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Content & Writing

Blogging Content & Writing IMC Blog

What can I do every day to improve my blog?

by Chris V August 3, 2020August 3, 2020

written by Chris V

Here’s what to do to stay productive and increase traffic after you publish an article on your blog.

Write.

Every day.

Everywhere.

Kind of.

The fact that you’re looking to stay productive and improve the traffic to your blog is already a great sign and your realization that you should be doing something every day is huge.

It sounds like you’re already writing regularly, so you don’t necessarily need to increase the frequency of your articles, but you should write about them, somewhere, every day.

This doesn’t mean you should spam your social audiences: tireless self-promoting is actually quite tiresome, and you’ll quickly turn off all but your most diehard followers.

Instead, you should try to build out a schedule and promote your content across various platforms over a period of time.

Let’s take a look at how this could work:Monday: Publish the article on your blog

Tuesday: Share the article on Facebook

Wednesday: Share the article on Twitter

Thursday: Share the article on Linkedin

Friday: Answer a couple of questions related to your article on Quora^[1]

Note: this schedule is purely hypothetical. For example, I’m not implying that you shouldn’t ever publish on weekends. Depending on your content and your audience, weekends might be the perfect time to post/promote.

I’m just demonstrating that one piece of content can be promoted over time, so you can be sure to reach a wide swathe of your audience, without spamming everybody with the same post across all platforms at the same time.

You can play with different tones/presentation styles on each platform as well, allowing you to iterate and improve and increase engagement.

Maybe:

Twitter is short and sweet
Facebook represents the pathos of your article
Linkedin represents the ethos
Quora represents the logos

Maybe not, though. The point is, you can experiment with each post and see what works best where.

Also, embrace the idea of resharing evergreen content^[2]. By continuing to promote relevant content long after it has first been published, you can increase the traffic that gets to each article instead of experiencing the typical early spike and then a quick descent to plateau.

Bonus round: If you produce multiple pieces of content a week, or even daily, you should consider creating a digest/newsletter to send to subscribers, in lieu of or in addition to regular notifications.

Hope this helps, just keep grinding – you’ll get there!

August 3, 2020August 3, 2020 0 comment

Content & Writing Conversion optimization Creating A Website

6 Questions Visitors Must Be Able to Answer About Your Home Page

by Erez Zundy November 12, 2014

written by Erez Zundy

Your visitor has found your website on Google by entering a search term that is associated with what products/services you sell. That’s great, congratulations. Well not so fast…

You have 30 seconds or less to convince him/her to stick around and learn about your favulous new widget or must have service. Well, what can you do to make sure that happens? Examine your home page and make sure that your visitor can answer these 6 questions, because the reality is that if he or she can’t, the person will most likely mash the back button and be lost to you forever.

Well, here we go…

WHERE AM I?

Can your visitor recognize that the page being viewed is your home page?

Don’t forget, from the search engines your visitor could land on any of your internal pages, so it must be very obvious which page has been clicked through

WHO ARE YOU?

Does your visitor see an “About Me/Us” button on the top navigational bar?

In addition, have you placed some general information about your company in the body copy of the home page?

People who visit your website want to get to know who you are and understand why they should consider doing business with you.

They may want to know how long your company has been in business and what do the key personnel in your company bring to the table (credentials).

WHAT PRODUCTS/SERVICES DO YOU OFFER?

Do you have a “products” or “services” button on your top navigational bar?

This button when clicked should take your prospect to a services landing page.

“You ask what is a landing page?”

It is an internal page on your website, in this case to show a clickable list of your products or services. When each item is clicked, it will bring your visitor to a page describing the particular product/service.

Also, it is a good idea on the left side of the home page to have one of the following product or services catalog:

If you sell a finite number of products or services, list them here hyperlinked, when clicked should take them to an inner page describing the product or service and its benefits
If you have numerous products or services to sell, your catalog on the left will contain general categories of these products or services, with hyperlinks to category landing pages and from there leading to separate product/service pages.

“But, you just said that it is a good idea to have a “Products” or “Services” button on the top toolbar, isn’t that enough?”

When your visitor starts scrolling down through the lines of copy of the home page, he or she will not want to go back to the top of the page to click on the “Product” or “Service” button. Make it easy for them to get where they want to go as quickly as possible.

