From a freelance writer’s standpoint, this is good news; another platform means another opportunity to earn money. However, if you’re a marketer or content manager working for a large company, it’s awesome news.

Keep reading to find out why.

My Experience as an Editor

I’ve worked as a writer for Crowd Content for a couple of years, and I was excited to be involved with a different aspect of content creation.

The editing platform has given me the opportunity to connect with other writers and editors. As an unexpected bonus, I’ve become more accustomed to focusing on the finer details of building quality content, and I’ve been able to improve the quality of my own work.

Teamwork: Because No Writer is an Island

If you’re a writer, you’ve probably noticed that fellow writers give the best and most helpful feedback. Why? Simple. They “get” the process. They “get” the fact that the first draft isn’t always going to be perfect.

They’re able to look at the content through the lens of their own experience, catching little errors and providing advice on how to improve its overall quality.

As part of an editing team, I not only have the benefit of my own experience, but also the experience of other strong writers. No matter the time of day, I can consult with other editors on any questions I might have about a particular issue.

This ensures that we are able to efficiently complete high volume projects without sacrificing quality.

The Key to Scalability

Even if you haven’t worked with any Crowd Content writers before, a few seconds of scrolling through the testimonials on our homepage will tell you that they know a thing or two about providing high quality content.

Herein lies the awesomeness for large companies: our editing platform allows us to continue providing the same high quality content on a much larger scale.

Here are three ways that the new editing platform is the key to scalability.

1. A Quicker Process

The editing platform allows writers to move through a project more quickly. Once they’ve submitted the first draft of their content, an editor can look it over and provide almost instant feedback.

Revisions can be completed within minutes of that first submission. This has significantly reduced the turnaround time for large batches.

2. A Few Extra Sets of Eyes

Have you ever seen a terrible advertisement or product description that made you wonder, “Am I the only one who sees how bad this is?” A typo and a poorly constructed sentence are all it takes to pull a brand’s credibility to pieces.

The editing platform eliminates that risk by ensuring that each piece of content is carefully examined on multiple levels.

3. Consistently High Quality

If you’ve worked with a team of writers before, then you know that one of the biggest challenges is ensuring consistent quality, styling and voice.

The editing platform allows us to ensure that each piece of content accurately conveys your brand’s voice, even if you have 200 writers working on your project.

Stay tuned for more info and updates as the editing platform is being built.

The post A Sneak Peak at Crowd Content Editing appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Companies focused on local customers need a blogging strategy that boosts search results and builds genuine relationships. Here’s how to get started. 

1. Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Think of your Google Business Profile as your online storefront and the first impression potential customers see. A meticulously optimized listing gets you found, builds trust, and positions you as an authority in your industry.

It’s essential that you claim and verify your GBP, as unverified listings don’t show up in Google Maps or searches. Next, focus on completing key fields such as name, address, phone number, and hours and add a keyword-rich description that tells customers exactly what problems you solve. Add high-quality photos to visually enhance your profile.

It’s impossible to overestimate the power of reviews. Encourage as many five-star reviews as you can and aim to respond to all feedback strategically, with professionalism and empathy.

Finally, keep your profile buzzing by making regular posts to your GBP. Share timely updates, promote local events, and give a behind-the-scenes look that speaks to your industry.

2. Know Your Local Audience

Visualize your blog posts being shared by local groups, popping up in the search results of people right in your neighborhood and sparking conversations that lead directly to your business. To achieve that level of local impact, you need to know who you’re talking to.

Here’s how to pinpoint your ideal local audience and tailor your content to their needs and interests:

• Start with what you know: Outline your ideal customer’s basic demographics, then conduct deep research into their problems, goals, and interests in the context of your business.
• Be social: Monitor local Facebook groups, relevant subreddits, or Nextdoor discussions. Observe the language people use, the questions they ask, and what they care about within your community.
• Assess the competition: Check out what your local competitors are doing. Analyze blog comments, social media engagement, and the types of reviews they receive. Moving forward, you can use this data to inform your own content. 
• Use location-based keywords: Use tools such as Google Trends to see how people search in your specific area. Pay attention to variations in phrasing — for example, “best Austin bakery” vs. “top bakeries near Zilker Park” — and customize your content accordingly. 
• Don’t be afraid to ask: Engage directly with past customers. Consider sending a simple post-purchase email asking “Why did you choose us?” or using customer feedback surveys to reveal what motivates people to spend money with you. 

In short, to create blog posts that are optimized for local SEO, you have to understand the unique needs and search habits of people in your community.

3. Expand Your Keyword List

Ranking well in local searches is crucial to your local business’s success, and a blog is a great way to improve your standing. Make sure keywords are sparingly and strategically used in the body of your blog, as well as in the meta description and meta title.

Escape the pressure of selecting a perfect long-tailed keyword to attract readers ready to convert by doing some keyword research. Using your hometown as a keyword is a great idea, but don’t stop there. Give potential customers more opportunities to find your business by mentioning the name of your county, neighborhood, and nearby cities. Conduct thorough keyword research to find other relevant keywords and enhance your post’s visibility.

