Traffic

Search Engine Optimization And Why You Need To Use It

Search Engine Optimization And Why You Need To Use It

Search Engine Optimization And Why You Need To Use It

E-commerce is a cutthroat business. You have to arm yourself with the proper know-how and the tools to make your site a cut above the rest.

Each day, more and more sites are clamouring to optimize their rankings in websites and if you lose your guard, you may just get trampled on and be left in the abyss filled with so many failed e-commerce sites.

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a term widely used today by many e-commerce sites.  For the past few years and the next ten years or so, search engines will be the most widely used internet tool to find the sites that they need to go to and get the product or information they need.

Most people that use search engines use only the ten top search results in the first page. Making it to the first page, more so to the top three is a barometer of a site’s success in SEO marketing.

You will get a higher ratio of probability in being clicked on when you rank high. The more traffic for your site, the more business you rake in.

But it is essential to grab a hold of that spot or make your ranking even better. As I said before, each day is a new day for all e-commerce sites to make themselves rank higher using search engine optimization. It is imperative to make your site better and better every day.

So just what is search engine optimization and do you have to use it? The answer to why you have to use it is an easy one. You need search engine optimization to be number one, or maybe at least make your site income generating.

With search engine optimization you can get the benefit of generating a high traffic volume. Let’s just say you get only a turnout of successful sales with 10 to 20 percent of your traffic. If you get a hundred hits or more a day, you get a good turnout of sales already. If you get only twenty to ten hits a day, you only get one or two sales, if any at all.

So once again, what is search engine optimization? Well, SEO is a strategy of using tools and methods to make your site rank highly in the results of search engines.

Getting yourself on the first page and better yet in the top half of the page will ensure that your site will generate public awareness of your site’s existence and subsequently generate more traffic; traffic that could lead to potential income and business.

Search engine optimization requires a lot of work to be fully realized. There are many aspects you have to change on your site or add as well to obtain great search engine optimization.

These will include getting lots of information about the keyword phrases that are popular in regard to your sites niche or theme.

You may also need to rewrite your sites content so that you can get the right keyword phrases in your site without making it too commercial but light and informative. There are certain rules and guidelines to be followed with making your site’s content applicable and conducive to search engine optimization.

You will also need to collaborate with many other sites so that you can get link exchanges and page transfers. The more inbound and outbound traffics generated by sites among others are one of the components search engines uses to rank sites.

Try to search the internet for some useful tricks. Tips, guidelines and methods for search engine optimization are plentiful. Read as many articles as you can that will help you optimize your site in search engine results.

The more knowledge and information you gather, the better. This will all help you in getting those high rankings. This may require a little time and effort on your part, but the benefits will be astounding.

If you can part with some money, there are many sites on the internet that can help you in search engine optimization. There are many sites that help in tracking keyword phrases that can help your site.

There are also some content writers that have lots of experience in making good keyword laden content for your sites that have good quality.

Act now and see the benefits garner with search engine optimization. All of these will result in better traffic and more business for your site and company.

7 Ways To Increase Your Traffic Starting Yesterday

Internet. Business. Profit. To fully integrate all of these words into a successful merging you will need another word: Traffic. Every article you will find about making your site or company successful will always include the importance of generating traffic.

So, we all know that at the core of it all, traffic is the most essential thing for a successful internet-based business company.

 Aside from ensuring that you have a great product to sell, and you have your company’s internal organization well taken care of, it is now time to get to the nitty gritty of things, generating traffic.

If you already have a site and you don’t think that you’re getting the traffic that you deserve to be getting, then it’s time to reconsider your search engine marketing strategy.

If you are competing in these very competitive niches, you should always try to be a step ahead of your competition, increasing your traffic flow should have been done starting yesterday.

Timing is essential, that’s an old adage known to everyone. But with generating traffic, you should always be on your toes and be a day ahead of everyone else.

Never think of today and tomorrow as a starting point for making your site traffic laden, it should always have been done yesterday.

To help you out in generating more traffic for your site, here are seven sure-fire ways to increase your traffic starting  yesterday.

1) Invest in good advertising with search engines

Google’s Adwords and Yahoo’s Overture provide great advertising schemes that are very popular and assures great traffic. Although this sure-fire way to increase your traffic will cost some money.

While some would shy away from spending money to increase traffic, it is imperative in this case to do so because Adwords and Overture is a top way to increase your traffic.

You can see for yourself the success that these search engine advertising methods have reaped rewards for so many companies. Lots of sites feature these advertising system and many have signed up to reap the benefits.

Do not be left behind. Every penny is worth it using Google and Yahoo’s advertising.

