by Deanna Rivera | Apr 16, 2025 | Content Creation, Email Marketing, Marketing, Strategy
Easter isn’t the only reason for treats this season. This month, we’ll be sending you three short snippets each week that you, as a business owner, can implement immediately to:
If you ever want help with these things or something else, be sure to reach out.
Week 1: No matter the business, people will go to your website before they hire you or buy your products. Therefore, make sure all the information on your website is accurate. Nothing turns a potential customer away faster than outdated information. Staff information, hours, and contact information are most commonly neglected. As a business owner, keeping this info updated should be a top priority.
Bonus: Make sure your Google, Bing, and Apple Maps listings are also accurate!
Week 2: Video is one of the most powerful tools for building trust and giving users an immediate sense of who you are. And the best part? It doesn’t have to be professionally produced. While we love working with talented videographers, a simple video recorded on your phone can be just as effective. We can take any raw footage and turn it into something engaging and polished.
Take Pastor Tom, for example—he sent us a basic video clip, and we transformed it into a warm, welcoming introduction. He’s even creating a unique video for every page of his website! It’s a fantastic way for new visitors to get a feel for the pastor and what they can expect from the church before they ever walk through the doors.
Week 1: There are a few opportunities that most businesses miss when marketing their business.
The first is the signature in their email. Make sure it looks good. It does not have to be a fancy design, but it should be nicely branded and similar for each employee—and this is a GREAT space to talk about a current promotion or upcoming event or new product/service.
The second is invoices or receipts. Adding information on something new happening with your business to these mailings or emails you are already sending can elevate your customer’s understanding of your business.
The third is a thank-you note. When someone new does business with you, send them a hand-written note. Bonus if it is designed with your branding! This can be a note card, a postcard, or even an old-fashioned letter.
Week 2: Once you create a video for your website, don’t stop there! That same video can be repurposed in all kinds of valuable ways.
You can share the full version and shorter clips of key points on social media to boost engagement.
Upload it to YouTube and start building playlists—did you know YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world? (Makes sense, since it’s owned by Google.)
You can also email it to your list to help deepen trust and connection with people who already know you.
Play it at trade shows or events, include it in presentations, and even add a link to your email signature for an easy, professional touch.
A single video can go a long way when used strategically—and as a business owner, leveraging video like this adds serious value.
Week 1: Did you know that your employees are the most important part of your brand? Most businesses will invest in a logo, a brand guide, signage, business cards, even vehicle wraps—but they will not train their employees on how to live the brand when interacting with customers. This could be as simple as making sure each employee knows the business mission and goals and providing a check list for each customer interaction.
Week 2: Video is also a powerful way to extend your brand. As we talked about last week, your people are the heart of your brand—so let them shine! Invite team members who are willing to step in front of the camera to share their roles, their passion for what they do, and what makes your business special.
These videos don’t have to be long or formal—sometimes the most engaging content is quick, authentic, and full of personality. Let employees highlight their expertise or give a behind-the-scenes look at a part of the business they know best.
Shorter clips from these interviews are perfect for social media, and when your team is wearing branded merch, it reinforces your visual identity too. Bonus points if the video backdrop also includes your logo, space, or product in action!
You could even create a video series—”Meet the Team Mondays” or “Behind the Scenes Fridays”—to build consistency and keep people coming back for more. A smart, approachable move for any business owner.
We’ll be back next week with more tips! Happy Spring!
by Deanna Rivera | Jan 27, 2025 | Content Creation, Social Media, Strategy
Photos of last year’s brutal ice storm just resurfaced in my phone and Facebook memories, and they have me thinking about something I talk to every client about: social media content ideas are better when they’re personal.
Social media managers, like UplinkSpyder, know that the secret to grabbing attention online lies in the right image or video. It’s the #1 factor in getting people to stop scrolling and engage.
So, which of these graphics would catch your eye? Each one delivers the same message, but one will captivate most people far more than the others.
I created the first image to look polished and professional—it can definitely make an impact. However, because it’s so polished, many people will skim right past it. Or, they may comprehend it but never engage.
The middle image, a personal photo, feels a bit more authentic but still comes across as relatively generic. It has a stock image vibe—slightly more interesting, but not by much.
