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Tag: Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization
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Exactly What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

In layman’s terms, Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the practice of optimizing your content in a way that it can be discovered through a search engine’s organic search results. …

Recent Posts

  • Preparing for the AI and Robotic Revolutions – (Book Summary and Announcement)

      The CEO of Site Tools Set, Noel Jerke, has authored and published a book Preparing For The AI and Robotic Revolution, to help people reap only the positives of the AI and Robotic revolution. Noel Jerke is a professional executive and entrepreneur working in the technology sector for almost three decades now. His close association and expertise in the subjects of artificial intelligence and robotics make him an authoritative figure to publish a book on such topics. The book has also been written by Grayson Jerke, who is a competitive college student with sheer fascination and interest in technology. Our company, Power Digital Services, has also worked effortlessly to ensure a seamless publication of this book. Not only would we like to congratulate the authors on its publication, but provide our audience with a peek through this timeless book. Preparing For The AI & Robotic Revolution – Book Summary From AI-powered customer representatives to virtual assistants in our gadgets like Alexa and Cortana and industrial mobile robots, artificial intelligence and robots are rapidly integrating themselves in our lives. It is almost as if the world is on the verge of seeing yet another revolutionary change, just like it did far back in the last century when the industrial revolution took over. Experts expect one AI and Robotic Revolution soon and believe it to bring both good and bad impacts with it. Preparing for The AI & Robotic Revolution helps its readers become familiar with this technology and all its possible impacts. It stresses different facets of this realm, helping its readers take a deep dig into this field and become prepared for what is to come ahead in the future to make the most of the good impacts, preventing the negative ones. The following is a comprehensive yet brief peek into the then well-structured chapters of this book. Chapter 1: Why Should I Care? Just like any other revolution of the past, the AI and Robotic Revolution are capable of heavily altering the global trends and landscapes of a multitude of things. From our living standards, career opportunities, human-robot interactions, safety concerns, and more, AI and Robots can drastically affect our everyday lives. Therefore, even if we don’t fancy technological advancements and science, AI and Robotics will affect us directly or indirectly regardless. Hence, it is crucial to care about the topic at hand and prepare ourselves to make the most of such a mighty revolution. Chapter 2: How Did We Get Here? Did you know that artificial intelligence and robots are not a modern concept? Contrary to what many believe, robots and artificial intelligence appeared even before the advent of our century. Going down the memory lane of humans, one can see that ideas of robots first appeared as back as the civilizations of Greeks and Jews. Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, first appeared in 1956 when a group of people collected with a shared vision of building machines as intelligent as humans. There were also times when interests regarding this field dampened: yes, we are referring to the AI winters! This chapter takes its readers from ‘’first instances’’ to ‘’the future’’ of this field through a series of events with historical references. Chapter 3: What is a Robot? The functions of robots have differed throughout the past due to the difference in technological advancements. It is because of these differences that many find it hard to define what robots fundamentally are. This chapter walks you through all possible defining pointers. It makes you aware of the different types of robots present and their main applications today in distinct sectors of life like medicine, finance, etc. Chapter 4: What is AI? From the description of this technological wonder to positive and negative impacts of it, this chapter sheds an unbiased light on artificial intelligence. It helps one realize how Stephen Hawking, a theoretical physicist, was right when it came to artificial intelligence. According to him, AI could either be the best or worst thing to happen to our race. Artificial intelligence, however, has terrifying potential to alter and revolutionize our contemporary world. Many experts believe that Artificial Intelligence, at its full potential, can overtake humans. Chapter 5: Real-world Uses of AI and Robots – The Bad Everything has a good and bad side: AI and automated robots are no different. With the tremendous potential these both possess, the harm they can cause is terrifying sometimes. While a Terminator-like apocalypse might not be our fate anytime soon, there might be one such possibility when AI-powered military bots become autonomous. Some other examples that we are more likely to encounter include privacy and security breaches. Give this book a read if you want to dig in deeper. Chapter 6: Real-World Uses of AI and Robots – The Good After breaking down the bad real-world uses of AI and Robots, the book eloquently walks you through the positive side of this field. It heavily stresses the positive applications of this technological realm in the medical, finances, housing, manufacturing, and exploration sectors. Highlights of this chapter include AI-powered cancer diagnosing tools, auto-driving cars like Tesla, and AI-powered robots by Boston Dynamics. Chapter 7: The Current Size of the Industry There is an in-depth analysis of the current size and trends of the industry for a larger and clear picture. Such trends help predict possible outcomes for the future. This section also features a briefing of the primary industry players. Chapter 8: What Does the Near Future Look Like? This chapter serves as a look into the future from the lens of experts. There are different outcomes mentioned. While no one knows for sure about what the future holds, expert opinions are more likely to incline towards reality because of calculated predictions. Chapter 9: How Will the Revolution Affect Jobs? With technological advances on the rise, many jobs are at risk, and it is natural to question if yours will be too one day. Generally, experts believe that jobs with high-risk Read More

