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Have Content Anxiety? Here’s How To Avoid It Next Time You Go To Create & Publish With Confidence

Content Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / August 24, 2022 April 27, 2023

Does anyone else remember feeling content anxiety before turning in a big test? Especially if you’re a perfectionist, the thought of getting a B when you know you deserve an A likely drove you crazy during your academic years.

Of course, we all know that one friend who swore they failed at everything they ever did, only to come out on top every time. The reality is that this friend of ours probably has content anxiety, too.

I assumed as I got older and moved into my career, that level of anxiety and stress would fade. Yet, I used to sit at my desk every day wondering if what I’ve written was enough, whether I should reword it, or read through it again and make only small changes.

The problem with this process is that I continue “holding” off on publishing content until it’s just right – only for it to never be published at all. Yep! My content anxiety and I worked together to hold my business back because I didn’t exactly know how to let go. But I do now, which is why I’m giving you my personal tips to combat content anxiety before hitting Publish.

Has it been too long since you’ve published relevant content for your business? We’re here to help.

What Is Content Anxiety?

Content anxiety isn’t only feelings of anxiousness, worry, or nervousness. It also appears as writer’s block that occurs often and for no apparent reason. To clarify, no one knows your business better than you do. But when you sit down to write a social media post, blog, or any other type of content, you suddenly feel like there are no words for what you have to say. Your thoughts may sound like…

I have nothing. Even if I did, it wouldn’t sound right.

I suck at writing, I can’t do this.

I hate writing. I’m not even good at it!

Then, there is post-writing content anxiety. You finally have the words down, but something doesn’t feel right. Those thoughts might be…

This doesn’t sound right.

Why can’t I think of what I’m trying to say? This is ridiculous!

I’ll go back and make some changes later when I have time.

However, we’ve addressed why this doesn’t work out. You hold on to everything for too long until it’s no longer relevant or information changes. This means you need to do a complete rewrite to get it back in your production line.

Phew…is anyone else tired just reading this? You’re not alone.

Why Do People Get Content Anxiety?

There are a few reasons you may be suffering from content anxiety…

1. The Blank Page

Looking at a blank page can be intimidating. So many things running through your mind can make you feel pessimistic about writing before you even start! But it helps if, instead of writing from scratch, you outline your thoughts and organize them in a way that makes sense. Take each section at a time and fill in the blanks.

2. Afraid Of Errors

The best thing about technology is that there are numerous tools you can use to ensure your writing is error-free. Applications like Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and Wordtune will check spelling, grammar, and readability. Often, these apps have a free version you can use to take care of the most common writing errors for you.

Keep in mind, these softwares are not perfect. Review each suggestion they are making to ensure it makes sense.

3. Self-Conscious About Writing

If you’re not completely confident in your writing, the fear of judgment may take over. This alone prevents you from getting the job done. But the thing about your writing is that you are often your own worst critic. The best thing you can do is keep in mind that you’re an industry expert and leader, and you know what you’re talking about. Also, you can always have someone on your team review your work so you can fix anything you need to before you publish it.

4. Crunched For Time

As the clock ticks away, you can feel yourself getting more anxious while staring at the three words you’ve written since you started 15 minutes ago. Instead of thinking about the time you don’t have, think about the time you do have. Whether it’s an hour or 25 minutes, use it as best you can to get your ideas down on the page – even if it’s not perfect.

How To Avoid Content Anxiety Like The Plague

You know what they say…Practice makes perfect. This is a little like that. But here’s how we confidently publish without a hint of anxiety.

Find The Root Of Your Anxiety

It’s important to assess what’s going on in your head that gives you content anxiety. Is it your perfectionism? Your control freak tendencies? Your fear of people judging you? Or not feeling like you’re on par with your competitors (even if they are lightyears ahead of you)?

I’ve raised my hand to all of these questions before. It’s a tough space to be in, but knowing what’s going on is important, so you know how to deal with it.

Write Down What You Observe

The best way to gather content ideas is to sit and observe. Talk to your target audience and listen to what they care about most. Remember, the content you’re writing isn’t for you. It’s for your customers. Jot down notes about their experiences throughout the buying process, and you’re bound to come up with one or many ideas to discuss.

One of my personal best examples of this? Welcome to the Hooter Meter. Yes, as in the restaurant chain across the U.S. known for its wings, beer, and…buxom waitstaff.

Years ago, I worked on an article with another professional discussing the ability to judge the economy based on how well the local Hooters is holding up. The Hooters observed was slow at the time as gas prices reached a 17-year low, and waitstaff hula hooped outside to drum up some business. Since their normal oil and gas customers were being laid off and cutting back on eating out, they needed new marketing tactics to get paying customers in the door. It was an observation we didn’t expect to make, but we’re glad we did!

Ask Yourself…Does My Customer Care About Your Topic?

Before you spend a ton of time writing content you can’t use, ask yourself if your customers care about what you’re covering. If it isn’t a part of their customer journey, skip it. The point of creating relevant content is that it’s relevant to your customers, not yourself. Make sure it matters before deciding to move forward.

Focus On Whether You Can Add Value To Your Target Customer With Your Content

I often ask my writers…What’s your angle?

What I’m really asking is that whatever content you create has a:

Point
Potential solution
Call to action reflecting that solution

Content that hits these three goals is much more likely to produce the results you’re looking for. Remember, your writing shouldn’t cater to you and your needs as a business owner. It should speak to your target audience by relating to their pain points, emphasizing their problem, and offering your services as a solution that saves them time and money.

If the benefit isn’t saving them time or money, explaining how other benefits will be worth the purchase or conversation is essential. If your goal is to ease up on “sales speak,” keep them engaged by offering educational or other helpful materials within your content.

Unsure where you stand regarding your company’s messaging? We will help you figure it out.

Never Publish In The Same Day

Deadlines are critical to most small businesses. But you don’t want to compromise the quality of your content by rushing through your review process just to hit Publish.

Even if you promised yourself to get through everything and make meticulous edits by 4pm but it’s now 9pm, save it for tomorrow. You’ll be fresh, energized, and able to use more of your time carefully editing and reviewing whatever is in front of you.

Publishing content that is “right” the first time certainly saves you from having to go back and edit again, rewrite sections, and repost it for everyone to see. Rushing might make your deadline work, but it will take away from the quality of your message.

Adopt A Mindset Of…Perfection Will Never Exist, But It’s Better In The World Than In My Head

Perfectionists…type A personalities…and (sometimes) nit-pickers. There is nothing wrong with you if you claim these personality traits as your own. These qualities are often needed to become a successful business owner. And I will be the first person to raise my hand to claim these.

However, perfectionists are also notorious for falling behind on executing personal projects. This makes it hard to feel confident about your content before putting it out into the world. But a ton of unpublished content waiting to be “perfect” before it’s published only takes up space on your computer. It doesn’t do you any good otherwise.

Let go – post your content after proofing for any glaring errors and breathe. You will be just fine, and what you have to say is still valuable. Perfection doesn’t exist, so it’s okay to let go.

Skip Out On Unnecessary Content Anxiety & Outsource Copywriting For Your Small Business

After years of establishing our processes and workflow, we help business owners like yourself relax regarding content copy. Our experienced copywriting experts handle it all, from long-term campaigns to one-time projects!

If you’re someone who struggles with letting go of imperfect copy or delegating to others, we will help! Our services are also for those who can’t find the right words to express themselves or for those who simply have no time to write.

