Why Millions of U.S. Employees are Quitting Their Jobs and How Companies Can Navigate

The past two years have been anything but consistent.

The pandemic left the United States in the worst recession in history. People struggled to adjust to remote work, and what we defined as "normal" varied day-by-day.

And yet: Out of that turmoil and inconsistency, we now see a record number of people quitting their jobs in pursuit of better opportunities.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, 4 million people quit their jobs in April 2021, and July saw another 4 million leave.

Which leads me to question: Amidst the past two years of unpredictability — and a resulting lack of security — why are so many people taking the leap now?

Here, we'll explore what employee turnover is, how much it could be costing your business, and how to calculate employee turnover. Plus, how employers can minimize the effects of what's being called the Great Resignation, according to experts.

What is employee turnover?

Employee turnover refers to the percentage of employees who leave your company during a given period of time.

Your company's employee turnover rate includes anyone who leaves for anyreason. This includes resignations, terminations, or retirements. However, turnover rate typically doesn't include internal movement, such as an employee switching teams or being promoted.

Turnover can cost a business thousands — if not millions — of dollars, and can negatively impact team morale and performance.

All of which is to say: The lower your turnover rates, the better. Low turnover rates signal a healthy, engaging company culture— which is critical for any business' long-term success.

To determine how your company's turnover rates compare, let's explore average turnover rates by industry next.

Employee Turnover Rates in 2020 (By Industry)

Employee turnover rates vary by industry, so you'll want to do your own research to determine how your company's turnover rates stack up against competitors.

However, to give you a sense for an appropriate range, let's take a look at a few turnover rates by industry as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor(it's important to note, these turnover rates are from 2020, which had unusually high turnover rates):

• Professional and business services: 69.2%
• Health care and social assistance: 45.2%
• Trade, transportation, and utilities: 60.5%
• Retail trade: 69.7%
• Leisure and hospitality: 129.3%
• Government: 24.2%
• Real estate and rental and leasing: 49.4%

Next, let's look at average employee turnover rates.

Average Employee Turnover Rates

In 2021, the overall turnover rate across industries was 57.3% — but that drops to just 25% when considering voluntary turnover alone.

Voluntary turnover trends continue to rise. In fact, the Work Institute's 2020 Retention Report states that there's been an 8% increase in turnover rates since 2018, and an 88% increase since 2010.

Average turnover rates varies significantly depending on your industry. However, a 90% employee retention rate is generally considered good — which means the closer you can get to a 10% turnover rate, the better.

Cost of Employee Turnover

The cost of employee turnover is broken down into the costs of four factors — the cost to terminate, the cost to hire a replacement, the vacancy cost (i.e. how many days the job is open multiplied by the average value of the job per day), and the productivity cost (i.e. how long it takes the new hire to get up to speed).

Josh Bersin of Deloitte says the cost of losing an employee can range from tens of thousands of dollars to 1.5-2X the employee's annual salary. This means, if you lose an employee who was making $70,000, you can expect to lose upwards of $140,000.

Alternatively, the Work Institute cites the cost of employee turnover at roughly 30%of the employee's salary — meaning, if you lose an employee who was making $70,000, you'll expect to lose closer to $21,000.

Employee Benefit News suggests a similar turnover cost at roughly 33% of a worker's annual salary.

So, whichever way you slice it … you stand to lose a lot of money with each individual employee who leaves. Of course, turnover costs are so difficult to quantify because they're so specific to each employee's role and salary.

When determining your own turnover costs, you'll also want to keep in mind the negative impact high turnover rates can have on company culture and employee productivity — which could lead to even more lost revenue down the line.

How to Calculate Employee Turnover [Plus High and Low Rates]

To calculate your turnover rates, you need to divide the number of employees who leave your company by the total average number of employees, and then multiply by 100.

And, to find your average number of employees, you'll want to take the number of active employees at the beginning and end of each period, and then divide by two.

To understand this concept, let's consider an example. If you have 1,200 employees at the beginning of the month, and 1,250 at the end of the month, your average number of employees on a monthly basis is 1,225 (1,200 + 1,250 / 2).

Now, let's calculate your monthly turnover rate. In the month of September, if 7 people left your company, your turnover rate formula looks like this:

To calculate annual turnover (which is typically the number companies use when assessing employee trends), you'll want to find your average number of annual employees. If at the beginning of 2021 you had 1,200 employees, and at the end of 2021 you had 1,500 employees, your average number of employees is 1,350 (1,200 + 1,500 / 2).

Now, let's calculate your annual employee turnover. If you had 200 employees leave in 2021, your annual turnover rate formula looks like this:

To put these numbers into context, you'll want to determine what a high and low turnover rate for your industry looks like, since turnover rates vary greatly depending on industry. For instance, retail and e-commerce saw a 30.7% turnover rate in 2021, while the technology industry's turnover was roughly 20%, and financial services was closer to 15%.

Why is turnover so high?

To reduce employee turnover, we first need to understand what's causing it.

For starters, we're seeing employee turnover increasing on a national scale. The Labor Department reports that job openings outnumbered the unemployed by more than 2 million in July as companies struggled to fill positions.

Additionally, Microsoft's 2021 Work Trend Index predicts 40% of the global workforce will consider leaving their employer this year.

This extreme workplace shift — being called the "Great Resignation" — is due to a variety of factors.

To better understand the high turnover rates of the past year, I spoke with Lily Zheng, a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategist and Consultant.

Zheng told me, "We call it a great resignation but it's more of a great correction. These are employees who had already resolved to leave in 2020 but felt they couldn't."

Our HubSpot Blog analyst further investigated this issue by polling 500 marketing professionals to learn why turnover was high at their companies. (Those polled belong to both B2B and B2C companies.)

As shown below, 41% of respondents cite lack of work-life balance as the primary reason for high turnover. Another 37% additionally cite a lack of flexible work schedules.

HubSpot Blog Research

In 2020 and 2021, flexibility, autonomy, and the ability to work from anywhere became a necessity as the world shifted to a pandemic and post-pandemic workforce. And even as offices begin to re-open, we see employees continue to prioritize work-life balance and flexibility.

A few other factors? Lack of remote work options, lack of career growth opportunities, burnout, and employees switching careers to pursue other passions.

For better or worse, the pandemic permanently shifted people's mindsets when it comes to what they value. And one of the biggest value shifts is a newfound prioritization of time.

Simply put, people will work hard for your company if you enable them to choose when, where, and how they work best.

Next, let's explore a few tips for reducing employee turnover at your organization.

How to Reduce Employee Turnover

1. Give employees a remote or hybrid option (if conducive to your business and work culture).

Now that people have settled into a remote lifestyle, many of them don't want to return to the office. In fact, when HubSpot surveyed roughly 500 marketers, 40% of respondents said they'd like to continue working remotely full-time even when given the option to return to the office.

A remote lifestyle enables employees to dedicate more time to priorities outside of work. For instance, I have one colleague who now spends her mornings journaling and meditating — which greatly outweighs her old mornings of being stuck in traffic on her commute to work.

I have another colleague who spends lunch break with his kids.

People have recognized the amount of valuable time they win back when they're fully remote. So if your company doesn't offer remote or hybrid options, some of your employees will inevitably leave.

2. Prioritize your employees' well-being.

Promoting wellness at work has been proven to result in better productivity and less employee turnover — which is why it's a critical strategy to consider when aiming to reduce turnover.

As Lily Zheng writes in her LinkedIn post with over 19,000 reactions, "Your employees aren't leaving just because they've found better opportunities elsewhere. They're leaving because this is the first chance they've gotten to re-balance the scales of their own wellbeing and success, scales that you and your company swung out of whack during the pandemic."

