SEO Defined in 60 Seconds [Animated Video]

By Demian Farnworth

content marketing glossary - what is SEO?

How do people find what they’re looking for on the web?

Search engines.

And in order for business owners to ensure that their content appears as the most relevant resource for prospective customers, they must optimize web pages to show up in search engine results for specific keywords.

But let’s say you’re a beginner when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO).

What exactly is SEO?

Watch our short, fun video about SEO

With help from our friends at The Draw Shop, we whipped up 12 definitions from our new Content Marketing Glossary into short, fun whiteboard animated …read more      

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You Just Published a Blog Post. Here Are the 14 Things You Need to Do Next.

By Neil Patel

whats next

You’ve just poured your heart and soul into creating an epic blog post your audience is sure to love.

You’ve clicked the “Publish” button…Now what?

It may be tempting to leave it at that and move on to the next project. You’ve got more blogs to write, more topics to cover, and more content to produce, right?

Hold on a minute.

Publishing a blog post and quickly moving on to the next one is a waste of your efforts. Doing so will minimize the impact of your content and its true potential.

If you want to increase the exposure and circulation of your blog content, …read more      

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3 Cs that Reveal the Quality of Your Blog Post

By Kelly Exeter

how to check your content for quality

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of purchasing a diamond, you’re probably familiar with the four Cs that determine its value: Cut, Clarity, Color, and Carat.

As the Editor of a national online publication, I’m faced with the task of assessing the “value” of articles that are submitted to me every day.

The value of an article depends on its ability to resonate with readers.

Any editor will tell you that predicting what will strike a chord with an audience is an inexact science. But, over the years, I’ve developed my own system of three Cs that help me effectively evaluate the …read more      

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10 Tried and True SEO Tactics That Will Pull You out of a Traffic Slump

By Neil Patel

seo pencil

We’ve all faced disappointing traffic numbers and even heart-stopping dives.

It happened to me recently on this website. Two years ago, I was blogging along as usual, when wham, my traffic dropped!

As it turns out, it was a random algorithm update that killed things for a week or two. Several tweaks later, I was back up to even higher numbers than before.

I understand that algorithms can change, audiences can leave, and a website can suffer from penalties.

But I’m also convinced that there’s no reason to settle for low traffic.

How can I be so confident? Because I faced it. I …read more      

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Freelance Writers Share the Surprising Keys to Their Successful Careers

By Pamela Wilson

certified stories - professional writers share their secrets

We talk about the lives of professional writers and content marketers a lot on these pages.

And we’ve done our fair share of interviews with well-known writers and top-notch content marketers.

But what about those writers whose names you may not know, but who have discovered the secrets to running profitable freelance writing businesses?

We thought it was time to shine the light on these folks so you could learn from their journeys. And to find them, we didn’t have to go far: our Certified Content Marketer page is full of them.

Welcome to our Certified Stories series, where we’ll …read more      

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