Reach out and let the copywriting team at FocusCopy think about your content, so you don’t have to.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words

How We Use ClickUp To Manage Our Content Production Calendar

Processes & Procedures / By Lauren Jefferson / August 12, 2022 August 15, 2022

If there is one thing we do better than other copywriting firms, it is managing our content production calendars. It’s critical for our business to succeed and would normally require a lot of preparation and planning. But our professional copywriting business uses a management application called ClickUp, packed with features to keep our calendars in line and on the move.

We quickly realized that talking about how we manage our workload can help a ton of other small businesses out there manage theirs. Using a management system like ClickUp can operate seamlessly within your budget – or without paying a single dime.

When every hour is accounted for in your day, you should have the tools to navigate your time to the best of your ability. Time management isn’t always an easy skill to master. From professional copywriters to other small business owners out there, here’s how we use ClickUp to manage our content production calendar.

Looking for additional strategies to improve productivity? Download our free guide, Easy-to-Implement Scalable SOP Framework.

What Is ClickUp?

ClickUp is an all-in-one online project management tool that tracks your workload, follows the chain of work, and acts as a filing system. Furthermore, it has a ton of features that assist your daily responsibilities, like meeting notes, collaboration add-ons, organization tabs and folders, and so much more.

I know! It sounds like a lot, but we’ll break it down to show you how it’s helped us stay organized and efficient.

What Is A Content Production Calendar?

Your business’s content production calendar should be a broad view of the ongoing and upcoming projects you have. You can also have a different calendar for different avenues of your business. For example, you may have one for client projects and another for marketing efforts.

It helps to divide your projects into labels like:

Active or open
Call made
Closing out
Closed
Onboarding
Complete
Due date

This way, everything you need to keep an eye on is on the calendar, and you know where it stands in the line of production.

You can think of your content production calendar in ClickUp like a desktop calendar you might have in front of you. Instead of tearing off a new page at the beginning of the month, everything you need is digital. Another big benefit of using ClickUp’s online calendar is that you can view it as a list or in a digital planner, which is a huge plus for those who are more visual thinkers.

How We Manage Our Content Production Calendar With ClickUp

As you may guess, your content production calendar is your lifeline as it allows you to keep up with everything that’s going on around you. We use ClickUp’s content production calendar by using the Spaces section to divide our workload into work we do for clients and then for our own scalable growth.

Managing Client Work

Assigned work breaks down into individual labels for each one of our clients. Then it’s divided into various phases, depending on where we are on our timeline. From each phase, tasks are arranged based on due dates and named according to the correct project. All of this allows us to maintain a digital filing cabinet with everything we need, including meeting notes, calls, and anything else to help us as we write.

Tracking Brand Growth

Client work is its own category, which means the work we do to support our business is also its own section. Our marketing efforts divide up into particular sections like Email Marketing and Social Media. Each subsection is a virtual file that opens up to ongoing, upcoming, or completed tasks. Again, you can set due dates for each item so they appear on your visual calendar.

Brain Dump Topic Ideas In One Place

Choose where you want to keep track of your ideas, notes, and meetings with anyone. So, instead of using 100,000 randomly placed post-it notes, you have everything stored where you will easily find it. Instead of a visual calendar, think of this feature as a digital notebook organized for you through ClickUp.

We keep a document in the same place as our topic reviews for each client to throw in new ideas and “dump” them into one place. These files are internal, so you won’t have anyone outside your organization see them…or your super scribbled notes. Feel free to throw in half-baked thoughts, tidbits of information, and random topic ideas whenever you need to. Using an online system prevents the information from being lost, while enhanced security keeps your notes between only you and whomever else you decide to share them with.

When it’s time to review new or refreshed ideas, you can refer to your topic document and select from everything you’ve added over time. It will all still be as you left it, so you’re actively preparing for meetings beforehand and not scrambling to develop new ones on the spot.

Use Your Content Production Calendar To Balance Content Pillars & CTAs

You can also divide your tasks based on which type of content they cover, known as content pillars. Because scaling your business isn’t just about creating new content, it’s crucial for you to make varied, quality content.

As an example, if all you’re focusing on is producing 10 new blogs a month for a year, you’re limiting your potential. Other avenues of your marketing efforts are being ignored by not diversifying your content. Think of a few broad topics to create pillar pages on and use those to splinter into other channels like social media posts, blogs, lead magnets, and other material.

You want to focus on generating content that hits the following keys consistently:

Promote
Education or inform
Engage
Motivate or inspire

The idea of each piece? To get your audience to take action…any action! Whether you want them to buy, download, shop, or book an appointment, here is where you weave that action in.

We’re just going to leave this free download about Easy-to-Implement Scalable SOP Framework right here.

How Implementing Content Pillars Works

Own a bakery? You may have an entire web page generally covering wedding cakes. Then, you can splinter that content into so much more, answering questions like…How much does a wedding cake cost per serving? Or Why are wedding cakes so expensive?

As the industry expert, you can answer these questions any way you like and prompt readers to take action like:

Book a wedding cake consultation
Download a free wedding cake flavor profile booklet
Reach out to our wedding bakery team for a custom order

The options are limitless, and it all starts with one solid idea.

Schedule Your Team Based On Availability

Finally, a visual content production calendar with clear-cut due dates and tracking for your employees. Through ClickUp, we use this feature to keep an eye on our schedules and view the workload of others. As a business owner, you can view the same information and adjust workloads accordingly.

Have an employee on vacation? What about extra time left on the schedule?

Quickly shift assignments from one person to another, so nothing slips through the cracks. You can also make adjustments within each task to alter due dates and responsibilities and add notes just in case. Use helpful automation tools and content production calendar management software to keep projects going without missing deadlines.

Keep Your Content Production Calendar On Track With FocusCopy

On top of using software like ClickUp, we also have other processes in place to streamline our writing process. Our goal is to deliver quality content to your inbox on time or before you expect it! Having so many organizational processes in place allows us to offer full-service copywriting to small businesses across the U.S. whenever you need it. So, wipe the sweat off your brow and leave your writing responsibilities to our team of professional writers.

Before you go, explore more Easy-to-Implement Scalable SOP Framework tips and tricks right here!

Implement Our Scalable SOP Framework & Scale Your Business Processes With Ease

become more process-oriented, productive, & focus on what moves the needle the furthest with this framework

What To Look For When Hiring Content Writers

Content Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / August 8, 2022 August 8, 2022

How do you know what to look for when hiring content writers?

You’re a small business owner, which means you must justify every cent of your budget.

As a writer, it’s my job to delve into my creative superpowers. However, as a business owner, I also understand why it’s hard to know what to look for when hiring creative professionals.

Writers tend to have resumes longer than a page and freelance work sprinkled into their experience. Because writers are part of the creative process, it’s also tough to put an exact number on a project’s progress (psst…I have a tip for this, too). But there’s more to finding a quality content writer than a lengthy resume.

If you’re looking for a content writing professional, I suggest using these 7 qualities of a content writer before you make the big hire.

Don’t want to spend too much time and money sifting through what to look for when hiring content writers? FocusCopy is the jolt you need to get your copy going.

What Is A Content Writer?

Content writers use a combination of creativity and optimization to ensure their writing hits the right goals and ranks higher on search engines. The first part is key to making your copy flow, while the second is crucial for your online presence.

A content writer will work with you on your website to improve your search engine optimization (SEO), allowing more people to see your content. A quality content writer will usually work on creating consistent content rather than focusing on a one-and-done project.