Seeing as the post received over 19,000 reactions, I'm willing to bet many employees — and employers — agree that, in some instances, well-being wasn't prioritized by companies in 2020.

To invest in your employees' well-being, consider creating a wellness program, which includes strategies aimed at increasing physical activity, reducing employee stress, and offering information on nutrition and health.

Additionally, a few big factors that contribute to a positive workplace experience include flexible work hours, an emphasis on autonomy, an investment in diversity and inclusion, and a focus on employees' mental health and psychological safety above all else.

3. Foster a sense of belonging.

If you want to reduce turnover, take belongingness seriously.

A sense of belonging is undeniably critical for long-term employee satisfaction. In fact, there's a 91% correlation between employees who say they belong and those who stay engaged at work, and a 50% drop in attrition among employees who report a sense of belonging.

As Belonging Strategist and Managing Director of BelongingIQ Abam Mambo puts it, "Employees who feel a sense of belonging tend to stay engaged, productive, and are far less likely to leave than those who feel excluded. So if you want your good employees to stay, invest in belongingness."

How can you invest in belongingness? While this list isn't exhaustive, Mambo lists a few strategies you can implement to begin facilitating a sense of belonging on your team:

• Appoint and pipeline inclusive leaders
• Recruit and empower a diverse workforce
• Implement fair and equitable employment practices
• Reward performance
• Reframe your 'speak-up' program to ensure employees are heard, treated fairly, and not retaliated against

Ultimately, a sense of belonging contributes to an employee's sense of pride, happiness, and satisfaction at work. So investing in belonging won't just help your turnover rates — when done right, it will also positively impact your bottom line, as employees who belong are also employees who are engaged.

4. Use a net promoter score to measure employee satisfaction.

A net promoter score (NPS) survey can help you measure your employee satisfaction, and how likely your employees are to suggest your workplace to friends or family.

The survey uses a 0-10 scale, and those in the high range (between 9-10), are your most loyal and engaged employees who will help fuel your growth through word-of-mouth. The next batch (scoring between 7-8), are satisfied but slightly more indifferent — these are employees who are more susceptible to competitors' offers.

And, finally, you have your lower scorers (between 0-6). This signifies a group of employees who aren't fully satisfied at your company. These people are less engaged and more willing to leave.

To lower turnover rates, it's vital you determine what's working for your employees, and what isn't. If you aren't measuring employee satisfaction, there's no way for you to know how to improve it. A NPS can help you determine weak spots in your current culture and opportunities to strengthen your employee offerings, which will enable you to keep more employees around for the long-haul.

5. Offer competitive pay and benefits.

Earning more money is the top reason people leave jobs. In fact, PayScale research found 25% of people surveyed left their jobs for higher pay — ranking far above people who left because they were unhappy, wanted more flexibility, or needed to relocate.

Offering competitive pay depends on a variety of factors. You'll want to consider your geographic area and industry to determine a baseline competitive rate.

Additionally, it's important to keep in mind the level of expertise for which you're hiring, as well as supply and demand — for instance, if you're looking for a senior developer and you know the pool of developers is relatively small in your area, you might need to increase base pay to compete.

If you can't increase base rate, consider offering competitive benefits packages, instead. Tuition reimbursement, PTO, flexible hours, fitness discounts, and parental leave are all factors to consider when creating a comprehensive employee benefits package.

6. Provide professional development opportunities.

Learning and professional development matters for long-term employee satisfaction.

Consider, for instance, how 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if the company invested in helping them learn.

Additionally, did you know Gen Z learners watched 50% more hours of learning content in 2020 compared to 2019?

Ultimately, the desire to learn and grow is fundamental to human nature. So investing in training and development opportunities is vital for reducing employee turnover.

As Greenhouse's Director of Talent Acquisition Ariana Moon puts it, "Investing in growing and up-skilling employees is especially important in the context of our rapidly evolving digital environment today."

Moon says, "Recognizing the talent you have and prioritizing internal mobility is not only key for retention and engagement, but also a win-win for your company due to opportunities to cross-pollinate knowledge and skills across teams."

While Moon acknowledges the hesitations some team leaders might feel when considering internal mobility programs (due to anxiety about vacancies they'll have if people move off their teams), she says it's ultimately critical for the success of the business as a whole. 

As Moon puts it, "Companies need to think holistically about how internal movement can benefit the overall business — through improving morale and productivity, elongating tenure due to new opportunities for growth, and developing employees who have multifaceted skill sets and are more resilient to change."

At HubSpot, we offer development and training courses that focus on clear communication, leading effectively, giving and receiving feedback, and expanding impact. These trainings are offered by HubSpotters, for HubSpotters.

To create an effective learning and development program, you'll want to map out a clear career growth plan for each department. Next, you'll need to determine which skills are vital for each role. Once you have a list of skills, you can begin mapping out a plan that includes training and development opportunities for each of those necessary skills.

7. Be thoughtful and strategic when hiring new candidates.

Retention rates will vary greatly depending on your hiring process. The more time and effort you can put into finding the right candidate(s) who will fit well into your existing organization, the less likely you are to see high turnover rates. 

As Co-Founder and CEO of Crosschq Michael Fitzsimmons puts it, "Historically, hiring managers have been incentivized to increase headcount as fast as possible, but the data shows that approach is a losing proposition. As recruiters work quickly to keep pace with filling roles, they rely on imperfect gauges for candidate quality — including resume claims, interview feedback, and perhaps traditional reference checks."

"Unfortunately, these methods are scattered at best, introducing bias and frankly, noise. In fact, Crosschq's research has shown only a 9% correlation between interview scores and the quality of a hiring decision."

Fitzsimmons adds, "The finish line isn't the new hire's first day on the job ... it's the productivity, culture fit, and retention of that hire for months and years to come. It's important to align what you're hiring for with what you're expecting on the other side."

To improve your hiring strategy, Fitzsimmons recommends modernizing your hiring tools and processes to better leverage data insights for improved hiring decisions. 

Additionally, it's vital you're clear and honest upfront with candidates about a role. Even though it might be tempting to paint an unrealistic picture of a role to secure high-quality candidates, it's better in the long-run if you ensure your candidates are fully aware of both the perks and challenges of each role before they're hired.

Ariana Moon agrees that hiring is vital for long-term retention — as is onboarding.

She told me, "Many industry surveys have shown that over 85% of new hires make the decision [to stay or leave] within the first six months of employment. That number can be traced back to the onboarding experience. 69% of employees will stay for longer than 3 years if their onboarding experience is good, while 1 in 5 will leave within 45 days if it's bad."

To improve your onboarding process, Moon suggests taking a hard look at your programming through the lens of various employee personas, and focus on creating experiences where each new hire can feel heard, represented, supported, and enabled for success.

8. Develop an inclusive culture for distributed teams.

Inclusivity is undeniably paramount for ensuring each employee feels valued — but as the workplace changes, you'll need to adjust your approach to ensure you're still creating an inclusive environment for a hybrid or fully remote team.

"To create an inclusive culture," Zheng told me, "I'd first encourage employers to show humility and admit you don't know the best solutions for a new, hybrid environment. Host focus groups and listening sessions, and ask your employees what would be ideal for them — and then collect the data."

As Zheng describes, an inclusive workplace will look different for everyone. Perhaps your data shows your team wants to return to the office — in which case, the ideal solution is to support a return-to-office policy.

Alternatively, maybe your workforce has people who want to feel a greater sense of connection, but don't necessarily want to return to the office. "In that case," Zheng says, "maybe you'd benefit from considering a model where you ask people to come back to the office for social activities or team-building activities, but outside of those activities you support remote work."

