Increase Traffic to Your Website With Four Blogging Alternatives

If you need good and intriguing content on your site for getting organic search traffic and you are not an expert in copywriting, take the following steps to rank high in Google's competitive search.

Some people may solve the problem by hiring a copywriter, however it’s not the only solution, especially for startups on a budget.

For those who want to create engaging SEO-friendly content, here you can find some alternatives.

Design an infographic. A high-quality infographics can go probably better that text-based content. People are likely to share data displayed in a visual format. As a rule, infographics generally are not cheap to create, but you can take advantage of such services online as Piktochart, which offers templates to design an inforgraphic at a low cost.

Whatever variant you select, make sure your infographic

•         provides a certain theme or strong storytelling element
•         has compelling data
•         aims at a certain demographic (typically your audience). 

Carrying out customer surveys is an effective way to gather data for infographics.

Create a YouTube video. YouTube is considered the 2^nd most popular search engine next to Google. It is also owned by Google. You can create a short 3-minute-video, using your iPhone, then upload it to YouTube and strongly promote it across the social media channels.

Don’t forget that your video, just the way as infographics, should be useful and engaging to your audience. You may create some tutorials, tell a customer success story or show yourself as a professional in your field by answering the questions.

Produce a slideshow. Images are considered very popular online. Moreover, they are indexed by search engines. Therefore, slideshows are perfect for Search Engine Optimization. Slideshows do not need a lot of writing, they require just titles and short descriptions under each image. That’s it!

It is very important for slideshows to actually resonate with your audience the content has to lend itself to images.

Request reviews. You can have a wonderful opportunity for getting your customers to create content for you? User-generated content is one of the best tools for Search Engine Optimization. Moreover, it helps with social, because users enjoy sharing their content with their followers. Publish feedback on a testimonials webpage, and in case you are running an ecommerce website, ask for product reviews.

Source: http://rankwinz.com/

Link Building Systematization and Scaling

Being the best link builder in the whole world doesn’t mean you are able to scale and systematize your link building. For achieving true scale you will need to remove the bottleneck from the system.

It is easy to scale low quality link building, for example robotic scripts that send email spam to webmasters or large offshore link building companies; but unfortunately this will be the case of Google penalties.

Creating high quality links requires high quality human cooperation. Bloggers and social media marketers are smart people and they focus on their own kind, not on bots, scripts, etc.

The point is that we need humans who are persuasive and sensible and there should be a team made up of such people. Creating a replicable team of people with workflow, methodologies, routines, and so on, is the key to quality link building scaling.

The Workflow

Think about the idea if having a to-do list on your mind right now. This is worthless. One of the greatest mistakes people make is keeping a to-do list in their heads. Our brain isn’t good for that. It functions at its peak when it is clear of the information. That information should be dumped into your trusted system.

That system should be organized in a way so that it facilitates the turning of a huge amount of information into actions and decisions. It is useful if you think of an approach called GTD (Getting Things Done) developed by David Allen in his book Getting Things Done.

In GTD you should understand that actions are not really actions, they are projects. A project is anything that requires more than one action to complete. The next action is the activity required to move the project forward.

As far as the workflow is concerned, next actions are the units of progress that you alongside your team will have to deal with.

The workflow is crucial when it comes to carrying out a SEO campaign effectively. Here are few steps of a GTD process:

1. Find Potential Customers and Check Their Authority

It is very simple. It can be like running Google.com queries in order to find relevant blogs in your niche. You should look at authoritative, relevant and trusted websites from the point of view of their topic.

2. Find Contact Info of Potential Customers

After identifying the relevant websites, it’s time to get contact information from various sources. And this doesn’t mean only names and emails, but also Google+, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumbles, Youtube, and other social networks if there are any.

3. Create Appropriate Templates

Obviously you won’t write from scratch each email that is being sent. It is not scalable. This is where an intelligent template system comes in.

Every attempt gets a template. You should attempt more than once, but no more than three times to the same individual, because most likely you won’t get any response.

