Long Form Content Ranks Better

A new report from QuickSprout underscores what many content marketers have known all along: longer copy ranks better with Google's search engines.

The report, available from the QuickSprout website, provides details on the company's study of page length, ranking and conversion. Among their findings:

• The average page length for content that ranks among the top 10 search results Google is at least 2,000 words.
• The better a site ranks, the more content it has.
• Overall, Google's search engine algorithm prefers content rich sites.

Why should longer content help with search engine rank? Longer content keeps people on your website for greater lengths of time than shorter content. If I can see at a glance what you're trying to say, I might click away quickly, resulting in low time on page and high bounce rates. But if your content requires me to focus on what you are saying, draws me into the page, provides insights or useful information, and keeps me reading, I'll stay on your site longer.

Longer website content also tends to get more inbound links. These inbound links are strong signals to Google's search engine algorithm that a web page has merit.

Lastly, social media users tend to favor longer content, even if they're not aware they're doing it. By studying sharing patterns on Facebook and Twitter, QuickSprout determined that a post with 1,500 words or more received 68 percent more tweets and 22 percent more Facebook likes than a post under 1,500 words.

Are You Ready for Long Form Content?

Long form content for content marketing programs takes skills and finesse. You can't just keep blabbing away and stuffing keywords and expect to get the same results as a thoughtful, in-depth and insightful long form article.

As a long form specialist, my freelance writing services include extensive research. I have a gift for finding excellent original research from well-regarded and reputable sources to support the theme of your article. My writing is also creative, engaging, and insightful, which will make your content highly shareable, too.

If you're interested in receiving an estimate on your long form content projects, please contact me.

Irony: This post is under 500 words.

But you now what? Sometimes you only need a few words to say what you want. Sometimes, short copy is appropriate. Know when to use long form or shorter copy in your content marketing programs is what I do best.

by Jeanne Grunert

Five Reasons Why Your Business Needs Bloggers

Do you have a business blog? If not, why not? According to HubSpot, business who run a blog receive 67 percent more leads than those who do not.  I don't know about you, but I'd sure like to get 67 percent more leads than my competitors.

Heather over at the Virginia Bloggers Club (of which I'm a member) has written a great post, The Five Reasons Why Your Business Needs Bloggers. A good blog can generate leads, improve your search engine rank, and drive more leads, traffics and visits to your website at a minimal cost.

• Read Five Reasons Why Your Business Needs Bloggers.

by Jeanne Grunert

Professionalism Among Freelance Writers

No, I don't write in my pajamas.

The best freelance writers exhibit professionalism - and that includes treating freelance clients with RESPECT. I show respect for my clients by rising each day, entering a my office, and behaving in a business-like manner.

Professionalism Among Freelance Writers: Why Don't We Get Any Respect?

I'm fed up - truly sick and tired - with advertisements online for freelance writing websites, job boards and coaching programs that show a woman twirling madly on the beach, blonde hair flying, arms outstretched, so happy she is free from the corporate grind that she is WRITING on the BEACH. On the beach!

Or the advertisements that claim you can "write in your pajamas" and "never get out of bed!"

Talk to your physicians, your attorney, your accountant. I'm betting they get up, shower and dress before tackling their work for the day. Why would anyone assume writers are different?

The Assumptions and the Realities of Freelance Writing as a Business

The reason these advertisements make me so angry is that there's an underlying assumption that freelance writing is easy. Freelance writing isn't easy. Neither is owning your own business, and that's what you're doing when you decide to hang out your shingle as a professional freelance writer. You're an artist, but you are also an entrepreneur. You wear many hats. None of them are sun visors to keep the glare of the sun from the ocean waters away from your eyes.

The assumptions I see daily about freelance writers include:

• Anyone can become a freelance writer
• It's easy to make six figures a year (or if you buy a proven formula or take a class, you can make six figures in a year)
• You don't need any special training to own a freelance writing business
• You can work from home in your pajamas all day
• You can make as much money as you want

The realities of owning and running a freelance writing business are:

• Anyone can become a freelance writer, but few people have the talent, skills, experience, education and innate creativity and curiosity to make it happen. Freelance writing for a living is more than stringing together words to form sentences. You must be able to find new clients, pitch ideas, and successfully sell the ideas (and your skills). You must understand basic accounting and business practices, basic copyright and business law, and basic website design, build and programming. You must be able to juggle multiple projects simultaneously, speak confidently, communicate effectively, and hit every deadline, ever single time. Are you ready for that?
• Is it easy to make six figures a year? Zero is a figure. So yes, it's easy. Is it easy to make an excellent income as a freelance writer? No. Can you make a living wage as a freelance writer? Yes, if you are good at what you do, treat it like a business, and focus on your most profitable writing services.
• Of course you don't need any special training, licenses, degrees or certifications to own a freelance writing business. But if you lack the credentials, it will be all the more difficult to sell your services and to run your business. At a minimum you need a high school diploma, preferably a college diploma in English. You need basic business skills, which can be obtained by taking adult education courses, online courses, reading books, or self-study. But you do need to constantly refine and add to your skills as new technology, new communications methods become available.
• Sure you can work in your pajamas all day. Some do, some don't. But the idea that you're going to lounge around in bed or on the couch all day watching talk shows while the money pours in is just ludicrous. You will need to interview people by telephone. You will need to attend local meetings and video chats, and please don't think you can do so in your jammies. I find that when I dress professionally, I act professionally. I have a dedicated home office with a separate business telephone line, a business fax machine, and a door that closes so that I can have quiet when I am on the phone with clients. When you treat your work professionally, clients sense it.
• Can you make as much money as you want? Ask yourself: what will I trade for that money? Money represents a trade, whether you're trading goods for money or time for money. So yes, if you are willing to invest all of your time, energy and talents into your freelance writing business, you can make as much money as you want. You can write your own books and sell them at a profit; you can write a blog that eventually earns a good income; you can hustle and gain dozens of clients. The trade off, of course, will be time.

