Struggling for Content Ideas? Here are 6 Simple Tips

Struggling for Content Ideas? Here are 6 Simple Tips

mwon

Generating ideas for new content can be a challenge, but our Orange County SEO team has six tips for you to try!

 

Stay Updated on News Stories in Your Industry and Local Area

Tracking the latest events in your industry and local area can provide you with exciting content ideas.

For example, new regulations may come into force that require your business to adjust the way you work or the services you provide. You could write an in-depth post about the reasons for these changes, how they’ll affect customers, and other key points.

Similarly, an event taking place in your area — such as a business expo or conference — could inspire a number of posts. Could you interview any thought leaders in attendance? How about covering your business’s role in an important community event (e.g. raising money for a local charity)?

 

Listen to Podcasts Related to Your Niche

Podcasters discussing topics related to your industry, products, or services can provide you with valuable content inspiration. And with more than 2 million podcasts from all over the world, you have plenty to choose from.

Can you expand on what has already been covered in a podcast or approach a topic from a fresh perspective? Mention any podcasts that inspire you directly in your blog post, video, or podcast for transparency, then share your own thoughts on discussions or news.

 

Repurpose Old Content

Take a look at a blog post, how-to guide, or video you published months or years ago. Can you make something new out of it?

Let’s say you have a blog post offering advice to startups trying social media marketing for the first time. You could take any tips that are still relevant and use them as the basis for a new video or podcast. Repurposing your content will help you save time that you would otherwise spend trying to generate entirely new ideas.

 

Welcome Ideas from Across Your Company

Don’t just look to your content team to generate ideas: invite everyone in your company to suggest ideas. People from across different departments will have experience, insights, and opinions that could inspire a wealth of new content.

And your content may be less likely to become repetitive or stale as a result.

 

Check Comments Sections for Helpful Reader Insights

How do readers or viewers respond to content? Read their comments on your site, YouTube, Facebook, etc. to harvest ideas. You may see a question or criticism that inspires a new blog post or video.

 

Study Your Best Content to Discover What Works

Identify the highest-performing content you have published, and explore those posts, videos, or podcasts in detail. Why do they work so well? Why have they attracted so much attention? Consider how you can build new content around your findings.

 

Conclusion

Try these tips when brainstorming new content ideas to make the creative process easier. Want to get your content in front of a bigger audience? Need help with identifying strong keywords? Our Orange County SEO team is ready to help you!

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Keyword Research: How to Get It Right

Keyword Research: How to Get It Right

mwon

In-depth keyword research is an essential part of building a successful SEO strategy and campaigns. Keywords tell search engines what each page on your site is related to and when it should be presented to searchers.

Not spending enough time on keyword research is a common SEO mistake. Without the right keywords, your website is less likely to appear when potential customers are looking for the exact products or services that you provide.

But researching your keywords will help you understand how to gain visibility on SERPs and get your site in front of buyers. Still, keyword research can be a complex, time-consuming process and difficult to get right.

To help make it easier for you, our Orange County SEO pros share four simple tips below!

 

Generate Ideas Relevant to Your Business and Industry

Start by brainstorming topics related to the products or services you sell, and your overall industry or niche, to generate ideas for potential keywords. For example, these might be topics that you already cover in your blog posts and videos, such as ‘home security’ or ‘beauty products’.

This process can help you get into a buyer’s mindset, and prompt you to think about what users will search for to find specific products or services.

 

Consider User Intent

User’s search intent is categorized into four types:

  • Informational: The user is looking to learn about a topic.
  • Navigational: The user is looking for a particular website or business.
  • Transactional: The user is ready to buy an item or use a service.
  • Commercial: The user is researching a product or service and needs a little more time to consider their purchase before they commit.

The user’s intent will affect the search terms they use, such as ‘how do I make chocolate cake’, ‘best men’s sneakers for basketball’ or ‘women’s jeans free shipping’.

Think about what type of search terms your target customers are likely to use at each stage of their journey.

 

Take Advantage of Tools

The right tools can make keyword research a little easier, especially if you’re new to the process.

