Updated March 7, 2022

In the rush to get on the front page of Google search results, a major opportunity stands out as the most useful and relevant: featured snippets.

At the top of many informational searches, these bits of text provide a quick answer to a searcher’s question. Since featured snippets outrank standard list results, they often are referred to as “position zero.”Continue Reading

Updated July 15, 2020.

Good content is one thing, but great online content is another.

How do you define great content? Yes, it should be well-written and addictively readable, and it should hit home for its intended audience.

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When was the last time you clicked on an ad?

When was the last time you engaged with a business (calling, emailing, booking a demo) to ask for further details about their products or services?

If you’re anything like me, the last time was months ago (if ever).

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Is your brand’s content marketing performance mediocre or worse?

Before you create a laundry list of reasons to investigate the why, consider these five frequent, overarching mistakes. Avoiding these mistakes could save you time, money, and even customers.

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Editor’s note: Useless words abound in text. That’s why Julia updated this article originally published in 2017, adding more words that you should avoid. 

In online writing land, clarity is your best friend. The clearest prose is the type anyone can understand, learn from, and enjoy.

Stuffing your sentences and paragraphs with filler and fluff – words and phrases that add zero meaning to what you’re trying to say – is the opposite of clear writing.
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The sales funnel is obsolete.

Bold statement? Yes, but when you look at the facts, it’s obvious.

The sales funnel doesn’t help predict anything about buyers: Not their mentality, not their movement through the buyer’s journey, and not when they might make a purchase.

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The value of building SEO content is second to none.

However, I’m not merely talking about properly optimized content that has the right meta information, links, keywords, and technical SEO.

Instead, I’m talking about honing powerful content that speaks to readers irresistibly. It’s optimized, sure, but it’s also constructed to be the ultimate read. This kind of content is the equivalent of a best-selling novel – people invest in it and gobble it up.

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Getting people to click to read your content is hard, whether you’re trying to entice them in an email or tempt them in the search engine results.

But once you finally get them on your page, you must work even harder to keep them there.

Lots of technical ways can keep them from bouncing (faster load times, minimum pop-ups, clear site navigation, etc.).

But what about non-technical ways?

Which content formats are inherently readable, interesting, and absorbing? Which ones make your readers subconsciously stay focused, moving down your page?

Take these four formats for a spin.

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