Content Marketing,COVID-19,Google Trends

Content Ideas Amidst COVID-19’s Social Distancing Period

Hello everyone,

The world is changing as we speak.

Working from home during the COVID-19 crisis is changing our approach to marketing and content ideas
Experts believe the innovations marketers use during the outbreak may lead to lasting change, with technology playing an even bigger role in the future
COVID-19 related disruption can give marketers time to rethink their strategies

Practically the entire world has not gone through an era where we have to stay home to save lives. We are in the midst of a profound social and economic transformation that has been catalyzed by advances in automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and big data.

No one knows when will this end and as business owners, you’re likely to be affected by this pandemic. But let’s take a moment and count our blessings as we acknowledge how lucky the majority of us, reading this today, are working digitally.

Many of you are finding yourselves wondering if your current strategy needs adjusting based on current events unfolding. Yes, you should pivot your effort to where is right and serve the readers what they want to know.

For instance, now is the time where you should be writing something that is newsworthy or relatable. Because doing so will warrant an increase in viewership and ranks on search engines.

So I took some time off and did some research using Google Trends to have an idea of what are the keywords that are gaining traction during the crisis. Here’s a glimpse of what I managed to get:

COVID-19 Google Trends Search Term

As the tool suggests, we see a huge spike in the months of January to March of the term “COVID-19”, since the deadly virus first emerged to the world.

My job today is to share with all of you some content ideas that you can read or write about amidst COVID-19’s social distancing period. I’ll be looking into several other potential categories as you read on. I hope they can help you produce high-quality content for blogs in the weeks or months to come.

Content Ideas Amidst COVID-19

1. Travel and Tourism

Around the world, I believe many if not all industries have been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some even bear the impact of the downturn much more than others which sees the travel industry being hit the hardest.

With travel restrictions implemented in nearly every country, it’s inevitable the travel, tourism and hospitality industry will suffer tremendously. But there are still some key opportunities that you can hop on:

When can I travel again

Here comes the million-dollar question: When Can I Travel Again? But the answer to this may be as hard as finding a vaccine.

The pandemic has forced most of the world’s governments into total lockdown, refusing flights into their countries after the virus threatens to spread even further. Travel restrictions likely won’t lift until there is a clear sign the pandemic has died down.

The results of the search term can be seen as increasing:

COVID-19 Google Trends When can i travel again

Travel insurance COVID-19

The global pandemic has made people questioning their travel plans and if their travel insurance covers COVID-19. Perhaps people want to make sure if they’re covered if they get sick when they travel or maybe those who canceled their travel plans want to see what their insurance covers.

I won’t be discussing with you if you should continue your travel plans in the coming months, but as we’ve all been warned, it’s best to avoid traveling until the officials declare it safe to do so.

COVID-19 Google Trends travel insurance COVID-19

Virtual travel

Life under lockdown could be misery for fellow travelers. People are searching for ideas to keep their love of travel alive so that when it’s safe to get back out there, they’ll all be in the right headspace to jump right back in. And the best way to be traveling without having to travel? Virtual travel!

For now, you can write about several virtual travel tours that can be done at home.

2. Medical & Healthcare

The ever-growing demands of the people on healthcare cannot be undermined. At times like this, any content surrounding genuine healthcare tips, for example, will surely garner attention. There will be a lot of questions about COVID-19. As the situation changes, you can help connect your readers to the resources and support they need.

Here are the next COVID-19 Google Trends search terms:

Vaccine COVID

In the event of a deadly outbreak, our minds turn to vaccines. In fact, the best protection against this virus is a safe and effective vaccine. More than 30 companies and academic institutions are racing to create such vaccines, hoping to find one savior for the world.

So how about providing the public some good news for a change? Peter Diamandis has a blog that does exactly that.

How to make DIY Face mask

Covering your mouth and nose is one more thing people should do in addition to social distancing and hand washing to slow the spread of coronavirus. As the global spread accelerates, the do-it-yourself response to the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) is becoming increasingly popular.

COVID-19 Google Trends How To Make DIY Face mask

There is no one design that is the consensus gold standard for a DIY mask. There are patterns floating around everywhere, and studies have shown that any face covering is better than nothing.

COVID-19 social distancing

6 feet. That’s how much space required between two people for effective social distancing. It means limiting close contacts and avoiding large crowds and groups. Since it has affected our everyday lives, the search term for this particular keyword is sure to increase.

COVID-19 Google Trends COVID-19 social distancing

Content ideas such as do’s and don’t of social distancing or things to do during the social distancing period seem like good topics that will bring awareness to your readers. Even the article you’re reading right now is an example of the keyword social distancing in it!

Coronavirus relief efforts

Governments around the world are rolling out financial relief measures and programs to support businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public figures, high-end fashion brands and conglomerates all over the world are contributing by donating millions of dollars to support communities affected by the pandemic.

COVID-19 Google Trends Coronavirus Relief efforts

When will COVID-19 end

One question that is sure to have a surge in search and likely to be on everyone’s mind a lot: When will COVID-19 end? The short answer is, no one can say for certain.

It is said that the situation is likely going to get worse before it improves. In the meantime, keep practicing all of the hygiene and lifestyle habits you’ve been hearing over and over.

COVID-19 Google Trends When will COVID-19 end

3. Business & Technology

Sometimes change is so vast and dislocating that it is hard to tell disaster from opportunity. Patterns of work are becoming more fluid and mobile which sees a great evolution of work in the near future.

Take note dear bosses: so long employees are equipped with your company’s infrastructure, a usable laptop (and Wifi connection), just about anyone can work from home.

Moving on to the next category of the COVID-19 Google Trends search terms:

Virtual meetings

When face-to-face meeting is not an option, the next viable options will be via virtual meetings. Video conferencing software like Zoom, Skype, Facetime, and Google Hangouts have since seen growing demands from users. COVID-19 has established an option for virtual participation as the norm, rather than the exception, going forward.

Work from home app

More and more companies, in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19, are asking their employees to work from home. Fortunately, technology helps maintain cooperation and productivity.

Be it video conferencing, keeping track of work or collaboration apps make remote working a smooth process. Plenty of apps these days provide great services, why not write an article about it when people are looking for them?

COVID-19 Google Trends Work From home App

4. Work and Education

The COVID-19 Google Trends search terms that are most relevant to us. While we know the impact of this virus will be far-reaching and prolonged, have you wondered what it might mean in the longer term for work and education sectors?

In the coming months, governments will have to make difficult choices about their investments in education. So is the world of work that threatens the wellbeing of millions across the globe.

Online classes

It’s online learning’s big moment and education is about to get revamped just as much as the industries that are going to work remotely. When it comes to education, a digitized online class isn’t new but it is magnified by the pandemic and school closures.

Thankfully, we’re fortunate enough to have unprecedented technology to answer the challenge we’re currently facing.

Free online courses

With millions of people stuck at home to save lives, it is an opportunity to learn and develop new skills. There are literally thousands of virtual university courses (known as Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs), online learning platforms (like Coursera) and one-off videos to help you exercise your brain and fight back the boredom – without spending a penny.

If you have 30 minutes to spare, there are tons of free online courses you could be tackling with all that time you’d spend at the gym or hanging out with friends.

COVID-19 Google Trends Free Online Classes

Staying productive

While this time is challenging and traumatizing for many, it also represents an opportunity to take advantage of a valuable resource: time. Yet, many people are complaining that they aren’t as productive as they want to be. Have tips to share? Spill it out in your next article!

Until we can all see the light at the end of the tunnel, the best we can do is to keep moving forward. What better way to do that than to remove the distraction of COVID-19 and get some work done?

COVID-19 Google Trends Staying Productive

Online marketing during coronavirus

No matter what industry you’re in, or what type of business you have, now is NOT the time to halt your online marketing efforts. Online marketing will still be one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience.

Those who utilize this opportunity and invest smartly in things that matter most during the downtime will emerge victorious when all these come to a halt. Remember, the best defense is to do what is necessary to still be standing after the storm.

COVID-19 Google Trends Online marketing during coronavirus

5. Home & Entertainment

With much of the world under lockdown, the time spent online has exploded. It’s become a way for millions of quarantined people to pass their time and stay connected to others without spreading the virus. Here’s how people are spending their time at home to keep themselves sane:

Shopping online during a pandemic

Shopping is an essential part of any country’s economy. A survey by Search Engine Land found that people are spending on average 10-30% more online.

While online commerce was already making steady inroads in retail’s market share, the pandemic has shut down brick-and-mortar retail drastically. E-commerce giants such as Amazon are set to benefit, as will the online channels of many established retailers such as Costco, Target and Walmart.

COVID-19 Google Trends shopping online during pandemic

Home workout

Although gyms have been forced to close their doors, many are following a home workout routine by fitness trainers and online resources.

Even if you’re not much of a fitness fan, you may draw back from the prospect of staying indoors for a few weeks while barely raising your step count. Exercise is vital for our mental and physical health and is arguably more important than ever during periods of self-isolation.

Games to play at home

Having fun isn’t only for kids. Studies show that playing online games as an adult can do everything from help you to tackle your stress to boost your overall well-being—something that we all need during these heavy times.

So while we’re all at home, why don’t we actively help the fight against the COVID-19 by downloading some games?

COVID-19 Google Trends Games to play at home

* BONUS: Food & Beverages

Nothing – not even a COVID-19 global pandemic – should come between humans and food. Believe it or not, food has an amazing ability to bring people together. When people want comfort, many people turn to food. Let’s see what people around the world are frantically searching for these days in the comfort of their homes.

Quarantine cooking recipes

Now more than ever, home is where many of us are seeking refuge and solace in light of the novel coronavirus. Gone were the days of weekends brunch and after work happy-hours with friends – people are opting to cook their own meals using ingredients they have on hand.

We’ll see the rise of many talented cooks by the end of this pandemic.

COVID-19 Google Trends Quarantine Cooking Recipies

Instant noodles

People around the world are stockpiling in necessities and the first thing that gets taken off the shelves? Instant noodles. In Vietnam alone, instant noodles had a value growth of 67% as locals prepared for the worst-case scenario.

They are delicious, and as the name suggests, can be made in an instant. One need not be a chef to have a delicious meal. It’s no surprise that the demand for this staple item across every supermarket is sure to get sold out.

*Silent prayers to those who mainly depend on instant noodles during this hard time.

Bread

Hand sanitizers and toilet papers are quarantine essentials during the COVID-19 pandemic. Who would have thought that people will be hoarding bread too?

If you’ve been on social media lately you know everyone and their brother is jumping on the bread-baking bandwagon, to varying degrees of success. Just look at the spike in search of bread!

Dalgona coffee

Dalgona coffee, originated from South Korea is one of the early “quarantine trends” that have cropped up during this uncertain period of time.

According to Google Trends, the phrase “dalgona coffee” was basically nonexistent until January 26 of this year, when there was a tiny blip of interest. And since March 1, Google search interest for dalgona coffee has spiked as you see in the picture below.

Did you try making your own Instagram-friendly drink too?

Food delivery

Food delivery has doubled since the coronavirus outbreak, according to data from Yelp. With cities around the world on partial or total coronavirus lockdown, delivery services have become a lifeline for customers. Consumers are calling to have takeout food delivered.

Besides the frontline doctors and nurses, let’s hope these soldiers stay safe at war too.

Conclusion

We’re embracing the culture of working from home and dealing with almost everything online. And we’re doing it just fine. If you haven’t, it’s time for you to consider pivoting your efforts and switching over to online marketing.

See if any of the content ideas for blogs relevant to COVID-19 Google Trends mentioned above can be applied to your businesses. To save your precious time, do further research with a content idea generator; BiQ’s keyword intelligence module (Content Ideas feature) and start creating your next best article.

* Here’s your instant access to BiQ’s sign up page: https://app.biq.cloud/sign-up

As we come to the end of this article, “Content Ideas Amidst COVID-19’s Social Distancing Period”, here’s wishing all of you well.

