Understanding these terms will help not only choose the right content, but also the right writer.

Content Marketing

At its core, content marketing means sharing trade secrets and advice with customers. Creating a website rich in content also helps search engines recognize the site, which leads to a larger audience.

Educating your audience can help increase traffic because customers feel like they are getting something extra from the reading your content.

Brand recognition is built through content marketing, especially the type of content that focuses on valuable educational experience for the audience.

Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing, also known as SEM, is especially important for startups because it gets the attention of a given search engine. Search engine marketing reaches beyond search engine optimization by allowing a business to utilize pay-per-click advertising.

This allows a business to participate in Google paid advertising. Businesses will be placed at the top of search engines when SEM is done correctly.

Social Media Optimization

Today’s world needs search media optimization, or SMO. Social media can be the catalyst to boost a website to the top of the rankings. Writing stories that can be shared is only the beginning.

The stories and advice must be the type that people want to share. Making it easy to share is also important. It’s essential to add share buttons to help the audience share information found on the site.

Giving customers a simple way to share information helps increase the reach of the site and helps bring in new customers. Additionally, rankings go up as more people view the page. It’s smart to cash in on SMO. SMO pairs with social media integration, or SMI, to increase the reach of possible customers.

Writing content that’s sharable and interesting encourages customers to use the modern word of mouth, social media, to spread your message across more information outlets.

Whether you’re writing content yourself or hiring someone to do it for you, make sure everyone is on board with these terms to get the most from your content.

The post 3 Key Concepts Every Webmaster Needs to Know appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Writing a blog that people will interact with means writing copy that speaks to the reader, as if the reader and writer are sitting down together on a summer afternoon to have a friendly conversation about the topic.

Here’s nine techniques that will help you encourage engagement on your blog.

1. The Title

Every blog begins with the title, but how should it be written? It should be compelling and helpful above all else, because it is the first part of the blog that will draw in a readership.

If you’re stuck, tools like Coschedule’s Headline Analyzer will help you create killer headlines.

2. Add Images and Video

Visuals are almost always the first thing your readers look at, especially if it helps your audience become better educated on topic or helps them along the way of the purchasing process.

Furthermore, images can help your blog be easier to find for search engines.

Content Marketing Institute has come up with a guide you can use to choose the right images for your audience.

3. Make it Scannable

Ensuring that your formatting style is scannable will help capture the attention of today’s busy audience. No one wants to read a big chunk of text anymore. Your important points should stand out on the page.

4. Keep the Value Coming

Stay on a consistent blogging schedule and keep the information relevant to your audience. Using an editorial calendar or content campaign will help you stay focused and on schedule.

5. Encourage the Reader to Take Action

Readers might need a push to act on the information you provide. It’s okay to encourage likes, shares, or products and services as long as it is done in a tasteful manner.

Content marketing is highly competitive. Getting the word out through a blog means creating content that encourages readers to take the next step in the buyers journey.

6. Find the Experts

Readers want to know why you know what you know. They also want you to back up your statements with actual facts and direct quotes or opinions from subject matter experts.

Find a professional to interview or find expert opinions to add value to the blog.

7. Timing is Everything

Be sure to time every post carefully. While you can publish at any time, you should publish when you know the most readers will be available to read your content.

For example, if your crowd is the 9 to 5 working crowd, you could publish in the late afternoon when they are more prone to browsing.

This is when understanding your audience behavior becomes very important.

8. Make it Easy to Share

This may seem like common sense after talking about writing engaging content, but many businesses forget to add share buttons to every blog.

Even one blog, shared by someone who is interested in only that one blog, grabs attention and could pull in more customers. Ensure share buttons are in a prominent and visible location on every post.

9. Check the Length

Ultimately, ideal blog length will vary depending on the nature of your goals and audience. Here’s a data driven study that will help you decide how long your blog posts should be.

The post 9 Blogging Techniques That Will Encourage Engagement appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

It’s interesting, from a marketer’s perspective, to find out where these searchers are going for their information.

What’s more pressing, however, is how businesses are attracting those searchers to their sites. The answer is content.

