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I read a post on Google+ recently that mocked another post talking about keyword research, stating it was an old, outdated strategy from 2008 with no relevance to today’s online landscape. While I disagreed with such a quick dismissal of keyword research, it got me thinking.
What actually is the case for keyword research? Is it really still as relevant as it was? What part should it play in today’s content marketing?
If only there was a secret formula for making every blog post you write go viral. Of course, if such a formula existed, we’d all be at it, wouldn’t we? Viral would be the new norm and wouldn’t be so great any more (super-viral anyone?)
But there are ways to increase your chances. Even if it doesn’t go viral, you’re still getting your content in front of as many eyes as possible.
The most important factor of course is to have great content in the first place. You need content that gives value in bucketfuls, content that informs, educates, amuses, and entertains. In brief, you need content that screams share me now!
In last week’s post on using Google Plus for business, I shared four main reasons why I’d advise anyone in business to start using Google+, and start using it now.
The more people who add you to their circles, the more authoritative your content becomes … and your increased authority brings a host of benefits for your business, such as increased search engine visibility and online influence.
However, it’s tough to get people to add you to their circles and takes a long time, so the sooner you start the better. So how do you start attracting people to start following you and add you to their circles?
It’s early days for my own Google+ involvement, but one of the best ways to build up your following on Google+ (the number of people who have you in their circles) is to create great content and share it on a regular and consistent basis.
Google+ is rapidly gaining ground as a primary social network for business users, with far more to offer the business user than Facebook for example.
As a newcomer to the social network myself, and in the process of creating a strategy through which I’ll be using Google+, this post outlines four main reasons why you should incorporate Google+ into your own content marketing strategy and how it can provide significant benefits to your business. […]
As we head into 2014, content marketing will continue to become an increasingly dominant part of effective online marketing. As a result, you’re no doubt only too keenly aware that a steady supply of content is going to be become increasingly crucial for your business.
But even when you get someone to help you write the content, you still need to tell them what to write about … and this is where many business owners struggle.
What can you create content about in order to connect with and attract leads and customers for your business? How can you generate enough ideas to keep the content flow going, and avoid a drought of ideas that would otherwise cause your business to become increasingly invisible in a world of increasing communication and customer connectivity?
Here are fourteen top ways to get a continual flow of awesome content marketing ideas to feed your Content Tree™ during 2014 and the years beyond, and build an ever-increasing level of online visibility for your business and increasing amounts of traffic heading for your website:
There are some interesting stats on Pinterest, the social media image sharing site, that make it worth paying some attention to.
With over seventy million users (in less than four years), and five million article pins a day, the site gets a ton of usage … and can drive a lot of traffic as a result.
According to a recent post on Mashable, Pinterest drives more referral traffic than Twitter, LinkedIn and Reddit combined.
But that’s not all …
As a follow-on from my previous post a few weeks ago about growing your Content Tree™, I wanted to share more ways in which you can gain further visibility for your business from a single original piece of content.
In the previous post I shared eleven ways in which you can leverage a piece of content, preferably a blog post on your own site. In this follow-on post, discover five more ways you can start adding to your content marketing plan right now.
With the recent sad passing of Nelson Mandela, and his memorial service being held today in Johannesburg, it made me wonder …
What can we learn from someone who was so influential the world over and touched and connected with so many people on all levels in so many ways?
After all, isn’t that ultimately what we’re trying to do with content marketing? To spread our story, to influence as many people as possible, to touch and connect with them effectively, to build relationships?
How did Nelson Mandela achieve all these goals, and what can we learn from him to improve our content marketing activities?
Here are the three main principles I have extracted – perhaps you can think of some more?
The importance of enabling your blog for print was illustrated to me some years back ago, when a reader of one of my blogs left a comment asking for a print-friendly version of the post (and others) so he could more easily print it out, read offline, and presumably retain for future reference:
Lesson learned, and a print-friendly button was promptly installed.
If you’ve ever tried printing out a web page straight from the browser, you’ll know it’s rarely printed in the same form in which it appears in a web browser. Often you’ll get elongated links spread out over several pages, text printed on top of other text, and other layout issues.
In addition, resources you might mention and link to within the post are just printed as a blue underlined link, with no printed reference on where the link is actually pointing to.
So … difficult to read, wasted ink and paper, and information loss. Not too conducive to building your authority and influence, is it?
You’d also be surprised how many people reading your blog – presuming it’s offering high-value, actionable information! – will want to print out a post, and stick it on the wall or on the desk for their reference. Or some will simply prefer reading offline.
If you don’t offer such an option, not only does it damage your authority and credibility, but also your potential reach, as a proportion of your readership will head elsewhere, in search of a more user-friendly experience on a blog that recognizes and respects their needs.
If your blog is already print-capable, great. If not, read on …
This post shows you exactly how to install a basic print plugin for WordPress that gives you an instant print-friendly button you can then have available for your visitors. It’s a five minute job, and once done it’s a permanent positive asset for your blog that will help you retain your readership, as well as extend your reach, authority and influence.
We’ve recently launched our new Guest Post Plugin for WordPress blogs, attracting dozens of downloads within just hours of publication.
While you can find a full description along with installation instructions and other info on the plugin’s page within WordPress’s plugin directory, this post provides more of a visual tutorial on how to start taking advantage of it.
Firstly, a quick summary of what it does …
Normally with Guest Posting, you’ve got to find suitable blogs in your niche who might like to publish content from you, try to build positive relationships with those bloggers, and try to persuade the odd one or two to publish a post from you.
It works … but it can mean a big investment of time and effort in finding those opportunities.
Our Guest Post Plugin turns that on its head … instead of you seeking out those opportunities, they come to you. A blogger can arrive at your website, like what they read, and then see a link at the end of the post inviting them to request a free, 100% unique, professionally-written version of your blog post (created by our writers) that they can then publish on their own blog.
The blogger would publish the new post as a Guest Post on their own blog, and, as per usual Guest Posting practice, link back to your own site.
It’s virtually zero work for you (you just need to approve requests), and a very straightforward, streamlined process for them too in getting quality, unique content for their blog that they can use for free.
Click here for more information on exactly how it works (there’s no point repeating it all here) … now on with this tutorial …
Steve Shaw has spent two decades helping thousands of businesses worldwide unlock business growth and success via his info and software.
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