You can use keyword research tools to find out what keywords competing websites use, for example, and they can help you turn your initial ideas into effective keywords. Free ones, such as Google Keyword Planner, are available, as well as paid platforms.

 

Work with SEO Pros for a Simpler Journey to Success

The most effective way to get your keywords right is to leave it to a professional team of SEO specialists.

They’ll handle every aspect of researching the best keywords for your business, whatever your industry and target audience. And you can leave everything else related to your SEO campaigns in their hands, too!

 

Our Orange County SEO experts are ready to boost your online visibility and help your business reach your ideal customers. Get in touch with our team to find out more and to receive your free Relevancy & Quality Score (RQS) Grader, packed with expert insights!

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What are the Most Important SEO KPIs to Track

What are the Most Important SEO KPIs to Track?

mwon

Setting goals is crucial for measuring the performance of your SEO campaigns and pinpointing problems that could hinder your success. That equates to less wasted time and (critically!) money.

While the nature of your business and your digital marketing strategy will determine the best SEO KPIs for you, there are still some that every company can benefit from tracking.

What are they? Join our Orange County SEO pros as we take a look.

 

Average Time on Page

Engagement is paramount: the more time a user spends on one of your webpages, the more likely they are to convert.

Measuring the average time on a page will show you which ones are the most and least engaging. Study your best pages and incorporate valuable elements into your worst to boost their performance.

 

Customer Lifetime Value

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) tracks each customer’s value to your business. Not just on the basis of a single purchase, but with regards to your entire relationship.

Analyzing CLV can introduce you to ways to strengthen relationships with your customers and keep them loyal for longer. And if you can boost customer retention by 5%, you could increase profitability by 25 to 95% overall.

 

ROI

Keeping track of ROI generated by your SEO processes will show you how profitable your campaigns are, and help you recognize which activities contribute to your ROI the most.

Tracking this KPI can help you avoid costly mistakes in the future, but it may take months before you start seeing ROI, so this is a more long-term KPI than some of the others.

 

Bounce Rate

A high bounce rate on a specific page means it simply isn’t engaging visitors and giving them no reason to stay. As a result, you could miss out on valuable opportunities to generate leads, convert customers, and build lasting relationships.

Track your bounce rate to reduce the risk of losing potential customers before they have a chance to discover what your business can do for them.

 

Conversion Rate

Conversions refer to a user taking a specific action and moving their relationship with your business to the next level. Common conversion goals include:

  • Buying a product
  • Downloading a free whitepaper/ebook
  • Completing and submitting a contact form
  • Subscribing to your weekly newsletter

When a user converts, you have a fantastic opportunity to foster a stronger connection with them. But if your conversion rates are low, you need to explore why they may not go through with the conversion and how you can direct users to take the desired action more effectively.

 

Page Speeds

Users care about how quickly your pages load. And if that’s longer than 3 seconds, you’re less likely to keep them on your site.

Measure your speeds to find any pages that take longer than they should, and work on bringing those times down.

 

Want to build successful SEO campaigns?

Our Orange County SEO team will create bespoke ones for you and track essential KPIs to continually find new improvement opportunities. Get in touch with our experts today to get started!

 

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Beginner SEO Mistakes: Avoid These Common Errors for Better Campaigns

Beginner SEO Mistakes: Avoid These Common Errors for Better Campaigns

mwon

SEO can be a complex topic for newcomers, and it’s easy to make mistakes. You’ll learn what works and what doesn’t over time organically, but a little expert advice can help you save invaluable time and money.

So, in this post, our Orange County SEO specialists will cover five common beginner SEO mistakes to help you build better campaigns.

 

SEO Mistake #1: Poor Content

Sixty-five percent of companies surveyed find producing engaging content challenging, while 60% admit to struggling with consistent content production.

Creating quality content can be particularly tough for new businesses, but it’s crucial to invest time and energy into building content that makes an impact — it’s one of the top ranking factors, after all.

Try creating a regular stream of blog posts, videos, and infographics to generate interest. Write on topics you and your team know well. Use eye-catching visuals and original research (if possible) to earn more credibility. Share new content across your social channels and encourage feedback.