  • Introduction to Guest Blogging, It’s Benefits and Best Practices

    We have already covered how to start and scale blogging outreach and best platforms to use in detail and how it can help businesses build authority and reach new customers. This post focuses on guest blogging aka guest posting, it’s benefits and industry best practices. A large number of businesses, both small and big, are realizing the potential benefits of guest blogging, including promotion, generating awareness and getting some quality backlinks to the target site. However, businesses need to be careful with their guest blogs to achieve their goals and avoid search engine penalties. What is Guest Blogging? As the name suggests, guest blogging is a SEO and content marketing technique that involves publishing blogs on 3rd-party sites to achieve different objectives, including backlinks, generating more traffic, adding readers to the subscriber list and creating awareness. Guest blogging creates a win-win situation for both the content publishers/guest blogging sites and individuals/businesses. Blogging sites get the content they need to keep visitors engaged while businesses get exposure and can reach more potential customers. Blog posts are not meant to be excessively promotional. Instead, they are written to educate the target audience, essentially making it an inbound marketing technique. Promoting your brand excessively in guest blogs can do more harm than good. The main objective of guest blogs in most cases is to generate inbound links through relevant and quality content. Like most other marketing techniques, guest blogging has also been abused a lot to generate backlinks without offering much in return to the reader/publisher. That’s why businesses need to be careful with their guest blogs and follow the best practices (covered below) to avoid penalty from search engines like Google. Guest blogging should not just be viewed as a tool to build links, which often results in low-quality content. Instead, it should be viewed as a relationship building tool by providing readers with something useful and relevant to what they are searching for on a particular site. However, it takes time and consistency to build strong relationships, so guest blogging is not a shortcut to anything. Benefits of Guest Blogging Guest blogging has the potential of becoming a powerful tool in the marketing arsenal for attracting and engaging the right type of visitors. The key benefits of posting blogs on other sites include: External links help build domain and brand authority More traffic to the target site through quality links Increases awareness and credibility Helps build and nurture relationships within the industry The feedback from guest blogs can help businesses fine-tune their online and offline marketing strategies Helps build strong social media profiles even if you are not getting a lot of traffic in return Helps discover new business opportunities within the industry Quality blog posts are a great way of providing readers with useful content by sharing your experience and expertise on a particular topic. In return, it enables businesses and individuals to establish their authority within the industry and expose themselves to new audience. Regularly posting new content allows delivering new perspectives and keeping the target audience engaged. Guest Blogging Best Practices Find the Right Target Audience/Niche and Create Relevant Content Posting a software related blog on a fashion site is not likely to generate relevant traffic. The content has to be industry-specific in order to target the right audience. Understanding the target audience of a blogging site is essential in determining how it overlaps with your customer base. It’s recommended to choose industry specific blogging sites , which your target audience is more likely to visit. Generate Unique Content, Consistently Guest blogging is not about posting a blog once and hoping for it to keep generating traffic to your site. Visitors are not interested in reading the same thing over and over again so bloggers have to get creative and keep them engaged with fresh and relevant content. Only unique, informative and highly relevant content can entice visitors to find out more about your businesses. That’s why you should save your best topics for guest blogs with catchy (but not fishy) titles and subjects. One Link Per Post It’s better to only link back to your own site once in a guest post (with nofolow attribute) to be on the safe side and avoid search engine penalty. Although you might have to sacrifice SEO, you’ll still be able to reap promotional benefits while avoiding penalties. Nofollow attribute is a qualifier that tells search engines not to associate/crawl the links to your site. It might seem counterintuitive, but it works well especially when you are just starting out. Choose the Best Authors for Your Content This applies to individuals as well as businesses. Individuals should post their best content and ideas to build authority, while businesses should pick the best authors who have a proven track record of writing engaging and useful content. Spend Some Time to Research for Blogging Sites Researching for reputable and trusted blogging platforms is essential in reaching the right audience. Not all sites accept guest posts so you need to do some homework and get in touch with them to pick the right ones. While there is no shortage of blogging sites, you need to list them down according to your industry instead of posting on sites that entertain just about all types of blog posts. Be Clear About the Objective Some businesses want to start guest blogging to promote their brand and increase exposure, while others want backlinks to their site. It’s important to have a clear objective so you can make a blogging strategy accordingly. For example, the target site should have a good domain authority if the objective is to generate backlinks. It’s Not Just About Creating Content The main objective of guest blogging is to build strong relationships through useful content. This is possible when you maintain a sustainable relationship with the content publisher/blogging site. Giving communication a personal touch can help a lot in this regard. Gathering information about the owner, reading their blogs and following/commenting on their Read More

