From Chaos to Clarity: How a Brand Guide Helps You Navigate The Marketing Waters
How a brand guide provides the clarity you need to know what’s the next right move for your business.
Google’s March 2026 Core Algorithm Update
Google’s March 2026 core algorithm update focused on filtering out content “generated” primarily by AI and promoting valuable, expert-led content.
How AI Is Changing Your Marketing Funnel
Worry less about how to get AI to mention your brand and think more about when to get AI to mention your brand.
How to Build a Strong Brand for Strong SEO
A solid branding strategy is all about building trust, and a lot of the same tactics that build trust with people also build trust with search engines.
Why Your Sales Team Isn’t Closing the Leads Marketing Brings In
If you’re bringing in leads, but Sales isn’t closing them, there’s a misalignment in your work that is costing the company money. Here’s what to do about it.
Why Your Marketing Team Is Bringing In Bad Leads
Instead of complaining about marketing bringing in bad leads, why not help them bring in better leads so they can help you do your job better?
The Best and Worst SuperBowl Ads of 2026
There’s a difference between a commercial that’s entertaining and one that effectively sells the goods.
The Best and Worst Rebrands of 2025
Rebranding is tough because it always involves a shift in your messaging, which means you’re shifting how you communicate with…
Content Marketing in the Age of AI: What You Need to Know
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Jeremy Rivera on the Unscripted SEO Podcast to talk about content…
How to Create Your 2026 Marketing Strategy to Make This the Best Year Yet
Want to make sure your marketing efforts get results in 2026? You need to create a plan based in strategy.
What Happened in Marketing in 2025?
From chatbots to thought leadership, a lot changed in marketing in 2025 … and a lot stayed the same.
What Are Psychographics and How Can You Use Them to Make Your Content More Relevant?
What’s the difference between demographics vs psychographics? Why are psychographics important? How can you get psychographic data on your target audience?
What’s In a Brand Guide and How Can It Help You Make More Money?
Your brand guide is your roadmap to marketing success.
Testimonials vs Case Studies: Similarities, Differences, and How and Where to Use Them
From format to focus to where to put them, let’s dive into the similarities and differences between testimonials and case studies.
Top 5 Reasons to Be Afraid of Bad Marketing
Marketing is the start of your sales process. If it’s not doing its job, everything else falls flat.
Marketing vs Sales: Why They Work Better Together
Why pit marketing and sales against each other? Instead, check out 4 ways marketing can support sales to make their jobs easier.
10 Ways to Promote Your Content to Improve Your Visibility
Don’t just build it and expect they will come. Use these 10 tips to promote your content and draw the right people to your content.
How to Grow Your Email List So You Can Nurture Leads and Grow Your Business
10 ways to grow your subscriber list so you can stay top of mind with your prospects while you educate and nurture them.
The Content Marketing Tools I Use to Optimize My Content Creation Process
The difference between content marketing and a content strategy is having the right tools at your disposal and knowing how to use them.
Brand First, Marketing Second: Why Consistency is the Key to Winning Customers
The 6 things your brand guide needs before you attempt any marketing efforts.
Google’s June 2025 Core Algorithm Update: Everything You Need to Know
Google released another core algorithm update in June 2025, so let’s talk about what happened and what it means for your SEO strategy.
Case Study: The Client Upsold Herself
I was on a call with a prospect who was interested in hiring me to write blog posts for her…
8 Reasons Content Marketing Doesn’t Work
Think content marketing doesn’t work? Here are 8 reasons you might think that … and why you’re wrong.
Aligning Sales and Marketing Starts with Communication
Two teams working towards the same goal require teamwork, which requires communication. So use these tips to make sure your Marketing and Sales teams are communicating.
8 Elements of a Successful Blog Post to Keep Them Reading
To make sure every blog post attracts, engages, and converts high-quality leads for your business, make sure each post checks all these boxes.
AI in SEO: What Is It Doing and What Should We Be Doing to Prepare?
How can we get people to our websites in a world of AI search? By adjusting your content marketing strategy to make the robots happy.
7 Ways to Do Guest Blogging to Improve Your Authority and SEO
People will always take what you say on your own website with a grain of salt. But write the same content on an influencer’s website and suddenly you’re an expert.
Book Review: Courageous Marketing
This book provides an excellent birds-eye view of marketing. It’s great for marketers, for those thinking of going into marketing, and business owners doing their own marketing.
Google’s March 2025 Core Algorithm Update Was a Wild Ride
Google’s March 2025 core algorithm update was aimed at improving rankings for websites with high-quality content that answers the questions people are asking.
7 Benefits of Email Marketing to Convert More Leads
From nurturing leads, to promoting the content on your website, there are so many benefits to email marketing.
