EDITS.WS

Author: Haley Walden

  • 5 Best Marketing Automation Platforms for Your Business in 2023

    Marketing automation platforms can help you streamline your business in powerful ways. Many of the tasks involved in growing your business online can be repetitive, tedious, and time-consuming. Automating these tasks will ensure important tasks get done efficiently and free up valuable time and money needed elsewhere. In this post, we’ll discuss marketing automation and the best platforms you can use for your business.

    What is Marketing Automation?

    Marketing automation platforms can reduce the number of tasks that a person has to do. This means that time-consuming or repetitive aspects of your business happen with less human involvement. Some marketing processes you can automate include:

    Clearly, a marketing automation platform can help you stay better organized. As a result, better organization impacts workflows, teams, and projects. For example, some marketing automation platforms let you schedule automatic email sequences; this keeps your audience engaged.

    Best Marketing Automation Platforms

    Depending on the size of your business and the amount of support you need, there’s a tool out there that is right for you. Unfortunately, they come in a range of prices. Therefore, features vary from one tool to another. Luckily, you can easily combine some of them with other popular platforms.

    So, let’s look at some of the best marketing automation platforms on the market.

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    1. HubSpot

    Hubspot - Homepage Feb 2023

    HubSpot CRM is one of the most well-known marketing automation platforms available. For instance, it has powerful capabilities for:

    • Marketers
    • Sales and customer service teams
    • Sales and operations managers
    • Business owners

    HubSpot boasts email marketing and lead-generation tools to help businesses grow. Therefore, they can easily nurture their leads and maintain communication with customers. However, it’s not just a tool for organizing a database of customer contact information.

    HubSpot lets users chat with leads in real time and set up chatbots for automated, conversational marketing. It also features forms, ad management tools, analytics, and landing pages. Best of all, it’s free.

    Hubspot can be integrated with WordPress and Divi, providing users with more marketing tasks.

    Why Use Hubspot? Hubspot packs a lot of features into a free platform. So, it’s great for small business marketing, sales, or customer service. It’s also a good choice for business managers or solopreneurs who want to scale their businesses. Finally, if you’re ready to get started with marketing automation but don’t have a big budget, this is a great place to start.

    Price: Free tools with paid plans starting as low as $18/mo

    Get Hubspot

    2. ActiveCampaign

    ActiveCampaign - Homepage March 2023

    ActiveCampaign is one of the more prominent marketing automation tools. It combines email automation with essential CRM functions. Beyond email marketing, ActiveCampaign includes detailed analytics. Therefore, it can help you set automation goals for your business.

    Key Features:

    • The ability to set Facebook custom audiences through the app
    • Custom subscription forms
    • Website tracking to determine customer behavior
    • Dynamic and predictive content
    • Lead scoring and win probability
    • SMS messaging
    • E-commerce automation

    ActiveCampaign works well with several different sales and marketing platforms. Some of these include Shopify, PayPal, Salesforce, Facebook, and Divi, for instance. Additionally, ActiveCampaign provides businesses with detailed analytics and reporting, allowing them to track the performance of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions.

    Furthermore, ActiveCampaign is known for its exceptional customer support, with a team of experts available to answer any questions or concerns that users may have. To put it in short, ActiveCampaign is a comprehensive marketing automation tool that can help businesses improve their customer engagement and drive growth.

    Why Use ActiveCampaign? ActiveCampaign combines many of marketing’s moving parts on one clean interface. Its low price and the ability to integrate with e-commerce solutions make it a strong choice for small businesses.

    Price: Starting at $29/month for Lite

    Get ActiveCampaign

    3. Constant Contact

    Constant Contact - Homepage May 2023

    Constant Contact is an all-in-one marketing platform that assists businesses in fostering customer relationships and achieving growth. Firstly, it incorporates email marketing, social media management, and website-building features. Constant Contact is renowned for its user-friendly interface and exceptional customer support. Automation+ plans (using Sharpspring, an acquired business) bring even more automation features. But the Constant Contact that small businesses use affords them simple automation in one place.