2) Exchange or trade links with other sites

When exchanging links with other sites, both of you will benefit from the efforts both of you do to enhance your sites traffic. When one site features another sites link, they will provide one another with the traffic one site generates.

The efforts are doubly beneficial because it appears that both of you are working to generate more traffic. The more links traded with more sites, the more traffic can be expected.

3) Use Viral Marketing

Viral marketing allows you to spread the word about your company and product without any cost virtually, or low cost if any.

This is a marketing method that can be quite sneaky; you can attach your company’s name, product or link to a certain media such as a funny video, entertaining game, an interesting article or a gossip or buzz.

 With this method, people get infected with the creativity and entertainment of the medium that they will pass it on to many of their friends; the key is to know what is trending in your niche and jump on it as quickly as possible.

4) Search and use proper keywords or keyword phrases for your sites content

Search engines look for certain keywords (SEO Keywords) that they will show on their results page. In doing so, having the right keyword and keyword phrase is a high requirement in ranking high in the search engine results.

You could write your own content, or you can hire someone to do it for you.

5) Write articles that can lead traffic to your site

Submit articles to sites that contain the same content that your business deals in. If you sell car parts, write press releases and articles about cars and car parts.

 Attach your sites description and services at the end of the article as well as a link back to your site.

6) Join forums and form online communities

Capture a market and show your expertise and credibility. When you have built a solid foundation via your site, people will trust you and your business and will pass this on to others; word of mouth recommendations are very powerful!

Traffic will certainly increase because they know that you can provide what they need.

7) Lastly, offer newsletters

If a lot people know about you and your business and they share this  with others, you can find loyal traffic that will provide you with even more traffic by their recommendation.

Offering free newsletters packed with value may be shared among friends and this can lead them back to your site, and potentially a sale.

The key is to always overdeliver on everything you do and provide. Do this and the traffic will come as people begin to learn about you and your reputation, and this in turn will help to push your site up the rankings in the search engines, increasing traffic even more!

If you want to know more about SEO, check out the featured resource below for a free report, Simple SEO Keywords which will show you how to research keywords for your content using some great tools; download, read it and take action 🙂

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How To Write And Design A Compelling Landing Page

How To Write And Design A Compelling Landing Page

How To Write And Design A Compelling Landing Page

Whether you’re writing lead nurturing emails, drafting blog posts or shooting an ad for your YouTube channel, in order to be a successful inbound marketer, you have to be a master content creator.

Generally, when people think about landing pages they automatically jump to conversions: but there’s more to it.

Factors such as how often visitors abandon your form, which particular treatment performs better or what the bounce rate is: all these metrics boil down to how well you craft your content.

But writing a good website landing page is somewhat different from say, a blog post.

Several nuances necessitate a different approach when handling landing page copywriting and while these nuances might seem minor, they have significant impact on conversions.

And while the main point is to get the lead, you also want to redirect them immediately to a sales page with a relevant offer after signing up to try to monetise the lead as soon as possible.

So if you’re trying to find a way to create effective copy that leads to a successful “squeeze page”, consider these practices.

Work On The Headline

Your target here is to make sure the landing page refers to the place from which every visitor came.

Likewise if an ad copy drove them there, ensure the headline refers to where they came from.

Your language should match exactly, so that your visitors stay oriented and engaged. This is a crucial part of your landing page.

Clear Call To Action

Some of your options here include using hot-linked text or graphic buttons but whatever you use, make sure your visitor knows what they need to do.

A short landing page should do well with at least 2 calls to action; and 3-5 in a longer landing page. Testing headlines and copy texts will give you the best results: but you may choose to spice it up a bit.

Always write in the second person

Your visitors don’t care much about you, your company or even services and products, except as to how they benefit them. Forge a stronger connection between the reader and whatever you have to offer by speaking to them directly, and that way you’ll have successfully demonstrated the value of your offer- by showing the reader how they can benefit from it.

Write A Clear, Persuasive Message

You might be temped to showcase your creativity here, or how good you are at turning a clever phase. Keep in mind this is business, and not an art class, so you have little room to express your creative genius.

Try to think of the most direct way to say what you want, and avoid jargon or literary flair if it detracts from the essence of your message.

It’s OK To Write Long Copy But…

Your readers can and will follow long copy provided you keep presenting a solid case. But not every service or product will require the same amount of copy so adjust accordingly.

Short copy is perfect for subscription or something that doesn’t include cash commitment. Long copy is best used when closing a sale.

Get To The Point Fast

Most of your visitors are gleaning and skipping through content and you only have three seconds to get their attention before they hit the back button.

People tend to read beginnings and ends before they focus on middles so you need to find a way to position your most critical arguments in these positions.