Creativity here is the key to success. Everybody receives unwanted emails asking to guest blog on our sites. Despite of the fact that those emails are well-written, we discard them. But, what if you ask a blogger about their favorite tools in the field for an article that you are going to write? Moreover, you want to cite them as a source. Obviously they will respond.

There are some more steps for achieving success (template personalization, moderation queue, CRM, etc.), but these are three major ones.

Source: http://rankwinz.com/

How to Surreptitiously Include Keywords in The Web Content

If you need any piece of original content for your website, the cheapest variant is to write it yourself. You shouldn't be scared of writing. The process and type of writing you need to do for a site is completely different than the typical writing that you do for university. It is more limited than creative writing; however it comes out only in need to write using keywords. And that’s the “problem”!

If you are a first-timer in internet marketing field, you might be confused with keyword optimization. But it actually sounds more difficult than it really is. Fundamentally, keyword optimization is responsible for checking the content has enough instances of the keywords. Keywords are selected phrases or words widely used in search engines in order to find things that a company offers. For instance, if you are selling real estate in Alabama, your keywords may be "alabama real estate," "alabama homes for sale," "birmingham alabama real estate," "birmingham houses for sale" and so on.

You can find keywords manually or choose them by using keyword research analyzers and tools. There also are paid analyzers you can use, or the well-known Google keyword research tool.

When you have already chosen the keywords, consider the way you can divide them into logical groups. If your website is new-made, begin with the less competitive phrases and words.

Having your selected keywords, you are ready to create the website content. It is the time when the keyword optimization gets into play. You have to repeat your keyword phrases several times throughout all the content. As a rule, the keyword should appear 2-5 % of the time. For instance, if your article includes 500 words, the keyword should appear from 10 to 30 times.

If the nature of your site cannot use keywords that often, you have to use separate sections, which contain optimized content that relates to your website. For example, in case you have a website connected to "fan fiction," you can write articles about how to create fan fiction or something like that. Here "fan fiction" is going to be the optimized keyword. Take into consideration your community and reviewing analytics and logs, thinking about content ideas.  Don’t forget to include other articles, which can be of interest to your audience. They can be not relating to "fan fiction".

By keyword optimization, you get the opportunity to express yourself, making sure your website gets seen by search engine bots.

While writing the site content, don’t forget that it should sound natural and be enjoyable for site visitors. However, the principal aim is to include the necessary amount of keywords for them to look absolutely natural.

Source: http://rankwinz.com/

Start Preparing Your SEO for the 'Internet of Things'

Prepare for an Internet Marketing Revolution, which is coming by way of smart home technology or what is now developed into a wider concept: the Internet of Things.

Smart home technology traces its roots to 1960. However, initially it has mostly been viewed as a luxury for wealthy homeowners. Today things have significantly changed and many electronic devices, including door locks and thermostats are Wi-Fi enabled.

“Internet of Things” presents an old concept that a lot of us already know about.  It is the smart home with a variety of interconnected smart residential devices aimed to make the life easier, more enjoyable and efficient.

Last month Google announced that The Internet of Things wants to buy the burgeoning home control company Nest Inc. for $3.2 billion. It gives a wonderful opportunity to make a huge step forward the smart home industry and the future of online search.

If Google doesn’t know what its customer wants, paid ads will not show up unsolicited on the company’s smart devices. Though, they will probably show up for the typical reasons: customers are generally using free services, which are paid for by ads or they are making Google searches. And here where smart devices in the Internet of Things get into the play for Search Engine Optimization Marketers.

Search Engine Optimization Professionals plan to optimize everything for smart things in the foreseeable future. Anyhow, a new generation of devices is going to be connected to the Internet, and Google definitely will be there.

Undoubtedly, search will not be the principal purpose of a smart refrigerator or thermostat, however in case you require a recipe while you are preparing a meal in your kitchen, you can use the most convenient web browser available, located on the fridge, for example, near your oven.

This factor changes Search Engine Optimization considerably. If people have smart devices in their apartments, desktops and mobiles won’t be the only 2 Search Engine Optimization Realms, which marketers have to think about.