Of course, if you have a distributed team with employees across the globe already, you'll want to brainstorm how you can create a more inclusive culture in a fully remote environment.

Reducing employee turnover will likely require more than just the eight tips mentioned above. Employee satisfaction varies between industries and individual companies, so you'll want to take the time to research what truly drives people towards — or away from — your business.

And, as Zheng reminds me — reflection is key. "It's important for employers to recognize that employees have a lot of power right now, and so it's not the time to be complacent … And, [as you reflect on your employees' experience], go back and consider which aspects of the 'status quo' have always failed a large portion of your workforce. What do you need to reckon with if you want to survive into 2022 and beyond?"

Ultimately, the pandemic shifted people's perspectives and values when it comes to work. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you notice your turnover rates are higher than normal, consider what you need to change to remain competitive in a post-pandemic landscape.

Why Millions of U.S. Employees are Quitting Their Jobs and How Companies Can Navigate was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

Does My Business Need a Website? 12 Reasons Why & 5 Reason Why Not

If your business is reasonably successful, you may come up with many reasons why an effective website isn’t all that relevant for you.

Sure, you understand the need to have some web presence, but you might not believe that an effective website is going to make that big of a difference for your particular business — especially if you’re already plenty profitable.

What do you think? Do you need a website to run a successful business?

This article discusses reasons why having a business website is a wise investment and why you sometimes don’t need a website.

Does My Business Need a Website?

Many business owners ask, “Since I have a small business with a small workforce, and since we don’t sell anything online, do I need a website?”

The answer is YES!

If you have a business, you should have a website to avoid losing business to competitors that already have one.

Furthermore, are you sure you can’t sell your product online? COVID-19 has altered the retail landscape, with millions of shoppers online looking for everything from books to clips to houses to natural gas and more. So while you dither, your competitor has likely seen how effective a website can be for their business.

You definitely don’t want to be left behind.

But you might ask, “Doesn’t my Facebook page count?”

Do I Need a Website if I Have a Facebook Page?

It’s common for businesses to rely on Facebook or other social media platforms as their main advertisement channel. And these channels offer advantages.

For example, they help build a larger audience and even help you carry out market research. However, a Facebook page should not replace your business website. Here are some reasons why.

1. You Don’t Own Your Facebook Page

What happens if, one morning, Facebook decides that it won’t support businesses anymore? If your Facebook page were your sole online presence, all the clients and followers you built would likely disappear.

In fact, not too long ago, Facebook was down globally, causing moments of frenzy.

And while it’s doubtful Facebook will stop supporting businesses, you don’t have any say in the changes Facebook chooses to implement.

However, with your website, you have total control over your websites’ appearance and features.

2. Facebook Has SEO Limitations

Think about it. Where do you go when looking for a business locally? Facebook or Google? The 3.5 billion daily queries on Google show that most people turn to search engines over social networks to find information.

A business website allows you to position yourself so people will find you when they make search queries concerning the products you sell or the services you provide. Even if you can easily compete with larger websites, you can optimize your site for local searches to attract an audience in your area.

3. A Website is More Credible

A business website is a badge of trust, and people only buy from businesses they know, like, and trust. So while it might be quicker to create a Facebook page, you would be able to command more authority and trust with a business website.

4. Attention is Fleeting on Facebook

Facebook is massively competitive. Having your business listed on Facebook means that you’re constantly fighting off competition from several other companies.

What’s more, you have to compete with your potential client’s Facebook friends. Many people find advertisements annoying, especially when they want to interact with friends, making them ignore your business posts or ads.

On the other hand, a business website ensures that you have a potential client’s full attention. So while you might do some legwork to get them over to your website, once they’re on your website, the chances of patronage are higher.

Now, we aren’t saying you shouldn’t have a Facebook page for your business. But, instead, your Facebook page and other social media should support your website—not replace it.

Benefits of a Website

Whether you’re a small or big business, a business website offers plenty of advantages. Here are the most significant benefits of having a business website.

1. A Business Website Makes You Look Professional

Anyone can create a company page on Facebook; it’s free and can be done in a jiffy. This low barrier to entry takes away much of the credibility of a business social media page. Customers don’t know who’s behind a Facebook page, where they are, and whether it’s all a scam.

On the other hand, creating a business website is not free and indicates that you’re relatively serious about your business. Therefore, a business website makes you look more professional and credible.

2. It’s an Essential Step in Your Customer’s Journey

An effective website is where you want your audience from different channels to end up. It’s on the website that you’ll inspire action from your potential clients.

Your website is like a physical shop—people walk by it until they come in to look at what you offer. So even if they don’t buy something the first time they walk in, they might buy something on subsequent visits.

On a similar vein, customers come across your business via different channels like social media feeds. If the social feed ad is interesting, they’ll expect to visit your website to find out more about the business. If there isn’t a website, they might not take the next logical step in the customer journey.

3. A Website Increases Your Visibility

There are over 4.5 billion active internet users worldwide, and over 90% of them accessed the Internet via mobile devices.

Without a website, your business is virtually invisible to these people. With COVID-19 pushing the global market even more digital, your business will become invisible to those that matter unless you invest in a website.

4. It’s Essential For Local Businesses

Many small business owners don’t see the need to invest in an effective business website. However, they’re currently missing out on an incredible source of revenue.

The following statistics show how important a website is for a local business:

• 46% of search on Google include local intent
• 97% of users use search to find local businesses
• 28% of users purchased an item after a local search
• 70% of users will visit a store because of what they found online

A business website will help you capture all of this potential and make your business even more profitable.

5. It Offers Social Proof

What your customers say about your business can determine whether others patronize you or not. So while review websites like Yelp are good, your website is the best place for people to get more information about your business.

Displaying your best testimonials on your website is an effective way to establish trust and social proof. What is more, publishing your best reviews on your website ensures that third-party review sites don’t minimize the good things people say about your business.

6. A Business Website Gives Lasting Value

One of the best things about investing in a business website is how it continues to generate value for you even years after you’ve created it.

When you pay for ads on social media, your potential clients only see your ads for as long as you run them. If they don’t see it, you’ll have to pay again to run the ad campaign.

On the other hand, a business website will give you ROI over time. Even if it doesn’t give you returns in the first year, you have time to tweak things until you get returns.

7. Creating a Business Website is Easier and Cheaper Than You Think

Many business owners refuse to create a website because they believe it’s difficult and expensive to create an effective website. However, that’s not true.

There has never been an easier and cheaper time to create high-quality websites. There are affordable, easy-to-use website builders available to you. Creating a website and hosting a website is pretty straightforward.

8. A Business Website Lets You Sell Online

Ecommerce sales are exploding and are projected to hit over $5.4 trillion in 2022. Surely, none of these sales happen with businesses that don’t own websites.

Even if you aren’t a traditional ecommerce business, having an online storefront can help you attract new customers and help you continue selling even when your physical store is closed.

9. You Have Complete Control Over Your Website

Since your website is your property, you get absolute design freedom — unlike with social media platforms.

You can share user reviews, videos, images, and whatever else you desire.

Also, you don’t have to follow the constantly updated rules of social platforms. And if there’s a social media blackout, like when Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp all disappeared for several hours, your website and its content remain safe.

10. A Business Website is Easy to Manage

Managing websites used to be daunting. However, with a content management system (CMS) like CMS Hub or WordPress, it’s now easier than ever to manage a website. In addition, you don’t need any technical skills to keep your website up to date.

11. Websites Improve Customer Service

An effective website will contain plenty of important information your customers need. Therefore, there’s no need for them to call about location, hours of operation, and other simple questions. By helping customers, a website improves the overall customer experience.

