SEO Translation: Can It Be a Reality or Is It Just a Myth?

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To enter new markets and reach new audiences in the digital space, you need a professional content translation. However, for the internationalisation strategy to produce results in the form of conversion and sales, it is necessary to pay attention to the translation of the international SEO optimisation strategy in order not to harm the positioning of the entire site. 

SEO Translation or Localisation: Which of them do you really need?

Very often, the concepts of translation and localisation are used interchangeably. However, this isn’t precisely correct: Website localisation is the process of its transformation in such a way that the target audience perceives it as native. This means that it is necessary to take into account linguistic and cultural differences, further benefiting the users. Thus, localisation and translation for search engine optimisation are only related to a limited extent.

Why you should not only translate but also localise SEO

SEO optimisation provides a constant flow of visitors to your website and translation will assist this flow of web traffic. Let’s look at a few reasons how translation will benefit you:

  • Loyalty. Besides the fact that the translation of your site will help to expand your audience, it could also lead to a regular readership. These regular users may appreciate the convenience of working with localised content. But how do they find out about you in the first place? With the help of correctly translated SEO.
  • This is a chance to beat the competition. Translating site and its semantic core into several languages will also help to take high positions in search engines.
  • Duplicate content. The same content translated into different languages is not considered plagiarism. This could lead to a higher search engine ranking.
  • Evaluation and feedback. You may received feedback from visitors regarding content and product. Needless to say that you should listen to the opinions of your target audience in order to continue improving.

Let’s suppose you coped with the task of translating SEO. However, conversions for some reason do not grow, behavioural factors worsen, and bounce rate gives unthinkable indicators. One of the reasons why this may occur is becase the translation isn’t up to scratch. Your translation must be localised. But how do we do this?

Localisation of SEO should be the first task in the localisation of the entire site

Most freelancers would firstly localise their website and then begin to think: ‘how will our new target audience look for us on the net?’

You may find it is beneficial to first plan the optimisation for search engines, if you want the localisation process to be more efficient.

SEO optimisation is a one-time action with instant results. Well, it could end with no results at all. In fact, users are looking at you differently. But if you did everything right, SEO optimisation does all the work while you are busy with other tasks. 

You will receive initial results from SEO in as early as three months, when all the pages are indexed. While you localise content, insert subtitles in the video or create them anew. Organise your social network profiles. You will find that properly translated and localized SEO will already work for you.

You need to consider linguistic differences

For example, a certain keyword may be suitable in an English search engine, while it’s translation may not end up with the same results. Moreover, different variations of the same keyword in the English language may likely be more accurately synonymous in the translated language.

Very often the choice of keywords used to search for one product differs in each country. Even the British and Americans, will search for sports shoes using different keywords – a Brit would search ‘trainers’ while an American would search ‘sneakers’. 

That is why it is necessary to carry out keyword analysis for each additional language and, thus, to improve the compliance of the search queries of potential customers.

Take into account the optimization algorithm of different search engines

No two search engines use the same algorithm to produce the same organic results. The Chinese Baidu search engine algorithm may be quite different from Google algorithm. Companies that want to reach their target audience need expertise in not only the language but also the technical side of search engines.

This is an important reason why enterprises should adopt an integrated approach (ISEO) that defines the correct wording and creates consistent, relevant messages in ads, landing pages, social publications, media and search marketing. Thus, the use of an international SEO strategy allows the brand to attract high-quality traffic to a high-quality website specially adapted to the characteristics of each market, which also contributes to strengthening the brand’s position in each of the markets.

Outsource SEO translation to specialists

Many websites and online stores rely on the machine translation of content and semantic core, which creates incoherent texts and spelling errors that automatically spoil the brand’s reputation. When it comes to SEO optimisation, keywords and phrases are certainly very important.

Make sure and use professional help, for example, from the Word Point. Professional translators will be able to define complex points in the translation of the semantic core and come up with the most suitable words with the help of which foreign users are looking for certain services. 

 Anna likes writing from her university years. When she graduated from the Interpreters Department, she realized that translation was not so interesting, as writing was. She trains her skills now working as a freelance writer on different topics. Always she does her best in the posts and articles.

Read on about SEO: 10 SEO Commandments for content writers and copywriters

About the Author:

Anna is a specialist in different types of writing. She graduated from the Interpreters Department, but creative writing became her favorite type of work. Now she improves her skills while working as a freelance writer and translator for TheWordPoint and has free time for another work, as well. That is the reason she has so many unpublished articles.

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5 Digital marketing trends for freelancers

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One of the most diverse industries today is none other than digital marketing. It is exciting to watch digital marketing trends because this world experiences fast-paced changes. There has been a dramatic increase in digital marketing jobs for freelancers. The trend of hiring freelancers for digital marketing roles has experienced significant growth in the past few years. According to studies, more people are hiring freelancers for running their digital marketing campaigns. While some digital marketing trends of 2018 are here to stay, there are some important trends for freelancers that they should look forward to this year.

These five digital marketing trends for freelancers have been circulating the industry and will continue to advance and become more popular. So freelancers, keep an eye on these pointers:

1. Artificial intelligence at its best

A number of industries are making the most out of artificial intelligence by incorporating it in different areas of work. Digital marketing has been revolutionized by artificial intelligence. The digital marketing is being changed for good with artificial intelligence because of its ability to gather, analyze and apply data. As it is improving continuously and its capabilities are advancing, it is a given that it is bringing changes in digital strategies and freelancers need to keep up with the changes to succeed.

