Author: Christopher Jan Benitez

  • Landingi Review: How Good is This Landing Page Builder?

    Landingi Review: How Good is This Landing Page Builder?

    Did you know? You can make a high-conversion landing page with ZERO coding skills.

    How? With a neat landing page builder called Landingi.

    If you’re a cut above the crowd, you’ve probably heard of similar tools and their drag-and-drop features.

    So what exactly makes Landingi landing pages different?

    Great question!

    In this Landingi review, you’ll learn the following:

    • The key features
    • The pricing plan
    • Pros and cons
    • Whether you should buy it

    Ready to learn more about this landing page tool?

    Let’s check it out!

    Table of Contents
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    What is Landingi?

    Landingi is a pixel-perfect drag-and-drop landing page editor that features over 400 landing page templates. 

    Made for agencies, marketers, and business owners, this tool makes designing flawless landing pages something anyone can do.

    What’s great about this landing page tool is the rich variety of themes. It’s guaranteed to have a custom template for your industry and business. Everything is covered.

    Aside from template designs, Landingi also offers all-in-one marketing solutions for eCommerce brands. This landing page builder allows integration from popular software like MailChimp, SalesForce, HubSpot, and more.

    This landing page builder also has optimization features, such as split testing through the same URL and a data overview.

    Overall, Landingi is a powerful drag-and-drop tool that can allow you to customize landing pages quickly and independently. 

    For agency and eCom store owners, you’ll save much more time having this landing page builder do the brunt work for you and your site.

    Let’s take a closer look at Landingi’s key features.

    What does Landingi do?

    As previously mentioned, Landingi helps you create stunning visual funnels and landing pages that can boost your marketing campaigns.

    The process is simple. Pick and choose any template, customize the content your way, optimize with integrated tools based on data. Rinse and repeat.

    This landing page software also has a neat feature called a Clarity Score—which grades your landing page on how easy it reads.

    Let’s dive a little deeper into the specific features of this landing page creation tool:

    Design something great

    The landing page builder allows you to create gorgeous visuals with over four hundred templates. This includes funnels, pop-ups, and landing pages. Not a single line of coding knowledge is needed. 

    Just insert your content and graphics to the landing pages, and you’re good to go.

    On the right side of the design dashboard, you’ll find your designing tools. Every part of the template is customizable—from the font and colors to the styling. This is where you’ll style your high-converting landing pages.

    You can also change the responsiveness per page depending on the device. Press the “Rebuild” button to check in mobile view and vice versa.

    Publish in one click

    This landing page platform isn’t limited to exclusively design. This software also allows you to publish your newly-created landing page under your own domain.

    That’s not all. You can also embed your landing page on your own server and import your designs on WordPress. You get full-reign on what gets published on your site!

    Landingi also has a cloud-based, in-app scheduler tool, helping you time things on the fly for your marketing launches more conveniently.

    Optimize with precision

    Unsure which theme has a better bounce rate? Or which one converts to sales more consistently? 

    You’re in luck. Landingi has features like A/B testing and PageInsider™ that’ll aid your strategy with data.

    One of the Landingi special software is called PageInsider™. This tool predicts what customers will likely focus on in the page. This will also give you the info to tweak your layout and score an opportunity for a higher conversion rate.

    You also get access to a comprehensive split testing tool. This allows you opportunities to test the most effective landing page!

    Landingi is brimming with multiple optimization tools like dynamic content and customer personalization too.

    All in all, Landingi is highly effective at capturing data to help you in the optimization process.

    Expand your marketing toolkit

    Landingi doesn’t have everything—but it does allow users to seamlessly integrate with over 40 other platforms. And, according to them, the list is growing by the day!

    Here are some of the more popular platforms that you can connect with Landingi:

    • Google Analytics
    • Kissmetrics
    • Facebook Pixel
    • Google Tag Manager

    Besides that, webhooks enable your landing page to send data automatically to other places. This saves you time and space—giving you time to sweat only on the big-picture stuff. 

    Nurture and convert

    Landingi doesn’t forget its main purpose: to convert.

    Forms are customizable, highly secure, and come in different styles to maximize your conversion rate.

    For nurturing, each landing page also has a corresponding thank you page design—also customizable!

    And where do the leads go, you may ask. Simple. They go straight to a Landingi leads inbox where you can review data and export as needed.

    Generate sales

    Whether you sell products, services, webinars, courses, or anywhere in between, Landingi finds ways to support your hustle.

    Landingi supports the most common payment options. This includes PayPal and Stripe—all of which can be transacted straight from the landing page.

    You’re not limited to US-based currency either. To get your product posted, simply click “Add a new product”, add the relevant details, choose your currency, and zap! 

    Once you dropped your CTA button in your desired place, you’re good to go.

    That’s all there is to it.

    TRY LANDINGI FREE FOR 14 DAYS

    Pricing: Yay or nay?

    Given those features, you may be wondering the killer question.

    How much does it cost, though?

    Here’s the breakdown of the Landingi pricing plan.

    landingi review pricing

    If you’re a business owner, the price for the Create Plan is fairly affordable at $89/month for unlimited conversions.