Why Does Your Business Need To Hire A Content Writer?

Copywriter, content writer, editor, and simply writer are all used interchangeably. But they don’t truly mean the same thing. A copywriter can tell a story or sell a product or service by engaging their audience and converting them with persuasive writing. A content writer focuses more on educational information and other technical aspects to get your content in front of your target audience faster.

Need a team of writers to take on your copywriting and content writing? FocusCopy is here to help.

7 Traits To Look For When Hiring A Content Writer

There are many content writers out there, but here’s how you find the right one.

1. A Willingness To Learn

One of my favorite quotes by Albert Einstein is,

“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.”
Albert Einstein

Even after years of formal education and work experience, there’s always an opportunity to learn something new. Your content writer should be open and excited to learn about your business, operations, and anything else you can teach them as a professional in your field. Ongoing education creates room for better writing and a stronger connection between yourself and your content writer. A content writer who strives to quickly pick up your company’s purpose and turn those thoughts into words will be your winner.

2. Pride Is In Their Work, Not Their Voice

A good question to ask during your interview is, “How would you describe your personal writing style?”

Then ask, “How would you describe your writing style when it comes to your clients?”

It’s important to ask both because every writer has their own style, but their professional success depends on the work they produce – not typically their own voice.

It helps to ask for a portfolio or samples of their writing before you decide who to hire. Their sample work will give you a good idea of what level of quality you can expect and insight into how they write across several industries. How you measure the quality of their work leads us to our next tip.

3. Substantial Documentation For Quality & SEO

Your content writer should track SEO content over time to ensure that it’s producing tangible results. A method to track quality content writing is done by measuring key performance indicators (KPIs). This can look like your:

Audience reach
Sales made
Amount of increased referrals
Number of calls to action made
Increased visits to your location or website

Don’t worry about using another business’s KPIs to determine your success. Find one appropriate for your company and use it to measure your success moving forward.

As you see an increase or decline in results, have open conversations often with your content writer. Open communication while working together lets them adjust their methods when needed to reach your collective goals.

4. Knowledge Of What Your Target Audience Needs & Wants

You wouldn’t consult with a dermatologist for heart surgery. You might talk to a general surgeon, but it’s ideal to speak to someone who specializes in what YOU need.

Apply similar logic to find a content writer. If your audience expects a professional tone and industry-heavy jargon, find someone who understands this or has worked in your industry before.

You can also find a content writer who can adapt their writing to the proper audience. Their writing should have the ability to connect with the reader and relate to them in a way that feels natural. Writers with various work backgrounds, agency work, public relations, and other marketing creation will most likely have the experience necessary to give you what you need.

SEO is still important, but plugging in content that ranks higher on Google can feel robotic. A good writer will weave in optimized content while making the copy easy to digest.

5. Ability To Take Constructive Feedback Without Wilting

Have you ever heard that creatives can be sensitive?

While we all have our moments, we’re professionals like anyone else. Being able to take criticism and apply it with care is definitely one of the qualities of a content writer. This is important because then, you can talk to them freely and as an expert in your field about:

Making necessary changes
Rewording
Refreshing headlines and subheadings
Tweaking their style
Any glaring issues

Their process for feedback should be swift and responsive, so you can get back on track without missing a beat. If you need edits and revisions quickly, set this expectation beforehand so it’s clear moving forward.

6. Flawless Processes In Place

When searching for what to look for when hiring content writers, find one that is process-driven and organized. If you’re curious about this process, ask!

Processes will include things like:

Research and discovery
Outlining content
Writing
Editing
Proofreading
Revisions

How they take on projects will give you a better idea of how they prefer to collaborate, communicate, and adhere to deadlines. This is a fantastic way to find out if they’re the right fit for the writing you need.

7. Quality Proofreading

Yes, proofreading is mentioned above, but I’m repeating it because it’s THAT important.

The last thing you want is to hire a content writer who doesn’t check their work! No matter how many keywords appear or how relevant the content is, it doesn’t mean a thing if it has a ton of errors. Trust me. Your customers will notice if the writing itself looks sloppy. Your ideal content writer will check and double-check to ensure everything looks good before hitting ‘SEND’.

Turn To FocusCopy For All Your Content Writing Needs

As a business owner, time isn’t usually on your side. Your decisions need to be intelligent and quick (but not too quick).

If you’re looking for content writers with loads of experience, FocusCopy is the team assembled for you – ready when you are. Skip out on printing resumes and scheduling interviews, and fast forward to the part where your writing is taken care of for you. Why search for what to look for when hiring content writers when a team with all the qualities you need already exists?

Save yourself the search and schedule a call with the FocusCopy team today.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words

Is Blogging Once A Month Enough?

Content Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / June 29, 2022 February 20, 2023

Businesses of all sizes and marketers want to know how many blogs are enough blogs?

But, the better question is… What can you consistently do?

Sure, you can say that blogging three times a week is ideal for your small business.

But can you actually uphold that type of schedule (and not burnout)?

Unfortunately, there is no right answer, and it truly depends on your goals. You also need to have a few things available to you to keep up with a consistent blogging schedule that will produce relevant content for your business.

Looking for a hot cup of blogging content? Contact FocusCopy today.

How To Determine The Number Of Blogs You Should Publish Per Week

You know those days when you wake up with a laundry list of items on your to-do list, and you feel like crushing it? Maybe you grab your favorite cup of coffee, snack on some strawberries, and feel completely ready to tackle the day. But then you go into a last-minute meeting, add a few more items on your list, and address a few concerns. Before you know it, it’s 4pm, and your list is still looking a bit… heavy.

It’s okay and it happens to all of us!

But having an inconsistent schedule can greatly impact your blogging experience if you have unrealistic expectations. Because, unlike other tasks, blogging truly takes time for you to brainstorm, write, and review before hitting the publish button.

So, take a look at the following and create a reasonable blogging schedule that will actually work for you.

Identify Your Goals

What’s the timeline you’re looking to accomplish your traffic generation or blogging strategy?

If you’re looking to scale and see meaningful results in 6 months, consider publishing more blogs on a monthly basis. But if you want to scale your business sustainably, then find a cadence that works for you.

Identify each of your content goals – including your target audience, the purpose of your blog, and what action you want your readers to take. Know exactly who you’re speaking to, and write in a way that will resonate with them. For example, if you work in a niche field where most people understand industry terms and famous sayings or phrases, it’s okay to use them. But if you’re speaking to an audience who may not be as familiar with the subject matter, make it simple.

If your idea is to be educational, stick to that and don’t complicate your message. Maybe you want to tell a story. Keep it concise, clear, and to the point. Too much back and forth or personal references may confuse your audience.

Always have a call to action (CTA). Whether you want your readers to call you directly, fill out a form, or look at something else, sprinkle CTAs throughout your blog.

Unfamiliar with blogging or how to get started? Unload your writing duties to the team at FocusCopy.

Delegate The Writing Task

No one knows your business better than you do. But if you don’t have the time, hate writing, or are hyper-focused on perfection, then delegate blogging to someone else. And don’t just choose anyone on your team – even if you feel like they have the time. Choose someone who knows:

You and your business
How to write with your voice
How to maintain their time

Hit all of these marks, and you’ll be able to delegate your blogging to someone who knows how to write in your voice and who you can trust to get the job done on time.