HOW WILL YOUR PRODUCTS/SERVICES HELP ME?

Can your visitor get some sense of how you can solve, the prospect’s needs or challenges, or at best help them begin to understand that they have come to the right place to purchase an item they have been researching. In the body copy of the home page, there should be some general information that will at least start to answer their questions.

WHERE DO I GO NEXT?

Is it very obvious what path the prospect must take to travel around your site?

Be careful not to overload your home page with too many links. Most people when entering a site like that will become bored in a hurry and be gone in the blink of an eye.

Make sure from the home page, that it is very clear which links your visitor must click on to learn about your products/services and be easily led down the path and eventually reach the “Buy Now” button.

Some sites will want the user to fill in their contact form to receive a FREE report.

Why Should I Trust You?

Is your company contact information displayed at the bottom of your home page?

One of the things that Google and users look for in order to understand if you are trustworthy, is some solid identifying information about your company, and it looks for this data on the bottom of all of your website pages, not only on the home page.

Here is the information that you should include:

Name of your company
Company mailing address
Telephone numbers

Feel free to show not only your office phone number but you can also include a mobile and a fax number as well.

Finally, a lot of companies place their email address with a link to send them a message right away even though they already have a tab in the tool bar labeled “contact form, or contact me/us.”

More trust signs would include:

Testimonials from past clients
Logos of clients you worked with

BONUS: Some Other Great Hints…

If your company is a B2B (businesses selling products or services to another business), the body copy of your home page and all internal pages should be easy to read with an eye friendly font such as Times New Roman, and whatever you do don’t use a vivid colored background with yet another color for your body copy.

This best practice also holds true if you are a professional group or sole proprietor providing more conservative services such as a doctor, lawyer, financial planner or an accountant.

In either case, it is recommended that businesses like yours use a white background for the body copy with a black font. You can experiment with using different color backgrounds for the side and top tool bars.

On the other hand, if your company sells products/services directly to retail customers, especially when your target audience is teen agers and young adults, playing around with different colors and fonts for the body copy of your website, should be considered.

In conclusion, if your visitor has to strain their eyes trying to read all about your company and its products/services, you can bet that they will leave your website in a hurry.

IM Creator is right here by your side.

We provide an array of design templates which could be the design structure you have been looking for to build your soon to be website.

“But you say, I am not really sure what content I should put on each page of my website.”

Again, IM Creator will come to the rescue. Soon we will make available to you and other businesses like yours, a FREE set of Content Templates, which will guide you through the process of filling your website pages with well targeted information.

Take a moment to sign up for our newsletter below. When the content templates are ready for use, we will contact you.

November 12, 2014 0 comment

Blogging Content & Writing SEO

8 Content Marketing Ideas You Haven’t Thought Of Yet

by Bitsy October 3, 2014

written by Bitsy

In as many years as I can count on my fingers, content marketing has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. As with any fast-growing field, gurus, know-it-alls, and so-called-experts have started to creep out of the wood-work with Golden Rules and Top 10 lists-a-plenty.

While there may not be one golden formula for content and social media marketing success, there may exist a few ideas you haven’t thought of yet. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at 8 content marketing ideas that might be just the kick in the pants your social media presence needs.

1) Invest in Social Media Exposure

If you’ve never invested in marketing and advertising before, it can feel like a giant step into the dark side. In many young entrepreneurs’ minds, the dream of a viral marketing campaign that hasn’t cost a penny eternally hides around the corner. Taking the plunge and paying for much-needed social media exposure, though, is often just the push your marketing strategy needs to achieve its goals, and often at a surprisingly affordable rate. Facebook Advertising, for example, allows you to choose daily or lifetime advertising packages, and to set the limit of what you’re willing to spend on cost-per-click ads.

3) Play the Long Game

Much of content and social media marketing relies on creating long-term, trustworthy relationships. In order to build your presence on networks such as Reddit and StumbleUpon, you’ll need to engage with other users as much as you post, which means re-posting content that you appreciate and starting dialogue with other members of the network. In particular, cozy up to influencers by asking them direct questions and by commenting on the content they post. Networks like Twitter, for example, make it incredibly easy to reach out to even the biggest stars in your industry by tweeting directly at them. Don’t abuse this access, though. Nobody likes to be hassled, especially not industry honchos.

