Author Archives: Ian Lamont

Announcing the “Content Marketing: Recycling & Reuse” miniguide

Author Derek Slater has just released a quick read for content marketers — the Content Marketing Recycling & Reuse miniguide. Based on two of the most well-received chapters in Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes, the miniguide expands the topic into a strategic approach to content reuse, and a solid package of practical tips for leveraging recycled and repurposed content.

Content Marketing: Recycling & Reuse is also filled with examples that will inspire you. One of my favorites is the downloadable PDF from the Harvard Business Review that consists of old chapters from the journal, one of which was originally published on paper in the mid-1970s!

HBR essentials - content marketing example

As Slater points out in the miniguide, these old articles are still evergreen and are not only delivering value for readers, but also for the Harvard Business Review, which charges $24 for the collection.

Here is the table of contents to the Content Marketing: Recycling & Reuse miniguide:

  • Introduction: Why Recycling & Reuse Is So Important
  • Context: The Secret to Reusable Marketing Content
  • Context And Content Shelf-Life
  • Content Recycling Vs. Google Penalties
  • 8 Ways To Recycle Content
  • Bonus: 9 Killer Headlines
  • Conclusion

Content Marketing: Recycling & Reuse is aimed at anyone who is responsible for website content, e-commerce, social engagement, or lead-generation — that is, bloggers, journalists, editors, e-commerce managers, inbound marketers, social media managers, and SEO specialists.

Available formats include a Kindle version, the iBooks version for the iPad and iPad mini, a Google Play version that can be read on the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Nexus 7, and other Android tablets, and a PDF that can be printed out or read on practically any computer screen. For more information and to see a full list of purchasing options, please visit the Content Marketing: Recycling & Reuse download page.

How to add a user to a Google Analytics profile

Google Analytics configurations can be a bear. I was surprised to see how difficult it is to add another user to a Google Analytics account — Google’s own Help files are terrible, and there aren’t any other videos that quickly explain how to do it. So, after figuring out on my own how to add another user in Google Analytics, I whipped up this video tonight. It’s a useful technique if you need to have someone else perform content audits or other tasks in Google Analytics, as outlined in Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes.

How to use StatCounter for daily content marketing audits

StatCounter lets site owners monitor their Web traffic. It offers several benefits over Google Analytics, including ease of use, live visitor data, and automatic tracking of exit links. The following 6-minute video shows how to perform daily content marketing audits using StatCounter. It includes sections about monitoring basic traffic indicators, such as:

  • Recent visitor traffic by country and company/IP address
  • Source of traffic (i.e., search, visitors from external sites, etc.)
  • Pages visited
  • Popular pages
  • Exit links

This data allows site owners to understand what types of content is attracting audiences and converting them to sales or some other desired action. In the video, the narrator explains how exit links to Amazon.com and other e-commerce sites can be used to determine sales conversion rates.

Using Web traffic software to measure the effectiveness of site content is a central part of the content marketing audit strategy outlined in “Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes”, by author Derek Slater. The contents of the guide are described here, and purchase options are shown here.

To see the video in its full-screen glory, please click the icon in the lower right corner of the YouTube video player:

StatCounter offers a free service with limited features; to register go to this page. StatCounter and i30 Media (the publisher of “Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes”) are not related.

How to install StatCounter on Blogger

If you use Google’s Blogger service and want to keep track of the visitors to your site, StatCounter is a great option. This short video shows how install the StatCounter script on Blogger. It can also be used for other blogging platforms or Web pages for which you have access to add HTML to the site.

Once StatCounter is installed, it lets you see the following data:

  • Daily visits to your site
  • Pages seen by each visitor
  • Duration of visits
  • Most popular pages
  • How visitors found your site: Keywords/other websites
  • The ISPs used by your visitors, even those located in foreign countries
  • Browser versions and screen resolutions
  • Exit pages and exit links

This data can be used to audit the performance of website content, as described in Chapter 2 of Derek Slater’s Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes (for more information, see what’s inside the book and purchase options).

To watch the short video, start the player below.

Google Analytics: How to evaluate content metrics

Are you getting started with Google Analytics, and want to learn how to evaluate content metrics? This 5-minute overview video will give you an overview of how to use Google Analytics “Content” area, to determine which site content is engaging visitors … and which content is not working.

The video goes over basics such as visits, bounce rates, and exit rates. These data points are very useful for content audits, which author Derek Slater covered in chapter 2 of Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes:

You will be creating content that links to product or business pages on your site, offering customers the opportunity to engage with you in ways big (ordering something) or small (signing up for a newsletter). Or you will find yourself attaching a postscript to an article, alerting readers to an ebook or an upcoming event.

