SEO is why you find exactly what you’re looking for when you turn to Google for a step-by-step guide to fixing your unfortunately-timed flat tire.

It’s a harsh truth that without at least some presence on Google, your business faces a digital uphill battle. Most marketers know how important SEO is, and it’s one of the trends they’re investing the most in this year.

In this guide, you’ll learn what SEO is, discover a strategy to build your online presence — Search Engine Optimization (SEO) — and what you must do to position your site in search engine results.

Keep on reading to understand SEO, or jump ahead to the section that interests you most.

 

 

When asked to explain what SEO is, I often choose to call it a strategy to ensure that when someone Googles your product or service category, they find your website.

But this simplifies the discipline a bit.

There are a ton of ways to improve the SEO of your site pages. Search engines look for elements including title tags, keywords, image tags, internal link structure, and inbound links (also known as backlinks). Search engines also look at site structure and design, visitor behavior, and other external, off-site factors to determine how highly ranked your site should be in their SERPs.

With all of these factors taken into account, SEO primarily drives two things — rankings and visibility.

But before diving deeper, I want to note that many resources make SEO seem complex; they might even scare you away. I promise this guide isn’t like that. I’ll break SEO down into its most basic parts and show you how to use all of its elements to create a successful SEO strategy of your own.

Rankings

This is what search engines use to determine where to place a particular web page in the SERP. Rankings start at position number zero through the final number of search engine results for the query, and a web page can rank for one position at a time. As time passes, a web page’s ranking might change due to age, competition in the SERP, or algorithm changes by the search engine itself.

Visibility

This term describes how prominent a particular domain is in the search engine results. Lower search visibility occurs when a domain isn’t visible for many relevant search queries whereas with higher search visibility, the opposite is true.

Both are responsible for delivering the main SEO objectives – traffic and domain authority.

What’s the importance of SEO?

There is one more important reason why you should be using SEO: The strategy virtually helps you position your brand throughout the entire buying journey.

In turn, SEO can ensure that your marketing strategies match the new buying behavior.

Because, as Google admitted, customer behavior has changed for good.

As of July 2023, Google holds 92.08% of the worldwide search engine market share.

What’s more, they prefer going through the majority of the buying process on their own.

For example, 86% of consumers say search engines are the best way to get information. And, across all generations, people overwhelmingly use search engines to get answers online.

Image Source

Finally, DemandGen’s 2022 B2B Buyer’s Survey found that 67% of B2B buyers start the buying process with a broad web search.

But how do they use search engines during the process?

Early in the process, they use Google to find information about their problem. Some also inquire about potential solutions.

Then, they evaluate available alternatives based on reviews or social media hype before inquiring with a company. But this happens after they’ve exhausted all information sources.

And so, the only chance for customers to notice and consider you is by showing up in their search results.

Featured Resource

• 22 SEO Myths to Leave Behind This Year

How does Google know how to rank a page?

Search engines have a single goal only. They aim to provide users with the most relevant answers or information.

Every time you use them, their algorithms choose pages that are the most relevant to your query. And then, rank them, displaying the most authoritative or popular ones first.

To deliver the right information to users, search engines analyze four main factors:

• The meaning behind someone’s query, which is their most likely intent for starting a search, and how that intent matches the most helpful content.
• Relevancy between the search query and the content on a page, and search engines assess it by various factors like topic or keywords.
• Quality of content, which uses the E-E-A-T (we’ll discuss this further below) model to surface content that seems the most helpful based on signals like expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.
• The usability of a site, which considers page speed, mobile friendliness, and other factors related to how easy it is to discover content on a site.
• Context, which relies on a searcher’s past behavior and settings like location.

And to analyze all this information they use complex equations called search algorithms.

Search engines keep their algorithms secret. But over time, SEOs have identified some of the factors they consider when ranking a page. We refer to them as ranking factors, and they are the focus of an SEO strategy.

When determining relevance and authority, following the E-E-A-T framework can help tremendously. E-E-A-T in SEOstands for “expertise”, “experience,” “authoritativeness,” and “trustworthiness.” Here’s what each one means:

• Expertise: You’re a subject matter expert.
• Experience: You have personal experience with the content you write about.
• Authoritativeness: Others see you as a source of authority, like other sites linking to your site and vouching for your credibility.
• Trustworthiness: Your website and its content are credible and current.

Professionals who responded to our Web Traffic & Analytics ranked trustworthiness and expertise as the most important ranking factor for showing up in SERPs, followed by experience and authoritativeness.

As AI becomes a bigger part of the search mix, expertise and experience will become increasingly important for content writers looking to stand out from AI generated content, as algorithms don’t have the expertise to develop unique opinions or have the level of personality that a human expert has.

And although these are not direct ranking factors, they can improve your SEO content which can impact direct ranking factors. In fact, 65% of SEOs say that Google’s 2023 algorithm update (which included the updated E-E-A-T framework) had a positive impact.

As you’ll shortly see, adding more content, optimizing image filenames, or improving internal links can affect your rankings and search visibility. And that’s because each of those actions improves a ranking factor.

What is SEO strategy?

An SEO marketing strategy is a comprehensive plan to get more visitors to your website through search engines. Successful SEO includes on-page strategies, which use intent-based keywords; and off-page strategies, which earn inbound links from other websites.

Three Core Components of a Strong SEO Strategy

To optimize a site, you need to improve ranking factors in three areas — technical website setup, content, and links. So, let’s go through them in turn.

1. Technical Setup

For your website to rank, three things must happen:

First, a search engine needs to find your pages on the web.

Then, it must scan them to understand their topics and identify their keywords.

And finally, it needs to add them to its index — a database of all the content it has found on the web. This way, its algorithm can consider displaying your website for relevant queries.

Seems simple, doesn’t it? Certainly, nothing to worry about. After all, since you can visit your site without any problem, so should Google, right?

Unfortunately, there is a catch. A web page looks different for you and the search engine. You see it as a collection of graphics, colors, text with its formatting, and links.

To a search engine, it’s nothing but text.

As a result, any elements it cannot render this way remain invisible to the search engine. And so, in spite of your website looking fine to you, Google might find its content inaccessible.

Let me show you an example. Here’s how a typical search engine sees one of our articles. It’s this one, by the way, if you want to compare it with the original.

Notice some things about it:

• The page is just text. Although we carefully designed it, the only elements a search engine sees are text and links.
• As a result, it cannot see an image on the page (note the element marked with an arrow.) It only recognizes its name. If that image contained an important keyword we’d want the page to rank for, it would be invisible to the search engine.

That’s where technical setup, also called on-site optimization, comes in. It ensures that your website and pages allow Google to scan and index them without any problems. The most important factors affecting it include:

Website navigation and links

Search engines crawl sites just like you would. They follow links. Search engine crawlers land on a page and use links to find other content to analyze. But as you’ve seen above, they cannot see images. So, set the navigation and links as text-only.

Simple URL structure

Search engines don’t like reading lengthy strings of words with complex structure. So, if possible, keep your URLs short. Set them up to include as little beyond the main keyword for which you want to optimize the page, as possible.

Page speed

Search engines use the load time — the time it takes for a user to be able to read the page — as an indicator of quality. Many website elements can affect it. Image size, for example. Use Google’s Page Speed Insights Tool for suggestions on how to improve your pages.

Dead links or broken redirects

A dead link sends a visitor to a nonexistent page. A broken redirect points to a resource that might no longer be there. Both provide poor user experience but also, prevent search engines from indexing your content.

Sitemap and Robots.txt files

A sitemap is a simple file that lists all URLs on your site. Search engines use it to identify what pages to crawl and index. A robots.txt file, on the other hand, tells search engines what content not to index (for example, specific policy pages you don’t want to appear in search.) Create both to speed up crawling and indexing of your content.

Duplicate content

Pages containing identical or quite similar content confuse search engines. They often find it to be nearly impossible to display any of those pages at all. If search engines do find them, your website can be penalized. For that reason, search engines consider duplicate content as a negative factor.

2. Content

Every time you use a search engine, you’re looking for content — information on a particular issue or problem, for example.

True, this content might come in different formats. It could be text, like a blog post or a web page. But it could also be a video, product recommendation, and even a business listing.

It’s all content.

And for SEO, it’s what helps gain greater search visibility.

Here are two reasons why:

• First, content is what customers want when searching. Regardless of what they’re looking for, it’s content that provides it. And the more of it you publish, the higher your chance for greater search visibility.
• Also, search engines use content to determine how to rank a page. It’s the idea of relevance between a page and a person’s search query that we talked about earlier.

While crawling a page, they determine its topic. Analyzing elements like page length or its structure helps them assess its quality. Based on this information, search algorithms can match a person’s query with pages they consider the most relevant to it.

The process of optimizing content begins with keyword research.

Keyword Research

SEO is not about getting any visitors to the site. You want to attract people who need what you sell and can become leads, and later, customers.

However, that’s possible only if it ranks for the keywords those people would use when searching. Otherwise, there’s no chance they’d ever find you. And that’s even if your website appeared at the top of the search results.

That’s why SEO work starts with discovering what phrases potential buyers enter into search engines.

The process typically involves identifying terms and topics relevant to your business. Then, converting them into initial keywords. And finally, conducting extensive research to uncover related terms your audience would use.

We’ve published a thorough guide to keyword research for beginners. It lays out the keyword research process in detail. Use it to identify search terms you should be targeting.

With a list of keywords at hand, the next step is to optimize your content. SEOs refer to this process as on-page optimization.

On-Page Optimization

On-page optimization, also called on-page SEO, ensures that search engines a.) understand a page’s topic and keywords, and b.) can match it to relevant searches.

Note, I said “page” not content. That’s because, although the bulk of on-page SEO work focuses on the words you use, it extends to optimizing some elements in the code.

You may have heard about some of them — meta-tags like title or description are two most popular ones. But there are more. So, here’s a list of the most crucial on-page optimization actions to take.

Note: Since blog content prevails on most websites, when speaking of those factors, I’ll focus on blog SEO — optimizing blog posts for relevant keywords. However, all this advice is equally valid for other page types too.

Featured Resource

• Guide to On-Page SEO Strategy

a) Keyword Optimization

According to web analysts and SEO experts, optimizing your on-page content around target keywords is the most effective SEO strategy for ranking highly on SERPs.

Image Source

For keyword optimization, first ensure that Google understands what keywords you want this page to rank. To achieve that, make sure you include at least the main keyword in the following:

• Post’s title: Ideally, place it as close to the start of the title. Google is known to put more value on words at the start of the headline.
• URL: Your page’s web address should also include the keyword. Ideally, including nothing else. Also, remove any stop word.
• H1 Tag: In most content management systems, this tag displays the title of the page by default. However, make sure that your platform doesn’t use a different setting
• The first 100 words (or the first paragraph) of content: Finding the keyword at the start of your blog post will reassure Google that this is, in fact, the page’s topic.
• Meta-title and meta-description tags: Search engines use these two code elements to display their listings. They display the meta-title as the search listing’s title while the meta-description provides content for the little blurb below it. But above that, they use both to understand the page’s topic further.
• Image file names and ALT tags: Remember how search engines see graphics on a page? They can only see their file names. So, make sure that at least one of the images contains the keyword in the file name.

The alt tag, on the other hand, is text browsers display instead of an image (for visually impaired visitors.) However, since ALT tag resides in the image code, search engines use it as a relevancy signal as well.

Also, add semantic keywords — variations or synonyms of your keyword. Google and other search engines use them to determine a page’s relevancy better.

Let me illustrate this with a quick example. Let’s pretend that your main keyword is “Apple.” But do you mean the fruit or the tech giant behind the iPhone?

Now, imagine what happens when Google finds terms like sugar, orchard, or cider in the copy? The choice of what queries to rank it for would immediately become obvious, right?