    Key Features:

    • Access to hundreds of email templates
    • Custom subscription forms
    • Real-time reporting and analytics
    • Social media management tools
    • Email automation and visual builder
    • WooCommerce integration for store-based automations out of the box

    Constant Contact integrates with several e-commerce platforms, including Shopify, WooCommerce, and Bloom. It also integrates with social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Moreover, Constant Contact provides businesses with real time reporting and analytics, allowing them to track the performance of their campaigns and optimize their marketing efforts.

    Why Use Constant Contact? Constant Contact is a straightforward and easy-to-use marketing platform that’s ideal for small businesses. With an affordable cost and a user-friendly interface, it is an excellent option for users who want to begin their email marketing journey.

    Price: Plans start at $9.99/mo with advanced Marketing Automation+ starting at $449/mo

    Get Constant Contact

    4. Keap

    Keap - Homepage March 2023

    Keap is a customer relationship management (CRM) software that offers an array of features designed to help small businesses automate their sales and marketing processes. With Keap, businesses can efficiently manage their customer data, sales pipeline, and marketing campaigns in one centralized platform. You may recognize their old name, Infusionsoft.

    One of the primary benefits of Keap is that it provides businesses with a comprehensive solution for their sales and marketing needs. For instance, with its lead capture, email marketing, and appointment scheduling features, businesses can streamline their sales funnel and reduce time spent on manual processes. Moreover, with its online payments feature, businesses can accept payments easily and securely, saving them the hassle of handling payments manually.

    In addition, Keap offers an intuitive user interface and a wide range of customizable templates that enable businesses to personalize their communication with their customers. Furthermore, Keap provides exceptional customer support, with a dedicated team of experts available to answer any questions or concerns that users may have.

    Key Features:

    Why Use Keap? Keap is a fantastic tool for businesses that need an integrated tool. It’s essential if they want to combine marketing automation and sales.

    Price: Starting at $189.00/mo

    Get Keap

    5. Adobe Marketo

    Adobe Marketo - Homepage May 2023

    Marketo is a marketing automation platform by Adobe that helps businesses attract and convert leads. It boosts revenue by zeroing in on the most engaged prospects. Therefore, it can also help you nurture and grow your relationships with your customers.

    Key Features:

    • Landing page builder
    • Embeddable forms
    • Website personalization based on CRM data
    • Behavior tracking
    • Social media posting tools

    It lets users build and scale marketing campaigns across many channels. Therefore, it keeps leads and customers nurtured and engaged. It also works well with CRMs. In addition, Marketo provides users with a range of educational resources to help them learn the platform.

    Marketo also lets users analyze how their marketing channels and campaigns are impacting their bottom line. Moreover, Marketo also offers social media management tools that enable businesses to manage their social media accounts and publish content across multiple channels from one central platform.

    Why Use Marketo? Marketo is a great tool to use if you want to track your marketing channels’ impact alongside customer engagement. Of course, you’ll still need an email automation tool or a CRM integration. However, Marketo is an excellent way to work on lead conversion while also watching analytics in one place. Lastly, It’s best for larger, enterprise-sized companies.

    Price: Custom pricing; contact Adobe sales

    Get Marketo

    Are Marketing Automation Platforms Right for You?

    Plugin Price Free Option
    🥇 Hubspot $18/mo ✔️ Visit
    🥈 ActiveCampaign $29/mo ❌ Visit
    🥉 Constant Contact $9.99/mo ❌ Visit
    4 Keap $189/mo ❌ Visit
    5 Marketo Custom ❌ Visit

    A marketing automation platform can help you stay organized. It can also streamline your work processes. As your business grows, you’ll need a platform like this to help you keep up with leads, your content calendar, and so much more.

    In conclusion, if you’re looking to get started with marketing automation, we recommend starting with HubSpot or ActiveCampaign, as they are great jumping. off points for marketing professionals.

    Are you using a marketing automation platform yet? If so, which one? Are you thinking of trying a new one? Let us know in the comments!

    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

    Before we wrap up, let’s answer some of your most common questions regarding marketing automation platforms. Did we miss one? Leave a question below and we will respond!

    Featured image via RoseRodionova / shutterstock.com

    The post 5 Best Marketing Automation Platforms for Your Business in 2023 appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • WordPress vs. Duda (2023) — Which One Should You Choose?