Then there’s my son, Levi. This photo will catch more attention than the first two and is likely to generate significantly more comments, shares, and likes. It would be even better without the words…because the post itself is what you want them to read and the authentic interesting image can get them to do just that.
When crafting social media content ideas, images and videos are everything. Modern phones make it easy to capture high-quality visuals with minimal effort, and posts that feel less polished or overly commercialized often see far better engagement.
I challenge you to make things easier for yourself (or your social media manager) this year by committing to capturing more photos and videos. Don’t aim for perfection—just focus on being authentic.
Are you a landscaper? Snap photos of the beautiful landscapes you create or even just plants that inspire you.
An esthetician? Film a quick video answering a common question or share a short clip of someone enjoying a relaxing facial.
Running a restaurant? Take so many mouthwatering photos of your dishes that people can practically taste them through their screens.
You get the idea—show your world and let your audience connect with it!
Happy Content Creating!
Deanna
by Administrator | Apr 26, 2019 | Content Creation
Search Engine Optimization – or the art of getting your website’s content to rank well – is a complex and misunderstood practice. Many variables make up the algorithm that determines how your content will rank against your competitors. However, one variable that is becoming more and more important is the readability, or reading level, of the content. How this is rated is by using the Flesch Reading Ease formula. Let’s dive into that a bit more.
Why is readability important to Google and other search engines? Because they want to deliver relevant content to their users AND they also want to provide interesting and engaging content that the user will want to read. If the user can’t read the content or finds it to be too hard to read, they will likely leave your site. Google doesn’t like this.
So how do you know if your content is readable? One useful tool used throughout our industry, and that we use to help our clients get better rankings is a test known as Flesch Reading Ease.
What is the Flesch Reading Ease?
Also known as the Flesch-Kincade Reading Level, this digital test uses English language structures, word count, syllable count, and average sentence length to determine how difficult content is to read. The original concept was created by Rudolf Flesch.
In 1975, in partnership with J. Peter Kincaid, Flesch developed a formula to test the complexity of written materials. That test was then implemented by the United States Navy to evaluate the reading level of technical manuals used in training service members. A few years later, other branches of service began using the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Formula as well.
How is the Flesch Reading Score Calculated?
Each piece of content has a score. The higher the score, the easier the content is to read. Short sentences and small words are scored higher on the scale than long sentences and long words. Here’s how to scores break down:
- 0-30 are considered college level and are more suited to academia.
- 60-70 are considered 8th to 9th-grade reading level.
- 100 indicates a 1st to 2nd-grade reading level.
Many numbers floating around, depending on where you look, but the overall census is that most people are at the 8th-grade reading level. Since Google wants as many people as possible to be able to read and understand the page or article they rank, the content needs to be at or near an 8th-grade reading level. While this sounds easy enough, we find that we often have to simplify content we naturally write.
Increasing Your Readability Score
By paying attention to certain factors, your content can shift from a massive and hard-to-read wall of content into an easily consumable source of valuable information.
Shorten Your Paragraphs
Shorter paragraphs visually break up the content and allow your reader’s mind to digest the information in smaller chunks. It’s easier to process content while scrolling if it’s broken down. Bullet and numbered lists are your friend! How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Choose Fewer Words With More Power
When writing, use a more active voice. In other words, keep your reader’s attention by writing more directly. For instance, instead of saying, “The woman was advised by her doctor. ” say instead, “The doctor gave her advice.”
Also, avoid using excess words. For instance, you don’t need to say “a long marathon.” The word “marathon” already assumes it is “long”. Often, to get to a specific word count, you might be tempted to switch to passive voice or add “fluff,” but this will hurt your readability.
Write As You Talk – Not Like You Were Taught
When we talk to people in person, we have natural pauses and sentence stops. Also, we start sentences with “but” and “and” and “however” and other transition words. When we were in language arts classes, we were taught not to use these words at the beginning of a sentence, but in writing for the web, these words, as well as short sentences, make for easier reading.
Simplify Your Vocabulary
No one likes to feel upstaged, and not everyone is a walking thesaurus. There’s no need for “fancy talk” on a website. Use the simplest word to convey the same meaning — for instance, use “deep” instead of “profound.”