Blogging Skills vs. Writing Skills: There’s a Difference
6 ways to improve your blogging skills, regardless of the writing skills you’ve already worked so hard to build.
Benefits of Blogging for Business
If you think blogging is dead, I have 10 proven benefits of blogging that will prove you wrong.
Lessons from the Best and Worst Superbowl Ads 2025
The Super Bowl ads were as much fun as always. But were they as effective?
Create Content for Cold Leads, Warm Leads, and Hot Leads
Create content to attract cold leads, engage warm leads, and convert hot leads.
How to Target Emotions in Marketing to Engage and Convert More Leads
You can target positive emotions, negative emotions, or a combination of the two to make your marketing more impactful.
Why SEO and Web Design Need to Work Together to Get Your Website to Rank
SEO and web design aren’t just part of your marketing strategy, they are both integral to your SEO strategy.
How to Distribute Content and Drive Traffic to Your Website
Everything from the best types of content to distribute to the best channels to distribute content to the strategy you need to make your efforts successful.
The Marketing Trends That Dominated 2024
4 trends that dominated the world of marketing in 2024 and what it means for your marketing strategy in 2025.
Goal-Setting Tips for Your 2025 Marketing Efforts
Before putting together your marketing goals for 2025, you need to take a look at what worked in 2024, where you want to go in 2025, and put it all together.
How the Psychology of Authority Makes it Easier for Prospects to Trust You
Why positioning yourself as an authority in your industry is so important +4 ways to go about doing so.
How Is SearchGPT Changing How People Look for and Engage with Information?
With the Introduction of SearchGPT into the online search market, you might need to make some significant changes to your SEO strategy.
What Are Negative Keywords and How Can You Use Them to Improve Your Ads?
You know how frustrating it can be when you search for something and none of the results Google gives you…
How a Website Heatmap Can Improve Your Ability to Attract, Engage, and Convert Leads Online
What is a website heatmap? How does it work? And how can you use it to make your website more effective?
Create a Backlink Strategy to Drive More Quality Traffic to Your Website
Backlinks are an essential part of your SEO strategy, so let’s talk about how you can get high-quality links to your website.
Book Review: What’s In It For Them?
If you want people to do something for you, much less buy from you, you have to make it clear what’s in it for them.
Google Is Dealing with AI Advances and an Antitrust Lawsuit: How Will This Affect the Future of Search?
Google has been making a lot of headlines lately, and not in a good way. So let’s talk about what this could mean for the future of SEO.
Book Review: The Psychology of a Website
For an excellent book on content marketing and SEO, you can’t do much better than this book on the Psychology of Marketing
The Psychology of Trust: How to Convince People to Work with You
6 tips to use your website and marketing materials to gain the trust of your audience.
Are Your Website Visitors Avoiding Punishment or Seeking Reward?
Everyone who comes to your website is either trying to avoid punishment or seek reward.
“Generative” AI in Google Search Results: What You Need to Know
How does “generative” AI in Google’s search results work, and what does it mean for the future of SEO?
The Psychology of Visuals in Marketing
How visuals in your marketing impact the psychology of your audience to engage and convert them.
How to Create an Awesome Lead Magnet While Remaining GDPR Compliant
4 tips to help you create and distribute an awesome lead magnet, plus 3 tips to help you remain compliant with the GDPR.
White Hat Linkbuilding Tips to Prove to Google You’re a Thought Leader in Your Industry
There’s a right way and a wrong way to build links for your website, so let’s talk about what they are and why you should care.
Website Architecture to Improve Your SEO and Lead Conversions
Let’s talk about what website architecture is, why you should care, and how you can improve yours.
SEO Terms to Know
SEO becomes a whole lot less mysterious when you know the lingo, so here are some common SEO terms for you.
The Psychology of Public Relations
3 ways public relations affects the psychology of your audience, plus 3 ways to harness that power.
The Psychology of Marketing Funnels: Make It Easy to Become a Client
6 ways marketing funnels tap into our psychology to turn us from prospects into clients.
The Psychology of Branding
4 ways to use the power of psychology to uplevel your brand so you can stand out from the crowd and make people remember you.
How to Use AI the “Write” Way
Everything you need to know about AI writing software — from how it works, to how you can get the most out of it.
Which Emotions in Marketing Will Get You the Best Results?
7 emotions you can use in your marketing content to be more effective at attracting, engaging, and converting leads.
The Psychology of Marketing: How to Use Psychology to Make Your Marketing More Effective
3 specific ways in which a working knowledge of psychology helps your marketing efforts.
Brand Positioning: Are You Doing It on Purpose or Relying on Luck?
5 things you need to know about brand positioning and how to use it to make sure you end up in the right place.
Book Promotion Tips to Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader in Your Industry
8 book promotion tips you can use to get the word out about what an expert you are in your industry.
