Visuals are stimulating and entertaining to the mind. More than anything, people enjoy sharing content that is unique and provides a solution to their questions.

You have likely heard about the need for a brand to present valuable and unique content for its readers. Eye-catching elements that catch the audience such as images, videos, and infographics. They work to project your message that ties directly to the scheme of things.

What Makes Visual Content that Catches Your Audience

Visual marketing is incorporated into a brands content mix for numerous reasons, including building the brands social media network and increasing leads.

When creating visual website content consider these tips to catch your audience:

• Share what the audience wants: Right at this moment, what is on everyone’s mind? When sitting down to create your videos and images, that is the very first question you should ask yourself.
• Deliver what you promise: Create visual content that is extremely relevant to your core brand community. It is important to share the information which your targeted audience will always need, does not change over times, and provides them with helpful information as well as solutions.
• Go further than only images: When creating web content include short video or infographics that can be shared on places such as Facebook and Instagram and ties back to your YouTube channel and website.
• Give the content a new twist: Make sure your visual content is relevant to your intended audience that is unique to your brand. Of course, just as long as you provide your own fresh “twist”, a topic that is on everyone’s mind is terrific.
• Make the visual content “shareable”: Share your tweets and posts specifically with important individuals in your niche that are inside of your network stating how that particular tweet or post could be beneficial their audience base, also. Ensure your website is responsive and includes social sharing icons as well.

Begin your visual marketing campaign by creating visual content and improving them as you go along. So, be sure to pay attention to user feedback and do not be afraid to change your graphics along the way to ensure you reach your targeted audience.

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Generally, creating additional content is a good thing; however, as any successful marketer knows, it takes more than just creating content to gain results. It takes great content. Great content requires careful planning to deliver the variety and value your audience craves.

The following tips can help you plan for better content for your audience:

Begin with Goals

Compelling your audience to take action is the goal of content marketing. You miss the “marketing” part of the equation when there is no action. So, do not begin with what you want your audience to know. Begin with what you want your audience to do.

The wanted action may be attending a webinar, signing up for your blog, scheduling a demo, etc. Whatever you decide, each piece must be connected to a desirable result.

Allow Your Audience to Lead the Topic Selection

Listen to your audience through their questions they are asking through emails to your sales department, forums such as Quora, search engine queries, and tools like Bloomberry and BuzzSumo then continue the conversation as your topic selection.

Change Up Your Content

Fill holes in your editorial calendar and ensure your content is fresh by changing up your content type. Sure, save room for sharable listicles, however, balance those with thought-provoking pieces that establish the point of view of your brand. Include how-to articles that are 100 percent utility.

Have a plan, write it out, and make it actionable.

Include Interactive Content

Other content is not your main competitor for your audience’s attention. Your main competitor is everything else in the world. With our content, we are asking that people stop what they were doing, ignore any distraction that may come their way, and engage. Earning that level of attention is far easier with interactive content.

Have Some Fun

It is okay to let loose once in a while when you have plenty of useful and practical content. In general, people enjoy being entertained and enjoy laughing. Provided that you stay consistent with your brand voice, there is nothing wrong with experimenting with a little comedy.

Start a Dialog

Does your calendar still have a few blank spaces? If so, allow your audience to fill them in. User-generated content builds enthusiasm, helps foster community, allows your customers to view real-world examples of what your brand can do, and much more.

The ideal way to promote user-generated content is to ask for it. Ask your customers for product photos, reviews, customer stories. Manage a contest and recognize the top submissions.

Better yet, ask your most valued client if you could feature them. They get extra visibility while you receive a compelling testimony. Make sure you know what content planning to do for your unique situation.

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Grow Brand Awareness

Through your content, more awareness and leads for your business is generated. You are able to demonstrate your skill and expertise over and over with your content.

Content Marketing Builds Consumer Trust

The more content you create for your business to share with your target audience, the more obvious it becomes that you’re an expert in your desired industry. To help people resolve problems, they trust and hire experts.