    WordPress began as a popular blogging platform and has since grown into a full-scale, open-source content management system (CMS). It’s among the top web platforms available online today and the primary choice of millions of website owners. The Duda website builder is a user-friendly, drag-and-drop website builder that tackles the heavy lifting for you. In this post, we’ll be comparing WordPress vs. Duda website builder to see which platform is right for you.

    WordPress vs. Duda Website Builder: Who are They For?

    WordPress and Duda have similar end products: powerful, functional websites that business owners and individuals can use to establish their online presence. Let’s break down who each platform works best for.

    Before we jump into the comparison, keep in mind that we’re going to focus on WordPress.org rather than .com. This article explains the difference between the two platforms in detail. At Elegant Themes, we believe that the .org version of WordPress is the stronger product. When considering a self-hosted website that’s versatile and highly customizable, we believe most site owners choose .org.

    WordPress

    Wordpress website

    WordPress is a web design platform that supports a wide range of website types and purposes. From basic, pre-designed themes to completely custom websites, the possibilities are nearly endless. Non-coders can jump right in by using the Gutenberg block editor, WordPress’ passable page builder. On the other hand, web developers have the WP codebase at their disposal.

    WordPress supports the development and use of third-party plugins and themes, which means additional functionality for your site. Users with any level of experience can find and activate plugins to power up their sites. Domain registration and hosting are separate from the WordPress platform, so users are responsible for finding their own hosting and domain name services. If you choose to build on WordPress, you’ll also be responsible for the site configuration.

    Duda Website Builder

    Duda website builder is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that allows users to build their websites right inside their browsers. Like platforms such as Ghost and Squarespace, it’s a solid choice for users who have little to no website design or coding experience, yet it yields professional results.

    It features a working preview as well as a drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to edit your site. For non-developers or people who are new to building a site, Duda is a great option.

    Duda website

    Duda users who do have coding experience can access the source code of their sites to make tweaks. As a result, this could be particularly appealing to a site owner who wants the ability to tweak code if they want to. Even if a user doesn’t want to handle the bulk of the coding work, they might just want the option.

    SaaS platforms and agencies use the Duda website builder, in part, due to its versatility and ease of use. The platform also offers Agency, and Custom plans so that businesses can host multiple client sites in one place. Agile, fast-paced businesses and freelancers may find that the platform’s ease of use lends itself to quick turnarounds for clients who need a website built yesterday.

    Pricing Comparison

    Like most site-building platforms, WordPress and Duda have their respective costs. Let’s dig into those.

    WordPress

    Theoretically, WordPress is free — except it’s not. While the software is open-source and downloadable, and while you can install, host, and manage it yourself, there are other costs involved in building a powerful, custom WordPress website. Hosting your WordPress site, purchasing and renewing your domain name annually, paying for a custom theme, and investing in the proper licensing and memberships all add up.

    In short, there are many underlying costs associated with WordPress that aren’t addressed in its marketing. These costs will vary depending on your website–think of them as building blocks. You’ll need to spend some time researching your options and your potential costs.

    For example, you might have to pay per site per year for some plugins and themes. Alternatively, at Elegant Themes, we offer a one-time lifetime fee option for Divi. You could find yourself paying $10 per year for a domain, $5 per year for hosting fees, or piecemeal fees for themes and plugins. Managed hosting, security platforms, and even eCommerce integrations like WooCommerce or Shopify can quickly add up.

    Duda Website Builder

    Duda website builder Basic plans start at $14 per month. There are also higher-tier plans, including Team, Agency, and Custom. This pricing includes site hosting on AWS but doesn’t include a domain name. However, through Duda’s integrations with Google and Hover, you can purchase a custom domain name easily for an additional fee.

    Duda pricing

    WordPress Weebly
    Pricing 🥇 Winner
    WordPress is as expensive and expansive as you want it to be.    		 Duda is a relatively cheap option, but can’t compete with free.
    Choose WordPress Choose Duda

    Which Platform is Easier to Use?

    If you’re less concerned about pricing and more interested in how your day-to-day life will be with WordPress vs. Duda, we’ve got you.

