Search Engine Marketing Blog

Eric Brantner
SEO Content Writer

The benefits of social media have been well documented. You can earn tons of inbound links and increase your brand’s exposure. However, just because you’re a member of a social media site doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed success.

Creating content for social media sites requires careful planning. To get the most out of your social media content, follow these tips.
• Choose the Right Site- It doesn’t matter how great your content is if you’re submitting it to the wrong social media site. For example, if you’re submitting content on the medical industry, it does you no good to put it on a social network for internet marketers. These days, there are social networks for virtually every niche. Sign up for accounts on the sites related to your industry.

• Understand Your Audience- Each social media site has a unique audience. If you want your content to get attention, you have to create content specifically for this audience. If your audience promotes complex industry articles, give them something detailed. Likewise, if late breaking industry news tends to go hot often, try to be the first to break relevant news for your niche.

• Participate in the Network- Remember, it’s called “social media.” You have to be social if you want to gain respect on these sites. This means voting for other people’s content, engaging in discussions, and submitting content from other sites besides your own. If you’re a good participant on a site, people will be more likely to promote your content.

• Create Useful Lists- It’s almost a given—lists make for great social media content. Creating useful lists that can be read quickly and easily will grab the attention of the site’s users. People love lists because they are so easy to scan through. If you don’t believe that lists work, just look at the cover’s of magazines at the bookstore. You’re almost guaranteed to see a music magazine with “20 greatest songs of all time” or a sports magazine with the “10 greatest NBA stars in history.”

• Write Great Headlines- I don’t care if you’ve written the greatest article in the history of the internet. If it doesn’t have a great headline, no one will ever click on it. Social media sites have thousands of articles submitted all day long. If you want to stand apart from the competition, you have to write eye catching headlines that demand users click.

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Eric Brantner
SEO Content Writer

The popularity of eBooks has risen considerably lately. They’re a great way to distribute important information quickly and cheaply to online users. While most eBooks cost money, there are several available that are free.

What follows is a list of 5 free SEO eBooks that deliver useful information to SEOs of all skill levels. These documents give tips that will help your website get more visitors and increase online sales.

1. 101 Tips on Search Engine Optimization- As the title of this book implies, this eBook gives you 101 tips for improving your SEO strategies. Included in these tips is everything from creating basic, keyword-rich title tags to advanced tips on increasing the back links to your site. Apply these tips to your website to improve your online visibility.

2. Beginner’s Guide to SEO- Have you heard about SEO, but don’t know much about it? This free eBook is an excellent resource for SEO beginners. It provides all the information you need to start your SEO education. From defining SEO to helping you build an SEO friendly website, this eBook has it all. Highly recommended for all SEO novices!

3. SEO Made Easy- SEO Made Easy is a 90 page eBook that gives you all the information you need to start building your presence in the search engines. It discusses keyword research techniques, common SEO mistakes to avoid, competition analysis, and advanced SEO tips to help you dominate the SERPs. In short, it’s a great eBook for SEOs of all skill levels.

4. Keyword Research- Great keyword research is the backbone of an effective SEO campaign. Target the right keywords, and your site will experience an increase in targeted traffic that leads to sales. This eBook gives you a comprehensive resource for properly conducting keyword research for your website.

5.  The New Rules of Viral Marketing- You’ve heard the term “viral marketing.” Do you know how to create it? Viral marketing can be a great way to spread your ideas to a new audience. This eBook explains what viral marketing is and what you can do to make it work for your brand. This is a great read for companies looking to increase their exposure in a new way.

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Eric Brantner
SEO Content Writer

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard the horror stories about the economy. There’s no doubt we’re in difficult economic times, and it’s necessary for everyone to rethink their spending habits.

However, it’s important to make sure you’re cutting spending in the right areas. Marketing isn’t one of the places you should be looking to cut spending. In fact, I believe Internet marketing is more important now than ever before.

Here are a few reasons to support this statement.

• Higher ROI- One of the most attractive things about Internet marketing is the potentially unlimited ROI. With traditional marketing, you pretty much know the results you’ll get for your marketing dollar. With SEO and other online marketing, the potential ROI is unlimited. Good online positioning is an investment that will continue to pay off for years to come. During a recession, it’s necessary to get the most out of your marketing budget. Internet marketing gives you the best chance for maximizing your ROI.

• Undo Past Mistakes- When business is good, it’s easy to get lazy with your marketing efforts. Sure, you’re making a lot of money at the time, but it doesn’t mean you’re doing everything right. An economic recession presents the perfect opportunity for you to correct your past marketing mistakes. During this downtime, you can create a unified marketing theme that separates your brand from its competitors.

• Positioning for Post-Recession- Things won’t always be like they are now. The economy goes through its ups and downs over the years. Now is the perfect time to position your company as an industry leader. Your marketing efforts will pay off tremendously when the economy recovers and people are more willing to spend money. It’s all about planning ahead!

Don’t succumb to the tough economic times. Remember, your image is important. Show the consumers that your brand is resilient and that you’re still the best choice in your field.

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Eric Brantner
SEO Content Writer

As always, I’d like to start this post out by saying you should really consider subscribing to both our RSS feed and the feeds of the blogs I link out to. Education is the key to implementing a sound SEO strategy. The more you learn, the more well rounded your online marketing will be.

Here are a few of the best posts from this blog and those around the web.

From the Directory One Blog

• Earlier this week, I gave out 5 tips for a good call to action. The bottom line is you need to focus on creating good calls to action that make readers become loyal customers. Without a call to action, your website visitors will passively scan your website before moving on to another site.

• Are you using Twitter to promote your brand? If so, you should read this post about 5 deadly mistakes Tweeters make. All of these mistakes can undo a lot of the hard work you’ve put into building your brand. Follow these tips to turn Twitter into a powerful brand building tool.