Improves SEO Efforts and Expands Your Reach

Your reach is naturally expanding with content. Relevant blog content published on your site or guest sites attract consumers who have an interest in the services and/or products your business offers.

Moreover, your site search engine ranking can also significantly improve when content is published regularly. The reasoning for this is when your content and website are linked to the to them on the internet, these search engines are informed that your site offers value.

Cost-Effective Way to Gain New Leads

Here is another reason why content marketing is important, all the new leads your business has gained through the content. A small business that requires consistent traffic to their website to expand their brand and increase sales will find how vital lead generation is to them. In addition to the content being excellent for lead generation, it is also highly affordable.

Helps Influence Conversions

Conversion statistics provide an excellent look at why content marketing is important. The following are only a few of these stats that show the importance of this marketing tool in regard to enhancing website conversions:

• According to the Content Marketing Institute, 61 percent of online consumers in the United States, decided to make a purchase after reading a recommendation on a website blog.
• ABG Essentials states this marketing tool provides 6 times higher conversion rates than other online marketing tools.
• As reported from HubSpot, partly because of their content marketing efforts, inbound marketers have the ability to double the average website conversion rates – from 6 percent to 12 percent.
• From CrazyEgg – Video content provides an excellent return on investment (ROI) and considerably increases conversions.

Consumers Want Great Content

The fact is that consumers want great content.

• Internet users spent 20 percent of their time on content.
• 68 percent of individuals devote time to read about brands that they’re interested in.
• At least once a month 57 percent read content marketing titles.
• 80 percent of individuals value learning about a company through online custom content.

Content marketing grabs the attention of the consumer which in turn builds your business in today’s digital age. This is the reason why content marketing is important to your business. By investing now in correct content marketing, you and your business will be rewarded for years to come.

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However, not everything is good when it comes to social media. You can actually do a lot of bad thing in your quest to do good for your company. Some businesses have botched the social media scene with mistakes that they probably should have thought about before doing them. Learn what these mistakes are so you don’t have to worry about making the same mistakes and facing the same consequences.

Social Media Mistakes You Can Make as a Business

These mistakes are made by businesses everywhere. Make sure to keep your social media game strong by watching out for them and not repeating history.

Not Having a Specific Strategy for Social Media

Having a marketing strategy is one thing, but you should always have a strategy for social media, too. You want to make sure that you have a clear idea of what you need to do, when you need to post, what you’re going to post and more. Setting a schedule and being regular can help you make the best of the social media that you use.

Engaging Your Audience Ineffectively 

Building your brand means engaging your audience and making them feel like they are valued. Having a clear idea of how people want to see you is important. When you don’t engage with them effectively, you’re actually harming your chances of being effective at marketing through social media.

Incorrectly Using Hashtags

Hashtags are important when posting on any social media. If you’re not using them correctly, then you will find that it can actually harm, not help you. Always make sure that you are using a hashtag correctly and that you are using it to go along with the same meaning that you are using it for.

Incorporating too Much Politics

This is a hot and heavy subject and while it is important to stick to your beliefs and what you stand for, it is also important that you don’t push them on other people. Don’t stick with politics too much because you might actually make more enemies than followers. It is a tough subject and there are many opinions and thoughts.

Forbes has even more tips for using your social media accounts correctly. You don’t want to overdo it, but you want to make sure that you’re set to go when it comes to engaging and connecting with your audience.

Of course, you can also find out more right here with some of the other blogs that I have written! You can learn more about how you can balance your work and personal life, the top marketing changes and even the mistakes that kill startup businesses – if this might be you!

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Organizing for the future is what I always say! I feel that my life is more put together and I can easily manage my time more effortlessly if I am better organized. This means being able to get all of my ducks (or website content in this case) in a row and then go down and cross them off.

If you’re looking to get your ducks in a row, then now is your time to do so. Here are some of the best pointers that I have used to organize my web content and get it ready to go for the weeks, or even months if you’re feeling ambitious, ahead.