Additionally, no one likes to be micromanaged for responsibilities they are more than capable of doing. You might want to review their work for a few weeks before publishing, which is perfectly fine. You want to ensure they’re hitting the right message, speaking in your voice, and so on. But it’s important to give constructive feedback for a short time and then allow them to take the reins moving forward. And instead of checking in daily or every other day, check back monthly to be certain that your blogging is where you like it.

Schedule The Tasks

In a meeting, it’s one thing to mention that you would like to see actions taken right away. But if you and your team are busy, those items tend to get pushed off more than others when not assigned. Clarify your intentions by assigning blogging tasks, and ask your team to make it part of their regularly scheduled assignments. In fact, a great way to think about blogging for your company is to think of yourself as your own client!

Another important aspect of DIY blogging is allowing yourself or your writer enough buffer time towards the end of each month. Blogging is usually the first to be pushed back in the event of an emergency. The expectation is that you still need those blogs done, but there is some wiggle room in case other items take precedence.

We’ve found that the best way to assign these tasks is by following the order of:

Outline topic and key elements
Write the blog
Edit with the business owner, co-worker, or peer
Revise edits
Perform a (search engine optimization) SEO check
Hand over for a final review
Publish and share the blog post

Have questions about SEO and blogging? Check out our blog How Does Professional Copywriting Help Your Business Grow?

Hold Yourself Accountable

Suppose you have room to write blogs yourself. Schedule that time in your calendar and make it non-negotiable. Mute online notifications, send calls to voicemail, and treat this time as though you’re in a meeting with a client – but the client is YOU!

Don’t stress over looking at a blank page. Your first step is outlining your blog, remember? So think about what you want to say and dump all of it on a notes page. Then organize your thoughts so they flow and make sense. Plug in those three CTAs, and you’re all set!

Holding yourself accountable also means being real with yourself. If you find that you cannot be consistent with three blogs per week, try one blog per week. Once you build that habit, test yourself and try over time to increase your blog posts per week.

Our Answer: Publish 2 Blogs Per Month

If you are just starting out or want a good starting point for consistent blogging, start at two blogs per month. This is an easy metric to move up or down. Block out the time for those two blogs and get them done!

Outsource Your Blogs

If you’ve already tried blogging or know you don’t have time for two blogs a month, we can help. We’ve worked with over 80 different companies on their blogging goals by producing high-converting copy to help scale their businesses. Our process is worthy of a chef’s kiss for copy, and we couldn’t be more excited to get started on blogging for your business.

Have questions? Talk to FocusCopy to get started on blogging to grow your business.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words

5 Content Marketing Skills For Business Owners To Master In 2022

Copywriting / By Lauren Jefferson / February 10, 2022 July 21, 2022

As a business owner, I know you already juggle numerous responsibilities – including content marketing. You might be your business’s marketing director, copywriter, and social media manager on top of everything else you do. But, no matter how talented a writer you might be, every content marketer needs a variety of skills to convert prospects into customers.

As a content marketer, you need to create content to improve sales. No matter how creative or witty your writing is, it’s not worth your very valuable time if it doesn’t profit your company. Improving the following skills will allow great writers everywhere to become great content marketers.

5 Skills Every Content Marketer Needs To Convert Customers

Whether you’re writing for one small business or a large franchise, every content marketer can benefit from developing the following skills. So, even if you’re the busiest of business owners, make time to improve your content marketing skills and save yourself time, money, and headaches in the long run.

Looking for a team of writers who can consistently communicate in your brand’s voice? Sign up for a virtual cup of coffee with FocusCopy so we can talk about your marketing goals.

Editing Skills

Even very talented writers still have to work on their editing skills. Make no mistake – editing is not just looking for spelling or grammar mistakes. Anybody can use Grammarly to help with that! While those errors can make a page look unprofessional, editing serves a larger purpose.

When editing a piece of business writing, you want to read and re-read the document. Is your document as clear as it can possibly be? Without clarity, you risk confusing your customers and ultimately discouraging them from working with you.

Think about how you can use as few words as possible to get your point across. Shakespeare once wrote, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” If you want to truly impress your customers, don’t weigh down your web pages or newsletters with clunky vocabulary words or long sentences. Your readers are busy, and you’re fighting for their attention. So, get to the point!

There’s an endless amount of content to create to promote your business, so you’ll want to train yourself to write quickly. After all, you have a business to run! So, learning to edit quickly is equally as vital as learning to write quickly.

Search Engine Optimization Skills

Most people have never even heard of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Regardless, SEO dramatically impacts who learns about your business. When your websites and blogs are optimized for search engines like Google, your website will appear higher on search engine rankings.

If you want your website to ever reach your target audience, you’ll need to brush up on your SEO skills. Even a basic understanding of SEO can dramatically influence the traffic to your website.

Once you understand SEO, you can make small changes to your website that will dramatically affect your Google ranking. You can research keywords to create strong titles, adjust your sentences for readability, and even include helpful transition words.

Does brushing up on your SEO skills sound like learning a foreign language? At FocusCopy, SEO is second nature to our copywriters. Schedule a meeting with FocusCopy today.

Research & Interviewing Skills

As your business’s copywriter, you’ll have to cover a variety of topics. While you certainly know a lot about your business, you might have to write about totally foreign topics. This is completely common for the average content marketer who might write for multi-million dollar businesses one day and for a local mom-and-pop shop the next.

You’ll want to brush up on your research skills so you can answer any questions you might have while writing. One way to find reliable answers to your questions is to interview an expert. Improving your interviewing skills will allow you to effectively collect data for your copy.

Time Management & Organization Skills

As a content marketer, you know how difficult it is to stick to a schedule. Writing is often draining, and anyone who has stayed up the night before an essay is due knows what I mean.

A growing business needs a lot of copy – newsletters, emails, blogs, website pages, and more. And it’s important to keep a consistent schedule. You don’t want your customers to forget about you until you manage to send out a newsletter six months after the last one.

Creating a content calendar and sticking to it will help keep your business at the forefront of your audience’s attention. Work backward! First, plan how often you want to post a new blog or touch base through an email. After that, break down your goals into daily tasks. If you want to post a blog once a week, start drafting that blog five days (or more) before your publication date.

Set realistic timelines and schedule enough time to consistently meet your goals. It’s okay if you have to reevaluate and change your calendar! The point is to find a schedule that works for you and your business.

At FocusCopy, we use a project management software called ClickUp that helps us juggle all the tasks we have to do in a day. You can even use ClickUp to improve your time management and organization skills for all the parts of your life, professional and personal.

Data & Analytics Skills

After you have published your work, it’s important not to stop there. You need to evaluate what works for your business and what doesn’t.

Really, analyzing your data should be the easiest part of content marketing! But, most people don’t want to commit to the extra effort. Regardless, even if you worked really hard on a blog, it might need further tweaking. You might not be hitting the right notes with your audience, or you need to choose more popular keywords.

Analyzing the performance of your content also helps you to make strategic decisions for future content. You can stop making the same mistakes and prevent yourself from wasting even more time in the future.

FocusCopy Has The Content Marketing Skills To Grow Your Business

Even if you excel as a content marketer, creating every word of copy for your business is time-consuming and tiring. If you feel burnt out writing your business’s copy, FocusCopy is here to help.

Don’t spend hours of your life writing copy when you know you have a million other responsibilities. We want to grow your business with copy that accurately represents your brand and converts customers. Contact FocusCopy today to get back to running your business.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words

7 Content Marketing Tools To Reach Your Ideal Audience

Content Marketing, Processes & Procedures / By Lauren Jefferson / November 8, 2021 November 8, 2021

You’ve spent hours of your life coming up with business and content ideas to get your brand out into the world. But how do you go about marketing your content so your target audience will actually see it?