Gmail’s Spam Update
6 things you need to know about Google’s recent addition to their Gmail spam filters.
Paid Search vs Organic Search: How to Get the Most Bang for Your Buck
Are you better off trying to organically rank on the first page of Google or paying for it?
Best and Worst Super Bowl Ads: Who Grabbed Our Attention and Who Have We Already Forgotten About?
We know who won the Super Bowl. The real question is who were the winners and losers of the Super Bowl ads?
When Is the Best Time to Send a Newsletter?
5 tips for choosing the best time to send your newsletter, as well as what to put in it to engage and keep your audience’s attention.
Client Success Story: Touhy, Touhy & Buehler, LLP
How I brought in $75,000 in six months for my client just through the blog posts I wrote for them.
How to Use Emotional Intelligence in Marketing to Create Content That Motivates Your Audience
4 places it is absolutely critical to incorporate emotional intelligence in your marketing content.
How to Use Customer-Centric Marketing to Create Impactful Content
If your marketing is all about you, it’s not going to get the results you need. Instead, use these 5 tips to make sure you’re using a customer-centric marketing strategy.
Paid Media vs Earned Media vs Owned Media: 3 Ways to Improve Your Visibility
Ideally, you should be using paid media, earned media, and owned media together, rather than relying on one or two. First, let’s talk about what each strategy means.
Lead Generation vs Lead Nurturing: How to Lead Prospects All the Way Through the Funnel
Your lead generation and lead nurturing strategies need to be aligned or neither will get you the results you need to grow your business.
How to Use Google’s EEAT Standards to Boost Your SEO
Google’s EAT standards are too important to be ignored, so if you’re not sure you understand what the big deal is, this article lays it out for you.
9 Benefits of Writing an Ebook for Your Business
If you haven’t considered writing an ebook to help build your business, here are 9 reasons why you should.
How to Calculate ROI for Marketing So You Don’t Lose Money
3 things that make marketing ROI hard to track, plus 3 tips for improving your roi.
The Role of Content Marketing in B2B Marketing
8 ways content marketing can improve your B2B marketing.
The Art of SEO
If you don’t have time to read a 700-page book about SEO, here are the highlights.
4 Content Marketing Changes We Saw in 2023 + How to Use Them to Your Advantage
Content marketing saw big changes in 2023, but you don’t have to let them run you over. You can use them to your advantage.
How to Define Your Brand’s Voice: 6 Ways to Stand Out from the Competition
A strong brand voice sets you apart from the crowd and helps build trust with your audience. It’s at least as important as your logo.
LinkedIn Articles vs Blog Posts: Which Is Better for Your Business?
The pros and cons of LinkedIn articles vs the pros and cons of blog posts. There’s also a quick mention of LinkedIn newsletters.
The State of SEO 2023: Part II
When it comes to the state of SEO in 2023, there’s a lot to unpack. Our first article wasn’t enough to cover it all, so here’s the sequel.
The State of SEO 2023
The world of SEO is constantly changing, but 2023 felt especially chaotic. Let’s review, shall we?
Google October 2023 Core Update
Everything you need to know about Googles Spam Update, including what Google considers to be spam, and how to keep spam off your website.
What Is Gated Content? 4 Ways It Can Help You Generate Leads for Your Business
Gated content can be a great way to lead prospects through the buyer journey, but only if used strategically.
What Is Copywriting? Definition + 4 Tips to Improve Your Writing
What is copywriting? Talent? Learned skill? A bit of both? This article covers everything you need to know about copywriting, including tips to improve yours.
The Importance of Storytelling in Marketing: Use These Tips to Engage and Convert More Leads
What does Cinderella have in common with your marketing content? Probably more than you think.
Content Marketing Strategy FAQs
People have a lot of questions about content strategy and we have answers.
What Is a Brand Story and How Can It Make You Memorable?
Your brand story is so much more than just what you are. It’s all about who you are. It has to resonate with your target audience, which means writing it is easier said than done.
Why Do Small Businesses Fail? A Lack of Marketing Strategy
According to Forbes, a lack of marketing is one of the top 4 reasons most small businesses fail. So we came up with 4 things you can do to avoid that mistake.
Book Review: Five Golden Keys to Sharpen Your Website
Despite the title, and how short this book is, I had a lot more than five tips I took away from it that I felt the need to share.
Using the Hero’s Journey in Your Content Marketing for a Bigger Impact
Let’s talk about what the hero’s journey is, why you should use it in your marketing content, and how to use it effectively.
The Power of Human Connection
This book is only tangentially about content marketing, but I still found a lot of overlap between relationship marketing and content marketing.
What Should You Put on Your Home Page to Engage and Convert Visitors?
Your home page needs to do a lot of things with very little content if it’s going to be effective. Here are 7 things your home page needs.
