After Weeks of Decline, Sales Metrics Showing Signs of Recovery [COVID-19 Benchmark Data]

The economic impact of COVID-19 is undeniable. Businesses all across the globe are learning how to adapt to these new circumstances and we're all learning how to operate in a "new normal" that's constantly changing.

That's why we'll be publishing week-over-week trend data for core business metrics like website traffic, email send and open rates, sales engagements, close rates and more. We hope to establish useful benchmarks to measure your business against, and serve as an early indicator of when short- or long-term adjustments may be needed in your strategy.

While this post focuses on the highlights of last week, you can explore all the data we're publishing here.

About the Data

• These insights are based on aggregated data from over 70,000 HubSpot customers globally.
• The dataset includes weekly trend data for core business metrics in 2020, focusing on changes occurring during and after March 2020.*
• Charts depict the performance of a given metric against pre-COVID benchmarks, calculated using weekly averages from January 13, 2020, to March 9, 2020. They do not depict week-over-week percentage changes.
• Because the data is sourced from HubSpot's customer base, it reflects benchmarks for companies that have invested in an online presence and use inbound as a key part of their growth strategy.

*The spread of COVID-19 has had a different timeline in different regions, so we are using the World Health Organization's declaration of a global pandemic on March 11, 2020 as our "official" start date.

NOTE: Because the data is aggregated from HubSpot customers' businesses, please keep in mind that individual businesses, including HubSpot's, may differ based on their own markets, customer base, industry, geography, stage, and/or other factors.

What We're Seeing

After several weeks of concerning declines in deals created and deals closed, we are cautiously optimistic about this week's data. While it's certainly too early to call these trends a "rebound," the numbers suggest that companies that had paused "business as usual" in the last seven weeks are beginning to move forward in a new normal.

Last week saw the highest volume of deals closed since the start of the pandemic, even though deals created and closed are still trending below pre-COVID levels. Deal creation increased 8% the week of April 20, compared to the prior week, with increases in every region. Deals closed saw an upward trend as well with a 9% increase the week of April 20.

Buyer engagement reached historic highs last week. Marketing email open rates continue setting new records despite volume of email sends trending far above pre-COVID averages, and the data shows that salespeople are booking more meetings. We saw increases in average contacts added to customer portals as well.

But there's still a major disconnect in how salespeople are prospecting. Thus far, sales teams have struggled to convert buyer interest via email -- send volume is a staggering 67% above pre-COVID averages, and hasn't been accompanied by an equivalent increase in response rates or meetings booked.

However, our deep dive on sales activity suggests that salespeople are starting to book more meetings. With some adjustments to prospecting strategy, we're hopeful that there's opportunity for sales performance to improve.

This week, we're adding two new cuts of data:

1. A deep dive on sales activity, highlighting call volume and meetings booked. Weekly average call volume has maintained an approximate 20% decrease from pre-COVID averages, while the volume of meetings booked has rebounded to a level higher than pre-COVID averages.
2. Country-specific cuts for our core dataset for Australia and Germany. These countries have begun to reopen their economies or have done a good job containing the spread of COVID-19. Over time, we plan to add more countries, and will be watching these granular cuts closely to understand what the early signs of recovery could look like.

There's still work to be done, but last week's movement on these trends is a bright spot. After several weeks of steady declines in these metrics, recent data suggests that buyers are entering a new normal. There's gold in the hills, if sales teams just have the patience to find it -- salespeople would do well to take a breath and rethink their prospecting and outreach now, to ensure they're able to connect with the right buyers at the right time.

How Metrics Changed Last Week

Despite remaining below pre-COVID levels, the volume of created and closed deals is trending in the right direction.

We can't call it a rebound yet, but sales pipeline data from last week revealed the second straight week of growth after sharp declines across all regions and company sizes in March and early April.

Last week, sales teams created 8% more deals than the week of April 13. This is still trending 15% below pre-COVID levels, but last week was the highest volume of deals created since the start of the pandemic.

This increase was seen across all regions with EMEA seeing the largest increase week-over-week (18%) and NORTHAM following suit at 7%. APAC and LATAM each saw a small 2% gain.

All company sizes followed the same trend. Companies with 201 or more employees are leading the pack with the biggest improvement in performance compared to the start of the pandemic.

Deals closed improved 9% week-over-week. While the volume of deals closed is still 22% lower than pre-COVID averages, we're encouraged that this metric has improved two weeks in a row.

APAC, EMEA, and NORTHAM followed the global trend. LATAM was the exception to the rule but largely held steady, closing 32% fewer deals than pre-COVID averages the week of April 20, compared to 31% below pre-COVID benchmarks the week of April 13.

Engagement with marketing content reached record levels

Buyers continue engaging with marketing content at levels equal to or higher than pre-COVID averages. Marketing teams that have invested in providing helpful, relevant content, deserve credit for reaching buyers in an incredibly noisy time.

Consumers are still researching and connecting with businesses at high levels. Website traffic increased last week to 24% higher than pre-COVID averages, the highest volume we've seen all year.

Marketing email volume held steady again, by less than 1% week-over-week, and remains 25% higher than pre-COVID averages. This increase is accompanied by a staggeringly high open rate that is 25% higher than pre-COVID levels, a record for the year.

Engagement with sales outreach is no longer in free fall, but reveals opportunities for improvement.

Sales engagement metrics show slight improvement over the past weeks though they have not recovered to pre-COVID levels. In the coming weeks, sales teams' success will depend on whether they are able to identify and connect with the pool of engaged buyers who have expressed interest in a business' offerings. The data suggests that there's still a significant disconnect between where sales teams are focusing their time, and where buyer interest exists.

Total sales emails increased by 6% the week of April 20, and are trending at 67% above pre-COVID averages -- the highest level this metric has reached all year. However, after five straight weeks of decline, sales open rates increased marginally, an indication that more total buyers are responding to sales teams this week.

Things get really interesting when we zoom in on two additional parts of the sales process -- call prospecting and meetings booked.

Weekly average call volume has maintained a 20% decrease compared to pre-COVID benchmarks. Sales teams are reallocating time they'd ordinarily use to call prospects toward emailing them in order to reach more buyers, a tactic that will not be sustainable as companies attempt to return to pre-COVID performance.

Encouragingly, another metric appears to be genuinely rebounding. The number of meetings booked was trending at around 7% below pre-COVID averages, but last week increased to 10% above pre-COVID averages. Companies that may have frozen new investments while assessing their financial outlook seem to be reentering the market and restarting stalled deals -- a promising sign. We hope to see this increase reflected in the volume of deals created and booked in the coming weeks.

Countries that have begun to reopen are generally seeing positive movement in the core dataset.

Germany has begun a phased reopening of the economy, starting with allowing some small businesses to reopen on April 20. Australia has been widely praised for containing the spread of the virus, and states have begun relaxing isolation rules for some public spaces and social visit. Both these countries may provide a hint of what the early signs of economic recovery look like.

In Germany, marketing email volume kept with global trends, while open rates dipped slightly last week, though both metrics surpass pre-COVID levels. On the sales side, Germany saw a 14% increase in response rate, a 39% increase in deals created, and an 11% increase in closed-won deals the week of April 20. Germany is creating and closing more deals than the global average, with a higher response rate to sales emails as well.