This is where content marketing comes into play. Since content marketing has such a huge role in the success of your business, you better believe companies have created tools to get the job done.

To help you establish your brand and get your message to the masses, I’m sharing the tools we use to manage our own content marketing. After all, how did you hear about FocusCopy in the first place?

Tools We Use To Manage Our Content Marketing

The best content creation in the world is mute without successful content marketing tools and strategies. So let the world see and hear about your business.

PandaDoc Makes Tracking Proposals & Contracts A Breeze

When you’re creating content for a client, it’s typical to send for approval before hitting publish. PandaDoc simplifies that entire process.

Whether you’re sending proposals, quotes, or contracts, PandaDoc helps to track documents and makes e-signing a breeze. Being able to save templates, and edit them as needed, means we can sign on new clients and make new deals seamlessly.

With its certified signature page, you can rest assured that your contracts are official and binding. Plus, it makes e-signing a simple process, no matter where in the world you may be.

Wondering how to use your own voice to get your brand out into the world? FocusCopy can help. Reach out today to learn how we can write copy in your voice and take the task off your plate.

HubSpot Keeps Client Management In One Place

The great thing about my favorite content marketing tools is how they work together!

For instance, HubSpot integrates with both PandaDoc and Google Workspace. It’s a one-stop-shop software for client management.

Not only does it pull in the documents I create in PandaDoc, but it also tracks my Gmail communications with the clients. So rather than searching my email every time I need to reference notes, I can just log in to HubSpot!

In addition to having all client communication in one place, I can easily review all documentation and contracts in the same place, too. It’s a win-win for tracking client progress and having everything I need in one spot.

Moreover, clients and potential clients can schedule meetings through my HubSpot link. Because it connects to my Google Calendar, it acknowledges times when I’m busy and recognizes availability in my schedule. Another thing that I love, it ensures I have a 30-minute buffer between meetings. If you’ve ever found yourself with 9 hours of back-to-back meetings, you understand that those breaks are necessary!

ClickUp Helps Keep Tasks On Track

As your business grows, it will get more difficult to keep track of the to-do list in your mind. That’s why using a task management tool, like ClickUp, is so helpful.

ClickUp allows you to customize the tracking phases of each task. Additionally, you can assign team members to different tasks and include all of a project’s documents in one easy-to-navigate location. With features such as time tracking, we know exactly how long it takes to complete each task. This allows me to analyze my team members’ strengths and know where they may need help in other areas.

Like I mentioned above, I love how these tools work together. ClickUp connects to Google Workspace, which allows me to send emails via ClickUp.

Furthermore, we can create entire processes to meet our exact needs. For example, our clients who are on a retainer basis can upload documents directly to ClickUp. It keeps everything in one place and our productivity thriving.

Not every business owner has the time to dedicate to writing copy. That’s where we can help. Contact FocusCopy today so you can get back to focusing on what’s most important.

Google Workspace Elevates Collaboration

Google has come a long way from just being a search engine. Formerly named G Suite, Google Workspace makes creating, collaborating, communicating, and tracking documents simple.

Users can access the same documents in real-time, offer suggestions, leave comments, and even tag others in for review or questions. Additionally, Google Workspace can link to HubSpot and ClickUp.

Moreover, through Google Workspace, we can manage permissions allowing only who we want to have access to certain documents.

While Google Workspace offers so many services, it’s a safe bet that you can work with the basic package. It’s filled with familiar layouts that are easy to learn and use. So start small, and adjust as your needs grow.

Google Drive

The days of saving everything directly to the computer are over. Google Drive is a cloud storage service that allows users to save and organize files and documents. It’s simple, secure, and accessible from anywhere with an internet connection.

Google Calendar

The calendar that keeps my world in order! With its ability to link up to both HubSpot and ClickUp, I never miss a beat. Plus, team members can view each other’s availability making in-house meetings easy to schedule.

Google Meet

Everyone has been on Zoom at some point by now. But did you know if you already have Google Workspace, you don’t need to pay for Zoom or Slack for that matter? It has all the functions of Zoom, but it’s easier to use, and you likely already have access.

Google Chat

Very similar to Slack, but without the cost, Google Chat keeps the FocusCopy team in constant communication. We set up our Google Chat to be like Slack. Our favorite functions include private messaging, group threads for each client, and the ability to set up Google Meets immediately within the chat.

Google Docs

There’s a good chance you are familiar with Microsoft Office, and if you are, you’ll realize quickly that Google Docs works just like Word. From the layout to the functionality, it’s a seamless transition. However, there is an added benefit of being able to send documents to clients for review. We typically set client permissions to comment only to make sure we get their feedback on deliverables without worrying about permanent changes being made accidentally.

WordPress

WordPress is by far the easiest content management system (CMS) on the market. While many startups like to use Wik and Squarespace, there is a huge benefit of using WordPress instead. For starters, you actually own your website and have the ability to switch hosts. With the competitors mentioned above, you risk losing your site if you miss a payment.

Additionally, WordPress is known for its great blog posting function, which we obviously love. And there are millions of themes to allow users to customize their sites exactly how they want.

Did I mention how user-friendly WordPress is? I’m no website developer, but I can navigate website development on WordPress with no issues. If Lauren the Copywriter can handle website devo on WordPress without calling the IT guy, so can you!

Elementor

There are a ton of page buildings out there, including Divi, Beaver, Oxygen, and so many more. But Elementor is by far my favorite – plus, it works with WordPress!

With Elementor, your website will look both custom and professional. Plus, you can make changes at the drop of a hat. After all, you need to update your website copy frequently to keep it relevant and effective.

Another great part of Elementor is the community support. We’re considered experts in this community and field questions of other users pretty often. Sometimes, that human-to-human help and advice can make a world of difference.

Yoast SEO

WordPress has made using plugins so easy that they work seamlessly together. The FocusCopy team uses the Yoast SEO plugin to ensure our content always meets the highest technical SEO standards.

The world of SEO is constantly changing, and we want to make sure we’re keeping up with the latest updates. This is just one way we ensure our clients’ content is steadily climbing the Google ranking ladder.

Let FocusCopy Manage Your Content Marketing For Real Results

Does running your business take up all of your time? We understand, and we can help.

For busy business owners like yourself, running the business and getting your message to your target audience are two separate jobs. We help people just like you by creating copy in your voice to help establish and grow your brand. Ready to see growth while reaching your ideal customers? Contact FocusCopy today to get started.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words

A Step-By-Step Guide To Managing Your Content Calendar

Content Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / November 1, 2021 July 22, 2022

You wake up on Monday, ready to start managing your content calendar. You take a sip of your favorite coffee (or tea) and breathe. Then, you decide today’s the day you’re going to get it all together. You open your calendar, and it hits you.

It looks like a mess! Where do you even start?

Right when you start to organize, you remember a client meeting you have in 10 minutes. At this point, it’s easy to let the idea of planning go and move on. But then you’re back at square one every following morning. It becomes a pattern that you don’t know how to stop.

Don’t give up yet! There are steps you can take to reach peak efficiency and productivity. You can find a way to crack down on managing your content calendar – no matter how many meetings you have.

Even if you don’t have the time, we do! Hire a copywriter to help create your business’s content.

