Visual Contenting March 2016 | Page 50

CONTENT MARKETING Don’t quite complete the topic. Leave room for discussion. Pose a question at the end of the article to encourage discussion. Select main photo I spend quite a lot of time looking for a good photo. I want it to be curious, involving a human being and something that fits with my brand. I use a lossless smusher to keep the size down but the quality high, and always make sure they are the same size and format. Publish at a peak time Do a quick read over for spelling and formatting but don’t waste too much time. Hit publish at a peak time. For me that is between 8am and 10am on Monday, Wednesday or Friday on East Coast USA time. Okay so that’s the main formula that I follow every time I sit down to write. Of course, sometimes it varies based on the topic or strategy that I’m following but for the most part that’s how it goes. How to ensure your perfect post gets results them an email and let them know that I’ve included their website/post in my own article. I usually don’t ask them to share it because I don’t like putting the pressure on, I just let them know and that’s it. If your article is good enough they’ll usually give it a tweet. Mail your list I always mail my list to let them know that a new post has gone live. I send these out at peak times when the most people are online and I follow a very simple template of plain text with one link to the post. These emails are a great way to test your shortform copywriting which is aimed at getting people to open emails and click links week in, week out. Test regularly The perfect blog post will only be revealed through testing. You might hit a winner and go viral and never be able to r epeat that success because you aren’t actually sure what made it stick. Split testing titles, formats, length, timing, etc. are all very valuable things to do. Throw $20 at it Sometimes it takes me a whole week to write a post, especially if it’s 9,000 words like my guide on how to start a blog. And if I’m spending that much time working Email the people included on an article I want to give it the best chance of success. A quick If I know the people well I’ll shoot $20 on Facebook Ads or Twitter Ads can really help to give it a boost. Once you’ve written your post there are a few follow up things that you’ll want to take care of. Visual Contenting Tweak it regularly based on feedback As a blogger you get feedback from both human and nonhuman sources. It’s very important to keep posts “alive” by tweaking them based on things you hear and see. For example, if someone tells you that you’ve missed something, add it in. If Google Webmaster Tools tells you that your title isn’t getting a good CTR then change it and monitor. From Blog Tyrant Check out this infographic on Visual Contenting.