  • Top 10 Guest Blogging Sites and Platforms

    Introduction Guest blogging can hone your influence over the target audience and offers many benefits from SEO and marketing perspective. We have already covered guest blogging benefits, best practices, mistakes to avoid and how to get started and scale a blogger outreach campaign in separate posts. This post focuses on some of the best platforms and guest blogging sites. However, the list is not exhaustive and one should not limit his/her research only to these sites. Important Things to Consider When Picking Guest Blogging Sites Choosing the right blogging site is important and depends on a variety of factors, including the type of topics you are dealing with, likes and dislikes of the target audience and the type of visitors a blogging site attracts. While bloggers should remain true to their writing style, they also need to maintain a balance between their own voice and the knowledge level and interests of the target audience. Ideally, the target audience of a blogging site should be same as your own blog/business. Although some differences might be there such as demographics, the main thing is the common interests. For example, if you mostly blog about gaming gear, it’s better to stick with blogging sites that specifically target gamers than average PC users. You can have a fair idea about the type of visitors a site attracts by exploring the site. You can also ask the site owner for more details if you are still unsure. It’s better to be on the safe side than not being sure if your content can engage the target audience of a particular site/blogging platform. Popular or high-ranking blogging sites are not better in all cases. Sure, high-traffic blogging sites are likely to attract more visitors, but the kind of traffic they attract also matters. Choosing a specialized or niche site with a loyal following is better than opting for a high-traffic but general site with low engagement rate. Loyal and responsive audience of highly relevant niche sites is more likely to learn more about you and generate traffic. Tools such as Amazon’s Alexa can help a lot in this regard and make it easier to differentiate between high and low authority sites. Top 10 Guest Blogging Sites Medium Medium is a great platform for a wide range of topics, including science, technology, health, business, culture, politics and work. It does not target visitors with ads or sell their data to anyone, which creates trust and loyalty among readers. The site is made for curious readers who want to explore new ideas. With more than 120 mn readers and a loyal following, Medium is ranked among the most popular sites. The bloggers also have to come up with great content to make it to the site and reach new audience. Business Insider As the name suggests, the site primarily focuses on business and finance, technology, retail, lifestyle, strategy, executive lifestyle and Intelligence. It also covers lifestyle topics including entertainment, travel, food and health as well as sports, political and defense news. BI is viewed as a reliable source of advice by many industries, so it also expects top-notch and pro-level content from guest bloggers and business leaders. Copyblogger A highly recommended site for those who have expertise in online content marketing and can deliver highly relevant, practical and well-written content. It’s not easy to make it to their certified writers list, but for those who do, the rewards can be huge. Copyblogger offers access to its educational content and marketing resources. Its main focus is to deliver marketing guidance that help businesses create great online content that supports growth and drives traffic. Social Media Examiner The site is for those who can produce well-researched and detailed content and keep up with one of the largest social media communities. The site does not want to risk its reputation by publishing low quality and generic content so being able to post there takes some effort and patience. TechCrunch The technology and startup news site allows guest bloggers to pitch their high-quality single story in order to become a regular contributor. That’s why you need a stellar first story to get noticed and give them something wonderful. OutBrain The site helps more than a billion people discover products and services and content of their interest, making it one of the largest platforms to get your message across. It connects businesses with consumers through engaging content and works equally well for both advertisers and media companies. But the platform also expects guest bloggers to deliver quality content and has strict guidelines. You have to be a real expert in your field with a proven track record. Different content categories include native advertising, performance marketing, online marketing, conversion optimization and content marketing. PandaDoc The target audience of PandaDoc includes sales and marketing, HR and finance people. If marketing, leadership, sales enablement, automation, finance, document management etc. is your niche, the site provides a solid platform to reach highly targeted individuals. PandaDoc is an AIO document automation solution with advanced functionalities that help businesses close more deals. PandaDoc is open to guest posts and making it to their blog is relatively easy than other sites discussed above. WebandDesigners The site is open to guest posts related to web development, web design and associated niches. Being a crowdsourcing forum, they expect content that focuses on solving problems and sharing connected resources with the world. Whether you want to share high-quality resources and freebies such as wallpapers, buttons and PSD templates or want to write tutorials about Fireworks, CSS, Photoshop and PHP, WebandDesigners is a great platform for individuals and also rewards them for their creative work. SitePoint SitePoint was created to help web developers stay on the cutting edge of technology and provides them with unlimited access to different resources for a monthly fee. It also offers advice and training for modern web technologies and connects accomplished web developers with the world. It’s major content categories include JavaScript, HTML/CSS, Design and UX, WordPress, Entrepreneur, Read More

  • Common Guest Blogging Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

    Introduction Guest blogging or guest posting can be an effective method of creating effectiveness, building links and establishing brand authorities. However, jumping too quickly on the bandwagon without giving it some serious thought can be harmful and result in search engine penalties. We have already covered the benefits and best practices of guest blogging in a separate post. This post focuses on some of the most common guest blogging mistakes and what individuals and businesses can do to avoid them. Mistake # 1: Failing to Do Your Research and Following Guidelines The research includes finding the right niches, blogging sites and how to pitch perfectly. Almost all guest blogging sites have their own posting guidelines, which the site owners expect you to read and follow. Taking some time to read those guidelines and making sure you are not breaking any rules saves you from asking common questions, which might set the owners on edge. For example, if you can see evidence that a site accepts guest blogs, there is no point in asking the same question again via email. Guidelines vary from one blogging site to another. For example, one might limit you when it comes to how many backlinks you can place, while another might not have any issues with it. Some important guidelines include the kind of topics you can post about, how to publish posts and how to place backlinks. Understanding these guidelines can save you and the blog owner a lot of time and ensures that your posts don’t end up getting rejected. Mistake # 2: Only Focusing on Your Brand/Products/Services As we discussed earlier in the introductory post, guest blogging is not about promoting your brands and products excessively. Instead, it’s meant to provide the readers with useful content with subtle references to what you do and your own site. That’s why it’s recommended not to blow good guest blogging opportunities by totally focusing on your own products and services. Guest blogging sites are not particularly interested in promotional content and neither are their readers. Bloggers should focus on delivering engaging and informative content instead of churning out promotional posts and ads. Mistake # 3:  Failing to Link Back to Your Own Site/Placing too Many Links Although generating quality backlinks is often the primary objective of guest blogs, some blogging sites don’t allow you to include any backlinks while others prohibit you from placing backlinks within the body. However, a majority of blogging sites at least allow you to include a backlink in the bio/byline. Make sure to read the guidelines and include a backlink where it is allowed. SEO might not be the primary objective of blog posts for many, but it’s still important to include a link where you can (without overdoing it) as it can also provide additional resources that might be valuable for the readers. The backlinks should offer some value to the visitor and the target site should be prepared in advance to handle new visitors. For example, if your backlink is redirecting to the subscription form, everything must be setup properly in advance. Mistake # 4: Using Blog Posts Solely for Getting Inbound Links Bloggers and businesses have to maintain a balance between providing useful content and promoting their own brand. Search engines can detect this and don’t like guest blogs that are posted just to generate links. That’s also the reason guest blogging has earned a bad reputation. Guest blogging only for generating backlinks is also not a wise strategy from a business perspective in the long run. It can result in low-quality content while offering little value to the readers. Instead of totally focusing on generating links, bloggers should focus their energy on delivering informative and useful content and creating awareness in the target audience. Quality content leads to beneficial traffic that is more likely to further explore what you have to offer. Bloggers should also include a byline, which is a short description about them that includes a link to the target blog/site. It should be precise, briefly describe you and your work and what you like the most. 2-3 sentences are considered more than enough for a byline. Mistake # 5: Failing to Understand Blog’s Audience The target audience of your own site/blog should ideally be the same as the guest blogging site. There might be some differences in the topics of interest or demographics. But bloggers need to remain true to their own style and voice while being aware of interests, knowledge level and expectations of the target audience. You can ask the blog owner for these details if you are unsure, which enables you to write more personal posts that speak directly to the audience and provides them information they are likely to be interested in. Mistake # 6: Pitching Ineffectively You have to convince blog owners how your content is useful for their audience how it provides value. This can be especially tricky when pitching to owners of large publications you have no previous connection with. That’s why you need to find the most relevant person to contact with (often the section editor) and address them by name to make a personal connection. Since pitching to the editors/blog owners is one of the most important steps, we’ll cover it in more detail. Bloggers need to introduce themselves properly and make a strong first impression. Including links to your social media profiles allows editors/site owners to know more about you and your interests and do some basic background checks. However, bloggers should also try not to be a show off regardless of their expertise and knowledge. Moreover, if you already have some connections, why not leverage them for an introduction? A sincere and kind tone is a must when trying to pitch to editors or blog owners. It’s always better to have a second opinion from a friend or a fellow writer just to make sure you are using an appropriate tone because it’s often hard to spot your own errors. Similarly, Read More

