Blogging holds its ground firmly in this new age of social media platforms. There are currently more than 600 million blogs on the internet out of 1.7 billion websites! It has found a way to weasel its way into all kinds of content online, from YouTube videos to Facebook promotional content. How we define a blog now has become increasingly open-ended.
Blogs have acquired a stronger position in the wake of COVID-19 because people have to rely on their computer screens for information and entertainment. This means bloggers do the most they can to optimize their content and website.
Managing blogs and writing content can be challenging and might not yield positive results. But this is a trial and error phase. Every blogger goes to reach a point where they can get enough traffic. To minimize this phase’s duration, I’ve created a list below that will help you increase your blog traffic.
While you must have a smattering of SEO-based content available throughout your blog, you can also use it in headlines and first-page content.
Take careful steps to ensure that you’re using optimized keywords for your blog. But how smartly are you doing it? Blog titles are crucial to the success of the article you post. They need to be attractive and engaging but must also be keyword-optimized.
Use keywords in your meta tags as well as snippets that you have on your first page. It would help if you integrated targeted keywords into your headlines to optimize your blog further.
There are different tools that can help with the optimization of your web pages for specific keywords. For example, you can test a free on-page SEO tool by Wincher.
Revise Your Keywords Strategy
Every website or blog requires an effective keyword strategy to boost rankings and traffic. One of the easiest ways to understand how you can improve your keyword search is to know your audience.
Knowing who you are targeting is crucial before you start writing or uploading content on your blog. This helps you streamline your viewers. Conduct small-scale and relatively simple research and make data-driven decisions based on the needs of your audience.
An important blogging tip to add to your list is finding a niche that will help you organize your keyword research. A niche is a specialized but profitable corner of the market. Narrow your blog’s focus, so it does not feel chaotic or difficult for the audience to follow.
Promote Your Content
Promoting can be done in either of two ways: finding mediums you can use to promote, or self-promote your content. The latter should be done tastefully so it does not feel like you’re bragging or needlessly spamming. But tooting your own horn isn’t bad! Finding a balance between self-promotion and humility takes some time and practice.
You can also use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and everything else to do paid promotions for your blog. Facebook has a well-integrated ad system that all influencers, bloggers, or businesses should use.
A few more tips to spread the word about your content:
Submit the article to relevant online communities, for example, Growth Hacker.
Be active on Quora. Find relevant questions, answer them, and add your link
Reach out to the sources that you’ve mentioned, and ask for a share.
Repurpose your content in different formats. For instance, you can set up a YouTube channel and convert all your blog posts into videos, essentially making you a YouTube blogger. You can link back to the original posts in the video description so viewers can read the post.
When someone reads a blog, their eye automatically veers towards the one with the right balance of pictures, gifs, and videos. Notice that we said balance because sometimes an overload of images with less text to provide any quality content will put off the reader.
They might have clicked on the blog, thinking they’ll find useful information coupled with pictures, but when both aren’t what they end up getting, it becomes useless.
Use high-quality, royalty-free images to not only increase your blog traffic but also make the traffic stay. Websites like Pexels or Pixabay are great resources for your blogs!
Consistency matters in everything you do. When you’re asking for ways to boost your blog after every strategy has been discussed, the one thing that sustains all your success is the consistent effort you put in your work.
Writing blogs every once in a while will not cut it. The more you write, the more you’re going to find ways to make that piece of writing more effective. Your traffic will also become consistent, and you’re bound to have frequent visitors. This is extremely important to increase your blog traffic.
As I previously mentioned, writing and experimenting with your strategy will help you improve your blog in general. This trial and error phase is significant for learning new strategies or revising the old ones.
Keep an eye on your traffic jumps and keyword rankings. You can gain lots of insights by tracking your positions and spying on your competitors. It’s obvious that higher positions you have – more traffic you get. That’s why don’t forget to track your keywords and see which content brings the most traffic for your website.
Add Clear Call-to-Action
Call-to-actions are essential for both blog writing and general content on your website. When you’re writing a blog, end it each time with a CTA but do so in a tasteful manner but still calling to the customers.
First of all, think about what you want to empower your audience for. Sign up for a newsletter, leave the feedback or probably follow your social media. Don’t hesitate to highlight CTA to let the audience easily find the relevant next step.
Useful Call-to-actions are easily distinguishable and stand out. In the case of blogs, CTAs will usually ask readers to share their content if they liked what they read or promote their website to read similar blogs or promote a specific business.
Remember, asking is okay!
Conclusion
Creating and maintaining a blog is time-consuming and challenging, but something doable. We hope the strategies listed above help you increase your blog traffic. But most importantly, your passion enables you to add depth to it, and your drive for it makes the blog more consistent. Having both is important as you delve into this world!
Author’s bio: Julia is a professional business development manager with proven experience in customer acquisition, strategic partnerships, and outbound marketing. Now she takes care of customer success and business growth at Wincher rank tracker.