Furthermore, since simple questions from customers don’t bog down your workforce, they can focus on other vital processes that increase company productivity.

12. A Website Helps You Edge Out The Competition

Even as a small business, an effective website allows you to compete with your industry’s “big boys.” If you play your cards right and properly optimize your website, it’s possible to outrank bigger websites, and get quality leads organically from search engines.

But even with the many benefits a website provides, is it still possible that you don’t need one for your business? Yes, and here are some reasons why.

5 Reasons Why Your Business Doesn’t Need a Website

Here are some reasons why your business might not need a website.

1. You’re Not Looking to Grow

One of the primary reasons for having a working, effective website is to increase the number of clients you have and grow your revenues. If you’re not looking to grow your business significantly, there’s probably little reason to try and find more clients or increase your revenues.

2. You Have Enough Leads

Many businesses do a great job of getting referral customers and tapping their existing network for new business. If this is you, then perhaps a website is not that important. This assumes, of course, that your Rolodex will continue to be an effective mechanism for you to get all the new business you need.

3. You’re Not Hiring Any Time Soon

If you are looking to increase staff, the chances are that your prospective hires will likely want to learn more about you. And they’ll probably turn to your website.

With all other things being equal, potential recruits will pick a company with a vibrant website over one with a brochure on the web.

Small businesses would be well served by a website, as they don’t have the resources that can help attract exceptional people outside of their immediate network. A website can help with that.

But if you’re not looking to hire top talent, then you can do without a business website.

4. You’re Operating in a Virtual Monopoly

If you have the luxury of running a business for which there’s very little (if any) competition, and you’ve got an offering that people must have, a website is probably not crucial. Your clients need what you have, and there’s nowhere else to go. Congratulations! Though a shiny new website might impress your spouse and colleagues, you probably don’t need one to improve your business.

5. You Don’t Expect to Sell the Company Any Time Soon

For more and more types of businesses, the website is an important asset that factors into valuation discussions. This is particularly true if you have a startup business, a hi-tech business, or one that “scales” well (i.e., adding new customers does not increase costs proportionately).

The reason is quite simple. If you have an effective website and can demonstrate that it is successful at helping you get new clients, you have a better business than someone who doesn’t. The Internet is an excellent way for many companies to have a low customer acquisition cost.

The other nice thing about the Internet as a vehicle for marketing and sales is that it can be more easily measured. Imagine if you are selling your business and showing the acquirer a chart of your web traffic (and how it’s grown over time) and precise data on how that traffic translates into revenues — you will likely find that the two are highly correlated. If I were on the buying side, I’d sit up and take notice.

Final Thoughts

The decision to either create a website for your business or not is ultimately yours to make. However, if part of your business goals is to improve lead generation, visibility, social proof, and authority, then creating a website is an excellent place to start.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in November 2006 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Does My Business Need a Website? 12 Reasons Why & 5 Reason Why Not was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

How to Revive an Old Blog Article for SEO

Blogging is not a major piece of artwork like the Sistine Chapel, but there is an art to making your blog a masterpiece. Blogs are a combination of timely and evergreen content.

Timely content focuses on trends, news articles, and pop culture events, while evergreen content stays relevant and provides value for a long time. It is rare to update timely content simply because it’s old news; however, there is value in updating and reviving old evergreen content.

Leveraging old blog posts and their established place on the web can extend the life of your best content. It is especially beneficial when your content has reached a traffic plateau — a period where your growth rate is stagnant.

John Bonini, the Director of Marketing at Databox, says, “Your best opportunity for increasing organic traffic short-term is in updating the content you’ve already published, not (exclusively) publishing new stuff.” Updating this content can boost your ranking on search engine page results (SERPs) and drive more traffic to your post.

Traffic to your post also comes from backlinks. It takes time to acquire backlinks to new content. Alternatively, old content is less likely to receive new backlinks because the information is outdated. Updating old blog posts can help you keep the backlinks your page has already received and acquire new backlinks by reinforcing the value and authority of your content with current information.

Imagine a years-old blog post listing “Minority-Owned Restaurants in Charlotte, North Carolina.” Looking at this post today might have some use, but overall, this post is severely outdated. Consider how fickle the restaurant business can be, especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s a chance that some of the restaurants on this list are no longer open. Other minority-owned restaurants could have opened up in their place. Updating this blog post with current information will immediately increase its value and improve its standing with users and search engines.

Reviving an old blog post for SEO isn’t a one-and-done process. Let’s take a look at how you can update your content with a few key steps.

How To Revive An Old Blog Post

Let’s turn your blog post into a masterpiece. Before reviving an old blog post, how do you choose which posts are worth bringing back to life? To hit short-term growth goals, John Bonini recommends updating the following content:

• The Biggest Losers: Content that’s decayed (lost organic traffic) at a high volume over the last 3-6 months.
• The Almost Famous: Content that’s currently ranking on page 2.
• The Nobodies: Content that’s targeting high-intent, high-volume keywords that are not ranking at all.

Bonini suggests that updating old content can drive organic traffic to previously successful but declining posts, and boost the ranking of content sitting on page 2 of the SERPs. For blog posts that are not ranking at all due to high-volume keywords and keyword difficulty, consider a complete overhaul to rewrite and restructure the content.

To revive an old blog post, you should:

• Target new keywords.
• Update the on-page SEO.
• Update the body content.
• Internally link to new content.
• Add and optimize new images and videos.
• Fix the format.
• Correct typos and improve readability.
• Update the blog post with a new date.
• Reindex your blog post with Google.

1. Target new keywords.

How old is your blog post? Depending on its initial publish date, one of two things could be true. One, you were targeting keywords based on keyword difficulty and search volume at that time. Two, you didn’t have the SEO knowledge to implement keyword research.

Search volume indicates how many people are entering a keyword into a search engine. This metric, commonly referred to as Monthly Search Volume (MSV), anticipates how much traffic is available for that keyword. Evaluate search volume with keyword difficulty. Keyword difficulty is a measure of how difficult it is to rank on the first page of a SERP for a specific keyword. Neither keyword difficulty nor search volume can solely determine your target keywords.

If your blog post is from years ago and you knew about SEO and keyword research, the keyword difficulty and search volume for your target keywords have likely changed. If you were unaware of the importance of SEO, your content is likely missing keywords altogether. That is why targeting new keywords is crucial.

How do you find new keywords? You will need to:

• Identify industry-related terms in your niche.
• Use keyword research tools to produce long-tail keywords.
• Select keywords based on search volume and keyword difficulty.

Let’s walk through the process. Imagine you are a fashion blogger updating a post on androgynous clothing. “Androgynous” will be an industry term that serves as the base for your target keywords.

Next, use keyword research tools. Google Keyword Planner is a popular tool among bloggers and marketers; however, other resources include Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, SEMRush, and Soovle. After entering the term “androgynous” into these tools, they will produce long-tail keywords. For example, a Google Keyword Planner search for this term yields long-tail keywords such as androgynous style, androgynous clothing, androgynous alternative fashion, and about 50 more options. Once you have a list of keywords to work with, evaluate their keyword difficulty and search volume.

Search volume is directly related to how many people are searching for that target keyword. While high search volume can mean more visitors, it is directly affected by keyword difficulty. That is why it is best to evaluate both at the same time.

Let’s compare the keywords “androgynous style” and “androgynous clothing.” Google Keyword Planner shows MSV results at 1K-10K searches for both keywords. Because the search volume is the same, the deciding favor comes from each term’s keyword difficulty. Using the Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, “androgynous style” has a difficulty score of 10 versus a score of 34 for “androgynous clothing.” Remember — keyword difficulty is a measure of how difficult it would be to rank for a particular keyword. Androgynous style has the lower difficulty score, meaning it would be easier to rank for this term.