    With it, you can get access to the 400-figure strong catalog of landing pages!

    However, for the best bang for your buck, the Automate Plan is my personal favorite.

    At $129/month, you get a great tool: A/B/x testing. 

    If you run a modest and successful eCommerce store, you’ll easily earn back the value in sales revenue with this tool.

    However, if you’re bigger than that (like 300,000-unique-visitors-a-month big), you have to get the Agency Plan.

    You’ll get all the aforementioned features and a whole lot more. This includes:

    • API to create subaccounts
    • White label solutions
    • Custom images & templates
    • Accounts for customers

    Regardless of the plan you choose, a 14-day Free Trial awaits you. 

    What it means: For two weeks, you’re free to test out most features without spending a dime!

    All you have to do is go to their Pricing tab, click “Try for free”, and get started.

    That simple!

    Landingi vs. Unbounce: Which is better?

    When a “Landing Page Web Builder” gets brought up in a conversation, Landingi isn’t the only thing that comes to mind

    Unbounce is another landing page builder app that’s as popular as Landingi.

    You may be wondering then: What makes Landingi different?

    Here are some reasons why Landingi slightly tops Unbounce in terms of features:

    • Access to an Auto-responder
    • Ability to create customer accounts
    • Conversion tracking
    • Customizable forms
    • Import and Export data features
    • Real-time notifications
    • Email management tools

    With vastly more features, it may be natural to assume that Landingi comes at a higher price tag.

    But nope! Unbounce is at $80/month while Landingi is at $89/month.

    For a fairly similar price, the extra features that help streamline and compile data make me favor Landingi by a slight margin.

    But, of course, it depends on your needs.

    Do you think those extra features aren’t too important to you?

    If not, then Unbounce might be worth considering as well!

    Pros and Cons of Landingi

    Truth be told, I try to be impartial in this review.

    I don’t want to mislead readers into buying a faulty product.

    That means: the bad side of this product should be highlighted too. As well as the good side.

    Here are the good and the bad parts of buying a Landingi plan.

    Pros

    • Lots of Formats: Template choices are more than enough to keep you busy. That on top of customization opens.
    • No Code: Creates beautiful and functional designs—no programming needed.
    • Fantastic CRM Integration: Works well for lead capturing and other external solutions.
    • Great Customer Support: Friendly and always have the answers to my queries. A roadmap is also available to see future implementation.

    Cons

    • Mobile Builder: Requires a steep learning curve and back and forth to support to wrap your head around. Also, designing each template by display requires you to build it separately.
    • Basic Plan Limitations: For the most impactful features, you have to go for the Automate or Agency plan. 
    • Centering Blocks: Having multiple items centered on the page vertically or horizontally is sometimes not precise.

    Landingi review: Verdict

    Landing page tools have two important functions: to make websites look good and to increase sales.

    Without the proper tools, doing either of the above is hard and takes hours of training.

    However, with Landingi, you can power a viable website that makes designing and selling really easy.

    While it’s still growing and is due for future updates, I’m really impressed by its performance thus far.

    The responsive customer support makes me optimistic about the implementation of new features too.

    Would I recommend this product to agencies, eCommerce owners, and businesspeople?

    Absolutely.4.5/5

  • Freelance Networking: Using Direct Messages to Conduct High-Quality Outreach

    Freelance Networking: Using Direct Messages to Conduct High-Quality Outreach

    Whether you’re a copywriter, a photographer, or something in between, there are countless reasons to conduct freelance networking.

    Indeed, it could be argued that networking is the most critical part of a freelancer’s job. Until you’ve built a solid reputation, an authoritative website, and a strong network, outreach is how you acquire clients and projects – you don’t have an agency doing that heavy lifting for you.

    While networking via email still works, the reality is that we’re seeing a massive uptick in the success of direct message outreach. According to LinkedIn, InMail senders are achieving a response rate 300% higher than emailers. It’s thus critical that freelancers learn effective direct messaging strategies to strengthen their networks and acquire clients.

    Read on for a comprehensive look into how to write the perfect freelance outreach DM.

    Table Of Contents

    Social Media vs. Professional Networking Sites

    The phrase “sliding into DMs” has been developed by social media users in reference to cold messaging someone for the first time, whether for romantic, amiable, or professional purposes. What’s the goal of this, you may ask? A reply communicating interest in continuing the conversation.

    Sliding into DMs has become an art form, but exactly how it’s done varies from platform to platform. On social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, it’s common to start conversations with a more cheeky and casual tone. On LinkedIn and other professional networking sites, however, that first message requires more professionalism.

    While freelancers may use either type of platform to the network depending on their field of interest, it’s important to recognize that every platform operates according to its own rules, and learning those rules ahead of time is essential before jumping into the deep end.

    Preparing to Write Your DM

    So you’ve found the ideal prospect and you’re about to reach out. Before you start writing your DM, you’ll want to make sure you’ve done some preparation. Review the tips below and make sure you’ve checked all the boxes before moving forward.