In Australia, marketing engagement held with global trends as well. Sales email response rates increased 28%, deals created increased 15%, and closed-won deals increased 20% the week of April 20. Australia is creating slightly more deals than the global average, holding with global trends for deals closed, and is also seeing a better open rate than the global average.

We'll be watching these countries (and adding additional cuts) closely to track what economic recovery looks like in countries where the impacts of COVID-19 are starting to lessen. We're hopeful we will see continued improvement in these metrics, and are particularly interested in whether they will settle above or below pre-COVID levels in the coming weeks.

What This Means for Businesses

Transition from outside sales to inside sales.

The last few weeks have doubtless been a time of tremendous change for companies that employ an outside sales model. Temporarily adjusting to an inside sales model is virtually a requirement for businesses hoping to maintain or grow.

In times like these, knowing how to build strong relationships remotely is key. Invest in videoconferencing software to have "face-to-face" conversations online, and build trust by starting conversations with educational content instead of a generic pitch.

Ensure the quality of your sales conversations don't suffer by taking essential parts of the sales process online. If you don't already have a CRMWhether it's training your sales teams on cloud communications so they're able call prospects without physical phones, working with your marketing team to digitize educational content that prospects use to research your products, or learning how to conduct demos online, you'll need to create online equivalents for formerly offline processes. And of course, you'll need the right tools to keep your sales team running -- see below for a dedicated analysis of the technology your team needs.

The last piece of the puzzle is integrating sales enablement with your inside sales engine. Build workflows that ensure the right information is reaching your sales team and that they can easily access it, whether it's through a project management platform, team wiki, etc.

Resources to Help

• Learn to run an online demo with this list of do's and don'ts
• Transition your sales process online with this sales kit
• Learn best practices for sales enablement in this certification

Improve prospecting with targeted, creative outreach.

Our data shows that historic numbers of buyers are visiting and engaging with businesses. Yet we haven't seen a corresponding increase in sales volume. Why?

Part of this decline was inevitable. Companies across the world are tightening their belts and cutting down on nonessential investments. But that can't fully explain historic lows in sales engagement.

The answer lies in prospecting -- the root of most good and bad sales outcomes. The huge increase in email prospecting accompanied by decrease in call volume is both troubling and revealing. Instead of maintaining their standard balance of activities, sales professionals are prioritizing the technique that allows them to touch the largest number of prospects in the least amount of time. Not only has this change had the opposite intended effect, it may also hamstring salespeople who find they've burned through their database by blasting irritating emails to prospects who may have been a good fit down the line.

It's time to get back to basics. Buyer interest is at historic highs, and sales teams that take the time to target buyers who have expressed interest in their products will be better at capturing their interest than teams who are merely emailing as many people as possible.

Encourage your sales team to add a human touch to outreach. For example, recording personalized videos to attach to email messages is a way to stand out in crowded inboxes. Leading with relevance and empathy is more important than ever, and incorporating personalization into your outreach process will drive sales teams to slow down and focus on good-fit prospects.

Resources to Help

• Refresh your email outreach with these sales templates
• Start using video in your sales outreach to engage more prospects
• Lead with empathy in sales emails to build rapport and increase response rates

Remove friction from your sales process with the right technology.

Friction is never good. But in an economic downturn, friction can be deadly. Our data shows that record numbers of buyers are turning to company websites and chat to conduct research. There are a number of ways you can remove friction from your sales process to form more connections between these prospects and your sales team.

Automate and digitize interactions that formerly took place in person. Many steps of the sales process that used to happen face-to-face will need to move online. Chatbots are a useful way to automate parts of the qualification process. Invest in self-service resources like prerecorded demos, and ensure your sales team has the right technology to add a human touch to email outreach, and run sales calls online.

Invest in conversational marketing. Conversational marketing offers a real-time way to answer customer questions and automates the lead routing process so your business can serve prospective and existing customers even when your team is out of the office. Additionally, chatbots can help your company meet the increase in inquiries by providing customers with lightning-fast answers, automating lead qualification, and booking meetings on behalf of your sales and service teams.

Enable self-service. Whether it's through chatbots, online meeting booking, eSigning, or self-service meetings links, implementing technology that allows prospects to engage with your business on their schedule will make the process easier on your prospects and more efficient for your team.

Resources to Help

• Equip your team with these essential inside sales technologies
• Streamline your sales process with this guide to frictionless selling (and this course)

Free Software to Get Started

• HubSpot CRM is free and comes with included sales acceleration tools, including free 1:1 video, meetings, and chatbot tools
• Gmail and Google Calendar integrations with HubSpot
• Zoom integration with HubSpot
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration with HubSpot

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The Top 3 Reasons Consumers Read Blogs in 2020 [New Research]

In 2020, there's no question of whether or not blogs generate leads.

In fact, marketers who prioritize blogging as a marketing strategy report 13-times the ROI of companies that don't.

However, many marketers still worry that blogging's effectiveness could be losing steam.

Fears that "blogging is dead" haven't been eased by research. Recently, when we polled over 300 people to ask them how often they read blogs, roughly 40% said "never." This followed HubSpot's 2020 State of Marketing Report, which revealed that blogging fell from the first to third-most-common content strategy between 2018 and 2020.

But, before you get wrapped up in all the negative data, it's important to remember that blogging is still incredibly valuable to marketers -- but the way you approach blogging matters more than ever. And, while our past survey found that 40% of people never read blogs, it conversely revealed that 60% of consumers read this content regularly.

The truth is, blogging is alive and well. You'll just need to work a tiny bit harder to persuade people to read your content in 2020.

So, what's one way to get into a consumer's head and figure out how to motivate them to read your blog? Performing another survey.

Rather than asking more than 300 people, "Do you read blogs?", I launched a second Lucid survey that more deeply asked, "Why do you most commonly read blog posts?"

In the survey, which asked participants to select the most common reason that they consume blog content, answer options included, "To learn how to do something new," "To be entertained," "To learn more about products or brands," and "To learn about news and trends in my job industry."

With the number of leads that business blogs are known to generate, you might assume that a large chunk of people read blogs to learn about brands or products. But, actually, you might be surprised -- and a little concerned -- by the highest and lowest-ranking reasons for blog readership:

In fact, only four percent of consumers say they read blogs to learn about brands or products.

According to the results of the survey, more people are actually driven to read blogs that teach them how to do something new. While 34% selected this reasoning, 20% said they read blogs to be entertained, while 12% read blogs to learn about news or trends in their job industry.

Additionally, 9% said they're driven to read blogs for all of the reasons given.

Data Source: Luc.id

What exactly do the results above mean?

To win over blog readers, you'll need to create content that provides some type of informative value or entertainment, rather than purely using your blog to discuss your brand or product.

In this blog post, I'll walk you through the top three reasons why the general consumer population is driven to read blogs. I'll also show you how to create blog content that fulfills your reader's needs while still subtly spreading brand awareness.

3 Reasons People Read Blogs

1. People read blogs to learn something new.

By far, the most common reason that people will read a blog post is to learn something new. This result doesn't surprise me at all.