If you’re not in the line of delivering the latest news of this pandemic, try turning your direction to creating or sharing topics that are positive and express hope. And if you want to send me an update from your part of the world, please reply in the comment section below and let me know how things are going.

We’ll get through this. Stay safe and stay indoors.

About Winnie

Winnie is a copywriter and digital marketer in the vast world of SEO and marketing. She's as curious as she can be; constantly hunting for answers to her questions, never saying no to new experiences. When she's not spending her time typing up a storm, she is at home keeping up with her never-ending movie marathon & self-improvement books.

Content Marketing,SEO

7 Meta Description Best Practices That You Will Love In 2020

Questions like this often arise: What is a meta description? How do you write a great meta description in 2020? What should I write in the meta description?

Following on from our Ultimate SEO Content guide for 2020, I thought I’d follow up on the tips on how to create your best meta descriptions and answer all of the questions above.

Before we go further, let’s take a look at the basics of meta descriptions.

What are meta descriptions?

Meta description or also known as meta description attribute is an HTML element that describes and summarizes the contents of a web page. In short, it’s a summary of your web page.

It tells both the search engine and readers what your page is all about. Here is the snippet of how it looks like on the search page:

Meta description examples — A meta description is a snippet of what your page is offering

A search optimized meta description will encourage people to click the link and visit the website. No matter which position you are at on the search engine result page, if your meta description is convincing enough, you’ll slowly move up.

Does meta description have any effect on your SEO?

Here is the thing, a meta description does not affect your ranking directly. But it will affect your click-through rate in the search results. Thus, it affects your rankings in the long run.

Just imagine if you are ranking in the third position on page one, you will be competing with the top two sites. Having a great meta description will attract searchers to choose you over them.

When more searchers choose to click and visit your page, the search engine will then think your page is more relevant to the search query than the other two pages. With this, you will have a higher chance of moving your ranking up.

So if you are still contemplating whether writing a meta description is worth your time? It is definitely a yes.

Meta description length

So, what is the exact meta description length in 2020? There is no exact number on the description length announced by Google. But we have seen it changed several times in recent years.

Back in 2017, the length was increased to 320 characters. Later, in 2018 it was cut into half again. Now, if you look into the search result pages and check the average length, you’ll find the existence of both long and short meta descriptions.

With this finding, we can safely assume that Google seems to be constantly experimenting with the length of meta descriptions.

Therefore, I would personally recommend you to write all your important information in the first 150 characters so that even if it gets truncated, searchers can still see what you want them to see.

Meta Description Best Practices

Writing an effective meta description isn’t hard if you know what works and what doesn’t. Let’s take a look at six best practices for meta descriptions plus one extra bonus tip for you!

1. Include your target keywords

We have continuously heard that Google does not use the keywords on your meta description to rank pages. But we have also seen the same keywords searched being highlighted on the search engine results page.

Include your target keywords in your meta description

Even then, this does not mean Google is really using them for ranking purposes. It merely tells us that Google will return with results that are more relevant to the search query.

If you are not sure which keywords to target for your pages, use BiQ’s Keyword Intelligence to perform comprehensive keyword research.

Use BiQ’s Keyword Intelligence to perform your keyword research.

Detailed keyword research will help you to understand and target keywords that people search for. It will help in increasing your search visibility and website traffic.

2. Create unique and interesting descriptions

Once you have your target keyword in place, it’s time to create your best description that represents your blog in a glance!

Anyone can write a meta description, but not all can capture one’s heart. Take a look at these meta descriptions for the search query “how to do sit-ups correctly”:

As you can see from the example above, they are all unique and different from each other. No one meta description should be the same as the rest because this will defeat their purposes.

A unique meta description will differentiate you from your competitors. Searchers would rather click on a description that piques their interest and curiosity than the “general” description.

Consider what your audience really wants and examine what is your offering’s unique selling proposition. Check your competitors’ meta description on the search results page and make sure you have got a great new angle for yours.

3. Create relevant descriptions

Make sure your pages are delivering what you have already promised on your meta descriptions. No one likes being deceived. And most importantly, Google will find them out if you do.

A searcher could come to your website after reading your meta description. They may find it interesting or contain what they are looking for. This will build up high expectations of your website.

If your website fails to match their expectations, they will simply close your website and may decide not to return again. This will not only hurt your website’s reputation but also your ranking due to high bounce rates.

A meta description should deliver its promises on the page.

Always focus on creating a description that is relevant to your pages. For example, if your website is about optimizing your video marketing for search engines, it should deliver the relevant value on the page.

Make sure your meta description delivers its promises on the page.

Start by understanding your user intent and create descriptions that better describe your page.

4. Use a short call-to-action

A good meta description acts as an organic advertisement, so use enticing messaging with a clear call-to-action (CTA) to maximize the click-through rate.

We shouldn’t limit ourselves to just using CTA like ‘learn more’ or ‘click here’. Make it as natural as possible. Let’s look at the examples below.

Your CTA can be very straightforward like the example above. They are telling searchers to ‘contact’ them if they want to book their service. But how do you contact them?

You guessed it right! You have to click that page and visit their website to find their contact information.

Wouldn’t that count as a good example of CTA in a meta description? Let me know what you think in the comment section!

Here is another example of how the CTA can be used subtly:

From the meta description itself, we know the page will talk about the 7 key steps to create a successful content marketing strategy. After briefly telling you what the page is about, it uses the word ‘define’ to ask you to take some action without forcing you to do so.

Those are some examples of how call-to-actions can be used without making your meta description too aggressive. A good CTA will increase your click-through rate since it gives the searchers a clear instruction of what action to take and what’s in it for them.

5. Never use double quotation marks

You should never include double quotation marks in your meta description. Double quotations are not recognized by Google. The descriptions that have quotation marks will get cut off when they appear on the search engine results page.

It is best not to include any non-alphanumeric characters in your meta description. This will risk your message not being delivered to your potential audience.

6. Keep on testing and optimize

Don’t be afraid to experiment with your meta description to see what works best for your website.

Test different meta descriptions on pages that have good rankings until you find the one that has the highest click-through rate.

There is a saying – if you can measure something, you can improve.

Fortunately, we can check the click-through rate of specific pages using the Google Search Console or also known as the Google WebMaster Tools. For those who are asking, this tool is completely free! So you have absolutely no excuses to not use this toolset.

Also, take this chance to find pages with reasonable volume but low click-through rates. Try experimenting with the lengths, keyword position, and any of the best practices mentioned in this post.

Now, here comes the bonus tip for you!

Bonus tip for your best meta description!

7. Use emotion keywords

I have recently read a book titled “Contagious: Why Things Catch On” by Jonah Berger. This book shares about the six factors that will help you to make any ideas, products or behavior to catch on or viral. And one of the factors that caught my attention is “emotion”.

Emotion, when used correctly, will make your audience take action. Emotional words usually used in the title are to drive clicks and shares. But you do not have to restrict this great strategy to just your title – use them in your meta description too!

Using emotional words can stir an emotional response from the readers. We can use emotional words in our meta description to entice our audience to click through to read your post.

Back to the book, the author found that most viral articles usually include high arousal emotions such as awe, excitement, humor, anger or anxiety.

Some examples of high arousal emotions words are “mistakes”, “love”, and “fascinating”. Check out these examples of useful power words.

Give them a try and let me know if it works in the comments section!

To sum it up, here is the 7 meta description best practices.

What happens if you don’t have a meta description?

If you don’t have a meta description for your page, Google will usually automatically create one for you. But not having one means you are missing out on an opportunity to attract more traffic to your website.

Setting your own meta description gives you full control on how you want to present your message to your potential audience. It also enables you to optimize your target keywords so that searchers can find you easily.

Why is the meta description important?

At this point, we should be fully aware that a meta description does not have a direct impact on your ranking. But think of it as a conversion factor that helps to bring more traffic to your website.

Here are some of the reasons why you should pay attention to this little gold pot.

It helps you to “advertise” your offerings

When you are ranking for a keyword, the search engines will show your meta description as a summary of your page.

This is your opportunity to showcase your brand or products to your potential new visitors. When you have the chance to appear on the search results, you should do your best to tell the searchers why they should choose you over the rest of your competitors.

To give a better understanding of this, let’s analyze the following example.

Which of the following results for query “dessert for breakfast” will you click?

Well, I believe you will choose the second option without a doubt. Based on their meta descriptions, the second option tells searchers what they can find on the website. While the first option does not give value to the readers at all.

Other than that, a well-crafted meta description makes searchers feel confident about your website.

It helps you to filter your target audience

While everyone wants to drive more traffic to their website, we must understand the importance of quality over quantity.

One thousand high-quality traffic is better than ten thousand low-quality traffic. This is because low-quality traffic will usually lead to higher bounce rates.

To refresh your memories on bounce rate, it refers to the percentage of times a visitor leaves your website from the landing page. In other words, you want to reduce your bounce rate to as low as possible because it gives a bad signal to search engines if you have a high bounce rate.

Meta descriptions help you to reduce the bounce rate by attracting the right audience to your website.

For example, when you read the description below, you will only click them if you are looking for a cinnamon and honey broiled grapefruit recipe.

If you are not looking for that particular recipe, you may not click on it because it does not match your interest. By doing so, they are able to filter only the audiences that are interested in making the mentioned recipe.

When you are able to attract and match your content to the right audience, this will ensure that they stay longer on your website, which contributes to lower bounce rates.

It helps to increase your click-through rate

On the results page, we will see these three elements that will affect the searchers’ decision to click through: the page URL, the page title, and the page description.

Among those three factors, the meta description itself takes up almost half of the space by having two full lines. This is the place where you can give your most persuasive message to convince searchers to click through.

As discussed previously, the more people who click through your website, the better your site will rank in Google as it indicates a good signal.

Be mindful that your content must match with what you have promised on your description. Remember that having a low click-through rate with a high bounce rate will tarnish your reputation in the eyes of both the searchers and search engines.

The search engine wants to provide the most relevant results to its searchers. But if you use a misleading description that baits searchers to click on a link which comes without delivering your promises, that will do more harm to your website. It gives a bad user experience and any search engines and human beings would not like that idea.

Meta description Checker

If you are looking for a meta description checker tool, there are many on the Internet. Just type “meta description checker” and you will see tons of them ranking well.

For me, I would recommend you to use To The Web. This free tool gives you a short summary of your meta description performance at a glance.

The first thing you want to check is whether your website has a meta description. After that, you want to check the length and make sure all the important information is within the first 150 characters.

Are there any meta description tools that you would like to share? I would love to hear them all in the comments section.

Conclusion

If you have missed it – optimizing your meta description alone won’t give the SEO boost that you need to increase your ranking instantly. It needs to be paired with some other SEO strategies to boost your ranking and traffic.

We tend to overlook meta descriptions when you have bigger things to worry about as part of your search optimization strategy. But ignoring them means you are neglecting your possibility to get more traffic.

Thankfully, writing a meta description doesn’t require much time and effort from you. But it is interesting how this small action can determine how well you can rank in the search results.

Think of your meta description as your advertisement. A readable and compelling description will draw readers from the search engine results page to your website. Always keep in mind that a great meta description is equivalent to being handsomely rewarded with traffic.

About Allysa

Allysa is always eager to learn something new whenever she got some free time and that includes SEO and inbound marketing. She also has a passion for traveling and discovering the unknown.

Content Marketing,SEO

10 World-Class Content Marketing Strategies in 2020

Content marketing isn’t something new today. In fact, you may have already seen an evolution over the years.

How many times have you heard of the phrase “Content is King”? A plethora, I believe.

It first started with magazines, pamphlets and little guides, long before anyone could imagine the existence of the Internet. Today, content marketing doesn’t only come in the form of text. Most, if not all businesses resort to using videos, audios, visuals, and podcasts to promote their brand.

So what is content marketing?

It is a marketing technique of creating and distributing content that is consumed by the customers who will purchase your product or service. By providing valuable content to your users, they will be led to your products and services.