 

SEO Mistake #2: Missing Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

Title tags and meta descriptions tell search engines and users what a webpage contains. These are displayed on results pages and encourage potential customers to choose your site over others.

That’s why your title tags and meta descriptions should be clear, direct, and honest. Never promise what a page doesn’t deliver just to draw prospects in — they may abandon your site within seconds when they realize the truth.

 

SEO Mistake #3: Not Providing Google with a Complete Sitemap

Google’s crawlers will index your site more efficiently when you submit a sitemap.

A sitemap tells the search engine what pages are included in your website and reduces the risk that its crawlers might miss pages because it can’t find them. Google may not index new content added to your site without a map, especially if your linking is less effective than it should be.

 

SEO Mistake #4: Weak Internal Linking

Solid internal linking enables search engines to find their way around your site, guiding them smoothly from page to page. Along with a sitemap, internal linking also decreases the likelihood of crawlers missing vital pages and keywords.

And good internal linking helps human users explore your site, leading them logically to the content, products, or services they’re looking for.

 

SEO Mistake #5: Failing to Research Keywords Properly

Keyword research is paramount when building an SEO campaign. Using keyword research tools will help you find the best keywords to reach your target customers, avoid high-competition keywords, and increase your visibility.

Working with SEO experts is a quicker, simpler option: they’ll identify crucial keywords for your business and incorporate them into carefully planned campaigns.

 

Our Orange County SEO agency will help you get your brand in front of the customers you’re looking for, increase your domain authority, and provide you with the ideal SEO package for your budget and goals. Contact our team to start building better SEO campaigns today!

 

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5 SEO Trends for 2022 You Need to Know About

5 SEO Trends for 2022 You Need to Know About

mwon

SEO evolves from year to year, and it’s crucial that you stay up to date with the latest trends to avoid falling behind. With 2022 here already, we thought it was time for our Orange County SEO specialists to share five top SEO trends for the year ahead.

Greater Focus On Website Accessibility

As the Internet becomes increasingly embedded in our lives, every website should be optimized for improved accessibility. Many people may struggle to use your site properly if you overlook this key issue: for example, around 12 million people in the U.S. have vision impairment and approximately 15% of adults experience some level of hearing difficulty.

Enhanced accessibility can provide all users with a high-quality browsing experience, regardless of their capabilities. It will also reduce the risk of dissatisfied visitors leaving your site with a negative impression of your brand.

More Websites Catering to Voice Search

Twenty-seven percent of the worldwide online population uses voice search on mobile devices. This trend will drive more and more businesses to optimize their websites for voice search in 2022, but what does that involve?

  • Incorporate keywords into questions users are likely to ask, especially on mobile devices, such as “where’s the nearest pizza restaurant to me?”
  • Implement long-tail keywords for accurate targeting.
  • Write in a conversational style.
  • Create FAQ pages packed with relevant, conversational questions and answers.

Increasing Popularity of Featured Snippets

Featured snippets appear on around 19% of SERPs, and they give users a faster way to access information. Ideally, a featured snippet will provide an answer but still compel users to click through for a more detailed insight instead of scrolling down.

In 2022 (and beyond), more brands will structure their content to earn featured snippets. One technique is to use more questions and answers in content, beginning with “who”, “what”, or “why”.

Mobile-friendly Websites Becoming More Prevalent

More than 92% of Internet users around the world went online via their mobile devices as of January 2021.So, it’s no surprise that brands will increasingly optimize their websites for mobile devices in 2022 and beyond.

Mobile-friendly websites are critical to deliver the best user experience and prevent frustrated users from leaving your site.

Combining Video and Long-form Content for Better Results

Brands will continue to embrace longer content in 2022. This typically gives readers more valuable information and encourages visitors to stay on your site for longer, unlike a short piece of content.

And video will remain a key part of SEO strategies the world over. Ninety-three percent of businesses win new customers thanks to videos they post on social media, and companies that use video grow revenue 49% faster than those that don’t. Combining long-form content and videos can help businesses improve SEO campaigns significantly.

Our Orange County SEO agency is here to help you achieve better results, whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to overhaul your current SEO strategy. Get in touch to find out how we can help you today!