4) Try, Try Again

If a blog you posted on social networks didn’t catch fire the first time, wait a month and try posting it again. Oftentimes, all that’s needed to see a post go viral is a few tweaks to its title, or a lucky break in timing. If, for example, social networks are awash in a topic a few weeks or months after you wrote about it on your blog, don’t be afraid to re-post (or brag about catching the story first!). Under-appreciated posts can also benefit from referencing past (and under-appreciated) blog posts in newer articles.

5) Don’t Toot Your Own Horn

Mindless self-promotion is perhaps the easiest way to get yourself kicked off of many social networks, especially those that rely on quality “found” content. Instead of exclusively posting your own blog content, send your blog posts and promotions to trusted friends and colleagues who can post the content for you (although as with all aspects of content marketing, be wary of abusing your friends’ generosity). Finally, if you simply can’t contain your burning desire to tweet and post your latest blog post all over the web, do so earnestly and honestly. Audiences appreciate users who sound like people, not like marketing bots.

6) Discover the Power of Quora

Quora doesn’t get a huge amount of attention in comparison to other social media networks like Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, or the almighty Facebook, but for many industries (especially B2B), Quora represents a wealth of marketing opportunities – as long as your heart is in the right place. Quora lets you build your network and prove your worth simply by answering common questions. While self-promotion is strictly looked down upon (and usually ignored), it’s not unusual to see a Quora member linking to a relevant blog post they’ve written in order to elaborate on their response. What’s more, Quora encourages users to tell others about their expertise and professional background, so there’s no risk of coming off as disingenuous.

7) Provide Hard Facts

In the age of big data, cold hard facts matter. Even though audiences prefer to read posts that sound as if a real person wrote them (spelling mistakes and all), adding statistics, scientific or research findings, and industry quotes to your content will help drive home the message that you’re an expert in your field while providing readers with coveted water cooler gossip.

8) Be a Google Author

SEO is a murky world: Google is always keeping content marketers on their toes by adjusting their algorithms. With this in mind, it’s wise to play Google’s game and link your content through your Google+ account in order to improve your content’s search rankings. Once a Google Author has been recognized by Google’s algorithms, the profile image you’ve chosen for your Google account will start appearing next to your content in Google Search. Keep this in mind, as any visual contrast (like an image amongst text) will be more likely to draw users in. Cyrus Shepard over at Moz, for example, experienced a 35% increase in free traffic simply by changing his profile picture.

Image Credits

Magazines-Mode-Copenhague at Wikipedia Commons by Thierry Caro

October 3, 2014 0 comment

Content & Writing Creating A Website Design Tips Photos & Images

Creating and Curating Quality Web Content (Forget Walls of Text!)

by Erez Zundy August 6, 2014

written by Erez Zundy

There’s little question that producing quality web content is the best way to encourage web users to stick around on your site, but for many first-time website builders, curating elements – whether they’re in video, textual, or image form – is too often overlooked; with all the information that needs to be put in place during the website building process, usability easily falls by the wayside. Regular web users, after all, rarely analyze their own motivations to explore a certain website.

Among the most difficult web content to curate is in text form: web users don’t tend to read information on websites the same way they would a book, and so information has to be laid out organically curated dynamically between other image and video content. It also has to respond to users’ needs in a different way than a traditional information or marketing package.

Here are some guidelines you can follow when creating and curating content.

Make it useful

Don’t make empty content. It doesn’t serve any purpose except to create an illusion of having content. If the text isn’t entertaining, educational and/or engaging, nobody is going to read it. If nobody reads it, it doesn’t drive traffic, doesn’t provoke social engagement, comments and will have almost no SEO value. If you are going to have a blog, make it count – don’t waste your money. Provide the readers with value in your posts and you will get value from your posts.

Everlasting value

While it might seem like a good idea to write about popular subjects because they seem like they might provoke reactions from your readers in the long run, you are just jamming up your blog with unimportant stuff. By creating content that will always be relevant, you will pull out greater traffic and gain valuable resources which will always be in use.