Back in the 1900s, the Michelin brothers Andre and Edouard published a small red book called “Guide Michelin” – a travel guide for free. It was the earliest and best example of content marketing.

Guide Michelin, the firs content marketing strategy in the 1900s

Understanding the needs of their target audience, they wrote helpful information including tips about how to change your tyres, where to refuel your car, suggestions for hotels and even places to eat. By printing so many copies, it helped create demand for cars – and tires.

Michelin even rated upscale restaurants in faraway countryside locations with ‘Michelin Stars’, similar to winning a Nobel Prize. Readers of this travel guide would drive around more to get to these locations, and their tyres would wear out.

Guess who they went to for new tyres? Michelin.

This story is a positive proof of how powerful content marketing can be. In this post, you’ll learn the 10 world-class content marketing strategies in 2020 that you can implement right away.

10 World-Class Content Marketing Strategies for 2020

Content Marketing Strategies #1: Goal-Setting

In life, if we want to win something, we have to identify our goals and what it takes for you to get there. And if you’re not getting there, you’ll need to get back on track.

A good starting point of your content marketing strategy is to set a goal or mission statement. It helps you to focus on what’s more important for your business. Marketers that write down their goals are more likely to turn them into reality.

As you set your goals, make sure they meet the SMART criteria. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

SMART Goal as the first content marketing strategy

Writing vague goals like “I want to get more exposure with content marketing this year” should be avoided because stating does not give you an indication of how or when you’re going to achieve them.

Instead, think clearly about each component of your content marketing strategy inclusive of the SMART elements. For instance, “I want to increase traffic to my site by 12,000 visits in May”.

Weigh between “I plan to lose weight this year” vs “I plan to lose weight this year by eating healthier and hitting the gym on weekends”.

I guess it’s pretty clear which way of goal setting should be the way to go now.

Remember, always try to be more specific and set real deadlines and checkpoints for your goals so you can measure the results.

Content Marketing Strategies #2: Build A Customer Persona

When we think about the buyer’s journey or building customer experiences, the foundation for marketing needs to be around “who”. Who are you writing for? Who should this message be known to?

Buyer personas help marketers build the most genuine conversations with the most important person to your company: your customer.

When Superdrug wanted to target their perfect customer, they first had to build a persona. They knew that their audience was of a certain demographic, age and with unique goals and desires.

Your customers will be the same. Every business has THE persona to target. Do some digging around and find out who you should be targeting. This will frame all of your content marketing strategies.

Superdrug knew that their target audience consisted mainly of women who cared about health, beauty and body image. With that piece of information, they set about to create a campaign that would earn tens of millions of views.

To raise awareness about body image, Superdrug posted a controversial and focused on a trendy topic. They hired graphic designers to edit photos of models. The request was to edit the models so they match the standard beauty norms of different countries.

Content marketing in the form of visuals

The article titled “What the Perfect Woman Looks Like Around The World: Designers Photoshop the SAME Model To Show How Beauty Ideals Differ in Every Country” published on DailyMail UK and HuffPost and soon went viral. It got international coverage and got picked up by the New York Times, the Telegraph and Business Insider. Celebrities started sharing it, and it racked up over a million times.

So have you identified who is your customer persona? What do they care about? Your job is to create content that they want to read.

Content Marketing Strategies #3: Understanding User Intent

Search intent is the main goal a user has when typing a query into a search engine. You’ll need to have an insight into what your user actually wants. Better still, what information he wants to retrieve from the keyword?

This example continues from the last strategy. Michelin knew that their targeted customers (drivers) wanted to know where to go. They needed travel advice, destinations and restaurant guidance so they had a direction to drive around.

Next, let’s look at Superdrug. They knew that their customers cared about body image, so they focused their content on ‘ridiculous beauty standards’.

Try to understand what your users care about. What problems are they looking to solve, and what are their pain points?

Ask yourself, ‘what is my customer doing before and after they use my products?’.

See, Michelin didn’t target customers interested in tyres. They target customers who are interested in driving. And that’s how their content marketing strategy worked for them many years ago.

Create content that fits to what your customers are already doing, and they will end up where you want them to be. At the end of the day, they’ll be reading your content, using your products and following your brand.

Content Marketing Strategies #4: Create Content Guidelines

Wouldn’t we all like to make content marketing easier for ourselves?

You can actually do so by creating and building guidelines and content types. These will help you structure your content and produce a larger amount of higher quality content.

The 4 main types of content that people normally focus on are: Blogs, videos, infographics and e-books/guides. And from these, you can create many other types of content.

For instance, you can get the audios from videos to make podcasts and audio tracks. You can also screenshot images and use them for Instagram posts. Highlight quotes, turn them into tweets and take snippets of articles and post them on various social media platforms.

Over the years, we have many of our readers that struggled with using video to boost their SEO. If that’s you, check out this post on how you can use video in your marketing strategy: https://biq.cloud/blog/video-seovideo-content-marketing-boost-seo/

If you’re just starting out, begin with these 4 main types of content, and then leverage that content to make tons more ‘mini-content’ for further distribution.

Content Marketing Strategies #5: Perform Keyword Research

Keywords are the heart and soul of online marketing and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Every time someone types something into Google, they use a keyword. A keyword is a word or phrase that someone uses to search. In an SEO strategy, they open the food to your efforts to be discovered and engaged with online.

To search for relevant keywords, the BiQ SEO Suite comes into the picture! The Keyword Intelligence module would be perfect to execute this strategy, Give your business niche or topic a search, and you’ll find many keywords that people search for when they look for you.

While doing so, one good idea is to focus on long-tail keywords. These are keyword phrases that are longer, and therefore less searched. They usually consist of 3 words or more. These less searched keywords are less competitive and easier to rank for in the search engines.

BiQ SEO Suite Keyword Intelligence related keywords view

So instead of targeting the keyword “yoga poses” you can focus on the keyword “yoga poses for pregnant women”. This longer tail keyword phrase is less competitive, and you’ll rank faster for that keyword.

Some SEO content marketing practices are an embarrassment. Don’t make these same mistakes that we’ve outlined in this article- https://biq.cloud/blog/7-content-marketing-practices-embarrassment-seo/

Content Marketing Strategies #6: Use Idea Generators

If you’re stuck and are desperately looking for ideas, it’s nice to be able to use an idea generator. The Keyword Intelligence in BiQ SEO Suite has a “Content Idea” tab that enables you to find hundreds of potential ideas. Let’s take a look at what content ideas are returned with the keyword “prenatal yoga”.

Content Ideas in Keyword intelligence BiQ SEO Suite

These are ideas you can write about surrounding the main keyword you’ve entered.

Wanna have old school fun with this? Take out a pen and paper and draw a good old-fashioned brainstorm mind-map. Put your topic in the center and then use the strategies in these posts to come up with as many ideas as you can.

In the center, put your target customer and start listing out what they might be thinking. Write down ideas from the idea generator. Then for each idea returned, head to the “related keywords” tab in the BiQ SEO Suite to find more keywords. Start linking these ideas together, and you’ll have an infinite resource of content ideas.

Content Marketing Strategies #7. Analyze Your Content

Content analysis aids in finding what exactly is and isn’t working for marketers. You want to make sure you target the right content to the right audience.

To check and grade your content, the BiQ SEO Suite is here to help you too! Make use of the Content Intelligence module. But what is content intelligence?

BiQ’s Content Intelligence aims to help you break the chain by giving you insights into what your customers are looking for in your content. You’ll start by analyzing your content by entering the URL of your content together with your target keyword in the search box.

Overview of BiQ SEO Suite content intelligence

From the results returned, you will get an overview of how your content is actually performing, in the eyes of both human and search engines. Optimize your content until it reaches a satisfactory level and you’ll see your rank increase in no time!

Content Marketing Strategies #8: Visuals All Day

Visual content is a must in your arsenal. Humans love consuming colorful content. The usage of graphics such as screenshots, graphs, GIFs, and videos will lure your readers’ eyeballs and keep them interested.

Example of Coke that uses visuals to attract attention of their target

Coca-cola is a great example of a company that does this well. Although they are a manufacturer of carbonated soft drinks, the visuals they use in most if not all of their advertisements will take you on a journey that’ll excite and enlighten you.

One strategy coke used was the “Share A Coke Campaign”. They put your name on their bottles and invited customers to post their name so Coke could create personal bottles for everyone.

This created a powerful visual effect where customers felt connected to the Coke brand.

In terms of content marketing, think of ways that your customers like to view content. Then create images and graphics that they will love.

Content Marketing Strategies #9: Schedule Consistency

Remember strategy #1? Let’s head back to the original SMART goal that you started with. Take that goal and break it up into a daily or weekly consistent strategy.

Well, the saying of consistency is key applies very well here.

By right, you should have a regular schedule of when you will be posting your content. This consistency will be the number one factor in your content marketing plan. The more consistent you are, the more likely you’ll create a post that will go viral.

Like the posts we’ve scheduled for BiQ’s Facebook page for our readers.

BiQ's Facebook posts that are lined up and scheduled for later

Consistency tells your readers that you’re reliable, that you run your business efficiently and that you’ll be there when they need you. All you have to do is just spend a little time each day/week interacting on social sites to build a long-lasting relationship with your readers.

Plan – Schedule – Execute. That’s all it takes for you to get the ball rolling.

Every single post you create will add up positively to your marketing strategy. Slow and steady wins the content marketing race. You’ll be so effective in your content marketing strategy that it will become impossible for people to ignore or forget you.

Content Marketing Strategies #10: Distribution

We’ve reached the final marketing strategy that is the time to distribute your content.

There are many places you can go ahead to execute this but we’ll start with the big ones. Start on your own website and blog. Create relevant posts for your target audience and stick to a regular schedule.

These posts should be easy to share and ultimately lead your readers to sign up so you can collect their email information. Try posting videos on YouTube, and audios on podcast distributors.

Or you can break your articles into pieces and rewrite for Linkedin, Quora, Medium and other sites where you can post written content.

Most importantly, share your business and brand on social media! This is indefinitely a powerful way for you to reach your prospects and customers. If you’re not speaking directly to them through social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, you’re missing out!

Don’t just stop there! Email your audience, and post on relevant groups and forums. You should scream your voice from the rooftops so people can hear about what you’ve got to say.

An example of BiQ's facebook post filled with content

For those of them who arrive on your main blog content, it should be easier for them to share. Don’t forget to include social media buttons that are visible and clickable or ask people outright to ‘share this post.’

So, share this blog!

Conclusion

In 2020 it’s easier than ever to create and share content. The world is more connected than ever because of the internet. You can use the time-tested strategies that companies were using hundreds of years ago and grow your business right now.

Whether you take inspiration from content strategy examples like Michelin, Coke or Superdrug, rest assured that you’ll be heading in the right direction. Once again, content marketing is a great way to reach your audience with content that they actually want to hear about.

Follow the 10 content marketing tips in this post and you’ll find yourself receiving customers that’ll constantly come knocking on your door. Inspire yourself by the big companies that have made good use of content marketing and start making your own content that fits these ideas.

Keep creating content and improving it where you can, and your strategy will pay off sooner than you think. Content marketing for the win!

Do share with me if you think there are other content marketing strategies that should be included in this article. Let me know your thoughts on these strategies in the comments section below.

About Winnie

Content Marketing,SEO

On-Page SEO Checklist (2020) + 25 Actionable Steps

The practical on-page SEO guide in 2020.

Looking for practical ways to improve your search visibility on the search engine? Let’s start!

Search engine optimization or SEO strategies can be divided into two different categories; on-page SEO and off-page SEO. It is understood that both are important to the success of an SEO campaign but today’s article, we will be focusing only on on-page optimization techniques.

We will be covering all of these:

What is on-page SEO?
Why is on-page SEO important?
10 on-page SEO checklist for better ranking in 2020

What is On-Page SEO?

On-page SEO or also known as on-site SEO is the practice of optimizing web pages to improve a website’s search engine rankings which is followed by organic traffic.

