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12 Types of Blog Posts to Drive More Traffic to Your Blog

12 Types of Blog Posts to Drive More Traffic to Your Blog
Need more blog post ideas? Have you ever stared at your screen, unable to figure out what to write? Are you wondering what type of content will best engage your audience? In this article, I’ll share 12 types of blog posts that can help you kick blogger’s block to the curb and keep your readers coming back for more. Why Create a Variety of Blogging Topics? You have writer’s block, so why am I giving you a list of types of posts instead of topics? Use a selection of tools to create valuable content for your audience. Choosing from a proven set of blog post types can actually free your creativity and allow you to deliver valuable, engaging content to your ideal reader or customer. When Batman needs to take out a threat to Gotham, he relies on a set number of bat-tools on his utility belt. Likewise, you can improve your writing and deliver high-quality posts in less time by leveraging some popular post archetypes and customizing them with your own content and perspective. Think about it.

5 Proven Ways to Make Your Content Irresistibly Shareable Producing content that will go viral can feel something like a crapshoot. One week the blog post you dashed off in 15 minutes and hardly gave a second thought to lights up Twitter, while an in-depth analysis of industry trends you sweated over for hours sinks like a stone. If you're going to spend your precious time crafting content to attract attention to your business, you want to do better than hunches and hoping. Luckily, there’s no shortage of data out there. Size Matters You may have heard the common sense wisdom that with everyone being so busy these days, shorter is better when it comes to content. "We analyzed the top 10 percent most shared articles to see if this was the case. Narcissism Is a Powerful Motivator Previous research has determined that content that evokes certain emotions like awe and anger is more likely to be shared. "People also share for selfish reasons, like narcissism. Content Doesn’t Get Stale "Don’t let your content be a one-hit wonder! 10 Is the Magic Number

How to Create and Promote Explainer Videos | Are how to videos part of your social marketing? Are you looking for tips to improve the creation and promotion of your videos? Explainer videos are a new trend in how to videos. They help your customers and promote your product or service. In this article, you’ll find out what explainer videos are and how to use them in your marketing. Why Explainer Videos? Video is one of the most powerful forms of social media content. Explainer videos are exactly what they sound like. You can use explainer videos to introduce a new product, service or company, or even to clarify an exact problem and solution for people who need to see it to understand it. Convertable uses explainer videos to show people exactly how their service can solve lead prioritizing issues. In this article, you’ll find five tips about explainer videos that will get you moving in the right direction. #1: Outline Your Explainer Video In its most basic form, an explainer video has just two parts: problem and solution. inShare238

Top 49 Blogs To Read Before Starting a Kickstarter or Indiegogo This article is sponsored by the Quikstix Kickstarter campaign. “Quikstix is the clever new delivery device that makes a complete quality plunger coffee or tea in any location, real quick.” They are accepting pledges for 21 more days. Social Media Marketing: - Social Media Examiner: The world’s largest online social media magazine, Social Media Examiner® helps businesses discover how to best use social media, blogs and podcasts to connect with customers, drive traffic, generate awareness and increase sales. - Buffer Blog: Buffer is a social media scheduling app, but they have some awesome blog posts on how to engage your followers and get the most out of social media marketing. - Jeff Bullas’s Blog: Social Media Marketing Blogger, Strategist & Speaker, Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer 2013, Huffington Post Top 100 Business Twitter Accounts. - Heidi Cohen: Actionable Marketer shares practical advice on social media, marketing & life. - PR 20/20: Inbound marketing agency.