Why? Posts that include guides, step-by-step processes, tutorial videos, or fast-facts often gain a large amount of search traffic. This is because people are looking up instructions for how to do things on Google every day.

Even when posts aren't informing people of how to do something on a granular level, blogs that discuss complex topics such as studies, trends, or topics people are less familiar with can pique a person's curiosity.

Psychologically, people crave new information similarly to how they crave food. As a blogger, you can harness this to create content that both piques curiosity, while discussing topics related to your brand, service, or products.

For example, on the Marketing Blog, we might show our readers how to publish an Instagram Story. By doing this, marketers or social media users who want to learn how to do this could find our content in search or on social media and read it to learn how to create this content.

On a broader scope, our blog might create multiple pieces of content that discuss a trend from multiple angles. For example, when the app TikTok emerged, we wrote a few blog posts to answer common marketer questions like, "What is TikTok?", "How do brands market themselves on TikTok?", or "How do you leverage influencer marketing on TikTok?"

Aside from helping our readers, guide or trend-related blogs allow us to highlight the level of research and knowledge we've gained as marketers. This could also demonstrate to a prospect that HubSpot is a credible company that sells quality products within the marketing industry.

2. People read blogs to be entertained.

While people crave knowledge, they also like to be entertained. Each day, people might read blogs that tell interesting stories, make them laugh, or intrigue them in some other way.

But, as a business blogger, You might be asking yourself, "How can I entertain my readers while still keeping my blog professional?"

The truth is, when you think creatively, there are a number of ways you can entertain your audience while still staying on brand.

For example, you could create a fun infographic or photo post about a viral trend in your industry, While your readers might not be willing to invest in this viral trend, the imagery and information about the trend might entertain them. In one of our posts, we highlighted funny memes that marketers used in their actual campaigns.

Alternatively, you could also create a fun, but informative, video or podcast to go with your blog post. With this added layer of content, you could dive deeper into discussing a viral marketing trend, or interview an industry expert that people in your field follow. While this might not be "entertaining" for people outside of your industry, it might be more interesting than the average blogs people in your field might be reading.

Here's an example of a blog post that combines text and video for a better reader experience:

3. People read blogs to learn about trends related to their job industry.

While people might not be interested in reading blogs that specifically discuss your product or brand, they could be more intrigued by a blog that discusses an industry your product is affiliated with.

While the poll result noted in the introduction came from general consumers with mixed professional backgrounds, it's likely that those in the workforce will read a blog if it educates them or provides them with valuable information about their industry.

One example of a brand that discovered how industry experts read its industry-themed blog is American Scientist. Recently, the science blog conducted a study to learn about what motivated its blog readers to visit its site. They found that the average reader was either highly educated in science and technology or was actively working in STEM fields.

American Scientist also discovered that these readers, who already had some expertise on the topic, weren't interested in general science news. They were actually interested in reading the American Scientist blog for specific "nuggets" of new scientific information, studies, or findings.

From the above study, and what we've learned when developing HubSpot's Marketing, Sales, and Service blogs, industry experts or professionals will read blogs to learn something more specific about their industry. Here's an example of one of our own high-performing blog posts where an industry thought leader discusses the ins and outs of organic growth.

To zone in on your particular industry, experiment with tactics like thought leadership, similarly to the post noted above. You can additionally write about news or trends related to your field. For example, here's a post where we discussed how a third-party cookie phaseout could impact marketers.

Creating Content That Fulfills Multiple Reader Needs

So, how do you create engaging content that pulls in audiences with all different reading motivations while still spreading brand awareness about your product or service? Consider publishing blog posts that combine industry trends, how-tos, and entertainment. After all, nine percent of the survey recipients polled above said they read blogs for all of the reasons on the list I gave.

Here are two examples of how you can create content that fulfills the interests of multiple groups of blog readers.

Teach your readers how to do something in your industry.

At the HubSpot Blog, each of our posts teaches readers about something specific. For example, the post you're currently reading highlights the research we've done about how people read blogs and shows you how to leverage these results.

In other posts, we'll also inform marketers by giving them a step-by-step guide to a marketing tactic or examples of how brands leverage promotional trends. Regardless of what we write about, we're always trying to teach readers something valuable.

When you create content that educates people about strategies related to your industry, it's also easier to subtly discuss your product in a way that doesn't seem shameless of over promotional.

For example, when we're discussing a strategy that HubSpot can help with, we might subtly link readers to a tool or resource we offer that can help them. Here's an example of a HubSpot mention in a post about form building tools:

We also like to include free offers related to our content at the end of each blog post. When we do this, a reader can learn more about the topic we've just taught them about. And, when they fill out a simple form requesting the free resource, they can choose whether or not they'd like to be contacted about one of our products. This allows the reader to feel like they are receiving valuable information without being forced to learn about our products.

Even when you don't specifically acknowledge a product, an industry blog focused on informing readers can show off your company's level of expertise. When your brand is seen as highly knowledgeable about your industry, readers might think that your products were also created by your staff of industry experts.

Entertain industry readers while still informing them.

Even though an industry blog will likely target company employees or leaders, this doesn't mean your content can't be informative and entertaining. For example, you can use videos, GIFs, imagery, or interactive blog assets to add to your content while keeping it interesting for the reader.

For example, you could consider embedding a trivia or personality quiz related to your industry, as we did in this blog post:

On occasion, you could also create a fun, suitable for work posts that your industry readers can relate to. For example, here's a Service Blog post where we highlight GIFs related to working on a customer service floor:

Entertaining blog content on an industry blog can similarly show off your expertise. But, importantly, this content also allows your reader to relate to your brand on a more human level.

Building an Effective Blog Strategy

While it can be great to run with one successful content type, the blogs with the most credibility and quickest growth often have a mix of content that entertains or informs readers, makes them aware of brands or products, or teaches them something new. And, with 9% of consumers in the poll above saying that they'll read blogs for "all" reasons listed, there's a good chance that a mix will intrigue and fulfill the reading needs of multiple different groups.

To learn more about how to drive internet users to your blog, check out this post. For tips on how to be a blogger, check out this post with advice from our own blog team.

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50 Visual Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know in 2020

At the end of every year, we like to read through some of the major reports on inbound marketing, content marketing, social media, and online behavior.

It's amazing how fast things can change in just one or two years, and this year has a breadth of surprising statistics to reflect on.

This year, we've seen the continued importance of visual content emphasized by the changes that occurred across almost every major social network, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. At the same time, videos continued to grow as powerful tools for brands looking to communicate more easily with their readers, and virtual reality (VR) is finding its place as a marketing tool in numerous businesses. 