    WordPress

    WordPress has a bit of a learning curve when it comes to the website’s backend. It can take a little time to learn your way around. Building the actual site, and tweaking a theme, are where you’ll likely run into the largest time (and possibly financial) investment.

    wordpress dashboard

    The vast range of options available to WordPress users is nothing short of overwhelming for many of us. Each website tool you install and set up will have its learning curve. However, we tend to feel that the biggest draw for WordPress vs. Duda website builder is the ability to customize every single line of code. Designers and developers can make a WordPress site anything they want it to be just by digging into the codebase.

    But that’s a massive barrier to entry for most website owners — especially if you’re new. Not everyone has the time or desire to learn how to tweak PHP or JavaScript. While the available plugins and widgets can help ease some of those complications, it still takes time to figure out which tools you need for your particular skill set and budget.

    Duda Website Builder

    The Duda website builder is built to showcase its range of tools and options at a glance. In addition to a full-screen preview, which users can toggle between desktop, tablet, and mobile phone, it features a static navigation menu that allows you to move from one feature to another easily. Users can integrate widgets, a blog, an eCommerce store, and even collect content and information from site visitors.

    Duda dashboard

    Adding pages, images, and sections to your site design is straightforward. Organizing pages and popups are easy and are reflected in the navigation menu. There is also a wide range of apps you can integrate into your site to further customize it.

    duda mobile editor

    Essentially, Duda appears to be a platform that makes building a powerful website easy for the non-developer. At the same time, it allows users with coding experience to access and tweak the source code. This option offers further customizability. The learning curve for Duda is pretty low, so you can dive in and get to work quickly.

    WordPress Weebly
    Ease of Use WordPress can take some time to learn, plus the seemingly endless features can overwhelm. 🥇 Winner
    Duda makes it easy to create a website, regardless of skill level.
    Choose WordPress Choose Duda

    Customization Comparison

    Both WordPress and Duda allow for varying levels of customization, depending on the type of site you build.

    WordPress

    With a little (or a lot) of code — and maybe an assist from a web developer — WordPress users can get a fully customizable site that does exactly what they both want and need it to do. With the ability to integrate a variety of plugins, widgets, and themes, you can tweak and experiment until your site supports all the functions you need.

    On the other hand, you’ll need to keep an eye on your site features and make sure they’re up to date — both for security and aesthetic purposes. Updating a WordPress theme has been known to break websites in the past, so you have to be vigilant about making regular site backups. The same can be said for plugins and even WordPress Core itself. Unless you’re on great managed WordPress hosting such as Flywheel or Cloudways, updating is something not to be taken lightly.

    Duda Website Builder

    Duda website builder is a bit more limited in terms of customizing the look and feel of your site. Users choose from a range of pre-made templates, which can then be customized within the browser-based site builder. To a certain degree, you can tweak the source code, too, but that’s not Duda’s strong suit.

    However, as far as functionality is concerned, Duda features tools and app integrations to help businesses of all sizes reach their intended audiences. With speedy, reliable server hosting on AWS and the ability to build and run an eCommerce store on the platform, Duda goes beyond functioning as a simple drag-and-drop builder.

    WordPress Weebly
    Customization 🥇 Winner
    WordPress is fully customizable and is easily malleable to the the needs of a developer.     		Duda is a bit more limited, with its primary focus being on simplicity.
    Choose WordPress Choose Duda

    Themes and Templates

    Many website owners are drawn to WordPress and Duda because both platforms offer tools that make it easy to build beautiful, functional websites with no knowledge of code or design.

    WordPress

    WordPress page-builders and themes, including Divi, are equipped with a range of professionally-designed layouts that users can import. Themes make up the foundation of WordPress websites and can be blank slates or fully pre-designed layouts for specific types of users.

    Themes page

    In theory, themes should be straightforward to install and set up. However, it’s not unusual for WordPress site owners to need help from a website developer to tweak the finer points of the code. Especially if they’re not developers themselves.

    Duda Website Builder

    Duda website builder includes built-in, pre-made templates. When you set up your initial site, you can tell the builder what type of site you’re creating. Users can choose between a portfolio, landing page, business site, lifestyle site, or online store or say they’re just browsing. Duda will then populate a selection of templates based on your site type.

