Choice of Words: The Strategy Behind the Content

A Bone to Pick: Press Releases Are Not for SEO

Posted on by Rachel

I have a bone to pick with SEO experts: press releases aren’t really one of your tools.

Let me back up. My degree and background is in public relations. In fact, you could say PR has my heart. The strategy, problem solving, and messaging are enough to make my heart skip a beat. Well, that’s a bit of a stretch. But, let’s just say PR is my passion. I may come across as a bit of a PR purist (yes, content marketing and SEO also have a place in my heart), but press releases are a public relations tool.

Press releases, at their core, are for alerting the press (and the public) of a newsworthy event, not for sneaking links onto high-quality distribution sites to boost search rankings. Click To Tweet Continue reading “A Bone to Pick: Press Releases Are Not for SEO” →

4 Excuses Keeping You from Blogging and How to Beat Them

Posted on by Rachel

You know you’ve done it. You’ve considered blogging for your company, but decided against it for one reason or another. Or, maybe for lots of reasons. But, here’s the thing. Your blog can be an extremely valuable asset and can bring a big ROI, if you know how to use it. With 77% of internet users reading blogs, chances are that you can reach your target market with your own posts.

I’ve heard all kinds of excuses for not blogging, but most of them fall into the same categories of lack of inspiration, site traffic, or time. Here are four common excuses—which most of us have used at one time or another—and how to beat them. Continue reading “4 Excuses Keeping You from Blogging and How to Beat Them” →

Friday Flubs: Sales Sabotage

Posted on by Rachel

Every Friday’s post includes typos or grammatical errors I’ve spotted throughout the week. If you are anything like me these typos drive you crazy, especially when they come from people who should know better.

When you’re trying to make a sale, the last thing you want to do is scare a customer off. One of the biggest ways to sabotage your sales efforts online is to use poorly written copy and publish content with typos. Just take a look at these examples and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Recently, I got an email from a friend (which looked like a form letter he sent to several people) asking me to recommend students for internships at his business. Unfortunately, the letter had a typo that really didn’t make his business look great:
Continue reading “Friday Flubs: Sales Sabotage” →

Friday Flubs: What are We Teaching “Are” Students?

Posted on by Rachel

Every Friday’s post includes typos or grammatical errors I’ve spotted throughout the week. If you are anything like me these typos drive you crazy, especially when they come from people who should know better.

Typos are especially painful when they come from people that should know better. Like a public high school. The people who are teaching kids and preparing students to be successful in college and then in their future careers should know better, right? Continue reading “Friday Flubs: What are We Teaching “Are” Students?” →

3 Reasons Your Business Can’t Afford not to Blog

Posted on by Rachel

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Unfortunately, when businesses need to cut back and reassess their budget, the company blog is sometimes the first thing to go. To some, blogging seems like an extra marketing or public relations strategy that isn’t completely necessary. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

A business blog is an incredible asset that can help you reach your business goals and strengthen your brand. In fact, deciding not to maintain a blog can be detrimental to your marketing, public relations and search engine optimization strategy. Continue reading “3 Reasons Your Business Can’t Afford not to Blog” →