Natural writing

This is a general rule when it comes to content and yes, this includes SEO. A lot of people use different guidelines and recipes that include keyword density and other writing instructions pulled out from algorithms to achieve “maximal content potential”. This approach usually ends up producing artificial content which is hard to read and is aimed at search engines and bots more than humans. Avoid this trap and target humans, not search engines, since quality content which provokes social sharing and reaction in the comment section will pull in more SEO benefits than keyword accurately written content ever can.

Grammar, grammar, grammar

It’s hard to project professionalism when your posts are filled with grammatical errors. Nobody is going to hold a couple typos against you, but if this happens in each one of your posts, you may have trouble forming a steady base of readers. If you can’t trust yourself or your writers with producing grammatically-correct material, hire an editor.

Formatting

The title says “Walls of text are not enough” and here is why. When a reader looks at a post, he or she needs to find what they are looking for immediately. Few readers take the time to read through a whole text if they are not sure the text is focused on the things they want to read about. Sure, the title can help with this but you also need to segment the text with subheadings, bullet points and, in cases of longer texts, (anything longer than 1500 words) it might be smart to bold the important key words.

Mix it up

Combining different types of content is always a good idea. A photo can help explain the text further or make it a bit more visually appealing. It is always a good idea to break the monotony of a text with a couple of photos. The same goes for videos and if you are running a video channel, it is a good idea to turn each individual entry into a blog post, just to network your efforts a bit better.

These are the basics. Remember to adapt your content to your target audience and your niche and answer the comments your readers leave to solidify your relationship with them. Write with passion and your readers will react to your writing.

August 6, 2014 0 comment

Content & Writing Creating A Website SMB Tips & Tools

4 Tools You Need To Take Your Business Global

by Bitsy May 25, 2014

written by Bitsy

Your business is already thriving back home, and you’re ready to “go global”. But what are the steps you should take to ensure that your website is ready for world domination? We outline the top four below:

1) Content Delivery Network (CDN) To Speed Up Your Site

You only have a few seconds to make an impression on your visitors before they hit the ‘back’ button and bounce away from your site. Ensuring that your website loads quickly and smoothly anywhere in the world, and not just at home, is crucial to going global. A “content delivery network” – or “CDN” – fills precisely this gap. A CDN is a global network of servers that work by shortening the distance between a visitor to your site and the server they automatically access to load your pages. Your visitors will be able to access your website from their local server, as opposed to the server of origin.

For most smaller websites or boutique online retailers, going for a CDN might be a tad unnecessary. But, if you’re reaching for the stars and want to ensure that your check-out system works as well in Singapore as it does in Mexico, this is the way to go.

There are plenty of CDN providers out there, but here are three options that top reviewers’ charts:

CDNetworks is the CDN of choice for many large retailers – including Bally, Samsung, Shopify, and Tesco – and it’s fairly easy to see why: With 140 “points of presence” – or “PoPs” – in 90 cities, CDNetworks minimizes loading time just about anywhere in the world. CDNetworks doesn’t make their pricing immediately clear on their website, so it’s best to expect that a plan with them will set you back a few figures each month.

CDNsun is a good choice for websites that want to give CDN a try without committing to a big bill at the end of the month. They advertise 70 PoPs, but what sets CDNsun apart is its “Pay-As-You-Go” system, which starts at 0.45 cents per Gigabite. They also offer a 15-day free trial, just to make sure their service is right for your needs.

CloudFlare is totally free at the basic level, and provides helpful statistics about your visitors. At the pro and premium levels (which start at a manageable $20/month), they also offer mobile CDN, and web optimization tools.

2) Translate Your Website

There’s no two ways about it: English is a global language, and in order to reach the widest audience possible, it’s important to translate your regional-language page to have an English option. Check out our IM Creator blog “5 Translation Tools For Your Website” to get a more complete picture of what you should be looking for when you need your site translated, but here is a quick list of two of our favourites:

OneHourTranslation offers professional but speedy translation and proofreading in 3000 language pairings. It’s also one of the best priced services of its kind on the web: prices start at just 6 cents/word.

TextKing is a smaller operation than OneHourTranslation, but they offer much the same services at a similarly affordable price range, from 7 cents/word. What makes TextKing notable is its free automated translator, which helps you to instantly grasp the basics of what a text is saying, and its list of specialized sectors they translate for, including law, technology, finance, and pharmaceuticals.

3) Find Your Global Niche with Google Market Finder

Google provides plenty of useful (and free) tools for your business, but this one has to be one of their coolest. Google Market Finder works by identifying what parts of the world have the greatest demand for your business. Simply plug in your language and country of origin, a few keywords to let Google know what you’re selling, and where your target market might be. Market Finder returns to you instantly with a series of infographics showing what parts of the world your business has the most potential growth in.

4) Leverage SEO To Help Get Noticed Around the World

Knowing the basics of SEO is crucial for any online business, and venturing into Google AdWords is just part of the game. But what if you could leverage your AdWords to target a market on the opposite side of the globe? With Google Keyword Planner for AdWords, you can do just that. Keyword Planner lets you plan your SEO campaigns according to where your target market is by searching for the success of a certain keyword according to country and even city. Keyword Planner also shows you which regions of the world are clicking your ads and interacting with your website most.

Image Credits

Earth From Space by Wikipedia Commons

NCDN_-_CDN by Wikipedia Commons

May 25, 2014 1 comment

Content & Writing Creating A Website Website Promotion

The 5 Best Translation Tools To Translate Your Website

by Bitsy May 13, 2014

written by Bitsy

It goes without saying that in order for your website to reach the broadest audience possible, it helps to offer language options in more than just your native tongue. Of course, for those of you who already know this, you may already be muttering, “easier said than done”. Translating large chunks of text for a website is no small task, and tends to come with a considerable (and usually prohibitive) price tag.

So, where to go when you need to translate your German website for your predominantly Japanese customers, or your Spanish website into English for your American visitors? Read on below to find out about our top 5 online translation services to help you get the job done.

1) OneHourTranslation

With over 3000 language pairings, 15,000 on-call translators, and prices starting at just 6 cents/word for basic translation, OneHourTranslation is fast becoming one of the largest and most trusted online translators on the web. They’re also among the fastest, offering translation services at 1-page/hour. You can choose between “basic” translation, which works well for websites and personal documents, or “expert” translation for technical documents that require a more detailed vocabulary. If you’re unsure of the wording or grammar of your writing, OneHourTranslation also offers proofreading services as an add-on.

1000 words from Hebrew to English will cost you about $90 USD.

2) LanguageCloud

With an impressive list of corporate customers, including Adobe, Boeing, and Canon, SDL’s LanguageCloud services are another heavy-hitter in the online translation world, albeit among the most expensive. LanguageCloud offers two types of services: an online API that allows you to input a text and receive an instant, automated translation (much like Google Translate), and a professional translation service powered by a network of over 900 in-house translators and 15,000 freelance translators. Like OneHourTranslation, LanguageCloud offers general translation and expert translation for technical writing, as well as proofreading services. Their only notable drawback is their instant quote system, which requires you to upload your document before receiving an estimate.

1000 words from Hebrew to English will cost you about $228 USD.

3) Elance

More and more, small businesses are turning to freelance job sites like Elance to find professionals for all manner of jobs, from marketing to content writing to translation. You, the client, simply upload a description of what you need done, set a price range, and wait for the offers to come pouring in. Freelance translators bid to get the job, and you maintain total freedom as to who you choose and how much you’re willing to pay. Elance and other freelancing sites like freelance.com offer a great way to get in touch with professional freelancers from all corners of the globe, but they do come with a couple drawbacks. Because anyone can sign up as a freelancer, spammers do come out of the woodwork sometimes – which can hinder your search – and because you’re doing the hiring on your own, Elance might not be the most efficient option for those who need a text translated ASAP. The quality of the translation services also may not be as consistent as if you would work with a dedicated translation service, although with 1000’s of translators to personally choose from, uncertainty is kept to a minimum.

You can set your own prices on Elance, or accept a customized offer from a professional translator.

4) TextKing

In comparison to many other online translation services available, TextKing could almost be considered a boutique translation service, with just 2,700 translators working worldwide. Nevertheless, TextKing offers translations in 47 languages, and starting at 0.07 cents/word, it’s among the better deals in town. TextKing also provides machine-automated translations for quick translations, and offers a wide variety of translations for specialized texts, such as law and medicine.

1000 words from Hebrew to English will cost you about $70 USD.

5) Tolingo

Tolingo sets itself apart by allowing you to search through the profiles of their translators, letting you tailor the text you need translated to the specific knowledge of the person who will be taking on your assignment. With prices starting at 15 cents/word, Tolingo isn’t the cheapest online translation service on the market, but it does offer some interesting services, such as the ability for a client to track the progress of their translation. This is important, especially as the art of translation often depends on the translator understanding the individual style of the author and the context of a text. Like SDL, you need to upload a document in order to get an instant quote, but reviewers have also praised this system as providing a more accurate overview of how much your assignment will actually cost you. Tolingo also offer proofreading, formatting, and online publishing services as add-ons.

1000 words from Hebrew to English will cost you about $180 USD.

Image Credits

Collection National Flags by Wikipedia Commons

May 13, 2014 0 comment

Content & Writing

6 Truths To Keep In Mind About Writing For the Web

by Erez Zundy May 12, 2014

written by Erez Zundy

People love shiny things. The right image will capture your visitor’s gaze and will create a striking first impression. But then what? Words — that’s what. Your site is full of words, and you have to pick them carefully. Let’s review a few quick tips about writing for the Web.

Who Are You Writing For?

Writing is communicating. Just like you don’t talk to thin air (not often, at least, I hope), you’re not writing for “the Web.” You’re writing not even writing for “people” — you’re writing for a specific person.

How deep is this person into the subject you’re writing about? Is this a casual reader, or someone who knows their stuff? Build out a persona of the person you’re writing for – talk to them.

But They’re Not Going To Read It

I know you’re not going to read this post. Maybe you’ll skim through it, maybe you’ll look at the pictures, maybe you’ll even read three paragraphs. But if you’re like most people, you’re not going to read it top to bottom.

So if you have something important to tell your readers, you can say it more than once. You can make it BIG and bold, too — which is our next point.

Keep it Scannable (And Magical)

Free chocolate.

Mmmm, chocolate. If you’re reading this post in context, this sounds random. But chances are this is the first thing you noticed on the post — it popped right at you. That’s what scannable means: You can quickly look at the page and figure out where’s the stuff you’re looking for. So:

Use bold text to highlight your keywords.
Use bullets because they’re easy to read.
Break up your text using headers.

Eye-tracking studies show how users look at your page — they start from the top-left, which is something to take into account when designing the page so it’s scannable. Don’t put the important stuff on the right!

Now let’s talk about magic again. There are some words which have an almost mystical effect on people. Take free for example — that sweet, sweet word. Also discount, and more. Use those terms carefully, but do use them. You can actually look into your Spam folder to get some ideas: I’m not saying you should spam people, but spam is built to attract attention and some of it is quite well-crafted.

Speaking of magic — humor is another kind of magic you can use. Don’t take yourself to seriously. Your text should have some sass — be playful! Don’t bore your readers to death.

Testing and Iterating

What’s cool about the Web is that it’s a two-way street. While your visitors are looking at your site, you’re looking right back at them, using Analytics. How long do they spend on the page? Where do they click? Where do they go once they’re done reading?

By gradually changing your text and wording, you can improve conversion rates and make people engage more with your page and your site. Don’t be afraid to try things out — go wild, experiment, see what works. You may be surprised.

The Most Important Part Is The Most Boring One, Too

Few things are more embarrassing than a typo on a crisp, professional-looking page. Proofread your text. Note that I didn’t write “spell-check” — read it yourself, maybe even read it out loud to see how it flows. There are things a spell checker won’t catch (many things, in fact).

So yes, you know what it says because you wrote it. Still — read it. Every word.

Just Start

I saved the most important thing for the end. The unavoidable truth is that to write, you have to write. Your text may not be perfect; there may be typos despite your best intentions; perhaps you’ll have too many semicolons, even. But still, it will be your text, and you’ll say what you have to say.

Write first, edit later. And if you find editing too difficult at first, then simply write. You have to start somewhere — don’t let the rules and tips scare you away from communicating.

Good luck, and have fun!

Image credits:

Word, by Maria Reyes-McDavis

Blogging Readiness, by Cambodia4kids.org

May 12, 2014 0 comment