    Know your purpose 

    If you don’t know exactly why you’re reaching out to this specific prospect, you probably shouldn’t reach out until you do. Are you trying to fundraise? Do you want to acquire new clients? Do you want this person to refer you to new clients? Does this person need a project done that you can do? Are you just trying to expand your network?

    Defining your purpose ahead of time will help you narrow your focus as you decide how to phrase that first outreach message. Otherwise, your message will likely come across as too vague or generic and won’t evoke a response.

    Take Notes

    If you’re using a networking site, there’s a good chance your prospect has a profile – study it! You can glean some incredibly valuable information, such as their relevant experience, their commonalities with you, and even their interests and values.

    While you don’t need to understand your prospect’s entire life story before reaching out, these details will come in handy as you start writing to capture their attention and interest.

    Set a Goal

    By the end of your outreach campaign, how many people would you like to have reached out to? What is your desired response rate? While it’s easy to say “100%” and call it a day, realistically, not everyone will reply to your message. Professionals are often busy and don’t spend much time, if any, browsing their messages on networking sites.

    Setting a goal is important for knowing when it’s time to rest and give your prospects a chance to get back to you. If you send too many messages, you will likely lose track of who’s who and your process may become overly complicated.

    Crafting an Effective Freelance Networking DM

    Now that you have a plan, you can start writing. Remember, as you write you’ll want to conduct frequent gut checks, asking yourself if you would open the message you’re writing. Be hard on yourself – your recipient certainly will be – and make sure to correct any areas you feel even slightly unsure about.

    Personalize

    While it’s not a bad idea to have a template on hand when sending several direct messages, it’s important to remember to personalize. Everyone loves to have their ego stroked a bit, so you’ll want to use this knowledge to your advantage. This is why we did our research before getting started.

    Did you attend the same university as your recipient? Have you read something they wrote that you enjoyed? Bring these details up! This is a great way to capture your recipient’s attention and communicate that the message you’re sending is unique to them.

    It’s a good rule of thumb to anticipate that your recipient receives several general messages per day – make yours the one that stands out above the rest.

    Be Specific

    Your recipients probably can’t count on their two hands the number of vague messages they’ve received in the past few months. What exactly do you want your prospect to do? What can you offer them? Remember to quantify wherever possible, and at minimum give them a clear next step so that they don’t have to do any guessing.

    Keep Your Initial Message Brief

    It can be tempting to write your recipient a thesis boasting your credentials and arguing why they should collaborate with you, but the hard truth is that nobody wants to read that. Your initial message should be no more than four to five sentences, each of which is entirely necessary to communicate your main point or build rapport. If your sentence doesn’t add much, remove it!

    Proofread

    Don’t forget to do one final gut check to make sure the tone and flow of your message are appropriate. Check for spelling errors, any feelings of pushiness, or too casual of a tone if you’re using a professional networking platform.

    Template Examples

    If you’re looking for some additional guidance as you get started, here are a couple of templates that you can model your own on:

    “Hi NAME,

    I read your piece on [XX] and what you said really resonated with me because of [XX].

    Since you actively write about [XX], I wanted to see if you would be interested in [XX].

    Let me know what you think!”

    “Hi NAME,

    I noticed from your profile that you were a Business Admin major at UCLA. I was also a Business Admin major at UCLA – go Bruins!

    I appreciate the work you’re doing in [XX] and wanted to see if you would be interested in [XX].

    Looking forward to hearing from you!”

    Conclusion

    Ultimately, freelance networking can be challenging, and writing the perfect direct message will take some time to master.

    What’s most important is that you learn from your mistakes and you aren’t afraid to ask for help when you need it.

  • Top 5 Plagiarism Checker Tools for Bloggers to Keep Your Content Unique

    Top 5 Plagiarism Checker Tools for Bloggers to Keep Your Content Unique

    If you are a blogger, you are well aware of the term “plagiarism.” You have indeed listened to this and its harmful consequences for your website. 

    Plagiarism is copying someone’s content and publish it under your name. In simple words, it is the duplication of other’s work without making any changes in it.

    It does not matter how you are doing this because it will always be harmful to your platform. A blogger should understand this concept so they can produce unique content that ranks on Google.

    And to help you get to that point, this article lists down the best plagiarism checker tools bloggers can use.

    Before jumping right into it, you should know the different types of plagiarism and how to deal with each of them using the tools below.

    Types of plagiarism

    There are three main types of plagiarism from which a blogger can suffer. You should know about them to remove any of those types precisely.

    Direct or Intentional Plagiarism

    Direct plagiarism is the intentional type of plagiarism that a person does without any guilt. For example, a writer or blogger will copy someone’s blog and paste it on his website.

    He does not change a single phrase from the content instead of name and author details. Therefore, he’s stealing someone’s work and using it for personal use. 

    This is considered the most threatening type of plagiarism because it affects how Google crawls content. For example, there are cases when the plagiarized content ranks higher than the content it was copied from — case in point: Neil Patel.

    If the actual owner comes to know about this theft, he can do a copyright strike on your platform. He may also take action against the copied platform using DMCA.

    It is a special law to deal with such problems and resolve them for the better progress of your website.