To help you keep pace with these trends, let's take a look at some visual content marketing statistics that demonstrate the impact visual content has on reach, engagement, and sales. You can jump to the following categories to see statistics related to that category:

• General Visual Content Stats
• Video Marketing Stats
• Emerging Visual Marketing Stats
• Infographic Stats
• Social Media Stats

50 Visual Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know

General Visual Content Statistics

• 70% of companies invest in content marketing, which could include visual marketing strategies. (HubSpot)
• The primary form of media used in content marketing is video. (HubSpot)
• One fourth of marketers are investing in content marketing related to product promotions while just over 20% of investing in branded storytelling specifically. (HubSpot)

Source: HubSpot

• Marketers spend the most time creating content for Facebook and their own company website, respectively. (HubSpot)
• 32% of marketers say visual images are the most important form of content for their business, with blogging in second (27%). (Social Media Examiner)
• 80% of marketers use visual assets in their social media marketing. Video (63%), alone, has also surpassed blogging (60%) in usage as a social media marketing asset. (Social Media Examiner)
• When people hear information, they're likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of the information three days later. (Brain Rules)
• 11% more B2C marketers than B2B marketers say visual content is the most important type of content today. (Social Media Examiner)

Video Marketing Statistics

• Mobile video usage has increased by nearly 10 million daily viewing minutes in the last two years.  (Kleiner Perkins)
• Cisco projects that global internet traffic from videos will make up 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2021.  (Cisco)
• 70% of YouTube viewers watch videos for "help with a problem" they're having in their hobby, studies, or job.  (Think With Google)
• Globally, YouTube is consumers' leading source of video content, at 83% (Facebook is second, at 67%).  (HubSpot)
• Video streaming has increased significantly in the last several years. The live-streaming platform, Twitch, saw an increase of more than 13 million average daily streaming hours between 2012 and 2017.  (Kleiner Perkins)
• In a 2018 HubSpot survey, 54% of consumers wanted to see more video content from a brand or business they support.  (HubSpot)

Source: HubSpot Research

Emerging Visual Marketing Trends

• In 2019, 42.9 million people in the US used a VR product, and 68.7 million people used an AR once monthly. (eMarketer)
• Seven in ten media planners want to add AR to their strategies in the future. (Vibrant Media)
• A quarter of VR users believe it has a strong potential for brands and marketers. (GlobalWebIndex)
• 64% of consumers say VR has the most potential in gaming, while 52% recognize its potential in Film and TV. (GlobalWebIndex)
• By 2018, 35% of marketers use live video.  (Social Media Examiner)
• Live videos on Facebook have an engagement rate of 4.3% compared to 2.2% for non-live videos.  (Telescope)
• 90% of all video plays on Twitter take place on mobile devices.  (HubSpot)
• Videos 20 minutes in length or longer account for 55% of total video consumption time on smartphones.  (Goyala)
• 85% of adults consume content on multiple devices at the same time.  (Think With Google)
• According to the Lowes home improvement store, how-to videos that were shown in virtual reality (VR) had a 36% higher recall by viewers compared to people who only viewed the YouTube video.  (HubSpot)
• According to a 2018 survey, 82% of respondents expect people to focus on developing augmented reality (AR) experiences for smartphones.  (Perkins Coie)
• Gaming, education, and healthcare are the top three industries expected to invest the most in VR technology for business growth.  (Perkins Coie)

Source: Perkins Coie LLC

Infographic Stats for Visual Content Marketers

• Infographics are the fourth most used type of content marketing. (HubSpot)
• Infographics have had the biggest increase in usage among B2B marketers in the last four years -- now at 65%.  (Content Marketing Institute)
• People following directions with text and illustrations do 323% better than people following directions without illustrations. Take content marketer Ryan Robinson's guide on how to start a blog as an example, where he teaches readers the process of building a blog through a combination of text, illustrations and infographics.  (Springer)

Source: NeoMam

Social Media Stats for Visual Content Marketers

• In a general survey of over 250 consumers, 70% said they watched Facebook Stories more often than Instagram or Snapchat Stories. (HubSpot)
• Businesses that are on Instagram get up to 37% of their total impressions from Instagram Stories. (Social Bakers)
• Instagram has half the user base of Facebook but a majority of its audience is young adults under 34. (HubSpot)
• By the end of 2020, Instagram's share of Facebook's total ad revenue is expected to grow by 30%. (Recode)
• Of the Instagram Story formats people prefer most, 35% say they engage with short narrative-styled Stories most often, followed by interactive Stories centered around quizzes and polls. (HubSpot)

Data Source: Lucid Software

• 85% of Facebook and Instagram users watch video on the platforms with the sound off. (Digiday)
• In a poll of over 300 consumers, 56% said they "sometimes" watch social media Stories with the sound on, while 29% said they "always" do this. (HubSpot)
• 72% of teenagers use Instagram and nearly as many (69%) use Snapchat. Both have increased by more than 20% since 2015. (Pew Research)
• Tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than tweets without images. (Buffer)

Source: Buffer

• In an analysis of over 1 million articles, BuzzSumo found that articles with an image once every 75-100 words received double the social media shares as articles with fewer images. (Buzzsumo)
• Facebook posts with images see 2.3X more engagement than those without images.  (Buzzsumo)

Source: Buzzsumo

• There are more than 500 million Instagram users active every day. (Instagram Business)
• By 2017, more than 500 million Facebook users are watching videos on Facebook every day.  (Forbes)
• By late 2018, 52% of marketers reported seeing their organic reach on Facebook decline in the last year.  (Social Media Examiner)
• 92% of the videos on Facebook are published as Facebook native videos.  (Quintly)
• Snapchat had 187 million daily active Snapchat users as of 2018.  (Bloomberg)
• 8% more B2C marketers than B2B marketers are interested in learning more about Pinterest as a visual content platform.  (Pew Research)
• Shopify users referred by Pinterest spend an average of $80 compared to the Facebook referral average of $40.  (Jeff Bullas)

Source: Jeff Bullas

• Over 80% of pins are re-pins compared to 1.4% of tweets retweeted. (Jeff Bullas)
• YouTube reaches more 18+-year-olds during prime-time viewing hours than any cable TV network.  (Think With Google)
• Half of YouTube subscribers between the ages of 18 and 34 would drop whatever they were doing to watch a new video from their favorite channel.  (Think With Google) 

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The 21 Best iPaaS Vendors for Any Budget

As your business grows and evolves, you'll inevitably find yourself adding more applications to your growth stack. If those applications run on different platforms and can't communicate effectively, you're going to run into issues with data loss, duplication of efforts, and bottlenecks that slow your team down.

iPaaS -- which stands for Integration Platform as a Service -- helps you connect the tools and systems that power your business in one place, so information can be shared without high-maintenance, one-off integrations or manual data entry.

We wrote a deep dive on iPaaS here if you'd like to learn more about the basics, view a complete glossary of iPaaS terms, and better understand what iPaaS can potentially offer your business.

If you've decided you want to invest in iPaaS but aren't sure where to start, you're in the right place. In this article, we'll go over some of the best iPaaS vendors, so you can discover one that fits your company's unique needs and budget. Let's dive in.

1. Dell Boomi

Acquired by Dell in 2010, Boomi offers a cloud-based integration and API management solution with all the bells and whistles you could ask for: workflows, API design, application deployment, B2B/EDI management, and much more. Within Boomi, you can design end-to-end workflows and process data across multiple applications. Suitable for enterprise and small businesses from many different industries, Boomi has been considered a leader in the iPaaS space for the last six years by Gartner.