Keyword research is a significant part of SEO; however, updating other on-page SEO factors can improve your content’s ranking.

2. Update the on-page SEO.

Updating and implementing your SEO strategy on an old blog post takes place in a few key areas. You will need to update and optimize your:

• SEO Title Tag
• Meta Description
• Article Title
• Subheadings

SEO Title Tag

The SEO title tag is often the first thing noticed on a SERP. It is the clickable name of the webpage that leads to the post. Update this title to reflect any new target keywords. Be mindful that while there is no limit to the length of SEO title tags, Google search results only show the first 70 characters. To maximize your post and its perceived relevance, include the keyword at the beginning of the title.

Meta Description

You can find the meta description on a SERP as the featured text beneath the SEO title tag and URL. This text should include your target keyword and clue readers into the purpose of your content. Make it good! An eye-catching meta description could be what causes readers to click on your content or keep scrolling to another result.

Article Title

Some bloggers fail to realize that your SEO title yag and article title don’t have to be the same. While the title tag appears on the search engine results page, the article title appears on the destination page. Update this title with any new keywords as well.

Subheadings

Subheadings act as an outline of your content. Before readers decide to commit to your blog post, many will skim through it to determine if it is worth their time. Add your keyword to the main header of your content. It will increase the perceived relevance of your content and help boost your rankings.

After you make changes to the title tag, meta description, article title, and subheadings, it is time to move on to where the most changes happen — the body content.

3. Update the content.

The bulk of your updates will happen in the body content. Begin by rewriting your introduction. Continue by updating the rest of the content as needed. It will be done in two steps — removing out-of-date content and adding current information.

When removing out-of-date content, start with information that no longer applies. Let’s revisit the keyword “androgynous style” from before. Imagine a fashion blogger writing a piece this yearon androgynous style and its style icons from the last ten years. They might write about Prince and David Bowie. With both musicians having passed away a few years ago, their information would no longer apply to a future update of this blog post.

Removing out-of-date content also includes removing old sources from your post. How old is too old? Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) recommends using sources published within the last ten years for arts, humanities, literature, and history. For fast-paced fields, such as online marketing and tech, aim to use resources from the last 2-3 years.

When removing old sources and content, your goal should be to replace them with new information. As you update your content, remember to build your internal links.

4. Focus on links.

Using links to revive an old blog post is a significant way to boost SEO. Links can boost your ranking on a search engine results page and increase the credibility of your post. Update your links in two steps.

First, search for broken links. Broken links are dead ends that take visitors to a 404 error page. If a reader clicks on a link, it’s because they want more information. If they find a broken link, it immediately diminishes the quality and credibility of your content and increases their frustration. Remove, repair, or redirect any broken links.

Second, refresh internal links. Interlinking is when you link to other relevant blog posts on your site. This practice keeps users on your site longer, boosts your content quality, and improves SEO. As you update your content, add new links to existing content on your website.

5. Add and optimize new images and videos.

High-quality blogs have high-quality visuals. Adding images and videos brings us back to the two benefits of reviving an old blog post — providing a better user experience and increased opportunities for SEO.

Adding and optimizing new images and videos can:

• Increase user time on your page.
• Drive more traffic to your post.
• Break up solid text.
• Encourage social media sharing.
• Make your post easier to understand.

Comparatively, a lot more goes into image SEO than video SEO. Here are the steps you need to take to revive your old blog post with images.

Find the Right Image

The first thing you want to do is prioritize original images if it is within your means. Taking originals often comes with the added cost of hiring a photographer. If this expense is out of your budget, use a combination of free and paid stock images. When selecting the right image for your post, choose candid images versus staged pictures.

Let’s use an example with two images we took from the free stock website Pexels. Generally speaking, most photography is staged, but there is a clear difference in the image above. A candid picture is when the subject doesn’t know they’re being photographed. The image on the left is not candid, but it appears as one. Compare it to the image on the right. While this image is significantly better than most over-posed, white background stock images out there, this image still feels less natural than that on the left. When selecting the right image, you want it to feel as natural as possible.

Finding the right image also means making sure they are relevant. Revisiting our fashion blog idea of androgynous style, it wouldn’t make sense to include examples of distinctly “masculine” or “feminine” styles unless they were tools for comparison. Make sure your images are relevant and match your content.

Once you have the right image, it’s time to name it.

Choose the Right File Name

The file name of your image is another way to improve SEO. Google indexes images found in blog posts. For them to understand what the image is about, the file name needs to do two things. It needs to include your keyword and describe the picture.

Say you were using an image of David Bowie during his iconic Ziggy Stardust tour. A name for the file could be androgynous-style-ziggy-stardust-tour.jpg. You might be wondering why Ziggy Stardust is used instead of David Bowie. In short, it’s not descriptive enough. David Bowie spent decades touring, so including his name in the file image is very broad. Because the alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, is associated with him in every corner of the internet, Google will have no trouble connecting the image to him.

Enhance Images with Alt Text

Alt text serves two purposes. One, it is the descriptive text for an image in case it can’t be displayed. It can happen if the user experiences technical issues. Including alt text for your images makes sure that the reader doesn’t lose any critical information.

Two, alt text serves to help when your image cannot be viewed. And yes, there is a difference. Accessibility is necessary for those who are blind or have other visual disabilities. Even when pictures appear in your blog post, the alt text will describe the image for those who can’t see it.

Use your keyword in your alt text, but focus your efforts on a good description of the image.

6. Fix or change the format.

Fix your format to match SEO best practices. As previously mentioned, online marketing is a fast-paced industry, which means the best practices often change over time. Current SEO best practices for format changes include adding a definition of your target keyword, adding numbered lists near the top of the post, and using headings and subheadings to strengthen your keyword.

7. Correct typos and improve readability.

First, let’s correct the typos. Tell me who and when. Who wrote the original blog post, and when was it written? The answer to this question can dictate how many typos you’d expect to find in the original post. It depends on the strength of the writer at that time.

Years ago, it felt as if we would live and die by the corrections provided by Microsoft Word. Now, there are options. Grammarly and Ginger are two popular proofreading tools that instantly identify grammar and punctuation errors. They also help improve readability.

Why is readability important? Readability directly connects to user experience. Readers will “bounce off” or exit the page if they decide that your blog post is too hard to read. High bounce rates negatively affect SEO. It sends a message to search engines that your content was irrelevant to users and that users are unlikely to read the content.

Readability measures how easy it is to read something. Higher scores mean that the content is easier to read. The words and sentences used in your post affect this score. Improve your content’s readability by:

• Writing shorter sentences.
• Breaking up long paragraphs.
• Avoiding passive voice.
• Removing filler words.

Previous tips on this list that improve readability including using headings and subheadings, bulleted lists, and images.

8. Publish the blog post with a new date.

It is one of the easiest ways to revive an old blog post for SEO. To emphasize it again, people do not gravitate to out-of-date content. Make sure your updated blog post reflects the current date. Another common practice is adding the current year to your SEO title tag. SearchPilot conducted a case study that demonstrated a 5% increase in organic traffic for a blog post with an SEO title tag that included the date versus one without. Adding the date to your title tag will show that your content is new — which users and SERPs prioritize.

9. Reindex your blog post with Google.

The whole point of updating your blog post is to get it noticed. Make sure it does. After you’ve republished your blog post, reindex it with Google. If your site is set up in Google Search Console, paste the URL of your blog post in the URL Inspection tool and request indexing. While Google will eventually reindex your content on its own, using this tool will speed up the process, allowing users to find your updated blog post as soon as possible.