This can be done by making sure your content is loved by readers and understandable by the search engines. We will look deeper into this later on but for now, let’s see why on-page is important.

Why Is On-Page SEO Important?

A good on-page SEO is not an attempt to manipulate the search engines in any way; it is simply the means by which you make sure that they understand what your pages are.

For example, you optimize a keyword in your content because you want to let the search engine know what your page is all about which indirectly improves your ranking.

The search engine and its spiders will try to understand your page by looking at indicators of relevance. This will include the text in the title tags, header tags, meta descriptions and so on.

A good on-page SEO is able to tell search engines what your pages are about and convince them why you should be at the top of the search results.

What Is The On-Page SEO Checklist in 2020?

Now, I am going to share with you a handful of tested on-page SEO checklists that you can apply in your SEO strategies. To make sure you are not lost in the in this on-page SEO guide here is an infographic prepared for you:

The complete on-page SEO guide in 2020 : on-page SEO checklist — The complete on-page checklist for 2020.

1. Target Keywords

First things first, you need to make sure your keyword research is done well before the rest of your on-page SEO strategies follow through.

It is essential to select the right keywords to target, as it can make or break your entire on-page SEO strategy.

Keyword research helps you find the right keywords to be included in your content. Let’s start with entering your topic in the Keyword Intelligence module.

Use the results that you’ve retrieved to brainstorm the terms that your potential customers might be searching for. The related keywords are the terms that people search for in relation to your topic.

When deciding which keywords to target, analyze the search volume and the value of the keywords.

The search volume tells you the potential number of people who will visit your website. The keyword value shows how valuable the keyword is. Higher valued keywords give you more traffic at a lower competition.

Once you have your keywords ready, it’s time to rearrange them strategically in your content. Place your keywords in your introduction or first 100 words, for example:

on page seo rips - place the right keywords in your introduction — *Did you notice that I put my target keywords “on-page SEO” in the post introduction?*

Skip the surprises, help the search engines know what your page is about by using the keywords in your introduction and later in the content body.

2. Title Tag

The title tag tells the title of a web page. It is displayed on the search engine results page as the clickable headline. It is one of the important factors that will affect the number of visitors to your website.

Every title tag should be unique and reflect what your content is about. A good rule of thumb is to write for humans and optimize for search engines.

Here are some quick tips on how to optimize your title tag:

#1 Keep it short

Google displays only the first 50-60 characters of a title tag. So you may want to follow the rule by keeping your titles under 60 characters.

When your title exceeds 60 characters, it will be truncated and will look like this:

#2 Include your primary keywords

Title tags should contain your target keyword. Try to put your keywords at the beginning of your title. This will help readers and search engines to see if your content has what they are looking for.

3. Meta Description

A meta description is a short description of the page. It summarizes the content readers will find when they click on the link of a page on the search results page.

Not sure whether your page has a meta description? Head over to Content Intelligence.

Enter your URL and it will show the meta description for the page:

Here are some quick tips on how to optimize your meta descriptions:

#1 Don’t make them too short or too long

Different from the title tag, you can write up to 155 characters for your meta description. Optimally, keep them between 70 to 155 characters.

#2 Include your primary keywords

You can see certain keywords are being highlighted in the meta description when it matches the search. For example:

Put your keywords at the beginning of the description. This is because readers will usually skim the description and you do not want to miss the shot.

#3 Be different; be unique

Ever wanted to be the site that stands out from the rest? Write a unique meta description.

If your meta description is the same as those on the search results, what would make searches decide to click on your site?

Write a unique summary of what you are offering, and not deceptive. If your page is about “how to write the best meta description”, make sure to include them in your description. But if it’s not, you should not include that phrase.

4. Header Tags

Header tags can help you immensely in your on-page search optimization efforts. It is used to differentiate the headings and subheadings of a page. It tells Google that the text in this tag is important and that the other content on this page is essentially related to what is defined in that tag.

The header tags are H1-H6 tags in order of importance – the H1 tag is the most important, and the least important is the H6 tag.

Here are some quick tips on how to optimize your header tags:

#1 Include keywords in your header tags

Same as title tags and meta descriptions, use your keywords on your header tags. This will help Google to gather context for your page.

Use your keywords naturally in your header tags, without being spammy.

#2 Don’t forget to use H1

H1 tag indicates your most important topic, and the rest of the tags create subtopics. I would recommend using only one H1 tag per page because it’s basically the subject of your page. You don’t want to have many subjects on one page as it doesn’t make sense to do so.

#3 Optimize for featured snippets

Check if your keywords have featured snippets on the search results page. If there is, optimize your content for featured snippets using the header tags.

For example, if the keyword you are targeting, “content marketing strategy tips” has a featured snippet as shown below:

You definitely want to structure your content using header tags to capture that featured snippet.

5. Related keywords

Related keywords are the keyword variations that you can use for your primary keyword. Related keywords or semantic keywords increase the relevancy of your page and help search engines to understand your page better.

Furthermore, you are more likely to rank well for multiple keywords. Enter your keyword on the Keyword Intelligence module search bar and you will find that the total search volume for your related keywords is huge.

Go through the list of related keywords and use them to support your main keyword.

Here are some quick tips on how to use related keywords in your SEO strategy:

#1 Use related keywords in the title

Use related keywords naturally in your title, for example:

#2 Use related keywords in the meta description

Use the related keywords at least once in your meta description. It helps to further reinforce what’s in your content.

#3 Use related keywords in the headings

Related keywords give more meaning to your overall content.

For example, using “free SEO tools” tells exactly what type of SEO tools that we are looking at when compared to just “SEO tools”. It gives a clear differentiation of the type of SEO tools (paid vs free) readers will find in the article.

6. High-quality content

High-quality content is anything that is worth sharing and deserves the spot on the search results page.

So how do you write a search optimized content?

#1 Get to know your target audience

It all starts with knowing who your audience is and getting to know what they’re interested in.

Once you are able to answer the questions they’re asking, solve the worries they have, or achieve their goals, the search engine will eventually reward you handsomely.

#2 Do keyword research

Once you know who your target audience is, find out what keywords they will use to find you.

If you are selling face masks, type in the keyword ‘face mask’ in BiQ’s Keyword Intelligence.

Doing so will give you an idea of what people are searching for when it comes to your product or services.

Hover to the ‘Popular Questions’ tab to see what questions people have in mind when it comes to the keyword that you have entered.

From the example above, when it comes to ‘face mask’, most searchers will think of beauty products. Therefore, if you are selling ‘medical face mask’, you may want to include the keyword ‘medical’ in your target keywords to avoid confusion.

7. Length of content

It has always been a debate about whether short or long-form content is good for SEO. In 2016, Backlinko found that the average Google first page result contains 1,890 words. Their research shows that longer content tends to rank higher in the search results. But I’ve had also found out that some claim 300-500 words also work for them.

As I dig deeper, I found this tweet:

So, what exactly is the best length for your SEO content?

I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no rule engraved on stone regarding the number of words.

Instead, go to the top 10 of the search results page and emulate them. Enter their URL on BiQ’s Content Intelligence to check their total word count.

Repeat this step to check the word count for each of the sites on the first page.

As we can see from the example above, the average word count for the content that ranks for the keyword ‘seo content length’ is 1,610 words.

(1,420+2,441+1,383+1,199) / 4 = 1,610 words

When targeting the same keyword, that could be your guideline to the ideal word count for your optimized content.

Nevertheless, regardless of the word counts, satisfying the user intent should always be your top priority. Satisfy the searcher’s intent and write in a way that helps search engines figure out what your pages are about.

8. Image optimization

Without proper image optimization, you are at risk of wasting a valuable SEO resource.

Image optimization, when done right, creates many benefits such as increasing the page load speed, enhancing the user experience and helping search engines understand your content better.

Here are some quick tips to optimize your image for search engines:

#1 Use unique and relevant images

Let’s try this: which of the following images managed to catch your attention?

Images play an important role in catching a user’s attention. It helps to increase the impact of the words that you use on the page.

Make sure to choose images that are unique and relevant to your content. Let the image speak for you and explain your content.

#2 Reduce the size of your image file

The size of the images can have a big impact on the loading times whereby bigger images make the loading time longer. Loading times are important for user experience. The faster the loading speed of a website, the better.

You want to make sure you compress your images before uploading them to your website. Increasingly.com managed to improve their website speed by 33% / 2 seconds after compressing their images.

#3 Include caption for your image

Captions can be crawled by search engines. It helps to tell the crawlers what the image is about.

Always write a caption that is relevant to the image. It helps readers to skim your content and decide whether to continue reading or click the exit button. In fact, captions under images are read on average 300% more than the body copy itself.

#4 Use a descriptive alt text

Just like captions, the alternative text helps to boost your content by promoting the user experience and search optimization.

Here is an example of a weak alt text:

To make it more descriptive and able to convey the message that you want to send to the readers and search engines, you can write them this way:

9. Readability

Content’s readability has a huge influence on search optimization. It is the practice of making sure your content is understandable and easy to digest for the readers.

When your audience stays longer on your website, it helps to improve your website’s results in terms of increased on-page time and decreased bounce rate.

Check your content readability by using Content Intelligence.

It will show the overall content readability together with the line by line analysis. Using this information will aid you in deciding which area you should first improve.

Once you’ve identified which paragraph to act upon, use these quick tips to improve your readability score:

#1 Break into paragraphs

Break long sentences into smaller paragraphs. Use subheadings and shorter paragraphs to increase your content readability.

#2 Use shorter sentences

Readers might lose track of your point when your sentences are more than 25 words long. Keep your sentences short and to the point.

#3 Do not use jargon

Use jargon only when you are writing for a specific audience, and when they have definite knowledge in the industry.

10. Page URLs

The URL of your web page should be short and keyword-rich. In fact, the average URL length for the Google blog is 76 characters.

Here are some quick tips to optimize your page URLs:

#1 Include the keyword in the URL

Use the exact keyword in the URL. For instance, you can see the exact keyword “minimalist tattoo” included in the URL below.

#2 Don’t include special characters

According to Google, some characters cannot be a part of a URL because it may cause problems. This is their recommendation when building your URL:

#3 Cut out stop words

Stop words are words like ‘a’, ‘is’, and ‘the’ that some people omit because it makes their URL shorter and cleaner.

For example, instead of /a-content-marketing-strategy/, it can be cut down to just /content-marketing-strategy/.

Conclusion

In my previous post, I wrote a post titled “SEO Content – The Ultimate Guide”, in which my goal was to give you an overview of SEO content and how to optimize your content for better rankings.

In this article, I have decided to do the same. The SEO strategies may be different but the destination is still the same: to make sure your content is loved by both readers and search engines.

I hope this post helps you with how to improve on-page SEO. Have you tried any of the on-page SEO strategies? Let me know in the comments below.

About Allysa

Allysa is always eager to learn something new whenever she got some free time and that includes SEO and inbound marketing. She also has a passion for traveling and discovering the unknown.

Content Marketing,SEO Tools

BiQ Content Intelligence: Secret To Content Marketing Success

Appearing on the top of the search results is extremely important if you wish to sell a product/service successfully on the Internet, right?

It’s the dream for businesses who need a strong online presence (which is everyone). If your site is there to greet searches with great content marketing at the top of the Google search results, you’ll get floods of traffic and major visibility.

Which is why SEO plays a really important role for anyone who wants to excel online. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a process essential for improving your online presence, attracting enormous traffic and boosts your ranking in the search engine results page.

It is not wrong to say that businesses will need to make use of SEO suites or numerous content intelligence services to effectively work out their marketing strategies. If you are still looking out for the one tool that suits your everyday needs, then you’re at the right place, at the right time.

Introducing, BiQ – The world’s first SEO Suite that gives you granular cost control.

What is BiQ? How Unique Is It Among Other SEO Suites?

BiQ SEO suite 6 main features and it's unique selling point

BiQ positions itself rather differently than other conventional SEO tools available in the market. With the tool’s intelligent capabilities, you’ll never have to worry about having to jump from different tools and paying a high amount for each of them offering different abilities.