That’s what semantic keywords do. Add them to ensure that your page doesn’t start showing up for irrelevant searches.

b) Non-Keyword-Related On-Page Optimization Factors

On-page SEO is not just about sprinkling keywords across the page. The factors below help confirm a page’s credibility and authority too:

• External links: Linking out to other, relevant pages on the topic helps Google determine its topic further. Plus, it provides a good user experience. How? By positioning your content as a valuable resource.
• Internal links: Those links help you boost rankings in two ways. One, they allow search engines to find and crawl other pages on the site. And two, they show semantic relations between various pages, helping to determine its relevance to the search query better. As a rule, you should include at least 2-4 internal links per blog post
• Content’s length: Long content typically ranks better. That’s because, if done well, a longer blog post will always contain more exhaustive information on the topic, thus keeping a reader on your site longer. That’s called dwell time, and it’s an important ranking factor for the search engines
• Multimedia: Although not a requirement, multimedia elements like videos, diagrams, audio players can signal a page’s quality. It keeps readers on a page for longer just like longer content does. And in turn, it signals that they find the content valuable and worth pursuing.

3. Links

From what you’ve read in this guide so far, you know that no page will rank without two factors — relevance and authority.

In their quest to provide users with the most accurate answers, Google and other search engines prioritize pages they consider the most relevant to their queries but also, popular.

The first two areas — technical setup and content — focused on increasing relevance (though I admit, some of their elements can also help highlight the authority.)

Links, however, are responsible for popularity.

But before we talk more about how they work, here’s what SEOs mean when talking about links.

What is a backlink?

Links, also called backlinks, are references to your content on other websites. Every time another website mentions and points their readers to your content, you gain a backlink to your site.

For example, this article in Entrepreneur.co mentions our Not Another State of Marketing Report page. It also links to it allowing their readers to see other stats than the one quoted.

Google uses the quantity and quality of links like this as a signal of a website’s authority. Its logic behind it is that webmasters would reference a popular and high-quality website more often than a mediocre one.

But note that I mentioned link quality as well. That’s because not all links are the same. Some — low-quality ones — can impact your rankings negatively.

Links Quality Factors

Low quality or suspicious links — for example, ones that Google would consider as built deliberately to make it consider a site as more authoritative — might reduce your rankings.

That’s why, when building links, SEOs focus not on building any links. They aim to generate the highest quality references possible.

Naturally, just like with the search algorithm, we don’t know what factors determine a link’s quality, specifically. However, over time, SEOs discovered some of them:

• The popularity of a linking site: Any link from a domain that search engines consider an authority will naturally have high quality. In other words, links from websites that have good quality links pointing to them will yield better results.
• Topic relevance: Links from domains on a topic similar to yours will carry more authority than those from random websites.
• Trust in a domain: Just like with popularity, search engines also assess a website’s trust. Links from more trustworthy sites will always impact rankings better.

Link Building

In SEO, we refer to the process of acquiring new backlinks as link building. And as many practitioners admit, it can be a challenging activity.

Link building, if you want to do it well, requires creativity, strategic thinking, and patience. To generate quality links, you need to come up with a link building strategy. And that’s no small feat.

Remember, your links must pass various quality criteria. Plus, it can’t be obvious to search engines that you’ve built them deliberately.

Here are some strategies to do it:

• Editorial, organic links: These backlinks come from websites that reference your content on their own.
• Outreach: In this strategy, you contact other websites for links. This can happen in many ways. You could create an amazing piece of content, and email them to tell them about it. In turn, if they find it valuable, they’ll reference it. You can also suggest where they could link to it.
• Guest posting: Guest posts are blog articles that you publish on third-party websites. In turn, those companies often allow including one or two links to your site in the content and author bio.
• Profile links: Finally, many websites offer an opportunity to create a link. Online profiles are a good example. Often, when setting up such a profile, you can also list your website there as well. Not all such links carry strong authority, but some might. And given the ease of creating them, they’re worth pursuing.
• Competitive analysis: Finally, many SEOs regularly analyze their competitors’ backlinks to identify those they could recreate for their sites too.

Now, if you’re still here with me, then you’ve just discovered what’s responsible for your site’s success in search.

The next step, then, is figuring out whether your efforts are working.

How to Monitor & Track SEO Results

Technical setup, content, and links are critical to getting a website into the search results. Monitoring your efforts helps improve your strategy further.

Measuring SEO success means tracking data about traffic, engagement, and links. And though, most companies develop their own sets of SEO KPIs (key performance indicators), here are the most common ones:

• Organic traffic growth
• Keyword rankings (split into branded and non-branded terms)
• Conversions from organic traffic
• Average time on page and the bounce rate
• Top landing pages attracting organic traffic
• Number of indexed pages
• Links growth (including new and lost links)

Local SEO

Up until now, we focused on getting a site rank in search results in general. If you run a local business, however, Google also lets you position it in front of potential customers in your area, specifically. But for that, you use local SEO.

And it’s well worth it.

46% of Google searches are for local businesses. They look for vendor suggestions, and even specific business addresses.

87% of consumers use Google to research local businesses. They look for vendor suggestions, and even specific business addresses.

But hold on, is local SEO different from what we’ve been talking about all along?

Yes and no.

Search engines follow similar principles for both local and global rankings. But given that they position a site for specific, location-based results, they need to analyze some other ranking factors too.

Even local search results look different:

• They appear only for searches with a local intent (for example, “restaurant near me” or when a person clearly defined the location.)
• They contain results specific to a relevant location.
• They concentrate on delivering specific information to users that they don’t need to go anywhere else to find.
• They target smartphone users primarily as local searches occur more often on mobile devices.

For example, a localpack, the most prominent element of local results, includes almost all information a person would need to choose a business. Here are local results Google displays for the phrase “best restaurant in Boston.”

Note that these results contain no links to any content. Instead, they include a list of restaurants in the area, a map to show their locations, and additional information about each:

• Business name
• Description
• Image
• Opening hours
• Star Reviews
• Address

Often, they also include a company’s phone number or website address.

All this information combined helps customers choose which business to engage. But it also allows Google to determine how to rank it.

Local Search Ranking Factors

When analyzing local websites, Google looks at the proximity to a searcher’s location. With the rise of local searches containing the phrase, “near me,” it’s only fair that Google will try to present the closest businesses first.

Keywords are essential for local SEO too. However, one additional element of on-page optimization is the presence of a company’s name, address, and phone number of a page. In local SEO, we refer to it as the NAP.

Again, it makes sense, as the search engine needs a way to assess the company’s location.

Google assesses authority in local search not just by links. Reviews and citations (references of a business’s address or a phone number online) highlight its authority too.

Finally, the information a business includes in Google My Business — the search engine’s platform for managing local business listings — plays a huge part in its rankings.

The above is just the tip of the iceberg. But they are the ones to get right first if you want your business to rank well in local search.

What is black hat SEO?

The final aspect of SEO I want to highlight to you is something I also hope you’ll never get tempted to use. I mean it.

Because, although it might have its lure, using black hat SEO typically ends in a penalty from search listings.

Black hat practices aim at manipulating search engine algorithms using strategies against search engine guidelines. The most common black hat techniques include keyword stuffing, cloaking (hiding keywords in code so that users don’t see them, but search engines do), and buying links.

So, why would someone use black hat SEO? For one, because, often, ranking a site following Google’s guidelines takes time. Long time, in fact.

Black hat strategies let you cut down the complexity of link building, for example. Keyword stuffing helps users to rank one page for many keywords, without having to create more content.

But as said, getting caught often results in a site being completely wiped out from search listings.

And the reason I mention it here is that I want you to realize that there are no shortcuts in SEO. And be aware of anyone suggesting strategies that might seem too good to be true.

Doing SEO Yourself

Be honest with yourself — are you interested in learning SEO? Do you have time to learn the basics? Do you have the resources to bring in help if you redesign your website and accidentally deindex several pages? If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” then you might not want to take on the responsibility of SEO yourself. SEO is a long term play, and just like a muscle, you have to work at it consistently to see results. That can take a substantial amount of commitment. If you have any doubts, try the next best thing — delegating the work.

However, learning about the process and becoming an SEO expert makes you well-equipped to create content because you’ll know exactly what matters most. And there is a wide variety of SEO tools out there that will help you throughout the process.

For example, HubSpot’s SEO Marketing Software includes tools that help you optimize your content and execute your SEO strategy. You’ll get a list of issues to fix ranked based on importance and detailed insight into why those issues matter to prepare you for the future.

Get started with HubSpot’s SEO Marketing Software

Nowadays, 50% of writers also use AI SEO tools to boost content performance, and 65% of web analysts say it helps their pages rank higher in SERPs. Bloggers also say AI tools are highly effective at helping them align their web content with search intent (which hits on two of the four factors used to rank pages JUMP LINK)

Delegate SEO to a Team Member

If you’re not quite sure about taking on SEO yourself, consider delegating the work to a team member. If you have a person who’s interested in growth marketing, development, or even web design, this would be a valuable skill to help grow their career. You could also hire a full-time search engine optimization specialist if you have the budget.

The person in this role can report to the marketing team, development team, or even design team. Because SEO touches nearly every function of a business while maintaining a unique set of skill requirements, this position won’t be subject to frequent changes if departments need to be restructured later on. The person you delegate to this job will contribute cross functionally more often than not, so you’ll have some liberty with managing them.

Outsource SEO to an Agency

You don’t have the interest in SEO, your team’s at full capacity, and you can’t spare the budget to fill a full time SEO role. Now what? The best bang for your buck is to outsource SEO to a reputable consultant. Why? First, a well-respected SEO consultant is highly skilled in bringing organic traffic, leads, and conversions to businesses. They do this day in and day out, so they won’t need the ramp up time that you or a member of your team would need in order to learn the basics.

Second, a consultant can be less expensive than hiring someone full-time for the role because they don’t require insurance benefits, payroll taxes, etc. But how much exactly would you be looking at for outsourcing your SEO?

SEO can cost between $100 and $500 per month if you do it yourself with a keyword research tool. It can cost between $75 and $150 per hour for a consultant, and up to $10,000 per month if you hire a full-service marketing agency. Small businesses generally spend less on SEO than big brands, so be sure to take that into account.

Incurring SEO costs can mean one of two things: the investment in your organic search strategy, or how much you pay for paid search engine marketing (SEM) services like Google Ads. If you’re paying for a tool, consultant, or marketing agency to help you optimize your web content, your bill can vary wildly with the depth of the services you’re receiving.

SEO Resources & Training

This guide is just a starting point for discovering SEO. But there’s much more to learn.

Here are online training resources to try next if your or someone on your team wants to take on this skill:

• The HubSpot SEO Academy
• Google Analytics Course
• SEO That Works course

You can also pick SEO knowledge from industry experts and their blogs. Here are some worth reading:

• SEMrush
• MOZ
• Yoast
• BrightLocal (local SEO advice)
• Search Engine Journal
• Search Engine Watch
• Search Engine Land
• Bruce Clay Inc.
• WordLift Blog

Over To You

Without actively positioning its content in search results, no business can survive long.

By increasing your search visibility, you can bring more visitors, and in turn, conversions and sales. And that’s well worth the time spent becoming an expert in SEO.

Marketers play a crucial role in attracting customers and driving success for their brands. And today, presentation skills are a key tool in your marketing toolbox.

Strong presentations help you better communicate and make an impression on your audience.

Whether you‘re a seasoned professional or a budding marketer eager to make a lasting impact, there’s always room to improve.

We’ll explore eight essential presentation skills that allow you to stand out, tips for leveling up, and examples of some of our favorite presentations. Let’s dive in.

What are presentation skills?

8 Effective Presentation Skills

How to Improve Your Presentation Skills

Top-Notch Presentation Examples

What are presentation skills?

Presentation skills enable marketers to effectively convey information, ideas, and messages to their audience. That may be a group of potential clients, colleagues, stakeholders, or the public.

These skills encompass techniques that help marketers engage, inspire, and influence their listeners, leaving a lasting impact.

A well-developed set of presentation skills empowers you to communicate your thoughts with clarity and conviction. It goes beyond just conveying data or facts.

Presentation skills involve artfully crafting a narrative and using various tools to captivate the audience. This keeps listeners engaged and persuades them to take the desired action.

Keep reading to see some of the most effective presentation skills you can develop.

8 Effective Presentation Skills

1. Clarity

Say what you mean and mean what you say. When presenting, you don’t have to leave anything up to interpretation. Pick action words and be clear with what you’re saying.

2. Conciseness

Being able to cut down on your presentation is a skill within itself. You should be able to cull down what you want to say, leave room for questions, and not pack too much information into your presentation that you begin to bore your audience.

3. Creativity

In the same vein of not boring your audience, you want to find ways to bring your creativity into your presentation.