    Self-Plagiarism

    Being a blogger, you will write many articles or blogs on the same topic. In such a condition, your words may interact with each other, and the reader may get bored.

    It is possible that you use the same words and expressions to communicate the same idea across your content. Your writing, as a result, could be subject to duplication because of the same thoughts you have on all your articles.

    It is less harmful than all the other types of plagiarism you can easily reword them after the fact, assuming that you published the content on your blog.

    Accidental Plagiarism

    It is the last type of plagiarism in which the person is considered innocent to some extent. A blogger may have to face this because of huge data availability over the internet.

    The Internet has made this type of plagiarism common for every writer and blogger. 

    It is not surprising if you have been experiencing this because it is almost impossible to write unique while researching on the internet.

    You can only reduce this factor and resolve this problem by rewording your resources into your own. Also, you should follow some tips to write unique content for your blog. 

    Related: How to Generate Free Content for Blogs Using Paraphrasing Tool

    How Plagiarism Affects Your SEO

    SEO is a set of tactics that allows you to push your site to the top of SERPs. It is the reason why you write content on your blog or clients hire you in the first place.

    However, plagiarism may put a stop to things because you’re literally not sharing anything new with your audience. 

    By the sheer act of copying and pasting the same content on your blog (in other words, stealing),  you’re wasting everyone’s time, including yours.

    Here are the worst effects of plagiarism on SEO,

    • Waste all your investment of time and money
    • Give no value to your website
    • You may experience Google penalty
    • In case of DMCA, your website may be banned permanently
    • Unable you to get prominent traffic

    Top 5 Plagiarism Checker Tools for Bloggers 

    Aside from content writing tools, you need tools that let you check plagiarism in your content. Many of those tools are not reliable enough to rely on them.

    There are multiple reasons for their less proficiency, including ads display, slow working, limited databases, and others.

    Here we have made a list of the best 5 plagiarism checker tools for bloggers. You should consider them for reliable and efficient outcomes and remain away from any copyright issues.

    Prepostseo.com

    For a blogger, it is essential to get the best tool to check for plagiarism. It is the perfect choice to deal with plagiarized content and make it unique.

    By using this tool, you will be able to get better performance on your website. The framework of this tool has been made simple to be understood by every user of the writing fields.

    You should not need to be an expert to check plagiarism in your content with this tool.

    How to use this tool?

    The process of checking plagiarism with this tool is super simple because you only have to paste your content.

    You can also upload your document using Google Drive, Onedrive, or device internal storage. Once you have uploaded your file, you should do some settings for a reliable check.

    prepostseo

    If you have quoted text in your content, click the “Exclude Quotes” box. It is because the quotes will not be considered as copied content by search engines.

    Also, you will see an exclude box just below the text box. If your content has some external or naked links, you should click on it and paste them into the given box.

    With this, the tool will not consider it as a copied content and show you the results without regarding them.

    After completing this step, click on the “Check Plagiarism” button.

    The tool will start comparing your content with billions of published pages, documents, books, and blogs. It may take a while because you are doing a deep check for your content.

    When the tool has checked your content and found plagiarism, it will show the results in a percentage format.

    Now, you will get some underlined phrases or lines with different colours. By clicking on them, the tool will tell you whether the line is exactly copied or paraphrased.

    Therefore, you can easily change them according to requirements. With this tool, the process of checking for plagiarism and its removal has become easy.

    Further, you do not need to register yourself with this tool if you have 1000 words or less to check. If you want to check a blog of more than 1000 words, you will have to sign up with your email.

    Plagscan.com

    Plagscan is another efficient tool to check duplication in your content. This tool is efficient and reliable to cover every single document from the internet for a deep check.

    You will not have to worry about limitations regarding the database of this tool. It will check your content for similarities from the entire online database and web pages.

    How to use this tool?

    You will only need to paste the content you want to check in the text box. For efficient check, you should select or mark all those boxes you want to use as filters.

    The tool is well-known because of its extensive database coverage and fast work. You will get results of your work originality within a short time. 

    The tool will give you the link to the source websites to check them and rephrase your lines.

    The main problem in the entire process is the paid version of this tool. You can not use it without registration with them using your email and some other information.

    Many bloggers avoid this because they can check plagiarism without paying anyone using the Prepostseo tool.

    No doubt, you can use this tool for free during the free trial period. But you can not even do a single scan without buying a subscription after a short time. 

    Plagiarismcheckerx.com

    If you are looking for a plagiarism checker to work with all the writing fields, then you should pick this tool. 

    It is the perfect tool to work with educational documents like assignments, papers, and others.

    Many teachers, students, and researchers are using this tool. Along with them, many bloggers are utilizing this tool for dealing with plagiarism problems. 

    Source: https://plagiarismcheckerx.com/

    The main reason for such a high number of visitors is the versatility of this tool for all fields.

    How to use this tool?

    The process of using this tool is very simple as compared to all other tools available on the internet. You can upload your file in any format without taking this section into account.

    Such as the tool supports Docx, doc, PDF, and plain text check with simple clicks. Also, you can check duplication in more than 5 languages, including Dutch and Italian.

