Tight writing is both effective and enjoyable.

When you read content that gets to the point, that avoids cliches and heavy, dull syntax and grammar — that almost reads like a good short story or piece by a professional journalist — that is when you are reading tight writing.

“Keep it short and sweet” should be tattooed on the arm of every content writer.

Use short sentences. Employ action verbs. Avoid the past tense whenever possible.

Make sure you understand the idea or concept you’re trying to get across before you write a single word. If you don’t really grasp it, you’ll never be able to put it to your readers in a succinct manner.

And finally, if your content is much longer than this piece right here — start editing!

P.T. Barnum ran a museum in New York City 160 years ago that attracted huge crowds.

The content of his museum included things like a stuffed mermaid, the world’s oldest woman, and a live gorilla that Barnum claimed to be a man-eater.

But the huge crowds did not translate into the trust of any kind. People were more than willing to be entertained by his chicanery, but they wouldn’t trust him for a minute. When he attempted a legitimate commercial venture, he was laughed out of the city.

Is your content getting that way? Are you good at entertaining the consumer at the expense of their trusting your content?

To coin a cyber phrase: “All that glitters is not guaranteed”.

When consumers learn to trust your content, then they are ready to be converted into leads and sales. Until then, they’re only on your site to see the two-headed monkey.

Keeping up a constant stream of quality content for your blog(s) can quickly lead to writer’s block or even complete burnout, where all you want to do is run screaming out of the house, smashing your laptop on the nearest rock, and head for Bali Hai, to loll on the beach collecting sea shells for the rest of your life.

But you won’t do that because you’re a professional. And professionals learn how to work smarter, not harder.

So when you start to feel that old burnout imp tickling you, do something different to rock your world for a brief period, shake up your brain, and prime those creative juices.

You could:

Eat at a new restaurant.

Contact an old friend you haven’t heard from in years.

Blow up a balloon or blow bubbles for ten minutes outside, where people can stare at you.

See if you can stand on your head for five minutes.

Tape a five-dollar bill to the nearest utility pole on a busy street, then step back to see what happens.

Creating content that sizzles is one thing; creating content that brings in traffic and leads is another.

While you always want your content to be high quality, you also want it to be engaging.

That may mean going out on a limb with something controversial.

Not vulgar or insulting, and certainly not libelous (as your own legal department will remind you) — but a post that gets people talking, even disagreeing, can be a powerful marketing tool.

Stay away from politics and religion. Period.

But try using content that expresses a minority view. If you’re selling eggs, for instance, post something against eggs. Surprise your viewers with information about how many is too many. That will get their attention.

Then, after your target market begins wondering, end it with some stout proof of how good eggs really are — in moderation. Your audience is reassured, and you’ve given them something to think about.

Storytelling is a craft. You have to learn it, mostly by doing it, sometimes by taking a class about it.

To engage your viewers, increase traffic and leads, always tell a story.

And not a long one. Shakespeare said: “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

Tell a story about who you are and why you are here. That builds trust with customers.

Tell a visual story. Share the future with your readers; they may agree or disagree, but at least you’ve got them thinking about your brand.

Tell a ‘whoops’ story. One that shows how you did something wrong and learned from it. Smart customers will realize they can learn from your experience and will appreciate your good-humored humility.

As the poet Robert Frost said about Abraham Lincoln: “He told stories, and he made history.”

If you have ever worked in a hedge fund, you know how vital a Due Diligent Questionnaire (DDQ) is to the management. These forms are used to collect critical information and can also be used in marketing. Sometimes, the information that you obtain through the questionnaires is so sensitive and you do not want to share it with anyone outside the organization. However, some intruders are always using new methods to get to such information, and when they do, things such as identity theft and fraud occur. The only way you can be safe from such threats is by using the services of a managed IT services firm such as Agio.

What is Agio?

Agio is one of the most effective service prodders when it comes to cybersecurity and fraud. As you work with DDQs to improve the quality of services that you give to your customers, they will be working behind the scenes to make sure that you do not get exposed to any threats. They will be using several methods to keep intruders away from your data, and therefore, they help you to eliminate some situations that can pose significant risks to your organization. There are many ways through which they do it.

