Infographics—graphics that feature compelling facts and statistics in a visually appealing way—come in all shapes and sizes. But it’s important to know, when crafting an infographic for your business, that there are certain qualities consistent throughout top performers. Here’s what you need to know to create a winning infographic. Read More
By now, you know the importance of maintaining a blog for your business. Blogging helps improve your SEO and discoverability, while positioning yourself as an expert in your industry. It also provides you with fresh content to share on social media and in your email newsletters.
But what may be less clear is how often you should post on your blog. While there are rules of thumb for how often to post on social media, there’s no hard-and-fast rule when it comes to the ideal frequency of blogging. Here are some things to consider as you decide how often to blog. Read More
By this point, we hope you’re aware of search engine optimization best practices and are doing a killer job applying them to your website. But unless you’re an SEO expert, you may be missing out on many opportunities to optimize your content and increase your search engine rankings.
Having an expert like Message Sprout conduct an SEO content audit offers valuable insight on how to improve your website. Read on to learn more about what a content audit entails and how it can benefit your business. Read More
Is your Facebook newsfeed cluttered with your friends posting their results of online quizzes? While these may make your eyes roll, interactive content like these quizzes is proving to be effective in driving reader engagement and virality.
Not only does interactive content drive deeper engagement with your brand, says Marketing Land, but with its increasing popularity in the content marketing world, failing to adopt it may leave your business behind in the dust.
While traditional blog posts and articles will likely remain important and well-utilized media formats, it might be time to dabble in interactive content and see if adding it improves interaction and engagement for your business. Read on to learn more about different types of interactive content and how to get started. Read More
Do you interact with customers when they’re buying your product or service, but never communicate with them ever again? If you fail to follow up with customers, you’re losing a major opportunity for continued sales.
Starting an email newsletter does require some work, but the ability to engage customers and prospects can bring major returns. Read on to learn about the benefits of creating email newsletters and how to get started. Read More
White papers can be an incredible tool for businesses, but if you’re unfamiliar with this form of content marketing, it’s easy to do it wrong. Some businesses misunderstand the medium and use it as a way to push products—a tactic that also can push potential customers away. If you do it right, you can capture new leads and drive sales.
Sound good? Read on to learn what a white paper is and how to create a winning one that brings results rather than boredom. Read More
Savvy consumers are increasingly reluctant to click on annoying digital ads. And so, the content world has developed a new model of making money called native advertising, and while it shows promise for publishers and advertisers alike, it comes with some hairy ethical issues. Here’s what you need to know about this emerging type of content marketing and how to navigate the gray area around it. Read More
In the world of search engine optimization, the more unique and informative content a website has, the more likely it is to perform well in search results. Due to this huge SEO perk, marketers are creating content like crazy, from blog posts to case studies.. There’s another type of content you should be aware of that not only boosts SEO, but is even more influential than your own words: user-generated content.
What the heck is user-generated content? It’s a fancy term for content, such as reviews or images, generated by your customers or clients.. This type of content can be a gold mine for marketers – it’s free and it carries tremendous weight in the eyes of prospective customers. A 2012 Nielson study found that while the vast majority of people view most forms of online advertising with deep suspicion, a whopping 92% of customers trust recommendations from friends and family and 70% trust online reviews, As a nifty bonus, it frees you up to spend more time on your other marketing efforts.
Ready to find out how to start gathering user-generated content? Here are three easy ways: Read More
For better or for worse, blogging gives a megaphone to anyone who wants to share commentary or expertise on a topic. Blogging also has major SEO benefits when you use keywords wisely. Another perk: modern blogging platforms for small businesses make it unbelievably easy for anyone to create a blog and publish content. If you’re not the most tech-savvy person on the planet, you can breathe a sigh of relief since you don’t have to know your html from your ftp in order to run a blog.
What you do need to know is there are several different blogging platforms for small businesses to choose from, and it is key to find the one that best suits your needs. Gone are the days of Xanga and LiveJournal. What are those, you ask? Exactly. They are long gone, so just forgettabout them. If you’re about to launch a blog for a personal calling (you must write about gardening! Gluten-free food! Parenting! Fashion!) or for your business, you’re probably considering the following three blog platforms. What’s so different about these three?
Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of the top three blogging platforms for small businesses to help you make your very important decision: Read More
Marketers have touted the benefits of creating online content for years, but many small businesses have ignored this advice, hoping that blogs and social media would be short-lived trends. We’re sorry to break it to you, but content has been crowned king and isn’t going anywhere. Producing unique content is no longer optional if you want to be found online by potential customers and maintain loyalty to your brand.
Still not convinced you need unique content? Here’s how content rules the online world: Read More
