to spend their money, so don’t ignore their queries. Offer them five star customer service, using a friendly and welcoming approach either via social media messaging or online comments.

Build a Blog

Creating a blog for your website offers an additional online platform for your business. You can personify your business and create worthwhile content that customers will be excited to read. There is also the opportunity to collaborate with other companies by advertising their services on your blog or gaining a sponsorship, so that’s extra income in your pocket straight away.

It has been proven than businesses thrive when their online presence is authoritative, professional and engaging, so make sure you are using the tools that the online world has to offer. Your company name will be publicized, your business will skyrocket, your profits will increase and your consumers will be content.

What Do You Need? A Blog. When Do You Need It? Now

/ nancyrubin / 2 Comments

Even today, with the power of Google neatly tucked into your pocket or handbag, people still don’t get why having a blog is a super-duper important part of running a business. Unfortunately, it is always the small business owners that find themselves wondering why it is important. We’re not saying they still think blogging is something teenagers do in the hope of becoming the next internet star and thus spend their lives taking selfies on red carpets instead of working, but they usually don’t quite get how it is worth the investment. And that’s what it is, right? Creating top-notch content on a weekly basis is a mega-investment of time and money and skill.

But it is totally worth it. A content publication strategy is one of the most valuable marketing approaches your little business can make and that’s because it will make a noticeable difference to things like where you show up on Google, the leads you get and the sales you make (spoiler alert: these are pretty important parts of business). Anyway, the best way to launch a content publication strategy is from a business blog. From there, well, you can use it as you like, from posting it to your LinkedIn page, to adding it to your email marketing campaign and even linking to it from social media.

Of course, we don’t expect this overview of a blurb to be the winning smile that sees you drop off the fence. After all, caution is a healthy part of being a business owner. That said, blogging is such an awesome tool to use, we have decided to pull together a list of the top benefits it can – and will – have on your business.

  1. Hello, Search Engine Traffic

Everyone that wants to be a success wants to be found at the top of search engines. That’s a fact. And it is also the reason why you need to have a blog. Think about it. The more content you have on your website the more chances you have of getting found. That’s because there will be more pages on your domain to be indexed (translation: great news for visibility). If you went fishing with one rod, and the person on the pontoon over from you has one-hundred rods, who do you think is going to land more fish? So, yeah, start yourself a blog and watch your organic traffic grow like crazy thanks to increased web traffic. Keep adding more fishing rods to your arsenal.

  1. I Wanna Be A Thought Leader

There is no better way to establish yourself as an expert in what you do than having a blog to back that up. It is your chance to show the world (read: your industry), that you know what you are doing and what you are talking about and even sharing industry related tidbits. Why is authority important? That’s simple: it gives people yet another reason to trust you and, in a world where everything is online, trust is like a warm, fuzzy hug (but one that converts people into clients and customers). It doesn’t matter what your niche is, having a blog gives you that extra bit of weight. It could be that you are a customer service specialist, in which case it is time to start a customer service blog. It could be that you run a content marketing agency that specialises in managing business blogs, in which case a content marketing blog of your own is super-duper important. There really is no niche too small.

  1. Time For Tighter Relationships

Having a regularly updated blog is a great way to connect with the people visiting your site in a way that you can’t otherwise. Before, people that came to your site could only read your generic “About Us” page and scroll through your “what we do” gallery, which is made up of stock photos. But having a blog gives them a better chance to connect, whether it is asking questions in the comment section under each post or by sharing what you’ve written on their own social media pages or simply using your opinion to start a conversation, whether that be in a forum or a wine bar. At first, it may seem a little deflating because (as Google analytics shows), only your mom, your sister and your mom’s boyfriend are reading it. But after a while, you’ll find you become the go-to resource in your market and that’s because your content is helpful, informative, engaging and trustworthy. It has built a rapport between you and potential-slash-new customers (#winning).

  1. Get Creative, Become Human

We mentioned your (probably) bland “About Us” page, which isn’t a dig because your about us page needs to tell people what you do, and tell them as clearly as possible. However, you don’t want to run the risk of sounding dull or robotic or boring. That’s where a blog flies in to save the day like some sort of neighborhood superhero. It gives you the chance to show the more personal side of your brand; make people smile and laugh and nod their head in empathy and feel like there is a warmth to you that your competitors are lacking. A blog gives you the opportunity to go beyond “look at these products we sell” and a) give people a reason to buy your products, b) touch on issues that your brand is concerned with, c) embrace a cause as part of your marketing and d) share information and opinions on the things you are passionate about. No matter how cleverly-written the rest of your content may be, your blog will always be the best voice you have and that is because it will have the most personality to it. Seriously, never underestimate the power of likeability.