10 Steps To Managing Your Content Calendar

Take each of these steps at your own pace. It’s essential not to feel overwhelmed while you make changes to your content management process. Loading up on too much can leave you feeling burnout and unmotivated to follow through.

1. Applications To Use For Improved Prep & Planning

Today, there’s an app for everyone! Regardless of what industry you’re in, everyone from social media managers to engineers can use these tools.

ClickUp

This project management app has everything you need in one place. Delegate tasks, track progress and even insert documents, pictures, and so much more. ClickUp is popular with marketing and advertising pros, IT teams, and project managers.

Monday.com

A nod towards the beginning of the workweek, monday.com is an app with plenty of templates for every industry, business, and team. People like it because it’s ultra customizable and has in-app automation. This app is good for growing businesses, enterprises, and small businesses.

Hive

Program managers and even attorneys like Hive. Why? Because it’s a visual project and time management tool that keeps things organized. Users note that it even saves time on billing.

2. Utilize App Features For Your Benefit

Don’t be afraid to dive into whatever project management tool you use. Explore all of the features that your app has to offer. You don’t need to use every feature, but experiment to find what works best for you. Hate the way your dashboard looks? No problem! Most applications are easy to alter without changing the settings for everyone.

You can find a video on YouTube to walk you through using the app and find what you like. Features like color codes can highlight the client you’re working on, which stage in the process you’re at, or pinpoint your task among many. And don’t forget to use your calendar to ensure you don’t miss a thing.

3. Organize The Old School Way

Physically writing your notes helps you remember and understand better than typing them up on a laptop. This doesn’t mean you need to write everything down, but there are some classic tools you just can’t beat, like a notebook.

Additionally, use sticky notes for ideas or notes you need to jot down quickly. If you allow too many of them to pile up, you’re more likely to take a look at them to clear them out.

Also, it’s important that you don’t leave out a handy desk calendar. Yes, you can still have all of your meetings recorded online. But let’s face it, computer and mobile alarms fail! So, it’s helpful to write it down and increase your chances of remembering it later.

4. Map Out Your Content Ahead Of Time

Plan ahead and make your life easier by having the following information ready to go.

Your Industry
Products or services
Strengths and goals
Social platforms you plan to post on

That way, the content can flow out of you, and you’re already on top of your publishing schedule.

5. Prioritize To Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed

Prioritizing goals is a must for any industry – delegate responsibilities wherever they need to go. If you’re a perfectionist or even a people-pleaser, assigning duties is tough. Talk to your people and ask if a task fits in with their workload. Set reasonable and defined goals for yourself and others to avoid feeling like you have to do it all.

6. Treat SEO As A Separate Task

Don’t lump your search engine optimization (SEO) tasks into your writing tasks. Not only is there a chance you’ll skip it, but SEO should be its own assignment. You don’t want to rush the process of searching for keywords. Additionally, you should allow yourself time to compare, do a little research, and give your content a better chance to rank higher than other pages.

7. Ensure Your Team Is In The Loop With Open Communication

Errors and mistakes happen, but you don’t want them to become part of your regular routine – especially if a lack of communication causes these mistakes. Diminish the chances of making a copy fail by keeping the conversation open with your teammates. If you have questions, ask! Check-in with your colleagues, so you’re all on the same page.

Doing so keeps everyone involved in your process as you go.

If you need a content writing team in your corner, we’re here to help!

8. Keep An Eye On The Workflow

Don’t lose track of where you are on a project. Think about adjusting certain calendar settings that can help you keep up. Using features like weekly views and time slots will help you remain aware of which phase a project is in. However, avoid going overboard and onto the extreme micromanagement side. Finally, stick to deadlines, so you and your team don’t fall behind.

9. Leave Room In Your Schedule When You Need It

We’ve all overbooked our planners on the self-made promise of… I can absolutely get all of this done today.

But how’s that going for you so far?

Spread out your workload, remain within client deadlines, and keep your clients happy. But more importantly, leave room to breathe and make yourself happy, too.

10. Have Extra Content Ready To Go Just In Case

Missing information, unreachable clients, and emergencies happen. So work every month and get ahead of the game! Create evergreen content (for your business and your clients) like blogs, newsletters, and social media posts. That way, they’ll never age out, and you can use them to fill in the gaps when you’re behind on regular content.

Talk To The Team At FocusCopy For Your Next Project

We know managing your content calendar is important. Clients appreciate the extra effort, and that effort allows the work you produce to truly shine. We know because we’re always working on multiple projects at once. Without processes for content management, we’d be lost!

Looking to partner with a group of content writers for your next task at hand? Give us a shout!

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words

How To Create Backlinks & Drive Valuable Traffic to Your Landing Page

Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / October 18, 2021 July 22, 2022

As you’ve transitioned your storefront and services online, you can’t help but wonder how people are going to find your website. You know that almost 88% of people in America shop online, but how will your business reach them?

But on top of building or updating your website, you’re figuring out shipping logistics. You’re creating social media pages and finding quality IT support, (not to mention balancing your personal life obligations). Learning how to bring people in online is a problem to solve later.

However, you understand that the more customers you have visiting your website, the more likely it is that you close sales.

And of course, you’d be right!

Then, after all the hustle and bustle of getting your website live is over and things have calmed down for just a second, you keep seeing the term SEO pop up when you’re googling strategies for online marketing. But it might as well be gibberish – search engine optimization? What even is that?

As it turns out, the way to generate more web traffic has a lot to do with SEO – especially a little term called backlinks.

What Are Backlinks?

Backlinks play a huge role in your SEO ranking on search engines – especially Google.

Basically, backlinks are links within a piece of content that sends a reader to another website when they click on written text.

For example, if you were writing a blog article about “How to Make Cold Brew Coffee”, you might want to talk about the best brand of coffee for the brew. Including a link to the coffee vendor’s website is an effective way to provide your readers with even more information or resources.

After you hit publish and the blog post is live, the business you linked has now earned a backlink from you. This makes search engines give their website a vote of confidence – so to speak.

When this happens, Google begins to recognize the linked website or article as providing valuable information. Backlinks are like your digital reputation or credibility in the eyes of Google. So when more websites link to your own, search engines see that you’re providing value to users online, and thus, raises your ranking in its index.

Which, in turn, leads to more organic traffic!

Simple enough, right? Well, “how do you actually create backlinks?” you might ask.

1. Create Exemplary Content

Quality content is first and foremost the secret ingredient to successful SEO marketing.

The returns from high-quality written content for your SEO game are two-fold. First, well-researched, properly formatted, and grammatically sound content written by professionals will signal to Google that you produce quality information on your industry. Copywriters and content marketers know how to not only capture your brand’s voice and speak in the direction of your audience, but they know how to incorporate keywords into their work. That means when someone searches Google with certain words or asks a question, your website will come up – ready to solve their problem or steer them in the right direction.

All of this already gives you a massive boost to your SEO standing.

But as an added bonus, the better your content is, the more likely it is that other websites in your industry will link back to your articles. So you’ll earn Google’s stamp of approval for producing good content and when others in your industry recognize your thoughtful work.

Need a team of master writers to support you in all your SEO endeavors? Our copywriters are on standby. Sign up for a discovery call with us today!

Skyscraper Content (Or How To Rise Above The Rest)

Skyscraper content is a type of content that rises above every other existing piece of content on the same subject. While challenging and time-consuming, (skyscraper articles should be 1,500+ words, ideally, even more!) investing your energy into creating long-form skyscraper content could give you an edge.

