How to maintain a content writing schedule

Sep 02, 2010 Comments

Once you have decided that publishing content on your blog or website is critical to the success of your business you need to maintain a well-defined content writing and publishing schedule. But why do you need a content writing schedule?

I wouldn’t exactly call it a problem but the problem with content writing to promote your business is that it doesn’t show results immediately. When you keep publishing content you begin to feel an effect after a couple of months and it can be very difficult to continuously do something when you know that you are not going to benefit from it in the near future. This becomes more difficult if you need to take out time or budget at the expense of another business activity that can manifest an earlier result. I totally understand the compulsion of putting content writing and publishing on the back burner in order to take care of the imminent necessities.

Even if you outsource your content writing requirement you may need to spend at least some time figuring out exactly what you want. Additionally you will have to pay the person who is writing content for you and you might think why spend money on this activity?

Nonetheless, you neglect content publishing at the cost of your business because if your competitors are doing this they are definitely at an advantage and you must already be lagging behind if they have been publishing regular content for a while now.

It is not necessary to run a tight schedule when it comes to writing content and getting it published under your website or blog. The crucial point here is setting a rhythm. Cannot publish everyday? No problem, publish every alternative day. Cannot achieve even that? Fine, publish something once in a week. Some sort of weekly content is better than having no content at all. You need targeted content to improve your search engine rankings, increase direct traffic from social media and other websites, and above all, improve your conversion rate. You don’t need to rush. Focus on the most important first. What are the topics that can make a quick impact on your bottom line? Make a list of keywords and search terms you would like to get more traffic for and start generating content around them. If you’re working with the content writer you can discuss with him or her what content you immediately require, and then accordingly you can draw up your content writing schedule.

As mentioned above, start with the most important and try not to miss the scheduled postings. Avoid being ambitious in the beginning if you know you’re not going into content writing and content publishing in a big way. Gradually, as you observe your business growing you can increase the intensity and frequency of your content publishing strategy.

Why you should outsource your content writing services needs

Sep 01, 2010 Comments

Because I provide content writing services? Although this is a perfectly valid reason I am sure you’re going to look upon it with a tinge of cynicism and I can perfectly understand. It has to be some other, solid reason, the reason that affects you directly, or in the long run.

OK, let’s talk about this from your angle: why should you outsource your content writing services needs? You don’t write content as a profession, right? I mean, you might be providing IT services, real estate consulting services, dentistry, or selling a wide array of products and services, but you’re not offering content writing services (if you are, it would seem a bit awkward if I advised you to outsource your content writing and content marketing needs). Even if you can write quite well there is a big difference between “able to write well” and actually coming up with professionally written content that can fetch you business or increase your search engine rankings. This is more so difficult if you require repetitive content: you can either focus on your business or work on creating newer, fresh content for your website or blog.

Of course you can hire an in-house content writer and there is no problem in that. It’s just that, hiring an employee can increase your operational costs and it might be a bit difficult and sensitive to replace him or her in case he or she does not deliver. You might end up spending money on hiring the content writer, arranging space for him or her, availing resources like computer and software and furniture and then chucking him or her out and hiring another one in case things don’t work out.

Outsourcing your writing and content marketing job to an independent content writer (yours truly, for instance) is comparatively much cheaper and less risky, contrary to popular perception. You pay for only what you get. If you just need, say, 20 web pages written, there is no use hiring an in-house content writer or a copywriter. Even if you need regular content think how much you can save by not hiring an in-house content writer. You don’t need to pay the agency that sends the content writer to you. You don’t need to arrange separate computer and software. You are not using your office space or space at your home. You don’t need extra furniture to accommodate a new employee. You don’t need to worry about payroll and taxes. And you can easily replace your content writer in case you’re not happy with the content writer to whom you are currently outsourcing your content writing needs.