Providing up-to-date security tools

When you join Agio, you will get updated tools that are designed to fight the latest cybersecurity problems. Some of the old tools may work, but they certainly will not be enough to deal with the challenges that come with new threats. You will notice that cybercriminals are always coming up with new ways to steal information, and therefore unless you know how to deal with these new threats, it will not be easy for you to protect all your data. Luckily, the tools that Agio provides will protect every aspect of your DDQ, and they can be upgraded when the need arises.

Giving you real-time updates

You need a service provider that will let you know when there I an intrusion. They will deliver the information through personalized alerts so that you can act fast. You do not want to stick to a service that will talk long to alert you because when they finally do, the intruders may have already gotten away with the data that they were looking for. As a hedge fund manager, you know how dangerous it can get, and therefore, it is good to always be on the lookout for alerts from Agio.

Agio offers comprehensive IT services that help hedge funds to stay away from trouble. The best part is that they provide remote support so that regardless of where you are, you will find help. Studies show that cybercrime is a growing concern for most hedge funds because fraudsters know that they can get personal information from them. Instead of exposing yourself and your customers to such risks, it will be much beer if you contact a company such as Agio and let them take over the duties of protecting your business from the ever-increasing number of fraudsters.

The foods that you eat can affect the veins and arteries. If you follow a healthy diet, then you will be less likely to develop problems with your veins and arteries. There are many healthy foods that you will need to add to your diet.

Asparagus

Asparagus will help keep your veins and arteries clean. It is filled with fiber and minerals that will help lower blood pressure. It can also reduce inflammation. There are many ways that you can eat asparagus. You can grill it, steam it and roast it. You can also put it in salads.

Low-Sodium Foods

Some sodium is good for you. However, you do not want to take in too much sodium. Excess sodium can cause your body to retain water. This will make it harder for the blood to circulate through the veins and arteries.

Avocado

Avocado helps you maintain the proper balance of cholesterol. It helps reduce your bad cholesterol while boosting your good cholesterol. Avocados are high in potassium, which helps lower your blood pressure. You can put avocados on your sandwich. You can also use it as a salad topping.

Water

One of the most important things that you can do to keep your veins and arteries healthy is to drink plenty of water. Not only does water help clear out the arteries and veins, but it also has many other benefits. It helps lubricate your joints, normalize your body temperature, and get rid of waste.

Fatty Fish

Fatty fish include tuna, salmon, herring, and sardines. They have omega-3 fatty acids. The omega-3 fatty acids help lower your cholesterol level and blood pressure. They can also reduce inflammation in the blood vessels. The American Heart Association recommends that you have two servings of fish per week. It is best to eat grilled or baked fish.

Watermelon

Watermelon is a great summertime snack choice. It is also good for your arteries and veins. It helps the body produce nitric oxide. Nitric oxide encourages the arteries to relax. Watermelon also prevents fat from accumulating around the stomach.

Spinach

Dark, leafy greens are filled with folate, fiber, and potassium. If you eat one serving of spinach per day, then you can lower your homocysteine levels. Elevated homocysteine levels can increase the risk of heart disease. You will be able to reap the same benefits regardless of whether you eat it raw or cooked.

Metro Vascular Centers offers individual solutions to vascular problems. The vascular system deals with issues unique to the circulatory system but not heart problems. Metro Vascular Centers provide services for patients that are dealing exclusively with vascular problems, for instance, PAD. Adopting a healthy diet and regular exercise can help prevent vascular diseases from progressing.

The term “Latent Semantic Indexing” is rare among business owners but is commonly used by SEO St. Louis experts in the industry, including several influencers. They often use it to boost organic search success. Abbreviated as LSI, Latent Semantic Indexing has been claimed to boost your SEO, but how exactly does it do that? First, it is important to know what it is before knowing how it works or how you can use it to boost your SEO. 

LSI is a mathematical algorithm developed in the late 1980s to boost the accuracy of information retrieval. It scans unstructured data in documents and identifies existing relationships between the various concepts contained in them. In other words, it identifies the (latent) or hidden relationships between (semantics) or words to enhance the (indexing) or comprehension of information. 

