Content Marketing 101: 15 Tips for Effective Syndication

1. A syndicate article is a written content. The article is already published in your blog but you choose to re-publish it in selected and high-quality syndication sites.

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2. Syndication is entirely different from content duplication and guest blogging. Duplication occurs when you publish identical and low quality articles on the same website. These articles provide no value.

Guest blogging, on the other hand, allows you to publish an original article to other websites. The article contains quality information and a backlink to your website.

3. In syndication, Google reveals it only shows the version that is most appropriate for the users. This version may or may not be the version you want to rank for (Source: Webmaster Tools Help).

4. Do it right and you’ll save more time. This technique only requires you to copy and paste either an entire or a portion of the copy but with a link to the original version.

Its primary aim is to expand the reach of your content.

5. Only choose to syndicate in high-quality sites, which give your article a lift in search ranking.  Quicksprout’s Neil Pattel enumerated 11 syndication networks while Kristi Hines listed 10 other sites for syndication. It’s best to choose a site with its own analytics.

Other rules in syndication include…

6. It’s best to syndicate an article manually. Automated syndication is possible but it may not yield the quality version. Most websites may not also publish an article conducted by a paid or free software.

7. Only syndicate the best article in your blog. Informational how-to articles are preferred than those with promotional spins.

8. Limit your syndication to five to twelve quality sites. Search engines might only get suspicious if you’re going to publish in 100 sites.

9. Learn the right timing. Don’t syndicate an article all at once, rather publish it in one site every other day.

10. Syndication is an online activity that observes consistency. It produces multiple copies of the original; therefore, do what you can to preserve its length, tone, number of links, placement of links and authorship.

11. Syndicate safely. When in doubt, insert a “No Index” tag in the meta name to make sure search engines refrains from indexing the page. Here’s how.

12. Sometimes, confusion in duplicate content occurs. It’s inevitable. That’s why; to play it safe, you’re going to insert rel=canonical inside the link tag. This command gives the search engines an ability to identify what’s the original copy from not.

13. Once published, keep all the links in a spreadsheet.

14. Apply changes to all copies once you improve the original version.

15. Don’t expect too much. Success in syndication doesn’t occur overnight. Make it a habit to perform the above steps and you’ll see improvements in the long run.

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Leads Ahoy provides services in reputation management, search engine optimization, list building and geo-targeted lead generation. http://leadsahoy.com/

Content Marketing 101: 15 Tips for Press Release Writing

1. A press release is a written content. It’s basically a news story about your company, event, product and service written in third person perspective.

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Its primary goal is to entice a group of journalists and bloggers to write more articles about your story.

2. The style of writing follows an inverted pyramid. It’s limited to answering the questions what, who, why, when, where and how. You’re also allowed to insert “comments” from an interview.

3. Your tone should be professional from the title until the concluding paragraph.

Take time to say what you want but make sure you express these ideas concisely. The required length of a news story is one page. A two-page story is the maximum but more than that, it’s already an article.

4. Make it a habit to write and rewrite your headline. A headline should be written in simple present tense, which summarizes the content of the story in 15 words or less.

It’s a smart strategy to add a sub-heading to expand the main idea. Effective subheading only gives support, so keep it to one line.

5. Lead refers to an opening paragraph, which is written in 50 words or less.

It needs to contain the most specific details of the story such as statistics, date of an event and complete name of a person involved in the story.

6. There are different ways to write an opening paragraph. One, it summarizes one major angle of the story such as what or who.

Two, it reveals the key facts right away. You’re going to get rid of buzzwords such as innovate, unique, leading provider, pleased to, new and improved.

These buzzwords make a weaker story. Journalists read and heard it a million times.

7. The subsequent paragraphs support your introduction. It expands the idea of what, when, who, where, why and how. Comments from a reliable source are inserted too.

See to it each paragraph only contains one or two sentences. Each sentence contains no jargon slang words.

8. The concluding paragraph serves as your call-to-action. It convinces your readers to either call or write you back.

9. Insert a colored photo at the beginning of the story. A quality photo of the right size grabs more attention.

10. Thoroughly re-check your spelling, grammar, punctuation and facts. Consider using tools such as Plagium and Grammarly.

11. Think of your targeted audience when editing your story. Will they love the angle?

Sometimes, you’re required to put an extra punch in one angle or two. How will you re-angle the story if it’s necessary?

12. Decide where to submit your story. Are you going to target the local press? specialist press? consumer press? national press? Or, will you send different stories to different press publications?

Remember: A press release is a news. It’s your announcement and it’s your responsibility to choose the right group of journalists.

13. If you’re going to e-mail the story to a press distribution, hypnotize the journalists with an irresistible subject line.