The answer has been content, even through Google changes, image popularity, vines, and all other mediums that have come and gone. Content has been the steadfast go-to for over a decade.

Creating the content that will attract your audience is the key to generating attention and encouraging your audience to take action towards the end goal- a sale.

Create the most eye-catching content by answering the basic five “W’s” of reporting, and the “H”: who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Who?

Who are you trying to attract? This is the first question that must be answered. Content for a five year old and her parents will be much different than content for a 35 year old man searching for a date.

Identifying the audience will require footwork; research who you are selling to, then gear content toward that audience. Creating content that is out of the intended audience’s interest or educational range will turn your core audience away.

What?

What is your point? Do you reach it quickly? Do you give the reader a reason to keep engaging with your content? What are you selling?

If you want the customer to reach the call to action, you want to reach your point quickly and give the reader a reason to keep going.

Understand what you are selling, and you will easily create content that will keep readers engaged.

When?

Timing is everything. If your product is best suited for a holiday, gear up a few months before with some great content for that holiday.

Consider when the customer would use the product, and convince the customer in the content that your product is perfect for their time frame. For example, if a customer would use your product early in the morning, consider sharing articles about waking up early, and how the product would help at that time.

Where?

Location is another important aspect of great content writing. An article geared toward a Northeast audience is quite different than an article geared toward a West Coast niche.

Consider where most of your customers live, and create content built around their lifestyle. Creating content that speaks to a customer will draw in the reader, and create a bigger audience through social media shares.

Why?

Your customer needs to know why you are communicating to him or her specifically. As consumers, we are “sold out”. We’ve been sold to so many times that it’s old now.

While your reason for creating content is sales, this must be hidden within the great story you are sharing. Tell the reader why he or she should read the content, why he or she should purchase the product, and why he or she will have a better life because of the product.

How?

The method of delivery is essential. How are you delivering the message? Many marketers have become storytellers through necessity. Again, we are sold out, and we crave something interesting to read. Perhaps a joke, or a story, will better deliver the message than a generic sales pitch. Consider the audience’s needs to best understand how to deliver your content.

The post How to Create Content for YOUR Audience appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

When we begin thinking about ourselves as small businesses, we begin to realize the full scope of that definition. We must budget, we must produce, and most of all, we must market. Marketing experts attest that email is alive and well for the 2015 freelance season, which means that freelancers must sit up and pay attention to what that means for them.

Marketing efforts are focusing on less direct, or word-of-mouth, marketing, and more on email campaigns. How, then, do freelancers use this information to increase personal success?

What Is Email Marketing?

We must first understand the true definition of email marketing. It is the online version of the direct letter; instead of fliers and newsletters to a home, a business sends the same information through a digital connection. Most of us already have this information; what we must glean from the definition is the fact that this type of marketing is easier to track than direct mail. As a small business, a freelancer can find out what types of mail are being opened and read by existing and potential customers.

Essentially, email marketing is more than its base definition: it is the newest, and among the best, tools for freelancers.

Different Types of Email Marketing

There are many different types of email marketing employed by small businesses. Freelancers have the opportunity to choose what fits their marketing plan best and engage its  -or their – services.

• Newsletters – This type of campaign is among the easiest, because it’s all about you. The newsletter is a quick update on what you’re doing, what’s coming up in the future, and any new offers your business has on the table. Newsletters are often sent bi-weekly or monthly.
• Invitation Emails – These are quick blurbs highlighting a special service from a small business. Perhaps a freelancer has a 10% off white papers special for the next two weeks. Let customers know in an invitation email.
• Promotional Campaigns – This can include coupons or encouragement to invite new clients. They are sent in the days leading to a sale, such as a coupon for a free article next month, or a coupon for free editing to anyone who refers a new client.
• Survey Emails – Small businesses use these emails to find out more about their market base. Many of a freelancer’s clients are happy to fill out a brief survey, especially the satisfied clients. Find out what makes your clients happy to recruit new clients with the same types of services.
• Lead-Nurturing Emails – These emails are sent to prospective clients. This is where a freelancer’s virtual “commercial” happens. Freelancers send these emails in an effort to convert potential clients into paying customers.
• Transactional Emails – These are simple, “Thank you for the business” emails. These are important to freelancers who want repeat customers.