4. Write About Local Events

Writing about local events on your blog is a powerful way to boost online visibility and solidify your connection to the community. Think elections, festivals, neighborhood gatherings, and charity events. The key is to find authentic ways to tie these events back to your business vertical.

For example, a restaurant could provide tips for baking a cake to bring to an annual local charity event. Likewise, a digital marketing agency might promote a local fundraiser online or create social media buzz for a community event.

Don’t be afraid to get creative. Interview organizers, spotlight local vendors, and share stories about your company attending local events on your blog and social media. Actively participating in and showcasing local events positions your business as a genuine part of the community, building trust and attracting a loyal local following. Don’t forget to share snippets of longer posts on your GBP!

5. Use Local Schema Markup

Schema markup gives search engines the clearest possible picture of your business and its local relevance. This type of optimization significantly impacts your visibility in local search results. Here are some tip on maximizing results when using schema markup

• Essential schema types: Focus on LocalBusiness schema, adding properties like address, phone number, hours of operation, and even your geo-coordinates.
• Tools to simplify: Use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper, or if you’re comfortable with code, schema.org provides detailed documentation.
• Go the extra mile: Use schema to highlight customer reviews, pricing information, upcoming local events hosted at your business, and any unique offerings that set you apart.
• Check your work: Check Google’s Rich Results Test to validate your schema implementation.

Investing time in schema markup requires a learning curve, but it gives you a critical edge in local search, helping you show up prominently when it matters most.

6. Repurpose Blog Content for Social Media 

Drive growth by strategically repurposing content for different social media platforms. This expands your reach and drives more traffic back to your website.

To do it effectively:

• Adapt to each platform: Don’t simply copy and paste. Personalize content based on platform norms, with image-heavy posts for Instagram and snappy, conversational content for X.
• Utilize diverse formats: Turn statistics into infographics and key takeaways into quote cards — or create short video teasers based on your blog topics.
• Leverage local hashtags: Research popular hashtags in your area and incorporate them into your posts to connect with a local audience.
• Engage and interact: Don’t just broadcast. Ask questions, respond to comments, and spark discussions related to your blog content with your social followers.

Repurposing extends the lifespan of your blog content and helps you connect with your local audience by meeting them where they hang out most.

Following these tips empowers you to create a more effective blogging strategy for your local business. Need help gaining online visibility in local searches? Our blog writing service can help you achieve long-lasting results. 

The post 6 Strategies to Harness Blogging for Local SEO and Drive Visibility appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Just when you think you’ve figured out how to make Facebook’s News Feed algorithm work for your business, the social media giant shakes things up.

Facebook has recently unveiled Instant Articles, and marketers are trying to decide how this is going to affect their content writing strategy.

This new feature, which allows publishers to post articles directly to the site’s newsfeed, has two stated purposes:

1. To create a faster reading experience for mobile users
2. To introduce a suite of immersive features, such as auto-play video clips, audio clips, interactive maps and more

Instant Articles is currently open to only a handful of large publishers, such as The New York Times, National Geographic and BBC News. While we don’t yet know if this feature will eventually be available to content marketers, it’s still a good idea to make sure that your content writing strategy adapts to the changes.

Taking Content to the Next Level

The most obvious way that Instant Articles will impact online marketers is by setting a high expectation for content quality. While faster load times will certainly be appreciated by readers—after all, they’re scoring about 8 more seconds of productivity for each article they read—the interactive features will be what steal the show.

Publishers are now able to integrate tilt-able images and videos, interactive maps and auto-play video clips into their content.

Each article can offer its readers a rich and immersive reading experience right on their mobile device.

Keeping Up

Even if Facebook never allows content marketers to take advantage of Instant Articles, you should still be asking yourself how your content writing processes can evolve to provide an outstanding reading experience.

What can you do to build your social media presence and effectively compete for readers’ attention?

• Take the time to create a great Facebook Page
• Show that you have an up-to-date understanding of what matters to your readers by regularly publishing fresh content to your social media channels
• Give your readers the ability to interact with your content by incorporating images, videos, infographics and other media

By maintaining a strong social media presence and providing your followers with enriching content, you can keep up with the ever-evolving arena of content marketing.

The post Facebook Instant Articles: What Does It Mean for Your Strategy? appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

As an online marketer, writing irresistible sales copy is one of the most important sales techniques that you can master. Regardless of the degree of awesomeness you have to offer your target audience, a forgettable sales copy will do nothing to improve your bottom line.

So how do you create a sales copy that sells? Keep reading for four fast tips on how to create website content that puts your business front and center.

1. Catch Their Attention with a Compelling Headline

When you think of a typical sales copy, your mind may conjure up images of bold, red font, highlighted text, or an overabundance of exclamation points. While these tactics may initially capture a reader’s attention, they may also come across as overly aggressive.