2. Personalization should be a priority

The audience is looking for more connection these days. Gone are the days when you could just focus on the possible sales and profit and ignore the importance of discovering the wants of the customer. However, modern-day digital marketing trends indicate that personalization is a priority. Customers are the ones you have to target and freelancers should keep this in mind to establish loyalty in their audience.

3. Ads specifically targeting the audience

As artificial intelligence is now being used in digital marketing, it can help in improving ads that are now developed for specifically targeting a certain audience. These ads are highly targeted and they can lead to converted customers, which can increase your sales and brand loyalty in the long run. Freelancers should make use of these ads as they can be created specifically for the profile of your target customers. This will help you in getting the right attention and exposure you need for your services.

4. Social media is a must

As billions of people are using social media every day, it is no surprise that experts recommend that freelancers use this tool for marketing their own services. While you can use various platforms, it is a good idea to identify the platform used by your potential customers and start engaging with them. This involves sharing content like videos.

5. Don’t forget about SEO

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a vital tool for marketing your freelance business. It is essentially a way to optimize your digital presence on the internet. When your website is fully optimized, it becomes easier for search engines and their users to find you and avail your services.

Keeping up with these digital marketing trends will aid freelancers in expanding their services.

Author Bio:

Sidra has helped both well established and start-up digital marketing agency takes their ideas from sticky notes and whiteboards to fully develop robust manpower that serves vast specialized communities. Her expertise ranges from Tech Hiring to CXO level Blogging. Get in touch with her for more information.

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Everything you need to know about creating viral content

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Ted is one of those guys who believe in going to bed early and that’s the reason why he wakes up to some interesting messages from his friends every morning. However, last Sunday morning was a bit unusual as he received the same meme from 5 of his friends.

Ted was a bit annoyed, not because he got the same message from multiple contacts but because he wasn’t the one to share such interesting content with the group.

That kind of meme is something that marketers prefer to call as viral content. However, it’s not just memes. Any piece of content that is circulated rapidly and widely from one internet user to another can be termed as viral content.

It could be a Facebook post, a YouTube video, a tweet, a meme or any social media content that gets shared over and over again.

As you may have guessed, the quick-spreading nature of the content has gotten it the name – “viral content”. And thanks to its immense reach, marketers have tried to leverage viral content to promote their brands over the years.

But unfortunately, there is no definite recipe for creating viral content. In fact, most pieces of content that go viral on the internet aren’t created with the intention to go viral. It is like finishing your assignment overnight and getting an A for it. But is it just dumb luck? I think not.

What compels internet users to share content online?

New York Times interviewed around 2500 people to understand why they shared a story online. According to the survey, the main reasons were:

  • Share valuable and entertaining content with each other.
  • Be more open to others (allowing people to understand the user better).
  • Grow and nourish relationships (by staying connected with others).

For self-fulfilment (to feel more involved in the society),

To get the word out on the issues, they are concerned about.

If you want to create viral content, you need to consider these aspects that compel users to share content over and over. Although it does not guarantee a 100% success, at least you know what the audiences are looking for.

However, in order to produce viral content on a regular basis, you need to prepare an effective strategy, keeping these aforementioned points in mind. I have a few suggestions on that context.

How to make your content go viral?

Again, no expert on the internet can tell you a sure-shot way of creating viral content. However, there are several tactics to prepare content that is more likely to go viral:

Be funny

Since we are talking about leveraging viral content for marketing, I’m assuming you have come across BuzzFeed. It is one of the leading brands on the internet that are pretty close to cracking the secret behind viral content. If you look at their content, you are going to find a humourous tone in each of their content pieces.

Whether it is a video, a meme, or a blog post, adding some fun elements in content gives the audience a reason to share the content with friends. Internet memes are popular these days because of the fun element it carries. The entertainment quotient of your content often determines how far your content would go.

Do proper research

Besides entertainment, information is something that often makes people share a particular piece of content online. Obviously, that information needs to either new or intriguing enough for the readers. And for that, you need to conduct in-depth research for the content you create.

Brown Smith , a professional Content Writer works at Allessaywriter.com and Tophomeworkhelper.com according to the Brown. If you follow 8fact’s social media accounts, you may have seen them posting some interesting facts that most of us don’t know. To produce such content consistently, they obviously have a team of experts digging for a new, intriguing or weird piece of information consistently. To boost your chances of going viral, you also need to produce well-researched content regularly.

Focus on blogs with lists

If we consider blogs as a form of viral content (since blogs are more effective in generating leads), lists are something that can boost your chances significantly. Again, take the example of BuzzFeed. A majority of their popular blogs are basically written in listicle format.

’11 Products Under $500 That Will Always Be Useful’ or ’12 of the Best-Rated Sunglasses on Amazon That Are Actually Cheap AF’ are some of the examples of blogs with lists. Since these topics are relevant and offer multiple options of the same – they get the reader’s attention fast. If you check out the views of each of these blogs on BuzzFeed, you’ll find the count in millions.

Keep it short

Even a couple of years ago, people used to believe that long and detailed content is more acceptable to the readers. But ask yourself – would you read a forwarded blog that is 2000-words long? None of us would.

Shorter and concise piece of content are not only reader-friendly but also perfect for sharing online. And since people these days have the attention span similar to a goldfish’s, shorter content is your best bet at going viral. Since blogs are generally 800-1200 words long, infographics, images, video clips and memes are more likely to go viral due to their shorter length.