Tips for Email Marketing

Tips from those who have found email marketing successful include:

1. Determine Target Audience – Random emails don’t work. Find out who you want to work with and target them through email.
2. Outline a Campaign – Every campaign must have an end goal, complete with a method of arriving there. Find out how to obtain email addresses, determine which method of email to use, track opened emails, then determine if your client goals have been reached.
3. Review – Look over the emails to find out if they are effective. If they’re not, look over your campaign to find where it is breaking down. Are your emails being opened? Why not? Are they being read thoroughly? Why not? Are you getting a positive response? Again, why not? Reviewing an email campaign is a repetitive process, but it’s necessary for a freelancer’s success. Small businesses are consistently reviewing their email strategies to ensure success; freelancers should do the same.
4. Focus on What You Have – Use email campaigns to focus on existing customers first; new customers can be obtained after the initial email campaign has proven successful. Keeping current clients is easier than obtaining new clients through email campaigns, so freelancers should use their first email campaign as a “test run” to keep current customers happy. Subsequent campaigns can be used to obtain new clients.

The post We Are Small Business – Why Email Tips for Small Businesses Work for Freelancers Too! appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Determining why some emails are opened while others are sent directly to the trash heap is a content marketers bane – but it is something that has been figured out and mastered. When writing meets email marketing, a perfect email is born, with increased open rates and even higher conversions.

1. Begin at the Beginning

The subject line is the first stop for all email recipients. It must catch the reader’s attention and be enticing enough to push the reader toward the “open” button. The subject line has only two jobs; get the email opened and make an implication as to the main point in the email.

Basically, the subject line is a one-line summary for the full email, or, a thesis statement.

2. Keep It Simple

Marketers know what writers quickly forget – the average attention span is approximately five seconds.  Additionally, most emails are read on mobile devices.

Many people don’t want to scroll through lengthy emails to get the point of the pitch. Keep the message to the point and short, remembering bullet points, which help readers scan for main points faster.

3. Answer It All

While the message must be short, it must also contain all five “W’s” – who, what, why, where, and when. Follow up with a “how”, or, the call to action. Make sure the call to action is clear and precise.

Any time sensitive requests must be accompanied by a date, but do not create a false sense of urgency. Shorter sentences typically work to fulfill both the required shorter length and the answers to the five “W’s”.

4. Personable Emails Can Go Too Far

While an email should be personal, it must also be professional. There is a happy balance, and it falls in the formality of the words. This is your chance to shine and pull the recipient into the call to action; read through the email a few times to ensure the tone is correct for the recipient.

Additionally, use words that are on par with the reader. If the email is too hard to understand, it won’t be answered. Similarly, if it is too lazy in its vocabulary, it will also be ignored.

Get a second opinion, if necessary, to make sure the email is written for its audience.

5. Bring P.S. Back

The P.S. at the end of a letter is a marketing attention-grabbing idea. Marketers should begin integrating this idea into marketing emails, simply because humans tend to remember the last line read.

The P.S. might be a reminder toward the call to action.

The post Email Marketing – 5 Ways to Get Your Emails Read appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Content marketing has become married to storytelling; as writers and marketers have quickly discovered.

As marketers begin to nurture a closer relationship with writers, the two are beginning to learn from each other. The lessons exchanged from a fiction writer to a content marketer is one that should not be taken lightly.

Use Suspense

It is a marketer's nature, and necessity, to be data driven individuals. Mysteries don't work for the marketer, who must know how content is pushing sales RIGHT NOW.

The fiction writer can see the issue with this mindset right away. Content marketing has become a storyteller's world, and what holds a reader's attention better than suspense? Holding the answers until the end may drive a marketer crazy, but it really is necessary if the reader is to be taken through the whole text before reacting.

This Isn't Show and Tell – It's All Show

Marketers are far too used to telling customers what to do and when to do it. Fiction writers tend to use words to create a mental image.