Predictions for residential Search Engine Optimization:

• Local search optimization is going to become much more important.
• Local search is going to divide into: mobile and residential arenas.
• Psychographic data is going grow in value because of residential marketing increase.
• Content marketing is going to become dominate.
• E-commerce Search Engine Optimization is going to continue to focus on desktop and mobile search.

 We all know that just time can really tell how the Internet of Things is going to change Search Engine Optimization. However, today the most principal thing for marketers remains keeping smart devices and their active development in mind. You may not see the explosion of residential SEO for a few years, but you can definitely start preparing for the inevitable, and that means preparing a mobile content strategy.

Source: http://rankwinz.com/

How Much of Your Marketing Time Should Go to SEO to Be Highly Effective

Search Engine Optimization is very important, particularly as search-engine algorithms and consumer habits change. Today consumers are becoming more and more likely to make a search instead of engaging directly with businesses. Actually, the majority of consumers start their discovery process with a search.

The principal aim of Search Engine Optimization is to make your content easily understood by search-engine algorithms and easily discovered by people when they search.

Due to the fact that these algorithms are highly advanced, they don't approve the information the way people do. By rapidly improving Search Engine Optimization, you can be sure that the algorithms in place can readily determine what each page is about. Moreover, the content has to be very useful for customers who are looking for answers.

Don’t forget that Search Engine Optimization is a long-time process. Good results require constant maintenance, because search algorithms are regularly changing. Just last year brought great changes to Google search algorithm increasing focus on high-quality media rich content.  In case marketers do not have dedicated resources on Search Engine Optimization their content is likely to be lost in the significant amount of marketing content appeared daily.

It doesn’t matter how wonderfully your Search Engine Optimization program is developed, if consumers do not really find value in your content. In such a case your marketing strategy is useless!

It is extremely important for marketers to dedicate resources and time to creating original content, which is engaging and useful. Theoretically, there should be a marketing department team aimed at creating content, which can offer a unique perspective, inspire conversation and fulfill other consumer needs.

Source: http://rankwinz.com/

How to Improve the Reach of Your Published Content

How to Improve the Reach of Your Published Content

Content creation is part and parcel of any effective content strategy. However, it is the most important undertaking of small businesses. Having a quality strategic marketing plan, which enhances the effect of every piece of content that you create, reduces the quantity of original pieces of text you have to create and the amount of time you spent on it, maximize your ROI on your content marketing initiative and ensures efficiency in connection with marketing spend and employee time.

Yet, if you haven’t trained yourself in order to find opportunities in your content-marketing plan to advantageously use content in various ways, here you can see 4 methods you can employ with any piece of content that you create in order to increase value from it.

·         Asset approach to content creation

If you create modularly content in a way which can be broken down and assembled in various formats, it will be better to organize the good final presentation for a particular channel. The more you create types of content, the more opportunities you get.

For instance, you can record and transcribe an expert interview. You create an industry interview, where the audio files can be produced into a podcast or video interview and key themes and quotes can be used in articles and social media updates.

·         Cross-channel strategy/ putting content into various formats

Every original piece of content has to be successfully used for more than one channel.

For instance, a week later can be shared as a guest post or published on your blog. A newsletter article can serve as advanced content for your e-mail subscribers. Interesting article fragment can be used as social media status updates. The facts can be presented into visually in an info graphic format. An audio format can be integrated into your podcast. Don’t forget that not every piece of content works with every channel.

·         Purposes for content across the buying funnel

When a piece of content is presented, it often is created with a certain purpose in mind. However, it's advisable to be a variety of other purposes and contexts, where the materials can be used in.

·         Bundling and packaging opportunities

Always keep an eye out for new methods to bundle, present and package your existing content. Your full body of content should be easily accessible. Don’t forget to make series of articles/blog posts on a related theme that could be curated into an ebook, for example. Repurposing your content has numerous benefits --from reducing the stress on your staff to create new materials to enabling you to publish high-quality content at a faster rate.

