A Blog About Blogging
How Can A Blog Impact My SEO?
Simply put, maintaining an up-to-date blog allows you to boost your search engine optimization in that, when you offer relevant information and answers, search engines will be more likely to position you higher up on their results pages.
In other words, when a customer searches a specific question on Google, the businesses that offer the most “optimized” blogs with regard to the answer will be the first to appear — and thus the most likely to be clicked on first.
In fact, research conducted by Demand Metric found that businesses who regularly blog produced, on average, 67% more leads per month.
So not only will a proper blogging strategy enhance your overall credibility from the viewpoint of the customer, but by effectively placing inbound hyperlinks and writing a persuasive call to action, you can also keep them in your sales funnel and guide them down the path to full conversion.
How Do I Optimize A Blog For SEO?
When considering Google’s ever-changing algorithms and the mountain of information available with regard to SEO, we understand that parsing through it all and finding the blog-specific bits can be challenging.
That’s why we’re here to help you with three quick tips to get you started:
The Key Is In The Word
Begin by picking one or two words, terms, or phrases that you would like associated with your business or blog. If you want to be a result when someone types in “air quality,” for example, that term should be one of your keywords.
Be sure to use your chosen keywords in your blog title, meta description, and in the body paragraphs. That being said, also be sure not to use “keyword stuffing” — basically, don’t choose more than two or three keywords and barrage your readers with them — and also make sure to use your chosen words in a coherent sentence.
How Much You Should Talk, Talk, Talk
WordPress reports that, “as a rule of thumb, blog posts should be at least 300 words to appear high in search engine results.” Meanwhile, the average length of a blog post has grown in recent years. A study conducted by SEMRush found that articles less than 3,000 words were not only three times more likely to get high traffic volumes, but they were also four times more likely to get shared.
Of course, that’s a pretty big gap from 300 words to 3,000 words. On average, we recommend keeping your long-form blog posts somewhere around 500 to 1,000 words maximum, with shorter blogs ranging from 300 to 500 words. Plus, remember that with the modern takeover of social media, audiences tend to have shorter attention spans.
Why Stop With Words?
Did you know research indicates that the majority of the human brain is dedicated to processing visual information, both directly and indirectly? Thus, by embedding visual content — be it videos, images, graphs, or something else — your audience will not only be more likely to become interested in the information, but search engines will also rank you higher. With alt text included, that is.
Think of it this way: the visual content itself is for your audience. Search engines, however, can’t see pictures. That’s why alt text is important — because it’s what tells those engines that there’s content embedded there. Oh, and don’t forget to use your keyword(s) in your alt text, too.
How Do I Know If My Blog Is Being Utilized Effectively?
If you’re already using Google Analytics as a part of your online marketing strategy, you’ll not only be able to automatically see how many people are on the different pages of your blog, but you can also dive into your “Audience Overview” and “Acquisition Overview” reports to get a better idea of how traffic to your pages has changed over time.
Otherwise, you might refer to several different markers of activity, such as…
Total page visits
Impressions and reach
The average length of a reader’s stay
And more
But, if you do not know how to find this information — or worse, you have no idea how to utilize it — you may find it difficult to adjust course and optimize your blog efficiently.
That’s why, here at Mad Men Marketing, we don’t just offer creative copywriters who will craft a cohesive blog for your business — we also offer research specialists who can curate your website’s analytics, thereby helping you to create the most successful and functional blogging strategy for your business.
You don’t have to embark on the journey of blogging and search engine optimization alone. If you’re ready to interact with your customers, contact Mad Men Marketing today by calling 904-355-1766!
The Epic Battle for Net Neutrality
What is net neutrality? Well, net neutrality is the “principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites.” Basically, one website can’t be favored over another in terms of speed or accessibility just because they paid for it.
Typically, when this topic is discussed, proponents of net neutrality mention how consumers will not be given equal access to internet content such as streaming services unless the website or the consumer pays for it. They argue that smaller websites who cannot pay outrageous fees to keep their content accessible will fail. Freedom of internet speech will be given only to large corporations with enough money to pay for it. This is true, but not the only problem. All small businesses, not only those in entertainment, will be hurt if the internet is not kept open and accessible.
Smaller marketing firms, and by extension other small businesses, will be hurt tremendously if net neutrality ceases to exist. Small businesses often rely on the internet as a cost-effective form of advertising. The internet allows small businesses to reach people around the world at a much cheaper rate than traditional media. If net neutrality is abolished, small businesses will no longer be able to compete against large corporations for cheap ad-space on the internet. Large corporations will have the money to advertise on sites that are more accessible to consumers.
In short, this is a very big deal. Just ask Netflix…who had a brief fallout with Comcast…their streaming content was streaming noticeably slower until they reached a compromise with the internet service provider. Lo and behold, in February, they began to see an immediate improvement (or perhaps just restoration of where it once was) in streaming speed. Netflix was literally held hostage by Comcast until its demands were met. It's naive to think they playing field will ever be completely level, but steps should definitely be taken to ensure that we're doing all we can.
Marketing to Millennials: Are you sure you want to?