This could mean thinking of new and exciting ways to present your information, whether through exciting animation, riveting personal anecdotes, or even finding a way to integrate videos into your presentation.

4. Focus

Staying on topic is crucial to giving a good presentation. Honing the skill of focus allows any presenter to stay on track with what they’re saying and for the audience to follow along.

5. Pacing

Understanding your pacing is an important skill to hone so you don’t rush through your presentation. Knowing when you should take breaks and slow down will take time to practice, but it’s helpful to know.

6. Humor

Keeping parts of your presentation light is a skill you can hone in on, and humor can make it more engaging.

Add a few jokes to your presentation where appropriate, and pause for light-hearted moments to keep your audience engaged.

7. Balance

Interesting and engaging presentations strike a balance between humor and seriousness. What does this balance look like for you and your presentation? Finding it is a skill in itself.

8. Confidence

When it all comes down to it, what you’re saying won’t matter if you, above all else, don’t believe it. The audience will follow you with your expertise and manner of speaking as long as you believe in yourself.

These skills take time to develop and can only improve your presentations. In this next section, we take you through the steps and ways to improve your presentation skills.

How to Improve Your Presentation Skills

Listing presentation skills is easy. Mastering them so you can wow a crowd requires more effort. Below, we’ll explore best practices that can help you make the most of your presentations.

Remember: When it comes to presenting, practice makes perfect. The more you get in front of a crowd and speak, the better you will be.

1. Take your time.

Understanding your pacing is a good way to improve your presentation skills. When you’re working through an upcoming presentation, time yourself going through your material.

Are there places where you’re rushing or dragging through your presentation? Here is a good place to work your timing out.

2. Relax your shoulders.

Body language is an unconscious way to communicate whether or not you’re comfortable. Understanding where your tension points are can help you relax during your presentation.

Run through your presentation at home and note how your body feels. Do you notice any tension in your body? Once you know where you’re holding the stress, it’s easier to take action and relax.

Consider quickly stretching or shaking out the tension before you take the stage.

3. Practice.

There is no better way to feel comfortable during your presentation than having run through it many times. This way, you can understand your pacing, places to slow down, and places to take breaks.

The more you know the material you will say, the more confident you will seem.

See if a friend or family member can be your practice audience. They can also give you notes on your delivery.

4. Annunciate.

In the vein of practice, you should work on sounding out your words to add extra clarity. This will allow for a better experience for those listening to you and reduce the opportunity for miscommunication.

Notice that you have a few specific troublesome phrases. See if you can replace them with something simpler. If you have note cards, you can also write out tricky words or names phonetically. You can reference your write-up if you stumble.

5. Figure out where to take breaks.

Holding attention during your presentations isn’t about rushing through your material as fast as possible.

Go through your presentation and find spots where you take a sip of water, where you would anticipate laughter, and where you take a second to breathe.

6. Figure out what you can cut.

This is where the conciseness comes in. There might be sections of your presentation that can be cut, places where the information might drag. Take a critical eye and see where to make it tighter and more engaging.

Time yourself to see how long your presentation is supposed to be.

7. Say what you mean.

Clarity is an important skill to have when you’re presenting. Here, you should think critically about what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. Avoid hyperbole when possible.

Always say what you mean, and mean what you say. Your audience will value the accuracy of your words.

8. Be a storyteller.

To engage your audience, weave storytelling into your presentation — more than 5 in 10 people believe stories hold their focus during a presentation.

Consider including a case study or user persona as a throughline during your talk. You could also develop a clever metaphor to explore throughout your presentation.

For example, you could compare your sales team to a group of loyal knights on a quest to share the value of your brand.

9. Memorize structure, not words.

Memorizing your whole talk may seem like a good idea. However, trying to deliver a presentation word-for-word is a mistake. If you forget or stumble on one memorized word, you may interrupt your whole flow.

Repeating every word from memory may also sound stilted to your listeners.

While you don’t want to wing your whole presentation, you also don’t want to seem like you’ve memorized every single word. Instead, memorize the structure of the presentation.

Get comfortable saying the different parts of your talk in many ways.

10. Present slowly and pause frequently.

When you get nervous, you talk faster. To combat this, remember to slow yourself down when practicing.

Place deep pauses throughout your presentation, especially when transitioning between slides, as it gives you time to breathe and your audience time to absorb.

11. Focus on actionable takeaways.

When you start your presentation, you have your audience’s attention. Now is your chance to hook them on what you have to say. A simple overview can be boring.

If you start with too comprehensive of a summary, your audience may feel like they already heard it all and check out.

Instead, focus on what listeners will get from the presentation. What are the actionable takeaways they will leave with? Then, at the end of the talk, you can leave them with actionable steps of what to do next.

12. Get comfortable with technology.

You might use a slide deck in your presentation or set it up over Zoom. To feel more confident when you’re presenting, practice with your specific tech stack in advance.

Familiarize yourself with both the software and hardware involved in your chat. For example, you’ll want to know your conferencing platform and practice setting up a second monitor.

13. Think about movement.

Are you someone who likes to walk and talk? Are you expressive with your hands? Think about how you want to move during your presentation and the space you’ll be in.

Feeling comfortable with your movement can help the flow of the presentation.

14. Ask for feedback.

You will never deliver the perfect presentation, so ask for feedback. Talk to your managers about where you could improve. Consider surveying your audience for an unbiased look into your presentation skills.

You’ll hear about what you can improve specifically in the future. This will help you improve overall.

15. Learn from other presentations.

As mentioned above, learning from past presentations is a good way to improve your presentation skills.

You may not remember every excellent presentation you’ve sat through, so we’ve pulled together a list of ones that we like. You can reference these talks and see critical skills in play.

Just as reading can make you a better writer, watching good presentations can help make you a better presenter.

Here are some examples of presentations we like because we use what we discuss in the paragraphs above, including good timing, thoughtful presentation of materials, and creativity.

Top-Notch Presentation Examples

1. Elizabeth Gilbert: Your Elusive Creative Genius

You may not know Elizabeth Gilbert by name, but you’ve likely heard of her book Eat, Pray, Love. In this presentation, Gilbert discusses how anyone can be a genius. All you have to do is get out of your way and unlock your own creativity.

What we like: Gilbert weaves humor, lightness, and focus throughout her presentation. Viewers will enjoy her take on creativity, be able to follow her pace, and have actionable takeaways. At the end, listeners leave inspired.

2. Manoush Zomorodi: How Boredom Can Lead to Your Most Brilliant Ideas

As the host of “Ted Radio Hour,” Manoush Zomorodi is a professional presenter. During this presentation, she discusses how boredom can help you discover creativity.

Only during moments of stillness do we become restless and unlock brilliance.

What we like: The hook of the topic brings us in — everyone wants to understand how to make great ideas. However, the presenter and her dynamic energy keep us engaged. Zomorodi uses audio clips to break up the monotony.

She knows where to pause and brings in appropriate visual aids.

3. James Cameron: Before Avatar … A Curious Boy

James Cameron, the esteemed director, knows a thing or two about storytelling. But before he created Avatar and directed Titanic, he was just a kid like everyone else.

During this presentation, Cameron discusses how his curiosity at a young age has propelled him forward.

What we like: This talk is personal, personable, and targeted for his audience to walk away with actionable steps and inspiration. Cameron also has a grasp of his body language. He moves fluidly on stage, even without visual aids.

4. Luvvie Ajayi Jones: Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

Unsure of whether you should speak your mind? In this presentation, activist Luvvie Ajayi Jones shares three questions to ask yourself if you’re considering making waves.

She encourages us to get used to discomfort in order to move the needle and make a change.

What we like: The hook “I’m a Professional Troublemaker” brings us right into the action. The audience is left with questions and an interest in what she’s going to say next.

This talk is memorable, inspirational, and funny at times, striking the important balance we discussed earlier in this article. Audiences will hold onto “In a world that wants us to whisper, I choose to yell” for years to come.

Practice Makes Perfect

Mastering presentation skills is an essential asset for professionals in every field. Effective delivery and engagement are key factors that determine if your words make an impact.

By utilizing techniques such as clear messaging, compelling visuals, and dynamic delivery, you can captivate your audience and leave a lasting impression.

Using a video editing app is critical for creating a winning video marketing strategy. And if you’re reading this blog post, chances are you already know you should incorporate more video content into your marketing, especially after the rise of remote work.

But like most new strategies, you’ll need to prove its ROI before you get a budget. And that can be tricky because to make a great video, you need a few things — like a camera and editing software. You might already have a high-quality camera built into your smartphone, but editing your raw footage and preparing it for publication requires a third-party mobile app. You might even need to hop on the computer for the more extensive post-production projects.

The good news: There are several free and inexpensive video editing apps you can download that run the gamut from super simple to Hollywood-level powerful. In this post we will delve into the best video apps for every device and click one of the links below to jump to a specific type of app, or keep reading to learn about them all.

• Instagram Video Editing Apps
• Top Free Video Editing Software
• Best Video Editing Apps for YouTube
• Video Editing Apps for Android

What are the best video editing apps?

Every editing app will be different, but there are a few features you’ll want to look for. Because most apps will have a free and paid version, it’s important to know what’s essential and what might be worth an upgrade.

Editing Apps for Videos: Standard Features

For every video app whether paid or free, it will include:

• Scrubbing through video as you edit.
• Choosing an aspect ratio that fits with your target platform (Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, TikTok, etc.).
• Adding text and shapes along with professional transitions throughout the shots.
• Exporting video with at least 480p quality with high definition exports up to 4k.
• Adding music to the video via stock music or your library.

The following solutions can help you make video magic — whether your video is meant for Instagram, YouTube, or a similar channel where your audience is hungry for content. Some tools may even offer premium or extra features like video asset management, graphic design tools, and more.

Instagram Video Editing Apps

The following apps allow you to edit and quickly upload beautiful videos to Instagram. None of these apps are limited to Instagram but are known for their support of this social network.

1. Magisto

Price: Starts at free | Platforms: iOS, Android, Online

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Video automation is here — in the form of the Magisto video editor.

Owned by Vimeo, Magisto allows you to make incredible videos without ever leaving your smartphone in three easy steps: First, you‘ll choose your video editing style (the type of story you’re telling), then you‘ll choose the photos and video clips you’d like included, and lastly, you‘ll pick your music from Magisto’s built-in music library.

Using artificial intelligence (AI), this intuitive app helps organize your footage in a video that best delivers the message you have in mind. Why not stop at the free version? Upgrade to Premium or Professional for a small monthly fee and make longer movies with more of your own content.

Pros

• Easy-to-use templates for hassle-free creation
• Intuitive, beginner-friendly interface
• Online version available for creating both on Windows and macOS laptops
• Professional and Business plans come with a free Vimeo Pro subscription

Cons

• The “Created with Magisto” watermark will be visible unless you upgrade to premium
• No multi-track editing or 4K exporting
• Ideal for very short social media videos (< 3 minutes long)
• Stock videos are only accessible with a Professional plan

2. Wondershare Filmora

Price: Starts at free on mobile | Platforms: iOS, Android, macOS, Windows

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Wondershare Filmora (formerly Wondershare Video Editor) is the perfect option if you want to start with basic video editing functionality with the opportunity to get more advanced as you go. The app is perfect for Instagram but can create audience-ready videos for numerous platforms.

Filmora is available for Windows and Mac computers, whereas the company’s FilmoraGo mobile app is free to download for both iOS and Android devices.

Filmora’s “Easy Mode” strips away the complexity so you can drag and drop video clips, add some music, and produce a finished video in a matter of minutes. The FilmoraGo app has many of these features, plus an Effect Store where you can incorporate preset intros, themes, and transitions into your video creation.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, you’re right: The free version of Wondershare Filmora adds a watermark to your videos that you can only remove through upgrading to their paid service.

Pros

• This app is a powerful option for both beginner and advanced video editors.
• The desktop version offers multi-track editing and more traditional video editing capabilities.
• The mobile version includes easy-to-use effects, stickers, and filters.
• You can layer music and different sounds in the mobile app.
• Relatively affordable (starting at less than $50 per year for Filmora X, and free for the mobile app) compared to competitors such as Adobe.

Cons

• The desktop apps are not free, but a trial is available.
• Videos are watermarked with the Wondershare branding unless you upgrade to a premium plan.

