In LinkedIn's infancy, endorsements were wonderful for clients and employers alike. In fact, many employers once read endorsements before moving on to a potential employee's hard skills or resume. The idea was to hear what others were saying, because endorsements were only posted by first-degree connections.
According to Forbes, LinkedIn still only allows first-degree connections to endorse each other. However, users are getting around the first-degree requirement upheld by LinkedIn to connect to those whom they've never met. This is especially rough for freelancers, who may have worked a number of different places and who can claim many companies as employers. My personal LinkedIn profile has been endorsed many times by people with whom I've never worked. I have a full list of companies, articles and places on my profile, which allows connections to become first-degree, simply because they may have purchased an article from a company for which I work. They may not have even purchased the article from me. The LinkedIn endorsement can become unreliable fast; I've had people endorse me for editing or writing skills which were never shared with them. While the recent Forbes article discussing endorsements swears they are here to stay, it would be wise for employers to look at the whole picture before believing the word of someone who may or may not know the person they've just endorsed. Employers, or anyone searching for a freelancer, must look over the full picture. Luckily, in my line of work, there are pages of Google results under my name to paint a full picture. However, other potential employees don't have this luxury. The LinkedIn endorsement needs to carry weight. Unfortunately, it will soon stop meaning anything thanks to meaningless endorsements from virtual strangers. Reviewing a full line of work, samples and skill sets before choosing any one writer or employee is always a smart move. Read as many articles from a writer or view as many websites from a developer as possible. Get a feel for what the person has actually presented over what others believe to be true about them. Increase your SEO and website today. Fill out the Contact Form and hire a top notch content writer.
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Everyone asks me why they need content. Some people pass me up even after realizing their Google rank is extremely low and listening to me tell them content will help! I'm always unnerved by this, but I'm never surprised. It's tough to understand why a content writer is necessary, especially when the marketing budget strings are tight. However, every website should have content without question.
1. Google Likes It Google is looking for organic content. Search engines are scouring the Internet for key words that aren't overdone. Google favors readability in a website, which means content must be plentiful. Key words are still important, however, they must flow naturally into the content to be ranked on search engines. Key word stuffing is the first step toward getting a website ignored. 2. Customers Love It If you really want to know how much customers love content, go to your Facebook feed. People share things they find interesting with their friends, so why wouldn't you put interesting content on your site? Customers love how-to's, instructional content, content that informs and content that makes them laugh. Add these things to your website to get more attention and to get more eyes on you. 3. Exposure Increases This goes without saying, if you read the last paragraph. Give your customers something to share and you can pretty much skip the word of mouth. Your customers will do it for you by sharing your content, and your website. You can point people to your website content when they have questions, and you can encourage them to search your content when they want knowledge about your brand. Your brand exposure increases exponentially with content. 4. Productivity Goes Up If you reach beyond the FAQ page to add content to your website, your company's productivity increases because you spend less time answering questions for customers. If you can simply point them to a part of the website that has more answers or information than a simple FAQ page, you can get back to making money sooner. Many businesses have done this in the past, and we are quickly becoming a society that searches for readable answers before insisting on talking to a live person. Overall company productivity is increased with website content. If you are finally convinced you need content, contact me today. I will help you get started on the road to a content-filled, highly visible website. Content is going to remain king of Google's algorithms this year. The opinion in the fourth quarter of last year was that it would take a back seat to videos, but this thought has taken a turn as people still hold on to reading and Google is requiring at least two links if a site wants to hold onto its first page ranking. Content will continue to rule the page, so you'll need to write content that gets not only Google's attention but the attention of your target audience.
1. Skip the Keywords Google is still picking up on keywords, but it's smart enough to recognize keyword stuffing. Keywords are for real readers and not for computers. You'll want them in your articles, but only two or three times - they need to be included so real people will find your article when they type your keywords into search engines. 2. Find Your Topic Your topic needs to be relevant to your brand or blog, and it needs to talk to your audience naturally. For example, if you're writing to executives about SEO, you won't use the same tone that you would when writing for a mom about tasty after school cupcakes. Keep the tone, topic and overall feel of the blog relevant to the audience. 3. Keep the Content High Quality Write quality content at a decent length. Longer articles look better on Google, because Google feels the article carries more information if it's longer. Don't use too much fluff, however; remember that you're writing for real people. You want the content to stay relevant and help your readers learn something new. If you want your customers to trust you in your industry, give them something to learn about your brand. 4. Reel Them In with the Title You want the title to be eye catching. Often, this is the first thing people see when they search Google. Consider your own reading habits: do you tend to gravitate toward boring titles or interesting ones? Of course you want to read those that sound like they have some value to you. You'll have to do the same for your readers if you want them to gravitate to your blog. 5. Write What You Know This is an age old piece of advice, but it still holds true. Nothing turns off readers more than someone who doesn't know what they're talking about. If you don't understand the topic and can't research it adequately, don't write about it. As a professional blogger, I use Google News often to research my articles. I get the latest news on my topic from accredited websites and I find out what I have to research to make the content as informative as possible. 6. Mention Yourself, Don't Spotlight Yourself Be careful when talking about your business or your product. You can mention yourself, but overkill will turn off your customers and make your blog look spammy. Suggest products throughout your blog, slipping them in naturally. For example, if you sell feathers, a blog sentence may look like this: When you're creating an authentic feather duster, softer feathers work best, such as our XYZ feathers. They tend to pick up dust... 7. Break Up the Blog Let your readers scan the blog for the most pertinent information by breaking it up into sections. Use topics, such as this blog, so the writing isn't one big chunk. The headings will also help in Google rankings because it provides more keywords for the rankings to recognize. 8. Don't Forget English Class Remember learning how to write a composition? You answered the five "W"'s: Who, What, When, Where and Why. After you've written your blog, read your blog to make sure you've answered all these questions. You'll have a complete blog that will serve your customers well every time. Furthermore, you'll have a blog that will grab Google's attention because it will be long and complete. This is the number one rule of customer service right now: The customer remains at the center of the customers' universe.
It is absolutely essential to drive this home to your staff continuously. You need to remind them every single day of this reality, and remind yourself when the day gets rough. It wasn't like this fifteen years ago, when we didn't have the Internet in our hand everywhere we went. It wasn't as easy to pull up the competition on the spot, and there was some give-and-take in the customer relationship. Those days are gone, and if you don't move with the tide, you won't keep up with your competitors. Understand what the number one rule means in layman's terms: it means that your hangover or traffic jam on the way to work doesn't matter to your customer, even when it's the only thing on your mind. Your frustration or misunderstanding of the technology at work doesn't matter to your customer, unless it's directly affecting him. The only thing that matters to the customer is the customer and the people that customer cares about. That doesn't include you very often. Every minute the customer works with you to obtain a product, they are existing in their own reality. This reality is what will matter if there is any misunderstanding between you and the customer. Be careful and provide customers with literature, when possible, to avoid this confusion. Remember, their reality is what matters, and when you are welcome into that reality, you need to push your own aside and exist only in theirs to create not only the sale but a return customer. |
AuthorRebecca has been blogging for ten years. She'd love to help you fill your blog! Archives
August 2019
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