Category Archives: Content Marketing

5 qualities to look for when you need a blog writer for your business blog

Qualities to look for when you need a blog writer for your business blog

In this blog post you are going to learn about the qualities to look for if you need to hire a dependable blog writer for your business.

What is a blog?

A blog is different from a website.

Initially blogs were like journals. People would create random entries and then publish them.

On the homepage there appears a chronological list of all the posts that have been recently published, most probably in datewise descending order, with the latest blog post appearing at the top.

In the early days the Internet hadn’t yet been commercialized. It was mostly run by volunteers or hobbyists. There were a few business websites, but most of the content published on the Internet came from people who simply liked spending time and sharing their thoughts.

Seeing the opportunity to provide a platform that would allow people to publish their thoughts easily, many companies introduced blogging platforms.

I remember in the early days, there was Blogger.com and even MovableType.

Old blogging platforms

Many more services were started, and then came WordPress in 2003. It completely changed the way the world blogged.

WordPress is a complete blogging software that you can install under your own domain. This way, you don’t have to blog for another platform.

After the launch of WordPress, blogging took a new turn.

It became so popular that right now almost 35% of self hosted websites use WordPress as the platform. As a CMS, WordPress has captured 62% of the market share.

Why have a business blog?

Do you know that business websites that also have a blog have 434% more indexed webpages and links? Websites that have blogs get 97% more incoming links compared to those websites that don’t have a blog.

Initially, when businesses got interested in blogging, it was mainly for SEO. The structure of a blog is such that it is good for your search engine rankings provided you can publish content on regular basis.

This still remains one of the primary reasons why businesses publish blogs, but now, there are many more reasons why they do so. Some of the reasons I am describing below:

Business blogging improves SEO/search engine rankings

Business blogging improves SEO

I must say that merely having a business blog doesn’t improve your SEO. What actually improves your SEO is the way you cover your topics.

For example, if I want to improve my search engine rankings with my business blog, I shouldn’t publish whatever comes to my mind.

I should stick to content writing, online copywriting, SEO, blogging and content marketing, because they are related to my field.

Your business blog helps you because the way it arranges content.

Google likes fresh content and on your blog, you publish content regularly, and hence, give Google fresh content to crawl, index and rank.

Google prefers topic density – how much you have covered your topic – and since you are continuously talking about your business field, it increases your topic density.

How much your business blog improves your SEO rests on how often you publish content, what is the frequency, and how well you cover your core topics.

Your business blog increases your brand visibility

What is brand visibility on the Internet? It means how easily people come across the name of your business or conversations around your business.

Since you give Google more content to index from your domain, more content about your domain is found on search engines and hence, you increase your brand visibility on Google.

When you publish more content and then share it on your social media profiles it gives people a reason to reach out to you, express themselves, and even repost your content on their own timelines.

Brand visibility on social media.

The more you express yourself, the more people talk about you and the more they talk about you, the greater is your brand visibility.

Your business blog gives people something to share on social media

This is an extension of what I have written above. People are not going to simply talk about your business on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter just because your business exists.

Why would they bother unless they are getting something out of it?

Publishing your business blog doesn’t mean you continuously harp about how great your business is.

You publish content that helps people.

You publish content people will be interested in.

Hence, when you publish content people can make use of, content they are looking for and content that helps them, they share that content on social media.

Your business blog establishes your authority

A business blog establishes your authority

As I have written above, you cannot continuously talk about how great your business is unless there is some context.

I use my business blog to talk about various content writing and blogging issues.

In this blog post I’m talking about how to hire a blog content writer if your business needs one.

What qualities to look for when you need a blog writer?

It means I know what qualities a blog writer must have to help you publish a successful business blog, and I’m sharing this knowledge with you.

This helped me establish my authority on the topic.

What’s the benefit?

Would you rather work with a novice or someone who knows what are the best qualities of a blog writer?

Your business blog brings more inbound traffic

Your business blog brings inbound traffic

Content marketing is all about encouraging people to come to your website or blog rather than tricking them into coming to you through advertising, which is intrusive and annoying.

Since business blogging increases your brand presence on various channels, it becomes easier for people to find you.

For many years I haven’t used advertising. All my traffic comes from either Google or other websites where my links are present. A big chunk also comes from my newsletter.