All your writers must uniformly produce articles and blog posts. That means they have the same format, tone, and voice according to your or your client’s specifications.
However, this is impossible unless you have shared with your team the guidelines on how to do these.
If you don’t have a process for this yet, then you need to set up one ASAP. This helps you onboard all your writers, whether old or new, to how you want things done. If done correctly, all your writers will produce consistent articles across all boards.
First, you need to lay out all the steps in a clearly defined format.
Tools like Process Street or Trello with its built-in checklist feature for cards allow you to list down the steps writers need to do when writing the content.
It would even be better to share a screen recording of you running down the steps of writing content. One such screen recording software program, CloudApp, let’s you annotate images as well. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And nowhere is that more clear than trying to captain a team of content writers. Show, don’t tell to make sure your writers get all the information they need to be successful.
Once done, you can set up a Trello board that your writers can review and access every time you start writing an article for you.
Oversee each task like a hawk
One of the most important factors managers like yourself need to instill among its team members is accountability.
You must provide them all the information to write the article, but the rest of the work must come from them. If they can’t submit the work on time despite having agreed upon a deadline, then they are responsible for not getting the job done.
Using Trello, you can set up the card containing the job description with a deadline on each. You can also take screenshots on different records and upload them using CloudApp when snipping an image is faster than restyling.
Writers must either comply with the details of the work or ask for a longer period to finish it. Either way, this part should allow you to lay down the groundwork for the project for you and the writer to discuss and agree upon its terms.
Do this for all your writers and for their respective tasks so they commit in writing to a deadline for a job to be completed by. And if they fail on holding up their end of the bargain, it’s clear that timelines aren’t being met.
Communicate visually
There are times, however, when writers can’t finish the job on time due to reasons such as faulty internet connection, health-related issues, family-related problems, and others. While deadlines are important, you should also give writers a benefit of a doubt in these cases.
This goes both ways as well. If the client wanted some changes with the project while you’re in the middle of getting the job done, it’s best to inform them ASAP.
That’s where a messaging app like Slack is beneficial to your team. You can update each other regarding work-related issues so each one is in the loop.
The goal here is to create an open line of communication among writers without the usual distractions and multiple emails.
The good thing about these apps is you can set up different channels for your team as needed be. For example, you can create a channel for a client with multiple writers.
Also, Slack allows you to focus on your project only unlike on different messaging apps where non-work-related discussion pop off. And just like with Trello, CloudApp’s screen recorder integrates seamlessly with Slack. You can tie CloudApp to Slack by installing the integration from the Slack app marketplace.
Set up a writing workflow
The most important part of managing a content writing team is to get people to follow the guidelines to a tee. We’re not just talking about the format and tone of the articles – we’re also dealing here with quality, grammar, and the actual content.
Therefore, developing a writing workflow is in order. This allows your team to pass off work to you that is proofread and contains actionable items and insights points in the content about the topic.
First, providing an outline for the content is important so writers can just focus on churning out great content based on the specs of the project.
I have written the importance of creating an outline before writing the article to help writers finish it faster and better. You can read it here.
You can also serve as the team’s editor if you don’t have one yet. For this job, getting help from writing tools like Grammarly or ProWritingAid would prove beneficial to you. Manually editing work is ideal, but some things in the content would fall down the cracks.
Using either tool, at the very least, consistently checks for the grammatical errors and sentence structures. You can then focus your attention on the level of detail in one’s work.
Better yet, what I do is sign up for a ProWritingAid account and install the GDocs extension on your domain (if you have a GSuite). This way, all your writers with access to your GSuite can edit their work on GDocs using ProWritingAid. This takes out a step from your process and simplifies the workflow as a result.
Hire more qualified writers for the job
Part of your work includes hiring and screening new writers for your projects. Maybe some of your current writers are worn out from the other clients you’re working with. Or others don’t have the experience yet to take upon this demanding client.
In this case, it’s best to get the right writer for the job instead of overpromising and underdelivering with your current staff.
I have detailed things you must do to find the best writer for the job in this post. It details what to look for in their freelance writing portfolio, how to screen each one, and more.
Conclusion
As mentioned, running a tight ship with your content writing team is possible. But realize that everything starts with you as their captain.
By setting up the necessary processes and workflows to make sure everybody is on the same page, everything else will follow. Writers can then focus on producing better work for you so you don’t have to worry about reviewing and rewriting their content.
Freelance writing can be a stressful job. Not only are you responsible for creating great content for your clients, but you also have to find said clients.
You always have to keep marketing your services hoping to get clients that will provide you with consistent work and the job security you need.
Worst of all, you’re lucky if you don’t encounter clients who don’t pay on time, if at all. So you have to chase them with emails and private messages to get the payment in full.