It has provided important developments toward the comprehension of the text so that people could better understand the contextual nature of language. Specifically, it solved the problems that earlier technologies had regarding the use of synonyms that define natural language use, as well as the differences in meanings that change based on context and surroundings. For instance, there are several definitions of the terms ‘hot’ and ‘dog’ when used separately under different circumstances. However, they seem to have a whole new meaning or concept when used together. This is where LSI came in to resolve the problem of definitions and help computers to begin comprehending language in use.

Now that the meaning of LSI is out of the way, you might want to explore how it affects SEO. Based on what has been said about LSI and how it allows search engines to comprehend synonyms, it is apparent that it could help them to understand website content as well. Consequently, if search engines can understand your content, then they can index it for rankings based on your targeted queries. Besides, you can enhance your content’s thematic relevance by simply using synonyms, and this can be great for SEO.

LSI has also played a significant role in the development of initial search engines. Google strives to understand the context in which a piece of content is used, which gives meaning to the field of semantics – typically the study of meaning within language. However, in modern times, it does not rely on this concept alone and has evolved to utilize more sophisticated, machine-led technology to perform document indexing as well as retrieve information.

By using targeted keyword phrases employed by some of the more established, high-authority content providers and competitors in the industry, you can outrank them if you know how to use the LSI-SEO strategy more effectively. All you have to do is focus on creating definitive context and customizing it into our content to deliver accurate, relevant, and valuable search query results. Applying LSI can also help you stick to SEO best practices and avoid keyword stuffing and other mistakes that could cause Google to penalize you.

Therefore, the importance of LSI cannot be overstated, as the concept has helped search engines to understand synonyms in a much better way and improve search query results. If used effectively, you can use some of your established competitors’ keywords and phrases to outrank them and boost organic traffic to your site.

SEO trends don’t tend to change overnight, but that doesn’t mean they remain the same forever, either. 

So what SEO trends do you need to be aware of in 2020 that will help you dominate in the SERP and ultimately boost your revenue? Renown SEO specialist Daniel Foley says to: 

1. OPTIMISE FOR USERS, NOT SEARCH ENGINES

This one should be abundantly obvious by now, but still, if you’re not optimizing your content for your audience, you’re missing a trick. 

It’s all good and well optimizing your site to within an inch of its life to rank highly in the SERP, but it isn’t the SERP that’s going to open its wallet and part with cold hard cash in exchange for your products or services. 

Don’t lose focus of what the real end game is – your users. Reassess how users find you – your user access points, and create content that aligns with them. 

Google’s latest algorithm, BERT, really puts the emphasis on matching intent, not just keywords. Your content has to be created to match the end user’s intent. Gone are the days of the scattergun approach, the ‘throw it at a wall and see what sticks’. 

If you want to do really smart SEO in 2020, go and talk to your customers and actually find out what they want from you. What are their issues, their problems, and their needs that need addressing at every stage of their journey with you?

2. CONTENT REMAINS KING

Content is in everything you do for SEO. From the words you write on your site to the links you create, everything you write has to be imbued with meaning, relevancy and provide value.

Text will always be the foundation of any search, so make sure the text you put out there about your website’s assets is as descriptive as possible. This will help you rank in the SERP. 

If your content needs a refresh, make it your goal to update it sooner rather than later – aim to put out the best content on your particular topic; not only will you be providing a service to your customers, you’ll be future-proofing your business in terms of the search engines too. 

If you can’t do this, learn the art of writing, or hire someone who can. The days of poor content are numbered. 

3. AN EMPHASIS ON UX

User experience is a key trend in 2020 that all website owners need to be aware of. From their initial interaction with your site through to your landing pages and even after exiting your website, everything you do should be with your users in mind – making sure they have the best UX they can possibly have. 

One key element here is ensuring your technical SEO is on point. We’re talking site speed and page speed specifically. How long a page takes to load has a significant impact on conversion rate – research shows conversion rates drop by roughly 4.5% with every second it takes a page to load. 

No pressure, but you’re literally losing money by running a slow site. 

So there you have it, 3 SEO trends for 2020 with one common theme – users. Remember who your real audience is and focus your efforts on wooing them.