Additional Tips for Writing Blogs
Website content (often called website copy) is a different ballgame than the content for a blog. Here are a couple of tips to help you keep your blog full of good information and remain easy to read.
Focus
There are so many tangents that a blog can go on, but barraging a reader with a ton of different topics is only going to confuse. Find a focus topic, and elaborate on that one concept. Save the tangents for another post, and link to other related posts later.
Keywords
Google and other search engines use keywords for searching content to bring pages to the eyes of the reader. The keyword should always be in the first paragraph of the blog, in at least one header, and within 2-3% of the content. That means the keyword shouldn’t just be thrown around but used very strategically and intentionally. If your content has too many key phrases, you’ll struggle to stay on top of searches because Google hates what we call, “keyword stuffing.” Make sure it’s natural and don’t overdo it.
Consider Your Target Audience
Your blog will be easier to read and hold more attention if you follow the concepts of the Flesch Reading Ease score system, but it’s not the “be-all-end-all” of website copy or blog writing. Always consider your audience along with your readability score.
The Flesch Reading Ease is a guide, and it’s essential to follow your brand voice in your content. If you cater to a higher education level, then you can adjust your content to reflect that. We work hard to learn your business voice and your audience and write content that suits their needs.
Building website content can be overwhelming, and that’s okay. If you have any concerns about content, give us a call. We’ll put our team of Spyders on the job to make sure you see the results you’re looking for.
by Administrator | Jan 3, 2019 | Branding, Content Creation, Website Design
2018 was a busy year for us – and an exciting one at that. We’ve introduced new Spyders to our team, renovated and expanded our work-space (our “web”, if you will), added more businesses to our already awesome list of clients, and spent many hours doing what Spyders do best: writing, designing, and marketing.
To celebrate this incredible year, we have compiled a list of some of our favorite 2018 projects for your viewing pleasure. But first, a word from our fearless leader and CEO:
Our ten year anniversary as a company is this year — April 2019 — and it’s pretty remarkable to take a look at how far we’ve come and how much has transpired in those ten years. We started out of a home office with two clients.
When I look back, I see the huge mistakes we’ve made and tried our best to learn from and I see a landscape of beautiful and impactful work — but most of all, I see the relationships we’ve built over the years and continue to build. That’s why we do this work. Because we love to serve others and help other businesses grow and have successes of their own.
I want to take this moment to say thank you to all of you who have trusted UplinkSpyder — and the Spyders that work here — with your website, design, marketing and content needs. We have big plans for the next year. I’m really excited. I never thought of myself as a business owner, much less a successful one, but God has graced Emmanuel and myself with many extra chances to learn and grow. Employing others is one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences of our lives and I’m so very grateful I continue to have that opportunity.
Please take a look at a very small sample and a few cool statistics from the last year of our first decade. And stay tuned for more awesome to come…
Happy New Year!
Deanna Rivera, CEO
13,506+
Hours Creating Awesome
In 2018, our Spyders spent over 13,500 combined hours working on your website, blogs, social media, newsletters, and more – and guess what? We loved every minute of it. We find joy in creating a website with a beautiful, mobile-responsive design that wows both your customers and search engines. When we see your keyword rankings improving, or a Facebook ad generating tons of clicks to your website, we literally high-five each other for a job well done. Your success is our success.
183,000+
Words Written *Since June
Just over the last 7 months, we’ve written over 183,000 words to help increase website traffic and pull customers in based on careful SEO research. This is done through your website’s “normal” content outlining your services, but also through our new content marketing packages for blogging, which…not to toot our own horn or anything…are pretty freaking great. We can’t stress how important it is to regularly post blogs to your website. Don’t think your business needs a blog? We’d love to tell you why that’s not the case.
439+
Newsletters Sent
Over this past year, we have sent over 430 newsletters for our clients, and that doesn’t count the additional efforts we make to ensure each of those newsletters get opened and clicked on. This includes automated emails (triggered by contact forms, pop-ups, etc.) and newsletter re-sends, with new subject lines, to people that didn’t open them originally. With email marketing, and all of your marketing efforts, consistency is key! We help our clients stay in their customers’ inboxes through well-crafted newsletters, helping grow their audience along the way.