Make the content more relatable

Audience interaction may be a crucial part of a content marketing strategy, but when it comes to creating viral content, the content itself needs to be interactive. A majority of the blogs or opinion pieces that go viral are usually more relatable to the readers.

If a majority of the readers can relate to your content, they are more likely to share it on their social media accounts and start the domino effect that eventually makes the post go viral. Obviously, you need to conduct an audience survey to see who the target audiences are and how you can engage them with your content.

Wrapping it up

You need to try a number of things to hit the right chords with the audience. Since there is no definite roadmap for success in the domain of viral content, you have no other option but to try all the possibilities that are available to you. If the stars are in your favour, you may get to see your content getting thousands of shares in less than 24 hours. Until then, exercise the suggestions that you just received to boost your chances.

Continue reading to discover how to drive more traffic to your website:

5 Digital marketing trends for freelancers

Author bio

Nionica Starc is a senior content marketer at a reputed e-commerce website in Australia. He is also a part of the leading assignment help provider – MyAssignmenthelp.com, where he offers quality Kellogg’s supply chain  SWOT analysis to students on marketing topics.

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Building social media traffic is a tricky but manageable task

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Most people find it very tricky to build traffic to their site. They frantically look for different processes and experiment with many but seldom reach the desired result. This is because they are not able to decode the risk involved in this, often following the beaten track with no significant result.

Building social media traffic is indeed quite tricky but it all needs a proper approach and a strategic plan to make things more manageable. With a proper planner and a precise posting schedule, things will become much easier to gain more traffic from different social media channels.

Social media traffic is certainly the most significant aspect that will determine the quantum of success of your business marketing approach and efforts. However, if you have a limited budget, you will fall even far behind in gaining more traffic through social media engagement. 

Added to that, if you are already attempting paid advertising you may get paid social that will surely help you to boost your web traffic but the question is: how will you get those people to initially visit your social channels?

Ways to increase social media traffic

As you may know, social media has a tremendous power to be a major source to gain more traffic to your site. However, for this you will need to:

  • Gain a larger online presence and build on your social media following.
  • Engage more with your followers.
  • Add more content to each social network.

It is only then you will be able to have steadier, more consistent social media traffic to your site. Through social engagement, your followers begin to rely on you, which leads to brand loyalty and ultimately sales. In short, this will help you to nurture these potential sources for traffic to your site. This will also enable you to guide them through the purchasing process.

Rules to follow

SEO experts and professional marketers such as Stormlikes suggest that you will gain a lot of traffic if you follow a few simple rules to get the most out of social media networks. All social networks are indeed fundamentally different, but these rules can be applied to most leading channels. This will help lead to an immediate boost in your social traffic.

  • The most significant rule to follow is to focus more on your content, creating a more transparent brand image. Make sure that your blog posts, infographics and case studies go above and beyond – easy to read, informative and on-brand. If the content is worth sharing, then users will share.
  • Inspire your audience with attractive and more meaningful visuals. This will create a great first impression, which is essential when trying to grab the attention of social followers and make them stay with you. 
  • Last but not least, master Instagram. This is currently the most popular social channel and it’s essential to promote your business on it.

Find out more on how you can use social media to improve your online presence:

Social media and the Freelancer

Author bio

Walter Moore is a notable management consultant and digital marketing expert. He is an experienced digital marketer and has helped e-commerce businesses in all niches gain with his effective marketing strategies and guidance.

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The evolution of advertising

What are some of the biggest changes in advertising in the last decade?

Advertising has changed drastically during the last few decades, from the printing press to pop-up ads, everything has changed. Apart from that, new techniques and methods have been introduced which raised the need for advertising. Advertising offers one of the best ways of communication: businesses can use advertising to promote their newly launched product or service in the market. Advertising is not for a particular group of people but rather for every demographic. It can be carried out using various advertising media that suits all the requirements of your business.

Advertising can be done using various methods and techniques which help to generate more outcome for a business. Now, the questions may arise: why must you take advertising so seriously? Why does it hold so much importance these days? Businesses have a large budget for advertising. It plays an important role in the growth and success of a business.

According to the marketing land report, the amount spent on advertising has increased rapidly: it has reached almost $207 billion till today. The industry represents that digital ad revenue in the US has reached $106 billion ,which is approximately 51.5 per cent of total ad sales. It is also predicted that the growth rate is going to increase by 30 per cent year over year.

Here’s a brief and condensed history of advertising changes during the last few decades.

Advertising during the 16th-20th century

Advertising media such as magazines and newspapers were introduced during the 16th century. First Weekly Gazettes was released in Venice, which gained popularity among the population. This advertising concept was soon adopted by other countries across Europe.

In 1650, commercial advertisements were carried out for mainly books and quack doctors. However, other industries began using advertising media as a means to promote their products and services.

The use of advertising gained increased momentum during the 18th century, which gave birth to the tradesmen’s adverts. La Presse was the first newspaper which was launched for paid advertising. This newspaper was introduced in June 1836 by Emile de Girardin, editor of the Paris newspaper. Soon his formula becomes very popular for advertising all over the world.

Display ads came into existence

British newspapers gained huge popularity among industries during the 1850s and 1860s. During the 20th century, the father of modern advertising, Thomas J. Barratt, started an advertising campaign for advertising various company products.

This advertising campaign used various images, phrases and targeted slogans for advertising. One of the most famous slogans of a British newspaper in the 20th century was ‘Good morning. Have you used Pears’ soap?’.

Mellin’s Food was the first brand that used 25 airship flights to advertise its brand in 1902. Later, radio advertisement came into existence in 1922. During that time, businesses had to pay $100 for 10 mins advertisement on Radio.