    Duda templates

    From there, the selection process is super straightforward. Simply select the template you want to start from, and Duda will load it in the browser-based site builder. Then, you can start making tweaks.

    The installation and use of themes seem pretty comparable, but you can dig into the theming more in WordPress. With that said, however, if you don’t want to dig into the theme’s code and expand the feature set, Duda’s options are just as beautiful (if not more so) as many out-of-the-box WordPress options.

    WordPress Weebly
    Themes and Templates 🏳️Draw
    WordPress has thousands of templates and themes to dig into.    		 🏳️Draw
    Duda also comes with a lot of themes straight out of the box.
    Choose WordPress Choose Duda

    Publishing Tool Comparison

    Both platforms feature publishing tools that allow users to create blog posts. Let’s compare WordPress vs Duda to determine which comes out on top.

    WordPress

    WordPress makes it super easy for site owners to create and publish SEO-optimized blog posts. Its publishing tools are straightforward, whether you’re using the Classic Editor or the new Block Editor. Essentially, both editors function almost like word processors with a few extra bells and whistles. If you can use Microsoft Word, for instance, you should be able to dive in and learn the basics of publishing on WordPress without a lot of fuss.

    Here’s a look at the Classic Editor:

    classic editor

    And here’s what the Block Editor looks like:

    Block editor

    You can install and activate plugins that make the publishing process easier and more effective. For example, plugins such as Rank Math help users optimize both readability, on-page SEO, as well as keyword optimization.

    WordPress was built as a blogging platform initially, so it makes sense for its publishing environment to be robust and easy to use.

    Duda Website Builder

    From Duda’s left-hand navigation menu, you can click the Blog button to access posts and drafts. There will be several pre-loaded example posts in the blog manager that you can click into and poke around just to get a feel for the platform.

    Editing page

    When you open an existing blog post, you’ll edit it right there on the page. Here’s what it looks like:

    Duda editing page

    It is a pretty basic system, but it’s hard to compete with WordPress’ writing experience and tools. If blogging is just something you want to do occasionally, Duda will be fine. But if your primary content is delivered via publishing, it may not be as powerful as you need.

    WordPress Weebly
    Publishing Tools 🥇 Winner
    It’s hard to compete with WordPress when it comes to blogging, it’s been the top dog for years now.    		 Duda’s publishing tools are passable, but not as intuitive as WordPress’.
    Choose WordPress Choose Duda

    What About Security Features?

    Wondering about site security on WordPress vs. Duda website builder? Wonder no more.

    WordPress

    WordPress website security is largely based on the website host you select and the security measures you choose to implement. For example, you might choose to use a free SSL certificate and stop there. On the other hand, you might want to consider a more robust security plugin such as Sucuri, or even a suite of security tools if you handle sensitive user information or need to comply with HIPAA.

    In terms of WordPress itself, developers regularly release security updates and updated versions of the software. Themes are designed for backward compatibility so users can keep their sites up-to-date in terms of security. Theoretically, this is meant to prevent site loss and broken themes when updating. However, we highly recommend backing up your website before you run any security updates.

    Duda Website Builder

    Duda websites come with a free SSL certificate and are hosted on Amazon’s AWS servers for an added layer of security. Users can easily back up their sites whenever needed. Additionally, Duda offers a free global CDN so that your site is a bit more secure than having users connect directly to your server.

    While you can’t control the security like you can on WordPress, the Duda platform handles that for you so that you can focus on what you’re best at. It’s secure, and you don’t have to make it that way yourself.

    WordPress Weebly
    Security WordPress has a ton of security extensions and plugins available, but you have to take time to set them up. 🥇 Winner
    Duda comes built with SSL certificate hosting and handles the security for you.
    Choose WordPress Choose Duda

    Which Platform Stands Out For E-commerce?

    Both WordPress and Duda website builders offer eCommerce store integrations for site owners.

    WordPress

    WordPress supports several different eCommerce plugins and integrations, including WooCommerce and Shopify. Like so many other WordPress features, setting up an online store is a plug-and-play scenario. You’ll have to shop around for the right platform whose features fit your needs, then do the work to integrate it and get it working properly.
    Keep in mind that costs for running an eCommerce store via WordPress will vary, just like building and running the site itself.

