Content marketing is the hottest industry in SEO at the moment.

A lot of SEO companies already jump started their own blogger services to boost SERPs.

And loads of companies do their own content marketing. In fact, a full 94% of small businesses are doing it and 93% of B2Bs.

But the question that’s on everyone’s mind is “Is Content Marketing and Blog Writing Effective?”

This is the question we aim to answer today. And we hope you’ll come away inspired.

Why Are You Asking About Content Marketing And Blog Writing?

One of the first questions we learn in life is “why?” And it’s a great question.

But have you asked yourself, why you’re asking about the effectiveness of content marketing?

If you’re asking, it’s probably because it’s not been as effective for you as you thought. Did we nail it?

But the evidence we see right now is that businesses still agree: content marketing is still effective.

So why then are you not seeing results?

There are a few reasons. And there may be a few places you might shore up in your approach.

Promotion Is Queen

You can’t do nothing with your content once you create and post it. Once it’s up on the web, it has to actually connect to the rest of the web. And that happens through promotion.

This is the difference between mere blog writing and content marketing. The former is just great words with a few links. The latter is a content promotion strategy.

It’s a two-step process: create content, promote content.

You have to balance the two.

If you’re not seeing results, it’s probably because you’re focusing too much on one or the other. And you’ve probably let the promotion slip because that’s the hardest part sometimes.

Where do you promote your blog writing?

Social media is a great place to start. Places like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest. And email newsletters, LinkedIn profiles, and guest posts and mentions on other websites.

If you aren’t promoting, get promoting.

Your Content Is Rotten

You may have the absolute opposite problem. You might spend all your time and money on promotion and nothing on creating great content.

If your content is horrible, you’re wasting all your money on the promotion side.

The point of quality usable content is organic promotion. People will only share information they enjoy and find useful.

If they find thin or boring or useless content, they move on.

So, what can you do to make blog writing more effective for content marketing? Hire a better writer. And then make sure they understand your niche or industry well.

Remember, the content has to be useful as well as quality.

Hire A Digital Marketing Team

If you haven’t already, hire a team to help fine-tune your content marketing strategy.

Sometimes all you need to make your content marketing strategy take off is an extra set of eyes. The expertise of a company who’s primary work is content marketing will increase your ROI ten-fold or more.

So, check out our portfolio and see how we can turn your business into gold.

The post Does Content Marketing and Blog Writing Still Work? appeared first on Midas Marketing.

Nowadays on the internet, memes reign supreme.

New memes are created every day from celebrities’ quotes, politicians’ mistakes, or even idiotic catchphrases from viral videos.

Facebook averages roughly 1.2 billion active users per day, and Twitter has over 300 million active users per month. With the constant usage of these social media sites, new memes spread like wildfire, reaching more people than ever.

The popularity of memes has led many businesses to contemplate whether or not they should partake in meme marketing.

There are both pros and cons to meme marketing. Read on to learn more about them and to see if this type of marketing strategy could be the right fit for you.

What Exactly Is Meme Marketing?

Before we get into the marketing side of things, let’s first clearly define what a “meme” is.

The term “meme” was first coined in 1976 by the famous evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his book, The Selfish Gene. Its origin is Greek, and it most simply means “to imitate.”

Since that time, though, the word “meme” has taken on a much larger, more expansive meaning. It essentially describes any type of idea, phrase, image, or other type of media that is shared online between people.

In a way, memes have become the common, universal language of the Internet. That is why so many businesses are interested in using memes to market their products: there is essentially a built-in audience that will recognize the marketing of your brand.

With meme marketing, relatively new businesses can use existing memes to advertise their products and gain customers.

Meanwhile, more well-known and well-established companies can create their own memes and try to make them go viral.

The Pros

There are a lot of clear positives when it comes to using memes in your marketing strategy.

First and foremost, discovering and utilizing the right type of meme makes your brand become more identifiable. Potential customers will notice and appreciate the familiarity of the meme you are using. It’s a way to instantly relate to them.

Using memes can also help businesses connect with a younger audience if they’re struggling with reaching out to them. Memes project a fun, lighthearted image that’s appealing to young adults. Plus, they are instantly shareable on all social media platforms.

While social media has become more widely adopted by people of all ages, young consumers still use it the most out of any age group. Plus, they have used social media for a longer and more consistent period of time than older adults have.

The Cons

With all of those positives, though, come some potential negatives when businesses try implementing memes into their marketing.

The first and most important thing that all businesses can do is know and understand the meme they want to post before they actually post it. Using a meme incorrectly can backfire and damage your brand’s reputation.

Another possible issue could be the timing of your posts.