It's become necessary to lean more toward that mental picture than toward telling customers what to think. Marketing has been plunged into a customer-centric world, and those customers can no longer be told what to do or what to think. It's far too easy to go to a business that helps them imagine how the product will make their life better.

That's what the story is for – and that's why marketers need to use words to show off product advantages rather than tell a customer how to feel.

Use a Central Conflict

What story does not have a conflict? If there were no conflict, there would be no end resolution, and no reason for the reader to continue reading.

Engage readers by presenting a conflict in content writing, such as a problem faced by a customer that can be solved by the product in question. Use conflict lightly, but make sure it's there, to keep the reader holding on to the call to action.

Love Your Writing

Fiction writers don't tend to stray out of their genre, and there's a reason for that – they're writing what they love. Sticking with the genre that works for the product being marketed is always the best course to keep readers engaged.

When writers, or content marketers, stray, the writing turns into an unsure piece that no one wants to read. If the product or service is in an unfamilar category, it's always a good idea to hire someone else in that field to write the content.

What content marketing tips have you heard that have helped you out? Let us know in the comments below!

The post A Few Lessons for Content Marketers, from Fiction Writers appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

This is quite possibly the toughest question posed to online copywriters, because it’s hard to explain exactly what we do. When I respond to this question, I always say, “You know that stuff you read on your favorite store’s website? I write that.”

That’s when the deer-in-the-headlights look hits, and my conversation fades away.

What if, instead of that dry answer, I said, “I’m a storyteller”? In fact, that’s what I’m becoming – one of the Internet’s best storytellers, and I’m doing it because it’s necessary.

As copywriters, we need to convert to telling stories to keep our work relevant.

Consider further the salesperson trying to sell a television. Does he just tell you the brand and refer you to Google? No; he tells you a long drawn out story about all the cool things the television can do for you.

You hear all about how that television will make your life better. It’s a story, and it is what copywriters have been doing for a long time.

Businesses that don’t write and who don’t know how to write for their websites are beginning to tie sales, i.e. storytelling, to content marketing. Finally, clients are beginning to tie their content to storytelling, which leads to sales.

Copywriters must become storytellers, if they aren’t already, to fill this need rising in corporate America.

Add in the fact that many Americans have learned to tune out advertisements, and the necessity for storytelling copywriters becomes clearer. What gets the most shares and likes on social media? That’s right – stories.

It’s obvious what the public is asking for, and giving them what they want is how sales come in droves. When it’s this easy for customers to go elsewhere for services, businesses are forced to give them what they want.

The people want stories. They want something to read, share, and experience. Similar to face-to-face sales, stories are becoming necessary on the Internet.

Stories are how the company relates to the customer, pulls them in, and keeps them reading, then buying. The copywriter’s sales storytelling is the modern face-to-face sales pitch.

America is pulling out of the stores and pulling into their living rooms, where the convenience of shopping at home is much more tempting than talking to a salesperson.

Tell a story today. Convert some sales, and give the people what they want most. We’re all writers; we all have it in us to make the transition from dry sales pitch to storyteller. This transition is going to be easy compared to other transitions we’ve dealt with as copywriters, such as social media “updates”.

How are you changing your copywriting to fit client’s needs? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Tell A Story – Reasons Why Storytelling is On The Rise in Content Marketing appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

This is a long-standing fact in the freelancing world; posting to a collective site where others can easily share your post is the hottest new “word of mouth” advertising available.

As a tool, there are ways to use it effectively and a few simple ways to make it work better for every blog post you create, increasing your readership.

1. Use Optimal Share Times

This tip comes first because it is most important. Marketers have researched the best time to share content, and as a blogger, you should be taking advantage of this research.

Many bloggers use trial and error to discover the best time to post, but a combination of pre-built research combined with personal research is the best way to discover when your friends are most likely to share content you’ve posted.

2. Tailored Posts

This tip works twofold – tailor the posts to the audience on the social media site, as well as to the specific site. Some sites are more formal while others are more laid back, as are the people that use them.

Consider the blog post, its content, and where it would benefit the most people. Look over your friends’ list as well; are these people the type that would enjoy this content?

Perhaps there is another social media outlet that would accept the content faster. Posts should always be tailored to audience and forum.