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What are Featured Snippets

What are Featured Snippets on Google and How Can They Help You?

mwon

Google continually develops new ways to help searchers find the information they need. That’s one of the many reasons why it’s the most popular search engine, with a market share of more than 86% as of September 2021.

And featured snippets could be considered one of the best additions to Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) in recent years. But they’re more than just a convenient way to deliver bite-sized answers to queries — featured snippets can help your business increase its visibility and attract clicks too.

Featured Snippets Explained

Featured snippets appear at the top of the organic results on a SERP, and display a few lines of text from a website. This snippet should answer the user’s question concisely, but the link to the website is included underneath if you want to learn more.

In this example, Google answered our question with a snippet from USA Today and a few images. This provides a concise answer with multiple options if we want to explore it in more detail.

What Featured Snippet Types Appear on SERPs?

Google displays four types of featured snippets on its SERPs:

  • Paragraph
  • Table
  • List
  • Video

Let’s take a closer look at each:

Paragraph

A paragraph snippet presents a carefully selected extract from a site that matches the query best.

Table

A table snippet presents data in a reader-friendly format, ideal for comparing figures or statistics.

List

A list snippet breaks information is the simplest way to answer some queries. Lists may be bulleted or numbered (e.g. a step-by-step guide).

Video

A video might offer the most appropriate response to a query. If so, that will appear at the top of the SERP, ready to play. This can be particularly useful when searching for visual directions, such as makeup tutorials.

Benefits of Featured Snippets on Google SERPs

Here are three benefits of owning a featured snippet:

Boost Brand Awareness

Having a snippet from your site featured on a Google SERP creates an opportunity to increase awareness about your business, even if users don’t click on the link to your website immediately.

Attract More Clicks

If Google presents an eye-catching snippet of information from your site with a link to the relevant page, users are more likely to click on it than if it were further down the page (or on another page altogether). It can help you get to the top of the organic results instantly.

Adds Credibility to Your Site

 When Google chooses your site to answer a user’s query with a featured snippet, that implies that your company is the most relevant resource online. This can build credibility and trust.

You can optimize your website for featured snippets, but it’s a complex process demanding in-depth research. That’s why it’s best to leave it to the experts.

Our Orange County SEO specialists can optimize your site to increase its visibility, authority, and conversions. Get in touch for your free marketing analysis now!

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5 of the Best Ways to Repurpose Your Content

5 of the Best Ways to Repurpose Your Content

mwon

Do you struggle to create content that engages your target audience and helps you climb the SERPs?

If so, you’re not alone: 65% of marketers feel the same.

But a successful content marketing strategy isn’t just about producing new material — it’s knowing how to make the content you’ve already created go further too.

How?

Here are five ideas for repurposing your old content and making it fresh.

Collect articles, interviews, or case studies as ebooks

Gather content on a similar theme (e.g. hiring employees, sales techniques) and collect it into an ebook. You can use articles, interviews, or case studies — just make sure there’s a clear reason to bundle them together.

When you’ve made an ebook, you can offer it as gated content to generate leads.

Build a podcast from old blog posts

Around a quarter of the U.S. population listens to a podcast each week, with 16 million Americans describing themselves as “avid podcast fans”. That’s why a podcast can be such a fantastic addition to your content marketing strategy.

Whether your business has an existing podcast or you want to produce a one-off episode, your blog posts are a terrific place to source material.

But don’t just read them aloud into a microphone: look at the posts with fresh eyes and consider how you can break them down into an audible format.

And invite one or more people on to make the podcast into an engaging, insightful conversation rather than a monologue.

Expand and refresh existing content with new data or perspectives

New research may have been published on a specific subject since you wrote a blog post or article on it. Your work might appear outdated or even irrelevant to a newcomer looking for reliable information.

But you can fix that by updating old content to align with the latest insights. You won’t need to start from scratch, and you can keep inaccurate information off your site (which could harm your credibility).

Transform data into shareable infographics

Infographics convey information (such as statistics or tips) in a visual format, so they’re quicker and easier to digest than a blog post or article. And they’re highly shareable on social media, especially when they cover material your audience will value.