Price: Starting at $549/month

2. Oracle Integration Cloud

If you're looking for a straightforward iPaaS solutions with industry best practices and premade integration flows baked into the product, Oracle Integration Cloud might be an option to take a deeper look at. Oracle serves up an extensive library of out-of-the-box adapters to different SaaS and on-premises applications, making the initial set-up less time consuming for your team.

Price: Choose from several different pricing structures, including a pay-as-you-go plan starting at $1.2097/message, and a monthly flex plan starting at $0.8065/message.

3. Workato

This iPaaS solution was designed to enable better connection between business users and IT, allowing both groups to plan, create, and easily maintain integrations between different systems. Workato provides pre-built integration flows between 300 of the most popular SaaS products, and the ability to design custom integrations in a simple, drag-and-drop interface.

Price: Choose from a Business Plan ($1499/month) Business Plus Plan ($2999/month) and Enterprise Plan (Custom pricing based on your specific needs)

4. TIBCO Cloud

TIBCO Cloud prides itself on providing an easy-to-use iPaaS solution that simplifies the creation and management of integration flows in your business. They consider themselves to be an "application neutral" technology partner for their clients -- meaning, they won't try to push you towards using a particular application or ecosystem, they'll work with you to build a solution that connects your on-premises and cloud-based applications your business already prefers to use.

Price: Starting at $400/month for a Basic Plan, $1500/month for a Standard Plan, and custom pricing for Hybrid plans based on your unique needs.

5. Elastic.io

Elastic.io promises to remove the laborious product management component of custom integrations and reduce the amount of time spent on integrations at your company by up to 80%. This iPaaS vendor also takes an as-a-service mentality to how they work with customers, helping you support feature roll-outs and upgrades, bug fixes, and connector updates.

Price: For system integrators, the monthly plans start at €199/month, for enterprise customers, the yearly plans start at €1,499/month, and for software vendors, they offer the platform as OEM with customizable pricing (i.e. on request).

6. Modulus Data

This iPaaS vendor specializes in integrations for the Human Resources industry, offering a comprehensive library of pre-built connectors aimed at helping your HR department align their applications and tools in one seamless, secure hub. Modulus Data has out-of-the-box connectors with most popular HR applications and softwares, including Workday, Greenhouse, Monster, and Oracle HCM.

Price: Contact sales@modulusdata.com

7. Informatica

Informatica has been around since 1993, and still continues to be an industry leader in helping businesses manage their data effectively and securely. Specializing in enterprise level iPaaS solutions, Informatica lists big companies like GE, Unilever, and L'Oreal among their clients. If you're a large company looking for hands-on support on your custom iPaaS journey, Informatica might be a good fit for your needs.

Price: Prices for an integration base begin at $2,000/month

8. IBM AppConnect

IBM's iPaaS solution markets itself as an easy way to connect apps, build APIs, integrate data, and act on events. AppConnect comes equipped with a series of templates made up of common patterns you can use to quickly set-up integration flows for your business, and start getting value immediately. SMBs looking to get started with iPaaS and explore the possibilities of new applications might benefit from using AppConnect.

Price: AppConnect offers a free lite package. Professional packages start at $500/month, and customizable Enterprise packages begin at $2,370/month.

9. SnapLogic

For companies seeking at enterprise-level iPaaS solution that can handle a lot of data quickly, SnapLogic offers up a way to automate integrations across on-premises and cloud-based applications on a large scale. But don't let the hefty capabilities of SnapLogic mislead you into thinking the product itself is for the extremely tech-savvy only -- this iPaaS solution is designed with user accessibility in mind, so even teams with less technology experience can build, manage, and scale custom integrations and workflows.

Price: Annual pricing starts at $48k/year

10. Zapier

One of the more user and wallet-friendly options in the iPaaS space, Zapier gives businesses of any size the ability to design and manage custom integration solutions that fit their exact needs. Zapier adds new integrations (called "zaps") to their massive integrations library each week, so chances are, there's already an out-of-the-box solution available for you to start using today.

Price: Zapier offers a free basic package. Starter packages start at $20/month, and Professional packages begin at $50/month.

11. Jitterbit

According to G2 ratings, Jitterbit is one of the more user-friendly and cost-effective iPaaS options out there. This iPaaS vendor offers support for a wide breadth of connectors, advanced workflow capabilities, real-time integrations, and a range of data security features. Additionally, Jitterbit has an easy-to-use visual designer to help make the setup and monitoring processes run smoothly -- even for teams without a dedicated developer on staff.

Price: Pricing varies based on your needs, so you'll need to contact Jitterbit to get a quote.

12. Amazon API Gateway

Built with developers in mind, Amazon's iPaaS solution enables teams to create and manage APIs that act as a "front door" for applications to access data and share information. Amazon API Gateway is unique because you only pay for the API calls you use, rather than most other iPaaS vendors which rely on monthly or annual pricing models. This iPaaS vendor is one to consider if you have a developer on staff and want more direct control over the API calls your company uses.

Pricing: No upfront costs. Pricing is determined by the quantity and type of API calls used.

13. Celigo Intergrator.io

If you aren't sure how an iPaaS solution will work for your company and are wary of hefty fees, Celigo offers a free version of their iPaaS product. Their Integration Marketplace is stocked with plenty of prebuilt, supported integrations with common applications, and their "flow" subscription model means you can start off with the free version and only start paying if you increase your usage and add new integrations into the mix.

Pricing: The basic package is free, and they offer additional packages starting at $600/month.

14. Tray.io

This iPaaS vendor was designed with the intention to better connect the tools and workflows used by your marketing, sales, product, and services teams. They offer out-of-the-box integration solutions developed with these specific teams in mind, and aim to empower your teams to manage and create the integrations they need without the need for developer assistance every step of the way.

Price: Standard packages start at $595/month, Professional starts at $2,450/month, and Enterprise packages are available with custom pricing based on your needs.

15. Xplenty

If you're seeking a straightforward way to visualize your workflows, integrations, and data flows, Xplenty might be a good option to consider. Their simplified dashboard enables you to manage how your tools and data are working together in one central place, and your developers will love that they can connect Xplenty with their existing monitoring systems using service hooks.

Price: Contact Xpenty for a quote.

16. Mulesoft

Used by tech giants like Netflix and Airbnb, Mulesoft offers a wide range of customized iPaaS solutions for different industries and tech setups. Their selection of out-of-the-box connectivity options means your team will spend less time initially building out new integrations, since prebuilt integrations are easier to get up and running fast.

Price: Contact Mulesoft for a quote.

17. PieSync

PieSync wants to make it easier for your team to provide excellent service for your customers, and that starts with ensuring customer data doesn't get lost in the spaces between your team's tools and databases. This iPaaS vendor advertises a "no coding" approach that's ideal for teams who want to get started with iPaaS but might not have the tech resources on staff. They offer prebuilt integrations between many popular applications, like HubSpot, MailChimp, and Office 365. PieSync is also one of the more affordable options on the list -- so it could be a good choice for startups and teams on the smaller side.

Price: Starter is $9/month, Pro is $19/month, and Enterprise is $99/month.