Above all, if you’re slightly careful about selecting your content writer you suddenly come across an experienced person who must have written for hundreds of clients prior to writing for you. Let us cut to the chase and talk about my content writing services. I have been providing professional content and copywriting services since 2003. You can easily imagine for how many clients I must have worked and on how many topics I must have written or worked with my writers. You cannot get this range of experience and exposure from a person whom you hire exclusively for yourself. I have been doing business on the Internet since early 2002 (I was providing web design and development services) so when you work with me you don’t just get writing services you also get the benefit of my experience and knowledge that I have gained throughout these years.

And I’m not saying that only I have this kind of advantage. There are many independent content writers earning a very decent living on the Internet through their websites, and in fact, many are quite good at attracting tons of traffic to their websites through their content.

So do outsource your content writing and content marketing needs whenever they arise because it makes business sense. But spend some time trying to find a good content writing service because otherwise — as it can happen with any other service — you may end up having a bad experience and this will leave a lasting negative experience upon your psyche and you will discourage others too from outsourcing services. I have seen this happening.

Multiply your conversion rate immediately with compelling headlines

Aug 30, 2010 Comments

Your headline is the first thing a visitor sees when he or she lands on your website or blog. A headline is not just the title of your page. It is not something that you need in bold and enlarged typeface just because straightaway starting with a paragraph doesn’t seem good. A headline presents the most compelling reason to go through the following text.

You must be wondering sometimes why there is so much hype around creating headlines when they just seem like the titles of the articles or blog posts proceeding them?

You must have often come across the expression “screaming headlines”. What are they? These are the headlines that often make you pick up a newspaper (I know, I know, not many people these days pick up the newspaper) or a magazine from a news stand. The entire newspaper and tabloid industry survives or thrives (as long as it lasts) on the ability of the headlines to draw people towards them.

The same happens on your website or when people come across your link on search engine result pages, other websites, and social media and networking websites. It is your headline that draws people to the actual page. If the headline is not compelling enough they are not going to click the link.

So how do we create compelling headlines?

When you are walking through a local market you often come across signboards on top of the doors of the shops. Every shop tries to attract you through the signboard and the words present on it. They may simply mention the service or product they are offering. They may also highlight the most special offer they have got for you. If they are offering a discount or there is a sale going on there is 100% chance they will have a banner proclaiming the irresistible bargain of the day. They even sometimes have moving advertisements or banners and posters at various prominent locations from where they can be easily viewed. But mere words don’t attract you towards them. It is the offer that catches your eye.

The same psychology applies to your website or blog headlines. Whatever you are writing, draw from it the most exciting reason why people should go through your content and formulate the headline from that reason. For instance if you are going through this blog post you want to know how you can increase your conversion rate tremendously by creating compelling headlines. This may not sound like a very exciting headline but there are many people who are quite desperate to improve their conversion rates and they will definitely want to check what I am trying to say here even if they are not very much impressed.

Address the main pain point in your headline

When I look at your headline I should be immediately able to know what you’re trying to offer. Of course you cannot tell me everything in a single sentence but this will definitely want me to read further. Suppose I am suffering from an old backpain. If your headline goes something like — “this revolutionary technique will definitely cure your backpain no matter how old it is” — I am definitely going to read this. Similarly, if you are looking for an effective content writer “content writing service that actually boosts your sales” may catch your attention more compared to “best content writing services on the Internet”.

Include the most important keywords or key phrases in your headline

This works well both in terms of getting targeted search engine traffic and influencing your visitors in a positive manner. All major search engines take headlines very seriously; in fact for them they are so important that they use your headlines as anchor text when they show your link on the search engine result page. It has been established beyond doubt that there is a greater probability of search engine users clicking links that actually contain the search term they have just used. This shows them that your link contains information about the exact phrase you are looking for. So using your primary key words and key phrases within your headlines definitely increases your search engine rankings.

Using keywords within your headline also increases the overall conversion rate of your copy because people immediately want to read the finer text if the headline uses the same language that they have been using in order to arrive at your page.

Create buzz on social media and networking websites with your headlines

The social media and networking scene is similar to a crowded marketplace: everybody is shouting and there is lots of noise and jostling. Everybody you are following or befriending has interesting stuff to post and whatever you post may fast scroll down the timeline. If you create a headline that cannot be bypassed it increases your chances of getting more traffic from websites like Facebook and Twitter.