    You would not need to worry about the version of Windows you are using. The reason is that the tool supports all the versions of Windows and the operating system.

    If you have few words to check per day, you can download this tool on your device. It will be simple because you will not need to face any problems.

    You can install it with simple steps that you use while installing any application. Once you have done this, you can check limited words per day with the basic and free version.

    If you have excessive words to check, you can upgrade your membership by purchasing any of their plans. 

    For a blogger, the process to check content for free will be very simple and efficient with this tool.

    Copyscape.com

    If you are working in the writing field, it is confirmed that you have heard about this tool. Copyscape is one of the most used duplication checkers in the world.

    It is the best tool, no matter whether you are a writer or a website owner. You will always find it reliable and helpful to deal with content duplication problems.

    How to use this tool?

    This tool has both free and paid versions from which you should choose before checking plagiarism.

    If you have published your blogs already and want to check plagiarism against them, you can use the free version. 

    You only have to paste your blog’s link in the URL box and click on the “Go” option.

    The tool will analyze your content and show the top 10 results from where it has found duplications. You can click on any of the given links to get details about plagiarism.

    But if you want to use this tool before publishing your content, you should buy a premium package. 

    You can check the content originality before publishing your content and resolving any issues with it. In this way, it has made the work efficient and fast for almost every blogger.

    The premium version of this tool can be utilized to keep track of your writings. Once you turn on tracking for your content, the tool will keep analyzing it constantly.

    If anyone copies your content, you will be notified automatically to take action against him. With this, you can avoid penalties from the search engine and rank appropriately without any problem.

    Copyleaks.com

    It is one of the most demanding and accurate duplication checkers in the writing field. It is the fastest tool to check plagiarism deeply and evaluate your document to make it unique.

    When you paste your content or upload it, the tool will compare it for similarities among various databases.

    It also checks your writings for duplication with every published document on the internet. After a complete check, it will show you exact duplicating pages.

    How to use this tool?

    This tool has been designed with Artificial intelligence technology to work like a human brain. You will find this tool accurate, reliable, and fast to detect any duplication from the internet.

    You can use various file formats, URLs of your published article, or paste as free text to input data. This tool has made this step easy for everyone because of multiple uploading options.

    Being a blogger, you can also use this tool to evaluate against self-plagiarism. It will enable you to compare your written different files and check for duplication among them.

    The only problem that many bloggers find in this tool is the paid version. You will not be able to check your writings for plagiarism without buying the premium plan of the tool.

    Further, you can not use this tool for a free trial without registration. In this way, you will find many problems while looking to use this tool.

    Conclusion

    Without unique content, your platform will not grow properly and unable to show expected results. For a blogger, unique content is a must-have factor.

    So, you should focus on uniqueness to reserve your higher rank while creating your content.

    Whether you are writing on your own or having a writer, you always check your content for plagiarism before publishing it.

    For this, we have made the above list after complete research and evaluation of numerous tools available over the internet. All these tools are the best and providing up to mark features in particular dimensions.

    If you are looking for the best free plagiarism checker, you should pick the tool from Prepostseo. You will get your documents checked thoroughly without paying someone.

  • Make Unique Blog Visuals in 5 Simple Steps (Beginners Guide)

    Make Unique Blog Visuals in 5 Simple Steps (Beginners Guide)

    So, you want to become the next top blogger everyone talks about?

    You have an original idea, and you’ve selected a niche. You are skilled at writing engaging content, but you also know that, besides an intriguing title, you need powerful visuals to attract your readers.

    Not every blogger is a graphic designer, plus if you are only learning how to start a blog hiring a designer doesn’t sound like a viable option. To overcome this challenge, most bloggers use stock photos in their blog posts, and that is only one of the possible solutions.

    On the other hand, there is a number of free online software that can help you create your own visuals even if you are an amateur and aren’t confident at design.

    Creating visual content for your blog is easier than you might think. In this post, we will cover the three main topics to help you get started:

    1. Why should you create original visual content,
    2. What should your visuals be based on, and
    3. How to make stunning visuals to support your blog post.

    Why should you use original visual content in your blog?

    Visual elements take a very important place on your blog. They have the power to captivate the viewer, inspire your readers, increase the readability of the blog, share meaningful information more clearly, plus they are good for SEO.

    Your blog is created to bring some value to the readers. But, before your readers even give you a chance, you need some help to capture their attention. Visuals and an overall design of your blog can help you stand out among your competitors.

    Visual content is more engageable. Because we like to consume information visually, images are the first thing people see when they enter your blog, and they can help you keep the reader interested in reading the whole text.

    Furthermore, visual content breaks the dry text into more readable segments. If you illustrate your findings with an image or video, people will not only understand you better, but they will get to rest their eyes at the end of each chapter before move onto reading the rest.

    And last, but not least, visuals have an important role in your SEO. Optimized images and videos are increasing the value of your page, helping Google spiders determine that your blog is relevant and your content is adapted to the reader.