    Duda Website Builder

    Duda website builder includes an eCommerce platform. Site owners who want to start an online store via Duda have access to omnichannel eCommerce, so all their platforms are synced in one spot. Duda’s eCommerce platform is also SEO-optimized and built for maximum conversion rates. Additionally, site owners can white-label their eCommerce branding.

    A standard Duda eCommerce store starts at $7.25 per month, with higher tiers based on your needs.

    WordPress Weebly
    eCommerce WooCommerce is a great free plugin for WordPress, but actual pricing may vary depending on what functions you wish to implement. 🥇 Winner
    Duda comes with an eCommerce platform that is more than suitable for most patrons
    Choose WordPress Choose Duda

    WordPress vs Duda: Making A Choice

    Now that you understand some of the key differences between WordPress vs. Duda website builders, which one would you choose? Why or why not? Do you prefer a different web design platform altogether? Drop us a comment, and let us know what you think.

    WordPress Weebly
    Pricing 🥇 Winner
    WordPress is as expensive and expansive as you want it to be.    		 Duda is a relatively cheap option, but can’t compete with free.
    Ease of Use WordPress can take some time to learn, plus the seemingly endless features can overwhelm. 🥇 Winner
    Duda makes it easy to create a website, regardless of skill level.
    Customization 🥇 Winner
    WordPress is fully customizable and is easily malleable to the the needs of a developer.     		Duda is a bit more limited, with its primary focus being on simplicity.
    Themes and Templates 🏳️Draw
    WordPress has thousands of templates and themes to dig into.    		 🏳️Draw
    Duda also comes with a lot of themes straight out of the box.
    Publishing Tools 🥇 Winner
    It’s hard to compete with WordPress when it comes to blogging, it’s been the top dog for years now.    		 Duda’s publishing tools are passable, but not as intuitive as WordPress’.
    Security WordPress has a ton of security extensions and plugins available, but you have to take time to set them up. 🥇 Winner
    Duda comes built with SSL certificate hosting and handles the security for you.
    eCommerce WooCommerce is a great free plugin for WordPress, but actual pricing may vary depending on what functions you wish to implement. 🥇 Winner
    Duda comes with an eCommerce platform that is more than suitable for most patrons
    Choose WordPress Choose Duda

    WordPress Deep Dive

    Before you make your final decision on your website platform…are you curious to see how WordPress stacks up against its other biggest competitors? We did the hard work and compared WordPress vs. everything else so that you don’t have to! We reviewed WordPress vs. HubSpot CMS, and I think you will be interested to see the results.

    If you’re looking for specific plugins to help WordPress become even more powerful, we recommend the following:

    The post WordPress vs. Duda (2023) — Which One Should You Choose? appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • A Beginner’s Guide to SEO Copywriting

    Helping your content rank in the SERPs is one of your primary objectives as a website or business owner. A major piece of this puzzle is making sure you incorporate SEO copywriting into your site, as well as any relevant content and marketing materials.

    If you’re new to SEO copywriting, then you’ll need to learn how to incorporate SEO keywords into your overall content strategy. In this post, we’ll walk you through the basics of SEO copywriting, show you what the process looks like, then share some best practices to get you started on the right foot.

    What is Copywriting?

    Copywriting is the process of writing sales-driven copy that prompts your audience to take an action that results in conversions, revenue, or both. You encounter copywriting every day, whether you’re browsing a website, opening an email, or scrolling past a Facebook Ad. Its primary aim is to drive conversions and sales, which means you’ll see a call-to-action (CTA) with a clear next step, such as clicking a button, signing up for a newsletter, or purchasing a product.

    You’ll see copywriting in places such as:

    • Sales and product pages
    • Ads (both online, in print, audio, and video)
    • Social media posts with a CTA
    • Email newsletters that drive sales or conversions
    • Direct mail materials

    Copywriting is commonly confused with content writing, which also factors heavily into the marketing materials we see both online and off. However, the goals of each writing style aren’t the same. Let’s take a look at the differences between copywriting and content writing.

