Content strategy is an important aspect of SEO since content and links are among the top three ranking factors in search. This is today’s message of 411 Locals.

Nevertheless, creating content for content’s sake alone does not bring results. Every day, millions of blog posts get published and you have to create content that stands out from the rest and gets worthwhile links. This is where you should start building your strategy.

It includes:

• Prioritizing topics and themes of smaller difficulty
• Layering content and internal linking that is optimal
• A good understanding of linkability and the opportunities for such
• Regularly maintaining and upkeeping existing content

No complete SEO strategy can do without these processes. (more…)

The Internet is a fascinating place full of useful information. Just because it contains a little bit (or more) for everyone, it can be sometimes hard to find exactly what you are looking. Even for content creators. This is why 411 Locals dedicates today’s post to some useful content tools you may not have found yet. Best of all – they are free! Let’s learn more about them below:

Headline Generators

1. Impact blog title generator
It helps writers create headlines suitable for their blog posts. How to use: add a topic, then click a button, and the tool will generate some suggestions for your posts. When you find the title you like best, save it to your notebook by clicking the heart icon. Your list of preferred titles can then be sent to your email address.

2. CoSchedule headline analyzer
It analyzes the effectiveness of your title by taking several factors in consideration:

• The type of your headline
• Character count
• Word count

The tool can also suggest which keywords you can use for your titles. (more…)

Content is an effective marketing strategy that is implemented to increase traffic and also to help you grow your audience and establish long-lasting relationships with it. To achieve this, you need to earn the trust of your site’s visitors.

The 2012 study called “The Trust Factor” offers 8 interesting solutions when it comes to building
trust. Here they are:

1. The trust-instilling content is written for and by enthusiasts
Create with passion rather than pomposity. Content is consumed by people in different ways and for many different reasons. Some may read to pass the time, while others will seek a solution to a problem. Still others will do it to get inspired. The latter don’t want anything but the chance to learn more and become excited. Therefore, expertise is not always crucial, even if it is welcome.

2. The content that people trust is based on a deep level of experience or understanding
Of course, there are other audiences than just enthusiasts. Another audience, for example, consists of solution-seekers. They read carefully and only trust content written by experts or at least experienced people. Such content should be useful and insightful. It takes a deep understanding of the topic to create it and oftentimes, it is written by industry authorities. It can come as a result of research or first-hand experience. (more…)

411 Presents Some Noteworthy Tips For Digital Marketers

Google has made quite a few changes concerning marketers during the last five years. The focus of the changes, from major algorithm updates to the shift towards mobile-first was to improve the quality and performance for users showing them the right content, at the right time, and on the right devices, as quickly as possible.

Brands that have learned to stay ahead of Google’s constantly evolving algorithms by concentrating on quality and content are thriving. These marketers have learned to provide content that engages, resonates, and converts, no matter when, where, and how the customer will discover it. 411Locals is one of those brands. In this post, we present 5-new trends in SEO and content marketing, and what marketers should do to master them.

1. The Convergence of SEO and Content:

Neither content nor SEO alone guarantees people will find and take an interest in your content. Data helps marketers understand the consumer’s intent, and also helps them with creating intelligent content aligned with the customer journey to deliver a memorable and successful experience.

Tips on mastering this change:

• Create content based on data. Identify the engagement, audience, and conversion metrics that are most important to your brand. Measuring and tracking these metrics identifies ways to create the meaningful content people will want to read.
• Encourage the synergy of search, content, and social. These, when combined, will assists brands in achieving their goals. High-quality content created with SEO in mind from the start increases search visibility. Further amplified by social media, this content will create the demand you can later harvest through search data.
• Maximize the footprint of your search engine results page (SERP): To do this, create and optimize high-ROI content, such as articles, infographics, and videos which will help people answer significant or popular questions or provide practical information. You can also capitalize on the topics currently trending. Other beneficial things include things include: featured snippets, site links, related questions, images, videos, and tweets.

(more…)

Are you trying to successfully incorporate social content into your blog? Even experienced content marketers like 411 Locals face challenges and struggles when creating content that is meant to engage their audiences. The key factors behind successful sharing of social media content are those that make the art of developing social content. But how to create content that is both educational and touching the emotional side of your readers? Here are some innovative ideas about how to expand your content marketing strategy and make it work for your social media goals.

Customer Spotlights Work Better Than Long And Boring Case Studies

A good part of the content marketing gurus love to point out complicated case studies. In fact, this method of being persuasive has been used so often that it became more of a nuisance than an actual attention-grabbing tool. It is kind of hard to get involved when you see a wall of text that explains the step-by-step struggles of someone you’re not familiar with as a reader. So that’s why the customer spotlight can enrich the reader’s experience with the use of feedback and emotion. It is a more direct approach to prospects – to make them see what your happy customers have to say. With customer spotlights, you’re telling success stories coming directly from the source. (more…)

Many content writers don’t dare questioning the notion that Google loves long content. They hear that same mantra over and over again ad infinitum. But what if there is evidence to the contrary and nobody has noticed it yet? What if a company like 411Locals excels at benefiting from balancing short and long content while the rest of you still dream of reaping the rewards of long articles, which may never come? Is short better than long content or vice versa? Perhaps, they just have different pros and cons, and in capable hands, they can both be very efficient.

The Effects of Syndication

Long content brings long-tail SEO traffic easily – that’s the most frequently heard argument in favor of using it when you want more traffic, more shares, and engagement. However, there’s one tactic that often gets ignored – short articles can be syndicated for better exposure. The latest analysis of Jamesclear.com shows that social shares can be increased with 70% by only syndicating to one site. (more…)