If you are a business owner seeking a freelance writer, please do us all a favor: don't make your pitch to us as if we're lazy bums lolling in bed all day casually tapping at a keyboard. And if you're a freelance writer, please do the profession a favor, and treat the profession like a professional. Show up on time, submit your copy by the deadline, treat your clients as you would like to be treated, keep good accounting records, comply with business laws and regulations, and treat your business like a business, not like a hobby. If you want to write as a hobby, by all means, do so. Write poems, plays, novels, short stories, blog posts, or anything that makes your heart sing. But when you begin to sell your time and talent to paying clients, get out of bed and get to work. In the end, it will show in the quality of your work.

Jeanne Grunert is the president of Seven Oaks Consulting and a popular magazine columnist, blogger and book author. She did not write this article from bed.  She is seated at her desk, as you can see, below.

by Jeanne Grunert

Retention and Loyalty Marketing Strategies

Today on my Blog Talk Radio Show, "Words That Work," I'll be speaking about retention and loyalty marketing strategies. In the world of direct marketing, there are three phases of direct marketing: acquisition, retention and loyalty building. I like to apply these concepts to the world of content marketing.

Most businesses spend a tremendous amount of time, money and attention to the acquisition phase of the business cycle. They emphasize bringing new customers and new business into the firm, and spend princely sums on wooing new customers in the door. The problem with that model is that eventually you do run out of new customers. Worse still, it's difficult to bring in new customers if you haven't put any emphasis on retention or loyalty-building strategies.

Your best marketing is conducted not by some fancy advertising or marketing agency, but by satisfied customers. Consider the following statistics, all gleaned from 7 Surprising Facts About Customer Referrals:

• 5% of new business comes from referrals – New York Times
• 92% of respondents trusted referrals from people they knew – Nielsen
• People are 4 times more likely to buy when referred by a friend – Nielsen

Given these statistics, focusing on retention (keeping a customer for the long term) and loyalty (keeping long-time customers happy and eager to be your "brand advocates") makes good sense.

Encouraging Happy, Loyal Customers and Brand Advocates

Over the course of my 20+ year career as a marketing executive, I've found that the following 10 ideas and concepts will help any business grow their base of happy, loyal customers, customers who are eager to become your brand advocates. See if you can implement any of the following ideas:

1. Reward existing customers first before offering deals to new customers: Satellite TV and cell phone companies are notoriously BAD at doing this. They offer great discounts to new customers but treat their existing customers badly, raising rates, hiking fees, and charging for every little thing. Instead of giving great discounts to your new customers, reward your longest and most loyal customers with surprise savings. Waive fees for them. Give them coupons, discounts, special gifts not available to your new customers. Let them know you value their loyalty.
2. Surprise and delight your long-time customers: This is a corollary to item one, above. Surprise and delight your long-time customers. Waive a monthly service charge. Give them one thing free.
3. Say thank you:  This may sound corny, but in an age of fast-paced digital everything, an old fashioned, hand-written thank you note may really surprise and delight existing customers. This is especially good for service-based businesses. Let customers know you DO appreciate them.
4. Ask for their opinions and ideas: Engage your long-time clients in customer panels, surveys and discussions. Call them and ask them what you can be doing better. They will be flattered and honored that you are asking for their opinion!
5. Change only what's broken; don't change what you are doing right. You're obviously doing something right if you have customers loyal to your company for many months or years. Don't noodle around with what's working. You can add product or service extensions, but avoid the "new Coke" trap and don't mess with what's working. People DO like classic things and don't always crave the new!
6. If you do add something new, offer it to your long-time clients first: If you do add a product or service, let the old timers know first. Make them feel like they are part of an inner circle of advocates by releasing new product information to them first.
7. Go the extra mile: Set up a special hotline for your long-time clients. If they have a problem, prioritize your customer service by loyalty, giving special attention to customers who have been loyal to your company for a long time.
8. Send a token gift: A small gift to say thank you may be appreciated by your customers.
9. Share information freely with them: Add rich content to your website that continually strives to help your customers solve problems, learn new things, or interact with your brand. Make the content free. In the long run, you will reap new sales from existing customers that will more than pay off your investment in long-form, rich content.
10. Integrity builds loyalty and trust: When all is said and done, it is professional integrity that builds loyalty and trust for your brand. All the free gifts in the world won't make up for a company that misses appointments or deadlines, sells products that break, or doesn't live up to its brand promise. Make your word and keep your word to build long-term loyalty.

This post was written by Jeanne Grunert, president of Seven Oaks Consulting and author of Pricing Your Services: 21 Tips for More Profit. Please feel free to share a link to this content via your favorite social media outlet. Thank you.

by Jeanne Grunert