  • What Are the Ways You Can Drive Traffic to Your Website?

    Struggling to generate income from your website? You’re not alone. It takes time to build a thriving business. Whether you’re running an ecommerce store or a blog, it can take a while to convert your site into a profit-generating asset. That being said, you need to take that first step, i.e. drive traffic to your website. By taking a few steps, you can increase your visibility in search engines, boost reputation among customers, and create a steady flow of loyalists without breaking the bank. So without further ado, let’s see how you can get visitors to your website. 1. Write Long-Form Blog Posts Part of getting traffic involves convincing search engines that you have content on your website that people will read and engage with. Although you publish several 300 words post each day, it’s unlikely that visitors will find them impressive. 300 words aren’t simply enough to convey something actionable (unless you’re a news website). Top ranking posts are usually 1500 to 2000 words in length, so if you’re going to publish something, make it both valuable and long. 2. Interview Industry Leaders When you’re researching ideas for your content, make sure to do the following: reach out to some experts in the industry to see if they’re interested in giving an interview. You’d be surprised by how many “big-names” will be willing to do it. If you get a yes, prepare thought-provoking questions and send them out via email. After you get their answers, publish the interview on your website. The best part is that the person who you’ve interviewed will likely share your content on their social media handles. 3. Host Giveaways Contests and giveaways bank on the FOMO (fear of missing out) and the power of urgency. Plus, they’re great for getting exposure and can provide you with plenty of valuable data that can be tracked and analyzed. To encourage more people to sign up, create a landing page on your website with a fancy copy that highlights the giveaway. Giveaways could be free ebook, a product discount, or even a product or service that’s usually paid. 4. Experiment with Live Video Streaming Live video is still a new concept for website owners, but many social media channels have integrated it into their platform, making it easy to take advantage. You can get started by hosting an Instagram Live, Facebook Live, or a YouTube Live session. Streaming live content is a great way to connect with your potential customers. The tactic can even be used to host a content or a giveaway (now wouldn’t that be exciting?). Make sure to post the live stream on your blog and other social media channels so that new visitors can also learn about your sessions and tune in the next time you host a stream. 5. Start Using Quora What makes Quora so good for driving traffic is that it lets you answer questions related to your exact business. Also, you can post a link of your website in your Quora profile as well as in your answers once you build some authority. Just make sure not to spam people by posting links in every answer you post. A key tip for driving traffic is to post detailed answers and ensure what you’re posting is accurate. By taking this approach, you’ll get people to trust your answers and drop the hesitation of visiting for your site when they require additional information. 6. Publish Great Infographics One of the best content types you can post is infographics. This involves taking visuals, written text and putting them together into a format that people love, share, and like. When using this content for your website, get creative and come up with something users will link to. Don’t worry if you don’t know graphic design, because there are a range of tools you can use to create great designs. Some tools like Canva and Infographic Maker even come with pre-loaded templates that you can tweak and optimize to create shareworthy content pieces on the fly. 7. Post in Online Communities Online communities are groups where people tend to hang out. You can find relevant communities on Slack, Reddit, LinkedIn groups, Facebook groups, and general forums. Just Google “your industry name + forum” or use the search bar of the relevant community. When engaging with people on these resources, make sure to build some authority before you start recommending your website as a helpful resource. Otherwise, an admin of the community might kick you out or people might see you as someone desperate to make money. Be educational in the starting phase. 8. Cross-promote with other businesses For many new brands, there are several non-competing entities that are after the same audience. So why not make a collective effort to reach those people? You can cross-promote with non-competing businesses via social media by co-hosting a live session, contest, or giveaway. You can also promote one of their products on your website and ask them to do the same. Events can also be co-hosted in case you want to attract an online audience. 9. Comment on Other Blog Posts Take out 10-15 minute each day to comment on other blogs in your niche. Doing so will not only expose your name to people, but also help you build relationships with other readers and the blog owner. Of course, don’t just say I learned so much from your content, but comment on specific things that you read in the blog. Maybe someone in your own audience is suffering from the problem they’ve talked about. Think of ways you can write an engaging content. Conclusion Nowadays, there’s no shortage of ways you can drive traffic to your website. With a little effort and consistency, you can make it work. Start by taking the easy steps of creating and growing a social media presence, and then move towards other tactics such as creating infographics and commenting on other blog posts. Good luck!

