Every blogger starts somewhere, and that somewhere is a shiny, brand new website and their very first post. If you’ve always thought about having your own blog, whether for business or personal uses, there’s no time like the present to get started!
So you get your blog up and running. You give it a name, and you decide what you want to write about. You start writing and publishing.
If you want to see results from your blog (even if it’s just a large and engaged readership), you need to do more than just write and publish blog posts regularly.
There is, unfortunately, more to blogging than knowing the differences between “there, they’re, and their” and “it’s and its.” You need more than just being a great writer, or even having interesting ideas.
In many cases, amateur bloggers make at least one of the seven same mistakes that keeps them from getting the traffic they were hoping for, limiting the blog’s potential and success. This is true whether they’re reviewing video games, starting a tech blog, or are writing about their experiences traveling, parenting, or recovering from addiction.
In this post, we’re going to take a careful look at the 7 most common but impactful mistakes amateur bloggers make that you want to avoid. [continue reading…]
Writing an active-filled sci-fi, whimsical romantic novel, or reflective memoir is challenging and rewarding for many authors. What many enjoy a little less is worrying about the physical designs accompanying the book, especially if they’re going the self-publishing route and need to create the cover themselves.
Wattpad is a self-publishing social media platform for independent authors who want real-time feedback on the books they’re writing. Authors publish their stories as they write, and their readers give them chapter-by-chapter feedback.
If you’re planning to write a book on Wattpad, you’re going to want an eye-catching eBook cover to grab readers’ attention. Graphic design tools like Snappa make eBook cover design super quick and easy.
Let’s take a look at the optimal Wattpad cover size, best practices for designing your cover, and a few quick tips for designing a Wattpad cover in Snappa that stands out to your readers.
Bonus: We’ve created professional eBook cover templates and pre-made designs for you to customize in Snappa! Make a Wattpad cover for free!
Optimize your Twitter header photo with these dimensions: 1500 pixels wide by 500 pixels tall. You’ll also need to account for your profile picture and the invisible area around your display image.
If you’ve ever struggled with Twitter header dimensions you’re not alone…
Even though Twitter has provided guidelines for their header photo size, it’s still ridiculously difficult to get the sizing just right. That’s because Twitter does this funny thing where they chop off part of your cover photo even if you follow the recommended guidelines.
In addition, you also need to worry about how your header photo scales across different screen resolutions.
The good news is we’ve solved this problem and I’m here to help you do the same.
In this article, we’ll cover in detail what Twitter header size you should be using along with some guidelines to ensure that it displays properly. [continue reading…]
We’ve talked a lot about how to create the best video thumbnails for your social media content here at Snappa, looking at design, subject, and graphic elements that you should include.
One thing we haven’t talked a lot about (but which is just as important) is the background that you choose for those video thumbnails.
The background you choose for your video thumbnails can be just as important as the other design elements you add to it. It can help your video stand out, or it can result in the thumbnail being watered down to the point where you could lose clicks and views as a result.
In this post, we’re going to discuss how to choose the best thumbnail backgrounds for your social videos, including offering specific suggestions for a few key industries. [continue reading…]
With more than 1.8 billion users a month, YouTube is a great way to market your brand or simply connect with others. As you upload videos and wait for your channel to take off, though, it’s important that you set things up to turn one-time visitors into subscribers. The key is to convince viewers to hit that “Subscribe” button.
One of the best ways to turn curious onlookers into fans is through branding your YouTube Channel. When customers go to the main page for your channel, what do they see? If it’s the gray banner that comes standard on every channel, you’re missing a very valuable opportunity. By taking a look at some YouTubers who are doing branding well, you can get some YouTube banner ideas of your own. Here are some of our favorites.[continue reading…]
Facebook users love video, making it a solid choice for businesses wanting to reach and engage their audience. They love video so much, in fact, that on-platform video content actually accrues up to 8 billion combined views per day.
Videos are a high-engaging, dynamic media choice, giving you the chance to really sell the emotional aspects of your message and to make a lasting impression on viewers.