    5 things to bear in mind when making visual content

    5 things to bear in mind when making visual content

    #1 Keep it relevant

    Just because the visuals are good for your blog, it doesn’t mean you should add an image for the purpose of just having it there. Each visual element should be useful and follow the story you are telling. 

    Engaging content drives traffic to your website, and if you abuse the visuals, they can backfire on you plus you can lose the trust of your audience.

    #2 Keep it in line with your brand

    Every little detail of your blog is important and has a purpose. Visual elements should play their role in supporting your brand and thus they must follow your brand identity and voice.

    Your brand identity is not only about the colors and shapes you use. It is also about the attitude you present. Make sure that your visuals are presenting the same values and emotions as the rest of your blog.

    #3 Keep it balanced

    Visual content is supposed to support your content. This is why you should find the perfect balance between image and text in each of your posts and don’t suffocate the blog with visuals.

    One image per chapter, to illustrate your point, is just enough. If you have many valuable examples to share, break them down into headings and include a paragraph to explain why are they relevant and what they present.

    #4 Keep it optimized

    The HTML code of each visual element on your blog contains attributes that help the readers understand your images. Optimizing this line of code can help bring the audience to your website when they are using visual search.

    Title and alt tags are important to describe your content to the software that is unable to read the visual data but also to help those readers with visual impairment understand what you are saying.

    #5 Keep it simple

    Visual content in your blog should be informative and illustrative. Create simple graphics to engage your audience, and stick to the rules of minimalism. You are not creating an art exhibition.

    When you use online software to create graphics, such as Visme or Canva, it is easy to make a beautiful and captivating design by following the simple outlines the software provides you with.

    How to make unique blog visuals in 5 easy steps

    How to make unique blog visuals in 5 easy steps

    #1 Choose the right format

    Simple blog graphics are always a great way to go when you are illustrating your blog post. However, information can be presented in many visual forms. For example, if you are sharing statistics data, charts and graphs can help you illustrate your text.

    If you are presenting a lot of data and you need a little help from a visual component to bring the data closer to the readers, make infographics to get their attention.

    #2 Start with a template

    Once you have decided what you wish to create, choose the template you find suiting to get you started. Templates can save you a lot of time in comparison to starting from scratch, especially if you are new to graphic design. They already incorporate the golden rules of graphic design, and all you need to do is insert your data, without worrying if it will come off right.

    #3 Customize your visuals

    Complete your graphics with the title, highlighted quotes, statistics, and numbers from your text. Use the custom icons and add images that are relevant to support your statements. Rearrange the elements accordingly.

    #4 Incorporate your brand

    Change the colors to match your brands’ identity. Add your logo to the graphics and follow the guidelines of your brand standards. Don’t forget to change the fonts as well – the primary font for the title and the secondary for the subtitle and the text.

    #5 Prepare for publishing

    Export your graphics in the formats you use on your blog and make sure the quality is satisfying. The good quality of the images helps you build trust with your readers who can tell when you are dedicated to your content and provide top-notch posts.

    To wrap it up

    If you are beginning your career as a blogger and wish to establish yourself as the expert in your industry that everyone looks up to for advice – approach every aspect of your blog like a pro. 

    Don’t underestimate the power of visual content and the value of being original and authentic on the market. Visual elements help you increase the visibility of your blog and establish a long-term relationship with your readers.

    Thanks to free online design software, you no longer have to worry about making quality graphics. Begin creating simple visual stories and build your confidence step by step.

    nina petrov

    Nina Petrov

    Nina is a content writer, passionate about graphic design, content marketing, and the new generation of green and social businesses. She starts the day scrolling her digest on new digital trends while sipping a cup of coffee with milk and sugar. Her white little bunny tends to reply to your emails when she is on vacation.

    • 4 Ways To Integrate Your Employees Into Your Content

      4 Ways To Integrate Your Employees Into Your Content

      It’s hard to come up with new ideas for content. 

      Another blog? Perhaps some audio? Maybe we should stick to paid ads. 

      It might be challenging to keep your content fresh, but there are some great ways to do so without blowing your budget on a risky idea.

      One of our favorite methods is employee integration. Getting those faces you sit next to every day on camera might be the best way to sell your products or entice brands to work with you. This article’ll cover some great ways to do just that. 

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      Why should you integrate your employees into your content?

      It’s no secret that content plays a huge part in which businesses and brands find success online. 

      Great content drives engagement and produces tangible results. It can take many forms, but creators and business owners often underestimate how great a source of content their own employees can be. 

      Employees are the lifeblood of your business, bringing hard work, perseverance, and creativity to their respective roles. Without them, you don’t have a business. This is why they shouldn’t go ignored in your content. If you want to tell the story of your business it makes sense to focus not just on your products and customers, but the people who make the magic happen. 

      The rise of influencer culture has taught us a few home truths about content. 

      • Audiences love an insight into other peoples’ lives
      • Audiences want to engage with people just like them

      Whether it’s businesses such as vetcompandpen.com putting veteran voices at the forefront of their operation to attract other former servicemen and women in need, or dollarshaveclub.com integrating their everyman owners into their viral ads, using genuine employees within your content is an inspired and proven way to improve engagement with your business. 