3. InVideo

Price: Starts at Free | Platforms: iOS, Android

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If you’ve already got a script to work with, InVideo just might be the best option for quickly uploading Instagram videos. This platform comes with over 5,000 templates to choose from, 8M stock images, and music — but where InVideo really shines is its AI tools.

Not only can you use it to generate a script, if you already have one, you can take advantage of its AI text-to-video tool. This feature allows you to create videos based on the script you upload. Like Wondershare, the free version adds a watermark to your videos.

Pros

• The AI tools save users time creating videos.
• You can upload your own music or use its royalty-free options.
• Comes with step-by-step tutorials for creating videos for YouTube and Instagram.
• This app is easy to use for beginners.

Cons

• Can’t export videos with the free version but you can share a link.
• Script-to-video media suggestions aren’t always the perfect match, so you’ll need to make adjustments.

4. InShot

Price: Starts at free | Platforms: iOS, Android

There are times when you just want to edit a video — no fancy collages and no splicing. For that, there‘s InShot, a handy app that lets you trim, speed up, or add music and filters to video. It’s pretty fundamental, but with that comes a high ease of use. You can also add a background if you like, though we think it’s pretty cool to have an overlap of images — like we did with the video above.

I took a simple video of a tranquil beach scene, but enhanced it with InShot’s “warm filter” and added a fitting musical track to it — a song called “Pikake Stream,” by Kalani. (I recommend viewing the video in its entirety with headphones, especially if you’re having a stressful day.)

Pros

• It’s a great app for beginners and marketers who don’t have a lot of time for intensive video editing.
• Built-in music library with royalty-free options.
• You can add voice-overs and your music.
• The app has a 4.8-star rating on the Apple Store and over 1M ratings.

Cons

• There’s no desktop app available.
• Filters and stickers are only available with a paid subscription.
• Your video will be watermarked unless you upgrade to the paid version.

Top Free Video Editing Software

The following tools are the most versatile mobile apps of all the free software listed in this article.

1. WeVideo

Price: Starts at free | Platforms: iOS, Android, Chrome OS

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Cloud-based video editing software (i.e., software that you access via a browser instead of downloading directly to your hard drive) is growing more and more popular. One of the programs leading the charge is WeVideo.

WeVideo offers some advanced features and functionality, including audio editing capabilities, a library of commercially licensed music, and the ability to share videos in 4K resolution. However, the free version of WeVideo isn’t without its limitations.

One major downside is that you‘re only given 10GB of cloud storage. If you’re making a one-off video, this is fine. But if you‘re planning to edit multiple videos, you’ll need more space. The free version also puts a WeVideo watermark on your videos, which isn’t ideal.

WeVideo is also available as a desktop computer product and comes with free and paid plans. For a complete breakdown of the differences between these plans, check out WeVideo’s pricing page.

Pros

• You can access your videos from any device
• Paid versions are relatively cheap (starting at $4.99 for the Power version)
• 4K exporting available

Cons

• Only 10GB of storage and 5 minutes of published video are available on the free version
• The maximum resolution is 480p on the free subscription
• Your video will be watermarked with WeVideo’s branding unless you upgrade

2. Splice

Price: Free | Platforms: iOS

Splice allows you — as the name suggests — to splice together different video clips on your phone to create a moving collage.

We had a lot of fun playing with this one, especially since Splice even contains a library of musical tracks that can be used as a background for your finished product. You can also use the app to trim and edit the different pieces of video and customize transition lengths from one scene to the next.

My colleague, Amanda Zantal-Wiener, experimented with Splice by compiling the above 15-second video of her dog — using only an iPhone 6.

Pros

• Easy and intuitive to use
• Familiar user-friendly interface
• Multi-track and timeline editing with layers and masks
• No sign-in required
• No watermark, even for free subscribers

Cons

• Subscription starts at $2.99/week, or $12.97/month, which is pricier than other alternatives
• Effects and music are only available for paid subscribers

3. Adobe Premiere Rush

Price: Free | Platforms: iOS, Android

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Adobe‘s popular video editor, Premiere, isn’t just available on your mobile device — it’s free.

Melissa Stoneburner of Examiner.com calls this app a “gateway” into the full Adobe Premiere Pro video editor for desktop, and we can see this for ourselves. Similar to Magisto (the first video editor on our list), Adobe Rush automatically sets your video to the music of your choice (using Premiere Rush’s library or your own), and offers a Freeform editor that allows you to customize your edits further after this initial audio sync.

Premiere Rush‘s equally robust video editing features help you trim, drag, and drop multiple video and image clips — right from your mobile device’s photo and video album — in the order you’d like.

Then, just add proper lighting, manipulate the speed of the video, and share your final product directly on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.

Pros

• It’s a natural choice for current Adobe users.
• Premiere rush offers a familiar video editing interface for those with experience and an easier learning curve for beginners.
• The paid version supports 4K exports.

Cons

• Some users report exporting and crashing issues on the Android version.
• Limited storage capabilities (<100GB) for free users

4. PicPlayPost

Price: Free | Platforms: iOS, Android

We‘ve already covered the coolness of photo collages. But what if you could make a video collage? PicPlayPost is a simple app that lets you do exactly that. Just remember that the sound from both videos will play at the same time, so be sure they won’t clash with one another.

There are many uses for a video collage app, but my colleague, Lindsay Kolowich, particularly likes the way fitness professional Melissa Made uses it on her Instagram account. She posts video collages with her performing a workout on one side, while she explains the workout out loud on the other.

Pros

• You can create alternative formats such as gifs and live photos
• 4K exporting available

Cons

• Most valuable features are available on the paid version only
• You can’t paste text from another app
• Video will be watermarked with the PicPlayPost branding unless you upgrade

Best Video Editing Apps for YouTube

Although the video editing services below do not offer mobile versions, they do offer easy-to-learn functionality at minimal cost. These apps are the best for sitting down at your computer and editing amazing video content for your YouTube channel.

1. Blender

Price: Free | Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux

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The open-source program Blender is more than just a video editor: It’s a full-blown 3D animation suite, which allows for modeling, rendering, motion tracking, and more.

On the video editing side, there are a ton of features, including transitions, speed control, filters, adjustment layers, and more. There are also 32 slots available for adding video clips, audio clips, images, and effects, which means you can produce some incredibly complex video.

For the amateur video editor, all the options can be a bit overwhelming. But if you’re looking to produce truly professional-quality video — without having to deal with watermarks — Blender is a solid option. The best part: “You are free to use Blender for any purpose, including commercially or for education,” according to its website. For the fine print, check out its licensing info.

Pros

• Blender has a long history of use across multiple platforms.
• You can render, model, sculpt, and animate using this app.

Cons

• There’s a steep learning curve for beginners.

2. Lightworks

Price: Free | Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux

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Like Blender, Lightworks is definitely on the more advanced (and powerful) end of the video editing software spectrum. In fact, it‘s a program that’s been used to edit some well-known and award-winning films, including Pulp Fiction, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The King’s Speech.

There are two different licenses you can choose from with Lightworks: “Free” and “Pro.” (The latter of which, as you might have guessed, requires that you cough up some cash.) The main difference between the two licenses is that the Pro version offers more features, including stereoscopic output and advanced project sharing. But the free version is still quite powerful, providing 100+ effects and supporting multicam editing.

Pros

• Like Blender, Lightworks has a long history of use across multiple platforms.
• You can access royalty-free videos and audio from the desktop app.
• You can export up to 4K.
• Multi-track editing and timelines, even in the free version.
• You can buy a lifetime license for $437.99 and never worry about renewing a subscription.

Cons

• There’s an extremely steep learning curve for beginners.
• Limited options for creating titles and subtitles.
• Users have reported formatting issues when importing video clips.

3. Movavi

Price: Free | Platforms: Windows, macOS

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If you are a novice in video making, the Movavi Video Editor is a nice option for beginners who are just starting out. This software provides a simple, intuitive interface as well as powerful video editing tools that make it easy to add titles, filters, transitions, and effects packs.

At Movavi Video Editor, you have the choice between two modes of video creation: automatic and manual. The automatic mode allows you to create personalized, themed movies in just five easy steps. Upload your photos and videos, choose a template from the collection provided, add a soundtrack, preview your video, and export it in any format you desire or share it directly online.

Manual mode offers a multi-track editing space where you can add up to 99 tracks for video, audio, and titles. The timeline is customizable for more accurate editing, and the drag-and-drop controls make it easy to maneuver and customize each element.

Pros

• Chroma-key, synchronization, sound autocorrect, keyframing, and motion tracking.
• Video rendering speed and 4k processing

Cons

• Watermark with a free version.
• The trial version has functional limitations and is available for 7 days only.

4. Shotcut

Price: Free | Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux

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Shotcut is another open-source video software — and it‘s completely free. It’s possible to use Shotcut to create professional-looking videos, but the interface is tricky to use. Perhaps that’s because it was originally developed for the Linux platform, which looks and feels a lot different from the typical Windows or Mac UX.

With dedication — and time spent in the Shotcut frequently asked questions and how-to guide sections — it’s possible to use this software to create and export high-quality videos, completely for free.

Pros

• It’s completely free—you never have to upgrade, ever.
• The diverse list of features rivals those of paid apps.

Cons

• Shotcut could be difficult to get the hang of at first.
• Some users find the UI difficult to navigate.
• It’s less intuitive compared to other apps such as Premiere Pro and FinalCut, even for experienced editors.

5. VSDC Free Video Editor

Price: Free | Platforms: Windows Only

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In experienced hands, the VSDC Free Video Editor can produce professional-looking videos. In addition to supporting nearly every major video format, the program offers advanced video effects, including object transformation and color correction, as well as advanced audio effects like volume correction and sound normalization. And unlike WeVideo, the VSDC Free Video Editor is truly free. You can use the program’s full feature set without having to deal with pesky watermarks.

Unfortunately, there is one catch. If you want technical support, you need to pay. (And because there is a bit of a learning curve, there‘s a good chance you’ll need assistance.) Support for the VSDC Free Video Editor costs $9.99 for one month and $14.99 for one year.

Pros

• The free version is packed with typically premium features such as masking, blending modes, and 4K exports.
• You can share your video directly from the app to YouTube, Vimeo, and other platforms.

Cons

• You have to pay for support if you’re using the free version.
• Not as user-friendly as other alternatives.
• Users have reported a steep learning curve.

6. Machete Video Editor Lite

Price: Free | Platforms: Windows Only

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At the simple end of the spectrum is Machete Video Editor Lite, a free program allowing you to cut, copy, and paste different sections of video. As the Machete website puts it, Video Editor Lite was “designed for quick and simple ‘slicing’ of your video files.”

The program‘s intuitive interface means you won’t have to waste time shuffling through technical support documents. And because Video Editor Lite doesn‘t re-encode your video files when you slice them, you don’t have to worry about losing video quality.

The main downsides to the program? It only supports the AVI and WMV video formats, and it doesn‘t allow for audio editing. Still, if you have zero video editing experience and only need to make simple edits, it’s a great option.

Pros

• This app offers simple but powerful slicing and editing capabilities.
• It’s an incredibly simple and user-friendly interface; simply download and go.

Cons

• You can only export AVI and WMV files.
• You can’t edit or replace the audio.
• The website is outdated with limited support documents.

7. Avidemux

Price: Free | Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux

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Like Machete Video Editor Lite, Avidemux allows you to do basic video editing (no audio editing) without having to worry about losing video quality. But Avidemux also has a few more tricks up its sleeve.

For starters, the program supports multiple video formats, including AVI, DVD, MPEG, QuickTime, and MP4. What’s more, Avidemux comes with several filters that allow you to perform a host of different functions, from flipping and rotating clips, to adding subtitles, to adjusting colors and brightness levels.

And while the learning curve for Avidemux is slightly steeper compared to Machete Video Editor Lite, the upside is that there’s an extensive Avidemux wiki that covers everything you need to know.

Pros

• Supports multiple file formats such as AVI, MPEG, MP4, and Microsoft’s proprietary ASF
• Simple interface that’s best for tasks such as cutting and splicing footage
• Easy learning curve; simply download and start using

Cons

• Limited capabilities compared to other apps (especially mobile apps)

8. HitFilm

Price: Starts at free | Platforms: Windows, macOS

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HitFilm Express is a free video editing and visual effects software — which means you can use it to add more than 180 special effects to your videos, including 3D editing.