    How is Copywriting Different from Content Writing?

    While copywriting is more sales-driven, content writing aims to educate the reader with high quality content. Furthermore, content writing is about warming leads rather than asking them to make a purchase immediately. Content writing is more likely to take its time leading you to an eventual sale or conversion of some kind.

    An article like this one is a good example of content writing. In this article, the primary goal is to educate you about SEO copywriting. The main call to action at the end of this article is to leave a comment, not make a purchase. There’s not a hard sales pitch at the end of the blog post. Instead, you’ve got a few different options depending on what you want to do next.

    If you’re familiar with Elegant Themes and your interest is piqued, you can go ahead and check out Divi when you’re done reading. If not, you can move on to another educational post and learn a bit more. Later, you might choose to make Divi part of your WordPress website because of the expertise you’ve gleaned from our content.

    In a nutshell, content writing seeks to add value (first) which can eventually lead to sales (second). Copywriting on the other hand, is sales-driven from the start.

    For a more in-depth explanation, read our post on copywriting vs. content writing.

    What is SEO Copywriting?

    SEO copywriting uses targeted keywords and phrases to help your content rank higher on search engines. Because it’s primarily sales-driven, SEO copywriting uses the power of SEO keyword optimization to create high-converting sales copy that also ranks higher in search results. All in all, it’s a powerful strategy for leveling up your sales copy.

    Both SEO copywriting and SEO content writing use the same basic SEO techniques, although the writing style and overall goals differ. While SEO-optimized copywriting drives conversions, such as on a sales page, it makes appearances in pieces of content writing, too.

    Blog posts, for instance, contain CTAs that drive readers directly to a product or service offer. Other places where your SEO copywriting and content writing might overlap include your email marketing, long-form sales pages (which often educate the reader before the sales pitch), social media content, and more.

    The Process of SEO Copywriting

    Wondering what the SEO copywriting process looks like? It can be subjective based on your business, the client, deliverables, and your objectives. Still, there are some basic parts of the process that should be pretty much the same no matter what. Let’s take a look at those.

    Ideation: Pitch or Assignment?

    When it comes to SEO copywriting, the ideation process may look different from one situation to the next. If you’re writing for yourself, you may come up with your own ideas using keyword research tools. If you’re working for a client, you might pitch your own topics. On the other hand, the client might provide assignments to you. Regardless, for SEO copywriting, you’ll want to make sure those topics topics have the necessary keywords to grow help grow rankings as well as sales.

    Pre-Writing

    Pre-writing involves taking your sales content ideas and prepping them for drafting. This process usually involves SEO keyword research (including search intent), topic research, and outlining

    Here are some of the different scenarios I’ve experienced over the years as a copywriter:

    • Writer pitches the topic, conducts SEO and topic research, and builds an outline.
    • Client pitches the topic, then assigns SEO research, topic research, and outlining to the writer.
    • Client pitches the topic, conducts SEO and topic research, and provides the writer with a content brief (or outline) including the focus and secondary keywords they want to target.

    After you have your topic and keywords in hand, you’ll need to do some additional research on your topic. You can take a look at competitors’ posts to get a feel for what’s already ranking in the SERPs. Additionally, you’ll want to search and compile source materials to help you build your post. Always cite your sources. Make sure to use SEO links including external and internal links. Linking to other websites with domain authority, as well as linking to content within your site, will also help to boost your SEO ranking.

    Once you’ve got your topic, SEO keywords, and research, you can build your title and your outline. If possible, make sure you put your main SEO key phrase into your title and the first paragraph of your post. Then, use an SEO plugin such as Yoast as you write to help you distribute the key phrase at the optimal level.

    Oftentimes, you’ll have more than one SEO keyword you want to target. You should have one primary key phrase, along with some related secondary phrases. Try to include some of those secondary phrases as long-tail keywords into the text, but only where they naturally flow. Avoid keyword-stuffing and strategically place your selected phrases here and there when appropriate.

    Writing

    Now, it’s time to start drafting your article. If you’re writing for your own website, you likely have a good idea of how long you want your content to be. However, if you’re not sure, we’ve created a guide on the best word count for SEO.