What Is a Marketing Hack and Does It Have a Place in Your Marketing Strategy?
3 things you should think about instead of marketing hacks.
Product Marketing Strategy: Why You Should Start Before You Launch
Waiting until after you launch a product to think about your marketing strategy is like starting a race from way behind the start line.
Content Marketing vs PR: What Are the Similarities and Differences?
When it comes to content marketing vs PR, there are a lot of similarities, but also some distinct differences.
What to Include in a Newsletter: How to Write A Newsletter That Gets Opened and Drives Conversions
25 ideas for content you can put in your newsletter to keep your subscribers engaged.
What’s Your Hot Take? The Key to Positioning Yourself as a Thought Leader
What you say doesn’t matter as much as how you say it. So, what’s your hot take?
Email Design Best Practices to Make Content Marketing Easier
When you have your email design best practices dialed in, you can use it again and again to speed up the process of creating and sending newsletters.
The 6 Things You Need to Support Your Website Content for Better Results
Content can do a lot to help you grow your business, but it’s not enough on its own. Here are the 6 things your content needs to be successful.
Blogging as an Alternative to Social Media: 4 Reasons You Should Own Your Content
I have always said business owners need to own their content and the recent Facebook shutdown proves why that’s so important.
How to Write the Perfect About Page
The 8 things you need to write the perfect about page for your website.
They Ask, You Answer
This book has some great marketing tips, but I wish it had just one chapter about researching and using keywords.
How to Copyedit Your Own Content to Boost Sales
Why does your content needs to be copyedited? Here are 5 tips for editing it yourself if you can’t afford a professional.
What Is the Definition of Mindshare and How Is It Different from Market Share?
Greater mindshare can lead to greater market share if you know how to leverage it.
10 Important Take-Aways from Everybody Writes
This book is full of great writing and marketing tips, but I wish Handley had talked more about SEO.
Content Marketing Strategy vs Tactics: What’s the Difference?
There seems to be some confusion about the differences between marketing strategies and tactics, so let’s take this opportunity to get clear on them now.
Politics in Marketing: Good Idea or a Silver Bullet for Your Business?
Of course there can be drawbacks to including politics in marketing, but there are also some benefits.
SEO Book Review: SEO 2023 by Adam Clarke
This is the last time I’m going to be reading an SEO book recommended by the internet.
How Using Social Media for SEO Can Boost Your Visibility
Using social media for SEO has its benefits, but knowing how to use social media to boost your SEO is another matter entirely, so let’s get into it.
How to Create Content That Passes the “So What?” Test
If your content doesn’t pass the “so what?” test, your audience will take their precious time and attention and move on to the next thing.
Blogging Tips for Lawyers: 5 Ways to Take Your Blog from Blah to Ah Ha!
As an attorney, you solve some of people’s biggest problems, so there’s no excuse for your blog to be boring. Use these blogging tips for lawyers to take your blog from blah to ah ha!
How to Target Relevant Keywords to Get in Front of the Right People
Using keywords in your content isn’t enough. You need to use the right keywords in the right places to get in front of the right people.
The Ultimate Google My Business Optimization Checklist to Drive Traffic to Your Website
A Google My Business Page can do wonders for your online visibility, but it’s not something you can just set and forget.
Website Accessibility: What Is It and Why Does It Matter for SEO?
Use these tips to make sure your website is accessible so everyone can easily find and navigate it.
13 Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
If you’re working hard on all your email campaigns, but not seeing the results you need, here are 13 mistakes you might be making.
How (and Why) to Write a White Paper to Increase Your Visibility and Authority
If you’re considering writing a white paper for your business, here are a few reasons why you should. plus tips to help you write your white paper.
How to Use Google Analytics to Get Better Results from Your Website
From setting up your Google Analytics account to running reports, this article has everything you need to know about GA4.
Lead Nurturing: How to Use Targeted Content Marketing to Grow Your Business
What do you do with the leads who are not yet ready to buy? Using these 3 lead nurturing tips will help you grow your business.
6 Content Marketing Resolutions You Should Make for 2023
Resolve to do these 6 things in 2023 to take your content strategy to the next level in the new year.
How to Write a Sales Page that Converts So You Can Make More Money
17 things you need to write a sales page that converts high quality online leads into customers. You worked too hard to let them just click away.
What Will SEO in 2023 Look Like?
Let’s look at what happened to SEO in 2022 for clues as to what will happen to SEO in 2023.
Use Content Marketing Metrics to Drive Results for Your Business
There are a lot of numbers involved in marketing. Knowing what all the numbers mean and which ones are worth tracking is key.
Creative Marketing vs Data-Driven Marketing: Can They Work Together?
You can’t have a marketing strategy without data, and you can’t have effective content without strategy. Here’s how to use the two together.