18. The Crosscut

Developed by Moskitos, The Crosscut® is an iPaaS solution for hybrid information systems -- it can connect both cloud-to-cloud applications and cloud-to-on-premise applications, which makes it a great pick if your team isn't looking to go full cloud just yet. You can develop and launch integrations in a central Control Center, and set up role-based monitoring using their Corporate Portal.

Price: Contact Moskitos for a quote.

19. Blendr.io

Blendr.io offers a low-code visual builder to create complex enterprise-grade or standardized self-service integrations. They also provide a set of features to embed integrations in the the UI of your platform (including HubSpot) into the UI of other SaaS platforms.

Blendr.io integrates marketing, sales, events, productivity, and 300+ other cloud platforms. If you end up not finding the integration you need in their library, you can ask the Blendr.io team to add it at no additional cost to your plan.

Price: Contact Blendr.io for a quote.

20. Blendo

Blendo is a self-service iPaaS solution that can connect applications from your sales, marketing, and financial teams and flow directly into a number of popular data warehousing options. Blendo was designed to make reporting across multiple applications more straightforward, so they ensure you can access your data in your preferred reporting platform.

Price: Contact Blendo for a quote.

21. Skyvia

Last but certainly not least, we have Skyvia, a no-coding cloud data integration platform that offers both ELT and ETL approaches. It has both visual tools for simple integration cases and powerful mapping and transformation settings for more complex scenarios. The platform also offers no-coding OData and SQL web API layer and has ADO.NET provider and ODBC driver for accessing your data via these API over the web. Skyvia supports all major data sources - from SaaS apps like Salesforce and BigCommerce, to databases like MySQL and SQL Server.

Price: Choose from a Data Integration Free plan (free), a Data Basic Integration plan ($19/month), and a Data Integration Standard plan ($99/month).

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How to Write a Blog Post: A Step-by-Step Guide [+ Free Blog Post Templates]

You probably already know how integral the process of blogging is to the success of your marketing efforts. Which is why it goes without saying it's exceptionally important to learn how to effectively start and manage a blog in a way that supports your business.

Without a blog, you'll find yourself experiencing a number of problems such as poor search engine optimization (SEO), lack of promotional content for social, little clout with your leads and customers, and fewer pages to share your lead-generating calls-to-action (CTAs) on.

So why, oh why, do so many marketers I talk to still have a laundry list of excuses for why they can't maintain a blog?

Maybe because, unless you enjoy writing, business blogging might seem uninteresting, time consuming, and difficult.

Well, the time for excuses is over and this guide is here to help you understand why. We'll cover how to write and manage your business's blog as well as provide helpful templates to simplify your blogging efforts.

Let's get started with an important question.

Today, people and organizations of all walks of life manage blogs to share analyses, instruction, criticisms, product information, industry findings, and more. There are many popular blog formats but, here are six of the most common:

• The "How-To" Post
• The List-Based Post
• The "What Is" Post
• The Pillar Page Post
• The Newsjacking Post
• The Infographic Post

Save time and download six blog templates for free.

So, how do you ensure your blog post catches the eyes of your target audience, buyer personas, and customers?

What makes a good blog post?

Before you write a blog, make sure you know the answers to questions like, "Why would someone keep reading this entire blog post?" and "What makes our audience come back for more?"

To start, a good blog post is interesting and educational. Blogs should answer questions and help readers resolve a challenge they're experiencing — and you have to do so in an interesting way.

It's not enough just to answer someone's questions — you also have to provide actionable steps while being engaging. For instance, your introduction should hook the reader and make them want to continue reading your post. Then, use examples to keep your readers interested in what you have to say.

Remember, a good blog post is interesting to read and provides educational content to audience members.

(Want to learn how to apply blogging and other forms of content marketing to your business? Check out HubSpot Academy's free content marketing training resource page.)

So, how do you actually go about writing one of these engaging and informational pieces?

How to Write a Blog Post

Here are the steps you'll want to follow while writing a blog post.

1. Understand your audience.

Before you start writing your blog post, make sure you have a clear understanding of your target audience.

Ask questions like: What do they want to know about? And, what will resonate with them?

This is where creating your buyer personas comes in handy. Consider what you know about your buyer personas and their interests while you're coming up with a topic for your blog post.

For instance, if your readers are millennials looking to start a business, you probably don't need to provide them with information about getting started in social media — most of them already have that down.

You might, however, want to give them information about how to adjust their social media approach (for example — from what may be a casual, personal approach to a more business-savvy, networking-focused approach). That kind of tweak is what helps you publish content about the topics your audience really wants (and needs).

Don't have buyer personas in place for your business? Here are a few resources to help you get started:

• Create Buyer Personas for Your Business [Free Template]
• Blog Post: How to Create Detailed Buyer Personas for Your Business
• [Free Tool] Make My Persona: Buyer Persona Generator

2. Create your blog domain.

Next, you'll need a place to host this and every other blog post you write. This requires choosing a content management system (CMS) and a website domain hosting service.

Choose a CMS.

A CMS helps you create a website domain where you'll actually publish your blog. CMS platforms can manage domains (where you create your website) and subdomains (where you create a webpage that connects to an existing website).

HubSpot customers host web content via CMS Hub. Another popular option is a self-hosted WordPress website on WP Engine. Whether you create a domain or a subdomain to start your blog, you'll need to choose a web hosting service after you pick a CMS.

Register a domain or subdomain with a website host.

Your blog's domain will look like this: www.yourblog.com. The name between the two periods is up to you, as long as this domain name doesn't yet exist on the internet.

Want to create a subdomain for your blog? If you already own a cooking business at www.yourcompany.com, you might create a blog that looks like this: blog.yourcompany.com. In other words, your blog's subdomain will live in its own section of yourcompany.com.

Some CMSs offer subdomains as a free service, where your blog lives on the CMS, rather than your business's website. For example, it might look like this: yourblog.contentmanagementsystem.com. However, to create a subdomain that belongs to a company website, register the subdomain with a website host.

Most website hosting services charge very little to host an original domain — in fact, website costs can be as inexpensive as $3 per month.

Here are five popular web hosting services to choose from:

• GoDaddy
• HostGator
• DreamHost
• Bluehost
• iPage

3. Customize your blog's theme.

Once you have your domain name set up, customize the appearance of your blog to reflect the theme of the content you plan on creating and your brand.

For example, if you're writing about sustainability and the environment, green might be a color to keep in mind while designing.

If you already manage a website and are writing the first post for that existing website, ensure the article is consistent with the website in appearance and subject matter. Two ways to do this are including your:

• Logo: This can be your business's name and/ or logo — it will remind blog readers of who's publishing the content. (How heavily you want to brand your blog, however, is up to you.)
• "About" Page: You might already have an "About" blurb describing yourself or your business. Your blog's "About" section is an extension of this higher-level statement. Think of it as your blog's mission statement, which serves to support your company's goals.

4. Identify your first blog post's topic.

Before you write anything, pick a topic for your blog post. The topic can be pretty general to start. For example, if you're a company that sells a CRM for small-to-enterprise businesses, your post might be about the importance of using a single software to keep Marketing, Sales, and Service aligned.

Pro tip: You may not want to jump into a "how-to" article for your first blog post.