In order to get the results you’re looking for, though, you need to actually get users to watch the video itself. While auto-play in the Facebook feed can absolutely help attract attention, you don’t want to rely on that exclusively. Some users have auto-play disabled, after all, and you still want people to be interested when they see only a title and thumbnail. This may be the case when they’re seeing recommended video previews, when they’re looking through search results, or when they’re looking through your Facebook Page.
This is why Facebook video thumbnails are so important. In this post, we’re going to take a look at everything you need to know about thumbnails for video on Facebook, including how to create thumbnails that practically guarantee clicks and views. [continue reading…]
Facebook’s implementation of events has changed the way that businesses and brands market their events. Traditional methods of event promotion, such as print media or signage aren’t as effective and everything is moving online with social media being the main driver.
Facebook events are essential, but there are many factors that contribute to a great Facebook event. One of the most important things to consider when creating a Facebook event is having the proper Facebook event photo size and the proper visuals to make your Facebook event stand out! Be sure to include a strong event description and the correct time, date, and address within the event details.
With Facebook events, you can do more than just invite your friends and fans – you have the ability to:
Create discussion
Encourage sharing
Automate reminders
Build anticipation
The opportunities for Facebook events are endless and brands who aren’t using Facebook to spread their word are missing out! It’s incredibly simple for you to use and I’ve outlined the best practices and everything you need to know about the best Facebook event photo size. Here are some steps on how you can create a professional event on Facebook![continue reading…]
Social media marketing is a huge potential asset to businesses, nonprofits, and organizations of all kinds. You can reach new users, build up loyal and engaged followings, and continually connect and interact with your target audience without technically needing to pay a dime. It’s free, there’s not really a learning curve involved, and it’s easy to get started whenever you’re ready.
As someone who has worked as a social media practitioner for years, it always legitimately makes me sad when I see that most brands struggle to get the results they should be getting because they’re not leveraging the platforms correctly. This happens much more often than you’d think, even from brands that have really loyal audiences who would love to see strong social profiles to interact with.
While there are a few brands who really step outside the box and find unique ways to derail their social media marketing (like insulting customers or failing to reliably proofread), most are making the same common, seemingly-innocent mistakes over and over again. And though a small mistake like failing to optimize your content isn’t nearly as inflammatory as a brand posting something overtly political or insensitive, it can actually impact you long-term almost as much.
So what are these pitfalls to avoid? In this post, we’re going to take a look at the 7 devastating-but-common social media mistakes that we see happening over and over again, and how you can avoid them.
With the surge of individuals working from home and the increase in demand for virtual communication, Zoom video has really emerged as the go-to video conferencing application.
Whether you’re a business running remotely, a student, a teacher running an online class, or an individual reaching out to friends or family. Zoom video is probably your best bet for reliable video calling.
A cool feature that the application offers is the ability to add a Zoom virtual background image to your video. It can get repetitive to showcase the same backdrop in your house so adding a virtual background can really spice things up.
Being able to add a Zoom virtual background gives you the freedom to be creative with it. You can easily customize your video background image to include a scenic photo or even add text to brand yourself better to clients.
We’ve included everything you need to know about Zoom virtual backgrounds in this article and even provide some examples for you to reference!
One of today’s most valuable and important social networks is the robust, career-oriented platform LinkedIn. It’s an excellent networking tool, essential for B2B businesses, and invaluable to personal brands looking to establish expertise and credibility. Many brands and professionals are using LinkedIn to grow their businesses, broaden their client base, and establish themselves as thought leaders in their respective spaces.
In order to fully optimize LinkedIn to its highest potential, it’s essential that we make use of all the tools at our disposal. One of the most powerful tools on LinkedIn is its publishing platform, where site members can write and publish original articles.
Publishing articles on LinkedIn is one way that many career professionals, business owners, and brands are choosing to showcase their expertise and build their online platform. Like most social networks, though, elements of your visuals must be attention-grabbing enough to make readers want to click.
Images can help us capture the attention we need for our articles. But those images must be optimized properly for the platform we’re using in order to attract the right sort of attention. Failing to use the correct image sizes can hinder the right people from seeing our work. [continue reading…]
