Google, one of the largest companies in the world, relies on artificial intelligence for hundreds of it projects. It can seem a little hypocritical for Google to tell businesses that they can’t use AI-generated content on their website. Back in 2010, Google’s John Mueller said that using automated translation tools to create content for your website “could be viewed as being against our Webmaster guidelines.” Here we are, over 10 years later, and Mueller just tweeted that “content generators have been around since the start of the web…Most sites…don’t need help creating low-quality content.” There’s a big discussion in the SEO industry about AI-generated content.

There just isn't a 'softer' way to say this; it's bad. Duplicate content, as defined by Google, “refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content in the same language or are appreciably similar.” Google highly recommends avoiding duplicate content. The key reason is that the ranking of the page on search engine results may suffer. This means, your audiences will not find your content, and when they do, they are unlikely to consider it useful. Understanding how Google handles duplicate content can help you elevate user experience and create a better content marketing plan.

Deliver Content that Converts

As you understand more about customer behaviour, your marketing efforts can be targeted to help your audience move through the sales funnel. After all, the bottom line for any business or commercial enterprise is making money, whether your content marketing goals are to get hot leads or to build an email list. You probably have a lot of top-of-the-funnel content that is designed to get your audience interested in your products or services. Now the questions is, how do you get that visitor to seal the deal?

Today’s digital marketing platforms give small businesses many ways to reach out to new customers. But if you’re like most companies, you don’t have an unlimited advertising budget. You want to be savvy about using your marketing dollars. Content marketing is a great way to develop your brand and find new customers, when you’re smart about how you do it.

Key Content Trends to Consider  

Orbit Media Studios just released its 8th annual survey about blogging and content trends. With responses from over 1,000 bloggers, the insight they gained into the industry can help drive your blogging efforts. Bottom line—blogging is effective, but getting results isn’t easy. You’re competing against over 600+ million blogs to get attention. Here are some of the key findings from the survey that can help drive your content strategy.

What if there was a way to position your brand as authoritative? What if your content could provide social proof? What if you could show your customers how successful you are at helping other customers? The winning solution in your content strategy is case studies. You can accomplish 3 key content marketing goals with case studies—build credibility, generate interest, and encourage conversion.
Case studies capture stories of how your brand solved a problem for a real person or business. A case study lets you paint a picture through words to make your business shine. Your customers’ success stories are just waiting to be told. A case study is a valuable content piece in which readers can see themselves getting results.   

In the lean, mean structure of smaller businesses, in-house copywriters often don’t specialize in copywriting. It’s just one of many hats they wear as part of their overall duties. Creating high quality digital content isn’t easy. Consumer behaviours change, Google’s algorithms change, search trends change, and all of this means content must adapt. Copywriters who work on their writing skills and keep up with the user experience will be more effective. Here are four tips from great novelists that can take your content writing to the next level.

Thirty years ago, we were using desktop-based PCs with dial up connections. Today, smartphones fit in the palm of our hands, allowing us to be connected from literally anywhere in the world. Wearables go a step further; you just strap a smartwatch on to your wrist and it packs a punch. People consume content differently, too. Instead of reading long documents, most people skim content for quick answers. Your content strategy must keep up with your audience. Using pillar pages and cluster posts to organize content is an efficient approach that benefits your readers and your SEO rankings. And oh, your writers will thank you profusely, too!

The best lawyers and politicians know that to persuade others, there are three elements of persuasion – ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos refers to your character and believability. Pathos is the emotional aspect of your argument. Logos refers to the logic or reason of your statements. When you weave the three elements together well, you can persuade your audience to take action. Use the power of ethos, pathos, and logos to increase the effectiveness of your content marketing.

Having a strong content strategy builds your school’s reputation, attracts new students and brings your community together. It may even encourage alumni to donate and support your school in many ways.  The challenge is bringing together many departments and goals while having an engaging website and keeping up with social media. To be successful, it’s important for modern-day schools to be active online and on social media. Your school can also differentiate itself through an engaging online platform.