That’s all inbound traffic.

I’m not catching people off guard with my pushy advertisements.

I put up lots of content out there. People find that content. Then they come to my website.

More businesses these days are aiming for that.

Why should you hire a blog writer instead of writing for your own blog?

Why hire a blog writer?

I’m covering this topic just for the sake of covering it otherwise, I never convince people into doing something they haven’t thought of or they don’t want to do.

If you want to write for your own blog then go ahead.

There is nothing to stop you.

After all, it is your own blog.

You want to hire a blog writer because you want to hire him or her. You know your need.

Clients who approach me to write for them do so for the following reasons:

They are looking for a better writer.
They are looking for a content writer or a blog writer who can write convincingly for their audience.
They need a blog writer who can maintain a balance between SEO writing and conversion-rich writing.
They need to publish content regularly and consistently.
They need a blog writer who can write for their industry as an expert does.
They need someone with a fresh perspective.

You may have your own reasons why you need to hire a writer for your business blog.

Anyway, if you plan on hiring a blog writer, listed below are some qualities you may like to look for.

5 qualities in a blog writer you may like to look for, for your business blog

5 good qualities of a blog writer

Frankly, there are thousands of content writers and blog writers you can find on the Internet. This is good as well as bad.

Good in the sense that there is no dearth of writers you can find.

Bad in the sense that since it is so easy to find a blog writer, it is very difficult to find a good, reliable blog writer (because pretty much everyone can offer his or her services to you).

Whenever I’m pitching my own blog writing services as a content writer, what makes my clients hire me is the fact that I have a business website.

This means my stakes are higher. It makes me dependable.

I haven’t just randomly created my profile on one of the freelancing websites. I have stuck my neck out.

This doesn’t mean I am trying to put down people who get writing assignments from freelancing directories. They have their own reason. I have my own reason.

Anyway, aside from the fact that you should hire a blog writer who is really serious about his or her services, listed below are some qualities you must look for.

1. Your blog writer must have the ability to write for your audience

Your blog writer should be able to write for your audience

What does that mean?

Maybe someone is a good writer but he or she can only write in a style he or she is comfortable with.

Remember that when content is published on your business blog, people assume that you or someone representing your business, is writing for the blog.

So, your blog writer must be able to write the way the people in your industry like to read.

He or she should be able to seamlessly use and incorporate industry jargon.

It goes without saying that the writing must be error free in terms of spelling, typos and grammar.

He or she should be able to mix conversational style as well as your official “voice”.

People in your industry must be able to read your content easily but at the same time feel reassured that they are reading someone highly educated and well-versed with your industry.

The writer must also be able to understand the business side of writing because only then he or she will be empathetic towards your needs as well as the needs of your customers and clients.

2. Your blog writer must be passionate about his or her writing abilities

Your blog writer must be passionate

Why is it necessary?

First of all, as a writer I know that when one has passion, it shows through between the lines.

What you write is important, but what you don’t write but still convey is even more important, and that comes only with passion.

Second, a passionate writer does not plagiarize. Of course exceptions are always there, but a writer who is passionate about his or her writing ability will be very uncomfortable at the thought of having to depend on someone else’s writing.

3. Knowledge of SEO

Your blog writer must have working knowledge of SEO

Writing search engine optimized content isn’t as simple as it seems.

No matter how good a writer you are, there are thousands of factors that have a direct or indirect bearing on the SEO of your writing.

Although there is no scientific way of proving whether your writing is going to fare well on search engines, there are certain formats, certain ways of using your keywords or search terms, that can definitely improve your search engine rankings.

Your blog writer must know how to

Write content around your keywords.
Organize content in various chunks for better SEO.
Write Internet friendly and mobile friendly content.

One needs to maintain a balance.

Though, many SEO experts these days are saying that you shouldn’t focus much on your keywords, in the same breath they also say that the keywords matter.

Not just the keywords, but also the related words.

Your blog writer must be able to weave an interesting and engaging narrative using your keywords.

4. Your blog writer must be able to research independently

Your blog writer should be able to research independently

Research is very important when writing quality content. Research gives you validity.

It helps you link to authoritative sources.

For example, what are the best strategies to improve your blog’s search engine rankings? It helps you if you can link to some useful insights from an authoritative blogs such as Search Engine Land.