      Image Vet Comp & Pen

      Interview and profile them

      In a hyper-connected world where everyone is carefully curating their own personal brand, having strong personalities and stories associated with your business is essential. 

      That’s why interviewing and profiling your employees is such a great way to integrate them into your content and breathe life into your business. Whether you’re highlighting new starters or having existing team members discuss new trends and topics, this type of content is an essential part of modern brand building. 

      This content can take many forms. Alternatively, you can make:

      • A quirky video
      • A Q&A blog
      • A vlog
      • A podcast

      Whatever works for your brand. But that part is important, ensure it actually works for your brand. If your audience isn’t going to listen to a 30-minute podcast, then make quick and quirky videos they can consume on the go or a blog that peers in that employee’s professional circle can link to. 

      Everyone has a unique story. Profiling them gives you an opportunity to tell that story while creating networking opportunities along the way. 

      Create ‘behind-the-scenes’ content

      A peek behind the curtain is always appreciated. 

      From celebrity gossip to an expose, we always love to know what’s going on just out of view. 

      Your content doesn’t need to be that intrusive, but simply taking the camera behind the scenes of your operation can produce some stellar content that really puts your employees at the forefront of your marketing strategy. 

      If people can see the team behind the scenes and get a sense of their passion for their work, it will make them more comfortable parting with their money and working with you in the long term. 

      This is particularly important in ecommerce, where getting a hint of how a business handles every step of the order process, from product development to packaging, is key to earning consumer trust. 

      Take jean brand nakedandfamousdenim.com, for example. Through excellent behind-the-scenes content such as this video, the brand managed to not just offer insight into the quality of their products, but introduce key players in their business structure to their audience. In general, their use of contrasting pop-art imagery and industrial-inspired video of their team working on products help to build the brand through content and employee involvement alike. 

      naked & famous denim

      Image Naked & Famous Denim

      This is easy content to make and a brilliant way to get real faces on screen doing what they love. Whether you’re full on or subtle in your presentation of employees within your content, it still makes a difference. Just pick up a camera and start filming your day-to-day. 

      Hold social media Q&As 

      The concept of the Q&A has evolved significantly in the age of the internet. 

      While previously you would have to attend an event to hear someone insightful speak on their work or industry, now there are hundreds of similar events behind broadcasts around the world every day. 

      From Reddit AMAs to Facebook Live streams, social media Q&As have exploded as a versatile way for brands to interact with their audience and conduct important customer research about their questions and concerns. 

      If you’re a YouTube blogger, you can hold livestreams and invite people to ask their questions from there.

      They’re also a great way to build the brand and personality of your business through employees. 

      Simply sticking your best public speakers in front of a smartphone or camera and having them answer some questions from your social followers is a great way to grow your brand and give a face to your business. It develops these people as advocates, someone that consumers, clients, and partners can picture next time they visit your website. 

      Best of all, working on this kind of content opens up new media opportunities. If your employees do particularly well and engage with your social following there’s no reason this can’t evolve into a regular segment, perhaps a series of vlogs or a podcast. 

      Make company events and socials more public

      While you might look at celebrations and company socials as an opportunity for you to celebrate privately, letting your audience into the party can help them connect with your business on a deeper level. 

      Now, you shouldn’t look to integrate your employees into your content by shoving a camera in the face of personal moments and following them through a night out. The occasional video and pictures uploaded to your socials are enough to give people an idea of the personality behind your business and promote it as a fun place to work. 

      Letting people know you’re celebrating your successes will paint your business as one they want to work and shop with. That tinge of jealousy they see at a great company party will drive them towards your site to learn and spend more. 

      Conclusion

      Everything you do online should be about making your brand more amiable and connect with your audience. Using your employees is a great way to do this because, at the end of the day, they’re real people too with diverse talents and personalities. 

      They might not catch on as YouTube hosts or have the social profile of an Instagram influencer, but they still help to boost your brand and establish your goals. 

    • How to Start a Parenting Blog: Tips and Examples

      How to Start a Parenting Blog: Tips and Examples

      Many parents turn to the internet for advice, reassurance, and inspiration for looking after their kids.

      So if the target audience for your brand or products is parents, blogging is a great way to connect with them and build a relationship.

      But thousands of parenting blogs are already out there, so how can you make yours stand out from the crowd? 

      In this post, we take a look at examples of the best parenting blogs examples, as well as kid blogs examples, as see why they’re successful. This way, you can replicate on your parenting blog the things they did right.

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      Understand your audience 

      The first thing you need to do when writing a blog for parents is to identify who exactly you want to reach with your content. 

      It’s not as simple as just writing for all parents — the category is really broad, and you need to focus more on a specific niche with your blog writing.

      Parents will cover a vast range of demographics with varying interests. In addition, they’ll have different priorities or concerns depending on their kids’ age and how many kids they have.

      To write content that’s going to engage your audience, you need to have a good understanding of who they are and what they care about.

      For example, look at the target personas of the business you’re blogging for— who are they selling to? This will give you insights into what topics and areas you should write about. 

      hi blog im dad
      Image: Hi Blog! I’m Dad!