Similar to pillar content, you can use skyscraper content as an opportunity to create in-depth educational guides and online courses. Or you can focus on a single question being asked by your audience and answer it extensively.

If creating a skyscraper piece sounds a bit intimidating, you can always create a smaller version first. Then over time, add more to the piece. Plus, constantly refreshing your content can also improve SEO.

Guest Blogs: Share Your Perspective & Insight!

Another way content creation can create backlinks is through guest blogging. Reach out to other professionals or publications that are in your industry, and ask to write a blog for them in exchange for a backlink to your website. Doing this may even expand your network and make you new connections.

However, you’ll want to be sure your values align with the publication’s, and that you have some work to show as a reference.

Find Broken & Old Links, Then Pitch Your Content As Replacement!

Once you have quality content in your arsenal, try digging around online for a while, reading various articles about your industry. Sometimes, older backlinks can take readers to a website that was taken down after the article was originally published. That means the backlink is basically broken and isn’t providing value to the reader or the website that’s hosting it.

When this happens, reach out directly to the website owner and pitch your content as a replacement backlink. Finding broken links might take a while, but you might be surprised at how many you discover. And, reading those articles provides an opportunity to learn more about your industry.

Either way, finding broken backlinks is a surprisingly effective way to build up your backlink portfolio.

2. Collaborate & Connect With Your Industry and Network

Another way to build up backlinks besides just creating content is by connecting with others in your industry and network. What’s more, this gives you an opportunity to dive deeper into your industry and audience (and even create professional connections).

Get Listed On A Resources Page

One of the simpler ways of building up your backlinks is by having your content featured on a resources page. While exploring websites in your industry, look to see if they have a “master list” of website links to other domains.

Many websites put together a page for their readers where they can learn more about a specific topic. For example, food blogs may have links to websites with more recipes. So send a message to the admin with a link to your content!

Hop-On A Podcast

Found a podcast in your industry that you love? Reach out to the host and see if you can join them for an episode.

Joining a podcast allows you to dive right into the heart of the conversations taking place in your industry. You’ll hear perspectives from other professionals, engage directly with your audience, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with the community.

Not only is this great publicity for both you and the podcast, but you’ll also have the chance to earn a quality backlink on their website as well.

Help Out A Journalist

Sometimes, journalists need to speak with experts in certain fields to interview credible sources. You can volunteer your time to answer questions about your industry to help a journalist complete their story. Just ask them to link to your website in the finished article!

This strategy can set you apart from competitors because a journalist has chosen you to act as a thought leader. When someone who has limited or no knowledge of your industry reads the journalist’s story, they’ll be sent right to your website.

Ask For Testimonials

After you’ve been working with a client for a while, ask them if they would like to exchange testimonials about each other’s services. For example, in exchange for your testimonial, you’ll display their testimonial on your website, and then backlink to them. Not only will this generate more backlinks, but it may also bring in more clients since you’re actively promoting each other’s work.

3. Be Wary Of Quality Backlinks vs Toxic Backlinks

While you might think more backlinks are better, the SEO benefits from backlinks come from the quality of backlinks, not the quantity.

Originally, Google’s algorithm looked at the number of backlinks more than the actual quality of the link. Naturally, buying and selling links was common practice to quickly accumulate links and rise to the top of Google.

Now, Google considers backlinks generated in this way as “toxic”, and they harm your SEO ranking instead of bolstering it.

But, this is just one example of a toxic backlink. Additionally, if websites with similar pages all link to your website with the same hyperlink or anchor text, search engines may register you as trying to build links quickly and maliciously like the tactic above.

Either way, when you have a toxic backlink, Google’s algorithm will automatically penalize your website. That harms your ranking on the index.

Want to guarantee that all your backlinks are high-quality? First, you’ll need content written by the expert writers at FocusCopy! Contact us to learn more about how we can help your business grow.

How To Remove Toxic Backlinks

Before you work to remove any potentially toxic links, you’ll have to identify which links could be causing you trouble.

The Backlink Analytics tool from Semrush generates data about your backlink portfolio and can identify which links might be harmful. And thankfully, there are some ways in which you can remove a toxic backlink from your website.

For starters, you can reach out to the website’s host and ask them to remove the link to your content. If the link is actually coming from a quality domain but Google incorrectly categorized it, you can ask for a manual review of the link from Google themselves.

You can also use Google’s “Disavow” tool from their search console to remove toxic backlinks. WARNING: You’ll want to read up on how to properly use the tool to ensure you don’t harm your website’s search performance.

Partner With The Content Experts & Create Backlinks

Content really is king when it comes to SEO. But when you’re juggling business obligations and your personal life, there’s simply not enough time to create content yourself.

To grow your business, you need a team of copywriters who can support your content creation, make your brands stand out from the crowd, and help you bring in more leads. So, reach out to us at FocusCopy! We’d love to talk about your goals and how we can help you achieve them. Schedule a discovery call today.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words

Create A Pillar Blog Post That Sells

Content Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / September 20, 2021 February 20, 2023

You’ve heard of a pillar blog post before, but can’t help but feel lost. You’ve been working on your marketing and you’ve nailed the use of keywords throughout your blogs. Or so you thought. That’s all it takes, right?

It seems simple enough, doesn’t it? Write relevant and engaging blogs and plug in the keywords as you go. But you’d be misinformed to think that blog posts with keywords are all you need to rank ahead of your competitors.

Now, you’re not entirely wrong. Blogging for SEO used to be an amazing way to boost your website traffic. However, content marketing has changed and requires a little more work than monthly blog posts.

Enter pillar blog posts. We’ll talk about what they are, and how you can create one that helps you make money.

Would you rather get pillar blog post assistance directly from the experts? Get started with FocusCopy.

What Is A Pillar Blog Post?

A pillar blog post is a long-form piece of content that is written covering a specific topic. It should be broad enough to offer a comprehensive look at the subject. Yet, it should also be definitive enough to get into some, but not all, of the nitty-gritty details.

How To Write A Pillar Blog Post That Sells

Find out what you need to get started writing a pillar blog post for your business.

Start the structure, then write! This will help you save time whenever you’re ready to write.

Collect Your Keywords

Before you sit staring at a blank page, you need to start with the keywords you’d like to target. Use whatever tools you normally would to narrow down some reasonably achievable keywords that apply to your business and what you have to offer.

When it comes to the keywords you’re aiming to target, make sure they:

Are relevant to your business
Can be combined in discussion with a service or product you offer
Are interesting enough to pull in your target audience

Once you have your keywords rounded up, you’re ready to put together an outline. Putting together the foundation of your pillar post will help you (a lot). That way, you have something to go off of when you’re writing, and you don’t need to struggle to come up with the next topic as you go.

Define Your Topic Clusters

If you’re unfamiliar with topic clusters, they’re truly simple to understand. What your pillar page is about will be your broad topic.

As an example, this may be “Facial Plastic Surgery” if you’re a cosmetic surgeon. Or you may want to talk about “Air Conditioning Maintenance” if you own an air conditioning company. Both of these are broad enough to have the ability to discuss a bunch of other topics within them. These are called topic clusters and will consist of related topics you go a little more in-depth with. However, you shouldn’t worry about discussing each one in too much detail. You only need to talk about each topic enough to give a comprehensive view and why it’s essential.