Combine all these things over a period and it’s no wonder why you eventually feel burnt out.
That’s why you need to learn the art of taking a break from writing, which is what I’ll be discussing in this post.
I’ll be discussing how you can take breaks in between writing and how to spend your time wisely while away from work. This way, you can always approach writing for clients with vigor.
Before ending the week, I usually schedule the things I need to do for next week. Even if you do not understand what you’ll do for the coming week, at least block the times when you think you’ll be working in your calendar.
Setting a schedule also determines the times when you’ll be having your breaks. Therefore, it’s good to space out the breaks in between writing so you don’t overexert yourself.
For planning the week ahead, I use Clickup to help me organize my projects and set the tasks for each.
You can even enter the start and end time for each task. The tool will then remind you via email if there’s something you need to finish for the day and what time.
If you’re not into project management tools, you can use Google Calendar to do this. In fact, even writing it on a planner should suffice.
Ultimately, where you write or type your schedule doesn’t matter. The point is for you to set expectations on what you must finish for next week so you can take breaks appropriately.
Use productivity techniques
One of the major causes why people need taking a break from writing is burnout. And to avoid burnout, you need to make the most of your time working.
That doesn’t mean you should squeeze in as much work as possible when writing.
Instead, you must maintain consistent levels of productivity over time. And you can only achieve this if you can practice productivity techniques when writing.
Much has been said about the Pomodoro Technique so I won’t have to discuss that here. Also, there are other tactics you can implement to help you keep up with the writing demand of clients without feeling burned out.
Jerry Seinfield’s monthly streak is a simple but effective way to keep your productivity going. You must set up a one-page calendar on your wall and mark the days when you’ve finished your writing tasks for that day.
The goal is to keep finishing your tasks consecutively, forming a chain of marked dates on your calendar. It encourages you to build a habit of completing your task in the calendar. As a result, you can deliver your work for your clients on time.
Reserve a “no writing day”
As a freelance writer, it’s common for us to write even during the weekends when we don’t have to work. It’s an occupational hazard for sure, and it’s not exclusive to just writers.
Since you don’t work a 9-5 job like the general workforce does, your freelance work spills over time when you’re supposed to be taking a break.
That said, you should be able to block at least a day without writing. Taking this when planning your week into consideration.
Use your breaks wisely
There is no right or wrong way to spend your time away from writing. Any activity that allows you to disengage from your work is time well-spent.
However, there are optimum ways for taking a break from writing.
A great example is taking a walk in the park or by going outside. This helps clear your mind and gives you a fresh perspective when you write again.
Even watching shows and movies from streaming services can be a good idea. If you want to watch the latest episode of Killing Eve or What We Watch in the Shadows, for example, you can watch BBC iPlayer outside the UK.
Take writing prompt challenges
When taking a long time away from writing because of vacations with family and friends, getting back to work can be quite difficult.
When not using a particular skill, you become rusty with it. The same thing goes with writing – you can’t expect to write epic content after weeks or months away from work.
Most of these prompts will recommend you to join the content by submitting your written work. Here, I treat writing prompts as greasing the nuts and bolts of my writing engine.
Take as many prompts as you need and just write away. You don’t have to edit yourself when writing – let the ideas and words flow. Once you get in the groove of writing, then you know you’re ready to get back in the saddle of work.
Taking a Break from Writing: Conclusion
By following the unique ways of taking a break from writing correctly, you can boost your productivity and accomplish your goals without feeling tired.
Just practice the tips above consistently until you turn them into habits that are hard to break.
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Fact: Content marketing can be challenging. While it’s lucrative and promising, it can cause you to flip tables out of frustration and go all over the place.
So, this is for bloggers, owners of online businesses, and anyone who wants to step up their content marketing game.
In this ContentStudio review, let’s discuss ContentStudio and find out whether it is the ultimate social media marketing tool that it claims to be. We’ll dig into its features, pricing, pros and cons, and my verdict on it. We’ll also take it out for a spin and walk through a step-by-step process on how to use it.
ContentStudio was founded by Waqar Azeem, a world-class digital marketer, in 2018.
It’s a cloud-based content marketing solution that primarily works as a social media management tool. Its concept lets you work more effectively as you manage all your content in one place.
It kicks things off by prompting you to create workspaces — with the ability to work closely with team members. And regardless of whether you’re a part of agencies and startups or flying solo, you can enjoy this powerful tool.
INTERFACE
The commands and navigation menu are incorporated clearly. As a result, ContentStudio offers no distractions.
USEFULNESS
This automation tool performs very well. The Assistant feature is handy, too.
USABILITY
ContentStudio distributes your content across multiple social media accounts. Additional integrations would be better.
EFFECTIVENESS
The tool lives up to expectations. When it says it can help you with content curation and social media management, it delivers.