Make it easy for them to get the message so you don’t lose leads or new reconverts.

Learn To Use Reader Keywords

What on earth is a reader keyword? Think of the words your visitor will look for- not the search engine- when they scan your page.

Readers will assume the page they landed on is related to the CTA or page they came from so you need to confirm this for them.

You may use the same phrases -or close variations- to let the reader know they’re on track.

Draft Value-Oriented Language

This is the “so what?” of your page copy. This is where you spend time convincing your visitor that the time he or she will spend filling out the form is worth it because of the offer they’ll receive.

Make it a rule to include a header on every landing page that explains a specific benefit– “If you purchase this, you will get.”– or something similar.

This way you will pinpoint the value of your offer.

Work On The Format

Good landing page has much to do with sentence structure and word choice as it does presentation.

Your copy might be decent enough but if its not visually appealing, they might lose interest with the information.

You can get over this hurdle by breaking up your copy and using headers of varying sizes, and make use of bold text, italics, checkmarks, parentheticals, etc.

Consistency

Finally, after writing and formatting your copy, go back one last time and proofread the copy.

Remember you’re trying to convince people to give you their personal information and they are not likely to do so if they find your copy riddled with errors.

Go over the grammar, spelling, accuracy, consistency and facts.

Here’s where people go wrong:

  • Using different spellings for the same words and terms
  • Losing track of uppercase and lowercase letters when writing terms such as “eBook”.
  • Messing up dates
  • Giving inaccurate data
  • Quoting the wrong sources

Test Everything

As with any aspect of landing page optimization, you need to keep testing. These tricks and tips will get you started but your work doesn’t end there: design plays a huge role in this.

Elements such as color, layout, images- these are crucial interactivity elements whose single purpose is to engage the reader at a deeper level and cause a response.

Likewise your audio and video play a major role and they all need regular testing in order to effectively merit a deeper look.

Finally, you may need to minimize the amount of clutter on your page. This means removing visual clutter, navigation bars and certain links. If you want the reader to focus on your copy, don’t give them any distractions.

Make sure your supportive visual keeps them engaged but not side-tracked. This should be enough to get you positive results consistently.

Any type of marketing funnel relies on good sales copy and there are many pitfalls and mistakes that inexperienced copywriters can make. If you want to know more about avoiding these and other copywriting mistakes, take a look at the featured resource below where you can download a copy of a free report, Copywriting Blunders, so you will be forewarned and can make your copy more effective. Download, read it and take action 😊

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How To Develop A Sales Funnel That Converts

How To Develop A Sales Funnel That Converts

How To Develop A Sales Funnel That Converts

Many new marketers come online to start their own business and can’t seem to put all of the pieces together. They have bits of knowledge about things like lead magnets and upsells, but how and when everything takes place in an orderly fashion hasn’t been laid out for them.

If this scenario describes you, or if you’d simply like a better overview of how a customer goes from that initial click-through and on through your entire marketing funnel, the sections below will paint a better picture for you.

It’s important to know that you have the ability to tailor this system to whatever best helps your customers.

You can pick and choose which elements you want to use, such as multiple one time offers or downsells, and make sure it resembles something you feel will convert best for you.

As you can see, there are a number of sales funnel stages that you can use but start simple and build it up further as you go. Funnel building should be fun, not daunting, so start with a minimum viable funnel and adjust from there; the key is to take action.

Getting The Click-Through To A Strategic Landing Page

There are millions of consumers online waiting to be presented with the right opportunities for improving their lives. As an online marketer, you can position yourself as the leader people turn to for niche information and guidance.

One of the biggest problems in getting the click-through to your strategic landing page is that most people simply forget to link to it. Instead, they are focused on getting the content out and the engagement that comes from it, and they simply forget to include the link.

Before you ever begin putting content on the Internet to build a list and get people into your digital marketing funnel, you need to work on building the type of landing page consumers will respond to.

This should not be as long as a full sales letter, but should still have compelling headlines, bulletpoints, and an offer they can’t refuse. Once your landing page is created to build a list, you will want to generate content that puts people into your funnel at that point.

Most uninformed marketers are focused on making money, so when they link out, it’s often directly to a product for people to buy. That’s short term thinking. You want to think long-term, and a funnel is how you do that.

Instead of linking to products and earning commissions or sales, you want to link to the landing page and put people on your email autoresponder list so that you can market to them for years to come.

The content you generate can be placed strategically on your blog. This is where your opt in forms can reside in the sidebar as well as beneath each blog post to get people onto your list.

