500 SEO Tips: Essential Strategies To Bulldoze Through Google's Rankings, Increase Traffic and Go Viral
Chapter 9: Content Marketing
Content marketing is all about creating content in the form of infographics, blog posts or videos which rank for keywords and searcher queries on Google. It basically answers any questions searchers may have, or will teach them how to do something. Without content marketing, you'll find it difficult to build lots of search traffic to your site. By creating content, you can easily build lots of traffic and convert that traffic into customers.
When people become enchanted by your content, they'll also become enchanted by both you and your business.
Here are some very inspiring and slightly startling statistics on content marketing:
1. Businesses that blog more than 20 times a month get 5 times more traffic than those who blog less than 4 times a month.
2. Websites that blog get 97% more inbound links than those without.
3. Most people regularly read and follow 5-10 blogs.
4. Websites with blogs get 55% more traffic than those without.
Creating A Magnetic, Viral Title
279. Create An Awesome Title – If you want to become popular online or get traffic or improve your SEO, you need to create an awesome title. It will be an essential process to gaining clicks, traffic and customers.
280. What has Writing Titles Got To Do With SEO?
Writing titles is more of a conversion process or content marketing process, so you may be wondering what it has got to do with SEO.
You need to get links from influencers. An awesome title will increase your chances of snagging the link.
You need searchers to click on your search result, not anyone else's. Again, a click worthy title will drive searchers to your result, and no one else's. Writing titles may seem like a silly practice when it comes to SEO, but in this content driven world, titles are the key to a successful website when coupled with content.
281. Include A Number In Your Title, For List Posts
People love numbers, it’s just the way it is. The first thing I do when optimizing my titles is adding a number to the beginning, if possible. If you are writing anything in the form of a list, make sure to add a number. The larger the number, the more clicks you will get.
It is just one of those things that you cannot afford to isolate yourself from, just check any article from a major website with a lot of know-how (BuzzFeed, Mashable or HubSpot) and you will find that nearly always, they start with a number.
282. Adding Numbers: Don't Include The Word, Keep It As A Numeral
Remember to include the number as a numeral, rather than a word. You’d be surprised at how many people make this fatal mistake and lose out as a result.
283. Add Power Words
I call these power words because they will really strengthen your title.
People take a liking to certain words that evoke strong emotions in them. Research by Buffer shows that the following words will make your title more clickable and will cause a lot of people to read it. Here they are:
Smart/Surprising, History, Hacks, Huge/Big, Critical, Science
If you have an opportunity to use them, just don't think about it. Use. Them.
284. Heighten The Curiosity With Question Marks And The Unexpected
We all are curious people. By including some "mysterious" elements to your title, you can easily draw in more readers. This is especially good for tutorials, where ranking on Google is more difficult for that phrase, so you decide to take the social media route instead.
1) Questions tend to rank well on Google. The best words to use at the beginning of a question title are, “How do I?” “Which?” “What?” and “How?”
Eg: How do I Start A Kick-Ass Coin Collection?
Which Country Has The Most Good-Looking People?
What Happens When You Eat Leather?
Why Your Blog May Be Losing Out On Potential Readers
2) Adding an unexpected twist at the end – something strange, wacky or just downright crazy is a fantastic way to engage interest and you could be on the road to viral. Just check this title out (from moz.com):
How I Got The Attention of one of the Top SEO Bloggers With Diet Coke
Isn’t that just a great title because of the “diet coke” at the end? I would definitely read that, because it sparked my curiosity. As a side note, that got 77 thumbs up.
The example titles above also have unexpected twists at the end, such as “good looking people” and “leather”. For the second title you would expect, the best healthcare system or the highest IQ but good looking people? Now that was unexpected!
285. Brag About The Benefits – A lot of readers think “What’s in it for me?” just when they are about to click on your link. That's why you need to make it loud and clear: what are the benefits of your content? People need to get sold when they read your title. Your content deserves an awesome title so you need to tell them what they will get if they take the time to read it. There are plenty of ways to do so by including numbers and powerful adjectives.
When we want to learn to get more traffic on Google, seeing a link which says “20 Ways To Increase Your Traffic from Google: A Beginners Guide”, we inevitably click on it. This is because the greatness of your article is being reflected onto the title when you say “20” and “a beginners guide”.
Here are some words you can use to do just that:
· How To – They will learn something new.
· A Beginner’s Guide to – We are all beginners at something, so a simpler guide will be needed by a lot.
· 10 Ways to… - Numbers, yet again!
· Find out how…. – Reader will learn something exclusive, an insider’s account etc.
· Introducing – Implies something “new”, “latest”, “fresh”
· A Simple Formula to – A quick strategy, or easy instructions to doing a certain task.