3. Post More Than Once

Use this suggestion with caution.  Over posting anything will turn the audience off to all posts. However, there’s no reason to not share more than once. Posting a blog article more than once will increase traffic as more people have a chance to see the post.

Time the double posts, however; perhaps consider an early morning and late night posting. You’ll reach the early birds and the night owls.

4. Ask for Feedback

Don’t be shy – ask your audience what they love about your writing. If you think your writing is great but no one else likes it, it will go nowhere. We all love what we’ve written, and as writers, we are giving a piece of ourselves away.

However, if we want the attention that turns into revenue, we must bite the bullet and ask our audience what makes them pay attention to us. Adjust as necessary in response to the comments.

5. Test it Out

A/B testing is very popular in social media tests, so go ahead and use a popular post to test your audience. Rework the post to test if certain language or topics work better or worse for your audience. Paired with feedback, testing in an A/B fashion will help you understand where your writing should be going.

Remember that time is n important factor in this type of testing, as is the posting strategies mentioned above.

How will you improve your social strategy? What improvements have you already made that are working for you? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 5 of the Best Ways For Your Article to Grab Attention on Social Media appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Understanding SEO means understanding every piece of the puzzle.

One small, yet significant, piece of that puzzle is the click assisted conversion.

Simply put, this refers to the amount of conversions from keywords, ads, or group assisted ads.

The analytic report for a click assisted conversion will differ from the assist clicks number simply because it is a narrower report and focuses only on the three specifics mentioned above.

The most important distinction associated with the click assisted conversion is the fact that it does not look at impressions from advertising.

Rather, it demonstrates the number of conversions assisted by advertising. The click assisted conversion category only displays conversion support, not direct conversions through advertising. It’s a slight difference, but it is a difference which can help businesses dig deeper into what the ads are actually doing for their website.

Example One

The first example demonstrating how this analytic works is for black purses. A customer searches the term in Google, clicks an ad associated with your website, but doesn’t convert to a sale.

Tomorrow, the same user conducts a Google search for brown purses, clicks your ad again, yet still does not convert.

The customer comes back a third time, searches for white purses, yet still does not convert. Finally, a conversion happens when the customer searches for wallets, clicks your ad, and makes a purchase.

The assist clicks would be as follows: black purses, brown purses, white purses. Click assisted conversions are as follows: conversion. Each column wold look as follows:

Each keyword shows one single click assisted conversion – the number of conversions which were assisted by each keyword is one, the wallet purchase.

Example Two

The second example finds a user searching for black socks. The customer clicks your ad for the socks, but doesn’t convert.

The next day, the customer searches for brown socks, clicks your ad, yet still does not convert.

The customer then searches again for black socks, and for a third time, does not convert. Two days later, the same customer searches for black boots, then converts the sale.

The assist clicks are as follows: black socks, brown socks, black socks. Click assisted conversions are as follows: conversion. Each column wold look as follows:

The black socks keyword shows two assist clicks, as it assisted the conversion twice. As black socks assisted the exact same conversion, it receives a one in the click assisted column.

This is a very basic overview of click assisted conversions. The click assisted conversion helps a website owner understand in depth how ads are helping conversions on a specific website.

How are things going with your click assisted conversions? Share your thoughts with us below!

The post The Explanation Behind Click Assisted Conversions appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Even though the numbers you see in front of you may be low, there are others who are paying attention to your social media activity; namely, Google and Bing.

Both search engines use data streamed from social sites to decide how high your website should rank on their pages.

This means that, even though conversions may not be happening directly through social media, there's still an indirect connection between your sales and your social media activity.

So what is the true impact of social signals on your SEO ranking? Answering this question means understanding social signals as a ranking factor.

Direct ranking factors include the number of people who like the Facebook brand, number of Twitter followers, number of Facebook shares, number of people who have your business in their Google+ circles, and number of tweets related to your brand or website.

Indirect impact stems from an increase in inbound links and citations, an increase in positive reviews, and a decrease in bounce rates mixed with more time spent on a site and more repeat visitors to your site.