Make a Plan

It all goes smoothly when you have a plan, doesn’t it? In my case, that is how I feel. I have to-do lists, plans, and papers full of hopes and dreams everywhere. When you can cross them off as you go down the list, you will not only feel more organized, but more accomplished.

Think Your Website Content Through

Before you go posting everywhere, think your web content through. You should know what you’re going to post on, where, when and how. These are all great starting points when it comes to both blogs and pages that need to be made for the website. Planning ahead, knowing what to expect and thinking it through makes a difference.

Set it Up 

Set up the pages, words, pictures and anything else that you need to have set up. From there, you can be sure that you have time to look it over and then look it over again. You can change and move anything that you want. It is your website, but you also want to make sure that it is set up for usability and not just because you think it looks pretty.

Don’t Publish Just Yet

You don’t want to publish the website just yet once you have everything planned out, written down and ready to go. Give the backlink to someone that you trust. Let them take a look at it to see where you are. This not only gives you a pair of fresh eyes on the website but it also gives you some additional insight on what needs to be done.

Being able to have a game plan at the beginning of a website is a good thing. All too often you might find yourself running around trying to gather the website content, throw it all together and try to come up with something unique. This is not going to work.

Put your voice into it. Work hard at it and stick with it. You want something that is going to be worth looking at, so you have to make sure you organized it right, while also ensuring that you don’t feel overwhelmed.

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Font Matters with a Business Website

Websites are essentially online portals made up of three elements, text, pictures and video. Of the three, the text is by far the most important. A business’s text explains concepts in-depth and the other pieces on the page serve as resources or an expansion on that explanation. According to Creative Market’s findings, it’s imperative to nail the right font down when you put your website up. If your website is using the wrong font, color or size, you’re missing out on potential visitors whether you know it or not.

Utilize a Sans-Serif Font

After looking at the analysis of Creative Market we were surprised to see that so many of the sites relied on a Sans-Serif typeface, but when you stop to consider the benefits of Sans-Serif it makes sense that so many of the leading online websites would be leveraging this leading type. The major difference between sans-serif and other typefaces is that there are no little feet at the bottom of the letters. That might not seem like much at first, but removing those feet makes a website easier to read when using low-resolution devices like a smartphone.

Choosing the right font option can make your website accessible and more enjoyable to a larger group of people, which is exactly why so many market leaders are relying on top sans-serif fonts like Helvetica, Arial, and Open Sans. If your site uses a font with intricate details or small feet, one of the first things you should do to it switches over to a sans-serif font to make it more accessible to everyone.

Go for a Deep Black Font Color

According to the study by Creative Market fonts closest to black are best for business. When looking over all 1,000 of those top websites, nearly all of the sties relied on pure black for their font color. Some of the sites relied on a dark gray as the font color as well, but pure black, or #000000 for all you hex users out there is the most obvious way to go. Lighter colors might look cool, or create a unique look for your site, but black is the most practical option for serious web owners looking to expand.

Choose a Mid-Level Font Size

Creative Market observed three main font sizes in use on all the websites, 14px, 16px and 13px in that order. There were far more websites out there with a 14px font size than any other. That doesn’t mean that 16px or 13px isn’t any good because they have decent success as well. The findings show that you definitely shouldn’t be going with an 8px font, or a 20px font though. Readability is everything in an online website, and a mid-range font helps ensure that your sites show on full-sized computers as well as mobile devices.

The Takeaway

• Choose the right font for success. Black, 14px, Sans-Serif works best.

Article Length is Important

Next on the web-design checklist should be the length of your content. According to the research covering the top 1,000 businesses, the wordcount to shoot for is 605 words. That’s right in the middle of the range and shows that quantity isn’t the most important factor. These businesses are all wildly successful, and they aren’t relying on 5,000-word articles to achieve that success.

Instead of adding every single detail into your business articles, focus on the important key points, explain things very clearly and rely on branching articles to address topics more closely.

The Takeaway

• Nail your page design, and create brief, top-quality content. Longer isn’t better in the case of article length.