If you have stats or other data from research, bundle them into a colorful, eye-catching infographic. Bloggers or other businesses may use it and add a link, driving traffic back to your site.

Make a Q&A video from social interactions

Videos are a must for any content marketing strategy, and can help you improve engagement on your site.

You should find ample inspiration for videos in the questions visitors ask on social media or in comments on blog posts and videos. A brief Q&A video will provide useful information in a quick, visual, shareable way.

Want to take your content marketing to the next level?

Our Orange County SEO agency is here to help. Get in touch to find out how we’ll build the right content marketing strategy to increase your business’s visibility, reach, and engagement!

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Link Building The Do’s and Don’ts You Need to Know

Link Building: The Do’s and Don’ts You Need to Know

mwon

Link building is one of the most important parts of any effective SEO strategy, and it looks set to stay that way: more than 90% of marketers expect links still to feature in Google’s ranking algorithms in 5 years.  But getting external sites to link to yours can be tough, especially if you’re experimenting with link building for the first time. That’s why our Orange County SEO team has created the following list of 4 do’s and 4 don’ts for successful link building.

 

4 Link Building Do’s

Create High-Value Content Other Site-Owners Love

Good content is a must to generate links and boost your ranking — you need to give site-owners a reason to direct their visitors to your site.

This might be:

  • A thought leadership post that establishes you as an authority
  • A well-designed infographic featuring original research
  • A comprehensive white paper offering detailed tips or insights
  • A professional video featuring an interview with an industry leader, a tutorial, or anything else of value

 

Write Guest Posts for Relevant Sites With a Solid Audience

Creating guest posts for industry websites or blogs relevant to your business, products, or services is a simple but effective tactic.  This will introduce your brand to an established audience likely to have an interest in your brand.

 

Source Links from Satisfied Clients

If you run a B2B business, ask satisfied clients to link to you: for example, they may mention that your web design agency built their site or that you supplied IT hardware for a key project.  A reputable company endorsing your services helps build trust and credibility.

 

Focus on Quality First

Prioritize building links from respectable sites that have good reason to connect to yours — even if this means a slow-and-steady approach. Set a realistic target for building good links and stick to it.

 

4 Link Building Don’ts

Don’t Write Content for Irrelevant Sites

Remember when we recommended writing guest posts for relevant sites?  That’s crucial to reach prospects likely to visit your site, but don’t write for sites with no relation to your products or services just to place a link.  If your business specializes in men’s shoes and you publish a post for a blog covering French cuisine, readers won’t be fooled. You may waste your time and energy on a task that leads nowhere.

 

Don’t Experiment With Black Hat Tactics

 Engaging in black hat schemes to build links and climb the SERPs is always a bad idea. Avoid paid links, cloaking, injecting links, and anything else that could put you in Google’s bad books.

 

Don’t Give Up Before You See Results

Link building for SEO takes time, commitment, and patience. You can’t expect your ranking to improve instantly.  Stick with it and be willing to adjust your strategy as new opportunities arise.

 

Don’t Spam Blog Posts or Forums with Links

 Never write comments on blogs or forums just to leave a link. Users and search engines will see right through it. You could damage your reputation and face penalization.

 

Follow these 8 tips to hone your link building strategy and achieve better results. Want to know more? Have no idea how to build a better linking plan?  Our Orange County SEO specialists are here to help — get in touch now!

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How to Use Videos on Your Website to Improve Engagement

How to Use Videos on Your Website to Improve Engagement

mwon

Videos are one of the most common, popular forms of online content — and it’s easy to see why:

But with so many videos online, yours have to be good if they’re going to attract visitors, engage them, and keep them on your site.

Below, our Orange County SEO team explores four simple ideas to help you get started.

Introduce your business with a concise video

Yes, you already have an About Us page and pictures of your team at work on your website. But an introductory video can summarize your mission and values in a more dynamic way.

Show us footage of:

  • your products in action
  • your employees working together
  • your customers using your services

Present the human side of your business in an honest, straightforward way to earn trust and build credibility.

Help customers get more out of your products with tutorials

Product tutorials or demonstrations can help existing customers get more out of their purchase and entice prospects to try an item for themselves.