Introduction of the latest technologies for advertising

The introduction of VCRs brought a drastic change in the advertising world. During 1975, businesses started using VCRs to record various shows. After that, computers and the internet came into existence, opening a new scope and opportunity for advertisers.

Later in 1994, email campaigns and banner ads were introduced allowing businesses to reach their targeted audience. YouTube and Facebook both became very popular during the early 2000s. Now, the two companies have become some of the most successful advertising media platforms for business with a huge audience base.

The revolution of display advertising

WebConnect agency introduced advertisement placing tools in 1995. This tool helped businesses to know who was more affected by their advertising. WebConnect’s proprietary tool provided the data of customers, which helped businesses to know who had visited their website and for what purpose. It also helps the advertiser to track impressions, click-through rates, ad views, to name just a few insight tools.

Online advertising becomes king

According to a statista survey, there are 3.65 billion internet users worldwide, the number of internet users increases with each passing day. The number of monthly active users on Facebook was 2.2 billion in 2019, that means almost half of the internet users are on Facebook worldwide. Therefore, to reach this audience online, it becomes mandatory for businesses to develop an online presence.

Businesses are offered multiple advertising platforms in order to easily reach their target audiences. They are opting for multiple advertising solutions for their business to reach the audience they desire. Businesses are taking the support of developers and marketers to help lead their sales to the next level of success. There are many hire developers and marketers online who can offer the best solution for their business, which not only helps them to reach a huge audience base online but will also help them to boost their business globally.

The debut of PPC Advertising

GoTo.com introduced PPC in 1998: a pay-for-placement concept that later evolved to pay-per-click advertising. Using these platform advertisers could easily bid on search queries that contain relevant keywords. Before the introduction of PPC, cost-per-thousand-impressions and cost-per-mille (CPM) was used for deciding the cost of advertisements.

Search engine advertising was introduced by Google in December 1999, however, it doesn’t come into existence until the AdWords system was introduced in October 2000. Using the AdWords system, advertisers can easily create text ads which can be placed on the Google search engine.

Social Media Advertising

20th century was dominated to display advertising and PPC search and during this time, social networks such as YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook gained huge popularity among the online population. Facebook ranks second in digital advertising after Google. Nowadays, Twitter has become one of the best sources for advertising real-time content, whereas LinkedIn has become valuable B2B network. All these social media platforms offer an excellent advertising platform for advertisers.

The advertising industry has dramatically changed during the last few years and there’s no sign of it coming to a stand-still.

Learn more about advertising: The confusing world of advertising

Author Bio

Manoj Rupareliya is the Online Marketing Expert and Blogger. He is an experienced writer with expertise in the field of technology, blockchain, crypto, AI, Digital Marketing and SEO. All the blogs he writes are aimed at providing credible help and insights for readers who want to stay updated all the time. Linkedin | Twitter

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10 SEO COMMANDMENTS FOR CONTENT WRITERS AND COPYWRITERS

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Content writing/copywriting and SEO are like peanut butter and jam. They are great taken separately but together they make a perfect symbiosis that helps your website’s visibility on search engines and achieve success.

Copywriting gives your brand an image just as much as the design does. Your content creates and builds up the context in which your business exists. Copywriting will catch your audience’s attention but the content will really show off your expertise. However, all of this, no matter the quality, will not be discoverable without the proper SEO. As the competition gets fiercer, your SEO efforts must get stronger, too. To put it simply, SEO is that little van that brings your fresh produce to the market. No van – no way to sell your fruits and vegetables, no matter how good they are.

Now, even though you will often see job ads searching for SEO Copywriters, your copywriter and content writer does not necessarily have to be search engine optimization pro. It would, however, be useful if they had some basic SEO knowledge. In that way, they could streamline your marketing process and make the job easier for your actual SEO expert, if you have one. Alternatively, will it make sure that at least some optimization is done in case you can’t afford an in-house SEO
specialist.

Your copywriters and content writers don’t have to learn how to code, their writing skills are usually useful enough. But in case they do want to dip their toes in the search engine optimization, here are 10 SEO commandments for content writers and copywriters to follow:

1. NEVER DUPLICATE YOUR OWN CONTENT.

Duplicating your own content for the sake of quantity is a lazy solution that can only backfire when it comes to SEO. Of course, no good copywriter or content writer would ever allow themselves such lack of creativity but it is important to make that clear. Every article or sentence that you choose to duplicate will affect your SEO in a negative way.

Sure, sometimes content writers get the infamous “writer’s block”, they get stuck in the loop of identical topics and use up all of their ideas, but a quick brainstorming with a colleague or a fellow content writer can help. Freelancers working alone can get inspiration from other articles or look for gaps in their content by using tools like Answer The Public. Small companies may try hiring a junior content writer who will bring new ideas, while bigger companies could switch between topics inside their teams.

Something else that may cause you to unintentionally have duplicate content is site migration and various other technical bugs, malware, and hacks. So make sure you always check your content structure, old and new sitemap, learn to recognize alarming data from Google Analytics, etc.

2. NEVER BORROW OR STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S CONTENT.

‘Borrowing’ or stealing someone else’s content just so that you can have a website filled with articles is very unethical, first of all. No respectable content or copywriter would ever take someone else’s work and Google will certainly make sure that your deed is punished.