  • Top 5 Platforms for Boosting Blogger Outreach Campaigns

    Introduction We have already covered how to get started with a blogger outreach campaign and the best practices. This post focuses on some of the best platforms you can use to reach the right bloggers. Finding the right bloggers for your campaigns and getting in touch with them is a time-consuming and often tedious task. However, there are plenty of tools and established networks that can help you speed up the process and connect with relevant bloggers in less time. Top 5 Blogger Outreach Tools Most of the platforms covered here offer fermium services, but it’s highly recommended to give paid plans a try to realize the true potential of these tools and networks. The tools are designed to help marketers reach and engage with the right influencers and more to make their blogger outreach campaigns a success. Buzzsumo.com The fermium version of Buzzsumo allows users to research and curate content and find the most relevant content related to a particular niche. You need to upgrade to the Pro version to access advanced outreach tools and get in touch with the right influencers. The platform allows searching influencers and viewing the topics and content they have shared. Advanced filters allow narrowing down your research using different filters such as influence, engagement level and authority. Lists of influencers and other key information can easily be exported into Excel/CSV/PDF files for further analysis and sharing with other apps. The pricing for paid plans start at $99/month, but the provider offers 20% discount on annual subscription as well as 40% and 30% discount for NGOs and educational institutions respectively. All paid plans include unlimited searches, content analysis and reports and domain reports. Key features Unlimited web and twitter searches for influencers Backlink, brand and competitor alerts Question analyzer You tube analyzer Facebook analyzer Search and analysis on up to 5 years old data Multiple logins per account Excel/CSV/PDF export URL export to projects Custom trending feeds Advanced trending filters Content analysis reports Domain reports Top author search NinjaOutreach.com Trusted by many reputable and large businesses, NinjaOutreach also works well for small and medium businesses. It helps marketers run successful influencer marketing campaigns by allowing them to search and filter through a large pool of influencer insights to find the right ones. Users can easily search for social media influencers and business profiles from any location and niche. All they need to do is to enter the right keywords to get access to influencer profiles and email addresses. Email and marketing APIs help users get rid of multiple tools and spreadsheets to collaborate and makes organization effortless with the built-in CRM. Instagram API provides instant access to analytics, metrics and influencers on Instagram. Users can search influencers based on different criteria, including profile data, hashtags, metrics and location. Pricing for monthly plans start from $299/month, but there is a 60% discount on annual subscriptions ($119/month). It makes sense to go for the annual plan if you are in blogger outreach for the long term. The main differences between the Flex and Pro include the number of contacts (1k vs 4k), seats (1 vs 3), connected emails (1 vs 4) and monthly email limit (10k vs 15k). Key Features Access to 64 million Instagram influencers 7 million twitter influencers 5 million business emails 6 million bloggers Up to 4k contacts Up to 3 seats Up to 4 emails Up to 15k emails/month Unlimited searches Data import Lead generation Built-in CRM Data export Instagram search and API YouTube search Link building software Personalized outreach messages Mailshake.com The platform is primarily intended for public relations, link-building and sales and allows businesses to build sale outreach, email, social media and phone campaigns. It puts email outreach on autopilot through its powerful mail-merge personalization features and automatic follow ups. The platform comes with an integrated phone dialer so users can make cold calls directly from the web browser. Mailshake is designed to improve connect rates and engagement through twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook and makes it easier to track performance and manage leads with the light-weight CRM. The platform also seamlessly integrates with a variety of other systems and apps, including G Suite, Outlook, HubSpot, CallLoop, zoom and Slack. The Email Outreach plan costs $59/user/month and allows connecting to all the popular email providers. The Sales Engagement plan costs $99/user/month and includes all Email Outreach features plus phone dialer, social selling and on-boarding calls. The Email Outreach plan is suitable for users who just need email features, while the Sales Engagement plan works well for users who also need the phone functionality. Key features Email personalization Outreach templates Advanced scheduling Prospecting via social media Automated email sequences and follow ups Integration with over 1,000 apps via Zapier Click, reply and open monitoring A/B testing 5k list cleaning credits per month Integrated phone dialer Social selling Custom tasks On-boarding phone calls Large scale cold emailing PitchBox.com The content marketing and influencer outreach platform is designed for SEO agencies, publishers and brands to promote their content and minimizes the learning curve through its intuitive user interface. It allows them to find bloggers, influencers and publishers through advanced keyword search and multiple prospecting profiles. The platform can be integrated with a variety of SEO solutions, including Ahref, Moz, Majestic and LRT, which extends functionality and allows users to do more from a single platform. Integration with these SEO tools means users don’t have to switch between different platforms to manage their SEO. Complete control over messaging allows users to fully customize their outreach emails according to the target audience, while automatic follow ups helps boost response rates without requiring any manual input. However, these advanced features come at a cost as PitchBox is priced relatively higher than the competition. That’s what makes the platform more suitable for agencies, publishers and high-profile bloggers. Pricing starts from $195/month (Basic Plan), which includes up to 2k outreach emails, one workspace and up to two users who also get access to a variety of features including Read More

