These apply to any digital marketing really. I don't pretend to be a digital marketing guru. I won't claim to be one here. I am listing these as more of a starting point for those jumping into the field, and are struggling to stay afloat. I know how it is to be thrown in and told "without this" and "without that" you will be a failure. The reality is that every situation and marketer is unique. What works for one person won't work for another.
1. Use Photos. Whether you are using a banner ad or a photo, an illustration of some sort is almost required to get the most out of your post. In all of my testing, articles or posts with photos get far more views than those that don't.
2. Proofread. It's off putting to many readers to go to an article, and find it full of errors. A good many people go to writers for advice because we are supposed to be better at finding, collecting, and assimilating information than most other people. It undermines your position and authority when you can't even use the correct tense of a word. It worse when you can't use words correctly at all. My personal pet peeve is the usage of there, their, and they're. Any writer out of kindergarten should know which is used when, and yet you would be surprised how many writers use those words wrong, then blame it on the computer.
3. Be pushy, but not rude. Guide people with phrases like "buy here", "available here", or "this way...". If the reader doesn't know where to go to find what you are offering, they won't get there at all.
4. Keywords are nice, but not always necessary. Remember too, that less is more. It is common for people to list every keyword that they can think of. That is a bad idea! Why, it gets you traffic? Traffic yes, but junk traffic. When you have a ton of keywords you get people who have no interest in what you are selling. Not only are you more likely to piss people off, but you are very likely to never get any kind of click or order from that person.
5. One page per idea or topic. This might sound like odd advice, but it makes sense if you think about it for several reasons. One, it keeps the reader focused. Two, it gives you more opportunities to get ads in front of readers (I know, dirty trick). Three, it gives the reader a better chance to find the information that they are looking for, which makes them happy, and will make them more likely to interact.
6. KISS. Keep it simple stupid. Many people, myself included, often think that if a problem seems complicated then the solution must be equally complicated. Not so. In fact when you are faced with a complicated problem, the solution can be insanely simple. Marketing dilemmas are no different. Sometimes the solutions are so insanely obvious, or simple, that you wind up beating your head on a wall for a week, once you realize just how simple the solution is.
7. Keep trying. Rome wasn't built in a day. The Romans come to speak of them were some of the best road-smiths in the world. Their roads lasted for a very long time, but it took a long time to build them. Their roads were not the cheap ribbons of asphalt that we call roads today. I digress. My point is that they didn't just go out stomp on the ground to kill everything and call it a road. They tested, imagined, created, studied the successes and failures, rebuilt with new information, tested, and repeated the process. You have to do the same thing, except with marketing information at hand.
There you have it. Apply these tips to your marketing attempts and be successful. Sounds easy, but it's not. Trust me though, it will get easier as you go. Keep track of your failings and your successes. Eventually one will outpace the other. Ideally, that would be the successes.