However, not all content ‘borrowing’ is intentional. Some marketers do it out of sheer lack of knowledge (especially in SEO). They may think that copying someone else’s writing is a good idea because they can’t afford to hire a content writer or they are sole entrepreneurs trying to do everything by themselves.

Rest assured that the worst possible article you can write is better than a stolen article. Each and every one of us has a unique work experience that they can share with the world and show their own expertise. If, however, you have zero talent when it comes to writing, look for professional copywriting freelancers who can write fantastic articles for you.

3. DON’T USE TOO MANY KEYWORDS.

Some content writers familiar with the concept of keywords may think that putting as many of them as possible into the article will be beneficial to the SEO. This is simply not the case.

Your goal is to write a high-quality post and choose one (maybe two) keywords that you want that page to rank for. Mention them in your title, subtitle and maybe a few more times throughout the articles. If you do the job right, the use of keywords will come naturally, no matter what you happen to write about.

You can make sure that your keywords are among the most mentioned phrases in the article by using some of the free tools like browser extension SEOQuake, that can help you count the most prominent phrases.

4. DON’T FORGET TO USE KEYWORDS.

It may sound silly to an SEO connoisseur, but don’t get lost in your creativity and storytelling and forget to use the keywords that are important for your business. Mentioning your keyword only once will not make it any more relevant than any other word in your article when it comes to SEO.

Keywords will not only steer you in a direction which way to go when it comes to appealing to your audience and your industry but they can also help you choose the exact topic, especially those long-tail ones.

Say, for example, you are in the cake business. A quick research Google AdWords will stop you from shooting in the dark and tell you what are the types of cakes people usually search for and what you should focus on. Using a long-tail keyword like “ideas for the first birthday cake” can be a great inspiration for a blog or a landing page which will attract your future customers.

Use one of the above-mentioned tools to check the prominence of your keywords and ensure that the content of your page answers the questions of your audience searching for your services and products. Do your best to include the keywords in your title and subtitle, as well as a few times throughout the article, as we mentioned before, and your job is done.

5. MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING THE RIGHT KEYWORDS.

Not every keyword related to your business is the right one. Do proper research in Google Keyword Planner or any other tool that you prefer (like Ahrefs, Moz, Ubersuggest) first. If you don’t have access to any of these tools, just following Google suggestions can sometimes be a good place to start.

The advantage of these tools is that they can help you see which keywords have high search volume, what is their competition when it comes to paid ads and are they too broad for your business.

The best you can do is avoid broad one-word keywords like ‘software’, ‘Mercedes’ or ‘food delivery’ and aim for the ones that are specific for your industry or your location like ‘e-commerce software for B2B companies’, ‘Mercedes car service’ or ‘Chinese food delivery in Manhattan’.

Sometimes going really niche with super long-tail keywords that perfectly guess users’ intent (like ‘no-bake cake ideas for a first birthday’) can be the best solution. However, you won’t know whether they work and which one is perfect for you until you test them.

6. MAKE SURE YOUR CONTENT IS UP-TO-DATE.

Having outdated content can have a negative effect on the user experience of your website because who needs an article explaining Facebook advertising in 2016? This is especially important if you are in the industry such as marketing that is evolving by the minute. You need to update your content regularly and make sure you are always a source of relevant information.

Sure, this may take too much of your time as you are eager to publish new articles but it is far better to update your old content and keep it useful than to publish a new one. Firstly, it will show that you are a constant source of relevant information. Secondly, the published page is already indexed by search engines and holds a certain value, no matter how small, which is better than a zero value of your new page.

The beauty of the updated page is that it is as good as new – it can be shared, promoted and read as a fresh post as long as there is something for your audience to learn (infographic, resources, etc).

7. AIM FOR HIGH-QUALITY CONTENT.

Don’t just write for the sake of having new content published. If you don’t think that having industry news is relevant to your audience or you simply don’t want that kind of articles on your website, dedicate the time to brainstorm and come up with an idea of really high-quality content. The more effort you put into creating your piece of writing – the more it will pay off.

Now more than ever people have plenty of resources to choose from and if your article doesn’t seem like something that brings value, they can easily find a new one that does. Follow your favourite industry blogs and try to fill the gaps and write about something that they didn’t mention yet. Even better, if you have more expertise in a certain field, write your own opinion and share it with the public. Use the abovementioned tools like Moz and Answer the Public to get new ideas and create an article that you will be proud of.

8. ALWAYS POST FRESH CONTENT ON YOUR WEBSITE.

Unfortunately, coming up with quality content does not mean you should post once in a blue moon. Don’t think that once you have explained all of your services and products your job is done. Frequent content updates give out the signal to the engines and your audience that your website is relevant, up to date and that someone is maintaining it regularly.

If you can’t constantly update your service and product pages, consider starting a blog on your website or a page displaying your Case Studies. Blogs are a great solution to have weekly updates and share your expertise, while Case Studies will portray the exact benefits of your services and products.

More often than not, these seemingly ‘irrelevant’ pages, can be the first stop for your future clients who will be drawn by your knowledge and results.

9. MAKE SURE YOU POST RELEVANT LINKS THROUGHOUT THE ARTICLE.

If you want the reader to learn something from your content, don’t forget to link to your sources and give tips for further reading. Sources give credibility to your statements and links save the time of the visitor who then won’t have to search for the tool you suggested, for example. Your relevant information will keep the visitor on your page much longer and show to search engines that your post and your website has value.

Also, interlinking to your own website can improve the overall visit and consequentially ranking of your own pages. For example, if you are writing about SEO and you have a high-quality article on that topic, a service page or a tag, you should provide a link. Be careful and make sure you link the right (key)words for that topic.