You can direct readers of each post to sign up at your landing page or in one of the forms they see there. Another place you can generate a click-through to your landing page is on social media platforms.

This includes sites like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, and YouTube. On some of these sites and apps, you’re only allowed one link in your bio.

Instead of sending people to your products that you were reviewing or a blog post that you wrote, simply send them directly to your landing page where an amazing freebie will be waiting for them in exchange for their contact information.

Lead Magnets That Get People On Your List

When it comes to getting people into your funnel, there’s only one way to do that. You must have an amazing and enticing offer. The fact that a lead magnet is a free gift makes it somewhat easier for people to slip into your funnel.

However, keep in mind that people are very protective over their contact information. No one wants to give their name and email address to someone who may or may not turn out to be a spammer.

There are many unethical marketers who will sell their information to others and cause them a lot of headaches. So, what kind of lead magnet can you offer that will ensure people feel very little hesitation in exchanging their details for the gift?

You must make sure more than anything that it is relevant to the niche you are leading. Just because you have a free PLR report about survival skills doesn’t mean anyone who is looking to lose weight will want that information.

It must be closely related to the topic your site is built around. It can’t just be in the same niche, either. If your site is all about the keto diet, you would be shooting yourself in the foot to offer a lead magnet about calorie counting instead.

Besides keeping the lead magnet topic relevant and closely related to your niche topic, you also want to make sure the customer feels they are getting an amazing value from you.

Just because the gift is free, doesn’t mean you should skimp on the quality. In fact, this is your chance to make a first impression. It’s imperative that you wow the customer and shock them that you are willing to hand over so much great information.

You want them to walk away with their download feeling grateful and strong in their decision to allow you to contact them in the future. You can create a lead magnet that is a short report, a full eBook, or even a video course.

Using Email Autoresponders To Grow Your Success

The customer has now opted into your list. This is where they begin the slippery slope through your funnel. It’s key that you understand how to navigate the email process so that you not only keep them on your list but convert them into paying customers as well.

One of the first things you may want to do is over deliver with the freebie gift they signed up for. Not only should the original gift be amazing, but you can surprise them with an additional gift or two that they weren’t expecting.

From there, you can contact your subscribers on a regular basis. Only you can determine how much or how little that should be. Some subscribers will never be happy with your decision.

And some will become your most loyal and dedicated followers. There will be those who complain if you email once per week and those who complain if you miss a single day of the week because they can’t get enough.

The key is to find a system that works right for you. That might be daily, and it might be a few times a week. Test the waters to see how your list responds. If you end up getting too many unsubscribes, that may be a sign that you need to either change the message in your emails or the frequency with which they go out.

You will be able to email your subscribers using a follow up system, which automatically drips content out to them on a schedule that you devise. Or you can simply send out broadcast emails whenever you feel like it that future subscribers will not have access to.

As for what types of content should go in your emails, you want to mix that up a bit. Your subscribers are there to receive helpful tips and advice first and foremost. So, you definitely want to include a non-monetized portion of the content – either periodically or in every email.

At the same time, you’re in this career partially if not fully to earn money. So, it would be foolish not to monetize the emails you send out. Once you’re ready, begin adding recommendations for products using an affiliate link.

You also want to create your own info products and begin sharing these with your subscribers. You can even give your list a better deal than others will get if you want to create a coupon or special page for them.

So, what kind of offers will you have that are sure to convince people to spend money, as opposed to simply downloading a freebie you offered them in the very beginning? You have some options.

Planning Your Front Ends, Oto’s And Downsells

The person who subscribed to your email list has already shown interest in what you have to say. Now is the time to strike while the iron is hot. You need to present them with an offer for a paid product that will present several options to them that have the potential to maximize your revenue.

You want to start with a front end product. This is the no brainer product that is priced very attractively for the consumers. It should be something that is in demand within your niche and not so overwhelming that it requires a higher price tag.

Usually, front end products are smaller and less expensive. For example, instead of selling a soup to nuts affiliate marketing course priced at $97, you might sell a $7 report on how to write a product review.

This is a cheap enough price point that it won’t present many obstacles to most of your subscribers. They will be willing to pull the trigger on the offer without hesitation. Once you have your front end created, you need to decide whether or not you will have any upsells, and if so, how many.

You will find two different schools of thought about product funnels. The first group of people believe all upgrade options are annoying and should not be presented to the customer.

The second group understands the value and importance of continuing to give a customer who was already in a buying mindset, the opportunity to add onto their cart. There are many consumers who will appreciate the opportunity to continue to get good deals on products that are related to their original purchase.

Your funnel should usually level up in pricing with every upgrade option. For example, if your front end product is a short report about writing an affiliate marketing review, your first upgrade could be a full course that teaches everything about affiliate marketing.