For instance, if you're a plumber writing your first post, perhaps you'd write about modern faucet setups, or tell a particular success story you had rescuing a faucet before it flooded a customer's house. Here are four other types of blog posts you could start with:

• List ("Listicle"): 5 ways to fix a leaky faucet
• Curated Collection: 10 faucet and sink brands to consider today
• SlideShare Presentation: 5 types of faucets to replace your old one (with pictures)
• News Piece: New study shows X% of people don't replace their faucet frequently enough

If you're having trouble coming up with topic ideas, check out this blog post by my colleague. In the post, she walks through a helpful process for turning one idea into many. Similar to the "leaky faucet" examples above, she suggests you "iterate off old topics to come up with unique and compelling new topics."

This can be done by:

• Changing the topic scope
• Adjusting your time frame
• Choosing a new audience
• Taking a positive/negative approach
• Introducing a new format

5. Come up with a working title.

You might come up with a few different working titles — in other words, iterations of approaching that topic to help you focus your writing.

For example, you may decide to narrow your topic to "Tools for Fixing Leaky Faucets" or "Common Causes of Leaky Faucets." A working title is specific and will guide your post so you can start writing.

Let's take a real post as an example: "How to Choose a Solid Topic for Your Next Blog Post." Appropriate, right? The topic, in this case, was probably "blogging." Then the working title may have been something like, "The Process for Selecting a Blog Post Topic." And the final title ended up being "How to Choose a Solid Topic for Your Next Blog Post."

See that evolution from topic, to working title, to final title? Even though the working title may not end up being the final title (more on that in a moment), it still provides enough information so you can focus your blog post on something more specific than a generic, overwhelming topic.

6. Write an intro (and make it captivating).

We've written more specifically about writing captivating introductions in the post, "How to Write an Introduction," but let's review, shall we?

First, grab the reader's attention. If you lose the reader in the first few paragraphs — or even sentences — of the introduction, they'll stop reading (even before they've given your post a fair shake). You can do this in a number of ways: tell a story or a joke, be empathetic, or grip the reader with an interesting fact or statistic.

Then, describe the purpose of your post and explain how it will address a problem the reader may be experiencing. This will give the reader a reason to continue reading and offer a connection to how it will help them improve their work/lives.

Here's an example of a post we think does a good job of attracting a reader's attention right away:

7. Organize your content in an outline.

Sometimes, blog posts can have an overwhelming amount of information — for the reader and the writer. The trick is to organize the info in a way so readers aren't intimidated by length or amount of content. This organization can take multiple forms — sections, lists, tips — whatever's most appropriate. But it must be organized!

Let's take a look at the post, "How to Use Snapchat: A Detailed Look Into HubSpot’s Snapchat Strategy." There's a lot of content in the piece, so it's broken up into a few sections using descriptive headers. The major sections are separated into sub-sections that go into more detail, making the content easier to read.

To complete this step, all you really need to do is outline your post. This way, before you start writing, you'll know which points you want to cover and the best order to do so in. And to make things even easier, you can download and use our free blog post templates, which are pre-organized for six of the most common blogs. Just fill in the blanks!

8. Write your blog post!

The next step — but not the last — is actually writing the content. We can't forget about that, of course.

Now that you have your outline/template, you're ready to fill in the blanks. Use your outline as a guide and expand on all points as needed. Write about what you already know, and if necessary, conduct additional research to gather more information, examples, and data to back up your points, while providing proper attribution when incorporating external sources.

(Need help finding accurate and compelling data to use in your post? Check out this roundup of sources for inspiration.)

If you're having trouble stringing sentences together, you're not alone. Finding your "flow" can be challenging for a lot of folks. Luckily, there are a ton of tools you can lean on to help you improve your writing. Here are a few to get you started:

• Power Thesaurus: Stuck on a word? Power Thesaurus is a crowdsourced tool that provides users with a number of alternative word choices from a community of writers.
• ZenPen: If you're having trouble staying focused, check out this distraction-free writing tool. ZenPen creates a minimalist "writing zone" designed to help you get words down without having to fuss with formatting right away.
• Cliché Finder: Feeling like your writing might be coming off a little cheesy? Identify instances where you can be more specific using this handy cliché tool.

For a complete list of tools for improving your writing skills, check out this post. And if you're looking for more direction, the following resources are chock-full of valuable writing advice:

• The Marketer's Pocket Guide to Writing Well [Free Ebook]
• How to Write Compelling Copy: 7 Tips for Writing Content That Converts
• How to Write With Clarity: 9 Tips for Simplifying Your Message
• The Kurt Vonnegut Guide to Great Copywriting: 8 Rules That Apply to Anyone
• Your Blog Posts Are Boring: 9 Tips for Making Your Writing More Interesting
• The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Successful Blog in 2019

9. Proofread and edit your post.

You're not quite done yet, but you're close! The editing process is an important part of blogging — don't overlook it.

Ask a grammar-conscious co-worker to copyedit and proofread your post. You may also consider enlisting the help of The Ultimate Editing Checklist or using a free grammar checker like Grammarly.

If you're looking to brush up on your self-editing skills, turn to these helpful posts for some tips and tricks to get you started:

• Confessions of a HubSpot Editor: 11 Editing Tips From the Trenches
• How to Become a More Efficient Editor: 12 Ways to Speed Up the Editorial Process
• 10 Simple Edits That'll Instantly Improve Any Piece of Writing

When you're ready to check your formatting, keep the blog elements in mind ...

Featured Image

Choose a visually appealing and relevant image for your post. As social networks treat content with images more prominently, visuals are more responsible than ever for the success of your blog content.

In fact, it's been shown that content with relevant images receives 94% more views than content without relevant images. For help selecting an image for your post, read "How to Select the Perfect Image for Your Next Blog Post" and pay close attention to the section about copyright law.

Visual Appearance

No one likes an unattractive blog post. And it's not just pictures that make a post visually appealing — it's the formatting and organization of the post, too.

In a well-formatted and visually-appealing blog post, you'll notice that header and sub-headers are used to break up large blocks of text — and those headers are styled consistently.

Here's an example of what that looks like:

Screenshots should always have a similar, defined border so they don't appear as if they're floating in space — that style should stay consistent from post to post.

Maintaining this consistency makes your content look more professional and easier on the eyes.

Topics and Tags

Tags are specific, public-facing keywords that describe a post. They also allow readers to browse for more content in the same category on your blog. Refrain from adding a laundry list of tags to each post. Instead, put some thought into a blog tagging strategy.

Think of tags as "topics" or "categories," and choose 10-20 tags that represent all the main topics you want to cover on your blog. Then stick to those.

10. Insert a CTA.

At the end of every blog post, insert a CTA that indicates what you want the reader to do next — subscribe to your blog, download an ebook, register for a webinar or event, read a related article, etc.

Your visitors read your blog post, they click on the CTA, and eventually you generate a lead. But the CTA is also a valuable resource for the person reading your content — use your CTAs to offer more content similar to the subject of the post they just finished reading.