Direct and Indirect Signals Picked Up by Google and Bing

It's easy to see why business owners would grow frustrated with the required maintenance to social media, which does not bring immediate results. The direct and indirect results above have one thing in common; they take time to get results.

When a business owner doesn't feel that time is a luxury, the social media marketing strategy quickly becomes a nuisance.

However, if Google and Bing are paying attention, then so shall you. One of the biggest rules in sales right now is to follow the Google and Bing rules. If the top two search engine companies are paying attention to your social media page, and are using that activity to help rank your website, it only makes sense that you follow suit.

Keep Up the Good Work

While maintaining social media is tedious work that doesn't seem to pay off quickly, it is necessary work. Think of social media signals as a small investment made today that will pay off in a few months.

Businesses worldwide are striving to learn how their website can make the first page. Social signals are an investment that will get your website on the first page of both Google and Bing.

The post The Real Impact of Social Signals appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

It’s hard to understand why SEO would ride in the back seat of the marketing van when over half of all shoppers begin online purchases with search engines.

Among those searching shoppers, 70% choose organic results over Adwords, according to a Marketing Sherpa report in 2012.

These numbers only continue to rise as more shoppers get on the online bandwagon and younger generations continue their attachment to electronic devices.

Why, then, are companies continuing to ignore SEO?

1. SEO Has Failed to Work

Faith has been lost in SEO recently, mostly because of the consistent algorith changes rolled out by many search engines and the continuous updates to the sites.

However, SEO is still working, and companies that believe any different are truly missing out. SEO techniques still exist that will increase traffic and help websites rank on search engines.

Keeping up to date with new search engine techniques has always been essential in marketing. Stay up to date to find out which techniques work best in rolling out new SEO-based marketing strategies.

2. An Unpredictable Avenue

Yes, SEO is unpredictable, but it is not completely unreliable, as many companies believe. While it’s true that companies can no longer purchase a higher search engine ranking, there are ways to create a more predictable SEO path.

Sites can be maximized for the highest possible SEO potential. The best method to maximizing a site is education.

Reading blogs on topics such as content curation and keeping up with the latest SEO news will help marketers keep websites in the top rankings and SEO as predictable as possible.

3. Changes Come Too Fast and Expense is Too Much

SEO does change on a consistent basis, but not all of the changes will affect every website. While it’s always wise to keep up with SEO, it’s also a good idea to make sure new changes will affect a website directly before taking any action.

Additionally, it’s never been free. However, it has always been relatively cheaper than any other type of website promotion.

4.  It Takes Too Much Time

It’s true that search engines take some time to initially rank a website toward the top, but once the site is there, it can stay there with a moderate amount of marketing.

The site will continuously bring in business after some patience and waiting for rankings.

5. The Technicalities and Changes to the Site are Too Much

SEO is a technical process, but it actually requires more marketing knowledge than technical. Understanding keywords, writing attractive content and pushing customers through the sales funnel is the main focus of SEO, not technical advances.

If the site includes attractive content, it will pull customers through the sales funnel, and changes to the site will not be necessary.

While some SEO changes require minor website changes, the company who has always practiced white hat website marketing will have only small changes to make the site match the latest SEO changes.

The post 5 SEO Objections Debunked appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

The Internet holds a wealth of information on becoming a better writer, and it’s true that writing is a very personal journey.

What works for you may not work for your writer friend. However, there are a few general tips that will propel every writer from good to great.

1. Don’t Edit First

Avoid editing while you’re writing your first draft of anything. Creating is a process that should be nursed, editing is a completely different part of the job.

You wouldn’t put the bread down before the plate, would you? Look at editing as a completely separate process from the creation part of your work.

If this is difficult, try turning off the monitor and just typing. This trick is great for those of us who are too tempted to edit while writing.

2. Keep It Up

Every writer should be writing every single day, for at least 30 minutes at a time. Ideas come faster and the craft becomes honed through daily practice.

Just as you would make time to eat, make time to create anything, even if it will never leave your computer hard drive.

3. Seek Criticism

We’re serious about this one. Look for those that would criticize your work honestly, because strangers will be much harsher. Never let a criticism deter you from writing; simply use it to improve your craft.