How to Make a Content Gap Analysis to Improve your SEO
5 ways a content gap analysis can help your website show up in online searches.
Highlights from the Seattle Interactive Conference
Want to know my favorite parts of the Seattle Interactive Conference? It’s all right here in this blot post.
5 Ways SEO Should Inform Your Content Strategy: Tips to Get Ahead of the Competition
Are you just writing about whatever comes to mind, or are you covering topics your audience cares about?
How Content Marketing Is Like Compound Interest
If you do it right, you can get results from your blog, and over time, those results can grow exponentially. So let’s talk about how to do it right.
How to Get More People to Open Your Newsletter
A newsletter can be a great way to get people to engage with your brand after they found you on…
12 Types of Blog Posts to Drive Traffic and Convert Leads
Regardless of your industry or your audience, at least one of these types of blog posts is bound to help you increase your online visibility.
Everything You Need to Know About Google’s Helpful Content Algorithm Update
Google just finished rolling out its latest core algorithm update, so let’s talk about what happened and what that means for your SEO strategy.
How to Conduct Market Research for Better Marketing Decisions
Use these 4 tips to conduct market research, plus some advice on how to use that information to make sure your marketing efforts drive results.
How to Work with a Digital Marketing Agency
I’ll start with my process for onboarding new clients, then talk about how you can make sure you get the most out of your experience with a digital marketing agency.
How to Increase Your Top-of-Mind Awareness with Content Marketing
3 ways to use content marketing to stay top of mind with your target audience.
Writing for SEO vs Writing for Humans: Can You Have It Both Ways?
Getting the most out of your content involves a delicate balance between writing for SEO and writing for humans.
How to Make a Digital Marketing Funnel That Works for Your Business
The internet completely changed the way the marketing funnel looks and works, so let’s talk about the modern marketing funnel.
10 Online Marketing Strategies to Boost Your Small Business
Is your online marketing strategy attracting, engaging, and converting high-quality leads, or does it feel more like you’re shooting in the dark?
What Are Backlinks and Why Are They Important in SEO?
How can you control your search rankings when they rely, at least in part, on what other people say about you?
SEO vs SEM: What’s the Difference?
The terms SEO and SEM tend to get used interchangeably, and while there is a lot of crossover, there are also some differences, so let’s talk about SEO vs SEM.
On-Page SEO vs Off-Page SEO: Everything You Need to Know
On-page SEO are the things on your website that affect your search rankings. Off-page SEO is what other people are saying about you that affect your rankings.
9 Blog Post Ideas You Can Use Right Now
If you have trouble coming up with blog post ideas, this blog post will give your inspiration a boost.
Google’s May 2022 Core Update: What You Need to Know
4 things you need to know about Google’s latest core algorithm update, plus what this means for SEO strategies going forward.
My Experience Using AI Writing Software: Can It Compete with the Professionals?
I was curious to see if AI writing software is all it’s cracked up to be, so I tried a couple options to see what they had to offer.
7 Reasons You Should Join A Blogging Community
Joining my blogging coaching program gives you exclusive access to my knowledge and expertise, but the community is where the real value is.
What Are Linkable Assets and How Can You Use Them to Improve Your SEO?
Examples of linkable assets you can use to improve your search rankings, as well as how to get links to your linkable assets.
Data vs Insights: Using Information to Make Better Business Decisions
Know how to turn data into insights, and what makes a valuable insight and which insights you can dump.
How to Write Blog Posts Faster
Writing is time consuming, and since you don’t have time to waste, you can use these tips to write more in less time.
What Is A/B Testing in Marketing and Why Should I Use It?
Let’s talk about what A/B testing in marketing is, why it’s so important, and how you can implement it to improve your content marketing strategy.
Content vs Content Marketing vs Content Marketing Strategy
Want a sneak peek at my new book? I just published my very first book, Content Marketing Made Easy. I…
What Is a Keyword Map and How Can it Improve My SEO Strategy?
5 things you need to know about keyword mapping and how to use it to improve your SEO strategy.
What Is Duplicate Content and What Can You Do About It?
There will always be people (and robots) scraping your content and pasting it on their own websites, but there are a lot of other things that can create duplicate content.
Why You Should NOT Worry About Your Site’s Domain Authority
Is domain authority the measure of your site’s pulse that some marketers claim it is?
How to Use Niche Marketing to Grow Your Business
3 reasons you should use niche marketing, and 8 actionable tips you can use to start growing your business.
Google’s Personalized Search and How It Affects Your SEO Strategy
4 things you need to know about Google’s personalized search and how to make it work for your SEO strategy.
How to Create an Effective Email Drip Campaign That Drives Sales
What is an email drip campaign and how can you create one that helps you grow your business while you sleep?
How to Not Offend People with Your Marketing Content
8 tips for writing more inclusive content that makes everyone feel welcome to your website.