  1. Social Media Boost

Here’s a quick plate full of food for thought: what is the point in having social media pages if you don’t have any great content to upload to them? (That was rhetorical by the way; the answer is there is no point!) Of course, you could get around this by sharing other people’s content but, at some point or another, your brain will go, “hang on a minute, why am I sending my leads elsewhere?” and that is where your blog posts will swoop in (yet again!) to save the day. It is just one of the best ways to use your social media following to boost your website traffic. Period. Fact. The end.

4 #Blogging Tips That Actually Work

/ nancyrubin / 1 Comment

If you’ve ever searched for blogging tips online, you’ve most probably come across at least a dozen of them advising you to post your content frequently, to share your content on social media, and to keep blogging no matter what. Although these are some valid points, they’re pretty straightforward and offer little to no real insight into the most important aspect of blogging, which is of course writing. In addition, the fact that you can find these tips literally anywhere and everywhere you look just goes to show how poor that advice actually is, as the same things are usually said over and over again, without any solid advice ever being given. This is why we’re going to focus on four concrete tips which will actually have an effect on your blogging and improve your content as well as your overall readership.

1. Find relevant content

First of all, you need to find what’s worth writing about. Certain niches are more popular than others, you need to find the ones that not only fit your style the most, but those which are also trending at the moment. Hence, keep an eye on Reddit, Quora, and various other social media platforms for current hot topics and ideas to write about. Moreover, who exactly are you writing for? Your content might be better suited for young, rather than old, people. Therefore, you need to target them and tailor your content accordingly. Don’t waste time trying to please everybody as it’s an impossible task. Instead, you should focus on finding your tribe in order to provide them with relevant and interesting content to their liking. This is how you establish a community of your own, and increase their loyalty. You want to build a relationship with your readers, it’s not just a one-off thing, you want them returning to check on your new content.

2. Guest blogging

Another thing, a lot of people make the mistake of only posting content on their own blogs, totally neglecting the concept of guest blogging. It’s not only an excellent way of sharing your content, but it’s also an amazing way of expanding your general readership. This is because, when you guest blog, you get someone else’s audience apart from your own, thus effectively doubling the amount of readers your content receives overall. There’s lots of ways you can find blogs where you can guest post, either by manually searching the web for blogging opportunities, visiting relevant forums and blogs, or by contacting bloggers that fit your particular niche. Yet, the most practical way of doing this is by simply using an advanced link prospecting tool to help you find sites to reach out to. Get better results and save valuable time in the process by sorting and filtering through different metrics in an automated manner and find the perfect blog for you to guest post on. Otherwise, you might end up on spammy websites that might hurt your general reputation.

3. Write quality content

Don’t get fooled, the internet is a vast place, the topics you’re posting aren’t as original as you may think. Especially so if a popular topic is in question. This is why you should always strive to create the best quality content you can, in order to stand out from the crowd. You achieve this by writing about the things you know well. Likewise, if you’re not so familiar with a certain topic, you need to do a lot of research beforehand to get all of your facts straight. Once you have the necessary info, you then need to present it in an interesting and meaningful manner. Try to be concise and to the point as much as possible, avoid filler content and don’t spin your points. Stay informative and offer sound advice to your readers, educate them about a particular product instead of just selling it to them. Back your facts up with concrete statistics or infographics instead of pulling them straight out of your head, this will give a lot of credibility to your claims. Furthermore, the most important thing is that you stay true to your voice, pretending will only get you so far.

4. Use eye-catching headlines

Finally, this is by far the most important thing you need to focus on while blogging. Yet, you might be wondering why I put the most important thing last? Well, this is because the title should always be the very last, and not the first, thing you write. The reason being that is, once you’ve finished your main text, you have a rough idea of what the article is about and therefore you can find a title that suits it. Let’s face it, people click on article titles and not on the articles themselves, and if they don’t grab their attention they won’t bother visiting your article in the first place. Hence, you should only employ article titles which spur your readers’ curiosity and encourage them to take a peek, such as how to-s and x ways to do titles.

In conclusion, remember to always do your research on hot topics and concrete facts before writing your articles. This way you’ll maintain top-notch quality whilst still being relevant to your target audience. Also, don’t be shy and give guest blogging a go, as it’s an outstanding way of increasing your overall viewer count.

 

alex

Guest Author is Alex Williams is a journalism graduate, and a rookie blogger trying to find my luck. Blogs are the perfect opportunity for presenting yourself to wider audience, getting the chance to showcase my expertise and receiving recognition. I am a regular contributor at Bizzmark Blog