Not only can you work on your SEO efficiently, but you’ll also be able to pay only for what you use. Yes, BiQ is the world’s first SEO suite that lets you control the price. That’s cost and time efficiency done right!

You’ll have the ability to pay only for the features you use and don’t pay for features you don’t.

Safe to say, this SEO suite is a saving grace for all small-to-medium businesses, freelancers and even agencies. The modern-day SEO suite revolves around six primary modules from an SEO perspective –

– Keyword Intelligence

This module drills the importance of targeting the right keywords based on searcher’s intent for your SEO strategy. The results returned will give you vital information about the keywords you want to target, allowing you to make informed decisions.

– Content Intelligence

This module shows you how you can take the guesswork out of marketing by making recommendations for a content strategy based on the integration and advanced analysis of multiple intelligence sources.

– Rank Intelligence

This module allows you to leverage data for site analysis and uncover opportunities that’ll allow expansion and control of your search landscape. The best part is enabling you to discover ranking that you don’t even know you stand a chance for.

– Rank Tracking

This module gives you objective and accurate insights about how well your website stands on the market. Knowing what keywords you rank for and why your competitors overtake you are critical to gaining the competitive advantage you need to win.

– Link Intelligence:

This module will help you to check the link structure of a specific page and know what links should be added. Keep your site in tip-top shape by identifying gaps and deficiencies in your links easily.

– Site Intelligence:

This module allows you to perform a comprehensive audit to get rid of bottlenecks blocking you from getting sales and rank visibility. It acts as a mini-lab to examine your site’s health, recognizing technical issues, from critical errors to less-pressing matters.

Imagine subscribing to all of these tools individually outside, it’ll cost you a fortune, right? No matter how many people you ask, high costs will always be one of the main concerns when doing SEO.

On the other hand, some of you may only need to use one feature but the brand forces you to pay for an entire package that consists of other features you don’t even use.

With BiQ, problems like these won’t arise. It is an alternative that saves you from paying $200 or $2000 monthly. No more being bounded by the monthly subscriptions for the secondary features you barely use.

Getting all these features yet not having to abide by a costly pre-set subscription plan, nothing gets better than this right?

BiQ is currently running on beta and these are several features you can make use of for free. They consist of Keyword Intelligence, Content Intelligence, Rank Tracking, Rank Intelligence, and Collection.

Other features are in the lineup for the next phase so subscribe to BiQ today and stay tuned for more of these wonderful features.

The Power of Content Intelligence in the Year of 2020

Pretty sure most of you are aware of this: Artificial Intelligence (AI) has influenced various industries and companies far and wide. There is no doubt that AI, machine learning and data science have become the most powerful and forward-looking force in technology over the past decade.

Now, a prominent content strategy, along with artificial intelligence, is highly proficient and provides a good result for the content marketers. Businesses can maintain not only quality content but target the specific audience as well.

The point is that the path to the top of the SERPs isn’t done through manipulating the engine anymore.

It’s done by creating quality content. Content intelligence is the tool that marketers needed to really understand how to create the most impactful content at any point in time. Instead of trying to insert a certain number of keywords, writers will be able to just write on a topic based on the keyword instead and let the engine do the rest.

However, although the content is being produced at higher rates, many marketers still struggle to engage readers with their material.

If you are looking to make a content entirely focused on your target audience, it’s time to let the technology of CI (Content Intelligence) be your patron. Content intelligence in the most basic form can be seen on Google Analytics. Being a vital part of Google Analytics will assist you in measuring the efficiency of your digital marketing strategy while providing you insights into user’s data.

Another example worthy of mention has to be BiQ! It is a tool that gives you the exact recommendations for all your content strategies based on their advanced line-by-line analysis. (More on this below)

Why Content Intelligence Now?

AI is opening doors to so many opportunities. In the field of content marketing, the incorporation of content intelligence is inevitable.

Do you know today’s content marketing consists of more than 70% of marketers that are investing more in marketing technologies for an improved and further reached result?

The benefits of getting your content optimized for both human and search engine:

It gives greater user experience
It helps to generate new customers
It increases customer retention
It magnifies a website’s authority and relevance
It improves a website’s ranking in search engines

The emergence of hyper-personalized content has crafted new dawn in the field of content marketing process where the contents are being made with the help of real-time data and artificial intelligence.

Of course, AI can’t replace your valuable team of writers. You still need people to create content. However, AI can surely make the process more streamlined and easier for your team.

With the help of AI and the elegant method of optimizing the search engines, you can now effortlessly create a bridge between the audience’s needs and the offered content.

Furthermore, the assistance of AI-powered tools allows you to create content strategies that are actually backed by data, not gut instinct, in a fraction of the time and at scale.

At its heart, content intelligence answers the question “What do I need to write next that will maximize engagement with the audience and help the business achieve its goals?”

With that in mind, let’s check out how you can make use of BiQ’s Content Intelligence for better content optimization!

Let BiQ Content Intelligence Curve Your Content with Excellence

Up until here, you might ask;

“How can the BiQ SEO Suite make my content better?”

This module shows you how you can take the guesswork out of marketing by making recommendations for a content strategy based on the integration and advanced analysis of multiple intelligence sources.

The content intelligence includes features like AI-guided optimization, advanced line-by-line analysis, sentiment analysis, readability rater, content performance tracking; all to better understand your customer’s intent and behaviors.

You can start by entering your target URL and keyword in the search box.

BiQ Content Intelligence URL and keyword search bar

BiQ’s Content Intelligence will start to analyze your content and return you with a comprehensive result.

Overview of BiQ content intelligence module

Your results will be shown as seen in the screenshot above. Let’s get the basic sorted first, shall we?

At the top of the analysis, you will be presented with your content’s Title and Meta Description:

Title and meta description analysis on BiQ content intelligence

The title is the element that summarizes your content. It serves as a great opportunity to increase click-through rates to your website, so make sure it gives an accurate, concise and compelling summary of what your content is all about.

The meta description is a short summary of your content found on the web page. It gives you the opportunity to tell what you’re offering.

This is how the title and meta description appears on the search result page:

Title and meta description example found on SERP

Next, you will see paragraphs separated by a line and its own analysis. Here is a quick breakdown of the analysis:

Relevancy – Shows how relevant this section is to the targeted keyword

Relevancy: Edit needed

BiQ content intelligence Relevancy analysis that shows edit needed

These sections are not relevant to your target keyword. Use more keywords related to your targeted keyword in these sections.

Relevancy: Good

BiQ content intelligence Relevancy analysis that shows good

When the Relevancy is Good, it indicates these sections are considered relevant to your target keyword. Use more keywords related to your target keyword in these sections to further improve the relevancy.

Relevancy: Great

BiQ content intelligence relevancy analysis that shows great

Great relevancy value indicates the paragraph is contributing greatly to the overall SEO! These sections are highly relevant to your target keyword, great job!

Sentiment Analysis – Sentiment Analysis is the analysis of someone’s emotions behind the words. In simple words, it helps you categorize pieces of writing as positive, neutral, or negative. There are 9 tones present:

Analytical,
Joy,
Fear,
Tentative,
Angry,
Sadness,
Confident,
No tone

Understanding your reader’s emotions is essential because it allows you to see what specifically made them react positively or negatively.

Let’s take a look at the example below.

Sentiment : Confident

Example of sentiment analysis that shows confident

When readers read the paragraph above, they will feel confident. This is because they have proof to support their elaboration.

Sentiment: Analytical

Example of sentiment analysis that shows analytical

The paragraph is geared towards analytical because it mentioned statistical data at the start of the paragraph.

Such information allows you to produce content that is both relevant and valuable to your readers. If you want to make your readers feel confident about your content, edit them and make them feel so.

Sentiment analysis will also guide you in building a strong customer experience by avoiding unnecessary emotions in your content.

Other than that, by analyzing what works for your competition, you can identify what strategies are working and see in detail where you can excel and improve.

Analyze the first ranking website, and check what sentiment they are trying to deliver to their readers. What you can do next is – apply the same strategy to your content.

Readability – Tells you how easy it is to read the section. It takes into account the number of syllables in a word and amount of words in a sentence as its base measurement

Readable by – Tells you the education required to understand the content

Word Vector SEO, Keyword SEO, and Essential SEO

Hover a little lower and you’ll see 3 main tabs: Word Vector SEO, Keyword SEO, and Essential SEO.

(i) Word Vector

Word Vector, Keyword SEO and Essential SEO tabs

Word Vector is an AI model pre-trained by Google. It is an algorithm that helps Google learn about the relationships between words, based on examples of actual language usage.

BiQ realized the importance of Word Vector in today’s SEO world. Thus, BiQ created Word Vector SEO to help you to analyze and improve your content relevance against the top 10 rankings.

Word Vector SEO will analyze your whole content and show you which section of your content needs editing to increase the relevancy.

Clicking on any of the “Sections” will automatically lead you to the paragraph that needs your immediate attention. Now you can easily know which paragraph needs more work!

Each sections will automatically lead you to the paragraph in content intelligence

Make sure all the paragraphs are relevant to your target keyword so that you’ll have higher chances to rank high in the search engine results page. So, go ahead and optimize those paragraphs that need editing.

(ii) Keyword SEO

‘Keyword SEO’ will focus on keyword optimization. Together with Essential SEO, some important factors that are taken into consideration are:

i) Keywords in title, meta description, URL,

ii) Keywords position in the title

iii) Image to text ratio

iv) Keywords in H1, H2, H3 tags

v) Keywords in image’s ALT

vi) Keywords appearing in the first and last 100 words

vii) LSI keywords to improve semantic value

viii) Meta Description and URL length

ix) Word count

Then, followed by the score, you will be presented with important insights on how many items need your immediate attention or items that need extra precautions.

(iii) Essential SEO

‘Essential SEO’ will look into on-page optimization.

Just like ‘Keyword SEO’, you will be presented with important insights on how many items need your immediate attention or items that need extra precautions to improve your ranking.

In all 3 sections, you’ll see the “important”, “alerts”, and “optimized”.

The essential score shows how relevant your content is when compared to the Top 10 results. The higher the SEO score, the better your content is.

“Important” represents sections that are not relevant to your target keyword. It is advised that you use more keywords related to your target keyword in these sections.
“Alerts” are sections that are considered relevant to your target keyword. You should use more keywords related to your target keyword in these sections to improve the relevancy.
“Optimized” means these sections are highly relevant to your target keyword. Great job!

Quickly explore these features in BiQ freely by signing up at https://biq.cloud/closed-beta-invite/

Use BiQ – The Best Content Marketing Strategy You’ll Ever Have

Dwelling in the Content intelligence market can solve a wide range of content marketing problems. These include alleviating time constraints, resource shortages, strategy uncertainty, stresses around data computation, and content recommendations.

All these pain points can be solved by the BiQ SEO Suite once and for all. It is certainly the perfect content strategy plan you’ll need to have to help you win a much higher SEO ranking.

We know that you have a craving for excellence. Let us make your writings much more goal-oriented and target driven.

By proficiently highlighting the parts that need improvements, this tool always secures the best online ranking for you. The entire SEO suite provides you a better insight to check the efficiency of your content. Now go ahead and quench your thirst for touching excellence!

Use the BiQ SEO Suite, explore the unfamiliar areas, and identify content that converts potential customers to buying customers.

If you are interested to know more about this tool or if you have more questions to ask, feel free to drop me comments below! I’ll be more than happy to assist you so you can get started with BiQ.

About Winnie

Announcement,Content Marketing,Keyword Research,Rank Tracking,SEO Tools

BiQ Closed Beta Launch: We Are Inviting the First Batch of Users

Get excited everyone!

Today, we’re delighted to share that after eons of hard work, blood, sweat, and love, we’re taking a major step forward on our commitment to provide a revolutionary tool by celebrating the BiQ closed beta launch.