Features
The reason ContentStudio works seamlessly is the suite of products behind it. Use the suite well and you’re about to elevate your marketing.
What the products can do for you are:
Discover
It unearths everything you need to make your content more powerful. You can get your hands on the best content and influencers out there.
Content Discovery Feature
This is where you can easily research top-performing content in your niche. All you need is a keyword or domain name to get the flow going.
What makes this feature so unique? ContentStudio crawls over 4,000,000 domains to find the best and most relevant content for you. Plus, a vast search comes with an incredible content variety.
And as if this isn’t enough, you can also add your own source. If you have an RSS feed of a website or blog that you want to keep tabs on, you can add it as a source.
Influencer Discovery
It lets you identify the right people who can amplify your content’s reach. This includes pioneers and key influencers in your niche.
It is useful because it gives you a peek at an influencer’s following. You will see their number of followers and their engagement level.
Here’s a sample image I took when using this feature:
Publish
This feature introduces tools that allow you to publish content better. You’re granted better control of all the unlimited social posts you can create here.
Composer
Here, you can create, collaborate (with teams and clients), and distribute content. For example, what you can compose is a social media post or blog post.
It also prompts you when you want your post to be published. The more familiar options are Post Now and (save as) Draft. You can also Schedule your post, Add to Queue, and Add to Content Category.
And before you publish your post, you should specify whether you want it to be distributed repeatedly. If you do, the tool will automate the repeat process for you.
Approval workflow
The Composer is also equipped with a feature-rich approval workflow. The approval workflow permits every team member to customize the content’s structure.
When you tag a post as “Needs Approval,” that post doesn’t leave ContentStudio until a team member approves it. This feature helps grant the freedom to each team member to create a post for a higher-level member to give their green light.
Here is a screenshot of an approval workflow when I was creating a social media post:
And here is a screenshot of an approval workflow for a blog post:
Some of the Composer’s most useful sidebar features are:
Assistant
This helps you easily locate the content you want to include in your post. As a result, you can save time and keep your focus while “your assistant” hustles on your behalf.
To use this feature, enter a search term and specify the channel you want to look into. The list of channels includes YouTube, Dailymotion, and Twitter.
Comments
This lets you add comments to posts. With comments, you can leave notes and end up collaborating with your team better.
SEO (blog posts only)
The SEO Toolbox can guide you as you create SEO-friendly content. This feature is straightforward. Once you load it up, you’ll immediately notice your content’s page score.
Are you familiar with a popular WordPress plugin, Yoast? That plugin also helps create SEO-friendly content. So, if you can understand how Yoast works, you’d have no trouble using this ContentStudio feature.
To use it, type in a target keyword. Then, read through the notes to determine areas in a post that needs improvement.
Planner
This is where you can visualize and monitor the content that goes into your blog and social media accounts. It’s useful for helping you handle your account from a long-term perspective. For one, it can help you identify the kinds of content that you’ve already posted.
Also, it comes with powerful filters and list and calendar views. With these filters and view options, you can decide which planner entry you want to see — and how.
Here is a screenshot (in calendar view) of the feature:
Automation
This is where you can auto-fill channels using Automation Recipes. Go through a four-step process to begin.
And as the default setting goes, you can use seven Automation Recipes. These recipes can assist you as you repurpose readily available quality content.
Analyze
This feature lets you analyze posts based on the social media accounts that you connected to ContentStudio. Here, you can determine the total number of shares, reactions, and more. You can also look at the overall performance of your posts.
You can also access the Reports Hub here. It’s where you can view the engagements for the posts you published.
Inbox
This is ContentStudio’s new feature. The Social Inbox is unique because it gives you better control of all the exchanges across all social channels.
It comes with various filters so you can easily segregate conversations. For example, you can segregate conversations based on their status or go through each conversation by channel.
Additional features
Another impressive aspect of ContentStudio? The team behind it addresses customers’ feedback.
The team listens. And as a result, it loaded up the tool with features based on what customers were asking.
How to Use ContentStudio
To use ContentStudio, create an account (or sign in to an existing one).
Then, proceed to the following steps:
Step # 1 – Create a workspace
Specify a workspace name and slug for a project. Choose an appropriate time zone and workspace logo, too.
Want to create multiple workspaces? Your desire to do so isn’t impossible to understand.
The tool’s pack of features can lessen the load if you have multiple projects and clients to watch over. However, you still might get lost because it comes with various features.
So, here’s a tip. Start with one workspace to get a feel of the tool. Then, you can easily add more workspaces only after you get the hang of using ContentStudio.
Step # 2 – Discover influencers, content insights, and new content
You can get inside ContentStudio and access the tool’s dashboard with a workspace. There, you can use its core features.
Launch the tool’s DISCOVER feature to begin the simple process of creating and publishing a social media post. Under it, fire up the Influencers section to determine the people who can help you out.