6 Tips to Create a Top-Notch Crowdfunding Video Image credit: Shutterstock One major key to crowdfunding success is by creating a good video that sells your campaign to potential donors. In fact including a video will up your chances of success to 50 percent, according to Kickstarter. So turn stop asking Siri questions, ignore your incoming texts, pause your Candy Crush game and turn your smartphone camera to video. 1.Video and audio quality are important. Related: Use Crowdfunding to Gauge Interest for Your Idea For lighting, record your video in a well-lit room or outside to get the optimal results. Consider buying a clip-on microphone that plugs into your phone rather than using the built-in audio that will sound hollow the further you get from your phone. 2. Related: Thinking of Crowdfunding? 3. 4. The video should be short, exciting and get the viewer fired up and wanting to read more about what you are offering. 5. 6. Related: 5 Lessons I Learned From My Failed Kickstarter Campaign

How I Went From Zero to 380,000 Twitter Followers Without Spending a Dime As social media is becoming more engrained in our everyday lives, it is becoming imperative for businesses to get on board. And Twitter is huge for companies, as it provides a place to share news, engage with loyal customers and attract new ones. But it isn't easy. While some opt for quick fixes, like buying followers (something I have never done), I don't see the point in these sketchy tactics. When I joined the social media movement in March of 2009, I was just an observer for the first six months. Here are a few very simple ways to grow your following (along with the process of what I do on Twitter) that you could also implement on your other social channels. Related: Want to Gain Influence on Social Media? Return favors. Remain active. Widen your net. Make retweeting a habit. Related: A Guide to the Best Times to Post on Social Media (Infographic) Pay attention. Stay focused. Keep networking and engaging. Showcase your skills. Find influencers. Diversify.

Before You Launch a Crowdfunding Campaign, Do These 6 Things Image credit: Shutterstock Launching a crowdfunding campaign will probably be some of the craziest days of your life. You’ll either blow it out of the water and drown in all the attention or you’ll struggle to push towards your funding goal. Both scenarios are a wild ride. There are three essential stages in launching a successful campaign: pre-launch, actual launch and sustaining your launch. For instance, in my Kickstarter campaign for Yes Man Watches, we reached our initial $15,000 goal within three days. Related: Your Crowdfunding Cheat Sheet (Infographic) Through a friend sharing our website on Facebook, we were contacted by the biggest watch blog in the world. Within a day of our interview going live, our social media pages saw a huge spark, gaining almost 800 likes in a week. For those looking to kickstart their crowdfunding campaign, it is never to earlier to start focusing on your pre-launch stage. Create a landing page. Mailchimp. Boomerang. ClicktoTweet. Bit.ly. Basecamp.

Your Crowdfunding Campaign Is Doomed Without This To be successful in rewards-based crowdfunding, effective use of social media is critical. Gaining financial support through social media is not as simple as posting a picture of your lunch on Facebook or retweeting the latest joke from Jimmy Kimmel. Successful crowdfunding through social media requires planning, dedication and determination. A few tips from your favorite crowdfunding expert also can’t hurt. The process of using social media for crowdfunding starts weeks before a crowdfunding campaign launches. Related: Before You Launch a Crowdfunding Campaign, Do These 6 Things In the days before a campaign launch, successful crowdfunders do two things. Facebook. Facebook posts should include photos from the campaign, links to the crowdfunding video, “thank you” posts for donors and posts detailing each reward. Related: Your Crowdfunding Cheat Sheet (Infographic) Twitter. LinkedIn. Interaction is the key to successful social media engagement.

Why you always see Upworthy's articles on Facebook Upworthy’s articles are shared far more frequently than those of any other publication, according to data from NewsWhip, a firm that analyzes the relationship between social media and the news. The data shown in the chart above is from November, and it shows that Facebook users will share an Upworthy article, on average, more than 70,000 times. That number exceeds the corresponding figures for the other most successful publications on the social network by a factor of 20 or so. Felix Salmon offers a simple formula to estimate the number of readers who will find an article through Facebook. Historically, one of the variables that determines whether articles are displayed on Facebook has been how frequently users click on the headlines. People click on Upworthy headlines in droves, but not because the site’s articles are particularly important or relevant. For Salmon, Upworthy’s approach to social media is abusive. Millions of Facebook users would presumably disagree.