Possibly the coolest HitFilm feature is its wealth of tutorial videos — users can practice applying special visual effects in movie tutorials based on Star Wars, Westworld, and more.

Of course, upgrading to HitFilm Pro grants access to more visual effects, better high resolution and 3D rendering, and better audio syncing between audio and video files. It costs $300, but if you’re not ready to fully invest, HitFilm Express users can purchase lower-cost expansions to use more tools in their software.

To see the complete list of differences between HitFilm Free and Pro, check out their “Compare Versions” page.

Pros

• Powerful capabilities such as mask rendering, export queues, and unlimited tracks and transitions
• Built-in voice recorder for easy voice-overs
• Has been described as a mix between Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro

Cons

• Beginners may experience a learning curve.
• Some users have reported crashing issues.

9. Wideo

Price: Starts at $19.99 per month on the yearly subscription

Because of their high engagement and level of convenience, animated videos have become more popular over the last few years. And Wideo helps anyone interested in this type of content to edit great animated videos regardless of their editing skill level. Its easy-to-use interface makes it a great option for both beginners and advanced editors.

They offer a vast library of video templates to make video creation easier and faster. You can add animations to your live shot videos or create a whole narrative using their animations library.

Pros

• Easy to use
• Templates make video creation faster
• Free tools for video creation like storyboard generator, color palette generator, text-to-speech, and blog to video

Cons

• Download is only available on paid plans (starting at $19.99 per month on the yearly subscription)
• There is a 1 min video length limit on the free plan

Video Editing Apps for Android

These video editing apps are particularly appealing for Android mobile users, though some of them are compatible with more than just the Android operating system.

1. VideoShow

Price: Free | Platforms: Android, iOS

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VideoShow allows you to edit video content in many creative ways beyond cutting and pasting scenes together. The award-winning app, which has more than 400 million users, allows you to include text overlays, stickers, music, filters, and sound effects in your footage. Because of these features, it lends itself to video producers who want to add a bit more creativity to a vlog series, where the video is primarily of one person speaking directly to the camera.

Pros

• Easy-to-use yet powerful, with HD exports available for free users
• Expansive music library

Cons

• Your video will be watermarked with VideoShow branding if you’re not on the paid version
• You can’t export the video without upgrading to the paid version

2. PowerDirector

Price: Free | Platforms: Android, Windows, macOS

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This robust video editor has a suite of creative design tools just for Android and desktop users. Developed by CyberLink, the app can help you create 4K-quality videos from footage taken with numerous devices. Special features include motion tracking, which helps you focus on specific subjects in each frame; video collages, which help you piece together numerous photos into a motion video; and video stabilization, allowing you to remove moments of “shaky camera” in your footage. PowerDirector can also help you add voiceovers and creative sound effects using chroma key.

Similarly to InVideo, PowerDirector has several AI features that help speed up the creation process. It comes with speech-to-text, object detection, and a restoration assistant that automatically detects and corrects unwanted background noise.

Many of PowerDirector’s features are completely free in the Android app. For a more advanced suite of editing tools, you can invest in one of CyberLink’s paid products starting at $99.

Pros

• Powerful features such as green screen editing, motion graphics, and keyframe controls
• Incredibly low price compared to competitors such as Adobe
• Multi-track editing and timelines
• The company constantly adds new graphics and templates for users to choose from

Cons

• Some users have reported that it can be buggy

3. Quik

Price: Free | Platforms: Android, iOS, macOS, Windows

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Quik is a video editing tool developed by GoPro, making it the software of choice for people who are editing footage from their GoPro camera. But yes, it can edit content from any source.

The app can manage up to 75 photos and video clips in one project, and can even comb through this content to help you make smart editing decisions based on what the app detects in the footage. From time-lapses to panoramic pieces, Quik can manipulate your media in lots of creative ways. The app has more than 20 preset themes to choose from and supports eight common file types.

Pros

• Easy-to-use and intuitive app
• Automatically imports photos from your camera

Cons

• This software no longer receives updates from its manufacturer
• You only have access to the cloud when you upgrade to GoPro PLUS

4. KineMaster

Price: Free | Platforms: iOS, Android, ChromeOS

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KineMaster is a super-versatile video editing tool that allows you to edit videos on “multiple layers.” What does that mean? Content creators can add an unlimited amount of text overlays, images, audio, and even free handwriting onto their footage for the artistic detail they or their brand needs. You can also blend multiple pieces of footage and use double-exposures to customize the background in a load of creative ways.

For simpler editing tasks, of course, this app offers intuitive trimming and splitting features to make your video progress just the way you want it to.

Pros

• Powerful features such as multi-track editing, layers, and blending modes
• Over 3M reviews on Google Play and an average rating of 4.5 stars
• You can share on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook straight from the app
• 4K exports available

Cons

• Your video will be watermarked with the KineMaster branding if you don’t upgrade to Premium
• Limited access to assets on the free version

5. VivaVideo

Price: Free | Platforms: iOS, Android

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VivaVideo makes professional-level edits easy for content creators. Free for all mobile devices, the app allows you to trim, merge, speed up, slow down, and reverse clips and images in a short amount of time. The app also comes with a simple collage- and slideshow-maker and offers a variety of camera lenses to capture new, edit-ready footage directly in the app.

Pros

• Fun on-trend filters, templates, and effects
• Expansive music library with hundreds of clips to choose from
• Multi-track editing allows you to layer voice clips and music

Cons

• The five-minute time limit for videos

With most people working from home, the importance of video can’t be overstated. But unless you get the right app for video editing, you’ll run the risk of publishing videos that look unprofessional and unpolished.

With these apps, you’ll be sure to create a video that attracts, converts, and delights your audience. The sooner you download one, the sooner you can sharpen your audio/video creation skills and attract more people to your brand.

Create Better Videos for a Higher ROI

Online video content isn‘t just watched more — it’s expected more. Luckily, you have the video editing tools to help you delight your audience and improve conversion rates across your social media accounts. Grab the guide below to make the video learning curve easier and to jumpstart your video marketing efforts.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in March 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Brand logos are undoubtedly one of the most critical components of a strong brand identity. However, designing a memorable logo that resonates with your target audience and effectively communicates your brand message can be challenging.

In this post, you’ll discover 20 brand logos that have achieved global recognition and embody the essence of their respective brands.

You’ll also explore how these designs have evolved and examine what makes them incredibly compelling.

Table of Contents

• 20 Brand Logo Examples
• Logo Inspiration Resources
• Tools for Designing a Brand Logo

20 Brand Logo Examples

Not sure what it takes to create a killer brand logo? Here are 20 examples to inspire your future design projects.

1. McDonald’s

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Mcdonald’s started as a small drive-in restaurant in the 1940s and has rapidly evolved into one of the largest fast-food franchises in the world. Similarly, the logo has evolved significantly over the years and is now one of the most recognizable brand logos.

The first version of the McDonald’s logo featured the company’s mascot at the time — Speedee. However, the logo has evolved in favor of a more minimalistic design.

The now famous “Golden Arches” were introduced in 1960 and have endured through multiple logo iterations over the years.

What we like: The brand’s focus on simplicity helped create a timeless and memorable logo. Plus, the design’s uniqueness created an easily recognizable and distinctively representative identity.

Pro tip: McDonald’s is an excellent example of how less can be more. Consider opting for a more minimalistic design that allows you to build a unique brand identity.

2. Amazon

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Amazon started in 1994 as an online marketplace for books but quickly grew into one of the largest e-commerce platforms in the world. Today, the business has its hands in several industries, from digital media to cloud computing.

While the brand might have significantly expanded its offerings, the company has remained consistent with its logo design approach. Although initial versions toyed around with graphic elements, every iteration (including the current one) has featured the brand name as a core design element.

What we like: Amazon’s design focus has remained on establishing the brand identity by keeping the company name at the forefront. However, it also does this while conveying its value proposition through the “swoop,” which is strategically positioned underneath “A” to “Z” to highlight the range of its offerings.

Pro tip: While Amazon’s design approach can be a great way to establish your brand identity, you must be especially cautious when choosing a name to ensure it doesn’t hinder future expansion, flexibility, and brand evolution.

3. Levis

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Levi’s started in 1853 as a dry goods business during the San Francisco “Gold Rush.” However, in 1873, after receiving a patent for riveted clothing, the company began selling “blue jeans,” an innovative take on the traditional denim pants laborers wore.

Over the years, the company’s logo has evolved. Its initial 1886 iteration symbolized its fundamental value proposition of strength by featuring two horses attempting to pull apart a pair of Levi’s jeans. The 1936 iteration introduced its signature red tab. Finally, the current “batwing” design which was first introduced in 2008.

What we like: Levi’s has also evolved toward a more simplistic logo like many other brands. However, the logo has retained elements that have become synonymous with the brand, such as the “red tab,” which continues to be a core part of Levi’s unique brand identity.

Pro tip: When redesigning a brand logo, be careful and considerate about changing or removing key elements that have become part of its identity. Remember, a redesign may only require a partial overhaul.

4. Shell

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While you may recognize Shell today as a multinational energy company, its origins trace back to 1833 when Marcus Samuel started selling seashells to expand his business. It wasn’t until the 1880s, when Marcus had passed the company to his sons, that Shell finally got into oil.

The initial logo design featured a black and white mussel shell which was trademarked in 1900, but this was eventually replaced with the “Shell Pecten” or scallop.

This new design was formalized by 1930 and underwent a couple of iterations between 1930 and 1970, including the addition of the name “Shell” in 1948.

This design also underwent multiple revisions, with the 1992 iteration (which remains the current version) incorporating mathematical geometry and warmer colors.

What we like: Even though Shell‘s logo was designed after the company moved away from selling seashells, the design managed to preserve the brand’s rich heritage. What’s particularly interesting is how the perceived meaning of the logo has now gone beyond its literal representation and evolved to simply represent the brand.

Pro tip: Although it’s best practice to choose graphics that have some connection to your company, audience, or industry, it’s also okay to take inspiration from other sources. For example, you can pull from your own history.

Sometimes, unexpected ideas and elements can bring added depth to your brand’s visual identity.

5. Microsoft

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Microsoft, a portmanteau of the words “microprocessor” and “software,” was started in the 1970s to design software for the “Altair 8800” — a microcomputer created in 1974.

Over the years, the company has expanded well beyond software to several industries, including gaming, artificial intelligence, and hardware.

The company’s logo has also evolved alongside its offerings, with the first iteration in 1975 being a monochrome text-only logo. This logo was redesigned several times, with changes primarily made to the stylization of the “O” in the 1980, 1982, and 1987 iterations.

The first version of the logo you recognize today was introduced in 2012, marking a significant change for Microsoft.

This redesign introduced color and incorporated the iconic Windows sign. This logo was then subtly updated again in 2019, resulting in the current version.

What we like: The Microsoft logo cleverly integrates the Windows logo, which is both the company‘s flagship product and one of the most influential technology products of our time. This makes the brand immediately recognizable and a powerful reminder of Microsoft’s impact and enduring legacy in the tech industry.

Pro tip: When designing a logo, consider incorporating recognizable elements, graphics, symbols, etc., as this establishes visual cues that trigger brand recall and connect your logo with your brand identity, values, or offerings.

6. Apple

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Apple’s rise as a computing giant began in 1977 when the company’s first mass-produced computer was released to the public. This product was a huge success, and subsequent launches over the years only further solidified the company’s position at the forefront of consumer tech.

However, while Apple got it right with its first-ever product, its first logo was a different story. The first iteration of the Apple logo significantly differed from the minimalistic design you see today.

This logo, designed by Ronald Wayne in 1976, featured an image of Isaac Newton sitting under a tree and the text “Apple Computing Co.” wrapped in a ribbon.

A year later, Apple’s logo transformed into a rainbow-colored version of the well-known “bitten apple” image, positioned to the right of the text “Apple.” However, in 1984 the brand did away with the text altogether in favor of a more minimalistic approach.

A 1984 redesign leaned even further into this approach, with the previous rainbow palette replaced by a solid black color scheme.

This monochromatic scheme has remained unchanged, with the current Apple logo alternating between black, white, and grey versions depending on the product.

What we like: The current version of Apple’s logo has become the gold standard for sleek minimalism within the consumer tech industry. This design approach creates a modern yet timeless effect that perfectly conveys Apple’s brand image.