286. Emote, Exaggerate and Excite
To get that definitive “click!”, you need to do one last thing and excite the reader. Twitter reported that tweets or blog titles with adverbs got more re-tweets than those without. That’s because people read on emotion and therefore, you need to appeal to their heart and soul. This can be done with adverbs, all caps, an unexpected twist, asterisks, exclamation points and flash words. Exaggerating and being bold works too.
· Adverbs – Add in some emotive language with adjectives and adverbs. Consult a thesaurus for original ones, but a good bloggers list includes: viral, epic, free, amazingly, life-changing, unexpected, irresistibly, mind-blowing, mistakenly.
· Be bold – Use some exaggerative language (but only if your blog post is deserving of this title). For example, “Kick-Ass”, “Change Your Life”, “Extinction”, “Kill”, “War”. Tabloid newspaper language uses a lot of these words; and I now know why they have such a following. Eg: Microsoft Kill the Windows XP: Why this Shocking Decision?
· Punctuation: Exclamation points, asterisks, arrows and all caps work wonders but use sparingly!
287. Remember That Shorter is Better
The shorter you can make your title whilst still delivering the goods to your reader, the more people will have the time to read it.
Long, tiring and extraneous (even reading silently in your head) titles have the same effect as if you are reading them aloud. You need to take a huge breath before you read the title. If you have a working title, there may be ways to make it a little shorter.
For example:
That Will –> That’ll
These 20 –> 20
Cut out any extraneous words (underlined below), eg: “How To Make Delicious, Mouth-wateringly Tasty yet Simple Cupcakes That Everyone Will Enjoy Eating” should become “How to Make Deliciously Simple Cupcakes That They’ll Love”
288. Use Some of These Sample Headlines
Generating viral headlines can become tiring especially when you try to combine all of the elements above. That's why you can start using the following headlines below. All you have to do is fill in the blanks with your own niche topics/targeted keywords and you are ready to begin!
289. How to [keywords]
I know, this headline is a little generic but when creating headlines, you always have to start simple. This example is the classic headline that will always save you should you become completely stumped on what to write about. It is Google’s friend, since all articles with this headline are going to rank on Google no matter what. If you don’t know where to start, write with a simple “how to” headline.
How to Make an Authentic Christmas Card
How to Use Photoshop (A Technophobe’s Guide)
How To Train A Dog To Sit
How To Identify Profitable Keywords for SEO
290. How to [action] (Even If [Obstacle])
Now this one is smart. You’re tapping into the “been there, done that” audience who tried to do something but it failed.
Most people have tried to lose weight, for example. They read thousands of articles that guarantee the formula to losing weight, but these promising articles never help.
They just offer the same old stuff with diets…blah, blah that honestly, no one can stick to.
Or maybe your audience wants to obtain a certain thing but are unable to do so because of their circumstances. Examples include not being able to do online trading because they aren’t good with computers or not able to paint because they just don’t have the talent.
How To Lose Weight (Even If You Hate Diets)
How To Paint Like Picasso (Even If You Never Painted A Thing In Your Life)
How To Make A Household Budget (Even If You’re Not Good With Numbers)
291. 9 Lies [Your Niche] Experts Like To Tell
This one appeals to the fears of your readers. Lies? Experts? It gets them palpitating even before they read your post.
9 Lies SEO Experts Like To Tell
10 Lies Teachers Like To Tell About Your Kid
16 Lies Google Like To Tell About SEO
292. 6 Little-Known Factors That Could Affect Your [Activity]
This also arouses some curiosity within the reader and gets them thinking. Everyone wants to improve what they do, and always want to learn the pitfalls that could be pulling them down.
12 Little-Known Factors That Could Affect Your PageSpeed
9 Little-Known Factors That Could Affect Your Examination Performance
15 Little-Known Factors That Could Affect Your Blood Sugar Levels
293. 8 [Your Niche] Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making
Ouch. This has got to hurt. These mistakes aren’t your average “know them already” mistakes. They are mistakes that everyone is making…but don’t even realize it.
This title is going to ignite huge curiosity in your readers, both on Google and social media.
9 SEO Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making
13 Fashion Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making
7 Blog Post Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making
294. How To [Activity] – The Definitive Guide
This title sets the mark. It’s going to cover every little detail about a particular topic and it’s going to be awesome. No other article will ever come near the standard of this. These are the articles that garner the most attention because Google will love them. People will get talking about your guide and how it sets your niche to a whole new ballgame.
How To Do A TED Talk – The Definitive Guide
How To Create A Killer Slideshare – The Definitive Guide
How To Do Technical SEO – The Definitive Guide
You are promising your readers something spectacular, so don’t use this title unless you’re willing to put in the work.
295. 25 [Resources/Tricks] That’ll Instantly Make You A Better [Person]
Simply list out the tips and tools you use on a day to day basis and give a small description on each one. Make sure to give the resources a hyperlink and you’re all set! There’ll be plenty of bookmarks and social media shares for this title!
25 Resources That’ll Instantly Make You A Better Writer
21 Resources That’ll Instantly Make You A Better Web Designer
18 Tricks That’ll Instantly Make You A Better Guitarist
296. 11 Ways To Completely Revamp Your [Activity/Object]
Did you just say, revamp? Revamp equals “better”, “anew” and other feel-good words. It ignites a sense of success and will bring back the feeling that hope is not lost.
11 Ways To Completely Revamp Your Website Design
12 Ways To Completely Revamp Your Study Timetable
16 Ways To Completely Revamp Your Kitchen
297. 10 Things Everyone Hates About [Your Niche]
This title signals some light hearted fun about your niche. Make it as funny as possible. Try using the words "memes", "GIFs" and "comics" in the title too.
10 Things Everyone Hates About Wednesdays [In Memes]
10 Things Everyone Hates About Social Media
15 Things Everyone Hates About Their Laptop [With Comics]
298. [Activity]: 12 Do’s and Don’ts For Success
We all want success. Do’s and don’ts are extremely popular these days, so it’s time to follow the crowd.
Going Viral: 12 Do’s and Don’ts For Success
Planting Fuschias: 11 Do’s and Don’ts For Success
Birdwatching: 21 Do’s and Don’ts For Success
299. An Introduction To [Topic]
This title is for all the beginners out there, who cannot understand what the heck it’s all about. When we embark on a new hobby we know little about, we tend to research it online first. That’s where your article comes in!
An Introduction To Social Media Marketing
An Introduction To Choosing Anti-Virus Software
An Introduction To Writing Science Fiction Novels
300. The Worst Advice You Could Ever Get About [Topic]
Perfect for the “Tell me! Tell me!” effect. Use for unstoppable curiosity.
The Worst Advice You Could Ever Get About Interviews
The Worst Advice You Could Ever Get About Interior Design
The Worst Advice You Could Ever Get About Cooking
301. 10 Tips For Making A Good [Whatever] Even Better
Add fuel to the already burning fire. Add even more momentum to the exponential progress. This takes it to the next level.
10 Tips For Making A Good Website Even Better
15 Tips For Making A Good Soup Even Better
11 Tips For Making A Good SEO Campaign Even Better
302. The [Celebrity/Company] Guide To [Activity]
Whatever niche you’re in, there is an inspiring person or company out there who do what they do like a boss. They are the best in their niche, and have a massive following. Who wants to be like them? All of us!
The Steve Jobs Guide To Design
The Oprah Winfrey Guide To Leading A Zen Life
The Pixar Guide To Animation
The Tiger Woods Guide To Golf
The Bill Gates Guide To Coding
The Mark Zuckerberg Guide To Startups
303. How To Get Amazing Titles Through Other Blogs
Go to some of the most well-known websites out there such as Buzzfeed, Mashable, Wired and HubSpot (for marketers). Look at some of their titles and see which titles you want to click on. Those are the titles you should be aiming to include on your website. Don't copy the titles, but get inspiration from them. Change a few things around in the title, and add in your own targeted keywords to make a fantastic sounding title.
304. Don't Choose The Boring Title
Writing predictably viral titles is difficult. At Buzzfeed, they conjure about 30 amazing titles per article and choose which one they think will perform best. It's true that writing a title can be a tiresome and aggravating process. After all, the title is what will make or break that piece of content.
It can be tempting to go down the easy route, and just write the title that first pops into your head. Unless you've worked for a content marketing agency, that title is more than likely going to be a little boring, and lacks that "something special" it needs to be popular.
Write a few titles using the strategies above and think about which works best.
305. Don't Go From "Awesome Title" To "Clickbait" – Does clickbait sound familiar? Annoying internet ads, no?
Clickbait is a form of headline writing that leads to a poor quality or spam page, which offers little value to you. Do any of these headlines look familiar?
Stop Putting On Weight, By Eating This One Food!
How Using Facebook Can Earn You Thousands A Day
Learn How Mom Makes $2000 Per Day At Home
Not the best headlines, right? If you've ever clicked on these ads, they only lead you to a virus filled, sales page that requires you to pay hundreds to access the "one weird tip" or the trick "to take twenty years off your face".
They may generate tons of clicks, but they don't look like the headlines you'd want on your blog. Most online users have already become immune to these "too good to be true" titles and will only label your website as a piece of spam.
The main thing to take away is that you shouldn't start writing clickbait titles.
Types of Content You Should Create
306. The Article, or Blog Post
The most common of all, an article is the most basic form of content. Used by millions of bloggers across the world, you can bet that this content is the easiest to create and that doesn’t mean you have to be a skilled writer.
People want answers, not stories. They don’t care about your writing style or narrative. All they want is the information presented to them in an engaging and educational way.
307. Infographic: A Visual Representation Of Data
This content does exactly as it says in its name. It presents information in a graphic. They often convey facts, statistics and other findings in a colourful and vibrant way. These are a rising trend in the online community and become easier and easier to create every year. A few years ago, you would need to hire a graphic designer from Elance, Odesk or Fiverr to create one for you.
There are several advantages to making infographics which include gaining backlinks, easy social shares in your industry and more.
308. Video: A Full Experience
Video requires a lot more work than that of an article because you need so many tools to record the video, record your voice through a microphone and then all kinds of editing tools. However this investment is worth it, because with a video you have a massive advantage over the others in the rankings. By producing a video, you are guaranteed the first page at least, if not near the top. But this can only be achieved if your video is lengthy (more than five minutes) and has effective keyword research by including targeted keywords in the title and description.
When you’ve done your video, the best place to publish it is through YouTube. Google absolutely loves YouTube (they do own them after all). I’ve never ever seen a video that was on the second page. Creating a video on YouTube is one thing, but you can then embed it on your blog too and write an article surrounding it!
Have you ever noticed a YouTube video ranking at least third in the search results? It’s those kind of videos that have been ranking well and creating videos are always a helpful ally to have in your back pocket.
309. Articles Should Be Primary, Infographics and Video Should Be Secondary
The type of content you create is completely up to you, but if I had to recommend a type, it would be article writing.
It is a lot less time consuming to write an article than design an infographic or record a video. However, mixing up articles with video and infographics is a proven tactic and boosts subscribers and customers.
You choose whichever appeals to you more…not whichever is easier. I’m an article writer by heart, but I always like to create a few infographics!
Types of Articles
310. How To: The Art of Giving Instructions
This article teaches you how to do something in a step by step format from washing your car to studying the stars. There is no limit to what you can teach, and people will always encounter problems in everyday life. When they do, they will search Google with terms such as “how to rank well on Google” or “how to bake scones”.
311. Numbered Lists: The Trending Favourite
The entire web and magazine world has caught onto this very valuable format of writing articles. I’m sure you're sick of these headlines, they’re plastered all over social media and every blog you can think of. It’s impossible to escape from them.
When you see a list headline, you automatically think “condensed, simple and bite-sized”. In this busy and hurried world, people can skim lists quickly and get the main points rather than reading through a thesis.
Lists (or listicles, as social media folks call them) are super easy to write. All you have to do is get a topic or keyword, write ten tips/mistakes/questions about that and you're sorted! The most important part of a listicle is the title. You need to entice your readers with the title by turning the title into "click bait".
312. Ultimate Guides: Your Linkable Asset For The Future – Ultimate guides are an in-depth look at a certain topic. They can teach you how to do something, provide information or teach you everything there is to know about that topic. Ultimate guides are 3000-6000 word beasts which will gain traction, earn valuable links and become your linkable asset for the future.
You'll be spending at least two weeks, creating your ultimate guide. However, once it's published and you start prospecting for links – you'll get lots of backlinks from niche influencers. Since it's so useful, it will attract more and more people, who will share it/link to it, hence starting a vicious (but extremely satisfying) circle.
313. Curated Content: The Quick and Dirty Way To Get Direct Traffic
Curated content involves collecting links from around the web all circling on a particular topic and then pasting these links into your blog post. It could be a list of websites, tools, pages, resources, blogs, whatever. Examples include:
20 Interior Design Blogs Worth Watching In 2016
15 Articles That'll Teach You Everything About App Design
30+ SEO Tools That You Need To Use Right Now
Remember to sculpt the title around the content. Don't have something like, "The Ultimate Guide To Keyword Research" as your title, when the article has 50 links to keyword research articles from the web. Your title always needs to play to the reader’s expectations. Failure to do so may result in a huge lack of trust and some very disgruntled readers.
314. Curate The Most Viral Images In Your Niche Into A Blog Post
These posts do extremely well and require little work on your part. All you need to do is find insanely amazing images, and then put them all together into a blog post. Slap a viral title onto the content, and you're good to go!
The question is, where do you find those insanely amazing images?
Look on Pinterest and Tumblr, and see what has gone viral in the last few months. Anything on Pinterest with more than 5000 repins is worth including. Make sure to locate the original photographer and ask them if you can use their image.
Be polite in your email, and don't feel intimated that you want to use their work. Most photographers are more than willing to give you their image, provided you give them attribution. It's a backlink for them, and more promotion.
Creating A Viral Piece of Content
315. Allocate A Time In The Week To Write
This part is often overlooked by most, simply because they think that writing is more of a hobby rather than a job. This mentality never works because people always attend to other tasks and leave their website hanging.
Right now, think of a suitable time when you will get to work on your website both on SEO and content. Make this time slot about two hours and write it into your diary, your fridge, your computer and your phone. Take a break between these two hours and refresh.
Stick to this plan as much as possible, because you will get a ton of work done each week.
316. Be In A Quite Writing Environment
Situations are different for many. You may prefer to write at home, in the library or on the train. Wherever it is, make sure that you have no distractions such as family, phones, internet and TV. These will become obstacles for you, and can really disrupt your work. Stay focused and work hard. You can check your emails, notifications and news after your two hours has completed.
317. Create An Outline Of Your Article
A lot of writers fear that they can’t flesh out an article to 1500+ words. For every article you hope to write, prepare a quick outline of the sections before you begin. It doesn't have to be very intricate, just a quick look at what your article will cover.
318. Keep The Introduction Simple and Include Keywords
Start with a very brief introduction of what the article will cover. You can use your meta description as inspiration and flesh it out a little. The introduction doesn’t have to be very elaborate, just keep it plain and simple. You can insert your targeted keyword(s) here too, which shows extra relevance to Google.
319. Use These Proven Introductions For Sales Copy
Want to turn readers into customers? Want to lure them into your products or services? Use a proven introduction for your sales pages.
This isn't an SEO tip as such, but is excellent for converting your readers into customers. It'll lead to a low bounce rate, increased conversions, more customers and higher page dwell time – which all in turn, help your SEO efforts.
Here are three proven introductions that you can use to turn a casual reader into a diehard customer.
1. Bold Promise – Promise your readers something bold and visionary. Make it look like you are re-inventing the wheel, changing society and revolutionizing a certain aspect of the world we live in today.
2. Problem – Address the problem, right in their face. Just slap it in front of them. See if they respond. More than likely, they'll have that problem and want to get rid of it. By doing this, at least they know that you can change their problem around forever.
3. Story – It was back in Third Grade. Graduation day. I looked around and standing there in front of me was…
That introduction pulled you in, right? Stories are an amazing way to grab attention instantly, and pull your customers heartstrings.
4. Make A Shocking Statement – Shock the reader by saying the unexpected. For example, "I'm a doctor, and I absolutely HATE diets. They make me reek." or "I got into MIT, one of the most prestigious universities in the world. The thing is, I hate studying."
320. Create Sub Headings For Extra Clarity
After your introduction, create sub-headings for each section you want to address. By splitting your article into lots of easy to digest sub-headings, readers can scan the sections they want to read more about. It also helps with your SEO because you can include some of your keyword phrases in these sub-headings.
321. Start Writing About Your Sub-Headings
Fill out your sub-headings by writing out all the information you have on that section. Make text engaging by making words bold, underlining, adding hyperlinks and italics.
322. Add One Personal Experience At Least
Add a personal experience here and there to spark some extra curiosity. It doesn’t have to be a full biography, about 5-7 sentences is plenty. This just gives some extra credibility to what you have to say, and can help build a solid relationship between you and your reader who could potentially become a customer or subscriber.
323. Aim For 1500+ Words
By the time you finish your text, it should be about 1500+ words if it is going to rank well and attract backlinks from potential readers. People don’t share the status quo – they share anything above that.
324. Basic Grammar Is An Essential
There are certain things that annoy readers and make you look stupid. One of them is being bad at grammar, “Their an awesome customer team.”. Mixing up basic grammar rules such as “their, they’re, there” looks awful and will turn everyone off.
Here is a list to some of the most common grammar mistakes people make. We all make mistakes, whether we are grammar geniuses or not. Often, when you get into the flow of creating a blog post – you may simply forget to put the right word in the right place. It happens.
Their, They’re and There – Their is for possession. They’re is short for “They are”. There is for a location.
Apostrophe Use – Apostrophes are used in three ways.
· Shortening words – Whenever you shorten two words into one, use an apostrophe, “He’s, They’re, We’ve, That’s, Could’ve.”
· Possession – Use an apostrophe when indicating possession of an object or quality. “John’s car runs so efficiently.” If the name of the person ends with an ‘s’, place the apostrophe at the end of the word.
· Possessive Plural – When using a possessive plural, put the apostrophe last. “The girls’ dresses were lovely”. The apostrophe positioned before the ‘s’ would indicate that there was only one girl’s dress, “The girl’s dress.”
Affect or Effect – Affect is to change or alter something. eg: “Black hat SEO can really affect your rankings”
Effect is the result or consequence of a change. “The effect of the Panda update was devastating, we were black hat SEOs.”
Your or You’re – Your is for owning something, “your scarf” whilst you’re is short for “you are”, “You’re an awesome reader!”.
Its or It’s – Its is for owning something, “The cat drank its milk”. It’s is short for “it is”, “It’s a bright, sunny day!”.
Accept or Except – Accept is to allow. Except is everything but that. “I will accept you into our school…except, you cannot enter the examination hall today.”
Ensure or Insure – Ensure makes something definite, “Ensure that your website is accessible to crawlers”. Insure is a financial or legal term, “Insure your car today!”.
Then or Than – Than is used to compare two things, “Pink is better than blue.” Then is used for everything else (point in time or after something). “It was great back then. Then, the storm came.”
Could of, Would Of – You may think that the word “could’ve” is short for “could of” when it is actually “could have”. The same applies to would’ve and should’ve. They are short for “would have and should have”, not “would of or should of”.
Principal or Principle – A principle is a fundamental law or truth that is accepted as true. A principal is an authority and a main thing. “The principal speaker made points on the principle of gravity.”
Premier or Premiere – Premier is something of a higher quality. A premiere is the opening night of a film.
Farther or Further – Farther refers to physical distance, “How much farther until the beach?” Further refers to an extension of time or a degree. “The apprentice advanced further and became a master craftsman.”
Complement or Compliment – A complement is to add to something. “The bracelet really complements the outfit.” A compliment is a nice comment someone says about you.
I know this is an SEO book, and you're probably wondering why you're getting grammar lessons. But in reality, SEO is all about creating an amazing digital experience for the user and ranking highly for it. If your grammar is letting you down, you could get penalized for it from the next Google algorithm update.
325. Add A "Top Tips" Section
Here you can outline your best tips and tricks to succeed at whatever you’re writing about. These tips are not your average bits of advice, but your finest and most useful. You’ll see that most readers will enjoy reading your tips and can often quote them when sharing online. I happen to love reading Top Tips in articles because they are clear, super helpful and to the point.
326. Add A Summary
You can consolidate everything the article presented into bullet points. About five bullet points is sufficient and should reinstate everything the reader learned back into their mind. For an even better summary, try a “minfographic” (see below).
327. Include Some Quotes
You can provide little golden nuggets of wisdom from industry leaders and inspirational people here. No matter on what niches you’re writing on, there are sure to be quotes available for you to use. Simply search “quotes on [your niche]” to find quotes on your niche.
328. Infographic Summary
You can also present a summary in infographic format. Here, you can condense the entire article into bullet points and present it as a “mini infographic” (I've called it a “minfographic”!). You can add icons here and there to illustrate your points. If you place social sharing buttons on the image, people are very likely to share it.
329. Create A Template That Will Help The Reader
You’d imagine that templates are only suitable for writing but you can create a template for anything such as art (templates for paintings, crochet or embroidery), gardening (templates for plots), DIY (templates for pieces of wood, stickers), writing anything at all (letters, emails, descriptions, book writing) music (“write your own songs”) and so on. This is basically a “fill in the blanks to create your own” section that is extremely convenient for any reader. It lets them put your article into action and get a hands-on approach.
330. Include A Few Samples
To spark some inspiration, you can provide some sample ideas or examples. They don’t have blanks like templates do but they present a fictional problem and then try to solve it through the sample. Eg: “Sally has had a bad experience at her local restaurant. She writes the following letter to the restaurant manager…”. It helps readers apply their own problem to the situation and gives ideas on what to do next.
331. Throw In A Few Mini Case Studies
You can present real life examples of people who followed your information and got great results. Case studies are aimed primarily towards business/technology blogs but can work well with other niches when used creatively.
It is difficult to write a mini case study unless you are in contact with your readers but you can send subscribers an email saying you’d appreciate if anyone would like to be part of a case study if they found your results useful. You can create an article based on that case study and then for future articles, you can write a small paragraph on why your strategies worked for others. It’s a great place to put a well-deserved internal link!
332. Include A "Warnings/Common Pitfalls" Section
Outlining common mistakes that people make is a lifesaver for everyone. It steers readers clear of failure and helps them to properly succeed. This establishes trust between you and the reader, and it shows a lot of experience and expertise in the area. Eg: “Writing lots of short articles everyday does not equal one in-depth blog post once a week! Remember that it’s about quality not quantity. Otherwise, you could end up in the doghouse.”
333. Add A "Your Toolbox" Section
Readers can learn of the tools that they need to start crafting. They don’t have to be physical tools either, software and other web tools are great examples. You can present this at the beginning (however, a “What You’ll Need” section is more relevant) or at the end (suited towards digital tools, rather than physical tools).
334. A Checklist Will Always Help
This is like a summary only it is aimed towards “how-to” articles that present the instructions in a step by step format. You can use a checklist for just about any “how-to” article no matter what niche it’s in. You can present the checklist in text or image format, depending on what suits you more.
335. Videos Increase Engagement, So Add One
You can place these into your article to add an extra dimension. Multimedia completes the experience by including audio, moving imagery and an outside view of your topic. Multimedia also helps with SEO. Google love to see videos in your content so make sure to place at least one video in every article you write!
If there are no relevant videos to your topic, leave it. Video is more of a cherry on the cake, rather than the icing.
336. Add Images
Images are beautiful. They break up the monotony, add a sense of energy and really brighten up your page. People adore images, just as the success of Pinterest (photo sharing website) demonstrates today.
To stay in the content game, you need to add images and a lot of them. I’ve dedicated an entire chapter to choosing properly licensed (did you really think Google Images would solve it for you?) images that stun the world. As an extra, make sure to add a Made For Pinterest graphic (to get a lot of Pinterest traffic) and about five extra images.
337. Include A Text CTA’s At The End
You can ask readers to share your content or comment by including one or two text CTA's (Call To Actions). Here are some examples.
“What’s your opinion? Leave your comments below.”
“What other methods to you like to use? Share it below.”
“Share this article to let everyone else know!”
“Sharing makes the world go round. Contribute by liking this page.”
“Make your voice heard! The best opinions in the comments below will be included in this article!”
“Any juicy knowledge you’d like to share? Mention it to me below and your comment could be shared on social media.”
“Join the online trend. Share this page.”
“Be a trendsetter and share this article with the world.”
“Join 1390+ good-looking, intelligent people who shared this page.” (hat tip: I got this idea from Buffer)
338. Keep Your Writing Easy To Read
It's very easy to get distracted and start writing long, complicated sentences. This can throw both people and search engines off course, as they'll find it hard to read (and crawl). Keep everything super easy to read, and make everything as "snappy" (quick n' snappy, as they say!) as possible.
Check if your writing is easy to read, by inputting the text into "Hemmingway Editor" (www.hemmingwayapp.com).
This super useful tool will tell you how easy/difficult it is to read your content, and will highlight sentences which are confusing and too long. It'll also point out common grammar mistakes too, which we could all use at some point or another!
339. Avoid Formatting Issues When Pasting From Word
If you are typing your blog post on Word and then paste it into your web editor, you could run into some formatting issues. TextCleanr (www.textcleanr.com) cleans your text and gets rid of any formatting that is unnecessary.
340. Change Microsoft Word Text To Clean HTML
If you don't have the option of pasting text, and can only write in HTML – you should convert it to HTML instead. Rather than coding it all out, it's so much easier to convert it to HTML. When using the tool, make sure to check the right boxes before converting to HTML. For example, some web editors use the <b> tag for bolding words rather than <strong>. (www.word2cleanhtml.com)
341. Remember Your On-Page SEO
Remember to implement on-page SEO for each and every article you write! By doing this, Google will find your page easy to read and super relevant. This will show very clearly what keywords you are targeting and more.
342. Disagree With Someone's Opinion, For More Traffic
This tactic works wonders.
Pick an opinion piece that annoys you and write a counter argument, in the shape of a a blog post. Mention the opinion piece that you're disagreeing with, and make points on why you disagree with them.
Remember, I said disagree. Not fight. Not troll. Not being a total b****. Just a friendly debate, done in a responsible way.
Avoid hugely controversial topics, and do not in any circumstance - start acting in a foolish manner. You'll only get a lot of hate, and could upset your customers.
For example, in the SEO sphere, Rand Fishkin made waves on the web when he disagreed with a blog post which praised Black Hat SEO and spoke of why White Hat SEOs are innocent little angels that are afraid to break the rules. Read it at http://bit.ly/1MzUq1W
Don't argue with the author or make points that aren't within the scope of the article. Keep any personal insults out, and leave them there.
Share your post with the author of the original opinion piece and ask them to share it on social media with a comment such as "Looks like someone has a bone to pick with me". It's a great way for them to show off their authority, and how they've actually caused a stir on the web.
343. Create Viral Content For Your Local Region
What's trending on Twitter, near you? Find out with www.trendsmap.com. By typing in your local city, you can find out what is trending and what resonates with the people in your local area.
If you have a local business, you might want to tap into this trend by creating content on it. Perhaps, an infographic wouldn't be worth the time or money for a local trend, but certainly an in-depth blog post or a series of memes/graphics would certainly do the trick. Share it with your followers on Twitter, with your family, you could even advertise locally with AdWords. If your content is wacky enough, you just might make the local radio or TV.
Repackaging Your Content
344. Add It To An eBook
You can't duplicate copies of blog posts on the web but you can duplicate your blog posts into an eBook. Whatever you publish on your blog can be placed into an eBook. Many bloggers have created books by simply pasting their past blog posts and formatting it in a way that makes it look like a professional book. You can do the same.
Publish through CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing to make some extra cash. Or list your book for free and add a link to your website throughout the book, and it will get a lot of promotion.
345. Make A YouTube Video
If you have an aptitude for creating videos or podcasts, try making a video out of your article. Pick out your main points and add in some jokes. Upload your video once taped and add a link to your site in the description. Once the video is live on YouTube, make sure to embed the video on your site too, accompanied by a transcript.
346. Create An Infographic Out Of It
To Google, an image is an image, they can't read text (for duplication purposes). That means you can copy the contents of your article and create an infographic out of it. However, your fellow readers and subscribers may not be happy! That's why you should retitle the infographic and pick out the main points and statistics of your article, whilst mixing it up a little. Add some quotes too. You can publish this and get your well-earned backlinks!
347. Share Quotes And Statistics on Social Media
Pick out a quote, statistic or surprising fact from your article. Assemble it into a graphic and share it on social media. It is guaranteed to spread like wildfire! People much prefer to share and read articles that are shared in this way.
This will then create more opportunities for promotion and linkbuilding for you, if your quotes/stats reach niche influencers.
348. Repackage It Into A SlideShare
Pick out the main ideas of your article and paste them into a PowerPoint presentation. Add plenty of images and icons for visual appeal. Make the title of the SlideShare attention grabbing yet informative. Make sure that the thumbnail of the SlideShare is compelling by having an eye-catching image with the title imposed on it.
349. Quizzes Are Super Hot Right Now (No, Seriously!)
Research by Buzzsumo has found that out of the top ten pieces of content most shared online, eight of them were quizzes. Now that's something.
Something extraordinary.
Feed people's egos, they love it.
Create a quiz with no coding skills necessary at www.quizrevolution.com and embed the generated code on your site.
Make a short blog post alongside it, just to beef up your word count. The blog post could be something like "What Your Results Say About You" or "Joking Aside, Here's More Information About [Quiz Topic].
Quizzes are super-hot right now, but I haven't seen many bloggers actually taking advantage of them. Get on the bandwagon before anyone else. Your quiz has a very strong chance of going viral since online entertainment is a big hit on social media.
350. Replicate The Success of Content On Buzzsumo
Buzzsumo is a tool which shows you the most shared content in your niche. All you have to do is visit Buzzsumo at www.buzzsumo.com, type in your niche and see what articles are performing the best. Are they numbered lists? Do they challenge the status quo? Are they different? Make plenty of notes on what you see.
Try to replicate their success by titling your article in a similar fashion to theirs (I said "similar" not "copy") and contain a unique twist that they haven't covered. If their content is mediocre, you can improve on it. Then, see who has been linking to their content and ask them if they could link to your article (which is so much better) instead.
Creating Predictably Viral Linkbait That'll Get Thousands of Links
Want to get more links? More traffic? Go viral? Here's a step by step guide.
Whilst this is not a blueprint, it’s certainly near enough to it.
351. Generate An Idea – This is the hardest part. Coming up with a viral idea is nearing that word called impossible. It certainly isn't as easy as "waking up in the middle of the night, with a billion dollar idea" (Larry Page, sound familiar?).
However, things like these often have a good shot of going viral:
· List Posts with a twist
· Infographics with a unique edge
· Comedy such as comics, memes on a particular niche – Ryan Gosling's SEO memes went viral, and they weren't exactly pieces of pure genius.
352. Test Your Idea
Take your best idea which you've been working on and send the following email to as many bloggers as you can think of. Ask them if they would like to share it, when you publish it in the future. If you get a positive response, you've got yourself a winner.
Hey [Name],
How are you? I really enjoyed reading your last post on [topic], it contained so much actionable strategies and advice. I've used a lot of your advice for my latest project.
I'm working on an infographic, which focuses on [what you're content is about]. Since you regularly share posts on this, and you're such an expert at [niche] – I'm sure your audience would love it.
The title is: [Title]
It's an infographic, so I was wondering if you could share it when it goes live? I would really appreciate it.
Let me know what you think,
[Your Name]
353. Craft Your Linkbait
Make your content stand out. Remember, great title, epic content, stunning visuals and all the other bells and whistles.
354. Find The Linkerati
Go to Buzzsumo and find the top influencers in your niche. Simply type your niche into the search bar, and select the "Top Influencers" tab.
You can also find a lot of niche influencers on Twitter. See who's being followed, and who you're following at the moment.
Bloggers and journalists in your niche are also great people to contact.
355. Ask The Linkerati To Share It
Send the perfect outreach email, as I have already covered in the Chapter 4. Again, be personalized, don't be blunt, send mid-week and keep it short.
356. Use All The Linkbuilding Techniques You Know
Get as many links as you possibly can to your piece of content. Promote. Promote. Promote.
The more quality links you can get to the linkbait, the more people will share and link to it in turn. Try and get it to go viral, because it has huge potential.