Site Speed is a Real Factor

Have you ever been stuck at a business website where every page loads slowly? It’s infuriating. That’s exactly the opposite of how you want your visitors to feel when loading up one of your business webpages. This is why we weren’t surprised to see that the average website response time of the 1,000 top websites examined in the study was just 1.36 seconds. That’s pretty darned fast, and that means visitors will enjoy a smooth browsing experience.

Business owners need to rely on lightweight themes when building a site so that it loads as fast as possible. Take a website speed test right now and look for ways to decrease your load times if they’re notably higher than the 1.36-second gold-standard.

The Takeaway

• Top websites load quickly. Take action to avoid having a sluggish site.

Page Size Matters

This goes along with site load speeds, but during the Creative Market tests, the average webpage size was just 66,970.0928 bytes, or significantly less than 1Mb. Those findings show that fancy sites aren’t better. Instead, simple web pages that minimize heavy graphics and special features are the industry-standard. Lightweight web pages load faster, and they show up nicely on a wider range of devices. That’s why business owners should go for a simple approach with their own sites.

Check your web page size and try to find ways to minimize it if the size is significantly higher than 1Mb. Bigger is not better in this case, and those bloated pages could be deterring visitors hoping for fast information. Cut the page size down and we guarantee you’ll see faster load times as well.

The Takeaway

• The best websites feature compact pages. Cut down on your own page size for improved customer interaction.

Now you know what the top business owners are doing. It’s time to take all those simple best-practices and apply them to your own business website. Look through the details and make the necessary changes for yourself. It’s worth the effort, we promise!

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Many people ask what a content writer is? What can they do for you? How do they help, as compared to doing my website content myself?

Knowing what content writers are and what they do can ultimately help you figure out if they’re the best to go with.

What is a Content Writer?

In order to have a website that can attract an audience, it has to be well written. This is important for your company, but also for those visiting the website. You have to have a voice of your own to show for it. Through the use of a website that has well-written, authoritative, informative information; you can gain this audience.

Web content writers work off of the specifications of the client’s. Whatever you need to have written, these wordsmiths can essentially make it happen, no matter what topic you work in.

Why Use a Content Writer?

So many ask why they’re needed. The first reason being that without the content writer, you’re not going to have content that sells. Whether you’re selling services, selling products or just trying to make your website seen on the internet.

You need to have someone that has a way with words. Those dedicated, full time, long time content writers can provide this type of content for you. These content writers will automatically understand the needs that you have and the information you want to hand out.

Need I say more?

While, I specialize in a wide variety of content writing, I can also provide online marketing skills to help boost your website traffic, to get you seen on the web and also provide those administrative jobs needed to keep up on the views you get.

Contact me today to learn more!

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Website content is one of the most important aspects of having an online presence. Not only is it good for companies, big and small but also individuals looking to gain attention.

When you work with someone that understands SEO and the importance of quality content, you’re working with someone that can build your name, your business’s name and get you seen by the target audience of your choosing.

Why is Website Content Important?

If you’re looking to move out of the everyday thing and move into the world around you, then the internet is the first place you’re going to go to find the customers you want.

However, how do you reach these customers? Where would you start?

You’d have to work with a marketer and content writer that understands how to market your company through website content and marketing means so you can be seen.

Not only does the content have to be enriching and provide value to the reader, but it also has to be optimized correctly in order to get the right amount of views.

More views mean more potential customers and clients for your company. This is due to having the search engines pick up on these keywords and provide your website as one of the many that can be found when those words are searched for.

Overview of Benefits of Having Website Content 

Here is a brief bulleted list that showcases the benefits of having high-quality website content for your business:

• Be seen on search engines
• Have enriching, valuable content for your readers
• Have a link that potential clients and customers can visit
• Provide more information to those that want to know more about you and what you do
• Enjoy the benefits of growing with the technology around you

As always, it is important to hire a professional content writer for your website content. They can not only provide thorough SEO work but enriching, helpful content that can engage the customers and clients and help them reach you better. Here is more information about creating engaging website content for your business.

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