Some memes have very long life spans that last for years. Other ones burn out in just a couple of weeks or even a few days.

With each meme you use, you are taking a risk.

Some posts could become evergreen marketing if the meme lasts long enough. But others could be huge misfires if you mistime the posting of the meme.

Lastly, be sure that the meme you are using is appropriate.

In the past, other organizations have faced harsh criticism from people who were offended by the meme they chose to use.

Whatever publicity you get from using an inappropriate meme won’t be worth the cost of destroying your reputation with loyal customers.

Do your research. Consult other professionals.

Make sure the meme is the right fit for your business and your customers before you use it.

The Verdict

So what’s the verdict? Should you include memes in your future marketing plan?

Honestly, it could be a different answer for each business.

But, overall, memes have proven to be an effective form of marketing when used responsibly. Plus, memes open your business up to the widest consumer base possible.

Keep yourself informed and updated on the newest trends. Understand that there are major benefits to utilizing memes correctly in your online marketing plan.

But also remember that you are taking a risk each time you jump on the meme bandwagon. Discretion is key. Pick the right ones.

Have you tried this type of marketing before? If so, what was your experience with it like?

Interested in exploring meme marketing or other types of marketing strategies? Contact us so we can help!

The post Should You Use a Meme Marketing Strategy? appeared first on Midas Marketing.

If you’re like many people, you have a website built in WordPress, and you’re using Yoast’s SEO plugin to help streamline your on-page optimization efforts. Yoast uses a red/yellow/green light system to let you know how well certain things are optimized. One of those factors is something called the “Flesch-Kincaid Readability Score,” and if you’re like many of us, you’ve noticed the light keeps staying yellow.

Here’s the truth about it: it’s not something you need to worry about. We’re about to fill you in on exactly why the Flesch-Kincaid score is a flawed metric for online content, and why it has little to nothing to do with SEO.

What Does the Flesch-Kincaid Score Measure?

The Flesch-Kincaid score measures “readability,” defined as how difficult something is, to read in English. It’s rather like “grade levels” for reading. A score of 90-100 is defined as an easy read, suitable for fifth graders. Low scores of 0.00-30.0 are considered college graduate level.

Yoast has a little conniption if your score goes over about 75. Here’s the problem, though: that’s a seventh grade reading level. Have you talked to a 12- or 13-year-old recently? They’re not very sophisticated people. They’re middle schoolers.

Do you really need to write at a middle school level? No, probably not. With that said, it may depend on your audience — and that’s exactly why we have a problem with the Flesch-Kincaid score.

Why Using the Flesch-Kincaid Score is Misguided

Yoast, of course, is just trying to help you out. They’re trying to help you write clear, readable content that your audience will enjoy. However, using the Flesch-Kincaid score to measure that might not be particularly apt.

It’s Not Even an SEO Ranking Factor

First of all, the Flesch-Kincaid score has absolutely nothing to do with how you’re going to rank in Google. Maybe you could argue that content that’s too complex will drive people away, but again, it depends on who you’re writing for.

But the thing is, Google has never used the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Scale as a factor in any of their ranking algorithms. You don’t have to write at a sixth grade level to rank. In fact, dumbing things down too much could hurt you if you’re writing for a highly educated or technically proficient audience.

Technicality Depends on Your Audience

Yoast’s use of the Flesch-Kincaid score assumes that you want your content to reach the most generalized mass-market audience that it possibly can. Something written at a sixth or seventh grade level can be read and understood by pretty much anyone, from 12-year-old kids to PhD researchers.

But is it the best choice for your site? Maybe not. Personally, if I go to Google and type in “ecospace utilization by Ediacaran biota,” I’m definitely not looking for anything a sixth grader could understand easily. If you’re writing for an educated audience, or you’re writing for professionals in a certain field, it’s completely okay to use technical jargon, complex sentence structure, rich vocabulary, and other things the Flesch-Kincaid score frowns upon.

Now, if you’re designing a science education site for high school students, maybe Flesch-Kincaid really is something you should pay attention to. But if you’re writing for educated adults, like programmers or physicians, why dumb down your prose to meet some arbitrary metric?

Know Your Audience

This is what it all comes down to: knowing your audience. To write great content that engages your audience, you need to really understand who your audience is, what they’re looking for, and what they enjoy. That takes effort, market research, experimentation, and a lot of thought and consideration. There’s no simplified red light/green light approach to this, which is what Yoast is trying to give you by using the Flesch-Kincaid score. If you’re concerned about your writing style, ask a human being. A real human reader is much more likely to be able to tell you if your prose is a little too James Joyce for their tastes. Software just isn’t that great at judging writing styles.

The post The Truth About the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Score appeared first on Midas Marketing.