A subject line easily attracts attention if it contains ten words or less. It either asks a question or offers a realistic solution to a problem. For example: How to Market Your Visual Content in 3 Easy Steps

14. Consider using a paid press release distribution. This service allows you to register an account, write the story in a word processor and publish it in a number of news publications.

Make sure you choose the right syndication tool. The service needs to distribute news in selected but quality sites, which rank high in search engines.

15. Track your performance. Make it a point to check how many people click and read your press release. Paid distribution tools provide detailed analytics.

In press media, consider asking the total number of news publications. Find the exact link of your story, compile it in a spreadsheet and connect each to your own analytics.

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Leads Ahoy provides services in reputation management, search engine optimization, list building and geo-targeted lead generation. http://leadsahoy.com/

Content Marketing 101: 10 Tips for Video Promotional Campaign

1. A video is a visual audio content. Its primary goal is either to inform, entertain or promote a product, a service or a company.

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In the world of internet marketing, a video usually promotes.

That’s why; it’s recommended to keep the length of your promotional video short (ideally, less than a minute), direct-to-the-point and will include call-to-action (a contact number or an e-mail address).

2. The duration of informational videos is expected to be longer than promotional videos. Ideally, it lasts for three to five minutes.

An informational video educates. Its aim is to let you understand the what and why of a new idea, of a new product or of a new service.

Just remember: You’re making your audience sleep if it’s longer than the recommended time frame.

You also need to make sure you never fail to put a call-to-action (a website, a phone number, an email address) at the start and end of the video content.

Search Engine Land made an informational video on September 2011, which is entitled “What is Search Engine Optimization/SEO.” It’s three minutes and 29 seconds long.

Play the video below and observe how they use moving pictures and talking voice without explaining too much.

3. Music videos entertain people. These videos are expensive to create but it’s the type that receives tons of clicks, views, replays and shares.

Yet, no matter how short or long an entertaining video is, the description area needs to include the link to your online store.

Click here to observe how John Legend’s All of Me manages to receive more than 459 million clicks (as of April 15, 2014) since it’s uploaded on October 2013.

How does the video look like? What details are written in its description area?

4. Tutorial videos are popular. These videos are similar with informational videos but are longer in duration.

Whatever the topic is, a tutorial video shows you the step-by-step procedures.

Fitness instructors upload instructional videos in their channel to get attention. They also want to convince people to subscribe after.

Below is an example of a tutorial video. Observe the technique he used to motivate you to get ripped.

5. Choose the right tool. Creating a video for online promotion doesn’t have to be complicated.

You’ll love what you’re doing when the tool is easy to use and affordable. There are available tools out there. Some are free but the most recommended are paid.

For quick presentation, we recommend you to use PowToon. It’s a drag-and-drop online presentation software that use animations in presentations. You can sign up for free.

6. Make use of micro video apps such as Vine and Video on Instagram for your promotional teasers.

Your target audience will get more involved if you regularly upload teasers about your company, upcoming events, product and service.

7.  Browse other video channels. Study how they create their video content and how they create titles.

What you write in the description area also matters. It needs to describe your video briefly. Simply inform what the idea is about instead of selling the idea.

The ideal placement of link is located at the opening paragraph where people can see it immediately.

8. Set up a schedule board for your videos. This will help you create a fresh strategy each week.

For example, if you release a new product for whitening teeth, uploading a new video once every week is recommended than uploading ten promotional videos all at once.

9. Embed your video in your articles, newsletters and press release. Make a way to include it in your story.

The written texts need to support the video in such a way that people will want to watch it.

Remember: More embeds. More shares. The higher chance your audience can see it.

10. Re-use an existing idea. Take time to browse your blog if you have nothing fresh to upload in your video channel.

Find that new angle in the story. Identify what specific keywords that support the angle. Once done, convert the angle into a promotion.

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Leads Ahoy provides services in reputation management, search engine optimization, list building and geo-targeted lead generation. http://leadsahoy.com/

Content Marketing 101: 15 Tips for Effective Article Writing

1. Article research

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An article is a written visual content. It’s probably the most common type of content you can find in blogs and forums.

For this reason, make it an every day habit to conduct research before writing.

Usually, the research process for an online publication starts with a keyword research. Experts recommended you to use a free or paid keyword research tool.

After collecting necessary keywords, it is followed by finding the right information about the topic.

You’re going to experiment with those keywords and explore the first twenty results.

Next, with all the information and sources you have outlined and listed, you’re going to start write the title, the opening, the body and the conclusion.

Remember: Article writing isn’t quality article writing without editing. This is the final step, in which you’re going to point out the necessary changes.

2. Article with keywords

Search engines love well-written and well-researched articles. They crawl, index and rank these contents regularly.

That’s why; don’t simply write articles for the sake of writing. Keep in mind articles for online publication is about marketing. Its aim is to build a connection with your readers, potential buyers and existing customers.