10. ALWAYS WRITE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE IN MIND

In the end, algorithms are made to satisfy the visitors’ search intent and they are improved often (much too often if SEO experts are concerned) in order to minimise the effort of the one who searches. As long as you write with your audience in mind and follow a few simple SEO rules you can’t go wrong.

We hope our 10 SEO commandments for content writers and copywriters helped you improve your website’s rankings, but if you have any more questions regarding digital marketing, you can always contact Mirror Solutions.

AUTHOR’S BIO

Ana Eraković has a long term experience in journalism, PR and content management. She currently works as a Content Manager and SEO Consultant at digital marketing agency Mirror Solutions which specializes in luxury services, real estate, and startup advertising.

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E-commerce: the product copywriter and the photographer

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A picture is worth a thousand words, or so they say. But what happens if you take that picture and support it with a well researched, keyword and SEO friendly piece of copy for the product? The answer: a successful e-commerce site with potential for growth.

So, how do we go about gaining this online success? Why, hiring the right kind of people, of course.

Start off with a copywriter specialising in product description.

How do the product copywriters do their job? With the few keywords written in their client’s brief, they put together a short, catchy and interesting, well detailed, easy-to-read description of a product. Apply the correct keywords and last but by no means least the SEO. Voilà! You have yourself a product description fit for your quality product. (trust me, it’s not as easy as you may think. Leave it to the professionals).

 

Now it’s time to search for a product photographer.

A good product photographer will ensure they produce a compelling selection of images that abides by a client’s brief and is fully aware of the brand. They ultimately end up with a collection of images that clearly depicts the product. Ideally, a potential customer can view the product online as if they are looking at it in a shop. The copy will then support those images, filling in details that could not be shown in an image. (again, not as easy as you think.)

 

What if you take a product photographer and a product copywriter and put them together?

Then you’re killing two birds with one stone, so-to-speak. Hiring a professional who’s not only a product copywriter but also a product photographer, they could work closely with the client on a project. Taking part in the full process of the e-commerce project, a client can ensure consistency in the outcome.

A professional who is fully immersed in each part of the process, is able to not only become familiar with the product and the brand, but takes time to understand what the client wants. That make for a successful e-commerce site with potential for growth.

 

About the author:

Beginning her writing career as an editorial intern at a local Barcelona magazine, Heather continues to write copy and product descriptions. Heather is currently based in London, continuing as a copywriter and product photographer.

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5 simple, yet highly effective logo designs for inspiration

Today, businesses depend on strategies that guarantee effective communication and engagement with their potential clients. Among these strategies is the use of visual tools such as logos, that effectively communicates the company’s brand, and engages and interacts with the target audience.

A logo is the most excellent representation of any brand or business- it serves as the image your clients will associate with your brand or business and its value. And an excellent logo design should convey the message intended in a matter of seconds. As a result, choosing the perfect logo design is an important decision.

So, where do you begin? How do you choose a simple yet highly effective logo design? Find out below!

Tips for finding the best logo designs.

Well, it’s common for creative professionals to run out of their creative juices occasionally; the same applies to designers. Good news! You can restore your creativity by looking for inspiration. Here are simple tips to get you started.

  1. Browse through design websites. Browsing through design websites enables you to see some artistic inspirations, whether the designs are logo based or not. Any image you come across is bound to ignite your creativity and push you towards creating an even more classic design.

  1. Review successful designs of other businesses in the same industry. The goal is to ensure that your brand or business stands out and effectively conveys the intended meaning. Here, research will include looking at what other companies in the same industry as yours are doing. Look at what they did as well as what they didn’t do in their logos.

  1. Review the brand. Before you can begin to design a logo, you need to understand the brand itself. Focus on the fact that the logo is supposed to engage and interact with a target market. So, study the business. Look at the history of the company, their vision, mission, and values. Review the businesses’ processes and their relationship with external stakeholders such as clients. How do customers see the brand or business? How should the brand be projected to the customers and the market? All this information plays a vital role as they guide you in the process of designing a logo.

What to consider when designing a logo.

Designing a great logo that is simple enough to engage and effectively communicate all the intended meanings of a brand is not that easy. Check the list below for crucial factors to consider as you design a logo:

  1. Keep it simple. Generally, logos are usually minimized to small sizes, primarily for use on merchandise such as letterheads or keychains. The minute you include too many ideas such as fonts and colors into one logo, it becomes confusing and fails to deliver its intended meaning to the target audience. A simple logo ensures that viewers get the message conveyed quickly.
  2. Keep it relevant. The elements used on a logo need to be relevant to represent the image of the brand adequately. Aim to create a lasting impression using your logo by ensuring it’s unique and the design is based on a new concept that is relevant to the industry.
  3. Feel free to experiment. Be open to try out new ideas and step out of the ‘normal’ limitations. This means, being open to trying out new designs, regardless of the trends that other businesses have implemented in their logos. Explore and experiment with different designs you could use to make your logo stand out.

5 Simple logo designs for inspiration.

Many logo trends are engulfing the digital landscape and taking advantage of technological innovations. We’ve compiled a list of simple, yet effective logo designs below.

Minimalism.

dribbble.com

This design eliminates all the unnecessary elements and leaving what needs to be there only. Although this design might be challenging to achieve, if executed properly it can result in a memorable and distinctive logo. The appropriate use of typography, colors, and whitespace (a.k.a negative space) ensure the intended design is achieved. Famous brands with minimal design logos include Google, Uber, Spotify, Pinterest, Airbnb, Microsoft, among others.