You can reach out to these influencers later on (once your content is ready). Or you can take inspiration from the content they post and how they engage with others. You can also check out how they run their account.
Under DISCOVER, you can also load content and search for relevant content using a keyword.
Here’s an example. Based on the search term “productivity,” here’s a glimpse of the results:
This is also where you can discover key insights (through graphs and charts) on the top-performing content. You can then review this information to understand the content that will be most impactful to your target.
Examples of content insights that you should look into are:
Articles Published Over Time & Engagement
This refers to the number of published articles and their engagement levels. With these data, you can determine the piece with which people will be most involved.
Articles Published Over Time and Sentiment
This refers to people’s sentiments or how people feel about a particular piece of content. You can use this data to use people’s sentiments as the basis for the direction of your post.
Let’s say the majority’s sentiment over content is negative. Therefore, you should consider creating different content.
Average Engagement by Network
This singles out the engagement levels of the particular kind of articles posted on specific networks. Based on the information you gather, you can get a clue about the networks that are more responsive to the articles you’re about to compose.
Step # 3 – Connect accounts
You can explore ContentStudio as much as you want. However, you can’t maximize the results unless you connect an account.
So, on the dashboard, click your account’s picture and expand the general settings. This way, you can access the Workspace Settings and Account Settings.
There, expand Social Accounts under Workspace Settings. This will redirect you to a page where you can easily connect your social media accounts.
This is when you should add integrations, too. So far, the tool allows these integrations (featured in the following images):
Step # 4 – Compose a post
Now, hit up Composer. You can find it in the drop-down menu under PUBLISH.
From there, you’ll be asked what you want to compose. Here, choose Social Media Post.
You’ll then be redirected to a window where you can compose your social media post. There, use the sidebar features as you see fit. Then, based on the content insights you gathered earlier, write a post that will be a hit over time or for years to come.
Ready to get going? All you need now is to specify when and how you want to publish your post. And if your post requires the approval of someone in your team, tick the box that says Needs Approval. Then, complete the process by clicking post Now.
Step # 5 – Invite team members
To add team members, access the tool’s general settings. Under Workspace Settings, launch Team Members.
You’ll land on a page where you can click the Add button.
Step # 6 – Analyze
Remember, a way that ContentStudio can give you an edge is by providing useful reports about your post’s performance. So, don’t forget to hit up the ANALYZE section from the dashboard regularly.
Here, you can check out how your post is doing and find out what it can do for your business.
ContentStudio Pricing
ContentStudio offers plans available for businesses of different sizes. The good news is, regardless of which plan you subscribe to, you can save — and get 2 months free — if you pay annually.
Below is a screenshot that can provide you with ContentStudio’s annual pricing structure.
Want to see if it’s the right tool for your business before you officially go on board? Then, sign up for a 14-day free trial.
The process is easy and doesn’t require a credit card. Simply sign up with an email account. Or you could use your social media account.
Pro
Having a single workspace to manage without team members to chip in makes you ideal for this. For example, if you’re a solopreneur, ContentStudio’s Pro plan can accommodate all your needs for $49 per month.
The image below will show you what’s included in the package.
Beyond the features above, the Pro plan also includes:
Discovery, Publishing & Scheduling features
Social media and blog posting automation
Editorial Calendar
Small
Have you assembled a small team of five members? Need about five workspaces to work effectively?
Then this package, for $99 per month, is for you.
The image below will show you what’s included in the package.
Beyond the features above, the Small plan also includes:
Everything in Pro
Workflow & Collaboration
Medium
Upgrade to the Medium plan for $199 per month if you want something over five workspaces. With it, you can create up to 10 workspaces and invite 10 team members.
The image below will show you what’s included in the package.
Beyond the features above, the Medium plan also includes:
Everything in Pro
Workflow & Collaboration
Large
For $299 per month, ContentStudio’s Large plan will cover the needs of social media companies. It allows you to create up to 20 workspaces and manage 20 team members.
The image below will show you what’s included in the package.
Beyond the features above, the Large plan also includes:
Everything in Pro
Workflow & Collaboration
Enterprise
Don’t you think the above plans can suit your business’ size and cater to its needs efficiently? Then, subscribe to ContentStudio’s Enterprise plan.
As to how much cash you will shell out, it’s up to ContentStudio’s team. First, it will evaluate your business, then propose a reasonable price.
ContentStudio Review: Pros and Cons
Like any other product, ContentStudio comes with upsides. And like any other product, some aspects are worth ironing out.
Here are the pros and cons of the tool:
Pro: Automation feature saves resources
Time, energy, and money will be used with ContentStudio’s automation feature. Once your social media accounts or websites are connected, the tool can automate content distribution — like clockwork.
Two ways to play this out? You can compose a post and then schedule it to be published later. Or you can leverage the tool’s automation recipes.