• I know we always say that content is king, but the truth is how you present your content is just as important. Great website copy is more than words. Make sure you’re presenting your content in a format that accommodates online readers. This will help increase your conversions and your bottom line.
From Around the Web

• Does writing a good SEO article in 15 minutes sound too good to be true? Dave Snyder shows us how to create solid, search friendly content in just a few short minutes. With the importance of providing the search engines with fresh content on a regular basis, this is a great resource for getting the most out of your content.

• One common complaint I hear regularly is that writers are struggling to get people to read their content. Want to know the key to getting your content read? It’s all about the title. Without a good title, you don’t stand a chance of separating yourself from the thousands of competitors vying for reader attention.

• Does your Facebook page just sit there doing nothing for your business? If so, you need to read these 5 tips for promoting your business page on Facebook. If I’ve said it once I’ve said it 1000 times—social networking is a powerful tool for promoting your brand and increasing your visibility. Get the most out of your social marketing efforts!

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By Herb Firestone
Marketing Coordinator

If you were to read just the first three of the following Ultimate Blog Post Idea posts, you would never have to ask yourself what to write about for your blog again – or at least for the next 200 or so posts.

50 Blog Topics Marketers Could Write For Their Companiesby Chris Brogan.

My own particular favorites from Chris Brogan’s list are How to get the most from our customer service department, The best way to recommend an improvement to our product or service, and What we think is unique about us. Do you agree?

50 Blog Post Ideas for Business Blogging

101 Great Posting Ideas That Will Make Your Blog Sizzle

10 Killer Blog Post Ideas

10 + 9 Ways to Find Great Post Ideas for Your Blog

Where Do You Get Your Blog Post Ideas From?

The next suggestion is an example of reverse engineering.

Need Post Ideas? Browse Your Keywords

How To Grow A Blog Post In Seven Easy Steps

Conduct Interviews for Easy Content and Traffic

How to Steal Great Content Ideas

How to Choose a Topic For Your Next Blog Post

How To Write Better Blog Posts

Corporate Blogging Made Easy

5 Simple Ways To Open Your Blog Post with a Bang

How to Be Interesting

Three Sure Fire Steps For Beating the Boring Content Blues

The Two Most Important Words in Blogging

Now Featuring Benefits

Five Components of A Good Blog Post

Blog Post Titles

How to Write Headlines that Work

Writing Headlines that Get Results

Brian Clark’s Magnetic Headlines Series will have you writing better post titles, and then better blog posts in no time.

1. Why You Should Always Write Your Headline First
2. The Cheater’s Guide to Writing Great Headlines
3. Do Key Words in Post Titles Really Matter?
4. How to Write a Killer “How To” Post That Gets Attention
5. 7 Reasons Why List Posts Will Always Work
6. Why Some People Almost Always Write Great Post Titles
7. 10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work
8. 7 More Sure-Fire Headline Templates That Work
9. Warning: Use These 5 Surefire Headline Templates at Your Own Risk

SEO Tips for Bloggers

Bloggers Guide to Search Engine Optimization of Blog Titles

Brian Clarke’s SEO Copywriting Series provides the proper foundation for applying SEO to your blog posts.

1. How to Create Content That Ranks Well in Search Engines
2. The 5 Essential Elements of Search Engine Keyword Research
3. How to Create Cornerstone Content That Google Loves
4. Five Link Building Strategies That Work
5. SEO Copywriting Techniques That Readers Love

The following posts apply to pillar, flagship and/or cornerstone blog posts as much as they apply to articles.

How to Write Great Content – The Pillar Article

Blog Pulling Power - Creating Flagship Content

How to Create Cornerstone Content That Google Loves

Special thanks to Brian Clark (Copyblogger), Darren Rowse (Problogger) and Chris Brogan without whom this list would never have been “ultimate.”

And last but not least, read the comments for each of the posts linked above, as you will usually find even more great blog post ideas among them.

On a similar note, please feel free to add related posts or even individual blog post ideas by commenting below.

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Eric Brantner

SEO Writer

Want to turn your readers from passive scanners to loyal, active customers? The best way to get the action you desire is to include a strong call to action in your content. The people are already on your website, and they want to know what to do next.

Use a strong call to action to guide your readers into the next logical step. Whether that is taking them straight to checkout or baiting them with a free offer, it’s up to you. The key is that you take them out of passivity and into action.

Here are 5 tips for creating a great call to action.

1. Identify the Action- The first step to creating a good call to action is to know what you want your readers to do. That means identifying whether you want them to fill out a contact form, click on a link, or call you. Know the action you want, and spell it out clearly in your content.

2. Keep it Simple- The call to action portion of your content should be as simple as possible. Don’t waste time talking in circles to your readers. Tell them in plain terms what you want them to do and what they’ll get if they do it. The simpler your call to action, the likelier your readers will take it.

3. Bring Attention to the Call to Action- In a recent post, I talked about the importance of properly formatting your content. Don’t have your call to action hidden away in some corner of your page. Draw attention to it with bold headings, images, or unique text formatting. However you want to do it isn’t as important as just ensuring your readers clearly see the call to action.

4. Give them a Reason to Act- While you shouldn’t be afraid to ask your customers to give a little of themselves, you have to give them a reason to do so. Common reasons included in strong calls to action include limited time discounts, free information, or bonus products. If you give your customer an incentive for taking action, they’ll be likelier to become active.

5. Avoid Gimmicks- The purpose of a call to action is to sell something. You need to use strong copywriting tactics to get your readers to take action, but you also want to avoid gimmicky language. If you’re too pushy with your copy, readers will turn away. If you’re too passive, they won’t take action either. Your best bet is to be somewhere in the middle- confident and assertive, but not in their face.

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