+53%
Average Website Growth as Compared to 2017
Our existing websites, that we maintain and update regularly, experienced an average of 50% growth, compared to 2017. That’s because we don’t just launch a website and then wave good-bye. We become business partners with our clients, constantly helping them discover new ways to grow their business. When you work with UplinkSpyder, you work with a team of individuals that become your friends, and treat your business like our own.
23 Websites Launched
2018 was the year of experimenting with new design methods, further content analysis, and improved user experience. Through all of the 23 websites we built and launched in 2018, we were able to create something unique, which we are very proud of. Your website is the heart of all your marketing, so if it doesn’t truly reflect your business, has false information, or doesn’t show up properly on a mobile device, it’s not benefiting you at all. In fact, it may be hurting you. Luckily, we happen to know a group of talented Spyders (not the creepy, crawly kind) that can fix these issues for you.
25 Brands Created
When a new business owner comes to us and says “I don’t have a logo yet,” or “I don’t have a brand yet,” – it’s music to our ears. Our favorite projects are the ones that we help you shape from the beginning. In 2018, we helped 25 businesses find their identity. Check out some of the highlights below.
Thanks for reading all of that,
but the proof is in the pudding.
Check out a few highlights from our web design and branding of 2018:
by Deanna Rivera | Jun 5, 2015 | Content Creation
“I hate to write.”
“I’m not a good writer.”
“I don’t have time to write.”
Is this you? If so, then let me ask you this:
Could you use more website traffic? (Google still thinks content is king.)
Once there, would you like people to find something interesting and learn more about you?
In summary, would you like your business to grow?
If you answered “Yes!”, then suck it up and write anyway.
Writing is really important to online marketing success.
However, I don’t want you to walk away feeling frustrated, so let me give you a few pointers and tips for how to get over the hurdle and begin writing.
First, the What.
Your content does not have to be a book. A piece of content can be “Google ready” if it is 100 words long. You can write 100 words. This paragraph is practically 100 words.
Your content does not need to be epic. The goal is not to get 1 million hits. The goal is to allow your potential customer to get to know you before they commit to buying you or even visiting you. It’s about your brand: the total package of who you are and why what you offer is worth a shot.
Start by brainstorming ideas of what to write. Examples can include:
- Projects you worked on and why they were amazing (before/after)
- People/organizations you helped and how/why/when you helped them (case studies)
- Products/experiences/companies/information you find useful that relate to your business
- Experiences you’ve had that others might learn from
- Lists of stuff that is relevant to your business – for whatever reason, people love lists
- Events/news the average user of your business would find interesting written in your words (including why you find them interesting) with links to the source
- Lessons you have to share (like what I’m doing right now)
I also love it when businesses use content to improve their business. Ask your readers to give input about how you can grow your business.
“But I still stink at writing!”
OK, fine. If you just cannot write, talk. Get a voice recorder (your phone likely has one) and tell a story. Then have someone on your staff, your spouse, or your child transcribe the story. Edit. Voila.
Or Why Not Video?
Video is really the best content you can create and it does not have to be professional if you are just starting out. Get a camera. Point it at yourself. Or record yourself doing what you do. When you publish it, I would also transcribe it.
“But…some other reason I can’t write or talk or video”
Well, guess what? We love to write. We love to write about you and what you do. It’s our thing. Our sole existence in the world is to promote your business…to get to know you as if we were you and represent you. We do our thing, you do your thing, we both grow, win win.
We have written good content for just about every kind of business there is. Think of us as journalistic marketers.
And then there’s the How.
Now that you have content, what do you do with it?
I use a word at UplinkSpyder a lot: disseminate. I am pretty sure my staff hate that word.
It means to spread. Widely. Facebook about it. Tweet it. Take a photo, and pin or Instagram it. YouTube or Vimeo something related to it. Email people with it. Link it on LinkedIn. Send your physical customers to it and ask them for feedback. Ask all your employees to read it. Tell everyone you know about it.
Seriously. Pretend you just wrote that book you thought you’d have to write and the world will now know you crossed something off your bucket list.
And now do it again. And again. Don’t stop. That’s how the magic happens. *insert sparkles*