  • Benefits of a Brand Ambassador and Key Characteristics to Look For

    What is a Brand Ambassador? A brand ambassador is essentially the face of a company. Although the word is usually associated with high-profile personalities and celebrities, by definition anyone who can influence the buying decisions of others can be a brand ambassador. Their role has evolved over time and now anyone can make some extra cash by positively representing a company they already love. Brand ambassadors can be selected based on many key traits such as being knowledgeable in their respective communities and having a large following. Having brand ambassadors allow businesses to leverage their established networks and relationships to promote products and brand authority. Word-of-mouth marketing tactics such as online mentions and referring friends can play an important role in spreading positive messages and influencing buying decision of potential customers. Brand ambassadors do not necessarily have to be paid workers. But they should get something in return even if it’s valuable experience or professional recognition. Scope of Work The scope and job description of a brand ambassador can vary from one industry and business to another. Small and medium businesses don’t have the kind of financial resources needed to hire celebrities and sports icons. However, there are some key traits to consider which are common for both large and small businesses. For example, brand ambassadors of large corporations have to represent a brand in different events. Whereas small businesses usually expect less from their brand ambassadors who are mainly responsible for promoting their products to their following. As another example, the customer support staff of a company can also be considered as their brand ambassadors who play a 2-in-1 role i.e. brand ambassador and customer support. Employees and Affiliates as Brand Ambassadors Many consider your employees to be the best brand ambassadors because they know the real truth about the working of a businesses. This is what makes them a great way of telling the world the real story about your brand. Similarly, affiliates should not be treated like people who can bring in more sales, but people who can represent your brand in a positive way to help establish long-term relationships with potential customers. Why Businesses Need a Brand Ambassador? Businesses can create strong brand associations through brand ambassadors in today’s ultra-competitive and homogenous market. That’s why many large scale marketing campaigns include brand ambassadors to differentiate themselves from the rest. Well-known brand ambassadors enhance brand credibility, customer attention and are more likely to influence the final buying decision of their followers. Different businesses from a specific industry are almost all the same in the minds of most customers. Brand ambassadors help differentiate a brand from others and can lead to higher recall of a particular brand. Brand ambassadors can defend a brand when some bad press happens and can rise to the occasion. Humans are emotional creatures and need some human association with a brand. Brand ambassadors help ‘humanize’ a brand as customers need some sort of a brand face to make an emotional connection. Brand ambassadors can form more personal connections with their followers who listen to their recommendations. A positive word-of-moth from them can be very beneficial for any business. Ten brand ambassadors with 10k twitter followers can mean a business reaching 100k new potential customers. Key Attributes of a Brand Ambassador Should Have a Strong Online Presence and Authority A brand ambassador should be able to reach and influence as many people as possible across different channels. A strong online presence with a highly-engaged network boosts marketing efforts. Brand ambassadors should be able to reach their followers via a variety of platforms and channels, including the social media, blogs, webinars and emails. Should Have Marketing Knowledge Although brand ambassadors are not expected to hold a Master’s degree in brand management and marketing, they should at least be familiar with and appreciate core marketing principles. This includes the importance of digital marketing in today’s competitive market and brand authenticity. High-quality referrals are possible when brand ambassadors understand the key marketing concepts and are willing to contribute in making a brand successful. Professionalism Brand ambassadors represent brands, but they are usually not on their payroll. However, this should not mean lack of professionalism. Someone embarrassing your brand due to lack of professionalism can have serious consequences on your brand reputation and credibility. A high level of professionalism is required from brand ambassadors to influence others and encouraging them to make a positive buying decision. Relationship Building Businesses need brand ambassadors to help them build strong relationships and reach new audience. That’s only possible if they are good at building and fostering relationships, which is also related to how much followers they have. Brand ambassadors are different from sales people, who are mainly focused on making sales while ambassadors are focused on fostering long-term and loyal relationships. That’s why they need to be passionate about your products and services and be very good at building relationships in order to turn marketing efforts into success. Leadership Skills Brand ambassadors should exude positivity, confidence and strong leadership skills to engage the target audience. People don’t just look for their recommendations because they are subject experts, but also because they can draw attention to what they represent and are confident about it. The people you want as brand ambassadors should have a high level of confidence in your products and willing to lead by example. Good Learner Brand ambassadors should be able to collect and adjust course based on their experience with your products/services and customer/competitor feedback. This information can serve as critical intelligence that helps businesses improve their products/services and marketing campaigns. Team Player Marketing campaigns are not a one-man-job and require team effort to succeed. A brand ambassador has to work with a lot of people to make marketing campaigns successful, which is not possible without a strong sense of teamwork. Being a good team player allows ambassadors to appreciate efforts of other team members and look forward in the same direction. Creativity Creativity and out-of-the-box thinking Read More

  • How to Start and Scale a Blogger Outreach Campaign?