5. You need a blog writer who is going to be consistent

Your blog writer should be consistent

Consistency is hard to get and frankly, unless you have worked with your blog writer for a few weeks or a few months, it is impossible to know whether he or she is going to be consistent in terms of quality and deliverability or not.

Nonetheless, initial communications and a few assignments can give you at least some idea of how consistent the blog writer is going to be.

I have had personal experience with people who are very consistent when seeking work and then suddenly they vanish when I give them some work.

This is a good indication to stay away from them.

It is better if your blog writer has a stake in the work

This is something that I have mentioned above.

When you work with me, I have a stake in my business.

I have a website.

My full business depends on how I deliver.

This is my livelihood.

This is not a random profile existing on some random freelancing website.

Hence, having my own content writing business website, having my own blog writing website, makes me responsible.

Similarly, look for a blog writer who has a higher stake in the work he or she does.

Of course, these rules and qualities are not written in stone. Some blog writer may have them all and some may have just a few of them.

It is going to be your own calling.

In terms of content, what you should adopt and leave what, in 2020

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How your content marketing should be in 2020

This LinkedIn content marketing blog post compiles insights by various industry experts on what to adopt and what to leave in 2020 while implementing and carrying out a digital marketing and content marketing strategy.

The first, and the most noticeable advise is from Michael Brenner (because I too have been advising the same thing to my clients) who says that marketers should shift away from content randomness and have a clearly-defined idea of why they are publishing a particular piece of content.

He says that brands that stop publishing content randomly and follow a consistent pattern experience an increase of 50-200% in traffic and leads.

When you use content marketing to promote your business on the web, it is like maintaining a publishing or a media platform.

Whether they are consciously aware of it or not, your target customers and clients expect you to publish high-value content on regular basis.

Read How to come up with great content writing ideas every day.

Another issue that I have experienced with many content writing and copywriting clients is that all their content requirements are based on their keywords.

Yes, keywords are important, and you must optimize your content for better SEO, but if you solely focus on the keywords instead of the value that you plan to deliver with your content, your content begins to lose meaning.

As the next person in the thread says, you should escape the “sea of sameness” and focus on something unique.

The beauty of the world is, every person is unique.

Although, when you’re working with a content writer or an online copywriter, his or her own perspective is going to permeate through the content, but you can control the direction of the content to a great extent by choosing to focus on the value that you want to deliver instead of the keywords you want to optimize your content for.

How do you do that?

Stop living in a cocoon.

Take an active interest in your industry.

Follow conversations on Twitter and LinkedIn and participate in those conversations.

See how you can align your marketing message with the issues affecting the society in general.

You can also publish valuable content by vertical focusing.

Talk to a single individual instead of targeting a broad spectrum.

Focus on problems and issues being faced by a single individual for that blog post or web page.

Yes, if you don’t handle multiple issues in a single blog post you may have to publish multiple blog posts but then, this is a blessing in disguise.

You do need to publish multiple blog posts to cover all possible topics.

Does a strict schedule matter?

If you are publishing a blog post every Wednesday, unless people are really expecting to hear from you on Wednesday, it hardly matters, as long as, you are publishing every week.

Regularity is important.

It increases your brand visibility.

People become familiar with your business and they also begin to recognize you for your quality and sincerity.

This is what ultimately improves your SEO.

The right content writing way: focus on value and accommodate SEO.

The wrong content writing way: focus on SEO and accommodate value.

The wrong way doesn’t work but it seems like shortcut and hence, most of the people want to follow it.

The right way takes time and effort but also delivers results.

Should content writing be a big part of your digital marketing budget?

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Content is the pillar of your content marketing strategy

If you feel I am constantly talking about content writing budget and how most of the clients are not very eager to pay deserving rates for writing quality content, it’s just that, lots of thoughts and content are coming my way on this topic that are acting as stimulus.

So, bear with me.

It’s just that, I was going through this blog post on how you should decide your social media marketing budget and I was wondering, very few people talk about having a budget for content writing, and maybe this is why, most of the clients want to save the maximum while getting content for their websites and blogs.

They want to pay for web design.

They want to pay for SEO.

They want to pay for hosting.

They even want to pay for Google ads (AdWords).

But they don’t want to pay for content that is going to improve their SEO.