If these traditional calls to action or landing pages or other existing content forms are not working, that will dilute the effectiveness of your new content as well. Conversely, if your audit identifies that your current web page listing your ten best-selling products is the page where most people click on the “Order Now!” button, that may be a page you will want to spotlight in, or around, your content marketing articles or blog posts (see the bonus chapter at the end of this book for some examples of calls to action in action).

Which leads to the second compelling reason to do an audit: The measurement work during the audit to answer the “how is it performing” question will come in handy throughout the entire content marketing lifecycle. You will use many of the same measurements and tools to determine how your new content is working, and how to improve it.

To see the video in its full-screen glory, press the icon at the bottom of the player window. To order a copy of Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes, please visit this page.

Google Analytics Video Tutorial: Three Things You Must Monitor

New users often find Google Analytics confusing. There is a lot of data to look at, and it can overwhelm people who are new to Google Analytics’ main screen. This short, five-minute video shows the three most important things you must monitor on the home screen, and further shows how this data can help you get a better understanding of how people are using your website.

The insights from Google Analytics can help you better structure content and other information on your company’s website to attract more customers and build a sustainable business advantage. These concepts, as well as Google Analytics basics, are explained in Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes, by author Derek Slater.

To view the video full-screen, press the rectangular icon at the bottom of the YouTube video player.

Content Marketing Guide: Free Goodreads Giveaway!

We’ve just launched a giveaway on Goodreads.com for Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes, by Derek Slater. This guide shows how to use online content to attract customers to a website. It’s perfect for marketers, bloggers, online video creators, and anyone else who has an interest in using the Internet to increase business and website traffic. A total of 25 copies of the paperback edition of Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes are being given away for free. Here’s how the giveaway works:

  1. Follow the link to the giveaway page on Goodreads.com, or use the button at the bottom of this page
  2. If you are already a Goodreads member, log on or wait for Facebook to automatically log you on
  3. If you are not a member, register for Goodreads (we recommend using Facebook, which allows you to connect with your friends who happen to be Goodreads members)
  4. Press the “Enter to win” button on the Goodreads Giveaway page

You’ll need to wait until the giveaway registration period ends on April 19, after which Goodreads will select 25 winners from the pool of entrants.

Of course, if you don’t want to wait, there are lots of ebook buying options that allow you to instantly download the book to your iPad, Kindle, or Nook. You can also order a paperback copy now or PDF.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes by Derek Slater

Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes

by Derek Slater

Giveaway ends April 19, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Content Marketing Tip: Recycling and reuse

The following post is an excerpt from Chapter 6 of Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes by Derek Slater.

A great idea should never die.

One of the big criticisms of blog-based sites is that today’s post, however good it is, sinks lower and lower on the page under the gravitational force of each subsequent post. Once it’s off the front page, it’s hard for readers to discover it again.

For some types of content, that’s appropriate. Nobody wants to re-read old news, for example.

But if you do a good job of capturing context, as mentioned in the preceding section, there’s a good chance that your content will deserve a longer shelf life.

Articles about products age quickly, because products change. However, there are aspects of your audience’s life and/or work that don’t change very quickly at all. Businesspeople have to go to a lot of meetings. They have to cost-justify purchases in order to purchase them. They have to persuade co-workers to do things they don’t like to do. They have to deal with bosses and subordinates. Articles that address these contextual issues are of high value and tend to be relatively evergreen, meaning they remain current and useful for a long time.

So the ideas in those articles will continue to provide your audience with value, if you can find ways to resurface, reuse and recycle the ideas.

To read more from this and other chapters in Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes, please purchase the paperback or download the ebook on the Kindle, iPad, and Nook. PDF and other formats can be purchased here.

11 Effective Headlines For Online Content

The following list of 11 effective headlines for online content comes from Online Content Marketing In 30 Minutes, by author Derek Slater. The book describes an eight-step process that you can use to leverage online content to promote your business or website. Order the paperback, Kindle, iPad, and PDF versions here.

11 Effective Headlines For Online

  1. The top 10 _____
  2. _____: Myths and misconceptions
  3. The 7 deadly sins of _____
  4. How to win at _____ every time
  5. How to do _____ in half the time/for half the money
  6. 10 bad _____ habits you should kick NOW
  7. _____’s secret plan for world domination
  8. The real truth about _____
  9. 5 simple steps to do _____
  10. How to spot a fake _____
  11. Everything you really need to know about _____

In 2009 Chris Garrett of authorityblogger.com published a handy PDF of “102 proven headline formulas”, which has been widely pirated on other websites. One of the strangest pieces of advice in his e-book:

“Headlines that contained odd numbers had a 20% higher click-through rate than headlines with even numbers.”

The source of this information was a 2011 study performed by the Content Marketing Institute.
At any rate, yes, you still have to back up a good headline with good content. But a great headline really sells the story for you. A favorite on our website was “8 Dirty Tricks: Social Engineers’ Favorite Pickup Lines”. We knew it would be popular before we had written the first word.