As Heidi Cohen explains on Content Marketing Institute, a headline that catches the eye and piques interest is an effective way to encourage your audience to keep reading, without weakening your credibility or brand image.

2. Talk to a Person, Not a Faceless Group

This may be a difficult skill to master, but it holds the key to relating to your audience. When creating your sales copy, don’t write to a nameless, faceless crowd. Create a customer persona, and write for them. How is your product, service or cause a good fit for their needs or desires?

Apple provides an excellent example for what it means to write to your audience. In its iPhone5 sales copy, the word iPhone is used 81 times. The words you and your are used 110 times.

The sales copy not only shares information about the product, but also how the product is relevant to the reader.

3. Readability Matters

On average, a majority of readers will skim a page. According to the Nielson Norman Group, only 16% of readers will actually read every word. Effective website content caters to both types of readers. It packs inspiring, information-rich content in a layout that is easy to digest.

While the actual content of your sales copy is important, its presentation matters as well. Have you ever visited a page that had a dark background, with small text that was only a few shades lighter?

How long did you stay on the page? It could provide the coordinates for the fountain of youth, and its readers would be none the wiser.

By ensuring that your sales copy is both rich in information and readable, you can ensure that it provides the biggest impact.

4. Don’t Forget the Call to Action

The final step to creating a great sales copy is including a call to action. An effective call to action encourages the reader to take the next step, whether that is to make a purchase, connect with your company or find more information.

By following these tips when creating website content, you can ensure that your sales copy gives you the best results possible.

The post How to Write Irresistible Sales Copy appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

You’ve found what looks like the perfect piece of furniture. You click on a link to find out more about the product and…nothing. Not even the measurements.

How likely are you to make a purchase with nothing but a manufacturer’s picture for reference? Like most shoppers, you’re probably not willing to roll the dice when it comes to making an online purchase.

In a sales environment where shoppers prefer to be able to fully experience a product before making a purchase, online retailers face a unique challenge. By incorporating rich, informative product descriptions, you can:

• Enable a potential buyer to recognize their need for your product or service
• Give a shopper the ability to purchase with confidence
• Minimize the risk of having the order cancelled or returned

Why Are Unique Product Descriptions Important?

Developing fresh product descriptions for your entire inventory can be a challenge. Nevertheless, you can significantly improve your bottom line by simply taking the time to educate your customers about your products.

Search Engine Optimization

According to Heidi Cohen’s article on Content Marketing Institute’s blog, adding product descriptions and details are an effective way to improve search optimization. By now you know that your search engine rankings have a direct impact on your sales. As an online merchant, you have two SEO opportunities: regular blog posts and unique product descriptions. By ensuring that you utilize SEO strategies in your product descriptions, such as long tail keywords, you can catch the attention of search engines and shoppers alike.

Identify the Need

Traditional brick-and-mortar stores rely on their sales teams to identify and find solutions for a customer’s needs. However, as an online marketer, you have minimal contact with most of your customers. An effective product description is one of your business’s most productive “employees.” It guides your customers in recognizing a need, while providing them with the appropriate solution.

Stand Out From the Crowd

As Trond Lyngbo explains, when you copy a manufacturer’s product description, you publish duplicate content. Because Google filters duplicate content, using a manufacturer’s product description is a surefire way to miss out on sales. Even so, manufacturer’s descriptions are widely used by many online retailers. Not only does a fresh product description ensure that you are not penalized by search engines, but it also allows you to stand out from your competitors by demonstrating an accurate understanding of the product.

How to Write Unique Product Descriptions

Creating product descriptions that sell is easy when you follow a few guidelines:

1. Understand the needs of your target audience.
2. Use rich verbs and adjectives.
3. Use bullet points, lists and short sentences.
4. If you must use the manufacturer’s description, tweak it to make it as unique as possible.

At the end of the day, fresh product descriptions are a simple and effective way to build credibility while showing your customers that you understand what matters to them.

The post Can Fresh Product Descriptions Drive Business? appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

What Makes Valuable Content?

While the concept of content marketing has been around since the late 1800’s, the dawn of online marketing has presented new challenges in determining ROI. According to Arnie Kuenn of Content Marketing Institute, the ability to see the full return on your investment rarely happens overnight, but it is still important to measure its benefits.

Before deciding whether your SEO content marketing strategy is working for your business, you must first evaluate your marketing efforts. Asking yourself the following questions can help you determine whether you are producing valuable content:

• Does my content reflect the personality and vision of my business?
• Does it add value to the lives of my followers by addressing their interests and concerns?
• Is it both search engine-friendly and reader-friendly?

Types of Content Metrics

After you have confirmed that your content marketing efforts are indeed sufficient, you are ready to consider a few different content metrics. These metrics must be analyzed in order to get the full picture of the success of your strategy.