Con: Doesn’t allow direct posting to certain social media channels
If you run lots of social media accounts, you’d be disappointed to know that ContentStudio doesn’t support some of these networks.
For one, there’s Instagram. Considering how it’s one of the most popular social media networks, the tool’s inability to directly post to Instagram is a bummer.
Pro: Assistant feature is a winner
Inarguably, ContentStudio makes curating high-quality content easier. This feature doesn’t require you to open a new tab to look for content.
It acknowledges that searching the internet for the content you want to add to your post isn’t effortless. Instead, it can consume time and mess with your focus.
When you’re in the middle of composing a post, hit up your assistant. Enter a search term, and you’re good to go.
Con: Extra features and integrations could be better
A muting feature would be handy. Since ContentStudio is feature-rich, it can call your attention to non-urgent aspects of the tool.
Its limited allowance for integrations is a concern, too. Integrations with Facebook, Twitter, and other social media networks have the green light. The tool has your back if you want to post to blogging networks such as Medium and WordPress.
However, if you want to join forces with your account on Slack or Zapier, you won’t get your way.
Pro: Social Inbox feature makes for flawless collaboration
ContentStudio acknowledges how transparent communication is integral to a marketing team’s success. And with the Social Inbox feature, social media managers will have a much easier time getting each team member on the same page.
It’s a big plus that it comes with search functionality. This way, you won’t have to spend hours looking through your inbox for important details. Instead, you can enter a keyword and then dig through specific conversations.
Con: Commands can be challenging to learn
ContentStudio isn’t for people who lack patience. After all, it takes a lot of time to set up.
You need to key in many answers, and the process isn’t straightforward. For some social media marketers, it cannot be very encouraging.
An example is when you set up a new campaign for the tool’s Automation Recipes.
The good news? Once finished with the setup for these Automation Recipes, you can jump to using the tool seamlessly.
Pro: Reliable 24/7 support
Once you invest in the tool, ContentStudio will invest in you, too. With the tool’s pursuit of regular upgrades, it’s understandable to have concerns at some point.
Fortunately, the staff can support you anytime. You can raise concerns through the website’s contact page or chat with a dedicated client relationship manager.
You can even book a live demo and have one of ContentStudio’s experts show you around. Then, you have nothing to worry about, from account setup to how this social media management platform can help save time and maximize your efforts.
So, you want to submit a guest post to a highly authoritative website that welcomes millions of monthly visitors. And if what you’re hoping for is for your submission to elevate your own blog’s status, you’re on the right track.
The catch is, you have to pull your weight.
So, we’ll get into what you have to do in this article. Here, we’ll walk through everything you need to know about guest posting. This way, you can get your blog or website to rank on search engines and grow your audience in 2023 and beyond.
Guest posting is posting on websites or blogs as a guest author. While more than most blogs write only five guest posts every month, a small percentage hosts over 100 guest posts.
These webmasters welcome guest posts for traffic generation and other reasons. And most times, their reasons boil down to their need to increase valuable content on their website.
Notice how they include a backlink or link to a guest author’s bio on a host website? Take the image below, for example. When Backlinko’s Brian Dean submitted a guest post to Entrepreneur, his author bio on the website contained a link to his own blog.
Now, let’s look at guest posting from the perspective of guest authors.
One reason guests submit posts to popular websites is to direct traffic from host websites to their own blog. The more established the host website, the better it is for them.
So, if you plan on submitting a guest post, an effective way to get around to it is to write a post for well-established and popular websites. Doing so lets you tap into their audiences.
Let’s say millions of visitors view a host’s website every month. So, millions of people can read your post.
Beyond that, you can also enjoy guest posting as it:
Increases search value – Always include backlinks in your guest submissions. They help search engines find your content easier.
Builds authority and credibility – Create top-notch quality guest posts and they can see you as a top-notch content creator. The better your content, the higher the respect you earn from a host website’s readers.
Connects to people – Reach out to new bloggers and introduce yourself to their network of colleagues. These new acquaintances can open doors for you.
What are the issues with guest posting?
Back when he was the former head of web spam, Google’s Matt Cutts, once, said this:
According to his bold claim, guest posting is an unreliable way of building your status. Among other reasons, “it’s just gotten too spammy”.
Soon enough, though, he retracted his previous statement. And in a new one, he corrected himself by saying guest posting still works to a certain degree.
However, it seems he was on to something in his original post. Sadly, if you browse the web, you’ll uncover spammy guest posts. There are spun contents and the rest are of little value.
Here are the other poor practices tied to guest posting:
Over-optimized content – So, don’t stuff too many keywords into your post. Rather than impressing search engines, always focus on providing value.
Too many backlinks – Limit the number of backlinks you include to one or two. And avoid any explicit self-promotion.
Poor quality content – Instead, write unique, engaging, and high-quality posts. And don’t submit guest posts for the mere sake of having a guest contribution.