What Is a Good Bounce Rate and How Can You Lower Yours?
A bounce rate of 0 is unrealistic, but how can you tell what is a good bounce rate and what’s too high? How can you improve your bounce rate?
What the Death of Third-Party Cookies Means for Your PPC Campaigns
5 Things you need to know about what Google’s ban on third-party cookies means for your PPC campaigns.
How the Stages of a Marketing Funnel Are Like the Stages of a Relationship
There are 4 stages of the marketing funnel that are similar to the stages of a romantic relationship.
8 Ways to Start a Blog Post to Grab Your Reader’s Attention
After the headline, the introduction is the most important part of your content. Use these 8 tips to make sure your introduction engages readers so the CTA can convert them.
December 2021 Product Reviews Update
5 things you need to know about Google’s latest product reviews update.
How to Conduct Keyword Research to Boost Your SEO
Using the right keywords is key to showing up in front of your target audience when they’re looking for you. Here’s everything you need to know.
How to Write Better Blog Posts with a Blogging Coaching Program
Introducing the launch of my brand-new blogging group coaching program! Want to get more out of your blogging efforts? I can show you how.
How to Create an Effective SEO Plan for 2022
SEO is an ongoing process, so use these 7 tips to optimize your website for search engines and make 2022 your best year yet.
Google’s Anticlimactic Core Algorithm Update
Google’s latest core algorithm update was so mild, you might not have even noticed it happened.
The Top 11 SEO Trends for 2022: What You Need to Know
Google is constantly updating its algorithm, so if you missed the biggest updates of 2021, this article has everything you need to know.
The Best SEO Plugin for WordPress: All in One SEO vs Yoast
The pros and cons of two of the most popular SEO plugins for WordPress websites.
5 Best Strategies to Generate B2B Leads from Your Blog
The buyer journey for those in B2B industries and professional services looks different from the buyer journey of those in…
How to Do A Website Content Audit to Improve Your Content Marketing Strategy
How and why to conduct a website content audit, including a list of metrics to track so you can take your content marketing strategy to the next level.
How to Identify Customer Pain Points So You Can Generate More Leads
9 tips to help you identify your customers’ pain points so you generate and convert more leads for your business.
Google’s Title Tag Update: Cons and… Cons
Part of Google’s latest core algorithm update included some changes to how headlines show up in search results.
How to Create an Impressive Speaker One Sheet in 6 Easy Steps
Some elements of your speaker one sheet are optional, but there are 6 things it needs.
4 SEO Tips for Financial Advisors
SEO is never easy, but it’s especially difficult for anyone working in financial services or the health and wellness space, including everyone from nutritionists to personal trainers to doctors. Google is constantly trying to improve their algorithm so they can reliably help their users find answers to the questions they’re asking.
As we all know, there’s a lot of misinformation out there, and it’s not hard to find it, even with search engines like Google doing their best to prevent them from rising to the top of searches (yes, social media is a major factor, but that’s a discussion for a different blog post). This is why Google created their EAT standards and incorporated them into just about every aspect of their algorithm: to help their users find information they can trust.
But you can Google “best coffee near me” and if you end up going with one of Google’s top results and it turns out to not, in fact, be the best coffee near you, the worst thing that can happen is your coffee is doesn’t live up to your expectations – or maybe it does live up to your expectations, but it could have been even better had you known about the cafe that actually serves the best coffee in town. The point is, the stakes are pretty low.
Contrast that with looking for advice about the best diet for someone with diabetes. If Google directs you to the right information, you could successfully get your blood pressure under control, and maybe even scale back on your insulin. If Google directs you to the wrong information, the results could be disastrous or even fatal, and Google really does not want to be responsible for that.
The same could be said of looking for advice about whether to invest in the stock market and/or which companies to invest in. If Google directs you to valuable information, you could get rich. If Google directs you to misinformation, you could lose your life savings, and again, Google does not want to be responsible for that.
…
How to Become a Thought Leader: 5 Ways to Improve Your Authority Through Blogging
There are a lot of ways to position yourself as a thought leader, but if you don’t show up on the first page of Google, you might as well not exist.
Content Marketing Strategy vs Content Strategy: The Similarities and Differences You Need to Know
While there is a significant amount of overlap between content marketing strategy and content strategy, there are also some key differences
How to Use SMART Content Marketing Goals to Drive Results for Your Business
Content marketing is like anything else: you need to know what you want your content to achieve, and you need to be SMART about setting and achieving those goals.
There is a lot of content out there about the definition of a SMART goal, so I won’t spend too much time on it here. I’ll just briefly remind you that the acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time sensitive.
If you’ve been blogging for a while now, but not seeing results from it, the problem could be that you haven’t taken the time to develop SMART content marketing goals before creating your content. Let’s turn that around with these tips.