    SEO copywriting should tell a story that compels your readers to take action. Storytelling is one of the most important aspects of marketing, particularly if you want your audience to feel a profound connection with your brand. As a general rule, marketing content works well when it’s open, approachable, and conversational.

    Your SEO copywriting story should have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Depending on the kind of content and its purpose, you might want to explore different sales copy frameworks to help you determine structure. Ray Edwards’ P.A.S.T.O.R. formula is one of my favorites for sales pages and email sequences. There are many examples out there, so test a few to find out what works best for you.

    Use Plugins and Apps to Aid in Clearer Writing

    One way to make sure your content is easy to read is by paying attention to the readability score in your Yoast SEO plugin. This tool will help you keep your writing clear and understandable. Additionally, you’ll get tips on how to improve it further. Sometimes, I’ll run my articles through Hemingway if I’m struggling to simplify complex sentences.

    As you write, you’ll want to make sure you break your content down into sections with H2 and H3 subheads. Breaking content down into bullet lists can also improve readability. Making your SEO copywriting as accessible and easily digestible as possible can help your overall SEO ranking. If you’d like, we have a more in-depth guide to using heading tags for SEO.

    While we’re talking about plugins, it’s important to note that you’ll need a strong meta description for each piece of content. If you’re using Yoast, there’s a plugin right inside your WordPress interface. We’ve written a more in-depth guide on how to write the perfect meta description.

    Don’t Forget the CTA

    Once you’ve drafted your content, broken it up into sections that flow well and make sense, and incorporated your internal and external links, it’s time to add a CTA. Where does your reader need to go next? What do you want them to do? Here are some possibilities:

    • Sign up for your newsletter
    • Sign up for a free download (lead magnet)
    • Enroll in a course
    • Purchase a product
    • Hire you for a service
    • Click through to a related post
    • Schedule a consultation
    • Buy tickets to an event (online or in-person)

    Revision and Publication

    Once you’ve drafted your content, make another pass to clean up any straggling issues (such as grammar or rambling sentences). You’ll also want to make sure to compress image sizes (Page speed does affect SEO). Then, submit it to your client, if applicable. They might come back to you with editorial requests, at which point you’ll need to make final edits and re-submit.

    Finally, it’s time to publish. That might mean publishing via a content management system (CMS) like WordPress or taking a sales page live on your website. Don’t forget to upload a featured image and include any other relevant images in your content. Then, schedule or publish your post.

    4 SEO Copywriting Approaches, Techniques, and Best Practices

    Now that you understand the basics of SEO copywriting, let’s jump into a few best practices.

    1. Consider search intent. Why are your readers searching for the specific topics you’re planning to write about? Tools such as SEMRush can help you analyze search intent, which ultimately helps you to conduct better keyword research–which ultimately leads to better SEO copywriting.
    2. Use the Inverted Pyramid to structure your writing. The Inverted Pyramid is a writing style that journalists use to structure breaking news stories. It places the main idea of a story in the first paragraph (sometimes the first sentence), ensuring that readers get a quick-hit overview of the topic ahead. This writing style translates very well into some forms of copywriting for marketing, such as blogging and social media copy. As a writer with journalism training and experience, I’ve found myself using the Inverted Pyramid often throughout my marketing career.
    3. Stay on-brand. Your SEO copywriting should be consistent with your brand voice. If the tone of your sales writing veers too far from your copy everywhere else, it’ll feel disjointed to your readers and will affect both SEO and conversions.
    4. Adapt style and tone for specific audiences. If you’re writing for multiple brands and audiences, keep your finger on the pulse of who you’re writing for at all times. You’ll need to be able to shift from one client to the next to maintain consistency for them.

    Conclusion

    If you want your content to rank well in the SERPs, then learning the basics of SEO copywriting is an absolute must. Your copy comes into play in a big way when people use search engines to look for the topics you write about. As a result, you want your content to be easy to find.

    Do you leverage SEO copywriting for your website or business? Thinking about getting started? Leave us a comment and let us know.

    Featured image via Julia Lazebnaya / shutterstock.com

    The post A Beginner’s Guide to SEO Copywriting appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.