Your third upgrade might be a service that you provide to set up an affiliate marketing blog on their domain for $97. At any point in the funnel, the consumer can choose to decline the upgrade option.

If they purchase it, they will continue to see as many upgrades as you put in the funnel. But if they decline, you have the option to kick them out of the funnel to the download page or present what’s known as a downsell to them.

The downsell is when you offer something of a lesser value. This could be a completely different item, or it could be one of your upgrades that has certain elements extracted from it so that they don’t get everything that was in the original upgrade option.

For instance, if one of your upgrade options included 35 PLR articles and 10 product reviews for $27, then if they declined, you’re downsell might be just the 10 product reviews for $7.

You’re not making as much money as you would if they had accepted the original upgrade, but you are still adding on to the sale in its entirety. You’re giving them the option to buy a little less.

Once they have proven themselves to be paying customers, you will have the opportunity to create a follow up campaign that converts well for you. This is where the long-term income begins to materialize.

Crafting A Follow-Up Campaign That Converts

One of the most important parts of your funnel overall is your ability to cater to your subscribers again and again. This is where long-term earnings begin to mount and provide a stable income for you.

Instead of merely experiencing one time sales, you will be able to meet the needs of your subscribers and be the go to person whose recommendations they can’t pass up.

When you create your follow up email campaign, you want to make sure that you are only recommending the very best products for your audience.

Don’t spam them with too many offers from vendors or brands that fail to live up to their standards. You will lose their trust and their contact details quickly if you take that route. You want to make sure in your follow up campaign that you aren’t promoting any items that will expire.

Unless you stay on top of every email and update it over time, you may be sending out links that are broken or to products that no longer exist. Everything you promote should be evergreen in nature.

That not only includes item you promote as an affiliate for other vendors, but also your own products. If you have products that have become outdated, either take the time to update them for your buyers or remove them completely from the marketplace and stop promoting them to your subscribers.

More than anything, you still want to continue providing value to your subscribers. If all you’re doing is promoting without sharing any tips or advice, they will feel used and quickly exit your list.

Keep sharing insight, continue surprising them with gifts from time to time, and listen to their needs and create products that help them achieve their goals or eliminate their most pressing pain points.

Any type of marketing funnel relies on good sales copy and there are many pitfalls and mistakes that inexperienced copywriters can make. If you want to know more about avoiding these and other copywriting mistakes, take a look at the featured resource below where you can download a copy of a free report, Copywriting Blunders, so you will be forewarned and can make your copy more effective. Download, read it and take action 😊

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17 Ways To Create Blog Posts That Get Attention

17 Ways To Create Blog Posts That Get Attention

17 Ways To Create Blog Posts That Get Attention

You can put a lot of content up on your blog, but your blog isn’t going to be successful if no one is reading the content.

That’s why one of the biggest keys to your success is to create engaging content that attracts readers and keeps them coming back to your blog again and again.

Here’s how to do it…

1. Give Your Audience What They Want

The first thing you need to do is understand what your audience wants. In other words, what sort of content are they already consuming? Here’s how to figure this out:

  • Find out what sort of infoproducts they’re buying. Check bestsellers on marketplaces such as Amazon.com, Udemy.com. ClickBank.com and JVZoo.com.
  • See what topics get a lot of traction on social media.
  • Check question and answer sites to see what’s popular, including Quora.com, Yahoo! Answers, and JustAnswer.com.
  • Browse niche groups (on Facebook) and forums to see what topics keep popping up again and again.
  • Read your competitors’ blogs to see which topics get a lot of discussion and social media shares.
  • Ask your audience what they’d like to learn more about.Check your own blog to see what topics you’ve posted about in the past that have generated a lot of interest.

Next…

2. Write For Your Audience

In order to write for your audience, you need to understand exactly who they are. You’ll need to do some research to uncover their demographics, and then spend some time reading niche discussions and talking to your audience to learn more about them.

Here’s what you want to know:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Where they live.
  • Marital status.
  • Kids or not.
  • Rent or own.
  • Income level.
  • Education level.
  • Biggest niche challenges/obstacles/pain points.
  • Solutions they’ve tried.
  • Why those solutions haven’t worked.
  • What they want.
  • What motivates them.
  • Where they get their niche information.
  • Their niche level (beginner, intermediate, expert).

Next…

3. Catch Attention With Titles

Engagement starts with your blog titles, which is why you need to invest time creating benefit-driven titles with a little razzle dazzle to catch attention.

For example, “How to Lose Weight” shares a benefit. It’s descriptive, but it’s also a little boring.