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How to Avoid Email Spam Filters and Reach Your Target Audience
It’s hard enough to get people to sign up for your newsletter without having to worry about getting caught in the spam filter.
Why and How to Repurpose Content to Get More Out of Your Content Strategy
You can create a ton of content without spending all your time (or all your money) creating content.
What Are Topic Clusters and How Can They Help Your SEO?
When properly implemented into your content strategy, topic clusters can be a great way to improve your SEO, drive more traffic to your website, and convert more leads into clients.
What Is Evergreen Content and How Can You Incorporate It Into Your Content Strategy?
Let’s talk about evergreen content: what it is, why you need it, and how to incorporate it into your content strategy.
How to Write the Perfect Bio To Close the Deal
I talk a lot about the ability of a good content marketing strategy to attract, engage, and convert online leads,…
Google’s Page Experience Update and How It Will Affect Your Search Engine Rankings
Google is rolling out another major update to their algorithm, and although they say it shouldn’t have a major impact on web traffic, we’ve heard that before.
How Content Relevance Affects Your SEO and How to Make Sure Your Website Has It
If your content isn’t attracting the right leads to your website, it might be lacking in content relevance.
How to Create a Marketing Persona
For Christmas one year my mom bought my four-year-old cousin whatever the hottest toy for four year olds was that year and my cousin was ecstatic. My aunt (not the kid’s mom, but another aunt) was utterly baffled because she had never heard of the toy and my cousin’s enthusiasm took my aunt completely by surprise. My aunt asked my cousin what shows she watched where they advertise such toys and the poor kid didn’t even know what the word “advertise” meant. She just gave my aunt a confused look and went back to playing with her new favorite toy.
Not only does my aunt hardly ever watch TV, but even if she were to watch, it wouldn’t be children’s cartoons, and toymakers tend to advertise almost exclusively during children’s programming. They know parents (and in-the-know aunts, like my mom) would be making the purchasing decision, and despite the fact that parents and cool aunts are more likely to watch news and other adult programming than cartoons, the toymakers also know that lots of adults who don’t have kids and don’t care about the latest toys are also watching the news and other TV programming for adults, so it’s a waste of time for them to spend their advertising dollars there. While the younger kids might not have the independence to buy the toys themselves, toymakers know they can rely on kids begging their parents for the toys they see advertised.
The advertisers had narrowed down their target audience to kids within a certain age range and they knew what programs those kids were watching and what programs they were not watching, so they spent their advertising dollars accordingly.
Can you imagine how much money they would have lost if they had paid for their commercials to be played on all the networks during all kinds of different programming, day and night? They never would have been able to sell enough toys to pay for all that air time, not only because of the expense, but because so much of that expense would have been wasted by showing the ad to people who aren’t interested.
…A Tale of Two Marketers
If you’ve spent any time at all reading this blog or watching the videos on my YouTube channel, you know I’m all about giving people the tips and resources they need to write their own blog posts that successfully attract, engage, and convert online leads. But even with all this free knowledge, researching, writing, and editing content is still a fairly time-intensive process, and it’s not always the best use of your time. Consider this story of two marketers:
…What Is a “SERP” and What Does It Mean for Your SEO?
Wondering what all these SEO people are talking about when they say “SERP”? Here’s everything you need to know about the acronym and what it means for your SEO.
How to Overcome Writer’s Block and Write More Blog Posts
6 tips to help you write more blog posts, even after your muse has stopped talking to you.
7 Tips for Spring Cleaning for Your Website
With spring and a vaccine on the way, you might be cleaning your home and/or your office, but what about your website?
7 Tips for Creating a Content Marketing Plan That Does Not Rely on Luck
7 tips to create a content marketing plan that gets the results you need for your business instead of wasting your time and energy.
9 Steps to a Great Content Creation Process
Here’s my process for creating content, both for my own online marketing purposes, and for my clients.
What Is Keyword Cannibalization and How Can You Avoid It?
Everything you need to know about how keyword cannibalization works and how you can avoid it to make sure the right page always ranks.
How to Create Content Your Audience Will Love
I was recently at a networking event where a business coach was talking about her newsletter, and one of her…
What’s the Ideal Length for a Blog Post?
5 tips for determining the ideal length for your blog posts.
How to Optimize Your Content for Voice Search
Voice search isn’t going anywhere, so use these 7 tips to make sure your content shows up when your target audience uses voice search to look for you.
How to Write an Ebook to Get More Leads for Your Business
From concept to promotion, these are the 7 steps you need to follow to create an ebook to attract, engage, and convert leads for your business.
Google Core Algorithm Update December 2020
7 big takeaways from Google’s latest core algorithm update. What to do if your website traffic was affected.
The Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing for B2B Audiences
How B2B content marketing differs from B2C content marketing and what you need to create an effective B2B content marketing strategy.