Using our example as a cosmetic surgeon, you may want to discuss the following under your “Facial Plastic Surgery” pillar blog post:

Rhinoplasty
Chin implant
Cheek enhancement
Brow lift
Lip fillers

For your “Air Conditioning Maintenance” pillar blog post, you may want to cover:

HVAC definition
Common problems resulting in AC failure
DIY fixes
Benefits of AC maintenance

As you can see, there are several things you can talk about. Each one of these things makes up a topic cluster. Flesh out your topic cluster based on the broad topic you’ve chosen. Then, you’re ready to move ahead with your pillar page.

Don’t Forget The Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks define your content – ultimately defining it as a pillar page. Adding hyperlinks into your content allows the reader to click and reach another page on your website. Whether it takes them to a more in-depth blog or service page, these links will help Google navigate your website, improving your ranking.

Another important element here is making sure that the linked page is also hyperlinked to your pillar page. This way, your reader can get right back to the pillar page without any trouble. It creates a sort of full-circle moment and helps Google understand what your website is about. Then Google can determine whether you’re offering valuable content rather than stuffing keywords into copy that isn’t well-written or helpful.

Is A Pillar Page A Blog Post?

Yes and no. This can be difficult to understand because pillar pages look like web pages but are longer than regular blog posts. The truth is, they’re a combination of the two with a purpose.

Your typical blog posts are pretty specific, and the reader knows exactly what to expect from it. This type of blog post is probably about 1,500 words. Its topic is narrowed, coming from the expert (you), and can contain many keywords to help your ranking.

However, you can think of a pillar blog post more as a what-you-need-to-know page. It’s full of topic clusters, which help organize your content as you go. You can talk about them all on your pillar page, but you wouldn’t go into as much detail as you would on a devoted blog. You can also use the space to answer commonly asked questions your clients are most likely to ask.

Can I Use My Page As A Blog Post?

Yes. As mentioned above, pillar pages have an interesting blend of blog and website components. Additionally, you can use them as blog posts for your business as long as they have the necessary aspects needed to serve as a pillar page genuinely.

How Long Is Too Long For A Pillar Blog Post?

Let’s start by saying pillar pages do need to be long. And they certainly need to be longer than your regular blog posts. However, there’s no need to go overboard and write 20,000 words on a single page. Your sweet spot will be at 2,000 words. It’s okay to go over a little bit, but you don’t want to overwhelm your readers and force the topic if you’re starting to lose your intention.

If you’re having trouble and don’t know where to start, talk to the team at FocusCopy.

Perfecting Pillar Blog Posts For Clients In All Industries

Google and its algorithm can be a nightmare to navigate, especially if you’re not too up-to-date in the digital marketing world. But that’s okay! As a business owner, you’ve already done so much and perfected your own craft. So, if you feel like you know where to begin, but don’t have the time and tools to do it yourself, allow the experts at FocusCopy to guide you.

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Prioritizing Your Laundry List of Marketing To-Dos

Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / March 9, 2021 June 1, 2021

As an entrepreneur, many things are pulling your attention – growing your team, serving your clients, keeping your books in order, and so on.

But what about your marketing?

You’re told to write a blog, send an email newsletter, create SEO content, post on social media, create video content, learn all the algorithms, paid advertising, speaking engagements, and the list doesn’t stop there.

But through the noise, do you feel like marketing experts think about you and your capacity (brainwidth) as a small business owner?

Here are some things you can do to start prioritizing marketing tasks.

Get Organized And Start Prioritizing Marketing Tasks

A great place to start is by making your dream list. Come on, let’s brainstorm together!

Ask yourself, what is your all-the-bells-and-whistles checklist? You know, the whole laundry list of marketing ideas you’ve ever wanted to implement. If you’re stuck or need some suggestions, you can:

Review your website copy. Does it still fit you and your company’s vision? Find a copywriter who can spice it up.
Are you getting any traffic? Use a writer who knows SEO to help.
Do you have social media followers? Work on a social media strategy that can boost sales for your business.

Now look at your list and ask, what is your more sensible barebones checklist?

This checklist is what you need to begin and get going on building your marketing strategy.

Whether you’re running the show or you have a team of helpful employees, there are some small things you can do to be productive and get organized.

ClickUp is an online task management tool that you can use to plugin projects you need to get done, set deadlines, assign tasks to staff, and so much more. Because it’s such a user-friendly system, prioritizing your laundry list of marketing to-dos is that much easier.

A Breakdown Of Marketing Strategies

Let’s talk about several marketing strategies you may have seen over time. Let’s determine if it’s something that you want to focus on and use for your business.

Blogging

If you don’t have an SEO strategy or you don’t have a lot of website traffic, blogging could be a useful channel. With blogs, you can kick up your ranking through SEO best-practices. Doing so gives your prime audience helpful information and a sneak peek into your industry.

Lead Magnets

Your traffic rate is reasonable, but you don’t have a substantial email list of current and potential customers interested in your services. Lead magnets can get you into your customers’ minds to find out what their pain points are and what’s important to them in a solution.

Call-To-Action

It’s okay to put your customers on the spot. Ask them for their email or create other ways to encourage them to take an action on your page. Use phrases like:

Subscribe
Sign Up
Learn More
View Pricing
Order Now

Landing Page

A useful landing page is an engaging and easy-to-read snapshot of your business and its services. It helps to lead a viewer to click and take them to the next step. Whether the page leads them to a phone number, email address, or order form – you want your customer to take action here.

Cheat Sheet Or Guide

Post a simple cheat sheet or guide informing others of your business model or the way you produce a product. This is a quick way to get them to understand more of what you do. Again, you want them to take action and reach out to you.

Video Or Audio

Think of a video or audio bite as a more modern version of a cheat sheet. Not only can you show off a bit of your personality here, but you’re also giving your audience a way to interact. By doing so, they are more likely to make an action on your page and seek your services.

Quiz

There’s nothing like a fun quiz to get an audience engaged and interested in signing up for future emails (check out this fantastic example here). Quizzes are an interactive way to get your audience to question themselves and realize they may need your help. Whether you want to lead them to make a purchase or sign up for your emails to reveal their answers, you really can’t go wrong with a winning quiz.

Email Marketing

Some lively and informative email marketing can help you turn your traffic into leads and eventually into buyers. A good email marketing strategy keeps subscribers in-the-know and consistently aware of your brand.

Social Media

It’s okay to start small with social media. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself with the idea of posting on all outlets every day. It’s better to create a stable community of advocates and promoters for your business little by little.

Paid Advertising

Paid ads can kickstart awareness of your business. This can help grow your following, traffic, regular subscribers, etc. It pays to invest in yourself.

What Are Your Marketing Priorities?

Keep in mind that you can do it without feeling like you need to do it all.

For this upcoming quarter, make a list of 3 things you’re going to do well. It could even be cross-sections of a topic (i.e. send one newsletter a week instead of full email marketing campaigns). Then determine whether it genuinely looks doable to you.

If you know the direction you would like to go in, but you’re struggling with writer’s block, take a look at our blog 11 Tips on How To Overcome Your Writer’s Block.

Check Us Out & Check Off Your Marketing To-Do List

We’ve listed some insights into what you should really focus on between all of the agencies, consultants, and experts so you don’t skip the important stuff. Make reasonable requests for yourself. Can you put out one email a month? One blog a month? What about one social media post a week?

As a small business owner, it’s important to be true to yourself, your capabilities, and your budget.

Need some help with your prioritizing marketing tasks or creating content? Give us a shout, and we’ll get you where you want to be – operating in a timeframe that works for you.

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