While the temperature outside can’t seem to make up its mind on whether to feel like summer or fall, the equinox has passed, and it’s officially autumn. It’s only a matter of time before the breezes cool down, the leaves turn and pumpkin spice everything returns for another go-round.
The following articles are three highlights from around the content marketing internet that will help guide your company through this transitional season. As the hot months, long days and frequent vacations draw down and the holidays come ever closer, it’s time to focus on some high-ROI projects that will deliver solid results through the fall.
Why You Should Do This Helpful SEO Audit Once a Year
If you’d like to start the fall season on a good note, all it takes is one big, valuable undertaking. The Content Marketing Institute’s Amanda DiSilvestro has a great suggestion: a full audit of your website to make sure you’re in line with the latest version of Google’s rules.
DiSilvestro’s article is itself an update an older piece, demonstrating that in the world of SEO, the rules change every few months. A relevant audit should take in content analytics, targeted keywords, page indexing, potential broken links, page speed and more.
Performing such a comprehensive audit every year is a powerful strategy because many of the issues that lead to SEO problems can pop up while you aren’t looking, and in ways that are hard to detect without a specific check. Broken external links, for instance, crop up when a third-party site makes changes – but your page containing those links is the one losing SEO power.
To make audits rigorous and future checks easier, DiSilvestro recommended keeping records while inspecting and improving your site. Every well-documented audit will build on the work that has gone before, and become easier in turn.
If you launch this process now, you have an easy reminder about when to repeat your SEO check: Pumpkin spice season is now SEO season.
Read more about this handy SEO audit at Content Marketing Institute.
8 Simple Steps to Use Your Book to Grow Your Business
Do you have a published work in your field of choice, or are you working on a book now? If so, you’ve got a deep well of potential marketing content, according to Wendy Keller’s Entrepreneur article.
Keller pointed out that for promotional purposes, self-publishing is a fine option for making your work available and leveraging it. If, on the other hand, you see writing as a recurring side hustle, you should likely contact more traditional publishers within your industry to seek a more traditional deal.
Once the book is finished, polished and published, there are a few different ways to turn it into content. For instance, you can use an eBook version of your work as an opt-in for interested clients, or use excerpts from the text as guest blog posts hosted by industry publications.
Keller explained you can even make physical, bound copies of single chapters and mail them out to prospects, piquing their interest and showing your expertise about the topics within.
You can even adapt your text in ways that go beyond the standard eBook or physical format to promote your personal brand and company. Licensing an audio version of the book can take the information to a new audience. Adapting the text into an interactive course or workshop are potentially effective outlets for the facts you’ve painstakingly compiled into your book.
Learn more about making the most of your book here.
5 Tips to Get Your Google Shopping Campaigns Ready for the Holidays
When summer becomes fall, truly forward-thinking business owners are already pondering the holiday rush. Search Engine Journal’s Daniel Gilbert recently suggested ways to maximize your use of Google’s marketing tools for its first-party marketplace Google Shopping. Due to Google’s position of power in the search engine world, it’s no surprise that you can gain ground by creating campaigns for the platform.
Gilbert pointed out that Google’s recently introduced Smart Shopping optimization tools are often useful parts of marketing, but not in all cases. He recommended A/B testing to see whether in-house campaign optimization draws better results than using Smart Shopping, and going with the option that delivers greatest value.
There are seasonal changes to the Smart Shopping algorithm to ensure it works correctly with the spike of shopper interest that accompanies the end-of-year commercial season. Gilbert advised watching for this feature to take effect soon.
Explore more Google shopping tips at Search Engine Journal.
Taking action on some big projects, such as an SEO audit, book-based promotional push or refreshed Google Shopping push, can give your fall season the kickstart it needs.
The crisp autumn air provides the perfect atmosphere for getting things done, so there’s nothing holding you back – go grab a seasonally appropriate latte and then get down to business!