1. Consumption

This metric includes a few simple data points, which can help you gauge brand awareness and website traffic. Troels Kjems of Think! Digital recommends considering several consumption metrics, including:

• Content views (page visits, downloads, etc.)
• Time spent on site
• Cost per visitor
• Bounce rate

2. Sharing and Social Media

Sharing and social media metrics can help you understand your content’s reach by seeing how it is shared across social media platforms.

3. Lead Generation

This metric can help you determine how well your content marketing strategy is addressing the needs of your customers. This metric covers:

• Form submission
• Conversion rates
• Mailing list or blog subscriptions

4. Sales

The sales metric can show you how your SEO content marketing strategy impacts customer acquisition and promotes growth.

Practicing Patience

For most businesses, content marketing isn’t rewarded with instant results. Clear ROI data can take a while to become fully apparent. Ultimately, your marketing goals will be achieved through proper planning, tracking and consistency. While success won’t happen overnight, your returns will generally increase over time as you continue to consistently publish valuable content.

The post How Are You Measuring Content Marketing ROI? appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Whether the community is geographical, social or professional, its ultimate goal is to foster growth, both for the individual and the group as a whole.

This goal is also at the heart of any online community. An online community is a group of people with common interests or goals who use the internet to communicate and pursue their interests.

Through active participation, the members of an online community have the opportunity to interact and share experiences through forums, blog writing, email groups and social networks.

What Are the Benefits of an Online Community?

To fully appreciate the benefits of an online community, consider the limitations of a physical community. Schedule conflicts, geographical distance and even shyness are all obstacles for effective community participation. Fortunately, by growing a community online, these obstacles are easy to overcome.

• The community is active around the clock, eliminating schedule conflicts
• Members connect online, making geographic location unimportant
• Addressing a group online is much easier than speaking in front of a group of people, allowing even the most reserved members the ability to actively participate

By creating an online community, you can give your audience the opportunity to interact with your brand in a way that is convenient, non-threatening and fun.

How to Establish an Online Community

Starting an online community from scratch can be a challenge. However, considering a few key factors can help you be sure that you are getting off on the right foot.

1. Decide who your audience is

As Joe Pulizzi states,the first step to building an online community is to identify and understand your audience. Evaluate categories such as:

• Age
• Income
• Lifestyle
• Education
• Location

Once you decide who will gain the most from your online community, you can better customize your content marketing efforts, including your blog writing and product or service descriptions.

2. Reach out

Talk to a few potential community members. What are they looking for in an online community? What issues would they like to see addressed? Reaching out to potential community members allows you to establish a stable foundation for your online community.

3. Invite Members

Begin messaging people personally, inviting them to join your online community. While the temptation may be to recruit everyone you’ve ever known, keeping your community tight and focused will promote a high level of engagement.

4. Promote

Once you have a solid group of contributors, it’s time to promote your community. Add more spokes by choosing a forum, such as Facebook or Google+, and open your community up for new members. Encourage long term community growth by:

• Posting fresh content every day
• Make your blog writing shareable by utilizing social buttons
• Interacting with your community members

When it comes to building a vibrant online community, always remember: slow and steady wins the race. Take the time to ensure that you are reaching your target audience and creating a community that will add value to their lives. Your efforts will pay off when you successfully build a community of loyal and engaged participants.

The post How to Grow and Manage Your Online Community appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Why Fresh Content Is Important

Blog Ergo Sum: I Blog, Therefore I Am

As any online business owner will tell you, if you aren’t listed within the first three pages of a search engine result, your business may as well not exist.

SEO guidelines evolve all the time to ensure high quality, relevant results for the user, making it difficult for online marketers to ensure high rankings. However, there is one SEO strategy that you can always count on: search engines love fresh content.

While you may not see the wisdom in taking the time to update your product and service descriptions every week, you cannot let your website become stagnant. If you have a blog (and you should!), adding a couple new entries each week is an easy way to add fresh content to your site. As Jeff Bullas explains, regular content writing demonstrates to search engines that your website is up-to-date, active and worthy of high rankings.

Fresh Content Creates a Social Hub

Regular content writing gives your followers new opportunities to interact with your brand. An interesting, on-site blog with regularly updated content allows you to:

• build a social network
• create contagious content
• transform casual visitors into engaged, loyal followers

Fresh Content Establishes You as an Expert in Your Field

Regular content writing is a great way to demonstrate to your followers that you are knowledgeable in your field. By consistently updating your content, you can show that you are up-to-date on the trends and ideas that interest your customers.

3 Easy Tips for Generating Fresh Content

1. Update Old Content

While giving older pages a facelift isn’t considered by search engines to be quite as fresh as a brand new page, it is a quick and simple way to update your site. However, remember that search engines don’t just consider when the page was last updated. When you incorporate fresh content into an older page, make sure you actually rewrite a significant portion of the page.

2. Use Visuals

Infographics, informational videos or relevant photos are not only easy to share across social media platforms, but they are a quick way to give your site some fresh content.

3. Keep Content Concise and Scannable

Bulletpoints, short sentences and subheadings not only make it easier to organize your thoughts, they also allow your reader to quickly read your content.

By ensuring that you are keeping up a steady stream of fresh content, you can increase your website traffic, create brand loyalty and improve your bottom line.

The post The Case for Fresh Content appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Your content must provide value to your readers. Read on to learn about four ways to create SEO content for real humans.

Never Mind Keyword Density

Since Google penalizes pages that are stuffed with keywords, then surely there is an optimal keyword percentage, right? As convenient as that would be, optimal keyword density is a myth.

Once upon a time, search engine crawlers would look for keywords on a website to help users find the content that would meet their needs. Since then, search engines have become far more intuitive.

Web pages that feature quality content rank much higher than pages that are stuffed with keywords.

This is good news! Producing content that is interesting to a reader, rather than a search engine, does much to improve your credibility. Take the plunge; forget about keyword density and focus on creating high quality, enriching content.

Make Your Content Scannable

While long posts may rank higher in searches, they can seem intimidating to a reader. Make your content easy to scan by:

• Using subheadings
• Using a bold font to draw attention to key information
• Shortening your sentences and paragraphs

Making your content scannable allows you to provide your readers with a lot of information in such a way that is easy to digest.

Use SEO Content Tools

Take the guesswork out of producing SEO content. There are an abundance of tools available that will help you create content that ranks high in searches. Here are three SEO content tools that can help you attract more visitors to your site.

Be a Perfectionist

No matter how innovative and interesting your content, spelling and grammatical errors chip away at your credibility. After you have written your content, proofread it.

Then, proofread it again. If possible, have someone else proofread it for you. A conversational tone is important when creating SEO content for real humans; impeccable grammar is equally important.

Does this sound too tedious and time-consuming? Consider hiring SEO content writing services to take care of your content creation.

The post How to Write SEO Content for Real Humans appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

The Attributes of a Press Release

An Eye-catching Headline

Kerin Foster of Marketing Land states that the best way to develop a great headline is to put yourself in your readers’ shoes. What type of headline would capture your attention? People have access to limitless information every time they browse the web. Without an eye-catching headline, your target audience is unlikely to read, or even notice, your press release.

An Informative First Paragraph

You have succeeded in catching a reader’s attention, and this is not the time to be coy. As captivating as your press release may be, it is unlikely that your reader will read every word before moving on to another headline. All pertinent information should be covered in the first paragraph: the Who, What, When, Where and Why.

A Notable Quote

Providing straightforward, boiled down facts can feel a little dry and boring. By including a quote from a notable person regarding your announcement, you can provide interest to your piece. According to Hannah Fleishman of Inbound Marketing, the quote you choose should emphasize the core of your announcement.

Contact Information

A common mistake a press release writer may make is forgetting to include the company’s contact information. Your press release should conclude with the company’s telephone number and the email address of whoever handles your company’s marketing communications.

Marketing Your Press Release

Whether you are writing the press release yourself, or you have hired a professional press release writer, effectively marketing your press release is the key to success.

Social Media

Press releases are easily shared across social media platforms. Whether you post it, tweet it or pin it, social media provides a great way to connect with your target audience.

Email Marketing

Do you send out regular newsletters? If so, you already have an effective means of sharing your press release with those who will benefit from it the most.

Website

Whether you post the press release to your blog or feature it on your homepage, your website is the prime location to share your announcement.

The post A Guide to Writing a Great Press Release appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Your content marketing strategy should focus on meeting the needs of your audience, rather than an ever-changing algorithm.

Creating Goal-Oriented Connections

The most successful businesses have traditionally focused on building relationships, not audiences. In an age where SEO tips and practices abound, this principle has never been more important. Perhaps you think you don’t have the time it takes to reach out and build meaningful customer relationships. A strong social media presence is essential. However, that doesn’t mean you need to spend hours touching base with every follower on Facebook. A simple hello and a post about your latest endeavors is all it takes to allow your target audience to feel like a part of your business. And, speaking of your target audience…

Broaden Your Target Audience

Having a general idea of who will benefit the most from your products or services can help you develop a market strategy. As Greg Ciotti of Convince and Convert states, a useful customer profile allows you to ensure that your content marketing strategy addresses your customers’ needs. However, your main focus should be on creating opportunities for growth. Think outside of the box. Don’t tailor your approach to one specific group at the expense of building exposure and expanding your vision.

No More Keyword Stuffing

Not so long ago, companies could hire custom writing services that could generate SEO-driven content. According to Tina Courtney-Brown of Site Pro News, a solid keyword strategy is no longer the focus of outstanding search engine ratings. The success of your business rides on your ability to cater to your audience, rather than search engine algorithms. Create custom content or find custom writing services that focus on providing fresh, relevant content.

Allow Time for Growth

As you change your approach of reaching your audience, remember to allow time for growth. Overnight growth is great when it happens, but don’t be discouraged if it takes months of routine dedication before you see a difference. By shifting your focus from algorithms to genuine customer relationships, you will experience greater satisfaction and long term success.

The post SEO Best Practices: Focus on Audience, Not Algorithm appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

• Provide valuable information about current events and how they affect your company
• Present new ideas that encourage open discussion
• Educate readers about new research findings

As a white paper writer, you may feel overwhelmed with the amount of time and research that goes into creating a document that is worth reading. By using information that you already have on hand, you can efficiently create a white paper that will set you apart as an expert in your field.

Keep reading to discover five time-saving tips for writing your next white paper.

Create an Outline

When efficiency is the objective, taking the time to create an outline can seem counterproductive. However, this pre-writing step allows you to hone your focus and organize the layout. This will save you time by allowing you to quickly write your first draft.

Mirror Your Editorial Calendar

An editorial calendar is a great tool for strategically planning your content and reducing stress. However, as Roanne Neuwirth of Content Marketing Institute suggests, editorial calendars can also provide an outline for your white paper. Use your white paper to tell your readers what to expect from upcoming blog posts, newsletters or videos.

Use Your Knowledge of Your Customers

If you have a strong social media presence, you have already had the opportunity to discover what topics resonate with your audience. Use the research you have already gathered to create a white paper that will interest your readers.

Repurpose Your Content

As a white paper writer, you likely already have all the information you need for an effective white paper. Use the information you have already gleaned for infographics, blog posts and product descriptions to quickly create an information-rich white paper.

Keep Moving Forward

Once you have gathered the necessary information and created an outline, it’s time to begin writing. While you want your first draft to be as smooth as possible, getting hung up on perfection will slow you down. As Ann Handley, the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs advises, one key to efficiency is embracing the ugly first draft. After all of your thoughts are committed to writing, you will have time to polish the white paper before sending it on its way.

Writing a white paper does not have to be time-consuming. By using the information you already have on hand, you can quickly create a piece that will bring value to your readers.

The post 5 Time-saving Tips for White Paper Writers appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Press releases have been a cornerstone of public relations since their inception nearly a century ago. While they have always received a great deal of criticism, they remain one of the most effective tried and true ways to produce results.

As a press release writer, you have the responsibility of creating awareness of a new product or service. As Wendy Marx of Marx Communications explains, a press release should answer five basic questions: Who, What, When, Where and Why.

A well-written press release is compelling, scannable and offers the reader everything they need to know upfront. Whether you are writing a press release or are purchasing one from a professional press release writer, there are basic guidelines to follow.

Read on to learn about how to write a press release that will stand out.

The Elements of an Effective Press Release

The tone may vary depending on the purpose of the business and the length is subjective according to its needs, but every press release follows a basic format.

The Headline and Subhead

The headline is the reader’s first impression of the press release. It should accurately explain the purpose of the press release, while compelling the reader to continue reading. Proper formatting dictates that the headline is written in bold font, while the subhead is italicized.

The Body

The body of the press release should be as concise as possible, while still covering the pertinent information. Your target audience, who in this case is the media, is unlikely to spend more than a couple minutes reading over the press release.

The first line of the body should include the city of the press release’s origin, as well as its release date. A press release writer should include all the important information in the first paragraph of the press release. The details of the announcement can be further expounded upon in the following paragraphs, but the reader should have quick access to the essentials.

While the press release should be factual, this does not mean it needs to be dry. Incorporating a quote from an authoritative figure regarding the announcement will bring color and interest to the piece.

The Press Release: An Important Aspect of Your Marketing Strategy

As Heidi Cohen states, a press release alone is not enough to ensure the success of your business. However, when integrated with the other aspects of your marketing strategy, it can be effective in driving your campaign.

The post What Every Press Release Writer Must Know appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Are you certain that your content provider is using the best SEO practices to attract the most visitors to your site? Read these five tips to ensure that you are getting the most from your SEO content writing services.

Create a Catchy Headline

The headline is your reader’s first impression of your article. According to Brian Clark from Copyblogger, 80% of the people that come across your article will read the headline alone. A catchy headline may be the factor that determines the effectiveness of the entire article.

Headers are Important

As Joost de Valk of Yoast.com states, the heading structure of your article is an important aspect of creating an article that appeals to both search engines and your readers. Not only do headers allow for quick scanning, but they allow search engines to grasp the topics covered by the article.

Meta Tags Impact SEO

Your article’s meta tags tell search engines what information is on the web page. Title tags alone may increase your search engine ranking, and a meta description may encourage searchers to follow the link to your site.

Incorporate Keyword Families

Keywords may not carry the same weight that they did before, but they are still used by search engines. To incorporate keywords in a natural way, use “keyword families,” or variations of keywords and keyword phrases.

Reduce Your Bounce Rate

The bounce rate is a measurement of how many people visit your page, then “bounce” away before perusing the rest of your site. A high bounce rate may indicate that you are reaching the wrong audience. Reducing your bounce rate indicates that you are engaging more customers and have an increased chance of conversion.

In the end, effective SEO content writing is about making your website accessible to your target audience. Finding SEO content writing services that can provide you with content that is appealing to both search engines and readers is easy when you know where to look.

The post 5 Tips for Engaging Better SEO Content Writing Services appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Meal preparation takes a great deal of time and energy: you plan the menu, shop for the ingredients, prepare the meal and finally, you serve it. Providing a satisfying meal is both challenging and rewarding.

However, before too much time passes, everyone is looking for another meal. And so you begin the process again. And again.

Creating content feels like that, doesn’t it? As a content writer, you face your own challenges. Developing ideas for your next article or blog post is difficult. Identifying topics that will interest your readers can be hard. Content marketing may feel overwhelming. Publishing an article or blog post is a great accomplishment.

But once again, it won’t be long before your readers are going to look to you for more.

As with meal preparation, having a plan and the right content writer tools in place makes content creation much easier. Read on to discover five surprising tools every content writer should utilize.

Developing Ideas for Content

Twitter

By now, you know that Twitter is a great way to connect with your target audience. However, as Vanessa Copeland of TechWyse shares, this is also a tool that allows you to see what topics are trending in your industry. This will enable you to see what your readers have an “appetite” for.

Trapit

This is an iPad app that allows you to customize your content feed based on your interests. With Trapit, you can limit the content you receive to that which pertains to your industry; perfect for when you’re low on ideas.

Distributing Your Content

MailChimp

Now that you’ve created your content, it’s time to share it with your readers. MailChimp allows you to easily distribute your content to those on your mailing list.

Promoted Posts on Facebook

According to Jeff Bullas, advertising on Facebook is effective because of the platform’s custom audience targeting features. Facebook’s promoted posts allow you to reach your target audience, even if they are not yet following you.

Tweriod

Do you know the best times to tweet the content you’ve generated? Tweriod does! Use this tool to ensure that your content is seen by as many of your followers as possible.

Having the proper content writer tools to create quality content makes all the difference. By utilizing some of the tools available, while benefiting from tried and true tips from others, you can consistently create content that is satisfying for both you and your readers.

The post 5 More Surprising Tools Every Content Writer Must Have appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Email newsletters are an effective tool that allows you to maintain an ongoing relationship with your customers. Depending on the purpose and goal of your website, sending out a regular newsletter can:

• Create a sense of loyalty and community among your subscribers
• Enhance your reputability in your field
• Allow you to announce new products and services
• Create new possibilities for monetization  

You may be worried that your customers would see a regular newsletter as junk mail cluttering their inbox. That is a valid concern with a very simple solution: don’t send junk mail! According to Brian Massey of Content Marketing Institute, your customers are not interested in promotional emails from your company. They want email that will educate or entertain them.

So, how do you generate attention-grabbing newsletters that will benefit your business? Where do you find email marketing content that will interest your subscribers? If your website has a blog, you probably already have a ton of great content at your fingertips!

Blog Posts Can Power Your Newsletters

Having a blog that is regularly maintained is essential to building a loyal customer base. Posting fresh content three or four times per month sends a message to your customers that you are up-to-date on the issues that matter to them.

Regular blogging also provides you with a quick and easy way to create a newsletter. Perhaps you have a blog post that sparked a reaction in your community of readers. Maybe you announced a company milestone or a new product or service you are offering. By converting your blog post into a newsletter, you can be sure to reach your target audience, even if they missed the blog update.

When you have a regularly updated blog, creating email marketing content can take as little as 20 minutes.

Making Sure Your Newsletter Finds the Inbox

Luke Guy from Convince and Convert offers several tips to help you keep your newsletters from being classified as junk mail. Among them are:

• Keep the newsletter brief
• Use the recipient’s name
• Include no more than one link
• Drop the images
• Use fresh, relevant content (it’s easier than you think!)

By sending out a regular newsletter, you can reach more customers, drive up your website’s traffic and create a stronger online presence. 

The post How to Create Email Marketing Content Your Audience will Love appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Blog writing is a powerful marketing tool for your business. With a blog, you can:

• Attract visitors to your main website
• Humanize your business
• Provide better customer service
• Drive up your sales

Because blogs are generally informal and conversational, they are a forum in which your readers will feel comfortable engaging with your business. Attract more viewers by syndicating your blog feed to social media sites. You will reach a wider audience and create brand loyalty over time.

But don’t stop there! You have invested time and money into each blog post. By repurposing the content, you will elevate your exposure, attract more readers and ultimately get more bang for your buck.

Listed here are four ways to get more mileage out of your blog posts.

White Papers are Still Relevant

According to Content Marketing Institute, white papers are still an effective content marketing strategy. To create an effective white paper, reference the responses your blog post received from clients. What resonated with your audience? Did you gain fresh insight from your clients’ responses? Convert your blog post to a white paper by further refining and presenting your original point of view.

Create Infographics

Your readers are highly visual. Converting the information in a blog post to an infographic is an effective way to convey valuable information to a wider audience. As Jeff Bullas states, infographics are easy to scan and easy to share on social media sites.

Repackage the Details in an eBook

Have you wanted to create an eBook for your website, but you don’t know where to begin? Take a look at your blog. You likely already have a selection of carefully researched and written content. Choose a topic, filter the blog posts accordingly and most of the hard work is already done.

Use Your Blog Posts to Power Newsletters

Newsletters are a great way to send customized mail to your readers. Even your most faithful readers may miss a blog post or two. By reusing a blog post as a newsletter, you can ensure that valuable information about your products or services reaches your target audience.

Repurpose your blog writing and syndicating the updated content to all your usual social media sites. You can reach more readers with increased social shares, ultimately driving more traffic to your main website.

The post How Consistent Blog Writing Drives Your Content Strategy appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Are blocks in creativity preventing your website from consistently reaching your target audiences? If so, you have a lot to gain from using an editorial calendar.

Content writing can be a challenge, and editorial calendars are becoming an increasingly common means of strategizing, organizing and managing content creation.

While you may feel that utilizing an editorial calendar is confining and does not permit creativity and freedom, taking a little time to plan and prepare now will save you from a lot of stress in the future.

Here are four benefits to working from an editorial calendar.

Eliminate Writer’s Block

Nothing blocks creativity quite like stress. By taking the time to map out future blog posts or website content, you free up time to research your topic, find images or find the right writer for your content.

Plan Strategically

As stated by Beth Levenson from Sigma Web Marketing, using an editorial calendar allows you to tie your content writing to date-sensitive events. Plan your content around holidays, product launchings, trends or company milestones.

Stay Organized

Working with a variety of writers is a great way to give a voice to different perspectives and keep your content writing fresh and relevant. However, it can also make it challenging to stay organized. By using an editorial calendar, you can give your writers a clearer sense of direction.

Find out What Your Audience Wants

According to Kat Liendgens, CEO of Spectate, using an editorial calendar is a great way to find out what interests your audience. By overlaying your editorial calendar with analytic data, you can see with what type of content your audience views and interacts. This enables you to become more strategic in your marketing campaigns.

Clearly, editorial calendars are not limited to the blogging world. You can also use an editorial calendar to plan updates to your website’s content, determine when you will need fresh product descriptions for existing products or schedule a press release for the launch of a new product or service.

The post Scheduling Your Content Writing with an Editorial Calendar appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

If so, social media may be your answer to greater success in your business.

According to an article published by Convince & Convert, 53% of customers who connect with businesses through social media demonstrate a greater degree of loyalty to those brands.

By leveraging powerful content and effective marketing techniques, you can generate interest, increase your customer base and create brand loyalty.

However, effective social media marketing requires a highly-focused strategy that includes listening to your customers, being accessible and staying consistent in your involvement.

By following these three tips for effective social media marketing, you can lay the groundwork for a strategy that will serve your customers and your business.

Listen To Your Audience

Using social media to listen to your customers is one of the most important aspects of creating an effective strategy.

By using online marketing to keep your finger on the pulse of what matters most to your customers, you can ensure satisfaction and excellent customer service.

Track your customers’ conversations, and ensure that you have a system in place to address every comment or complaint.  You can avoid a crisis by addressing issues as they arise.

According to Social Media Today, your social media page can help you be proactive in warding off customer complaints.

Use your social media presence to determine the needs and expectations of your customers.  Ask customers directly what they think of your products or services.

Pay attention not only to what your customers like and dislike about your business, but also what they are saying about your competitors.  Listening to what your target audience has to say about your competition provides a unique opportunity to fill an unmet need.

Interact With Your Audience

When developing an online presence, it is important to be available to your customers.  Rather than posting content and then disappearing for six months, encourage feedback and participate in conversations.

As stated in an article published by Entrepreneur, customers can be a fickle lot and may lose interest if your company is not consistent in publishing content.

By posting regularly and maintaining a high level of interaction with your customers, you can effectively build brand loyalty and increase customer satisfaction.

Practice Patience

Success in social media marketing develops over time.  While you may see the fruits of your online labor within a short period of time, it is more likely that a long term commitment will be required before you truly see the benefits of developing an online presence.

Webster Digital Marketing  does a great job explaining why social media marketing may not benefit your company right away.

Consistency and patience are vital to creating an online business culture that encourages customer feedback and fosters brand loyalty.

Summary

So, if you are looking for an avenue to connect with your customers, generate greater interest in your products or services and create brand loyalty, explore the many options available to you through social media.

By listening to your customers, remaining consistent in your online interactions and practicing patience, you will reap the benefits of social media marketing.

The post 3 Tips You Need to Succeed in Social Media Marketing appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.