So, it’s helpful to think about your audience while you write. Ask yourself: What do they want to know?

Also, think about the placement of main keywords search engines want to see.

3. Article with photos

Your article is SEO-friendly if you’ll include some relevant photos and videos before publishing. Chances are, articles with photos and videos receive more attention than those without.

Be careful!

There are times an article with other contents will look too ambitious. It may also cause confusion to some readers.

To avoid problems, make sure to use the right sizes of the photos. Place the videos on the center if you want more clicks.

4. Article conversion

To maximize your content marketing efforts, it’s best to learn how to convert your article into other written contents.

For example, rewriting your how-to 852-word blog article into a press release or a case study.

5. Article’s format

Quality article writing makes use of several formats to persuade readers to read its content.

Figure out how to present your ideas in such a way the information are easy to remember. The presentation either answers a question, enumerates tips, compare two different ideas, etc.

6. Article answers a question

When an article answers a question, your primary goal is to clarify and explain an issue in detail. Your readers will need your expertise to open their minds about the given topic.

Titles are ended with a question mark. Examples are What Does Global Warming Mean?, Have You Ever Wondered What Content Marketing Is?, What is Leads Ahoy and Why Should You Care?

7. Article avoids pain

The “avoidance” article helps your readers survive a bad consequence. This type of article enumerates a list of not recommended activities – don’ts and shouldn’t.

Sample titles are: 100 Ways to You Should Never Do While Saving Money, 3 Ways to Avoid Traffic Jam

8. Article gives simple offers

An article that gives value focuses on what’s inexpensive, free, easy and fast. It easily captures attention because your goal is to provide simple solutions (not promotions) to their routines.

Sample titles are: 5 Places To Get Cheap Airline Tickets, 10 Easy Ways to Get Concert Tickets for $35, Get Rid of Pimples for Free

9. Article provides hot trends

If you’re curious what these hot trends are, it refers to the new releases and talk-of-the-town controversies.

You’re going to tell an entertaining story filled with technical terms or lingo, which your readers already understand. The story is about a person, a place or an event.

Sample titles are: Top 9 Trends in 2015 Summer Collection, Hot 100 R&B Songs For The Week, Top 10 Hot Movies This Week

10. Article teaches the how

A how-to article enumerates the steps on how to accomplish something. Its aim is to explain the steps in correct order and write each step in detail.

Sample titles are: How to Cook Spicy Chicken in 9 Steps, How to Learn to Ride A Bicycle in 7 Days Or Less, How to Buy A House in Chicago, Illinois

11. Article offers top tips

A “Top Tip” article is entirely different from “how-to” but quite similar with “avoidance.” Here, your goal is to establish credibility as an author.

You provide useful and valuable information (what, why, when, who, where) rather than give advice. Yet, to make sure your tips are the best among the rest, limit it to ten tips or simply expand that one biggest tip.

Sample titles are: 5 Top Tips for Improving Your Credit Score, My #1 Tip for Effective Content Marketing, 4 Top Tips Before Hiring An Online Consulting Firm

12. Expert article

An “expert perspective” article borrows ideas from an authority person. Your main responsibility is to interview them (or read their story) then, write down what you have understood.

Here, your goal is to present their accomplishments, to enumerate their strategies and to understand their future plans. It’s mainly about them, not you.

Sample titles are: Rafael Nadal: His 12 Insider Secrets to Success, 77 Expert Tactics in Chess, 101 Expert Tactics for Tennis Serve

13. Stories

A personal article focuses on stories, which talk about new perspectives, laws, principles and rules. Your goal is to offer life lessons (insights) than give lectures (do this and do that), which your readers already know.

Sample titles are: 100 SEO Success Stories, 75 Basic Principles of Saving Money, 98 Critical Lessons I Learned About life

14. Article review

A review article gives impartial information about a product or a service (IMPORTANT: It isn’t a sales letter).

You’ll receive more conversions if the review provides more facts such as specifications, colors, dimensions, weight and performance test data.

It also presents a balance swing between the positive and negative if it contains testimonials from random customers. Sample titles are: Should Young Businessmen Buy Stocks?, What’s Wrong With Oreo Milk Cookies?

15. A vs. B

This article is similar with a product review but with a spin. Here, you compare two similar products at one time. You emphasize their strengths, weaknesses, similarities and differences.

To receive more attention, find a way to condense the information into one visual comparative chart. Of course, don’t forget a put a red call-to-action button below the chart.

Sample Titles are: Nike vs. Adidas: Which is better?, Pros and Cons of LCD and LED Flat TV.

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Leads Ahoy provides services in reputation management, search engine optimization, list building and geo-targeted lead generation. http://leadsahoy.com/