Revive to stay alive.

Online marketing, which includes SEO, is a fast-paced industry. Its best practices are constantly changing. To keep up with current SEO practices and craft a great user experience, it is necessary to perform regular updates on your content. Use the steps and tips in this post to revive your blog posts and keep them alive in the eyes of your users and search engines.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2008 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

How to Revive an Old Blog Article for SEO was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

How to Write a Memo [Template & Examples]

A memo (also known as a memorandum, or "reminder") is used for internal communications regarding procedures or official business within an organization.

Unlike an email, a memo is a message you send to a large group of employees, like your entire department or everyone at the company. You might need to write a memo to inform staff of upcoming events, or broadcast internal changes.

If you need to inform your employees of official internal business, here's an easy-to-follow business memo template, as well as examples for further guidance.

Business Memo Template

MEMORANDUM

TO:

FROM:

DATE:

SUBJECT:

I'm writing to inform you that [reason for writing memo].

As our company continues to grow … [evidence or reason to support your opening paragraph].

Please let me know if you have any questions. In the meantime, I'd appreciate your cooperation as [official business information] takes place.

Header:

In your header, you'll want to clearly label your content "Memorandum" so your readers know exactly they're receiving. Then, you'll want to include "TO", "FROM", "DATE", and "SUBJECT". This information is relevant for providing content, like who you're addressing, and why.

Paragraph One:

In the first paragraph, you'll want to quickly and clearly state the purpose of your memo. You might begin your sentence with the phrase, "I'm writing to inform you … " or "I'm writing to request ... ". A memo is meant to be short, clear, and to-the-point. You'll want to deliver your most critical information upfront, and then use subsequent paragraphs as opportunities to dive into more detail.

Paragraph Two:

In the second paragraph, you'll want to provide context or supporting evidence. For instance, let's say your memo is informing the company of an internal re-organization. If this is the case, paragraph two should say something like, "As our company continues to grow, we've decided it makes more sense to separate our video production team from our content team. This way, those teams can focus more on their individual goals."

Paragraph Three:

In the third paragraph, you'll want to include your specific request of each employee — if you're planning a team outing, this is the space you'd include, "Please RSVP with dietary restrictions," or "Please email me with questions."

On the contrary, if you're informing staff of upcoming construction to the building, you might say, "I'd appreciate your cooperation during this time." Even if there isn't any specific action you expect from employees, it's helpful to include how you hope they'll handle the news and whether you expect them to do something in response to the memo.

Downloadable Memo Template

Want to see the above memo format in its final form? Download HubSpot's free business memo templates, shown below. The document gives you a framework that sorts your memorandum into subtopics to help employees better digest the information and understand what's expected of them after reading it.

Download this Template

Business Memo Template Format

The format depicted in the templates above is designed to effectively communicate your message. A memo should disseminate the necessary information in a way that is easy for a mass number of employees to digest.

An accurate subject line will alert them that this memo is relevant to them specifically. And beginning with an executive summary allows recipients to understand the general message before you dive deeper into the details. The background information offers context to the message, and the overview and timeline should answer questions that are likely to come up.

Business Memo Template Examples

Different industries or situations will require slightly different memos. Certain ones will need to be longer or shorter, others may not have a timeline, and some will have extensive background information. The format of your memo should change to fit the message you want your employees to receive.

Launch Delay Memo

The objective of this memo is to announce that the launch of a product will be delayed. The introduction includes the new date, so a timeline or long overview isn’t necessary. This format of memo could be applied to other situations where a simple, but important, change is occurring. Other date changes, promotions, milestones, or product announcements could also utilize this format.

Building Update Memo

There are logistical aspects of a business that concern your employees, but don’t necessarily involve their work. This memo depicts an example about the kitchen in the office. It’s a bit of an inconvenience, but shouldn’t affect their work much. This could be applied to other building updates, work from home days, or other widespread but minor announcements.

Community Memo

Celebrations, events, theme days, or other fun things for your employees can also be communicated through memos. Community memos like this example are generally shorter because they don’t require much background information or many details. These just need to include a summary, date, and location at minimum.

Write Your Memos To the Point

The main difference between a memo and just an email is not the level of complexity, it’s the size of the audience. A memo can be simple or intricate, as long as it effectively communicates your message and is relevant to the receiving group of employees. And the message itself should be clear and concise, no matter which memo format you use.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

How to Write a Memo [Template & Examples] was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

The Marketer's Guide to Process Mapping

Imagine you’re tasked with baking a cake for a friend’s birthday. You’re not exactly an expert baker, so you hop online and look for an easy-to-follow recipe that will help your dessert be the star of the party.

Your mouth is watering as you scroll through photo after photo of delicious-looking cakes. Finally, you settle on a gorgeous strawberry shortcake photo and dive into the recipe. It has a list of ingredients and then one line of instruction that says: “Bake cake.”

Confused, you frantically scroll down looking for more guidance. With none available, you end up wasting ingredients when you have to remix your batter and it takes forever to bake because you have to stop and repeat earlier steps or start from scratch because you’ve done something wrong.

Your cake is an utter failure and you end up swinging by a bakery on your way to the party.

Perhaps you’ve never had to bake a cake, but no doubt, you’ve been given assignments at work that leave you wishing you could rely on a bakery.

The only information provided to you is an end goal and you struggle to meet your boss’s expectations because you have no idea how to complete the task they’ve given you.

It happens more than you think, and if you’re a manager, you may even be guilty of doing this to your employees.

When this happens, projects don’t get done on time or don’t get done properly, employees are frustrated and employee satisfaction tanks, and with missed deadlines or no finished product at all, customers will go elsewhere to have their needs met.

If only there were a way to avoid this type of problem.

You probably guessed that there is. It’s called business process mapping, and you’re going to learn how this could help save your business.

Business Process Mapping

What is process mapping?

Creating a process is when you break down a project into a series of tasks and activities that will eventually create your desired end result. Process mapping is a strategy whereby you create a visual representation of this process which is easy-to-follow and can be communicated to everyone involved in the project.

Going back to our cake example, a process is the steps that take you from gathering and measuring your ingredients, all the way to leaving the cake in the oven for a prescribed amount of time, and everything in between. You are transforming inputs (ingredients and steps) into outputs (delicious cake).

When you get the process down on paper or on a computer, you’re able to see inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and the challenges that your team or your customers may be facing. Armed with this information, you can tweak your process to correct these problems and create a well-oiled machine.

The Benefits of Process Mapping

No matter what industry you represent, product or service you offer, or department you work in, process mapping can help you improve efficiency, employee and customer satisfaction, and your bottom line. Here are just a few of the benefits of incorporating process mapping into your organization:

1. Identify redundancies.

If you make a product, materials may be wasted if employees have to repeat activities before they get them right. Whether you offer a product or a service, your employees’ time is valuable and care should be taken not to waste that either. To that end…

2. Improve employee efficiency.

It’s been stated that between 15% and 20% of employee time is wasted due to overlap in jobs and not understanding roles and responsibilities, redoing tasks that have been done wrong, and not having a full set of instructions before they begin their activity.

When you clearly state every step involved in creating an outcome, and who will complete that step, employee efficiency will improve as will your company culture.

3. Increase employee satisfaction.

Most people don’t enjoy being confused. Employees want to know exactly what they are responsible for and how to complete those tasks. With this information, employees are happier, less likely to look for a new job, and more likely to treat each other, and your customers, nicely.

4. Foster happier customers.

When customers receive their product or service in a timely fashion, delivered by employees who are pleased with their work and excited to help them, customers are happier. They then return as customers and tell their friends to do business with you as well.