Pro tip: To create a modern design that stands the test of time, consider eliminating unnecessary design elements and complexity. Instead, focus on creating a logo that is clean and uncluttered.

7. Starbucks

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The Starbucks brand was created in 1971 and named after a character called “Starbuck” from the novel “Moby-Dick.” It’s interesting to note that, unlike many businesses of a similar size that either, Starbucks started as a coffee brand and continues to operate primarily as such.

Similarly, the Starbucks logo has maintained a sense of consistency since its inception. The first iteration of the logo featured a twin-tailed mermaid (or siren) to represent their product’s allure. It also incorporated a circular design featuring the company’s name and offerings.

Over the years, there have been several iterations, the most significant being the 1987 transition from brown to the iconic green color. The logo was then eventually updated to a simplified design that removed other elements, such as text and the outer circle.

What we like: The Starbucks logo is a great case study on the importance of consistency and longevity in design. Although the logo has been through multiple iterations, the core design element has remained unchanged. This allows the brand to strike a delicate balance between familiarity and modernity.

Pro tip: While the choice of Starbucks’ name and logo character may appear playful at first glance, it’s important to remember that they still have meaning. So, while making your design choices try and strike that balance between creative expression and conveying a meaningful message.

8. Twitter

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Twitter has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 2006. While the company was initially started as a side project for a podcast platform called Odeo, it quickly became a massive success, with over 1 million total users barely two years later.

Fast forward to today, and Twitter is one of the largest tech companies in the world, worth around $14 billion (as of the time it was acquired).

The journey to develop its logo has also been fascinating. The first iteration of Twitter’s logo featured a green color palette and a text-only design; however, this design never truly saw the light of day.

By the time Twitter was launched to the public in 2006, Linda Gavin had developed a new iteration of the logo (interestingly in a single day). While this iteration retained the text-only format, it departed from the previous green palette and adopted a single shade of blue instead.

In a subsequent redesign, the Twitter logo underwent further changes, incorporating the iconic “Larry the Bird” element alongside the text. And today, Larry takes center stage thanks to a 2012 redesign that opted for a more simplified design approach.

What we like: Twitter has always taken a more simplistic, no-frills design approach right from the start. This has allowed them to maintain consistency in their designs over the years.

Pro tip: Twitter‘s design approach perfectly matches the core principles of its platform — simplicity, brevity, and impactful communication. When creating your designs, consider how you can also convey your brand’s message, principles, or identity.

9. Nike

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Nike started in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports — a joint venture between track and field coach Bill Bowerman and one of his former students, Phil Knight. The name Nike was introduced in 1971, a year before the brand’s shoes were launched.

In the years since then, Nike has introduced the iconic “Just Do It” slogan, launched some of the most successful collaborations, and established itself as one of the industry’s most recognizable brands.

Now, while one of the most recognizable elements of the Nike brand is its logo, the first-ever iteration of the brand logo in 1964 was a wordmark featuring the name “Blue Ribbon Sports” — the name of the brand at the time.

However, once the brand name was changed in 1971, the swoosh we all know and love was introduced, albeit with the “Nike” superimposed.

By 1995, the brand had become so recognizable that the company decided to undergo a significant redesign by removing the word “Nike” and leaving only the iconic Swoosh as the primary element.

This version is still in use, with subtle modifications in 1999 to enhance the Swoosh.

What we like: The decision to remove the name from the logo showed Nike’s deep understanding of its brand equity and a strong belief that the Swoosh could stand on its own as a powerful representation of the brand.

Pro tip: Like Twitter and Apple, Nike is another excellent example of how a brand image can become integral to brand identity. When designing your logo, consider using unique visual elements that could potentially become representative of your brand.

10. Coca-Cola

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Coca-Cola has come a long way from serving 9 drinks a day in 1886 to 1.9 billion daily servings as of 2020. What started as a small operation at the Jacobs’ Pharmacy in Atlanta is now a multi-billion dollar multinational.

Similarly, its logo has undergone several changes over the company’s 130-year history. The first version of the Coca-Cola script logo was designed by Frank M Robinson, who interestingly happened to be the bookkeeper to Coca-Cola’s inventor Dr. John S Pemberton.

A couple of years later, in 1893, this logo was updated to include the text “Trademark” within the tail of the “C” in “Coca” after a trademark for the product was granted by the U.S. Patent Office.

However, not even 3 years later, the logo underwent a dramatic redesign, which made the text more dramatic with curved lettering and swirls. This was short-lived and eventually changed a year later.

1947 saw the creation of the Coca-Cola red disc, which marked the introduction of the “red and white” color scheme.

While there have been several redesigns since then, the current logo iteration retains this element in combination with the elegant typography synonymous with the first-ever iterations of the logo.

What we like: The current iteration of Coca-Cola’s logo was developed as part of a unified branding strategy that uses the classic Red Disc logo design to unite its offerings (Classic, Diet, and No-Sugar) under a single “family.”

Pro tip: When designing a logo for a business with multiple offerings, consider incorporating elements from the brand’s history, identity, or other defining aspects that can serve as unifying elements within the logo design.

11. Volkswagen

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Volkswagen was founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front with the construction of its first major plant just a year later in 1938. However, this factory was used primarily as a production plant for military vehicles and weapons during the war, instead of fulfilling its original intention of producing commercial vehicles.

After the war, the British military took control of the factory, and the Volkswagen Saloon cars (The Beetle and Transporter) were officially launched.

These cars were a huge success, and the company has followed up with many successful models since then. Today, Volkswagen is one of the largest car companies in the world.

Just like the company, Volkswagen’s logo has evolved over the years. The first version of the logo included the letters “V” and “W” surrounded by a round emblem meant to represent a cogwheel and the co-national flag of then-Nazi Germany. However, the Nazi symbolism was removed after a 1939 redesign.

Over the next few years, the Volkswagen logo underwent several iterations, incorporating font, colors, structures, and weight alterations. However, in 2019, the company ultimately arrived at a design that has remained essentially unchanged ever since.

What we like: The Volkswagen logo has managed to maintain consistency over the years while also doing away with imagery that might be non-inclusive. This is an excellent example of how it’s possible to preserve a brand image and identity while letting go of elements that might be exclusionary.

Pro tip: Today, you must be careful about the imagery you use in your designs. Also, in cases where a logo requires a redesign, don’t be afraid to let go of outdated concepts or elements.

12. Pepsi

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Like Coca-Cola’s origin story, Pepsi was created by a pharmacist who operated a soda fountain in his store. In 1893, Caleb Bradham began selling a drink aptly named “Brad’s Drink,” which would later become Pepsi-Cola. By 1902, the drink had been trademarked, and Pepsi was selling across several states in America.

Unfortunately, the flourishing brand suffered a multi-year financial setback during World War 1 and the Great Depression. However, a turning point came with the introduction of its national radio jingle, “Nickel, Nickel,” which marked the start of a revival.

From that point onward, Pepsi experienced numerous successes, solidifying its position as one of the most successful global beverage companies.

Pepsi’s logo has evolved right alongside the brand. The first iterations of the logo until the 1940s were wordmark logos featuring the text “Pepsi Cola” in differing red scripts. It wasn’t until a redesign in the 1940s that the “bottle cap” and color scheme were introduced.

By 1960, this design had been refreshed, and the word “Cola” was removed. Over the next several years, there were about eight iterations of the logo, with one of the most significant changes during this period being the introduction of the “Pepsi Globe” — a circular design with the red, white, and blue color scheme.

Today, the current iteration of the logo retains this concept; however, the overall design has been updated for a more modern and sleek effect.

What we like: Pepsi has successfully established a distinct color palette that has become synonymous with the brand. This means that the logo now carries a strong visual association.

Pro tip: One of the great ways to build a memorable brand is to develop distinctive images, color palettes, and other visual elements that your audience can readily associate with your brand.

13. Instagram

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Instagram’s evolution over the years has been nothing short of amazing. The company was founded in 2010 and grew to 100,000 users within a week of its launch. Then, less than two years later, it was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion.

Today, Instagram is one of the largest social media networks in the world, with over 1 billion active users every month.

The evolution of its logo, however, has been less dramatic. Although the first and current versions of the logo are markedly different, every iteration has revolved around a common element, the image of a camera.

The first three iterations of the logo showcased a retro camera with a distinctive rainbow stripe. However, in 2016, the brand embraced a more simplistic approach by transitioning to a camera icon instead of a detailed camera representation.

This redesign also marked the introduction of the gradient color scheme, signifying a more vibrant visual identity for the platform.

Today the logo remains mostly unchanged, with only slight updates to the shades in the color palette.

What we like: Instagram’s logo evolution shows simplicity doesn’t necessarily mean sacrificing vibrancy or color. Instead, their design evolution shows that dialing back the complexity of a design or design element can create more space to infuse vibrancy into other aspects.

Pro tip: Balancing modernity and creative expression can be difficult. When creating your designs, identify areas where you can simplify certain elements, allowing you the flexibility to be bold and expressive in other aspects.

14. Walmart

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Walmart’s evolution is another meteoric success story. The brand was started in 1962 as a single location in Arkansas. By the 1970s, had become a publicly traded company.

A decade later, the company had over $1 billion in annual sales and nearly 300 locations. Now, Walmart is a multinational retail corporation generating over $600 billion in revenue yearly.

Over the years, the company’s logo has also evolved. However, the design approach has been pretty similar through every iteration. The initial version of the logo was a straightforward wordmark featuring the company’s name.

Subsequent logo redesigns (except in 1968) primarily focused on modifying the font and exploring the presence or absence of a hyphen.

Eventually, the “starburst” was also introduced into the logo, and a more vibrant color palette was adopted, which is still in use today. Interestingly, this current version of the logo bears a striking resemblance to the original design.

What we like: Walmart’s logo is another great example of staying true to your roots while evolving alongside the business. Although the current version of the logo doesn’t stray too far from the original, it also incorporates more vibrant and modern elements and design choices.

Pro tip: While change can be beneficial and sometimes essential, it is equally important not to make changes solely for the sake of change. There is often valuable insight to be gained from your initial design ideas and iterations.

15. Canon

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The prototype for the first-ever Canon camera was developed in 1934 by Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory. This laboratory birthed Precision Optical Industry Co. in 1937, which was then renamed Canon Camera Co. in 1947. This new name was derived directly from its flagship product, the Canon camera — a name trademarked in 1935.

Over the next 50 years, Canon went on to expand across the globe, winning several innovation awards and introducing multiple revolutionary digital imaging solutions into the market. Today, Canon remains at the forefront of innovation as one of the prominent leaders in the imaging and optical industry.

Canon’s logo has also evolved over the years. The first version of the logo, designed in 1934, was a simple stylization of the text “Kwanon” — the original name of the first camera prototype. However, once the product name was changed in 1935, the logo was redesigned to reflect this change.

Subtle changes were made to the letterforms in subsequent iterations, refining their shapes and styles. The logo also transitioned from the previous solid black color to a more vibrant shade — red.

What we like: Canon has demonstrated remarkable consistency in its logo design approach. From the first version to subsequent redesigns, the brand name has always remained front and center, showing a dogged commitment to building a solid brand identity through its design choices.

Pro tip: Your logo is a powerful tool for building and establishing your brand identity long-term. When planning your next design project, consider simplifying your designs and instead placing the spotlight on the brand.

16. Doritos

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In 1964, a food company named Frito-Lay introduced Doritos, a tortilla snack. The product was an immediate success. However, it wasn’t until the introduction of the taco and nacho cheese flavors in 1966 and 1977 that Dorito’s popularity truly exploded.

By 1993 Doritos was raking in over $1 billion in annual retail sales, making it one of the best-selling snacks at the time. And today, Doritos remains one of Frito Lay‘s most successful brands and one of the world’s most popular tortilla chips snacks.

Similarly, the Doritos logo has also become iconic in its own right and is now widely recognized both within the United States and internationally.

The earliest iterations of the Doritos logo from 1964 to the early 1990s featured stylized text of the brand name against a background composed of differently shaped and sized rectangles. The famous “triangle/arrow” wasn’t until a redesign in the 1990s that the triangle became a more prominent design element.