The Future of Blogging in 2021
7 things to expect from the future of blogging and SEO in 2021.
How to Match the Right Call to Action to Your Content
There are a lot of elements to crafting the perfect call to action, but it all boils down to understanding your customers and their journey to buying.
How to Blog to Boost Your Business
Does anyone even read blogs anymore? I get this a lot from small business owners who should be blogging, but…
Is Google Too Big? What Does the Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google Mean for the Future of SEO?
The current antitrust lawsuit against Google might have a big impact on the future of SEO.
How to Crush Your Content Strategy With an Editorial Calendar
5 things you need to do before you start writing (much less publishing) your blog posts for your small business.
How to Overcome Your Fear of Blogging
9 ways to overcome your fear of blogging so your business can attract, engage, and convert more leads online.
Case Study: Michelle Smith of Z&B Consulting
How I took one business coach’s blog from scattered to strategic while keeping the content consistent with her tone and voice.
Outbound Marketing vs Inbound Marketing: What’s the Best Way to Grow Your Business?
The pros and cons of both outbound marketing and inbound marketing to help you determine which strategy is right for your business.
Search Intent: What It Is and How to Use It to Make Sure the Right People Find You
You might know which search terms your target audience is using, but do you know the intention behind each search term?
Content Marketing vs Content Strategy: How to Use Them to Grow Your Business
Content marketing can’t get you the results you need if you don’t have a strategy in place first. This blog post will teach you everything you need to know about using them to get the most out of your business’ online presence.
How to Write a Catchy Headline for Your Blog
Your blog can’t do any good if no one reads it, so here are 10 things you can do to make sure your headlines get clicks.
Can You Do Your Own Content Marketing?
5 reasons you should absolutely NOT do your own content marketing.
How to Start Planning a Successful Content Strategy
The 3 most important aspects of planning and implementing a successful content strategy.
How to Write the Best Press Releases
Know when, why, and how you should write a press release to increase your brand’s visibility and credibility.
Google Algorithm Update May 2020
It’s been a rough Google algorithm update, but the results are in, so let’s take a look at how it’s affected everyone’s rankings.
How to Create a Winning Content Strategy for Your Blog
12 content strategies you can use to make sure your blog drives the results you need for your business.
How to Create Marketing Content That Drives Sales
5 tips to help you develop and maintain a content marketing strategy that will help drive sales.
6 Telecommuting Tips to Help You Get the Most Out of Working from Home
If you’re new to working from home, use these tips to improve your productivity and make the most of your video conferences.
How to Market Your Business During a Global Crisis
5 ways you can market your business, even while we’re all going through a global crisis.
What Is a Content Marketing Strategy and How Can It Help You Grow Your Business?
Everything you need to know about content marketing strategies – from what they are, to why you need them, to how to make the most of them.
Do’s and Don’ts of Content Marketing During a Pandemic
You can still market your business during a pandemic (even if you’re shut down), but there’s a right way and a wrong way to do so.
How and Why to Conduct a Site Audit to Make the Most of Your Online Presence
If it’s been a year or longer since you last audited your website, it’s time to take advantage of this time when you’re stuck at home.
6 Ways to Get Ahead on Your Content Marketing While You’re Stuck at Home
If you’re stuck at home during this pandemic, you might as well take the opportunity to get ahead on your content marketing.
The Importance of Online Marketing During a Pandemic
5 things you can do to keep your business going during a pandemic.
Why Blogging Is Important for Your Business
If you aren’t blogging for your business, you’re missing out on opportunities to engage with and convert leads.
Is Blogging Dead?
Is it true that no one reads blogs anymore? If so, how can we get in front of our target audiences?
Google January 2020 Core Update
Google just finished rolling out another core algorithm update. Here’s what that means for your website’s ability to show up in searches.
This Is What it Takes to Be an SEO Content Strategist
Everything you need to be an effective SEO content strategist, plus what you need to know if you’re looking to hire one.
Here’s What Blogging Will Look Like in 2020
8 ways you can create a killer blogging strategy in 2020.
What Is SEO and How Can It Build Your Business?
What is SEO, why do you need it, and how can you take advantage of it to attract new clients and grow your business?
5 SEO and Content Trends to Focus on in 2020
From keywords to images, these are the SEO and content trends you need to focus on to get the highest ROI in 2020.
Google Algorithm Update: BERT
Table of Contents What Does this Google Algorithm Update Mean for Search Engine Marketers? How Long Tail and Short-Tail Keywords…
Google Core Algorithm Update September 2019
Google recently released another core update to its algorithm and caused a lot of panic. Was all that panic for nothing?
Google Algorithm Updates for Backlinks September 2019
With Google constantly changing its algorithm, are content strategists doomed to always be one step behind?