    Introduction Blogger outreach can be defined as working in partnership with bloggers to reach new audience and promote a brand. Since bloggers aka influencers already have a significant following, they can become brand ambassadors and boost P2P marketing efforts. Pushing out same marketing messages to the masses is becoming ineffective over time and marketers are shifting towards making a personal connection with their target audience. Blogger outreach has proven to be an effective strategy in this regard and can be an effective weapon in the marketing arsenal. Why Start a Blogger Outreach Campaign? Influencers have direct access to their followers and can directly spread your message to them, which can influence their purchasing decision. Research suggests that around 80% online users trust information provided by influencers and as much as 60% of them make a buying decision based on their recommendations. This makes blogger outreach a more effective marketing strategy than spending loads of money on conventional social media advertising campaigns. What makes blogger outreach even more effective is the fact that most bloggers are active on different digital channels so your brand can also get promoted via those channels. Blogger outreach involves contacting bloggers or social media influencers and convincing them to promote your product in exchange for something of value such as freebies or money. However, blogger outreach is not easy due to the fact that influencers are very picky about what to promote and it takes some effort and out-of-the-box thinking to get your message across. This post covers the basics of how to start a blogger outreach campaign and scale it to reach a wider audience. The Shotgun Vs. Sniper Approach It’s important to understand the two main approaches marketers take for their blogger outreach campaigns. The shotgun approach means businesses send (usually generic) email requests to as many influencers as possible, hoping to convince a certain percentage of them. On the other hand, sniper approach involves targeting very specific influencers with highly personalized messages, which takes more time but worth the extra effort. Businesses choose the shotgun approach for different reasons including it saves them time, requires less effort and gives a perception that marketers are making tracks and outreaching at a scale. The shotgun approach might work in the short run, but isn’t very effective in making long term relationships with influencers. More emails do not necessarily mean more links, especially when they are not personalized and fail to hit the target right at the spot. The shotgun approach also has other disadvantages associated with it including: Deliverability issues Influencers can mark you emails as spam and if enough of them do so, your emails might end up landing in the spam folder in the future Low quality links Shooting emails without really knowing the kind of links you will be getting in return is another drawback that can have some serious consequences on your site credibility Limited Sources More backlinks also do not mean more web traffic as the amount of sites that can move the needle is fairly limited. That’s why you need to pick the influencers carefully otherwise your marketing efforts can go in vain Because of these reasons, taking the sniper approach is recommended in which marketers pick very specific influencers related to their niche and send highly personalized messages. Starting and Scaling a Blogger Outreach Campaign Step 1: Finding the Right Prospects Finding the right influencers is one of the most important steps in creating a successful blogger outreach campaign. There are different methods of finding prospects and which one is the best depends on your niche and past experience. The most commonly used prospecting methods include: Find mentions of influencers and let them know If you have linked to or mentioned influencers in your content, let them know that they have been mentioned because of the usefulness of their content. Skimming through the mentions of bloggers is easy and there are plenty of URL exacter tools available for free that make the process easier and allow you to export the information to a CSV file. Just make sure to check for external links only as you don’t need internal links in this case. Find Influencers Who Have Worked on the Same Topic as Yours Chances are good that someone else has also written content about the same topic as yours and interested in talking about it. This provides a common ground, but the task here is to find such bloggers who have worked on the same topic. Search engines like Google is a good starting point where you can search some important keywords related to your topic and collect links that offer similar content. It’s recommended to focus on prospects with fresh content (filter by time) as they are more likely to care about the topic and might still be interested in it. You can also use advanced filters to find even more relevant results such as content that DOES NOT mention something so you can ask them why something was not included (gives you an excuse to start a conversation). Exporting all the results and links can be a tedious task, but there are tools such as urlextractor that make the process easier such SEO toolbars, which extract all the results and saves it to a CSV file in just a few clicks. Paid SEO tools are also available if you are looking for something more advanced. These tools allow you to work with results at a granular level and make it easier to search and filter web pages, narrow down the results and export the information to a CSV file. Find Out Influencers Who Linked to Similar Content The same advanced SEO tools also allow you to find bloggers who have liked to content on the same topic as yours. You can search important keywords and view posts that have at least ten sites linking to them, and sort the results from high to low. Examine the backlinks one by one to identify outreach opportunities. Read More

  • How Often Should I Publish New Content on My Site?

    Running a website is not easy. It requires planning and organization to think about what to post and how to promote that content. You also have to create content that resonates with your target audience, which is a constant worry. Website owners know a lot about the importance of posting content, but feel confused about the ideal frequency of these posts. When Huffington Post started, they were posting every 58 seconds. Mashable started with 7-10 daily posts and increased the frequency as the website grew. On the other hand, Brian Dean posted 1 blogpost a month and still got a million unique users in a month. The shortest answer to your query is that there is no one-size-fits-all schedule for websites. This post will provide some tips and guidelines on how you can find out the posting frequency for your website. Types of Posting Schedules  For search engine optimization and quality, your posts must follow a schedule. These elements will help you build an audience over time and enjoy a defined status in the industry. There are two most common types of posting schedules: Weekly and Twice a Week  Most websites follow a weekly or bi-weekly posting schedule. It is a simple schedule and keeps things easy for all team members. While you are researching for the next week, your current week’s posts are scheduled, and you can focus on the future. Moreover, you are not spamming the readers with an overwhelming number of posts that they cannot digest. Experts suggest starting off with one post per week and then settling for a higher number. As you get more experienced in this domain, you start finding ways to add more posts to your schedule and find resources to allocate tasks. For an even better posting drill, choose one day and time every week to post. It is a simple but effective strategy that builds trust for your brand and keeps readers glued to your website. For starting teams, quality is better than quantity. Tips for blogging with a less frequent publishing frequency Write data-driven posts complete with enticing visuals, practical examples, and case studies. Also, make sure to optimize the post for on-page SEO, which includes creating relevant header tags, using alt tag in images, and more. Avoid timely content as it may be outdated till your posts start ranking. Write evergreen content instead. This will ensure your content is relevant even after 10-20 years. But if you have a knack for covering trends and what’s happening right now, you can proceed with blogging on timely topics. Just make sure to update the content for freshness when trends become outdated (for example, no one wants to hear about the fidget spinner now, so whoever wrote about it can update their blog to say they’re now out of fashion and customers can buy other high-potential products instead). Spend some time on keyword research and guest posting because that is how you’ll get the content to rank. You can also experiment with pillar pages since you’d be posting less frequently than sites that post daily. Daily Posts  You must have heard of a website that posts every day and their content is impressive. This approach requires a lot of time and accuracy, but the results are in favor of your website. Firstly, you cover a lot of topics related to your business which is a good way to go for a new business. It is enough content to boost through SEO and use as evergreen content. In order to fulfill the daily schedule, you can work with a team of writers, editors and sub editors that maintain quality of work. Having a daily post on your site builds expectations for the reader who then wants to come back for more every day. Moreover, new articles every day do not give your readers a chance to get bored. We suggest waiting for a good readership to build before you embark on this hectic schedule. If you try working on this schedule alone, you will feel burned out in a few weeks and it will be troublesome for you to come up with new and innovative ideas. But if you’re keen to publish a blog every day, here. are some tips to help you achieve that goal. Bookmark popular websites in your industry and find out what content strategy makes them successful. Then, try and mimic their structure (not the content, but the structure) to find success. Keep things exciting by sprucing up your content strategy. For example, you can write a 1,000+ word post on a Monday, publish a video on a Tuesday, create an image-based listicle on a Wednesday, and so on. Research topics beforehand. After all, you want to make sure there’s enough information out there for you to cover and people to read. If you aren’t able to come up with topic ideas on a regular basis, try broadening your niche or switch to a less frequent publishing schedule as we previously discussed. Frequency of Posts  The frequency of your posts depends on your goal for your website or blog. Here are some conditions that influencer the frequency of your posts. Organic Traffic  If your goal is to bring more organic web traffic to your site, then you need to post often. However, the posting schedule is up to your flexibility and resources. For small teams it can become a cumbersome task to churn out daily posts and keep up with other business operations. Make use of a planner to chalk out post ideas and ideal posting times. The calendar should also highlight brainstorming times for post outlines and content creation if required. If you are a one-person marketing team, you cannot post daily without planning. Moreover, things like photo and video content take time in production which can affect your posting schedule. Here are some free tools that can help you come up with creative blogpost ideas. For bigger teams, you can dedicate each task to an individual, Read More