It’s currently only available to existing users who have signed up and have successfully maintained their ranks on the top of the queue. If you’ve just discovered us, you’re not late so don’t you worry! Just sign up at https://biq.cloud/closed-beta-invite/ and be on the lookout for further instructions to get you qualified!

Join BiQ's Closed Beta Launch CTA Button

On a more interesting level, the team from BiQ has successfully forged a collaboration with SEOPressor, a pioneer in the SEO world that helps with on-page optimization. You might also be interested to catch a tip or two from their recent interview with our Co-founder, Ian. (He gave some good insights about BiQ!)

BiQ carries the torch of bringing an intelligent, innovative and ambitious future to the world of SEO. The tool is packed with powerful features your growing website needs. This post will introduce you to all the unique capabilities that are set to take off using the tool.

First and foremost, allow us to thank every single one of you for your patience and anticipation towards this tool. Receiving your messages of support throughout this period means a lot to the team and we can’t thank you enough.

We’ve heard your frustration towards having to pay excessively monthly, subscribing to various online tools to keep up with the ever-changing SEO world. We understand that many times we’ll face situations like this without other alternatives because the market packaged it that way, right?

As common users, most of us can’t do much but to abide by whatever pricing these tools have set in stone.

BUT…

BiQ has completely changed the landscape of how SEO tools can go about. We know you want something DIFFERENT in the market – and we’re back with happy news!

The Only SEO Tool That Gives Cost Control Back To You

BiQ is the only SEO tool that provides granular cost control. It’s better than the conventional SEO tools out there because you have the full-flexibility in paying for the features you use and not having to pay for those that you won’t need.

You’re cutting all costs and promoting zero resource wastage by paying only for what you use.

With that said, we’ll be inviting our very first supportive batch of users to try out the features for free! In this release, you will see 4 main modules that constitute BiQ.

They consist of:

Keyword Intelligence
Content Intelligence
Rank Intelligence
Rank Tracking

with a special feature lined up for you too;

BiQ’s Collection

The next part will highlight what BiQ has that other tools don’t.

What Makes BiQ Different From The Rest Of The SEO Tools?

You might be asking now – “What makes BiQ different than its competitors?”

Instead of doing a comparison or a “battle between the best SEO tool”, I figured, why not showcase some of BiQ’s unique features and functionalities instead?

If you’re responsible for growing your website for your company, then you could most likely grow your audience – possibly pretty significantly – by using these unique features found in BiQ’s modules.

The Unique Selling Points That Drive BiQ

(i) Price Democratization

Think Amazon Web Services for SEO tools, where pricing is democratized. BiQ gives cost control back to you by designing the entire tool to provide granular cost control where features get inexpensive.

When you start paying only for what you use, you directly reduce your total spending cost.

(ii) Experience Ultimate Flexibility & Freedom

BiQ aims to give you the ultimate flexibility and freedom to pay only for the features you need.

Want to know if your content is optimized as per the search engine’s requirement? Only choose to use BiQ’s Content Intelligence!

Have clients that only want a monthly report on their website’s rank? Just pick BiQ’s Rank Tracking module and only that!

Keyword Intelligence

(i) Keyword Intent Analysis

Behind every Google search, there is an intention.

To find out what type of content you should serve, you’ll need to segment your keywords by the user’s intent. Using the rule-based machine learning algorithm, BiQ’s keyword intent analysis automatically classifies the user’s intent for you; informational, navigational or transactional.

Leverage these terms and modifiers to infer what types of results or actions your visitors are aiming for.

(ii) Build Content Briefs With Popular Questions

Use BiQ’s Popular Questions feature to discover queries others may be interested in. It offers you a set of questions that relate to your original search query which you may build content briefs with.

Consider answering these questions or create new content starting from these questions.

(iii) The Total Volume of Related Keywords

Do you know that combining hundreds of related keywords could lead to a total search volume of millions in numbers? (Provided that you rank for most of the related keyword that you’ve targeted)

Knowing the total search volume of related keywords that BiQ provides gives you the possibility of getting untapped traffic from related keywords. Most importantly, you’ll know instantly if it’s worth your effort to build a content hub to win all the related keywords.

(iv) Find Trending Topics & Keywords

Being in trend is a matter of being caring for your visitors, introducing them to the latest news in the market.

Staying in the loop of trending content gives you an edge, which is what keyword intelligence will provide you with. Equip yourself with the most updated keywords and ideas with our app, people are more likely to follow and listen to what you have to say – you could be seen as a trend-setter.

(v) Filter Long Tail or Short Tail Keywords

In the keyword intelligence module, it’s possible to filter by “Long Tail” allowing you to select long-tail keyword suggestions. You can also use this filter to discover only the short-tail keywords.

Make good use of them to get the type of keywords that you want; long tail or short tail in just one click.

(vi) Quick Search Bar & Advanced Dynamic Filter

We understand that having tools that allow quick filtering offers a fast and convenient way to bring up the best data for your specific needs.

Across every module, BiQ’s filter feature will change based on what is important to your research. According to your optimization strategy, easily filter what you want to see in the quick search bar within a single second.

Content Intelligence

(i) Content With Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment analysis involves analyzing the emotion the author is expressing through content. BiQ’s sentiment analysis can be classified into 7 different categories.

It allows you to fine-tune a message or a piece of content for the greatest impact. By understanding what makes customers tick, these insights could multiply the reach and influence of any businesses.

(ii) Advanced Line-by-line Analysis

BiQ analyzes your content section by section, so you know exactly which part to work on.

With this feature, you’ll be able to achieve maximum precision to know if each paragraph is contributing to the SEO of the page. Gain insights into which paragraph you can further modify, optimize or delete until your content turns from “Edit Needed” to “Great”!

(iii) Word Vector SEO

BiQ analyzes the content gap with Word Vector SEO and suggests the best keyword composition to rank your website higher, making the website optimization effort priceless.

Now, search engines will pay more attention to your content!

Rank Intelligence

(i) Position Zero

We’ve always heard about how we should be ranking for position zero and getting the featured snippet position on Google. Yes, we know the benefits it brings but do you really know how you could get there?

BiQ’s Rank Intelligence module will tell you how to capture valuable position zero spots and identify featured snippet opportunities!

(ii) Top 100 Ranking Opportunities

BiQ reveals keywords that are ranking for your pages you may not have known. The tool’s deep neural analysis will point out hidden ranking potential, letting you know keywords and associated pages you should optimize for easy ranking.

Time to discover opportunities you never knew you could rank for!

(ii) Quick Search Bar & Advanced Dynamic Filter

We understand that having tools that allow quick filtering offers a fast and convenient way to bring up the best data for your specific needs.

Rank Tracking

(i) Accurate Rank Tracking from All Locations

BiQ’s rank tracking feature accurately checks positions for the location of your choice. Like everything else in this rank checker – these locations are – you guessed it – unlimited.

(ii) Rank Tracking Updates On Your Schedule

You’ll be given the option to select from intervals of Daily, Weekly, or Monthly rank checks for more cost-effective monitoring.

Automating your ranking checks also means you don’t have to run them manually each time.

(iii) Focus On The Keyword Data You Care About

When you want to track your ranking for specific keywords, you can hone down your search criteria to get more accurate insights with the advanced filtering feature.

(iv) Ranking Change Notification

Whenever there’s a change in your ranking positions, you’ll see clear notification without having to spend time looking through rows of data.

(v) Quick Review Of All Created Profiles

For the sake of simplicity, all profiles created are composed into an easy to comprehend table with information in the most convenient and nicest way.

(vi) Tagging System To Organize Your Rank Tracking

Group your pages and keywords into different segments. Need a quick view of all your blog posts? BiQ’s tagging system allows you to tag them under a single tag so you can check their performance in a glance.

Collections

(i) Neat Display Of “My Collections”

Not only will you have the ability to export your data in PDF and CSV, but you can also add them to a collection. The “My Collection” feature gives you a clear overview.

All the data you wish to specifically track will be saved according to your modules so you can have quick access to them anytime. Give it a name and description for a clearer outlook and you’re good to go!

(All these, and we’re only in closed beta)

That my friends are obviously not everything…

What’s Next In Store For BiQ?

We may have successfully released closed beta today but that’s not all! We’re only getting started because we have more awesome things in store for you!

We’re excited to announce an ambitious roadmap of more features. 5 other core modules are in the pipeline for the upcoming release. Just some final touches to make it a cut above – and we’re good to go!

They include;

Link Intelligence,
Site Intelligence,
Markup Intelligence,
Team Management,
Community

Over the coming weeks, we’ll also be inviting our second, third, fourth, fifth batches… (there is no limit to when we’re stopping!)

Constructive Feedback Is Welcomed!

In the spirit to provide what our community truly needs, the team behind BiQ whole-heartedly accepts feedback to make the app more useful, and to hear your feature requests and requirements.

All features are in active development, which means your input directly shapes what we’re building next. You, and the entire SEO community, have the steering wheel in control.

Reach us on our email hello@biq.cloud or talk to us through live chat if you’re successfully invited to BiQ!

First-Timer & Eager To Join the Revolution?

If you’re wondering what’s in for you after joining this revolution, here’s what you can expect. As a member of the closed beta program, you’ll help shape BiQ by test-driving pre-release features and telling us what you think.

The program is your opportunity to experience upcoming pipeline features before they are publicly available, and weigh in on how we can make them better to help you crush your goals you’ve set.

So sign up today and get invited to gain early access to new features. Try all the features before anyone else and most importantly, join a community of marketers shaping the future of SEO.

Finally, Refer To Your Friends & Get The Word Out!

We’re excited about this new chapter and thrilled to finally share what we’ve been working on thus far. We look forward to your feedback and have many of you make the BiQ closed beta launch a massive one.

Best Regards,
Winnie

About Winnie

Content Marketing

Seasonal vs Evergreen Content Dilemma: What’s Best For You?

You know content is king.

You also know content has great persuasive power.

You surely know if the content doesn’t provide value in the eyes of the customers or search engines, you are not doing the right thing.

But do you know the importance of constantly publishing new content to keep your website fresh and appearing on Google’s radar?

Now, a static website will languish, falling further and further down in search rankings. A site that regularly adds articles, infographics, videos, and other such content will be regularly re-indexed by Google.

Every successful online brand has learned the importance of creating user-focused content. In fact, content lies at the heart of SEO and content marketing. Without content, there is no such thing as SEO or marketing. Search engines, like Google, relies vehemently on content and links in order to function or adequately serve its users with what they are looking for.

It can be hard to choose the type of content that works best. Some brands (depending on the niche) may find that long-form of content works better in their industry, some preferred infographics while others choose the path of certain topics like tutorials and how-to articles.

Nonetheless, there are so many dimensions of written content and the variables are overwhelming. Broadly speaking, you have two choices. Seasonal content reflects what’s happening at the moment. Evergreen content, in contrast, is always relevant. Most of us will reach a point of a dilemma on which should be the way to go.

A visitor may be looking for seasonal content while another searcher could be looking for the general evergreen content. As a business looking to market your products or services, which content strategy should you choose?

Let’s find out.

What is Evergreen Content?

Gold bars relating it to evergreen content, that they are long lasting — Let’s think of evergreen content as gold; it virtually lasts forever!

As its name implies, evergreen content covers constant, unchanging topics. It’s timeless and is intended to last forever regardless of specific events or seasonal changes. Keywords for evergreen content are searched over and over all year round and remains relevant at all periods.

Evergreen articles are not:

Latest trending ideas of clothing and fashion
Content about specific holiday or season
News articles
Latest numerical statistics or reports that will go out of time

For example, if you run an e-commerce store selling fishing gear, an evergreen article might be “Fly fishing casting for beginners.” This is a subject that hasn’t changed since about 1910. It will never go out of style. There will be aspiring fishermen searching for this for all eternity.

Some nice articles that rarely gets old are parenting, pet care, weight loss, finance, money-saving tactics, and careers among several others. If you think of it, evergreen content is essentially made to educate audiences. Most of them are in the form of case studies, statistics, how-to guides, lists, tips are some instances of evergreen content.