      In the example above, Hi Blog! I’m Dad! is a parenting blog where blogger Rob Growski shares his parenting journey as a father of two autistic children.

      From here, it’s pretty clear who the blog’s target audience is: people looking for parenting inspiration on raising their children with special needs.

      If you don’t have target personas already, it’s worth doing some research and putting some together for your blog audience — think about who they are, what they do, where they are, and what interests them.

      Keep it concise

      Parents are usually short on time and want some quick answers when looking for something online. So keep your blog posts as concise as possible. 

      That doesn’t mean they can’t be in-depth when needed, but make them easy to scan through. For example, break your posts into short paragraphs with headings and include a bullet-point summary of the contents so parents can get a quick idea of whether it covers what they want to know.

      alpha mom
      Image: Alpha Mom

      Alpha Mom is one of the favorite parenting blogs out there due to the wide variety of topics they cover, from pregnancy to mom life and modern family life.

      They have a column section where users ask questions about these topics, and their columnists will provide very personal and in-depth answers.

      The posts range from short to comprehensive posts, but what’s important here is how laser-focused the posts are concerning the question asked. Some parents would even benefit from having to read more about the topic instead of a brief answer.

      Provide practical parenting tips

      You can share some insights and any relevant personal experiences on the topics you’re talking about, but staying focused on the issue or question you’re trying to answer in each post is essential. Also, make sure your blogs include lots of practical tips and actionable advice.

      Your posts should connect with parents, but they also need to provide some value. Parents need to be able to take something away from what they’ve read. They are looking online for solutions, ideas, and inspiration, so make sure your blog includes them. 

      For example, the Baby Tula blog shares recipes, gift guides, and helpful posts about how to look after kids. The posts are full of actionable tips that parents can take on board and use, which means they’re providing value, and their audience is connecting with the brand. 

      baby tula - blogging for parents

      Image: Baby Tula

      Whether it’s suggestions for step-by-step guides for activities to keep toddlers entertained or practical tips for balancing homeschooling and work, parents will be looking for practical advice that they can follow.

      Use images and video to engage

      When you know your audience, it’s essential to consider whether a standard written blog will be the best way to engage them. Even with headings and bullet points, parents might feel overwhelmed by a long chunk of writing. Instead, add images throughout your blog posts to break them up further.

      You could also add in some videos —  these are often a better way to engage parents and can also be entertaining for kids. 

      sago mini boxes

      Image: YouTube

      For example, Sago Mini Boxes use videos to explain their products and create videos using the characters from their activity boxes. This is an excellent way to target parents and their kids, and video content like this can also be added to blog posts to make them more entertaining.

      Offer expert parenting advice

      Another essential part of blogging for parents is to include expert opinions and advice.

      Let’s say you’re covering childcare, child development, or even raising children using different models like peaceful parenting or positive parenting. You need to be able to back up what you’re saying. It’ll give your blog posts more authority and help you build trust with your target audience.

      If you’re not an expert in these areas, then you can find facts, insights, and research online to include in your blog posts. Or reach out to experts and ask for their input on your blog posts. 

      melissa & doug

      Image: Melissa & Doug

      For example, the toy brand Melissa & Doug features a series of blog posts from Dr. Jenny Radesky, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician. Posts that include advice from professionals will consist of valuable information and be more reassuring for parents. 

      Transparency and authenticity

      You must build a close relationship with your audience when blogging for parents. They must trust what you’re saying and understand where you’re coming from. You can start this by establishing a clear brand identity and sticking to it.

      If you’re writing a blog for a business or brand, you need to be open about it and not overly promote products at every opportunity. The blog posts need to provide value to your readers, not just try to sell them products — they’ll quickly lose interest.

      Image: Scary Mommy

      Scary Mommy has been a brand dedicated to parenting resources since 2008. It has a very savvy content strategy that tackles many topics centered around parenting.

      Through the years, it has built enough trust from the audience that its posts promoting different products don’t feel hamfisted compared to other blogs.

      Because of the wealth of information they’ve provided about parenting kids, they can extend their authority and relevance to product recommendations also relevant to parenting.

      For parenting blogs that aren’t part of a business, if you’re going to recommend or mention products in your posts, they need to be genuine recommendations that align with your brand.

      For example, suppose you start mentioning products that are irrelevant to your audience, or you’re including them to earn money but don’t think they’re valuable. In that case, you risk damaging the relationship with your audience.

      As part of authenticity, consider creating a YouTube channel for your blog. Publishing videos where you discuss your passion as a parent in front of the camera allows people to build a personal affinity with your brand.

      Conclusion

      There’s a lot of competition when starting a parenting website or blog— you’re up against many well-known brands and parenting experts with loyal readers. The key to successfully blogging for parents and kids is to narrow down your target audience and provide regular, valuable content that engages and entertains them.

      Eventually, you’ll have to employ other tactics like guest blogging to build links and increase your online visibility, promoting your content on various channels, and more. For now, however, these tactics should get your parent blog up and running.