How to write a guest post that works
Webmasters accept guest posts submissions if these posts are rich in value. This is often non-negotiable because they can easily reject submissions.
Here are common reasons site owners often reject guest posts:
No visuals – Include relevant images, charts, and graphs. We know these to increase conversion rates.
No sources – Unless you cite the source of every information you present, webmasters will associate you with unreliability.
Generic pitch – Pitching your intention to guest post on many websites is fine. Just remember to assure webmasters you’ll be writing an exclusive post.
Don’t want to get a “no”? Always write a substantial post. All over the internet, you can find many ideal guest post examples. Below is one of them:
It’s a guest submission published on Deep Green Permaculture, a website about sustainable living. What makes it count as a great example of a guest post? It contains visuals and links to sources. It’s also:
Informative – It contains in-depth information about what you need to know about living in a tiny home. So, create informative content because the more information your post has, the more attractive it is.
Easy-to-read – It uses simple words that don’t complicate readers’ lives. Because the words are carefully chosen, even children in elementary school can understand.
Relevant – It’s centered solely on tiny homes. It doesn’t discuss the drawbacks of apartment living, for instance.
That, and you need to respect what the host website wants. It’s their website. So being a good guest, observe proper etiquette and play by their rules. Otherwise, don’t submit.
Fortunately, many webmasters’ guidelines for guest post submissions aren’t too strict. Most of their rules include proper formatting.
If you write posts regularly and you’re familiar with how to format standard posts, you wouldn’t have a hard time coming through.
Remember to read through every portion of the guidelines, though. While they can be no-brainers, it reflects poorly on you if you receive a rejection notice for not following a basic regulation.
Found a website that appeals to your target audience?
Then, it looks like a website worth submitting a guest post to!
Don’t submit a guest post on random guest blogging sites. It’s a terrible idea. Remember, even if your guest submission is likely a good enough content by a webmaster, it doesn’t automatically mean that it’s the best place for a guest post. Instead, be mindful of websites where you make your mark.
For one, make sure that your guest post’s destination website accommodates the readers your post is for. This lets you stay relevant and maximize the effectiveness of your post. Not to mention, it’s a surefire way of avoiding unwanted scenarios in your career as a content creator.
For example, you plan to submit a guest post that targets people who are into vegetable gardening. So, submit to a website that entertains readers about vegetable gardening topics — or something similar.
Don’t insist on submitting a post to websites that discuss palliative care tips only. Few readers of that website will bother with your post. And if someone stumbles on what you’ve whipped up, you’ll probably appear a joke to them.
Here are the other points that you should look into, too:
High engagement rate – Guest post on popular websites with engaged readers for your post to be the subject of buzz. As long as your post is relevant and thought-provoking, the readers are likely to engage with the author.
Strong authority – Be a guest on websites that are highly reputed. The more prominent they are, the more influential your post can be.
Social profile – Choose webmasters active on social media. That way, they could share your post to different social media channels and amplify its reach.
Conclusion
Does guest posting still work? Yes, it does.
The best thing about it? It’s a two-way street where both the author and the webmaster can benefit.
So, if you’ve encountered the ideal website where you can send a pitch for the intention to submit a guest post, go ahead. Reach out to the webmaster.
Want a handy tip? Check out their website or blog and get a feel of what their posts are like. Then, submit something similar.
For something with a free version, Grammarly sure charges a steep price for its paid version. If you’re wondering why is Grammarly so expensive, we looked closely on what it offers to help you understand why.
As you can see in the table, the only similarity between the Free and Grammarly Premium versions is the critical grammar and spelling check.
Out of 5 major features, you only get one with Free. So what picture does that paint for writers?
To better appreciate these, let’s first look at the benefits of each one.
From pinpointing basic errors to identifying context behind the writing errors, Grammarly Premium has a lot to offer writers.
Let’s do a quick rundown so you can see why is Grammarly so expensive:
Advanced checks
If you’re serious about your writing and trying to go beyond grammatically correct, this feature is for you.
While the free version gets things done and helps keep your documents error-free, you can’t count on it to help with the tone.
With the advanced checks, you can maintain or change the tone you want to achieve.
For example, you want a business proposal to ooze with confidence and you feel there’s something missing with your document to achieve that to close the deal.
The advanced checks can do a splendid job here by identifying areas for improvement for your desired tone. This is where it’s worth paying for Grammarly Premium.
Bear in mind that there’s also a Grammarly Business version that lets you cover the costs of Grammarly Premium for your team members. This is ideal if you’re running a content agency and you want the writers to submit content cleaned up using Grammarly.
Vocabulary Enhancement
Whether it’s search engine rankings or overall readability you’re after, you don’t want to keep using the same words throughout your content piece.
Those adjectives that keep showing up every other paragraph? Grammarly Premium will surely detect those and suggest synonyms.