In order to catch attention, you need to add a little razzle dazzle. E.G., “The Weird Weight Loss Trick That Shook Hollywood (Psst, It Will Work for You Too!)”


By the way, if you are serious and want to take your blogging to the next level, check out the Rapid Blogging Blueprint. This is a premium level training that takes you through each and every step of setting up your own highly profitable blog and profiting from it. You can check it out here.


Next…

4. Open With A Bang

You need to capture attention right away, which is why your opener should work hard to get and keep your audience’s attention. You can do this by:

  • Building anticipation by adding a “key points” section in your opener.
  • Telling a story right away.
  • Providing a startling fact or statistic.
  • Busting a myth, or sharing other unexpected information.
  • Sharing a really good tip right away to build interest.
  • Posting an interesting quote (from a famous person).
  • Showing that you understand the reader and their problem, such as by empathizing with the reader.

Next…

5. Create “You”-Centered Content

Your content needs to be all about your readers, specifically with regards to their problems and how to solve them. Unfortunately, some bloggers tend to make their content more about themselves, such as how they discovered a particular tip or trick.

Yes, you do need to talk about yourself from time to time, such as when you share your credentials or you tell an engaging story. However, you want to be sure to pivot immediately back to your readers to keep the focus on them.

Here’s a quick way to check if you’re focused on your readers: see how many times you use words like “you” and “your,” versus words centered on yourself (such as I, me, and mine). Rewrite author-oriented content to make it more about the reader.

For example, “I’ll share my favorite weight-loss trick” is author-oriented. You can rewrite it to change the focus like this: “You’ll discover a proven weight-loss trick.”

6. Avoid Passive Language

Passive language is where you craft sentences so that the subject receives an action, rather than the subject performing an action. Readers tend to find it tedious and boring to read this sort of content.

Here’s an example of a passive sentence: The dog must be walked five times per day.

You’d rewrite it to make it active, like this: You must walk the dog five times per day.

7. Engage Readers With Stories

One really good way to engage readers on an emotional level is to draw them in with a story.

For example, you can write a story about how you or someone else in the niche overcame the same problem as your readers.

Another example: You might share a heartwarming story, or even a story about an embarrassing moment.  These stories build rapport.

Still one more example: if you’re trying to share a lesson, share it in the form of a story. It makes it both more engaging and memorable.

8. Ask Questions To Engage Readers

You can ask questions in the beginning, middle or end of your content to engage readers and encourage them to interact. For example:

  • Have you ever _______?
  • Do you ever feel ________?
  • How would you feel?
  • What is your favorite tip?
  • What is the hardest part of _______?
  • What do you think?
  • What would you do?

Next…

9. Build Anticipation And Curiosity

Starting in the beginning and sprinkled throughout your content, you’ll want to build anticipation and curiosity for what’s coming.

For example: “In just a moment, you’ll discover the #1 way to get 1000 visitors in the next 24 hours.  But first…”

Likewise, if you have a blog series, then be sure to build anticipation for the other articles in the series.

E.G., “Tomorrow you’ll find out which food you should NEVER eat if you want to lose weight – and chances are, you’ve already eaten it this week!”

10. Make Your Audience Smile

If you can make your audience feel something (especially a positive emotion), you’re going to have their full attention. One way to do this is to inject some humor (sparingly) into your content to make your audience smile and chuckle.

Before you start cracking jokes in your content, be sure that you’ve researched your audience, and you understand them.

What people find humorous is subjective, and it also differs across cultures. Indeed, what you find funny may be outright offensive to others, so keep your humor G-related and appropriate.

11. Serve Up Unique Content

One really good way to keep readers engaged is to give them content they’ve never seen before. Elsewhere in these guides, we’ve talked about how to create unique content, such as by sharing unique case studies, stories, and even creating formulas to teach step-by-step content.

Here’s another idea: use fresh comparisons to explain concepts and even step-by-step processes.

In some cases, the actual how-to information you’re sharing isn’t unique. However, the way you position and present the information can be unique – and that’s exactly what will keep readers engaged.

Let’s suppose you’re writing about customer retention. Most of your competitors are going to list and explain all the components of creating satisfied customers. You can make your content unique by comparing customer retention to the Hollywood red-carpet VIP treatment. It’s a simple thing, but it makes your content more interesting, and it stands out from other similar content.

12. Be Concise

If you want to keep readers engaged, then cut out all the fluff and filler. If a page, a paragraph, or even a sentence isn’t necessary to getting your point across, then delete it. You want to keep your content concise and “meaty,” which will keep readers engaged.

One good way to keep your content focused is to create an outline before you write. The key here is to make this outline as detailed as possible.