The Most Popular Words in the Most Viral Headlines 6.3K Flares Filament.io 6.3K Flares × There is no one way to create viral content. So many different variables go into a viral post—timing, emotion, engagement, and so many others that you cannot control. There is no viral blueprint. The greatest chance we have to understand viral content is to study the posts and places that do it best, figure out what worked for them, and try it for ourselves. Thanks to some incredible work by the team at Ripenn, we have access to headline analysis from four of the top viral sites on the web—who happen to be really good at headline writing. The top words used in viral headlines The headline data from Ripenn came from four of the most click-worthy sites on the web—BuzzFeed, ViralNova, UpWorthy and Wimp. In total, I examined 3,016 headlines from 24 top content sites. (The table at left shows common words—articles, prepositions, pronouns, etc. Click here to see a more complete list of top words beyond the 50 mentioned above. Let’s dig in, shall we? This Why

19 Effortless Ways to Write Amazing Headlines | Venture Harbour “Five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” —David Ogilvy Over the years, the function of the headline has evolved. Today we’re experiencing another shift led by social behaviour. So what constitutes a good headline these days? So, how can you write better headlines today? 1. Want to know Upworthy’s secret to reaching 80,000,000 unique visits per month? 2. The best way to learn what makes a good headline is to have the opportunity to split test them. 3. One thing that virtually every guide on headline writing agrees on is that numbers work, and big obscure numbers work the best. 4. One thing that i’ve A/B tested a few times is comparing ’10 Ways to’ vs. 5. If you’re writing a list, it’s usually better to structure the headline with the number at the start. 6. The best headlines make a promise to do something valuable or emotionally stimulating. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Advice for Bloggers Starting Out in 2014 A few years ago I met one of the most well-known travel bloggers in the world. When I asked him what made him stand out, he told me, "Nothing, I was just the first to do it." In analysing the growth patterns of sites like Mashable, Problogger, and KISSmetrics, I noticed the same recurring themes popping up again and again: start early, be persistent, post content frequently, and plan. But what if starting early isn't an option? #1 Start ImmediatelyProcrastination is the downfall of many a beginner blogger. Years ago, starting a blog was a tedious process that involved having to learn to connect MySQL databases to PHP files, and knowing your technical SEO from your off-site SEO. #2 Plan 80% of the results are driven by 20% of your effort. Even with an immediate start, you must formulate a plan. #3 Set GoalsEven if you only blog for fun, you should set goals. #4 Get the Best Theme You Can AffordFor $40 you can save yourself literally weeks of work. #6 Short or Long Articles

Making a crowdfunding video Your video Your video is the first thing people look at, when visiting your project page. Therefore, it needs to say everything about your project in a clear and concise way. A video helps to bring a project to life and show people exactly who you are and what your project aims to do. Plus research shows that projects with a video raise twice as much as those without. Statistics show that 2-3 minutes is the best length of time for a crowdfunding videoTell people what your project is and your aims for the future. Don't know what to say? Here are our suggestions: [First 30 seconds] - Always make sure this first bit is face to camera - show your potential backers who you are Hello and welcome to our Crowdfunder video for #Project_Title# We are #Company_Name# and we do … We believe that our crowdfunding campaign is really important because … [30 - 60 seconds] - This next bit can be a voice over, making sure that it’s being said over some really good video content We need x amount of money because …

How to Make a Great Crowdfunding Video (for Beginners) Editor's Note: The following is a guest post from Sarunas Daugirdas, a Chicago-based videographer, writer, and producer. You can follow him on Twitter @SarunasDaug. Of all the crowdfunding videos on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, a few are great, some are bearable, but most are hard to watch. This is unfortunate, considering how crucial the video is to establishing a positive first impression on a campaign page. First, we’ll explore the elements of an actual Kickstarter video that was successful in the past. 1. When setting out to make a video of any kind, your first step should be to study good videos of the same genre that have come before you. You can do this exercise with any crowdfunding video you find engaging. Were you interested? Another element of good video is proper layering. Let’s move on and talk about the tools you’ll need to make your crowdfunding video. 2. Video recording device: to capture footage. Tripod: to stabilize your shots. 3. You get the idea. 4. So that’s it!

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