Source: http://rankwinz.com/

25 Great Marketing Conferences Happening in 2014

Even though we’re not far into 2014, there have already been a fair amount of incredible marketing conferences. But, there plenty more conferences coming up this year you should definitely attend. Whether to network with  individuals in your field, exchange ideas, get inspired, or learn all about the latest tech and strategies in marketing, a conference is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve both your professional and personal life. That’s not even mentioning the cocktail parties and a little trip away from home for you to enjoy.

If you haven’t thought about making plans to an upcoming marketing conference, here’s your chance with the top 25 events in 2014.

1. Content2Conversation

Date: May 6-7, 2014

Place: New York, NY

Costs: $700

Must Attend Session: ‘Challenger Marketing: Succeeding In Today’s B2B Battleground’ with Brent Adamson.

This is a relatively new conference, it began in 2012, but it’s quickly becoming one of the fastest growing events in the country. In fact, attendance is expected to grow by more than 70% this year. What makes this such an exciting conference to attend is the range of people you’ll have the chance to connect with, such as people from Fortune 100 companies to venture back start-ups. However, the main takeaway from the agenda is being able to try out the latest tech and learn how the best B2B content programs have achieved success.

2. Confab Central

Date: May 7-9, 2014

Place: Minneapolis, MN

Costs: $999 – $1,795

Must Attend Session: ‘Visual Storytelling at GE’ with Katrina Craigwell

Since its debut in 2011, Confab has been a favorite for anyone involved with marketing, business management, or IT who are seeking to learn more about content. The conference has become so-respected that it has sold out the previous two years. Besides mingling with like-minded thinkers and creators, you have the privilege of attending numerous conferences and workshops from some of the leading experts in the field of content strategy.

3. Authority Intensive

Date: May 7-9, 2014

Place: Denver, CO

Costs: $1295

Must Attend Session: Keynote speech from Seth Godin

One of the downfalls of attending a marketing conference is you could get a bit overwhelmed. With all of the sessions and networking, it’s easy to come back home and realize you forgot several key takeaways. Because of this, Authority Intensive divided the conference into four integrated bundles so you can absorb some important marketing techniques.

4. Incite Summit: West

Date: May 13-14, 2014

Place: San Francisco, CA

Costs: $1400

Must Attend Session: ‘Shift From Campaigns to Engaging Stories’ with John Dragoon and Michael Lacorazza

What’s so great about the Incite Summit, besides heading out to the Bay Area for a couple of days, is how collaborative and engaging it is. Instead of just hearing speakers, which is still awesome, attendees can actually debate the future of marketing. And, the conference promises that attendees will go on to use 98% of things that they learned.

5. WistiaFest

Date: May 20-22, 2014

Place: Boston, MA

Costs: $500

Must Attend Session: Keynote speech from Rand Fishkin

If you’re looking to realize the benefits of video marketing, this is the event for you. Besides a day full of panels and discussions, there is another day loaded with workshops – which is great for all of us hands-on learners out there. And, you close out the festivities by enjoying a happy hour at the Wisita office.

6. Integrated Marketing Week

Date: June 3-4, 2014

Place: New York, NY

Costs: $995 – 1,695

Must Attend Session: ‘Talking to Your Customers, One at a Time’ with Alexis Maybank

Here’s a conference where you can learn how to reach your customers through all of the various multimedia channels connecting with 1,500 marketing leaders. Besides mingling with some pretty influential people, you can exchange ideas and become aware of tech and marketing strategies with peers and experts.

7. Reputation Institutes Annual Global Conference

Date: June 3-5, 2014

Place: Miami, FL

Costs: $350-$2495

Must Attend Session: ‘Right Message, Right Channel, Right Stakeholder’ with Paul Hillen, Cargill Peter Horst, and Sanjay Gupta

Reputation is kind of a big deal when it comes to a business. In fact, it can also affect your marketing campaign. And, that’s what this conference is bringing to your attention. By using your values, you can stand out from the competition and create an effective campaign to reach a global marketplace.

8. Summer Brand Camp

Date: June 3-5, 2014

Place: Dallas, TX

Costs: $495

Must Attend Session: ‘QR Codes Kill Kittens’ with Scott Stratten

Now in it’s fifth year, Summer Brand Camp is billed as more of an experience instead of just another conference – what other conference will you attend where there’s a cocktail party in a treehouse? More importantly, you can hang out and learn from some of the more innovative marketing minds out there. And, at under $500, it’s definitely worth attending.