Use of Geometry.

webdesignerdepot.com

The use of geometrical shapes and imagery, including straight lines or grids are excellent for creating futuristic and straightforward logos. Proper use of bright color palettes and curves balances the logo elements while softening its appearance.

Optical Illusion.

logodesignlove.com or anopticalillusion.com

The use of optical illusions to create logos involves manipulation of perspective and shading images to defy logic while increasing memorability. Popular styles used in optical illusions include warped, visually broken, fragmented or bent impressions.

Flat.

freelogovectors.net or beyonddesignchicago.com

Today, flat or semi-flat designs are trendy. This is because of the design’s usage of subtle shadows and details to provide room for improved visual hierarchy which improves the logos and their uniqueness as a whole.

Overlapping.

seeklogo.net

This is a visually dynamic design that adds contrast and additional layers to your logo. Designers are finding the trend of creating multiple layered elements in a logo’s overlapping space to create room for more creativity and fantastic blends of color.

A great logo effectively communicates the right message to the target audience and can convert visitors into customers. Therefore, your logo should demonstrate a strong brand identity.

Looking for more inspiration? Continue reading our blog posts:

‘Therapy pig’ Theory: How to get more creative with your business. 

About the author:

Fazreen Razeek from Grafdom has served the digital industry for over 5 years. He collaborates and works alongside agencies, event organizers, and suppliers to develop and execute their marketing strategies. He is extremely passionate about education technology and also writes for various local and international publications. A graduate with High Distinction from the Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia, Fazreen holds a Bachelor’s Degree with a double major in Marketing & Management.

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Essential writing tips you need to know before you start a blog

Do you want to be the next J.K. Rowling? If you have a passion for writing, then your answer is probably yes. However, in today’s age of technology, more and more writers are turning towards a much more accessible and cost-effective medium – Blogging!

Writing a blog is much different than composing a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. This medium requires disseminating information in chunks or “bite-size” pieces, which means your writing has to be concise but also interesting. Smart bloggers understand this as they know modern readers have short attention spans.
Becoming a great writer isn’t easy. If you are just-kick starting your blog, you may often end up feeling discouraged. However, even if your first few pieces are not up to the mark, you can always improve your skills by taking the following advice!

Cut the Fluff.

The more fat you trim from your writing, the better it will appear. Concise writing is free of fluff and fillers and readers can leaf through it without any effort. Here are some pointers that you may want to consider.

  • Avoid passive voice: Passive voice not just makes your sentence longer, but it also makes it less impactful and assertive. For example, “I ate a sandwich,” is a short and sweet sentence. But when you change it to passive voice, it becomes “A sandwich was eaten by me,” which lacks power.
  • Eliminate Unnecessary Prepositions: Change sentences with unnecessary prepositions, like “The director of the board interviewed the intern from Australia” to “The board’s director interviewed the Australian intern.” Adding unnecessary prepositions can make your viewers lose track of what they are reading.
  • Reduce –tion Words: Instead of writing “She will help him with the correction of his homework,” write, “She will help him correct his homework.” The latter sentence sounds more crisp and clear.

A Single Sentence Should Present A Single Idea.

Sometimes, in an effort to appear smarter, we tend to make our sentence longer by incorporating more than one idea into them. This results in long-winding and very confusing sentences. It is also counterproductive as your readers are unable to understand the solution to their problems. Keep your sentence simple with only one idea at the core of them.

Reduce Redundancy.

Blog writers need to be compelling. This means crafting a sentence while keeping in mind its surrounding sentences. Make sure you do not repeat the same adjectives or verb or talk about a similar idea in back-to-back sentences. This can create redundancy. To write in a stimulating way, cut out repetitive information and keep your language varied. If you are all out of words, use the online Power Thesaurus for writers. It’s free!

Be Diverse.

Variety is the spice of life so it is important that you use varying sentence lengths and structure in your writing. Use a blend of short, medium-length and long, elaborate sentences in your writing, which complement each other.

If you use the same length of sentence in an entire passage, your blog will become monotonous and
boring. However, variety and diversity, as with all things, will make your content engrossing.

 

Nobody Likes a Cliché.

Cliches are cringe-worthy and lazy. They also leach all the originality from your writing. Overusing certain phrases can make them go stale and lose their true meaning. A good way to test your writing for clichés is to ask yourself whether you remember hearing the particular phrase or term before. If you have, it is better to try some fresh and unique ideas of your own.

Tell A Story.

Not all stories need to start with “once upon a time…” Storytelling in blogs is about conveying your ideas and experiences in a memorable and enthralling way. You can become a storyteller by adding resonating stories in your blog. When you tell a story, your readers should see, smell, hear, touch and taste your experiences.

Let It Go.

When you write a sophisticated paragraph in your blog, your inner writer grabs on to it and refuses to let it go. Even if it doesn’t fit into the context and scope of your content, you still try to force it there. However, you need to understand that beautiful, artistic writing doesn’t necessarily deepen your viewers’ understanding or give them the solution to their problem. If your writing doesn’t provide value, it is best to scrap it and start from scratch.

Read Great Writers.

Stephen King famously said “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” If you want to write great blog posts, it makes sense to read the works of other great writers, both inside and outside your industry. This will help your brain think outside your comfort zone and spark inspiration for more great ideas. The simple truth is that if you don’t read great writers, your dream of becoming a successful blog writer may evade you forever.