Considering the importance of headlines I often spend and ample amount of time trying to come up with headlines when I’m working for my clients. OK, I also try to create decent headlines when I’m writing for my own website.

With what frequency should you publish your blog

Aug 29, 2010 Comments

People often wonder how many times they should post on their blogs in order to create a successful presence. There is no set rule. It depends on what you are actually trying to achieve through your blog. If your blog is new it is better to publish daily and sometimes (again, it depends on what you’re trying to achieve) even multiple times in a day because this may get your blog indexed by various search engines quickly. Once I published on a particular blog 4 blog posts every day and sometimes even 10 and its links started appearing on the first page within two weeks.

Quick publication can be counterproductive too if you write only on a particular topic because your readers may not have enough time to go through so many blog posts on a daily basis unless they’re solving some purpose. In such cases, you are fine with just one blog post every day.

Although publishing everyday may not be very crucial for your website/blog it can help you build your content fast and attain visibility, and consequently, recognition for publishing high-value content on a regular basis. People remember you better when they see or read something from you every day.

If you are simply gathering content under your website/blog you can post on alternative days or with whatever frequency that suits you (or your budget if you’re getting your blog posts written by a content writer). Some of my clients go with just one blog post every week and recently I started writing for a client who wants one blog post every second week.

Benefits of publishing regularly

There are many benefits of publishing blog posts regularly:

You build keyword-rich content faster

The more you write the more keywords and key phrases you cover with your content. As you keep on adding new blog posts to your blog the search engines gather and organize your links and then rank them according to their keyword relevance. Blogging everyday is the fastest way of getting good search engine rankings.

Better social media and networking exposure

Social media and networking is about rampant activity. Something is always going on and everybody is vying for attention, whether organizations or individuals. Hence it is very easy to forget names and brands. If you post every day it gives new fodder to your followers and friends. You encourage them to reach out to you and share their opinion. You constantly engage them and give them a reason to visit your blog daily.

It establishes you as an expert and an authority

I don’t mean to say that if you publish everyday and even if you’re publishing trash you become an authority in your field — no it doesn’t work this way. But it helps if you’re content is of high-value and frequent. Visit Seth Godin’s blog and you will notice that he gives remarkable advise without missing even a single day. Although I haven’t personally checked it people say that he posts even on Christmas. He is known for his great advice and he is also known in the blogging world for not missing even a single day of posting. Besides, sharing knowledge makes you more knowledgeable too as each time you publish something related to your profession you need to study and come up with valuable, usable information.

Aside from these benefits, again, it depends on what you are trying to gain through your blog. More than frequency what matters is quality. Even if you publish one blog post every month make sure that it is high-quality because eventually that is what gets you recognition from people as well as search engines.

Communicating convincingly by writing a case study

Aug 27, 2010 Comments

I was just reading this informative blog post on the topic of how to develop a case study and realized I haven’t written on the subject on my blog. A case study is a great way of communicating to your clients and customers the exact value of the service that you provide. In the case study you have a live example of what needed to be done, how you did it, and what effect it had. This reminds me, I must put some of my own case studies (I have some with me but first will need to contact those clients for more information) on my website.

Wondering what is a case study? A few days ago I wrote a blog post on how you should tell a story through your content writing because stories are always so engaging. The same is applied to a case study. There is a conflict, there is a process and finally there is a resolution. Whenever you take up a new project you are basically trying to solve a problem. Your client comes to you because he or she needs to address a problem and you have the necessary means to solve that problem. A case study goes through the entire sequence of events like a story.

A case study, certainly is not written to satisfy your literary urges; it is written for your customers and clients so that they can understand the value of a product or a service you offer in real time. You can create a case study in the form of written text, a video or a flash or PowerPoint presentation. Just make sure there is the beginning that immediately grabs the attention of your customer or client and once he or she has gone through it he or she must feel that yes, there was a problem and then that problem was solved and everybody lived happily ever after (or at least for the next few months).

Since Conversation Agent has already written about how to create an effective (please visit the link mentioned above to read that) case study I will write my version in a later blog post.