by Elle Ray | Feb 13, 2013 | Editing
Editing Your Content and What It Means to You
What does it mean to edit a piece of writing? Let’s look at an example.
Joanne is a small business owner. Her business is called Bits & Pieces. She sells automobile accessories, everything from steering wheel covers to custom hubcaps. She’s excited about her growing business and has just launched a new website.
While she has employees to do the nuts and bolts work of finding or making items and then selling them, she’s been reluctant to hire someone solely for the purpose of marketing. So she hired a friend to build the website and wrote all the text herself, often staying up late at night to finish.
So she’s appalled, when browsing the new site, to see on the About page that she’s misspelled her company name. Worst than that, she used a “T” instead of a “B.” As she hurriedly places a call to her friend for a quick fix, she wonders what other errors are lurking on the site and what kinds of backlash they may cause.
How Editing Can Help
At its most basic, editing is simply getting another set of eyes to look over any writing before it’s published — online or in hard copy. Mistakes like the one described above are caught before they become a nuisance… or an embarrassment.
Effective editing goes beyond simple proofreading, as it well should. Editors fix grammatical and spelling mistakes, true, but they also make writing stronger, clearer, and shorter, which is most important to your online audience.
A good editor rearranges the thoughts on the page to make your case more persuasive. A good editor finds the perfect word or phrase to replace ho-hum writing. A good editor makes your prose come to life.
Ray Access Does the Hard Part
Too often, in our vast experience, we’ve seen business owners get discouraged by the writing process and stop blogging. This is a missed opportunity. A regular blogging practice on your company website can attract an audience, get your company noticed, drive up the website’s page rank, and establish you as an authority in your field.
But business owners aren’t necessarily writers. It may not be where your passion lies. But it is exactly where our passion lies. Let Ray Access tackle the blogging for you. Your company will still reap the benefits, and you’ll have more time to devote to the things you do best.
Ray Access has helped many companies increase their bottom lines. Our rates are surprisingly affordable, and you’ll start to see results in the first year. Don’t miss an opportunity to grow your business online.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Mark Bloom | Feb 7, 2013 | Website Content
Your Website Content Will Reign During 2013
Most of you know that we’ve repeated our belief that content is king to our friends, our business associates, and of course, our clients. In fact, we’ll tell anyone, including you.
The best way to gain exposure on the Internet is to provide good, informative content on your website, delivered consistently over time. Good quality content is the absolute best way to reach your marketing goals and to establish your company as an authority in your field.
You may think we say this because we’re Ray Access and we’re in the business of providing content, but you’d be wrong. We say it because it’s true, and we’re not the only ones to assert it. We follow the trends of the online marketing industry, and we’ve found marketing experts, trendsetters, and bloggers who agree with us.
While we’re not privy to whatever Google or Bing has in store for the future of search engines, we believe sincerely that good writing and useful information will win in the end.
Keywords will always have value and backlinks work for now, but search engines keep refining their criteria. It always comes back to quality content, delivered consistently. Now others are confirming what we already knew. eMarketer.com recently wrote that content is the number 1 marketing priority for 2013, overtaking the focus on social media.
Getting on social media has been an industry mantra for the past several years, but eMarketer.com stated that “companies understand social media’s potential value in engaging customers and generating leads, but are having trouble developing effective methods of measuring return on investment.”
In other words, an actual visit to your website has value; a “like” really doesn’t. And even when you do develop a healthy social media presence, what are you going to give your followers? You’ve got to give them reasons — new reasons every day — to keep coming back for a visit. It’s your content that not only lures them in the first place, but keeps them coming back until you become a household word.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Mark Bloom | Nov 6, 2012 | Website Content
What Is a Content Strategy for Your Website?
Having a content strategy simply means planning for the creation, delivery, and maintenance of fresh online content. It’s a process that defines the what, why, how, and when for developing the content you use to market your business. Your content strategy must be a repeatable system that allows you to most effectively take advantage of your website and your presence within the Internet.
Simply put, a content strategy is an plan for communicating with your online audience. While your content strategy usually begins with your website, it certainly shouldn’t end there. To be at all effective, you must embrace all digital methods of communication.
Why Do You Need a Content Strategy?
A content strategy allows you to plan ahead to develop and produce fresh content over time for your online audience. This content, delivered consistently, provides specific and measurable benefits:
- Search Engine Optimization: What many SEO experts may not tell you is that Google rates new, relevant website content very high in its super-secret algorithm for ranking. Every time you post new content, search engines find it and index it, which gradually increases your ranking.
- Customer Engagement: Fresh content is but one of the many ways online visitors find your website. Continuing to post articles of interest engages your audience, keeping them on your website longer. Studies document that the longer visitors stay on your website, the more likely they will contact you, sign up for more information, or buy your product or service. And the goal of any business website is to turn eyeballs into dollar bills.
- Website Visibility: A content strategy allows you to employ every means at your disposal for a single purpose. For example, if you post a blog about a specific topic, you can promote it through your social media accounts. Ultimately, every marketing campaign needs to be coordinated to point your audience to one place and/or encourage them to do a single thing (like go to your website). Thinking out your content goals in advance allows you to spend less time on each campaign while increasing the effectiveness of each.