What is Seasonal Content?

Wilted flowers are used as a representative of seasonal content, as they are rather short-lived — Now let’s think of seasonal content as flowers; they are short-lived!

Seasonal content, which might also be thought of as topical content, describes subjects that are relevant at a particular time. Basically, those content are newsworthy, often indicated as #breaking on Twitter. These stories cannot be prepared in advance and require responses as they occur.

For instance, a fishing store site might publish a seasonal piece called “How to catch a bass in Wyoming in July.” as this is much more specific and time-limited. Some other contents that would fall under seasonal content include:

How to decorate your house for Christmas
5 special gifts to get your Valentines date
How to keep warm during winter
Budget-friendly ideas for a Halloween party

Anyhow, when it comes to seasonal content, timing is everything. Publish an article too early and you might not catch the attention of your core readership. Market it too late and you risk being lost in the masses.

High-Level Pros and Cons of Each Approach

Here is the point;

A website visitor may be looking for seasonal content while another searcher is looking for the general evergreen content. As a business looking to market your products or services, you must have wondered which content strategy should you choose?

Now that you’ve understood the differences between seasonal and evergreen content, let’s look at its benefits and drawbacks of evergreen content vs seasonal content on a deeper scale to help you in your decision-making.

Evergreen Content Pros:

An image with description of benefits of evergreen content

i) Keeps users coming back

If an evergreen content lives on your website, it increases the chances that users will go back to your site to reference it, indirectly helping you to increase traffic and overall authority. This also bolsters your lead generation efforts when done right.

ii) Significant link-worthiness

When you want to promote your own evergreen content, try creating ideas for new blog posts that will naturally link back to your evergreen posts. Pick a piece to promote, and ideate around it.

iii) High Search Engine Rankings

Because of the quality and timeliness of evergreen content, it usually ranks very well on search engines over time. Better results can be seen when paired with well-optimized keywords.

iv) Easier to produce

This is because it is based on general knowledge and commonly understood concepts that your users might have already been exposed to. There’s also no rush to produce it on any particular deadline, fearing the failure to on the current stage.

v) One time effort

The clear benefit of evergreen content is that you only need to create it once – meaning there is usually one big burst of effort. Despite that, the rewards can still be seen rolling in even years later.

Evergreen Content Cons:

An image with description of drawbacks of evergreen content

i) High competition

The competition to get a higher ranking on Google SERPS is very high as almost everyone uses evergreen content for their websites. You will be covering almost the same topics as your competitors, so the pressure to do it differently from your competitors in order to be relevant is very high.

ii) Risk of running out of ideas

With time, you are likely to run out of new topics you can cover. If approached without caution, you could end up with content that lacks originality and scare away your audience. Evergreen content needs a lot of creativity to stay relevant.

iii) Content can become basic and boring

Over time, evergreen content may become obvious and boring to the audience. For example, how-to-guides may be the same across a number of sites. Since evergreen content is mostly long-form, your audience could lose interest midway if the post is not engaging enough.

iv) Content needs detailed research

While seasonal content needs you to only keep up with the trending topics, evergreen content requires you to do a detailed research so that you can come up with informative and engaging content. The focus is on quality and not quantity.

Seasonal Content Pros:

An image with description of benefits of seasonal content

i) Trendy, fresh, new materials are way catchier than general subjects

Seasonal articles generally trigger more interest compared to those they’ve seen countless times. It also shows that you care about up-to-date news. As long as you’re in the right season or time frame, your work stands to attract much more attention than an evergreen counterpart would.

ii) Feeds user’s intent

Seasonal articles are good for selling as it provides instant gratification. The article that you craft will help your audience make better decisions from a marketing and purchasing point of view during that specific period.

iii) Grows your audience

Seasonal content is great for instant success, word-of-mouth, and virality. It is a contributing factor to your brand’s recognition and reputation. When interesting subjects are discussed, it might be more likely to get shared on social media.

iv) Less competition

Apart from a few industries such as fashion and tech, few brands use seasonal content. As long as you can consistently create content that is relevant to the trending topics and tap into people’s fear of missing out (FOMO), you will be able to attract audiences to your site.

v) Gateway to lots of backlinks

When done and timed right, seasonal content can get you a lot of backlinks. When the brand establishes itself as an authority within the industry, other websites will link back to it. This allows the brand to also boost other posts on the website that have much traffic by using internal linking strategy.

Seasonal Content Cons:

An image with description of drawbacks of seasonal content

i) Gets irrelevant quickly

As time goes by, seasonal content becomes stale and irrelevant. Though it comes with high traffic, the traffic only lasts as long as the trend. It is a short-term engagement strategy with a limited lifespan.

ii) Only relevant to those who are knowledgeable on the topic

Seasonal content only generates hype among audiences who are well-versed on the topic. This means that the rest of your audience will find the information irrelevant and of no use to them. New audiences might feel left out if they have no idea of what is being talked about.

iii) High risk of bounce-offs

Seasonal content is only relevant to people who have an interest in particular topics. People who have no interest may click on a link just because of curiosity then leave the site soon thereafter. Know that high rates of bounce-offs could jeopardize your SEO ranking.

iv) Work hard to stay relevant

Because of its quick turnover time, seasonal content forces you to work hard to stay updated and relevant on the latest trending topics. You have to have your ears out on the daily or you risk missing out on topics that could be important to the brand.

Key Evaluation Factors

This last point hints at a bigger picture issue. It’s a mistake to look at content publishing simple as a matter of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Yes, SEO is absolutely critical. You won’t get clicks if you don’t get ranked in search results. However, it’s imperative to think through what happens once the site visitor clicks on your content link:

What impressions will he or she form about your business, based on the content?
Does the content have a strong Call to Action (CTA) that prompts a purchase or meaningful engagement?
Does the content start (or reinforce) a lasting customer relationship?
Is it credible with reputable sources and statistics to back up your claims?
Are you providing original, unique and relevant data?

Factor in these questions before you start writing and decide which type of content suits you better.

Who Is Going To Read It?

An image with three humans asking who is your audience — Teens? Single parents? Business-minded individuals? Fresh graduates? C-level executives?

Whoever they are, you should know best.

Most people will search for the answer to the question “How do I find my audience?” But little do they know that that isn’t the right question to ask. Instead, the question that will make your content successful, “Who am I talking to?” Always identify who you’re talking to first, then focus on finding them online.

When creating content, it’s a good practice to assess the audience carefully (age, gender, occupation etc) and write accordingly. Most people these days don’t even stop to think about who is going to be reading their content and why they’re going to read it — they just proceed with writing it.

It’s easy to fall into the habit of writing to impress your peers or editor. That might make for good writing but it won’t necessarily attract readers. Style, tone and subject matter are taken into account here. Hence it is wise to create your reader personas.

These reader personas seek to document the real motivations and curiosities that empower your readers. By identifying them, you’ll be able to find your target audience better when the time comes.

For example, if your audience is men, aged 30-60 who enjoy the outdoors, then writing in a hip, Generation Z style is probably going to fail in achieving engagement. If people who land on your site are not your targeted audience, then they won’t finish reading your articles.

After all, the whole point of creating content is to attract prospective customers and then communicating with them to gain their interest.

On a higher level, think about the people who are going to read the material. One mistake in SEO content writing is to assume that only a machine (Google) is ever going to read the piece.

This may be true, partly. However, it’s a really good idea to make the content appealing to a human reader. If it looks like a template stuffed with key phrases, that’s a turnoff.

Don’t forget: You have to answer to real people. That’s what makes content successful. It’s important to make a distinction before writing your content, otherwise, you’re just wasting your time.

Seasonal vs Evergreen: The Value of a Hybrid Approach

Using the hybrid model for evergreen and seasonal content is the way to go — There are a lot of sentiments when it comes to seasonal vs evergreen content.

Sometimes, sticking to one type of content could be restricting for the brand and it may fail to reach its full potential. Remember that relevance is key no matter which strategy you choose to go with. Always do market research to understand which topics are relevant to your audience.

The best approach is to do both by balancing how you plan to publish both types of content. This style is called the hybrid model – where you balance between the two types of content.

The essence is to take advantage of both for a mutually beneficial goal. How? You can dedicate 80% for your evergreen content and dedicate the 20% for seasonal promotional content strategy. By using this approach, you can reach audiences with permanent and seasonal needs.

To ensure you hybrid model remains relevant, measure the previous performance of both content types, and create an actionable editorial calendar that incorporates both kinds of content for an optimal content strategy that promise to earn you traffic and boost your brand marketing and sales.

As for me, I personally tend to publish more on evergreen content with some seasonal content in between when situations need me to be. So yes, my focus is placed mainly on evergreen content. I would also say that all of your work should strive to have long-lasting value for your audience.

With that, I hope you’ve had an enjoyable read thus far. Would you want to share your take on this? Are you currently an advocate for seasonal content or evergreen content? If you’ve just started out, which approach appeals to you better? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!

About Winnie

Content Marketing,SEO

7 Content Marketing Practices That Are An Embarrassment For SEO

Myth: SEO and content marketing are separated as if they were two very different things.
Truth: They work together, overlap, and fit in well – very much like peanut butter and jelly.

Before we begin, are you a firm believer that the only way to successful content marketing is to have SEO? I hope you are because based on my experiences, it certainly is.

Including keywords in your content helps it rank better in search engines, meaning that it has the ability to attract more traffic and be more effective in reaching your content marketing goals. So to speak, adding excellent content to your site will improve its authority, which will boost your overall SEO.

In short, the better your SEO is, the better your content will perform, beating millions of other competitors. This clearly shows how mutually important both content marketing and SEO are.

What Is Content Marketing, Anyway?

For starters, don’t get content marketing confused with advertising. Advertising is a method of selling a specific product or service range. On the other hand, content marketing targets consumers with engaging and helpful content that encourages them to take action.

Content marketing isn’t just implementing a random tactic, it’s a strategy. It is with a great strategy that drives the content behind successful content marketing.

You can’t just create any content however you like these days. It has to be high quality, valuable and relevant to what the users want. To be heard, create content that people are interested in.

Content marketing gives high quality, valuable and relevant information to what users WANT

Ultimately, it is the practice of creating relevant and engaging content (articles, blog posts, infographics, videos, etc.) by using effective calls-to-action in hopes that it can go viral. When successfully implemented, it helps websites increase conversions and profits.

The main goal behind content marketing is to:

Increase brand awareness and visibility
Promote brand loyalty
Increase time spent on site
Improve sales and conversion rates

To put things in perspective, knowing the basics of SEO helps you draw users to your site while content marketing helps keep them there and helps convert them.

7 Embarrassing Content Marketing Practices That Kills Your SEO

Whether you’ve experienced it or not, there are many mistakes that you can commit along the way and it can be detrimental to your website performance, if not taken care of.

Right now, let’s take a look at seven practices that are an embarrassment for SEO you should certainly avoid doing.

1. Ignoring Your Target Audience

The first embarrassing content marketing mistake is ignoring your target audience

Content marketing agencies and content producers are full of ideas, but even with all the market research and customer insight in the world, there can still be moments when the target is hopelessly missed.

Know this: Content marketing should explicitly be about promoting the right content to the right audience at the right time in order to achieve your marketing goals. For any piece of content to be successful, it has to be personalized and speak to a specific person (target audience), with a specific need at a specific point.

To create targeted content, that means you’ll need to have your buyer personas in mind ALL THE TIME.

These need to be carefully and strategically mapped out at every stage of the journey (Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Conversion). Doing so is often the most important step towards ensuring that the content you create will resonate with your audience.

Let’s demonstrate this by using an example of a fictional medical company, which sells supplements. For the sake of this post, we will keep the buyer persona – who we will call Diana.

An example of buyer persona to ensure the content you create resonates with your audience

By getting down to details, you’ll know the exact solution you can provide to her as she is the right target market in your niche. That is why you should revisit and adjust this information regularly as you learn more about your market, or as your customer’s needs change.