Why should I use process mapping as a marketer?

As a marketer, you may be wondering how to do process mapping for your projects and responsibilities.

Just like producing a product, you have certain steps that you must follow in order to reach your end goal: attracting leads and converting them into customers. You might not even realize that you’ve been doing it all along.

For example, do you create random content and visuals before you know who will be seeing them? Hopefully not. Do you close your eyes and point to a marketing route without researching where your ideal customer spends time? If you do, you’re probably not seeing a lot of ROI.

No, you have a series of steps you take to identify the right opportunities to reach potential customers and then speak to them. Now, we’re going to get that process down so it can be improved, tested, communicated, and replicated.

How do I use process mapping as a marketer?

The first step to process mapping is to determine your desired outcome. Your process may look slightly different depending on your goals and your company’s specifics, but here are seven steps you can use to guide yourself and your team through a marketing process map:

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1. Do your research.

Research who you want to market to, where you will find them, and when they will be there.

2. Segment your audience.

Allocate your audience into groups of customers or potential customers with similar attributes. This will help you perfect your specific messaging.

3. Target the best fit segment.

Identify who needs what you want and has the ability to buy it.

4. Position yourself apart from the competition.

What makes you different? This is called a unique selling proposition and will help you craft your marketing message.

5. Determine what you will offer.

Then strategize around how much it will cost, where it will be distributed, and how you will promote it to your audience.

6. Implement your process.

This is where you put your strategies into action. This may include marketing automation.

7. Measure your success.

Use the goals you’ve set to measure how you’re doing. These may include reach like web traffic and conversions, or revenue-based goals like profit.

Don’t try to change your process until you’ve mapped out exactly what it is you do now. Once every activity is listed, you can begin looking for ways to improve. If you have a team assigned to process creation, you can assign roles and responsibilities to each member.

Process Mapping Tools

When you’re ready to begin process mapping with your team, there are a variety of tools that you can use to get the job done. Some of these can be used for free while others have a paid version that’s helpful or necessary to create your process map.

We’ll take a look at a few of these options here.

1. LucidChart

LucidChart is a professional diagramming software that can be used on any browser or device.

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It can be integrated with productivity apps such as Google Suite and Microsoft Office and allows users to chat and comment in real-time.

2. Google Drawings

Google Drawings is a free mapping software that allows you to create various diagrams and charts with basic shapes.

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Google Drawings is browser-based and completely online. It includes free storage without expiration.

3. Edraw

Edraw is process mapping software that looks similar to the Microsoft Office interface. If you’re familiar with that environment, this tool will be easy for you to navigate.

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Edraw includes an automatic layout for mind maps and allows you to customize everything simply.

4. Gliffy

Gliffy is great for those of us who are not particularly artistic. With a variety of templates and themes available, users can create professional looking process maps without a lot of headache.

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With Gliffy, you can easily revert back to a previously saved version of your work. This is a helpful feature if you missed something or encountered an error while you were working.

5. Cacoo

Cacoo is the perfect process mapping tool that can be integrated with a number of apps.

Source

Cacoo is extremely collaborative and allows multiple users to work on a project, tracking changes, reviewing the status, and working together to reach the goal.

Depending on your needs and your budget, there are a number of tools that can assist you along your process mapping journey.

Process Mapping Examples

Remember that your process may look different than the next marketer’s. Because of this, the visual representation you use will differ as well. You can find a number of process mapping examples. Use the tool and the setup that works best for your business’ needs.

Source

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When you create your process maps, remember that “good” is sometimes good enough. This doesn’t need to be a museum-worthy work of art. It just has to be a functional, easy-to-follow plan that everyone can understand. Keep it simple. Ultimately, this needs to work for you and your situation.

Marketing is inherently risky. You never know if the money and effort you put into a campaign or ad will produce results. To mitigate the risk, spend more time on the planning phase before you move on to execution.

Once you know who your audience is and how you will reach them, you can focus on the messaging and the specific strategies that you’ll use to attract new leads and convert them. Without this step, you’re basically crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. Luckily, when you use process mapping to map out your project’s plan, you’ll have a better chance of seeing the return on investment you were hoping for.

The Marketer's Guide to Process Mapping was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

16 Best Ways to Increase Content Reach [+Free Content Reach Kit]

Companies often rely on blogs, articles, and social media to engage with their consumers and attract new clientele. However, creating new and exciting content can be a time-consuming process. A great solution to this dilemma is to repurpose existing content.

Repurposing content doesn’t have to feel redundant or boring. In fact, with a few great strategies, old content can gain a fresh new perspective and reinforce critical points. This article will go over a few ways that businesses can reinvigorate their old content while increasing their potential reach.

Content Reach Examples

Here are some great examples of content that reaches, engages, and delights a large audience.

1. State Farm

Have you ever heard of “Jake from State Farm”? I'm sure you have. He’s been featured in nationwide State Farm commercials, blog posts, memes, and videos — State Farm hit gold with this idea. The insurance giant's content reach consists of the repurposed use of “Jake” in new and inventive ways. This includes creating intriguing storylines that mix plausible life situations with the use of its insurance policies. Customers can see themselves in the everyday interactions Jake has with his customers.

Image Source

2. T-Mobile

T-mobile’s Newsroom constantly makes old content new again. The brand's Loyalty Program, T-Mobile Tuesdays, for example, has been around for five years. The content strategy involves images, videos, app links, and articles that strive for engagement through consistency and fun contests, polls, and incentives. The Loyalty Program runs every Tuesday with slight alterations each week.

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3. Netflix

Netflix has created a new way to introduce its content: by sponsoring articles. The company often chooses content that works alongside its tv shows.

An example includes a New York Times article on women inmates for the Orange Is the New Black series. These articles are recycled with fresh storylines to attract new readers and customers.

Image Source

Best Content Reach Strategies

1. Add Visuals

One way to give languishing content a new twist is by adding visuals. Research shows that clear, concise visualization aids can boost engagement in even the most complex subject matter. This can include graphs, charts, videos, and infographics.

2. Use Keywords

SEO, or search engine optimization, is a way for consumers to find blogs and posts quickly. Google’s search engine has algorithms that search for the best content to give to its visitors.

This content is typically full of helpful words and phrases related to a particular subject. The result is a more helpful site for the reader which can bring more traffic to your site, too.

3. Use the Power of Social Media

The great thing about social media is that it is versatile. People can like, share and comment on many platforms and move these conversations to other platforms. You can repurpose older content to get a fresh take from users on other social media streams.

4. Try Backlinks

Backlinks are an example of this kind of approach. These are hyperlinks from one site that link to another. This signals to the search engine that the content in the two articles is related. The anchor text used to link the two articles together further helps the search engine infer the relationship between the two, which can give your page and site more authority if your backlink strategy is done well.

5. Make Your Content Interactive

Content doesn’t have to be two-dimensional. Bring old content to life with games, polls, videos, and even clickable slideshows. Research shows interactive content boosts engagement and sales. You can use tools like Slideshare to create colorful slides to make sharing your message easy and attractive.

6. Write an Ebook

Ebooks are a great way to repackage information from multiple sources, like blog posts into one educational resource. You can optimize ebooks for mobile or desktop and even include interactive content.

7. Send an Email Newsletter

Email newsletters can also serve as a way to repurpose older content by reminding audiences of previous campaigns.

The e-newsletter is a good way to mix in new content with older content in templates that cater to specific audiences while maintaining the interests of existing subscribers. Some excellent newsletter services include MailChimp and Constant Contact.