More than just using the ‘right’ words, your document will become more readable after implementing suggestions.
After all, you’d want your readers to never tire of moving from paragraph to paragraph and the premium version ensures just that.
Genre-Specific Style Recommendations and Goal Setting
Whatever you’re writing now, there’s always a goal and one that you can achieve with the right tone.
If it’s fantasy fiction you’re going for or educational content, that’s engaging, there are words, phrases, or sentences that can send a better message.
Based on the goals you set, Grammarly gives suggestions to a better point you in that direction.
With the Domain, you can also set it to:
Academic
Business
Casual
Creative
Technical
As a result, it synchronizes you and your document so you can better relate to your target audience.
This is probably the biggest benefit Grammarly can give its users.
Plagiarism Checker
Since the introduction of the internet, too many content pieces get published and plagiarism soon became common.
Writing professionals now have to avoid plagiarism since facing lawsuits comes with a steep price–thousands of dollars.
To properly cite references, Grammarly Premium offers a plagiarism checker that not only tells you if the content matches another piece but also pulls from its comprehensive database so you know what sources to cite.
Even if the content doesn’t match exactly, it helps to know if you’re at risk for plagiarism so you can cite the proper sources to remain safe.
Where can I use Grammarly?
Grammarly is probably the biggest writing aid app out there and integrates nicely with the most frequently used tools of today:
On its own website where you can upload content for checking
As a Microsoft Word extension
As an Outlook app for Microsoft Office
As a mobile app for iOS or Android
As a desktop app for Mac
With this, you can see how the app works for most platforms to serve any kind of need from story writers to students or professionals making a formal document.
Even if you aren’t a professional writer, Grammarly helps by providing suggestions full of context to help make you a better writer.
Is Grammarly the best grammar checker?
‘Best’ is indeed a powerful word. While there is a good number of checkers out there, let’s run down the features of only the well-known grammar checkers so you can see the position and worth of Grammarly:
ProWritingAid
ProWritingAid also works as a great grammar and spell checker. Even for its free version, it helps improve the readability of your work.
Unlike Grammarly, it keeps most of its correcting powers. However, it compromises on usability instead since you have to use the tool native to its site and only with 500 words at a time.
You’d have to go for Premium should you have it compatible with your favorite platforms – Chrome, Microsoft Word, etc.
Another bonus it has versus other editing apps is that it tackles some bigger picture issues like writing style.
Spelling mistakes, passive voice, and sentence formatting that makes readability weak will all be highlighted.
Plus, it’s an excellent option as a free plugin for WordPress.
In a nutshell, it competes nicely with Grammarly but falls short on intuitiveness.
A tool made by Ginger Software, it rose in popularity through language enhancement technology that’s quite adept at using language processing to get a good grasp of content.
What this means for users is that you can easily correct spelling and grammar issues and it also has all the tools you need to do this well.
It works for Windows, iOS, Android as apps and with Chrome and Safari as extensions.
A downside to Ginger is its usability on certain platforms. With Chrome, it doesn’t work with all text input fields such as the ones in WordPress. At least you have Jetpack for that.
However, the pop-up editor works fine and you can copy, paste content there, then bring it back to MS Word or wherever it’s supposed to be.
A word of warning though—links seem to disappear when pasting content back from the editor tool.
Hemingway
This tool has noticeable differences compared to other commonly used checkers. For one, it highly encourages a big picture look at your writing.
What this means for writers is that there is more focus on readability. Specifically, the tool emphasizes words or phrases that compromise the form or flow of your sentences and comes up with suggestions.
A clear disadvantage with Hemingway is its absence of integration–no extensions, plugins, etc. You just put the content in the tool then edit.
A great way to use this is by having another tool work in tandem. Maybe install Grammarly Free and then filter the readability further with Hemingway.
Conclusion
Like most things, there is no one size fits all solution for writing. That’s because you can’t make creativity something rigid.
However, you can always go for the tool with most of the functionalities you’re looking for.
When the flow calls for dramatic, redundant lines, go for it. Tools like Grammarly may give suggestions, but they definitely have their limits.
Knowing this, it pays to know what’s on the market and what alternatives you have and don’t have access to.
So is Grammarly the best?
In many ways, the answer is yes. But the others bring something to the table.
Hemingway and Ginger are great for editing but don’t integrate with the commonly used platforms. If this is fine with you, you can go for these since they’re free after all.
This way, we can better understand why Grammarly charges a higher fee for its Premium version. It simply offers great usability and effective writing suggestions.
Writers who focus on workflow and user experience can benefit and enjoy the features of Grammarly Premium.
If you’re looking for a solid tool that covers a lot of these while offering great usability, Grammarly Premium is a great bet.
Write Better, Error-Free Website Content
With Grammarly Premium, you can correct your articles as you write and edit parts that you would probably miss even when reviewing it.