If your company is already in motion, it’s best to analyze and validate who you’re currently targeting, to ensure you’re on the right path.

2. Doing Black Hat SEO

It’s the year 2019. I certainly hope none of you are still practicing this.

Black Hat SEO is known as “illegal”, unethical methods and hacks that trick search engines into ranking undeserving websites higher than supposed. Many years back, massive efforts were done by Google to stop these acts.

Today, nearly all-black hat techniques do not work. What’s more, doing these methods will lead to serious consequences such as harming your search ranking and ultimately getting your website banned.

If you are still committing to these methods, you should abandon them immediately and work on building unique content marketing plans to boost your SEO.

These are the most common tactics that fall under the umbrella of black hat SEO in case you’re not aware of them:

i) Keyword stuffing

This is the act of using a keyword excessively in your content to get search engines to rank the page. A page may be using keyword stuffing if its keyword density percentage is high.

Instead of keyword stuffing, replace them with LSI keywords so you can safely add closely related keywords without worrying about getting penalized. LSI keywords are also how Google has evolved from keyword density.

The dashboard of LSIGraph with a lot of relevant LSI keywords

Adding in different LSI keywords in your web page instead of repeating the same one diminishes the probability of keyword stuffing once and for all. Head over to LSIGraph and give it a try!

ii) Cloaking

Cloaking is the practice of delivering different content to search engines as opposed to humans. This is unethical to search engine best practices which essentially call for websites to be designed for humans as if search engines did not exist.

This black hat tactic is frowned upon by the search engines and carries a heavy penalty for the guilty website. In fact, one of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines is “Don’t deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users”.

iii) Comment Spams

Most channels across the web these days leave content open to comments from the general public. While adding links in comments isn’t exactly a negative practice, creating comments with the intention of getting traffic is something that should be avoided.

Blog post comments that are identified as spam being one of the embarrassing content marketing mistakes — *Some examples of blog post comments that are identified as spam*

Do you know that Google will rank you lower in its results if it senses you have bad links on your site? Besides, it gives off a bad impression to users as they notice you are overlooking content moderation and maintenance of your website by allowing these spam comments.

iv) Link Farms

Rather than pursuing organic links, link farms are a group of sites that work with the sole purpose of increasing the popularity of another website through hyperlinks. Such links, mostly low-quality ones, derived from an irrelevant source will have a negative effect on SEO.

Yes, linking does make for good SEO practices, but if they don’t provide users with useful information, then they’re nothing but deceiving. Thus, always make the effort to monitor your links every now and then.

v) Clickbait

Clickbait is the act to encourage people to visit the website by using sensational titles or misleading headlines. Most of the time, it says one thing in the headline and another thing on the site.

Over time, this immoral tactic will decrease your CTR which will affect the ranking and traffic of your site immensely. As content marketers, we produce informative pieces that help us get to build an audience – a set of true fans and followers.

Remember, you are using content marketing to build trust, not to break it. These are only a few mentioned, there are lots of other black hat SEO tactics out there. But it’s safe to say, don’t ever succumb to these tactics.

3. Being Overly Promotional in Content Marketing

Being overly promotional in your content marketing efforts is fatal

Did you find yourselves in these situations before?

“Let’s squeeze in another product mention here, and another there”, “Let’s add five more links to the homepage”, or “Let’s remind our readers how great our company is for the 142748th time”. Then, we are ready to publish the article!

When done repeatedly, this can come across as too “salesy”. Your visitors will tune out if they find that your content is more like an advertisement disguised as useful information. Remember: Hard selling isn’t always the way to go.

Most of the time, promotional content works best for people who are almost ready to buy. Clearly not when they are new to your product/service. At least that’s what I’ve learned throughout my journey as a digital marketer.

I also found out that if I wanted to drive traffic, increase thought leadership and strengthen my opt-ins base (with the end goal of selling), I need to complement my promotional material with a mix of the industry-facing news articles and posts as well as some relevant evergreen pieces.

Increase in organic traffic when not being overly promotional in content marketing

A few months down the road, I saw a significant increase in organic traffic and non-branded keyword rankings. There was also a notable improvement in every single engagement including the time spent on site, number of pages visited and a decreased bounce rate which speaks directly to content relevancy and engagement.

So, if you’re thinking about implementing content marketing strategies for your site, make sure you have a balanced mix of promotional content and evergreen content. Don’t sell before establishing a genuine relationship!

4. Too Focused on ME

Gif of Daniel Henney pointing to himself representing the fourth mistake of "Too Focused on ME" in content marketing — *Studies say that people who always talk about themselves are likely to be emotionally distressed.*

When I first started out as a content writer, I remember my mentor saying this to me, “Your articles aren’t about me as a writer, but for the audience”. I understand that it’s my responsibility to do everything I can to build and maintain my connection to them.

Simply put, if you don’t deliver valuable information, you will be ignored. All those channels you have today to talk to customers – email, social media, podcasts, webinars would be a waste if we only talked about ourselves and didn’t try to build a relationship with our audiences.

It’s hard enough to capture customer’s attention in the age of content overload. If you’re lucky you may catch their attention for 10 seconds, in a world where attention spans are as short as 5 seconds.

When crafting a compelling message, talk about what customers care about. Be in their shoes and answer the question to “What’s in it for me?” and make them into the heroes that they really are.

Don’t put your audience off by making your message all about “me” but focus on what you want your readers to take away from your article.

5. Publishing Abnormally Short or Long Content

Too long and you will stutter, too short and you will suffer.

This is a phrase that I hang on to when it comes to hitting the ideal length of content.

I’m pretty sure there is a high possibility that all of us have gone through the phase of “What should an ideal blog post length be?” or “How much will my readers actually read?”. I admit that I was once fumbling in that stage too.

More often than not, many of us will depend on our instincts to figure out the right length when it comes to creating content for SEO. Some say short, punchy content is perfect to catch attention, while others say lengthy, informative content appears more authoritative.

Well, after experimenting with over 100 blog posts in 2 years, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no right or wrong answer. It entirely depends upon the niche you’re writing in.

If you are in a niche (digital marketing) where your competitors are publishing in-depth content and are ranking well, then it makes sense for you to follow suit too.

An image asking if a content should be 3,000 words or 300 words

In my opinion?

Say your content should be long enough to get your message across, but not extremely long that it takes forever to finish. (I normally stick to about 2,500 words)

Before you go ahead and add another 5,000 words to your article, take a moment to understand why your content should not be abnormally short either, say 300 words?

One of the main limitations of short-form content is that it only enables you to cover so much about a topic, which contradicts the semantic understanding of search. Users are constantly looking for an answer online, something which, short-form content can’t easily provide.

Again, depending on your niche, short-form content may actually work as everything has its place. So go ahead and study your market carefully before making a decision.

One more thing.

Poor content is still bad content, whether that’s 300 or 3,000 words. It’s all about the value and quality of content. Your goal should always be supplying the best, most useful yet optimized versions of the content for your target audience.

6. Setting Your Content Marketing Performance Aside

The goal for us content marketers is not to just be good at telling stories but to use content to drive business results. At today’s pace, it is not wise to start any project without ways to quantify data.

As the saying goes, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”. Without the ability to measure, you’re flying blind and can’t quantify the success or failure of your content marketing efforts.

Well, thanks to the technological advances in marketing analytics, we can now measure and analyze just about everything in marketing. For that, I’ve been an advocate of Google Analytics (GA). It is the world’s leading online analytics solution with detailed information about your site’s performance, visitors and their behaviors.

There are 2 main aspects I’d look into when tracking and measuring my content performance namely: Behavior Reports and Audience Reports.

A Google Analytics Overview report of the website traffic

Behavior Reports – This report is one of the first things I’d look at every time I’m in GA. They provide detailed information on the actions that users take on your site including:

i) Average time on your site and individual pages
ii) Total pageviews and unique pageviews for each page
iii) Bounce Rate
iv) Exit Rate

Knowing these behavior reports can help you optimize your content marketing strategy by monitoring how users engage with your content.

Audience Overview Report on Google Analytics

Audience Reports – Provides a massive amount of information about your users. Some data that can be found there include Demographics, Language & Location, Interests, New vs Returning Visitors, etc.

With these data in hand, you’ll be able to access what your audience considers quality content so that you can create a more successful marketing campaign moving forward.

By setting up your Google Analytics for success, you’ll be able to make out what works for you and your audience. Win-win situation right there!

7. Making Up Facts and Data

An image with facts from an anonymous contributor should not be trusted — Sources that cannot prove their facts like this should not be trusted.

How much of the Internet is fake? More than you can imagine.

As a writer, I believe the best kind of content is a gift. A gift of valuable information, a gift of transparency, and a gift of authenticity.

In today’s industry, effective content creation is no longer about quantity, but instead building personal interactions and authenticating the experience for them.

With that being said, never ever makeup facts and data to support your posts. Instead, include pertinent statistics, links to external articles, cite authoritative sources, and add relevant case studies that support your point.

Before quoting any statistics, paragraphs, or sources, make sure you’ve done a thorough fact check and be able to prove their credibility. Your job as a content marketer is to give every reason for them to take you seriously.

Once you’ve lost that touch, be prepared to lose the game in content marketing and pay for the consequences of losing traffic and ranks.

Audiences are tired of fake. Let’s get real.

Conclusion

When it comes to content marketing, it is no longer a nice-to-have. Instead, it is a must-have.

Take it this way, investing in content marketing is like hiring salespeople that work 24/7 to help your customers when they are looking for you.

Hence, without a well-optimized, high-quality content that relates to the user’s intent, any website will have a hard time achieving a balanced content marketing and SEO that gives high ranks and organic traffic.

Level up your content marketing best practices 2019 by avoiding these costly yet embarrassing mistakes mentioned above.

Have you encountered any of the content marketing practices above or are there any other content marketing tips you’d like to share? Feel free to exchange ideas in the comment section below, I’m all ears!

What Is A Content Audit?

Why is a content audit useful?

How To Conduct A Content Audit

Step 1: Set your content audit goals

Step 2: Identify all content assets

Step 3: Collect and analyze data

Step 4: Create an action plan

Step 5: Track and monitor the content

Conclusion

About Allysa

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Content Ideas Amidst COVID-19

1. Travel and Tourism

2. Medical & Healthcare

3. Business & Technology

4. Work and Education

5. Home & Entertainment

* BONUS: Food & Beverages

Conclusion

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Questions like this often arise: What is a meta description? How do you write a great meta description in 2020? What should I write in the meta description?

What are meta descriptions?

Does meta description have any effect on your SEO?

Meta description length

Meta Description Best Practices

1. Include your target keywords

2. Create unique and interesting descriptions

3. Create relevant descriptions

4. Use a short call-to-action

5. Never use double quotation marks

6. Keep on testing and optimize

Bonus tip for your best meta description!

7. Use emotion keywords

What happens if you don’t have a meta description?

Why is the meta description important?

It helps you to “advertise” your offerings

It helps you to filter your target audience

It helps to increase your click-through rate

Meta description Checker

Conclusion

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The practical on-page SEO guide in 2020.

What is On-Page SEO?

Why Is On-Page SEO Important?

What Is The On-Page SEO Checklist in 2020?

1. Target Keywords

2. Title Tag

#1 Keep it short

#2 Include your primary keywords

3. Meta Description

#1 Don’t make them too short or too long

#2 Include your primary keywords

#3 Be different; be unique

4. Header Tags

#1 Include keywords in your header tags

#2 Don’t forget to use H1

#3 Optimize for featured snippets

5. Related keywords

#1 Use related keywords in the title

#2 Use related keywords in the meta description

#3 Use related keywords in the headings

6. High-quality content

#1 Get to know your target audience

#2 Do keyword research

7. Length of content

8. Image optimization

#1 Use unique and relevant images

#2 Reduce the size of your image file

#3 Include caption for your image

#4 Use a descriptive alt text

9. Readability

#1 Break into paragraphs

#2 Use shorter sentences

#3 Do not use jargon