  • Exactly What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

    In layman’s terms, Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the practice of optimizing your content in a way that it can be discovered through a search engine’s organic search results. This is often defined as SERP for Search Engine Results Pages.  The goal is to be as high in the results as possible to get noticed. For businesses that are just starting out, SEO can feel a bit intimidating. It is free, and both individuals and organizations can do it quite easily. However, there are a lot of things that need to be considered. Hence the million-dollar question is, how do you optimize your content for Search Engine Optimization? And what are the factors that impact SEO? To answer that, we first need to understand what SEO actually is and how it works. So, let’s dig deeper. Definition of SEO SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a process of optimizing your content in a way that your website can get organic or un-paid traffic from Google or any search engine results page. In other words, SEO consists of some practices that involve making changes to your website and its content so it can rank higher in the search engine results. Businesses buy SEO services from digital marketing companies in hopes that they can see their websites on the first page on the search engine results page. How Do Search Engines Work? Google and Bing are two top search engines that are used by people all over the world to process their queries and get relevant results. In simple words, search engines are libraries for the digital age that, instead of storing books, store web copies. When you type a query into the search bar of a search engine, it looks through all the pages in its index to find the most relevant results and display them in front of you. To do this, it uses a set of certain instructions called an algorithm. These algorithms are continuously updated regularly, so nobody except Google knows how these algorithms work, but we do have a clue. How SEO Works? You know how search engines work, now let’s discuss how SEO works. SEO works by showing the search engines that your content is the best result against the typed query by the user. And because all the search engines have the same goal: to show the best, most relevant results – your content will be shown on top results if it is well optimized for the topic at hand. However, it also comes down to the search engine you are optimizing for. For example, if you want to get more organic traffic to your website, then you need to have a better understanding of Google’s regularly changing algorithm. If you want more views on your videos, then you need to understand YouTube’s algorithm. Since every search engine has its own way of going through the content and showing you the top results, it is virtually impossible to cover all of them in this guide. Therefore, we will focus on the biggest search engine of all: Google. Top Benefits of SEO 1. SEO Leads to Enhanced User Experience A search engine is looking for the most relevant results – the websites that get more clicks, more leads, higher conversion rates, and has optimized content, etc. are the best match. Hence, for the sake of SEO, you will have to improve your website and maximize user experience. This includes providing your users with easy to navigate web pages, easy to read content, relevant information, related photos/videos to support text, and a mobile-friendly website configuration. This is what a search engine is already looking for; thus, it will improve your search ranking as well. 2. More Leads The biggest advantage of SEO is that it is an inbound marketing strategy, which is the most effective and successful source of leads among NGOs, B2B, and B2C. Inbound marketing includes social media marketing, content marketing, referrals, search engine optimization, and so on. On top of everything, SEO is completely free – you don’t have to break the bank in order to get more clicks and leads. 3. Higher Conversion Rate If your website has a good ranking on a search engine, it can guarantee you higher conversion rates. All you have to do is maintain your top position, and your target market will become more aware of you. As customers are becoming more familiar with what you are offering (product or services), there is a great possibility for them to close a deal with you. 4. Helps Establish Brand Awareness In today’s world, where everything is getting online, people tend to search for a brand on the internet before trusting its products or services. SEO is the best way to establish brand awareness. It will make your product or service appear on top in search results through regular and organic search. Once you maintain the top positions, people will be able to see and recognize you. 5. Helps You Gain More Followers on Social Media By the time you maintain top ranking on a search engine, more and more people will know about you. Just a little push in the right direction can move the users from your website to your social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) If they like your content on your website and social media, they will eventually follow you and might even become a hot lead. Factors That Impact SEO Now that you know how search engines work and what SEO actually is, now you might be wondering, “what are the factors that can impact SEO?” So, let’s take a look at some of the factors that can impact your online presence on search engines. 1. Crawlability Before Google even considers your content and rank it on its results page, it first needs to know where it exists. Although Google uses several methods to locate a web page, the primary method is known as crawling. In simple words, crawling is a Read More

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