5 Tips for Writing a High-Quality Blog Post

Shareable blog posts are also a critical aspect of content writing. Good copy will help you get backlinks and raise the profile of your company. In short, the more high-quality and shareable content – the better. So, how can you ensure that you are producing such content? Here are 5 tips for writing a high-quality blog post.

Keyword Stuffing is Never Okay
Although SEO should always be a focal point, if you simply stuff keywords into your copy you will negatively impact the readability of your content, as well as its conversion rate as well as how it ranks in the SERPs. If you stuff keywords into your copy, readers will leave the page and search engines will slap you down.

Make Sure that Your Spelling and Vocabulary are Correct
You might be amazed at how many words people misuse on a daily basis. When you do this, you lower the quality of your blog and reduce the trust that you a client might give you. After all, who wants to pay for incorrect work? For this reason, you should never use words unless you are completely certain of their meaning.

Only Self-Edit After a Break

Self-editing is never ideal. In a perfect world you would have somebody to edit your writing – however, the world is not perfect, and sometimes self-editing is a must. If you are in a position where you are responsible for writing and editing your web content, do your best not to do both on the same day. When the writing is still fresh, your mind will automatically make up the gaps in your copy and your editing will be subpar. Instead, come back to it another day — or at least several hours later.

Do Your Research
You might be surprised at how much you teach yourself when you consistently look up things that you are not sure about. While yes, it does take a bit of time at first, it will make a world of difference in the quality of content that you produce – making it well worth it. Plus, over time, you will have learned more, and be looking things up on a less frequent basis.
Always Use Hyperlinks
When you reference content from another website, it is crucial that you hyperlink back to that site. This is known as good internet etiquette, and be honest, you would want the same courtesy if someone were to reference your hard work.

3 Ways to Connect with New Clients Offline

In today’s world of social media and digital marketing, it can be easy to forget about the more traditional methods of networking and connecting with new clients. This rings even more true for those that work primarily in the digital world, creating content, designing websites..etc….

While it can be easy to skip over these more traditional methods, they still prove to ring true and effective even in our modern society. Below are three ways that freelancers can connect with new clients offline.

Look Into and Attend Conferences
Attending conferences has proven to be beneficial for freelancers and those that are self-employed for a number of reasons. Not only do they help you to strengthen and hone your skills as a designer or writer, but they are a key location for networking.

It is important to remember that the kind of conference that you attend will dictate the kind of networking that you do. If for example, you choose to attend a conference for writers, you should be aware that you will likely not connect with as many potential clients as you would if you were to attend a conference that focused on entrepreneurship and self-employment.

Do Not Underestimate Word Of Mouth Marketing
By attending professional events such as networking meetings and conferences, business owners have their own little community. When thinking about how to connect and meet with new clients, you shouldn’t forget that within these communities, people talk openly about who they have had both positive and negative experiences working with, and who they use personally.

Many people forget that word of mouth marketing is not restricted to the Internet. If you deliver quality content to a client on a continuing basis, they will talk positively, regarding the quality of your work. This is why maintaining a positive reputation as a freelance writer is of the utmost importance. You never know which client will get you your next project as a result of word of mouth.

Create an Elevator Pitch
Being able to describe your services in the amount of time that it takes to get through an elevator ride is a key step in being able to connect with anyone, anywhere. While it might take a bit of time to perfect, having a strong elevator pitch is a great way to ensure that you can take advantage of any opportunity no matter how limited your time might be.

What Role Do Social Media and Technology Play In Our Children’s Education?

With the ever-growing role of social media in society today, it is no wonder that children today are becoming more, and more familiar with various social media platforms and the technology related to it. Prior to having my daughter, I worked as an educational program coordinator for elementary school children, and I must say, kids are beginning to use social media at younger and younger ages.

Now, this can be a great thing in terms of learning, even something as simple as navigating programs and platforms is a big step. It also helps to make information even more accessible to children as they become older, and more, and more familiar. With technology constantly becoming more, and more advanced students today are learning how to control multiple windows, save pictures, design and develop websites, format powerpoint presentations and type at an earlier age is a great skill that generations before never had.