Content is the pillar of your entire content marketing and social media marketing strategy, whether we are talking about written content here, or videos and infographics.

As far as content goes, videos, infographics and quality images still demand a good price, but when it comes to paying for content writing, most of the clients think, well, it is just writing.

You don’t even need special software.

You can use Google Docs.

You can even use Notepad, for that matter.

But, when you are paying a content writer or a copywriter, you are not paying for software, you are paying for his or her ability to put across your message convincingly.

If people are not convinced, they are not going to buy from you.

It is as simple as that.

What are you going to market, when you have got nothing substantial to market?

Hence, when you are formulating your content marketing, Internet marketing and digital marketing budgets for the year, keep in mind that content writing is also going to be a big part of that budget.

Are you going to invest in video content in 2020?

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Are you planning to invest in video content marketing?

Lots of blog posts and articles are talking about the age of video content marketing from 2020 onwards.

To be frank, I have been reading about video content marketing and why it is important for your content marketing success for a few years now.

A couple of years ago Cisco predicted that by 2022, 82% of Internet traffic will be video.

This is not surprising.

Internet connectivity is cheap and easily available these days.

An increasing number of people have mobile phones that can show videos from multiple video streaming websites like YouTube and TikTok.

From gadget reviews to learning French to solving high school maths, videos are watched for every possible purpose under the sun.

TikTok videos are atrocious but still it is the fastest growing video app in the world.

Facebook allows you to upload videos.

Twitter allows you to upload videos.

Instagram allows you to upload videos.

You can send videos using instant messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram.

Countries like India with big populations have begun to dominate the web and in these countries, people mostly watch videos.

Even illiterate people can watch videos because for watching videos, you don’t need to know how to read and write.

When formulating your content marketing strategy, I will never suggest you to go by numbers.

Simply because more people are watching videos doesn’t mean that you should focus more on video and less on text, or less on images.

You have to know what your audience prefers.

If you want to target people who drive a lot then you neither want to give them text nor video, you want to give them audio, something like podcasts.

If you want to create content for devices like Amazon Echo or Google Home then you want to target content that is easier to read, answers questions and gives precise information that is useful to people.

Video is going to be of no use in this case.

Trends are good.

They give you an idea of how technologies are evolving and how people’s tastes are changing and what type of content they prefer.

But when it comes to creating and publishing content specifically for your own audience, focus on what your audience prefers.

My prospective clients are looking for a content writer – someone who can write.

They’re not looking for someone who can create videos.

Hence, I write.

Looking for a copywriter to write your video script?

I’m not interested in creating videos.

Does it mean I shouldn’t create videos or I am advising you against using videos for content marketing?

No.

What I’m saying is, put maximum energies into content your target customers and clients prefer and then if you have extra resources, then try to focus on other channels and other content formats.

For example, sometimes I try to create videos explaining various content writing and content marketing concepts.

This helps me expand my brand presence.

Is creating and publishing videos for content marketing difficult?

It depends on what type of videos you want to publish.

If you simply want to talk to people, you can use your mobile phone and then a decent video editing software like Filmora to fine-tune the video.

You can show your customers and clients how you work in your office, again, using your mobile phone.

Most of the mobile phones these days allow you to make very decent videos.

Office 365 has PowerPoint which allows you to create almost professional-looking videos.

What I’m trying to say is, you don’t need a very big budget to use videos for content marketing.

Having said that, I would like to repeat, create and publish content according to your target audience.

Should you start investing in video content marketing?

Not because people are saying it, but because you feel your audience will appreciate video content.

I’m not undermining the importance of creating and publishing videos.

As I have mentioned above, I too sometimes create videos, but I do so for brand visibility, not expecting work from YouTube.

I know that people looking for a content writer or a copywriter are not going to go to YouTube and search for “I need a professional content writer”.

I know that they are going to look for a content writer either on Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, or LinkedIn, or maybe Twitter.

On the other hand, if I sell a blender and I want to show what a strong blender I have got, I know a series of videos will certainly do a lot of good to me.

So, again, think carefully, and then decide.

Importance of storytelling in content marketing

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The importance of storytelling in content marketing

Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways of attracting and hooking audience. A good story has the capacity to capture the imagination of the listener or the reader. You get the reader’s attention from the beginning till the end of the story if it is interesting and means something to the reader.