Iterations from this point onwards varied significantly, and it wasn’t until an early 2000s redesign that the “fire” element was added to the logo. Finally, in 2013, Doritos introduced the version of the logo still in use, which incorporated several design elements from its many iterations over the years.

What we like: The Doritos logo is a design that truly captures the essence of the product. It communicates the brand’s bold, energetic, and playful nature, establishing a distinct brand identity that sets them apart from the competition.

Pro tip: While modern design trends often lean towards minimalism, don’t be afraid to try bold and dynamic designs.

17. BMW

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BMW was founded in 1916, after a series of mergers and company conversions during the World War. The company initially started as an engine construction company but moved into motorcycle production in 1923.

This was an extremely successful move, and the BMW was a massive success at the Berlin Motor Show that year. Barely five years later, the company once again wandered into a new market — automotive construction — after acquiring a car manufacturer called Automobilwerk Eisenach.

During the following two decades, BMW experienced a series of challenges and achievements. However, it wasn’t until the introduction of the BMW 1500 in 1951 that the company began to witness a consistent streak of success.

Fortunately, unlike the company‘s journey, BMW’s logo has evolved relatively stable. In fact, the design has been incredibly consistent since the beginning. The very first versions of the logo up until today have retained the same circular shape and incorporated the BMW emblem.

What we like: BMW has maintained a consistent visual identity throughout history. This is especially impressive, considering how long the company has existed and its challenges over the years.

Pro tip: BMW demonstrates the importance of preserving a brand identity even in the face of challenges. Consider where and when you might want to do this in your redesign projects.

18. FedEx

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Federal Express Corporation was founded in 1971 by Frederick W. Smith. Two years later, the company commenced operations in Memphis. There, it achieved an impressive feat (at the time) of delivering nearly 200 packages across the country in a single night.

By 1977, the company had purchased a fleet of Boeing 727s and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange the following year. Today, FedEx is a multinational conglomerate delivering millions of packages worldwide and bringing in over $90 billion in annual revenue.

Interestingly, FedEx has experienced very few logo redesigns in its wildly successful history. The initial logo prominently displayed the company’s full name, “Federal Express,” and used a white, red, and purple color palette.

Then in 1994, a redesign introduced the iconic red and purple color scheme and the concept of a “hidden arrow” within the logo.

In 2022, a slight update refreshed the design, maintaining its core elements.

What we like: FedEx’s hidden arrow is one of the most brilliant aspects of its logo design. This element perfectly communicates some of the brand’s fundamental attributes — speed, precision, and movement.

Pro tip: Allow your ideas space to expand, embrace experimentation, and work through as many iterations as you need. Sometimes moments of brilliance (and the occasional happy accident) will only happen if you give the creative process enough time.

19. Ford

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Ford has come a long way since the quadricycle, the first vehicle designed by Henry Ford in 1896. The company introduced the Ford Model A in 1903, which became its first successful automobile.

This success was then followed up with the introduction of the Model T in 1927, a car that sold over 5 million units in the middle of the Great Depression.

Over the years, Ford expanded its portfolio by introducing several successful car brands, and in 1956, the company transitioned to a publicly traded business. Today, Ford manufactures commercial vehicles (under the Ford brand) and luxury vehicles (under the umbrella of the Lincoln Motor Company).

One of Ford’s earliest logos was designed in 1907 by Childe Harold Wills, an engineer that helped develop the cars alongside Henry Ford. This logo showcased the company name in a scripted typeface that became one of the defining elements of Ford’s logo design.

It wasn‘t until a 1927 redesign that the iconic Blue oval was incorporated into the logo and sported on a Ford vehicle. This new logo debuted on the newly redesigned Model T, renamed the Model A, in honor of the company’s first car.

Subsequent redesigns between 1927 to the early 2000s made slight changes to the font and depth of the design. However, a redesign in 2003 introduced a modernized version of the logo known as the “Centennial Blue Oval” to commemorate the company’s 100th anniversary.

What we like: Ford’s blue oval has become an iconic symbol synonymous with the brand itself. While the design may not be groundbreaking or especially exciting, it’s a great example of how unique design elements can become enduring symbols of a brand.

Pro tip: As a logo designer, focus on creating designs that can become enduring symbols in the minds of consumers.

20. Adobe

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Adobe released its first product, Adobe PostScript, in 1983. This product was a huge success and helped establish the company as one to watch. However, the release of Adobe Photoshop in 1989 truly solidified the brand’s position as the go-to software for digital imaging.

Over the years, the company introduced several revolutionary products such as Illustrator, Acrobat, Flash, and Premiere Pro. Today, Adobe is undoubtedly the most widely-used digital imaging software amongst individual and corporate users.

Marva Warnock, the wife of Adobe co-founder John Warnock, designed the company’s first logos, which featured the text “Adobe Systems” in a stylized wordmark placed inside a solid blue rectangle.

The next iteration was a 1990 version, which saw the rectangle stripped away and the text color changed from white to black.

Adobe’s color palette and the stylized “A” were introduced in future iterations that saw the logo move away from a simple wordmark to incorporate bolder elements. Each iteration also saw changes in the position of the wordmark and the use of colors in the design.

Today, Adobe’s logo combines elements from its earliest design, such as the wordmark, with recent additions like the stylized red letter “A.”

What we like: Despite being primarily a wordmark, Adobe’s use of the stylized red letter “A” in the designs has effectively transformed it from a generic wordmark into a memorable visual symbol.

Pro tip: Don’t be afraid to mix and match. Consider incorporating creative elements that can elevate your design when designing a logo.

Logo Inspiration Resources

Starting your design project is one of the most challenging aspects of creating a logo. So, if you still need guidance about where to begin, here’s a list of resources to find inspiration and creative ideas.

1. Creative Market

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Creative Market is a designer’s playground with over 3 million unique fonts, graphics, themes, photos, and templates.

Use the search bar to browse logos matching your style or profession. If something catches your eye, you can purchase and download designs right on the platform.

2. Dribble

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Dribble is one of the largest platforms for designers to share and promote their work — making it an ideal hub for finding inspiration.

Plus, if you decide to outsource your design project, this is a great place to find design professionals. You can contact artists directly or use the Project Board to post a job.

3. Logoimport

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Logoimport is an Instagram account that shares designs, illustrations, and graphic inspiration.

This account also does a great job of tagging the artist on each post. If something piques your interest, you can view more of an artist’s work with just a few taps.

4. Behance

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Owned by Adobe, Behance is a social media platform for artists to showcase and share their creative work.

What’s unique about Behance is its advanced search functionality. Want to browse logos that are all blue? No problem.

Want to browse logos that are solely made with Photoshop? Sure. With Behance, you can quickly narrow your searches to see the most relevant designs.

Tools for Designing a Brand Logo

Even with limited design experience, several tools make it extremely easy to create an eye-catching logo. Here are some you should consider.

1. Canva

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Canva is an online graphic design tool offering a library of customizable logos.

Using the platform is also straightforward. You can either start from a blank page or browse through the template library to find a logo design you can customize.

Note: While some Canva templates are free, others may require a Pro account.

2. Logomakr

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Logomakr is a tool that allows you to design a logo from scratch with thousands of stock icons and hundreds of fonts. If that’s too much of a feat, you can use one of its templates and customize the text, color, and graphics to match your branding.

Although Logomakr is a free tool, you can pay for professional assistance should you need help designing your logo.

3. Logo Garden

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Logo Garden is a design tool that contains a vast library of graphics, fonts, and colors. If you get stuck along the way, the platform also offers design tips and videos to guide you.

4. GraphicSprings

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GraphicSprings promises beautiful logos in three easy steps. First, pick a template from its library. Then edit the graphic and text of your logo with its easy drag-and-drop menu. Lastly, download your design for a small fee.

Voila, it’s that simple.

Creating an Effective Brand Logo

It’s always a good idea to study how other brands have modernized, evolved, or improved their designs, regardless of your experience as a designer.

Use the examples in this post as a guide, and find ways to uniquely incorporate the elements discussed in your next design.

SGE is Google’s move to transform the search experience by integrating generative AI. With this massive change to SERPs, many marketers wonder if— or how — it will impact traffic.

According to our Web Traffic and Analytics report, 75% of web analysts believe generative AI-integrated searches will positively impact their blogs, and 68% predict their blogs will get more traffic than before.

But are they correct, or is this just wishful thinking? Here, let‘s dive into how SGE could impact your site’s ranking for the long haul.

The Pros of AI-integration into Search Engines

As mentioned above, most web analysts expect AI integration to affect the SERPs positively.

For instance, SGE will positively impact user experience. It will provide more accurate and relevant information and allow users to find what they’re looking for more quickly and efficiently.

Furthermore, an AI-integrated search engine will create more personalized results based on user preferences and past behaviors. Users will enjoy a more customized experience with content tailored to their needs.

Accessibility is another excellent perk of AI-integrated search thanks to automatic language translation capabilities, which can facilitate communication across different languages.

AI-generated translations would break down language barriers and make information (and content) accessible to a broader audience.

Moreover, generative AI can help create unique content, such as summaries, suggestions, and recommendations that intrigue users and provide fresh ideas.

The Challenges of AI-integration in Search Engines

Of course, there are some concerns and possible drawbacks to AI-integrated search. One concern is the impersonal user experience. Our report found that many users prefer human responses over generic AI.

An impersonal user experience could also result in a lack of user trust.

Our report shows users are skeptical toward AI-generated responses, as they expect biased or untrustworthy information.

Furthermore, users expressed the need to double-check AI-generated responses due to the perceived bias of programmers.

There is also a possibility marketers may experience a dip in visibility and organic traffic due to Google’s AI Snapshot feature, which would push some content beneath the fold and out of sight of users.

How to Adapt to AI-Integrated SERPS

There are many ways to prepare your website for AI integration in search engines.

Train, Research, and Learn

Train your employees to understand and work with AI tools and technologies. Consider attending conferences, workshops, or webinars to stay updated on the advancements of AI in your industry and to keep ahead of the competition.

You should also research other businesses using AI and how they integrated the technology. Moreover, take steps to understand algorithms, models, and functions.

Integrate and Implement

Look for ways to integrate AI into websites and digital marketing strategies, such as downloading and using AI-powered software and apps.

Our study shows that 50% of blog writers use AI in some capacity, be it to brainstorm, outline, or copyedit.

74% of web analysts whose websites leverage AI say it makes their content perform better, and 65% say it helps their pages rank higher in SERPs.

Implementing AI into your digital marketing strategy for the first time could be challenging, so you should consider hiring professionals in AI and organizing teams dedicated to the technology.

These professionals can test algorithms and conduct program testing.

Optimize and Improve

Leveraging AI in your strategy isn’t a cure-all. Beyond AI, you must also optimize your keyword usage, SEO management, keyword search, and search results to keep up with AI-integrated SERPs.

Additionally, SGE will change the types of content that perform best on the SERPs.

For instance, in a post-SGE world, HubSpot’s Director of SEO Global Growth Aja Frost, believes first-person, expert, personality-driven content will perform best.

As she puts it, “As a result of the AI evolution, there is an exponential increase in the amount of AI-written, low-value content. And, in response to that, Google is prioritizing first-person, credible, personality-driven content.”

Additionally, update search definitions and website lists. You must also utilize SERP tools and improve website inquiries and instructions.

So, will SGE have a negative or positive impact on SERPS?

Whether or not you’ll benefit from changes by SGE will depend on how proactive your organization is in adapting to AI-integrated SERPs.

According to our report, 57% of web analysts are already taking steps to prepare for generative AI being integrated with search engines.

These steps include the tips mentioned above, such as training your team staff on AI usage and implementing it into their workflow.

There‘s no way around it — SGE will impact your web traffic; its impact depends on your organization’s preparedness.

Inbound marketing is about providing unique, standalone value via content to your prospects. It’s a “show, don’t-tell” methodology: I will show you that my brand is empathetic, helpful, and trustworthy, rather than simply telling you it is.

But what about a world in which people don’t turn to your brand anymore to find content … They turn to AI?

The marketing industry is changing rapidly as a result of AI, and with any change, it’s normal to question the status quo: Will the traditional inbound marketing playbook continue to triumph in a post-AI world?

Inbound marketing isn’t going anywhere, but it is changing as a result of AI. Here, let’s dive into some changes marketers’ can expect to see when it comes to inbound marketing and AI over the next few years.