9. CRMC

Date: June 4-6

Place: Chicago, IL

Costs: $600-$2200

Must Attend Session: ‘New Retailing Models’ with Jeffrey Raider

First off, Chicago in June is just awesome. So, why not enjoy the Windy City with a conference where you can pickup some strategies to engage and captivate your audience. And, as always, this is the perfect opportunity to network with peers and industry leaders.

10. SMX Advanced

Date: June 11-12, 2014

Place: Seattle, WA

Costs: $900-$2200

Must Attend Session: ‘Amazing Paid Search Tactics & Tools’ with moderator Matt Van Wagner and speakers Steve Hammer, Larry Kim, Jennifer Slegg

Workshops and panels galore make this one of the most promising conferences of the year, perhaps every year, at that. If you’re looking to boost your SEO, mobile and/or paid search tactics, then start making arrangements to head to the Great Northwest. And Matt Cutts is a keynote speaker. Just saying.

11. The Sales 2.0 Conference

Date: May 5-6, July 14, September 18, 2014

Place: San Francisco, Boston, Las Vegas

Costs: $700 – $1,000

Must Attend Session: Keynote speech from Lisa Earle McLeod (Boston)

If you’re involved with B2B sales, you should seriously consider attending one of the upcoming Sales 2.0 Conferences in either San Fran, Beantown, or Vegas. During the conference you’ll discover how to increase sales thanks to metrics and measurements, as well as working with your in-house team to increase the customer experience in real-time.

12. MozCon

Date: July 14-15, 2014

Place: Seattle, WA

Costs: $800 – $1300

Must Attend Session: Rand Fishkin will be speaking, but we’re interested in what Wil Reynolds from SEER Interactive has to say.

It may be safe to say that a majority of us have turned to Moz for some sort assistance at some point in our ventures. So, why wouldn’t you want to experience in person the plethora skills, tactics, and information that Moz has to offer?

13. SMPS Build Business

Date: July 30 – August 1

Place: San Antonio, TX

Costs: $600-$1400

Must Attend Session: ‘Imagine : Creativity Track I Want to Be Rubber But I feel Like Glue: How to Regain Your Personal and Professional Bounce’ with Shannah A. Hayley and Cathy Hutchison.

Here we have a conference that is all about gaining the competitive edge and using contrasts to your advantage. Plus, you’ll have three days in San Antonio to mingle with leading experts, marketers and business developers – on top of the more than 800 clients in attendance. There are also innovative workshops and panel discussions.

14. Affiliate Summit East

Date: August 10-12, 2014

Place: New York, NY

Costs: $1800-$2800

Must Attend Session: ‘Content-Driven Commerce: Affiliate Marketing Gets a Makeover’ with Vladimir Dusil, Oliver Roup and Erica Yoon

One of the most-respected conferences has been going strong since 2003 and there’s good reason why. It’s full of accessible affiliates, marketers, and vendors. There’s also provoking sessions where you will get access to the latest marketing trends and information.

15. ClickZ Live

Date: August 11-14, 2014

Place: San Francisco, CA

Costs: $800-$2700

Must Attend Session: Meet the Experts Roundtable

Looking to do some networking? ClickZ Live should be on your agenda. While every conference offers the chance to make some quality introductions, CLickZ goes above and behind. There are cocktails, of course, but the conference also has a session that directs attendees to the right sessions and events where people in your field would be. There are also meets and greets and roundtable discussions with peers and industry leaders.

16. Content Marketing World

Date: September 8-11, 2014

Place: Cleveland, OH

Costs: $800-$1500

Must Attend Session: Keynote speech from Academy-award winning actor Kevin Spacey.

Our own Kelsey Jones mentioned this conference previously, but it’s such a premier event that it deserves attention one more time. Why? Because it’s only the largest content marketing event in the world. And, did we mention that Kevin Spacey will be delivering a keynote speech?