Writing is a complex art and needs a lot of effort to hone. Not everyone is up to the task and there is no shame in that. If you feel that your writing skills are not up to par, consider using the expertise of professional blog writing services.

Author Bio

Dave Brown is a Sr. Editor at Content Development Pros – a leading inbound marketing company that provides comprehensive content solutions, web design and development, SEO, and content writing services to small and mid-sized businesses. With more than a decade of experience and over 60,000 completed projects to their credit, they enjoy the trust of hundreds of regular customers from all industries and parts of the world.

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Five creative tips that will make you a kick-ass writer

Less than five years ago, creating copy was more about rewriting content from competitors. Now, the stakes are much higher, the competition is even tougher and the noise from the internet is deafening. Now more than ever, websites are looking for consumer-friendly content that is innovative and compelling.

Such writing is difficult. Just try to be creative, and you will see that someone else has already been there, done that, and many more writers have tweaked and rewritten the idea.

If you are a writer trying to navigate these rough waters, below are five battle-tested writing hacks that will transform you into a kick-ass writer.

Read like a writer.

In the 14 reasons why writers need to read, Jan Fortune starts by asking readers to imagine chefs who hate food or artists who have never been to a gallery. Where is their credibility?

The same goes for writers. To be a writer you must love to read. Love to learn and to comprehend what you read. Take notes, assess and expand on them. In return, reading will provide you with an endless source of information, ideas, and inspiration.

Reading also enhances your vocabulary for more powerful content. It strengthens your creativity and ability to develop compelling copy. If you encounter multiple challenges and roadblocks when developing content, that’s a sign you are not reading enough.

To receive you must give. By reading other people’s work, you encourage them to read yours. So remember to leave a note to writers whose writing resonates with you. It might tempt them to read your work. You never know, one day you might encounter an editor who will give you a gig that will set you for life.

Last but not least, every form of writing is a storytelling opportunity. To be a good storyteller, you must consume and read stories written by other people.

Watch movies or series and listen to music like a writer.

Movies, series, and even music are excellent sources of creativity. They will feed your imagination and vocabulary and help you structure words and sentences compellingly.

Listen to your favorite music and see how strategically placed the words are. Everything is blended uniformly and harmoniously into a tune that resonates deeply with you. That’s how the content you deliver to your client should be, thoughtful and engaging.

Have a more in-depth look at how movies and series develop plot and characters. See how parts are interwoven to create a compelling story that glues you to the screen. That’s how persuasive and naturally flowing your writing should be.

If you are a novelist, scriptwriter, or writing personal narratives, there is no greater nourishment than that got from watching movies, series, and music with subtitles. Even for content writers and copywriters, seeing how scriptwriters fuse words and frame sentences could help you write content with a hypnotic punch.

Write.

Everybody wants to be the noun, but few want to be the verb.

In writing, everyone wants to be a writer but very few wannabes write. So, if you cannot put in the actual hours and draft something, edit, and publish, you are only thinking and wishing to be the noun but unwilling to do what takes to be the verb.

To be a successful writer, you must write. Real writers write. Wannabes fantasize about being bestsellers but they do nothing about it. It is also not just about creating and hoping for a miracle to happen but writing as often as possible. Writing on a daily basis is recommended.

Note that writing every day does not mean publishing every day. Writing day-in, day-out is a gateway to forming a habit. Making writing a habit gives you a genuine connection with your craft. Your commitment will ensure that even when the odds are against you, you will drag to your space, get in the mood, and draft something. You can always edit later and develop the idea into an excellent read for publishing (Write from your heart and edit from the head).

Write gold.

Successful writers do not just write regularly. They develop real high-quality content that compels people.

Writing gold is about creating copy with the consumer in mind: answer their questions, affirm their suspicions, make them question their beliefs and strengthen their knowledge. Whether it is a personal journal or copywriting, writing gold is about producing authoritative ideas that will compel readers to come back for second helpings.

Webmasters want consumer-friendly copy that will satisfy the search intent of prospects and enhance their ranking on search engines results pages (SERP). With so many similar sites competing for the first placements, the need for more authoritative, informative, and optimised content is higher now than ever before.

Writing golden articles is your gateway to success.

Rinse repeat. Rinse repeat.

Writing greatness is all about rinsing and repeating the process; read like a writer, watch like a writer and if you love music, that too could work. Read how Leila Green learned how to write from listening to a song by Kendrick Lamar. Then, write gold and do it all over and over again.

The industry wants proficient and experienced writers with strong writing portfolios. They want copywriters who have been published on authoritative sites such as Forbes, Huffing post, Medium, Fox, and CNN. So, aim to post quality content in as many highly reputable blogs as possible. Prove that you are it with a strong writing portfolio.

Keep reading more of Joyce’s articles: The 4 most essential writing hacks for writers

To be a great writer, you must read and practice writing. You don’t even have to create golden articles to write. Start with what you have by regurgitating content from the web. Then step-by-step, enhance those ideas by giving them a different punch. Plus, the more you read and write, the more informed you get, the greater your exposure to great writing, and the higher the chances of encountering an profoundly excellent idea that is worth writing and publishing. To be a writer, write. To be a great writer, make excellent copy and publish them. There is no shortcut.

About the Author.

A Writer on Medium, Joyce Mwangi develops online content such as news articles, articles, blog posts and social media posts. Mwangi also writes personal statements and statement of purpose. She is flexible and capable of working on any niche. Last but not least, Mwangi is a Microbiologist. She has worked with the Walter Reed Project, Kisumu and Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Nairobi.

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