Not only should you list the major steps and points you want to cover, but you can also list substeps, tips, examples and so on. Then once you start writing, stick to your outline, and delete anything that veers from this outline.

13. Use A Friendly Tone

If you remember reading a few textbooks during your school days, you might also remember some pretty yawn-inducing passages. The problem? These textbook writers shared information, but they didn’t seem all that interested in connecting with readers. While their writing may be technically correct, it’s boring.

Naturally, you’ll want to avoid this sort of stilted, textbook-style writing.

One way to connect with your readers is to write with a friendly, conversational tone.

Think of how you’d write to a friend, and share your content in a similar manner. (This guide is an example of writing with a friendly tone – note how this content isn’t speaking above anyone, it’s not pretentious, and it doesn’t try to impress with big words and complex sentence structure.)

14. Offer Quick Wins

A quick win is a tip or other bit of information that someone can apply fairly quickly, and then get fairly quick results too. Your readers should be able to instantly recognize the value of the information and how quickly they’ll get good results if they apply it.

For example, if you’re sharing information to beginning marketers about how to find a niche, you might teach them to use a keyword tool to find niches they never knew existed (e.g., enter partial searches such as “how to ____” and “get rid of” and “secrets of”).

Your audience can literally apply that information instantly, and in minutes have a list of potential niches to explore.

Quick wins keep your readers engaged on the current blog post they’re reading, as they’ll be eagerly searching for other gold nuggets of information. However, making a habit of providing quick wins in your posts also keeps readers engaged with your blog as a whole and coming back for more.

15. Insert Awesome Visuals

Another way to engage readers is by inserting useful, polished graphics. This includes:

  • Infographics.
  • Tables.
  • Charts.
  • Illustrations.
  • Screenshots.
  • Photos.
  •  GIFs.

 And similar images.

For example, you might include an infographic to make data-heavy information easier to understand.

Another example: you might include a photo or illustration that shows someone how to do something (such as the proper way to stand when doing a weight-lifting exercise such as a squat).

Need a real-life example to view right now?  Take a look at the articles on BuzzFeed.com. You’ll see that many of them include memes and GIFs to keep readers interested and hooked until the end.

Point is, a good visual can attract the eye and draw the reader back into the text, and it can also add a lot of value to the content. Either way, good visuals engage readers!

16. Share Tips And Examples

Another way to add value while engaging readers is to generously provide plenty of tips and examples in your content.

As an example, take a look at #15 above. The instruction was to provide visuals in your blog posts.

You then got a list of seven examples of different types of visuals you can create, along with specific examples of some of those seven types.

17. Format For Easy Readability

If people come to your blog and see a wall of text, they’re going to hit the back button without even bothering to begin reading your content. That’s why you need to format your content for easy readability, which is a crucial key to engaging readers.

Check out these tips:

  • Break up long list paragraphs by using bulleted lists instead (like this one).
  • Use short sentences and short paragraphs.
  • Insert graphics to help break up long passages of text.
  • Utilize headings and subheadings to provide white space and highlight important information.

You should also ensure your blog uses a responsive theme with a column layout.  This ensures that when people read your articles on a mobile device, the article text takes up the entire screen (that’s desirable on small screens).

On the other hand, if someone is reading your article on a large desktop monitor, you do NOT want the article to take up the entire screen, as it’s difficult to read content across a large screen.

The content should cover part of the screen, and the sidebar should cover the remaining part. Again, use a responsive theme, which will resize your columns for easy readability, depending on the device.

Now a few parting thoughts…

Conclusion

The people with the biggest, most popular and most profitable blogs are also the folks who know how to craft engaging content.

If you’re looking to find that sort of success with your blog, then I highly recommend you putting these 17 keys for crafting engaging content to work for you.

If you really want to know more about the power of blogging, you can take a look at the Rapid Blogging Blueprint training course or if you just want a few pointers for now you can grab the featured resource below for a  free blogging report; download, read it and take action 🙂

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7 Tips To Succeed In Affiliate Marketing

7 Tips To Succeed In Affiliate Marketing

7 Tips To Succeed In Affiliate Marketing

Anyone can find success in affiliate marketing but not every person who joins such a program succeeds.

It’s all about using the available resources to achieve the best possible results.

These are some of the tips that can help beginners become successful affiliates and make some good income from such ventures.

1. Carve Out A Niche

This is a very critical factor in affiliate marketing. It is important that you identify a specific market or segment that you want to work in and then focus on that.

Carving out a niche for yourself means choosing what works best for you and an area that can actually give you good income.

The internet has so many users and the competition for attention is always stiff.