8. Include an FAQ or Resource Page

Placing an FAQ or resource section on a website is a fantastic way to reintroduce older content. You can link to prior articles and posts that are relevant to the customer's needs. This can reinvigorate interest and attract new audiences. FAQs and resource pages can also condense hundreds of pages into just a few clicks. This can ensure a cleaner site and allow audiences to connect with your brand.

9. Use a Podcast

Turn an old blog post or article into content for a podcast. Podcasts are an excellent way to connect with consumers since they appeal to auditory audiences and offer an alternative (and efficient) way of consuming information. Podcasts also allow for a more personable approach that can make your audience feel like a part of the story.

10. Use Consumer-Generated Content

Take old customer reviews and use them as the basis of newer content. For example, if users point out that your business has a quick turn-around time, capitalize on this by creating content with this in mind. You can post blogs or articles about the importance of timeliness and link to many of the reviews. This approach spotlights the consumer and makes them center stage … and what customer doesn’t want to be in the spotlight?

11. Recommend Old Articles in New Posts

When writing new blog articles, you can create a new experience by placing older content on the page. This can be done using links or snippets of the post to capture the reader's attention. You can also get new eyes on pages with less traffic by placing recommendations at the end of posts or blog entries.

12. Create a Part-Two

Follow-up posts are a good way to repackage content. It can posit a concern or problem that is still relevant while adding new points. This approach can bring a whole new dimension to a subject. It also allows for a more thorough analysis of old information.

For example, if you own a coffee company and have an article related to “Great Drinks for the Morning Rush,” you can follow up with “Great Drinks for the Evening.” You can then reference the prior article while highlighting some of the other products you sell to create new and interesting content.

13. Invite Others to the Experience

Guest posting is standard on many blogs. Refresh your content with new opinions and perspectives from people outside your company. This approach keeps things fresh without sacrificing core goals or ideas.

For instance, an expert baker may have great things to add about your catering company. You can use some of their tips and ideas in new content and couple this with references to older content.

14. Create New Campaigns Using Old Ideas

Companies often do this to re-energize marketing. This approach utilizes new marketing strategies such as viral video to engage consumers with old, tried-and-true content.

An example of this can include companies offering for a limited time a “retro” look or producing giveaways that include old merchandising. Businesses can build new, solid campaigns around these ideas.

15. Rewrite and Repost

Awkward phrasing, misspellings, and low SEO rankings can hurt your ranking potential, but it’s common in old content. Editing with services like Grammarly can eliminate some of these issues. In addition, updating statistics and replacing old information can make a world of difference for your traffic potential.

16. Combine Old Posts

If your content library gets large enough, posts could begin to overlap. Generating new content can be as simple as taking similar posts and combining them into one. This method can bring great ideas and repurpose them for a new audience while creating cohesiveness.

Improve Your Content Reach

Improving your content reach can mean more sales and a bigger client base. You can recycle and repurpose old content in new ways. Get creative and make the most out of your content. The result is a stronger, better online presence.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in June 2011 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

16 Best Ways to Increase Content Reach [+Free Content Reach Kit] was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

The 13 Worst Digital Marketing Mistakes to Avoid & How to Fix Them

We are currently living in the age of the internet, and that means your business must cater to it. Promoting your business, your brand, and your product or service can all benefit from digital marketing.

There is an audience to be reached online and a reputation to build from your presence. There is, however, a right and a wrong way to do digital marketing. Check out these common mistakes to make sure you are doing it effectively.

1. Not Having a Blog

Remember that you are not only trying to market your site as a business, you are also trying to market yourself as a trusted industry leader. Publishing blog content that is valuable, informed, and accessible will establish you as a voice to be trusted. Additionally, each blog post is another indexed page for your site, and more indexed pages lead to your site showing up more in Google search results.

Don’t just create the blog, it’s also important for it to be interactive. Ask questions in the comment section to get responses. Also, add guest posts or interviews from researchers or successful professionals in your field. Utilize this blog post writing guide for creating the most impactful post each time.

2. Avoiding Social Media

You might think you can get away with not using social media. I’m sorry to tell you that you’re wrong! It’s an essential way to turn leads into customers. Spreading your content, reaching your audience, and engaging with users will help you promote your business online. But don’t try to do it all yourself; learn why you need a social media manager.

3. Forgetting About Mobile Users

Mobile browsing accounts for about half of web traffic worldwide. So, as you are optimizing your site, don’t forget to also optimize it for mobile users so that the load time is equally as fast as on desktop. Ensure the design of your site is also adjusted to be viewed on mobile.

4. Not Offering Discounts and Promotions

A survey from Retail Me Not revealed that two-thirds of customers made an unplanned purchase solely because of a discount. Online coupon codes or limited time offers are great pop-ups for your site, especially on the landing page or when they may abandon their cart. Your site should also have a call-to-action that can be incentivized with a promotion.

5. Underutilizing Keyword Research

Potential customers need to be able to find you online, so it’s essential to focus on SEO. Identify what keywords are the most relevant, have high search volume, and are relatively easy to rank for. Then, monitor where you rank for each keyword, how much traffic you’re getting from each keyword, and whether the visitors coming from that keyword are turning into leads.

6. Targeting a Broad Audience

Spending your marketing budget to reach as many people as possible isn’t an efficient use of your money. Pinpoint a clearly defined target market that will yield more relevant leads.

Don’t make assumptions or rely on guesses for information about any audiences. Do your research to determine your target audience and the best way to reach them.

7. Having Subpar Customer Service

A visitor who hasn’t done business with you before is taking a risk if they choose to become a customer. Having good customer service is important to lower that risk, because 70% of customers will continue business with you if their complaints were resolved well.

Offer help in a clear place on your site so that visitors know they have access to it. This may be a Contact Us page, a 24/7 virtual chat box, a helpline, or other methods. Just be sure that if someone goes to your site, they clearly see they will have help if they need it.

8. Ignoring the Competition

It’s likely that there is someone else out there offering the same thing you are. Don’t pretend that they don’t exist; instead, find a way to stand out. Figure out what makes your brand special and highlight it on your site. It should be loud and clear on your site what makes you different from the competition.

9. Not Using Social Proof

Seeing examples of happy, satisfied customers encourages more conversions. Testimonials, case studies, and success stories ensure your web visitors that other people are happy with your business. They can feel reassured that they will be too.

10. Lacking a Clear Strategy

Without a plan and a vision, there are no goals to track or research-backed methods. This can often be a waste of time, money, and resources. Start building your marketing strategy by defining your target audience, setting reasonable goals, understanding what you need to achieve them, and keeping track of your progress.

11. Failing to Convert Web Traffic to Customers

Visitors to your website who don’t end up becoming customers have little value, unless they happen to do some word-of-mouth advertising for you that introduces a lead. Getting visitors to your site is goal number one, but goal number two is to turn them into customers. Develop a strategy for converting web traffic into sales.

12. Having Poor Website Design

A website that is constructed with digital marketing in mind should have a call to action and a well-optimized landing page. Any promotions or discounts should also be displayed front and center. Having an informative and inviting website is important in your efforts to turn visitors into fruitful leads.

13. Not Tracking Your Leads

Online leads can come from a variety of traffic sources such as keywords, email blasts, referring links, social media, etc. One of those sources might be pulling in leads that rarely turn into customers, while another might be consistently garnering them. This is important to know so that you can adjust your strategy accordingly.

The Power of Digital Marketing

Your business needs the proper marketing tools and strategies to thrive. Digital marketing opens you up to endless opportunities for learning and growth. Boost your business to its highest potential by fixing your digital marketing strategy, targeting the right leads, and creating an optimized website.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2008 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

The 13 Worst Digital Marketing Mistakes to Avoid & How to Fix Them was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns