Demian Farnworth says, “You’ve launched. You now have loads of content on your blog. You’re happy with the growth and the traction you’ve gained. Your audience is growing — not as fast as you’d like, but you’re meeting goals. Things are looking up because you’ve created authority with what seems to be a solid and loyal audience. But the rush of new content ideas is slowing, and enthusiasm (both yours and your audience’s) is cooling. You’re worried about sustaining the momentum while deepening your authority and influence with your audience. And there’s a really good... [...]

Stefanie Flaxman says, “As someone who made an intentional decision to have a career working with words, talking to you about the importance of visual content makes me feel a little weird. But I have to tell you, when I’ve been scrolling through my Twitter timeline lately, it’s the updates with intriguing visuals that catch my eye. They’re the ones I read, and the links I click. In the current digital marketing landscape, the strategic use of visual content — whether it accompanies text or stands alone — is a smart move as you strive to produce the best experience for your audience“. 3... [...]

Rainmaker team says, “Online courses are a great way to build a business. They’re also a great way to get better-qualified clients, or build an additional revenue stream by providing an alternative to your services. But sometimes, things don’t go as planned. Your course isn’t selling as much as you’d like, or worse, it’s not selling at all. There’s a methodical analysis you can perform to see if you can spot the problem. Of course, this is the same analysis you should perform before you create a course“. Why Don’t Some Online Courses Sell? ‘Copyblogger’ Blog  [...]

Pamela Wilson says, “That is the question. It’s the question I’m asked as soon as someone discovers that I manage the editorial team for Copyblogger. You see back in March, there was a sudden influx of audio content here on the pages of Copyblogger. We launched our podcast network — Rainmaker.FM — and (of course) wanted to share the new content we were creating with all of you. But we may have confused you, too. Based on the questions I get, we’ve certainly confused at least some of you. I’m here today to set the record straight. I want to let you know what we really think about... [...]

Rainmaker team says, “If you’re using social media channels such as Twitter to promote your content, then this show is for you. This week, Hit Publish host Amy Harrison is looking at different ways you can ‘beef up your tweets’ and write multiple updates to promote just one post (without sounding boring or repetitive). When you’re posting tweets (or other social media updates) to get people to your content, it can feel like you are broadcasting again and again, just repeatedly sending out information and hoping someone bites. But social media is really just a conversation, so when... [...]

Jim Yu says, “The value of social signals has been hotly debated for many years, particularly after Matt Cutts of Google said in January 2014 that the search giant does not take social signals into account in its algorithm. Citing issues like cost-efficiency and the frequency with which the information could be updated, Cutts said that social pages were indexed like any other website, but that actual likes or retweets aren’t considered. Content, social and search, however, remain interconnected on multiple fronts. To successfully measure how a website is performing, it’s critical to... [...]

Quinn Whissen says, “You’ve probably heard this before: “Content marketing is hard…Content marketing takes a long time.” Sorry to say, I’m not here to tell you that’s wrong: It is hard, and it does take time. But that doesn’t mean content marketing doesn’t work. It does. It just takes consistency, dedication and yes, time, before you see results. In the meantime, however, you’re going to be sad. You might even get mad. Hell, you may even be full-on depressed. You might offer a cry up to the heavens: “Why is my content not worrrrrrrking!!!” And you hear no booming answers... [...]

Regina Love says, “As a consumer, nothing makes my day like reading or shopping for anything related to arts and crafts (it’s my thing). However, one annoyance we all seem to run into is being sent an email to sell you on a product that you would never want nor need. How can you avoid being that pain in a customer’s inbox? The answer is in targeting your content. It is one of the most important, and sometimes underutilized, elements of email marketing. At the MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2015 Media Center, Courtney Eckerle, Managing Editor, MarketingSherpa, interviewed Jessica Best, Digital... [...]

Jacob Warwick says, “Businesses interested in leveraging the many benefits of content marketing seem to have an ever-growing list of solutions and content strategies to choose from. They can hire freelancers, outsource their content to an agency; or they can even onboard and train their own in-house teams. With so many options, it can be hard to decide which is best for you. Understanding how each of these solutions can best align with your overarching business goals, budgeting restrictions and the needs of your customers is a necessary step before you promote your brand with a content driven... [...]

Greg Brown says, “There are a lot of metrics that you can look at as a publisher to understand how well your content is resonating with audience members—pageviews, returning visitors, keyword performance, referrals, etc. Each of these gives you insight into some form of reader engagement. One metric in particular that is particularly indicative of overall reader engagement, is time on site. Why Time on Site is Important We’ll start with an example. Let’s say you see an average page view count of 4.5 pages per visit. Sounds great, right? But then you take a look at your average... [...]