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How to Create a 3-Month SEO Plan
The names Amy Porterfield and Neil Patel should be enough warning.
We’re diving in ’cause we have too much to cover. The marketing geniuses run through a 3-month SEO action plan. Pretty much if you have anything to do with the letters SEO, pay attention!
(12:25) Month #1 – Research & Competitor Analysis
All traffic is not equal, it’s important to start off by finding the right keys words based on what you offer and who your audience is. Look for quality!
(16:20) SEMRush (paid) or Ubersuggest (free) break down keyword competition, cost per click, and search volume.
Ideally, you’ll want to look for a higher cost per click, lower competition, and high search volume.
(21:45) Month #2 – Optimizing On-page Code & Building Content
On-page code means creating code that Google can read. Have a WordPress site? Yoast SEO plugin is free and will do the majority of your on-page code.
(24:00) Use Google Search Console to see which keywords are driving traffic.
(25:30) Start by sticking to 1 blog post/week to build traffic and ranking. Focus on creating blog/article content that people want to engage with to get the full benefits of SEO.
(30:00) Breaking down the content building process:
1. Capitalize on competitor articles by writing in more detail and updated info
2. Content in conversational tones does better.
3. Articles on page 1 on Google tend to have 2,200 words
4. Use subheadings
5. Keep paragraphs short. (5-6 lines)
6. Use images, video, and audio to make text easier to digest
7. Wrap up with a summary
8. End with a question prompting further engagement.
(38:20) Month #3 – Building links & Get Social Shares.
Search engines judge which sites should rank at the top by votes. And there are two types of votes:
1. Links – One website linking to your website. Relevancy and authority matter!
2. Social Shares – Indirectly affect your search ranking. More shares = more traffic!
(42:30) Ahrefs will help you find authority links by putting in your competitor URLs (not the homepage, the content pages) and you’ll see every single person who has linked to them.
Take that list and contact each person with your better-written article.
Phew, we’re outta breath. Click through, crew, there’s so much more info.
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21 of the Best Email Subject Lines We’ve Ever Seen
Subject lines are kinda our jam. The Carnage writers spend time almost every day looking at popular brands’ subject lines and trying to figure out why each brand chose that line.
A good subject line can be a game-changer for an email. Here’s a real-life example of what we mean:
The Daily Carnage’s average email open rate is 30.0% — a number we’re pretty happy with. But, when we nail the subject line, our open rates can jump up as high as 38.2%.
The subject line that got that high of an open rate? Social Media is Social, Media (which was inspired by Jay-Z’s verse in Diamonds from Sierra Leone).
Anyway, the good marketers over at HubSpot put together a killer list of 21 amazing email subject lines. Better yet, HubSpot explained why each subject line worked.
Here are our fav’s, but dive into the blog post for all of them…
- Uh-oh, your prescription is expiring — This one comes from Warby Parker. Timing is the reason this one works. WP sends it 50 weeks after someone orders prescription glasses from them. Prescriptions technically do expire after 52 weeks (one year, in case your math is bad).
- Best of Groupon: The Deals That Make Us Proud (Unlike Our Nephew, Steve) — It’s so hard to nail humor in marketing, especially in an email subject line, but Groupon pulls it off here. This one works because of the unexpected humor, and the classic “best of” approach.
- 1,750 points for you. Valentine’s flowers & more for them — JetBlue is the company behind this one. The first part of the subject line is why it works. Who the heck wouldn’t open an email that offers that many points? It’s also oddly specific, which definitely helps.
- As You Wish — UncommonGoods sent this one. The reason it worked? Because they know their buyer persona so, so well. It’s a quote from one of the best movies of all time, The Princess Bride. The brand knows that a chunk of their subscribers are die-hard fans of that movie so it was an easy win for them.
That’s only 4 out of 21. Tons more to learn here…
Watch
Warby Parker’s First Music Video
Warby Parker strikes again! We mentioned them once in the article above, now they’re getting featured in today’s Watch.
Whether or not you’re familiar with Warby Parker, one thing to know is that they’ve built their brand on the wave of retro fashion. So when they decided to make a retro music video, it kinda made sense.
But, they’re a glasses brand. Why are they making a music video?
Well…the other reason is that Warby Parker partnered with the NYC band, Public Access TV, to make the video. WP knows their buyer persona so dang well, and as it turns out, Public Access TV is a popular band among their buyer persona.
So let’s recap:
You’ve got retro looks, which their buyer persona loves. And a band that their buyer persona loves. That’s a combination for success.
We’re betting that if you wear Warby Parkers, you’re gonna like this music video.
“When we market with people instead of at them, we can make extraordinary change happen.”
Seth Godin