2. Carefully Select Your Merchants

It is important to carry out thorough research before agreeing to work with a specific merchant. This is because those who sell consumers inferior products risk losing future business opportunities.

Even if you played no part in manufacturing the product, as a publisher, customers will still hold you responsible as the person who introduced the product to them.

You should also work with merchants who are reputable and actually pay commissions on time. Can you imagine constantly following up with a company to remit your dues even after you’ve brought it business? It’s utterly frustrating and demoralizes the affiliates.

Work with a brand that holds up its end of the deal without additional pressure.

3. Use Captivating Content

When promoting products on your website, customers first get to interact with other content before being directed to a link and ultimately the merchant’s website.

That means that the content that you create for visitors to your site should be relevant and captivating so that they feel convinced enough to click on the link and eventually buy the product.

First impressions are everything and if you don’t get them right then your marketing attempts will always flop.

4. Keep Track Of Results

Do not just push for sales without analyzing your performance. Tracking your results includes monitoring feedback from consumers and checking the amount of sales made on a monthly basis.

This will help you make a decision on whether you need a new marketing strategy or if it’s time to find another merchant.

You can’t keep on selling a product that people just don’t want to buy.

5. Dedication

Affiliate programs are great avenues for making money but success does not come easy for a publisher.

You must be dedicated and stay focused on building lasting networks and increasing your customer base. Once that is done, the money will start rolling in and realizing success will actually be possible.

The problem with most beginners is that they want to make quick money but are not willing to put in work.

6. Sell Products That You Believe In

It is very easy to sell a product that you’ve actually used yourself or believe in.

You will be making a sales pitch from an informed point of view and that always resonates well with customers.

Don’t be tempted to recommend a product just to get an affiliate commission because if the product is poor, your buyers won’t forget that you recommended it to them.

7. Update Your Site

To increase the visibility of your site by getting high rankings on search engines, you must constantly update the contents using target key words and relevant information. That will then help drive traffic to it.

Content marketing is a continuous process, but you need relevant, up to date content to attract traffic and hopefully buyers.

You can create content yourself, outsource it or curate content from other sources (always attribute the source with a ink to the original).

How Can You Find Affiliate Programs?

I think one of the most fundamental questions that most people interested in becoming affiliates ask is about where to find products to promote.

There are several affiliate programs available but it’s always advisable to choose what would best work for you. That increases the possibility of becoming successful in the venture because it reduces the strain caused by pushing brands that you are not comfortable with.

These are some of the best ways to find a suitable affiliate program for beginners and even for those who are already considered veterans in the sector.

Well Established Affiliate Networks

This would be the most ideal place to start because such networks are usually well organized and trusted.

Well established networks are typically large and have existing relationships with some of the biggest brands. Chances are that if you are searching for an affiliate program to drive the sales of a common brand, you’ll most likely find it being run through established affiliate networks.

Some of these networks include but not limited to:

  1. Linkshare
  2. Commission Junction
  3. Shareasale
  4. Pepperjam Network
  5. Google affiliate networks
  6. JVzoo
  7. Warriorplus

Such networks are great because they have a well-established working relationship with the big companies that pay good money. It’s a safe place for a beginner to start his or her affiliate marketing career.

They charge the merchants commissions for linking them up with affiliates which means that your pay as a publisher will be relatively reduced to carter for their commission payment.

Familiar Product

You can always start by promoting a brand that you use yourself or are well aware of. It’s always easy to sell what you already believe in as opposed to just trying to convince customers to buy a product that you’ve never even used before.

You can check the sites of your favorite brands and see if they have affiliate programs.

It’s a safe bet and somehow a familiar ground even for beginners.

Independent Affiliate Programs

These are programs that are run by the merchants themselves using affiliate software to take care of the technical aspects of the system.

In some cases, they may outsource program managers to manage the affiliate program as they concentrate on core business functions.

The advantage of independent affiliate networks is that the pay is much better since they don’t use middlemen. However if the program is not properly managed it can be a disaster due to lack of creativity and delayed payments.

They are still the best though especially if you find one that is well managed and pays attention to the needs of the publishers. They are not easy to find but you can use keywords on search engines to find them.

E-Product Networks

These promote products that are downloaded rather than shipped like e-books and other programs.

Some of these networks include Clickbank, e-junkie and Avangate.

Just make sure that the product you are promoting will give customers value for money and it’s not just some way to mint cash out of them through false advertising. Most e-products have this issue.

These are some of the ways in which you can find and join an affiliate program. They are not exhaustive, but they are among some of the best options.

I hope these affiliate marketing tips have helped, and if you want to know more about affiliate marketing check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 😊

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