17. Inbound

Date: September 15 -18, 2014

Place: Boston, MA

Costs: $199-$799

Must Attend Session: Any of the keynotes from HubSpot co-founders and members.

If you missed an event in Boston earlier in the year, or just want to return, Inbound has more than enough to offer to make start booking your trip. It’s here where you will hear success stories, get inspired by a wide range of speakers, have roundtable discussions and walk away with the skills and tactics to make your business a success.

18. Brand ManageCamp

Date: September 18-19, 2014

Place: Las Vegas, NV

Costs: $1,999

Sessions of Note: ‘What Great Brands Do: Seven Brand Building Principles That Separate The Best From The Rest’ with Denise Lee Yohn

In its 12 years in existence, this conference remains a great source for individuals to gain new insights and innovative techniques via a series of inspirational speakers. Because it takes place in Vegas, you can expect to enjoy some refreshing beverages with fellow like-minded guests and leading thought-thinkers.

19. Pubcon

Date: October 6-9, 2014

Place: Las Vegas, NV

Costs: TBA

Must Attend Session: Too many sessions to cover, but the keynote speakers will be Ted Murphy and Jay Baer.

Forbes has declared Pubcon a must-attend conference. And, if you’ve ever attended, you know why. Besides hanging out with some important people in Vegas, there will be training sessions, inspiring speakers and a ton of exhibitors. For 2014, Pubcon is promising the largest ever assembled group of search and social innovators in its history.

20. Dreamforce

Date: October 13-16

Place: San Francisco, CA

Costs: $899 (until May 6)

Must Attend Session: TBD

This event is hosted by salesforce.com, who Forbes listed as the world’s most innovative company for the last three years. During the four-day event, you’ll attend engaging and creative sessions that will assist you in improving lead conversion rate, lead volume, and constructing an effective marketing campaign.

21. DIGIMARCON

Date: October 18-23, 2014

Place: Departs Miami, FL

Costs: $995-$1,495 (early bird)

Must Attend Session: TBD

Here’s something different. A conference. On a cruise. Sounds good already, right? This inaugural event will depart Miami and make stops at Grand Turk, Half Moon Bay, Nassau, and the Atlantis Aquaventure. In other words, if you want to network with the “who’s who” in the digital marketing world, this might be one of your best opportunities. After all, you’re all on a boat.

22. BOLO Conference

Date: October 19-21, 2014

Place: Scottsdale, AZ

Costs: $935

Must Attend Session: TBD

We should all be in agreement that conferences are awesome. The only drawback is that with so many attending, it could be difficult to make impression while you’re out and about shaking hands. That’s what makes BOLO so intriguing. It’s limited to 250 attendees. That’s a great way in getting some one-on-one time with the people who can help you turn your marketing campaign around. And, the admission price includes access to all of the sessions, meals, and an open bar during cocktail receptions!

23. DMA 2014

Date: October 25-30, 2014

Place: San Diego, CA

Costs: $1899 (advance price for full conference)

Must Attend Session: TBD

For those of us who reside in the parts of the country where we get all four season, heading to San Diego during the end of October sounds like a really good decision. Oh, and there’s that whole attending a great conference as well. DMA hosts over 150 sessions that cater to data-driven marketers. And, there’s the chance to network with influencers and peers at all of the various parties going on.

24. Funnel Festival of Marketing

Date: November, 2014

Place: London, England

Costs: TBA

Must Attend Session: TBD

If you’re looking to head overseas, or happen to live in Europe, start making your travel arrangements. The 2013 event contained over 500 marketers who learned how B2B companies are making revenue with modern platforms and technology. Plus, we really like how it is billed as a festival and not a conference.

25. Dallas Digital Summit

Date: December, 2014

Place: Dallas, TX

Costs: TBA

Must Attend Session: TBD

December may be in the distant future, but it’s never too early to begin planning your next trip. While not all of the details have been released yet, last year’s event featured 75 influential people, like Steve Wozniak, Paul Bettner from ‘Words with Friends’ and Susan Bennett (aka the voice of Siri). Expect another stellar lineup for 2014.

Source: http://rankwinz.com/