In the blog post, "What to Post on Instagram: 18 Photo & Video Ideas to Spark Inspiration," for instance, readers are given actionable ideas for creating valuable Instagram content. At the end of the post is a CTA referring readers to download a comprehensive guide on how to use Instagram for business:

See how that's a win-win for everyone? Readers who want to learn more have the opportunity to do so, and the business receives a lead they can nurture ... who may even become a customer!

11. Optimize for on-page SEO.

After you finish writing, go back and search engine optimize your post.

Don't obsess over how many keywords to include. If there are opportunities to incorporate keywords you're targeting, and it won't impact reader experience, do it. If you can make your URL shorter and more keyword-friendly, go for it. But don't cram keywords or shoot for some arbitrary keyword density — Google's smarter than that!

Here's a little blog SEO reminder about what you should review and optimize:

Meta Description

Meta descriptions are the descriptions below the post's page title on Google's search results pages. They provide searchers with a short summary of the post before clicking into it. They are ideally between 150-160 characters and start with a verb, such as "Learn," "Read," or "Discover."

While meta descriptions no longer factor into Google's keyword ranking algorithm, they give searchers a snapshot of what they'll get from reading the post and help improve your clickthrough rate from search.

Page Title and Headers

Most blogging software uses your post title as your page title, which is the most important on-page SEO element at your disposal. But if you've followed our formula so far, you should already have a working title that will naturally include keywords and/ or phrases your target audience is interested in.

Don't over-complicate your title by trying to fit in keywords where they don't naturally belong. With that said, if there are clear opportunities to add keywords you're targeting to your post title and headers, feel free to take them. Also, try to keep your headlines short — ideally, under 65 characters — so they don't get truncated in the search engine results.

Anchor Text

Anchor text is the word or words that link to another page — either on your website or on another website. Carefully select which keywords you want to link to other pages on your site because search engines take that into consideration when ranking your page for certain keywords.

It's also important to consider which pages you link to. Consider linking pages that you want to rank for a specific keyword. You could end up getting it to rank on Google's first page of results instead of its second page — and that ain't small potatoes.

Mobile Optimization

With mobile devices accounting for nearly two-of-three minutes spent online, having a website with a responsive design is critical. In addition to making sure your website's visitors (including your blog's visitors) have the best experience possible, optimizing for mobile will score your website some SEO points.

To make sure your site is getting the maximum SEO benefit possible, check out this free guide: How to Make a Mobile-Friendly Website: SEO Tips for a Post-"Mobilegeddon" World.

12. Pick a catchy title.

Last but not least, it's time to spruce up that working title of yours. Luckily, we have a simple formula for writing catchy titles that will grab the attention of your reader. Here's what to consider:

1. Start with your working title.
2. As you start to edit your title, keep in mind that it's important to keep the title accurate and clear.
3. Then, work on making your title sexy — whether it's through strong language, alliteration, or another literary tactic.
4. If you can, optimize for SEO by sneaking some keywords in there (only if it's natural, though!).
5. Finally, see if you can shorten it at all. No one likes a long, overwhelming title — remember, Google prefers 65 characters or fewer before it truncates it on its search engine results pages.

If you've mastered the steps above, learn about some ways to take your blog posts to the next level. Want some real examples of blog posts? See what your first blog post can look like, below, based on the topic you choose and the audience you're targeting.

1. List-Based Blog Post

List-Based Post Example: 10 Fresh Ways to Get Better Results From Your Blog Posts

List-based posts are sometimes called "listicles," a mix of the words "list" and "article." These are articles that deliver information in the form of a list. A listicle uses sub-headers to break down the blog post into individual pieces, helping readers skim and digest your content more easily. According to ClearVoice, listicles are among the most shared types of content on social media across 14 industries.

As you can see in the example from our blog, above, listicles can offer various tips and methods for solving a problem.

2. Thought Leadership Post

Example: What I Wish I Had Known Before Writing My First Book

Thought leadership posts allow you to indulge in your expertise on a particular subject matter and share firsthand knowledge with your readers.

These pieces — which can be written in the first person, like the post by Joanna Penn, shown above — help you build trust with your audience so people take your blog seriously as you continue to write for it.

3. Curated Collection Post

Example: 8 Examples of Evolution in Action

Curated collections are a special type of listicle blog post. Rather than sharing tips or methods for doing something, this type of blog post shares a list of real examples that all have something in common in order to prove a larger point.

In the example post above, Listverse shares eight real examples of evolution in action among eight different animals — starting with the peppered moth.

4. Slideshare Presentation

Example: The HubSpot Culture Code

Slideshare is a presentation tool owned by the social network, LinkedIn, that helps publishers package a lot of information into easily shareable slides. Think of it like a PowerPoint, but for the web. With this in mind, Slideshare blog posts help you promote your Slideshare so that it can generate a steady stream of visitors.

Unlike blogs, Slideshare decks don't often rank well on search engines, so they need a platform for getting their message out there to the people who are looking for it. By embedding and summarizing your Slideshare on a blog post, you can share a great deal of information and give it a chance to rank on Google at the same time.

Need some Slideshare ideas? In the example above, we turned our company's "Culture Code" into a Slideshare presentation that anyone can look through and take lessons from, and then promoted it in a blog post.

5. Newsjacking Post

Example: Ivy Goes Mobile With New App for Designers

"Newsjacking" is a nickname for "hijacking" your blog to break important news related to your industry. Therefore, the newsjack post is a type of article whose sole purpose is to garner consumers' attention and, while offering them timeless professional advice, also prove your blog to be a trusted resource for learning about the big things that happen in your industry.

The newsjack example above was published by Houzz, a home decor merchant and interior design resource, about a new mobile app that launched just for interior designers. Houzz didn't launch the app, but the news of its launching is no less important to Houzz's audience.

6. Infographic Post

Example: The Key Benefits of Studying Online [Infographic]

The infographic post serves a similar purpose as the Slideshare post — the fourth example, explained above — in that it conveys information for which plain blog copy might not be the best format.

For example, when you're looking to share a lot of statistical information (without boring or confusing your readers), building this data into a well-designed, even fun-looking infographic can help keep your readers engaged with your content. It also helps readers remember the information long after they leave your website.

7. How-to Post

Example: How to Write a Blog Post: A Step-by-Step Guide

For this example, you need not look any further than the blog post you're reading right now! How-to guides like this one help solve a problem for your readers. They're like a cookbook for your industry, walking your audience through a project step by step to improve their literacy on the subject.

The more posts like this you create, the more equipped your readers will be to work with you and invest in the services you offer.

8. Guest Post

Example: Your Bookmarkable Guide to Social Media Image Sizes in 2020 [Infographic]

Guest posts are a type of blog post that you can use to include other voices on your blog. For example, if you want to get an outside expert's opinion on a topic, a guest post is perfect for that.

Additionally, these posts give your blog variety in topic and viewpoint. If your customer has a problem you can't solve, a guest post is a great way to solve that problem.

If you begin accepting guest posts, set up editorial guidelines to ensure they're up to the same standards as your posts.

Ready to blog?

Blogging can help you build brand awareness, become a thought-leader and expert in your industry, attract qualified leads, and boost conversions. Follow the steps and tips we covered above to begin publishing and enhancing your blog today.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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