Technology is also catering more, and more to its younger audience. With brands like LeapFrog creating technology-based educational toys, from readers, and tablets, to animals that read stories alongside your child. As a mom, I have to say that these toys are phenomenal, and worth the money, (not to say at all that a toy reading alongside your child takes the place of a parent doing so – I do not believe that at all) but as far as learning tools, these toys are awesome.
While technology will never take the place of parents attention, or bonding time, it has become a valuable learning tool. With so many changes taking place in the educational system thanks to the evolution and the role of technology in the classroom, it will be interesting to see the role that social media and technology play in our children’s education in the upcoming years.

3 Content Writing Myths – Busted!

The content marketing world is overflowing with entertaining, reliable advice and information. That said, the content marketing world is also home to a plethora of with myths and false tips that tend to steer business owners in the wrong direction. Sadly, this often ends up causing them to spend more money, time, and emotional stress. By believing these myths, business owners and marketing professionals can end up in a tricky situation.

Audience Interaction will Begin on Their Own
Now, this myth is not ENTIRELY false. Audience interaction is something that content writers and social media marketers strive for, however, it will only happen automatically if you have already grown a solid online community of readers and customers. Just because you hit publish doesn’t mean that customers and readers will show up and engage with it. You need to create a content distribution plan that includes audience outreach and interaction – you need to do more than just create content, you need to generate interactive content and then interact with your readers and customers yourself.

Your Content is Only Quality if it goes Viral
If you feel believe that this myth is true please, take a minute to read and understand this: Virality only lasts for a little bit of time, strong content that does well in the rankings and continues to generate authentic user engagement will last an entire lifetime. Going “viral” is awesome for a maybe a week at most, so much so that your sales might even slightly increase as a result. However, your sales will also decrease when the latest viral video sensation appears and takes over your success.

Content Marketing Means Constantly Writing Blog Posts
In order to achieve your content marketing goals, you do not need just to write blog post after blog post – you need to create and follow through with a solid content marketing plan, which includes, social media, website design, SEO optimization and more. And remember, you are not limited to blog posts – unless of course you are hired by a client to do just that. However, freedom still comes with your own website and content marketing plan.

Diversifying Your Content to Reach More Clients

When businesses start thinking about creating content, one of the most common pieces of advice that they are given is to create and take on a buyer’s persona and write everything with that target audience of one non-existent person in mind.

But the problem with writing content to reach one person is that not only does it get boring, but It can become frustrating trying to create new, and engaging content that does not come across as pushy or worse – spammy.

While you still want to focus in on your target audience, being able to provide diversity to your content can help you reach a much broader audience – and help you to avoid becoming board with your writing. Here are three ways to create diverse content, and extend your reach and your audience to more than just your ideal buyer.

Consider Taking on a New Medium

Writing great, and there is no doubt that useful blog content is a fantastic way to attract traffic to your website and demonstrate your expertise. However, if you really want to reach a wider audience, taking on a new medium is a great way to do so. Podcasts and video are perhaps two of the most in demand and most effective mediums when trying to extend your audience reach. By keeping a variety of markets covered you will be able to reach millions of more people and increase your online presence and reputation as an expert in your field.

Write Blogs of Varying Lengths

There is something to be said for long-form informative posts. They are excellent options when writing an educational post that will hopefully inspire and enlighten your audience. However, if all of your posts of the same format and length, they can become easy to pass over and ignore. Try to remember that are several types of blogs that can be used to attract new readers to your site. This applies to even the most specific blog, where the topics tend to overlap on a regular basis. In situations like this, new formats can garner attention from people who may not necessarily like long-form posts, and help you to expand your reach even further.

Bring in Guest Bloggers

Regardless of what industry you work in, or what topic you write about, bringing in a guest blogger will not only provide you with the insight and knowledge of another person, but it will also help you to potentially grow your audience. Think about it, if you bring in someone who either a) has a blog of their own, or b) is well-known in their industry, odds are they will be able to through some method of social media or even just word of mouth, share your blog. There is another reason that this method can be so favorable as well, and that is that often your guest writer will have a blog of their own and either link yours to it or invite you to be a guest blogger on there.