- Business Authority: With each new piece of content you publish (assuming it is professional, useful, and on topic), your company gains credibility and respect. When you write to inform, and not just to sell, you become an authority in your field, which increases the effectiveness of each of the other three points.
What Does a Content Strategy Cover?
Your content strategy should cover everything digital. What do we mean by “everything digital?” Here is a far-from-thorough list of outlets and methods in which you can digitally communicate with your audience (which includes your customers, prospects, vendors, and even fans):
- Web page content
- Blog posts on your website
- Press releases
- Email newsletters
- Social media outlets, including:
- Facebook
- Twitter
- LinkedIn
- Google+
- Note: In this blog post, we focus on content strategy for your website; however, to learn more about the opportunities and challenges presented by social media, download our helpful Social Media DIY document on navigating social media.
Now, focusing on one outlet at a time, determine the following for each:
- Who is your specific audience for the outlet (e.g., existing customers or leads)?
- What are your goals within the outlet (e.g., finding or serving customers)?
- What kind of content should you create or update for each outlet (e.g., white papers or 144-character blurbs)?
- How often should you attend or post on that outlet (e.g., monthly or hourly)?
- Who will be responsible for creating the content (e.g., your marketing department or a hired gun)?
- What is the approval process for posting the content (e.g., editorial review or just initials at the bottom)?
- What action do you want readers to take at the end of each post (e.g., visit your website or buy your product/service)?
- How can you measure success (e.g., increased sales or website visits)?
While some of the different outlets seem very similar, make sure you carefully examine each to find the subtle differences. For instance, many novices link their Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages so they only have to post once to multiple outlets. Unfortunately, this is a fairly easy thing to accomplish, even for a novice.
What you may not understand, however, is that these three different outlets cater to three different audiences, and these audiences have three different reasons for participating in each community. Think of how you personally (not professionally) use Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. See the difference? If you don’t provide distinct audiences with the right information in the right way at the right time, you may miss your target market… or worse, alienate the very people you were trying to connect with.
Summing Up
Much like a brand document, once clearly defined, your content strategy becomes a resource that you can and should refer back to regularly. Update it when necessary to ensure that it stays aligned to your goals. If you spend the time, energy, and yes, money to correctly work through this process, you should expect to see a fairly quick increase in website ranking, traffic, and engagement.
You build your community of customers and fans one missive at a time. Make sure they are all on target.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Elle Ray | Aug 30, 2012 | Content Provider
Ray Access Helps Your Website Stay on Page 1
John and Jayne Public decide to vacation in Asheville. They go online, open a browser to a bookmarked search engine, and type in a phrase like “bed and breakfasts in Asheville.” A page of results lists the most likely choices for the Publics to choose from. Obviously, if a link to your bed and breakfast website appears on the first page of results, the chances of them picking you increases. It’s that simple.
Thanks to the popularity of e-commerce and the maturity of search engines, more and more people are using the Internet to find what they’re looking for. Restaurants. Colleges. Even doctors. The businesses with an active website are more likely to attract these people.
Whether you are a Realtor or a home furnishings store, a plastic surgeon or an architect, a clothing boutique or a dentist, your website can be (and should be) an outreach and marketing tool to bring in more business. If it’s not, you’re wasting your money.
Fresh Content
So how do you get your website onto the first page of search results, especially if you are in a highly competitive field? There are multiple theories and costly formulas that promise to get you there, but while those services can help, the truth is much simpler:
Your website has to attract attention. That doesn’t mean you need bells, whistles, or flashy graphics. What you need is relevant content delivered consistently. What you need is an active website that reaches out to your market and draws them in. That’s what a content provider does.
New content on your site attracts search engines and visitors alike. Fresh content delivers attention, and fresh content is exactly what Ray Access delivers. Blog posts written from your perspective. Press releases written to attract new audiences to your website. Website text that better addresses the needs of your market. These services (and more) can help bring in more business, because:
If you’re ignoring your website, it’s likely ignoring you.”
Contact us to discuss your individual needs. We can put a package together that’s right for you and your budget.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Mark Bloom | Aug 28, 2012 | Announcement
We’ve Launched a Content Business in Asheville
If you put a writer and an editor together, what do you have? Some might posit you’d have two underemployed dreamers who are on the government dole. Others might claim that you’d have the wait staff at a local restaurant. Fortunately, both conjectures are way off.
Writer Linda Ray and editor Mark Bloom have joined forces, combining their collective years of experience and expertise to form Ray Access, a content provider service firm catering to companies who wish to increase their online presence and establish themselves as authorities in their respective industries.
With more people searching the Internet to shop, research, or just read, more companies are discovering the value of providing compelling and informative copy to attract them. Fresh content is key for you to reach that goal. And that’s what Ray Access provides. Visit our Portfolio page for a selection of articles we’ve provided past and present clients.
In this blog, Linda and Mark will share more about our value-added service and explain our business model and why you need what we do. We will also use this platform to share our thoughts and opinions on a number of related topics. Business is about relationships, and we want to develop one with you.
We welcome your feedback on this or any of our blog posts. Use our Contact form to share your thoughts, experiences, or rebuttals. We look forward to our ongoing dialog.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