The video might involve a member of your team showing how to navigate a software product or use a gadget properly. Users may prefer to watch this instead of flipping through a manual or contacting support for advice.

But product tutorial or demonstration videos should be easy to understand — avoid confusing jargon or unclear progressions from one action to the next.

Include customer testimonials for effective social proof

Text testimonials lend your business credibility and reassure new customers that they’re paying for legitimate, quality goods or solutions.

But video testimonials take it further. You can present visitors with first-hand insights into how your products/services have benefited existing customers for added authenticity.

Keep these brief and to the point. Include the customer’s name, city of residence, and the name of their business (if necessary).

And consider adding a customer testimonial video to a relevant landing page — videos on landing pages can boost conversions by more than 85%.

Demonstrate thought leadership to help your business stand out

Thought leadership content has grown increasingly important in the past few years, especially for B2B brands. Amazingly, around 60% of decision makers claim that thought leadership content led them to do business with a company.

But while we tend to associate thought leadership content with blog posts and articles, it can include videos too.

Consider interviewing a thought leader in your sector for a video on your homepage or relevant product/service page. Or a member of your team could create a detailed presentation on a specific issue, including original research and statistics.

Both can help to establish your business as an authority to be trusted.

 

Engaging visitors and converting them into customers can be difficult — so leave it to the experts instead!

Our Orange County SEO team is here to help your business with a tailored strategy. Get in touch to find out what we can do for you!

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What-are-the most-important-types-of-content-for-SEO

What are the Most Important Types of Content for SEO?

mwon

Content is fundamental to any effective digital marketing campaign, with more than 90 percent of marketers using it to reach customers. Small businesses that publish blogs tend to achieve up to 126 percent higher lead growth than those that don’t.

But over 60 percent of marketers find it tough to create content that engages readers and performs well on Google.

A key part of building an effective content marketing strategy is understanding the most important types of content for SEO. Join our Orange County SEO experts as we find out what they are.

Blog posts

Blog posts are a fantastic way to engage users, build brand awareness, and earn customer trust.

They’re also a terrific platform for sharing thought leadership content that establishes your business as an authority in a specific area.

Posts can be long or short, but they should always offer readers value. For example, a brief list of tips to help them do something better or a long-form piece covering the history of a product or service.

Find out how to generate great new blog post ideas here!

Videos

Video will account for more than 82 percent of online traffic by 2022. That’s a LOT of video watching.

Why so popular? Because it’s sometimes easier and quicker to watch a video than to read a long blog post or article.

Videos can also be more engaging thanks to the magic of sound effects, music, and dynamic visuals.

Videos can cover:

  • product demonstrations
  • behind-the-scenes tours of your office, production floor, restaurant, etc.
  • how-to guides/tutorials
  • webinars
  • interviews with industry figures

These are just a few ideas. But whatever you do, focus on creating informative videos that look and sound professional.

Lists

A reader can scan a list in a matter of seconds. But if it’s good, informative, and helpful, they might just stick around to explore the rest of your site.

Lists should include visuals and plenty of white space to help the key details leap off the page.

Infographics

More than 80 percent of businesses that use infographics find them to be effective.

Infographics present information in a visual format, and can cover almost any topic.

They’re hugely versatile. They can be serious or humorous. They can be designed for readers of any age. And they’re a great way to recycle content in other forms (blog posts, articles, etc.) to make it go further.

Guides

One of the many joys of having the internet at your fingertips is that you can find instant advice on almost anything, from baking a cake to painting your home.

And a well-researched, well-written guide is a terrific resource for curious readers.

Include images and even videos to illustrate key points. Make guides easy to scan and mobile-friendly for users looking for help on their phones — that’s essential when 54 percent of global online traffic is generated by mobile devices.

 

These five content types can play a significant role in a successful SEO campaign, but only when they’re done right.

Think carefully about what your target audience wants to read, what questions they need answered, and what’s likely to resonate with them.

At Nett Solutions, our Orange County SEO experts will create a bespoke strategy to help your business climb the SERPs — get in touch today to find out how!

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