Is this push short-sighted? There's not a doubt in my mind that what is perceived as trendy, fashionable, or “in” is influenced largely upon the opinions of the younger generation. That being said, Millennials are one of the smaller demo. groups. Not only that, but they also have much less buying power than young professionals and established businessmen and women. Jean Twenge, author of the book Generation Me, credits Millennials with possessing the traits of confidence and tolerance, however, they also exude a certain narcissism and self-entitlement.
Should you market to Millennials? Yes…but as a part of a broader, more holistic approach…perhaps to paint a picture of a product as being trendy that will ultimately have a trickle-down effect on older, more affluent demos.
The Highly Controversial Blog That Mentions Syria
Investors are very cautious, more accurately put, they're probably straddling the line between prudent caution and paranoia. The growing concerns about a multi-national force becoming entangled in a region that has demonstrated continued and unrelenting civil turmoil only serves to further perpetuate the financial instability as it pertains to the S&P 500, and the DOW. Moreover, as one country goes, so does the rest of the world.
In the recent past, Greece was in financial jeopardy and although a relatively insignificant player in the global economy when you consider heavy hitters like the U.S., France, India, Brazil, China, etc…, it had immediate ramifications that resounded across the world due to the interconnectivity of economic interests and Greece's proclivity toward nationalistic pride and threats to break with the Euro.
I would expect AT LEAST that kind of impact on the world market as resources are re-allocated to quell the disturbance in Syria. These are uncertain times and uncertainty can lead to panic, especially by those who are expected to lead us economically because they tend to protect their own interests first. So in the best interest of fear-mongering, strap on your kevlar vest, continue to go to work, and just act like nothing is happening because chances are your day-to-day will not change.
New Grad’s Guide on How to Transition to the Real World
Everyone is going to give you “advice” and “tips” on how to get the perfect job out of college. I’m not going to do that. I’m going to tell you my story about how I had absolutely no plan after college and eventually ended up finding my passion and working in a job I love. No advice, just experience.
Graduation
The day I graduated was an exciting day! It was also a scary one. With peers getting jobs from their internships, I’d be lying to you if I didn't tell you I felt a little behind the curve. I spent 4 years with professors giving me “advice” that the competition is high today, and you need to be the best of the best in order to stand a chance in the real world. There was a lot of pressure to be employed quickly.
After Graduation
My story doesn’t start out with countless interviews and finding the perfect navy blue suit, (because statistically, you have a higher chance to be hired in a navy blue suit.) The truth is, I was at a party. I was talking with my fellow new grads about their new internships and jobs, which I mainly just listened to due to the fact that I hated the question “Hey PJ what are you doing now?” I met one of my friend’s older brother, who by chance was looking for a copywriter for his web development company. I said “I can do that!” By Monday, I had a job!! Part-time, but hey, I had an answer to the dreaded question.
The Copywriting Days
I worked on writing blogs, social media content, copy, and SEO meta descriptions for a small web development company. It was a team of four of us and I worked about 15 hours per week. The best part about it was the creative freedom I could apply to the work.
Eventually though, I found that I really needed something more full-time. I applied for a copywriter position at a big corporate web development company, and got it after the 2nd interview. This had me excited at first, my first “big boy” job was a huge national company. I saw myself climbing the ladder to CEO status, hopefully by the time I was 30. A long shot? Yes, but hey you got to dream big, right? Well that dream slowly diminished as I learned the difference between a small company and corporate. Simply put, I found my skills to be a lot more valuable outside of the corporate world.
I quit. Everyone told me I was being foolish to quit a steady job without another job lined up. I didn’t care. People also told me “your twenties are a time to screw up and bounce back”. So that’s exactly what I did. It felt like the right thing to do, so I took some time and re-evaluated what I really wanted out of a career. The bills never stopped however, and I was eating Easy Mac and ramen for a while.
Discovering Accounts
Sometime later, I got a call from the first small web company about W2 information. It ended with, “Oh, so we were picked up by an ad agency, there’s a sales position open if you’re interested”. It just so happens that I just finished watching the movie “Yes Man” and I was all about opening myself up to new possibilities. I got the interview, made it past the second interview, and got hired.
My first day, I felt completely overwhelmed, but I surprisingly picked up the pace pretty quickly. This experience was different. I didn’t feel like I was doing meaningless tasks that no one else wanted to do. I was thrown into important meetings, large deals, and big clients all at once. After a while, you become comfortable in this realm. Before I knew it, I was the one hosting the important meetings.
I learned how to speak to potential clients, how to negotiate a quote, how to close deals, how to manage projects, how to work with a budget, how to produce results, and most importantly how to love what you do for a living. Working in accounts has been challenging and exciting all at the same time, and I feel like I have something that a lot of people don’t find in life, career passion.
So I didn’t get a prestigious internship that led to the perfect job. I made mistakes, opened the wrong doors, and fell into the right place. My only advice to someone stressed about graduation is to never be afraid to fail, because you will. You ARE going to make mistakes, so it’s better to learn to roll with the punches than to avoid the inevitable. Life throws curveballs and you can only plan so far, so make sure to never lose the courage to change, it could be the best change you ever made.