No one is perfect, and our goal as writers is to continuously improve ourselves. Criticism is one of the best ways to do this.

4. Too Many Words

Watch the number of words in every sentence. There should be no unnecessary words. Again, ask the critic if the piece is too wordy. As with other forms of art, too many words deters a reader and loses audiences.

5. Read

Read successful fiction and non-fiction authors to find out what they’re doing. What is their style? What is their story? How do they sell all those books every year?

Learn from those who have been there.

6. Pick Up the Habits of Others

Find out how successful writers work, then adopt their habits. If they network, you should network. If they designate a time every day for their craft, so shall you.

Adopt their good habits to develop some of your own.

7. Be Realistic

Follow a realistic writing schedule. You’ll never succeed if you can’t create a time every day to write, and you’ll burn out if you try to write when the timing is wrong.

Find a time when no one else will bother you, and when you can realistically concentrate on your ideas.

8. No Lingo

Be cautious of expressions and slang, unless the writing calls for it. Try to avoid sayings that have been grossly overused in society, and avoid slang completely for any serious pieces of work.

9. Get a Coach

While it can be pricey, getting a coach or writing instructor will be the editor, mentor and critic rolled into one. Many successful writers have done it, and many continue to seek peer advice.

10. Edit Older Pieces

Editing older pieces is a valuable place to review what you don’t want to repeat. You’ll also see where your writing has gone and how good you’ve become at your craft. Don’t be afraid to redo those old pieces as often as you can.

Do you have any tips to become a better writer?

The post 10 Tips to Become a Better Writer Today appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Luckily, there are five sites that are “must follows” for all marketers trying to stay in the know with SEO.

1. Google Webmaster Central Blog

Of course, Google tops the list of helpful SEO sites. Many marketers keep tabs on this blog, because it is THE source for every single one of Google’s advice and updates.

Additionally, Google will often include tutorials on using updates or tools on this site. However, as it is Google-centric, there are rarely updates on anything that isn’t Google.

If a marketer is searching for any non-Google related information, this site is not the right resource.

2. Google Webmaster YouTube Channel

Yes, Google has a YouTube channel. This is quite convenient for the visual learner or marketers who need to listen to information while working on simultaneous projects.

There are a ton of how-to videos here, as well as videos including Google staff answering customer questions.

The latest news won’t be here, but any Google marketing issues can be unraveled on this site. Marketers often use this site to discover how changes and updates will affect them, and how they should proceed for the future.

3. Moz Blogs

If a marketer is in the SEO community, Moz is a well known name. This site includes four separate blogs for marketers to gain a wealth of different information from different resources. The blogs are divided as follows:

YouMoz: This is a blog from the SEO community. Any marketer, or writer, can submit articles. The Moz team must approve the article, and if its popularity soars, it gets moved to the official Moz blog.

Moz Blog: This is the main blog on the page. The blogs feature figures and facts from authorities in the SEO industry, and reports or announcements are usually found. It provides information and updates fast on a wider variety of SEO topics.

Dev. Blog: This blog is geared toward developers, and always gives deeper information directed toward this crowd. A separate section for developers is nice, as this crowd has a hand in SEO, but won’t always use the same terms as marketers.

Rand’s Blog: This blog is the opinion-based section of the website. Analysis and opinion of the industry is the main idea here.

4. Search Engine Land

This blog has no Google affiliation, yet it remains among the most popular SEO blog in existence.

Some of the highest leaders in the SEO industry write for this blog, and everything is included, from Bing changes to Google updates.

Case studies can be found here, as well as a full portfolio of the most impressive SEO information. Publication happens often, keeping marketers constantly in the know.

5. Search Engine Journal

This blog is multi-author, giving readers options in a wider variety of topics. The writer’s pool is impressive and knowledgeable, creating a go-to, trusted online resource.

Inside information and breaking interviews are not unusual here, which keeps the site popular. Authors respond to user comments, and shares on social media are rampant.

There are other sources for SEO knowledge, but starting with these five will keep marketers in the loop where others fall through the cracks with misinformation.

What do you use as your SEO resource?

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