We all love stories, whether we are telling them, or we are listening to them or reading them (or watching them unfold on Netflix).

This blog post contains a nice infographic on how to create a good story, what really makes a good story.

Storytelling in content marketing is so important that Nike has been hiring people in the role of “Chief Storyteller” since the 1990s.

Other companies like Microsoft and IBM have also shifted towards telling stories instead of simply promoting their products and services.

A good thing about storytelling is that when people come across good stories, they don’t just listen to them or read them, they also share with the others. Every good story has the potential of going viral.

Consumers are more likely to respond to stories than simple marketing messages. They are engaging. They are captivating. They are relatable. They can easily explain concepts that are difficult to explain otherwise.

Storytelling sets you apart

There is a plethora of choices available to consumers these days. Take a simple product like talcum powder. There may be scores of varieties to choose from. If 19 talcum powder companies simply extol about what their talcum powder can achieve and how great the smell is, and one talcum powder company tells stories about how people’s life changed with their talcum powder, you can easily guess which talcum powder people are going to purchase more.

Another important aspect of storytelling is that it allows your business to add a human element to your content marketing. You are not continuously blabbering about the greatness of your product.

You actually tell people why your product is great by narrating stories of people who have used and benefited from your product.

The characters that you use in your storytelling are relatable because they come from day-to-day life. Your narrative no longer remains boring.

It can draw people to your messaging. People begin to believe and understand that behind your product, there are actual people whose lives are being changed with your product.

Instead of using figures, data, and facts to tell people how great your product is, your business can use the power of storytelling to actually show it to people what wonders your product is working. Suddenly there are faces in the story. There are names. There are incidents. There are anecdotes. There are pleasing ends.

What is storytelling and how you can use it as a powerful content marketing tool for your business?

The importance of storytelling lies in the fact that people can easily relate to stories.

This mandates that you tell your story to the right audience. If people cannot relate to your story, your story isn’t effective.

Every story has a plot. It has characters. It may have a hero, villain or in adversity.

There is a conflict, there is a climax and then at the end, unless it is a horror story, a resolution.

When you are storytelling for content marketing, you tell stories of individuals who have changed their lives for better, because of your business.

It doesn’t always have to be a story directly connected or related to your product or service.

A water purifier company in India these days tells stories of different communities struggling to get drinking water.

The company doesn’t directly promote its water purifier. In the end it simply says that the story has been sponsored by the waterproofing company.

Personally, I don’t agree with the central logic of their stories because the underlying theme is that instead of pressurizing the municipality and the government to supply clean drinking water, the stories encourage people to reconcile to their fate and then ultimately, start using a water purifier.

There is another story of a remote Indian village where people live in a desert and there is scarcity of water. They show a city dweller taking a shower and then they show a villager using a tiny fraction of the water wasted in the shower, to drink. Then in the end, there is a message from the bank that they finance projects that undertake challenging tasks such as bringing water to remote desert villages.

In the above link, the writer says that even the darker shades in the stories shouldn’t be hidden because they help you connect with the audience.

Suppose, to promote my content writing and copywriting services, I write a story about this individual who is losing all his business because the writing on his website isn’t up to the mark.

The conflict can be that this individual doesn’t consider writing important. He thinks that since his website is very attractive to look at with great images, graphics and animations, his customers should feel impressed and then buy from him.

His website doesn’t convert. He doesn’t get targeted search engine traffic.

Disillusioned, he is ready to give up. To make matter worse, he has taken to drinking and is even on the verge of getting a divorce due to his financial-condition-related mental stress.

Then, someone suggests, since there is nothing much to lose, why not try changing the copy of the website and see what happens.

Then I tell how I go through different interactions with this individual and completely revamp the writing on his website.

Within a couple of months, both his conversion rate and search engine rankings improve, and his business begins to pick up. He stops drinking. His marriage is saved.

Many business owners will be able to immediately relate to the story.

What about if you want to promote a food delivery app?

Wouldn’t it be better if there is a blog post in the form of a story about how a person desperately needed food during an ungodly hour? Then you tell how, because of your app, he was able to order food and save the day.

Content these days is the cornerstone of all marketing activities. Storytelling can help you stand out in a world where almost every company uses content marketing to reach out.