How Inbound Marketing Will Change as a Result of AI

1. AI will transform the content creation process.

In the short-term, HubSpot Creative Director Matthew Watkins believes AI will decrease the quality of content we see across the web and social channels.

As he puts it, “AI has made it easier to create the absolute worst type of content. It hasn’t changed much about creating really good content that matters and improves people’s lives. Can creators create faster with AI tools? Sure, but truly valuable content still requires a human to extract an insight. Creators still need a great idea to make AI work for them.”

Watkins adds, “Unfortunately, AI will fill up the internet (more than it already is) with bland, empty platitudes, images, and video. Finding the good stuff will get harder before it gets easier.”

When you consider all major technological shifts, you’ll see this same pattern occur. In the early days of social media, for instance, people were largely posting large piles of unedited photos to their Facebook accounts. Nowadays, people have become much savvier at creating high-quality content because it’s the only way to stand out on social.

While we’ll absolutely see a decrease in content value short-term, it will inevitably boomerang back to high-quality content in the long run. As the quantity of content increases online, quality will become an increasingly critical aspect of your strategy if you want to stand out in a post-AI world.

Additionally, a marketing team of one will have an easier time competing against major enterprise teams with the help of AI.  

As Principal Editorial Lead Ben Harmanus puts it, “AI tools empower people to take an idea to ‘experience’ in a short time. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It helps to iterate faster and test again as ‘testing’ isn’t as expensive as it used to be.”

He continues, “It’s now easier for a single person to outrun a corporate Marketing department, because that person can take an idea to publication in no time. It still needs a person that can enter a smart prompt, a person that understands how important brand consistency is, a person that can differentiate between good and bad.”

This is one of the major shifts we’ll see as a result of AI: marketing will become a more level playing field. You won’t need enterprise-level marketing budgets to compete. AI will become a tool any marketer can use to create stronger content.

Harmanus believes that AI will have the same impact on content creation that the cloud CRM had on spreadsheet contact management — in other words, it will change virtually everything. 

2. AI will drastically change user expectations when it comes to newsletters.

Right now, email personalization is largely limited to token personalization, like the “Hey, Caroline” I see at the beginning of my emails.

But that will change drastically as a result of AI.

To learn how AI will impact newsletter creation, I spoke with rasa.io Chief Innovation Officer, Paul Christmann. rasa.io is a tool that enables companies to automatically pull relevant articles from across the web to include in their email newsletters. 

A process which only works with the help of AI. 

As Christmann told me, “We’ve got AI that tries to find other content that is accessible on the web, and is relevant to both the sender and the recipient. And that’s where AI truly shines: When it can create newsletters that are tailored to each individual based on what we know about them.”

He adds, “If we’re scouring the web to find strong content for our recipients, how do we comb through 500 piles of junk to find the good ones to really spend your time in? And then, within that content pool, how do we find the selection that is right for each individual reader?”

Imagine a world in which each newsletter has been curated with your interests, values, and content preferences in-mind. Similar to a social media algorithm that becomes smarter with time, these newsletters will hand-deliver the content that resonates most with you.

This is a powerful opportunity for a major revamp when it comes to your newsletter strategy. In the future, users will expect this personalization, so email marketers will want to prepare by testing how AI can help them now.

Christmann points out that there’s also currently a challenge to mass personalization: Namely, that you can’t edit each individual email before it goes out.

As he puts it, “If I’ve got an audience of a hundred thousand people, I’m not going to read a hundred thousand of these emails in proofread. So it still leaves me in this weird blast method.”

Over time, Christmann believes this challenge will be solved with AI. He told me, “AI will help me tailor those messages over time, and ensure it has my voice, my tone, etc. There will be ways AI is going to continue to enhance the creation of newsletters.”

3. AI will shift how marketers’ analyze data.

Beyond content creation, AI will revolutionize data analytics across marketing teams.

For instance, Chris Devona, HubSpot’s Senior Paid Media Manager, currently leverages ChatGPT to format his ad campaigns.

He says, “I have a working prototype that allows me to submit a brief I created into ChatGPT’s code interpreter. ChatGPT then formats the brief into a CSV file that I can download and then upload into Google Ads to bulk-create entire campaigns or make edits easily. This saves hours of manual formatting.”

Imagine some of the more manual tasks you do throughout the day as a marketer. Which ones could be potentially automated using AI?

As Devona told me, “I’m also working through a workflow that will allow AI to ‘analyze’ week-over-week data and produce insights to cut down on time needed to log into the platform and form them myself.”

Devona told me, “I think when AI is initially brought into the ring the first thought is creation, but using it as an assistant can potentially bring greater value.”

In the long-run, entire marketing teams will adopt AI-driven data analysis strategies to bypass the current messy and ineffective processes of data collection and analysis.

AI Will Fundamentally Transform Inbound Marketing … But The Foundation Will Remain the Same

There’s no doubt that AI will drastically alter how inbound marketing works on a step-by-step basis.

In the next few years, we’ll see AI transform how marketers create content, analyze data, and connect with their audiences.

As Christmann puts it, “AI is going to fundamentally transform inbound marketing. It’s going to transform everything we do. It will make us think differently about problems that we took for granted. Jobs will be different, and it will be uncomfortable for a lot of people, but it’s ultimately a job enabler, and a job creator. But the game’s still the same.”

One thing AI won’t change? The purpose behind inbound marketing. At its core, inbound marketing is about forming connections with your prospects through valuable content.

The how’s, what’s, and where’s for content creation will drastically change as a result of AI. But the ‘why’ will remain the same.

As your business grows, you need a roadmap to help navigate the obstacles, challenges, opportunities, and projects that come your way. Enter: the SWOT analysis.

This framework can help you develop a plan to determine your priorities, maximize opportunities, and minimize roadblocks as you scale your organization. Below, let’s go over exactly what a SWOT analysis is, a few SWOT analysis examples, and how to conduct one for your business.

When you’re done reading, you’ll have all the inspiration and tactical advice you need to tackle a SWOT analysis for your business.

What is a SWOT analysis?
Importance of a SWOT Analysis
How to Write a Good SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis Examples
How to Act on a SWOT Analysis

While it may seem simple on the surface, a SWOT analysis allows you to make unbiased evaluations on:

• Your business or brand.
• Market positioning.
• A new project or initiative.
• A specific campaign or channel.

Practically anything that requires strategic planning, internal or external, can have the SWOT framework applied to it, helping you avoid unnecessary errors down the road from lack of insight.

Importance of a SWOT Analysis

You’ve noticed by now that SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The framework seems simple enough that you’d be tempted to forgo using it at all, relying instead on your intuition to take these things into account.

But you shouldn’t. Doing a SWOT analysis is important. Here’s why.

SWOT gives you the chance to worry and to dream.

A SWOT analysis is an important step in your strategic process because it gives you the opportunity to explore both the potential risks and the exciting possibilities that lie ahead. You’re giving yourself the space to dream, evaluate, and worry before taking action. Your insights then turn into assets as you create the roadmap for your initiative.

For instance, when you consider the weaknesses and threats that your business may face, you can address any concerns or challenges and strategize on how to mitigate those risks. At the same time, you can identify strengths and opportunities, which can inspire innovative ideas and help you dream big. Both are equally important. 

SWOT forces you to define your variables.

Instead of diving head first into planning and execution, you’re taking inventory of all your assets and roadblocks. This process will help you develop strategies that leverage your strengths and opportunities while addressing and mitigating the impact of weaknesses and threats.

As a result, you’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of your current situation and create a more specific and effective roadmap. Plus, a SWOT analysis is inherently proactive. That means you’ll be better equipped to make informed decisions, allocate resources effectively, and set realistic goals. 

SWOT allows you to account for mitigating factors.

As you identify weaknesses and threats, you’re better able to account for them in your roadmap, improving your chances of success.

Moreover, accounting for mitigating factors allows you to allocate your resources wisely and make informed decisions that lead to sustainable growth. With a SWOT analysis as a guide, you can confidently face challenges and seize opportunities.

SWOT helps you keep a written record.

As your organization grows and changes, you’ll be able to strike things off your old SWOTs and make additions. You can look back at where you came from and look ahead at what’s to come.

In other words, SWOT analyses serve as a tangible history of your progress and provide a reference point for future decision-making. With each update, your SWOT analysis becomes a living document that guides your strategic thinking and helps you stay agile and adaptable in an ever-changing business landscape.

By maintaining this written record, you foster a culture of continuous improvement and empower your team to make data-driven decisions and stay aligned with your long-term vision.

Parts of a SWOT Analysis

Conducting a SWOT analysis will help you strategize effectively, unlock valuable insights, and make informed decisions. But what exactly does a SWOT analysis include?

Let’s explore each component: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Strengths

Your strengths are the unique advantages and internal capabilities that give your company a competitive edge in the market. A strong brand reputation, innovative products or services, or exceptional customer service are just a few examples. By identifying and capitalizing on your strengths, you can foster customer loyalty and build a solid foundation for growth.

Weaknesses

No business is flawless. Weaknesses are areas where you may face challenges or fall short of your potential. It could be outdated processes, skill gaps within the team, or inadequate resources. By acknowledging these weaknesses, you can establish targeted initiatives for improvement, upskill your team, adopt new technologies, and enhance your overall operational efficiency.

Opportunities

Opportunities are external factors that can contribute to your company’s progress. These may include emerging markets, technological advancements, changes in consumer behavior, or gaps in the market that your company can fill. By seizing these opportunities, you can expand your market reach, diversify your product offerings, forge strategic partnerships, or even venture into untapped territories.

4. Threats

Threats are external factors that are beyond your control and pose challenges to your business. Increased competition, economic volatility, evolving regulatory landscapes, or even changing market trends are examples of threats. By proactively assessing and addressing them, you can develop contingency plans, adjust your strategies, and minimize their impact on your operations.

In a SWOT analysis, you’ll have to take both internal and external factors into account. We’ll cover those next.

SWOT Analysis Internal and External Factors

A SWOT analysis typically has internal (i.e., within your organization) and external (i.e., outside your organization) factors at play. Here’s a breakdown of each.

Internal Factors

Internal factors refer to the characteristics and resources within your organization that directly influence its operations and performance. These factors are completely within your organization’s control, so they can be modified, improved, or capitalized upon.

In a SWOT analysis, strengths and weaknesses are categorized as internal factors. Let’s look at a few examples.

Strengths

• Brand reputation
• Unique expertise
• Loyal customer base
• Talented workforce
• Efficient processes
• Proprietary technology

Weaknesses

• Outdated technology
• Inadequate resources
• Poor financial health
• Inefficient processes
• Skill gaps within the team

External Factors

External factors are elements outside the organization’s control that have an impact on its operations, market position, and success. These factors arise from the industry climate and the broader business environment. You typically have no control over external factors, but you can respond to them.

In a SWOT analysis, opportunities and threats are categorized as external factors. Let’s look at a few examples.

Opportunities

• Emerging markets
• Changing consumer trends
• Technological advancements
• Positive shifts in regulations
• New gaps in the market you could fill

Threats

• Intense competition
• Economic downturns
• Disruptive technologies
• Changing regulations
• Negative shifts in consumer behavior

Remember, a well-rounded SWOT analysis empowers you to capitalize on strengths, address weaknesses, seize opportunities, and navigate threats — all while making informed decisions for the future.

Now, let’s take a look at how you can write a good SWOT analysis for yourself or for stakeholders.

How do you write a good SWOT analysis?

There are several steps you’ll want to take when evaluating your business and conducting a strategic SWOT analysis.

1. Download HubSpot’s SWOT Analysis Template.

There’s no need to start from scratch for your analysis. Instead, start by downloading a free, editable template from HubSpot. Feel free to use the model yourself, or create your own as it suits your needs.

Download a free, editable SWOT analysis template.

2. Arrange each section into a table with four quadrants.

Whether you use the template above or create your own, a table format can help you visualize your SWOT analysis. This can be done by arranging each of the four sections into separate quadrants.

3. Identify your objective.

Before you start writing things down, you’ll need to figure out what you’re evaluating with your SWOT analysis.

Be specific about what you want to analyze. Otherwise, your SWOT analysis may end up being too broad, and you’ll get analysis paralysis as you are making your evaluations.

If you’re creating a new social media program, you’ll want to conduct an analysis to inform your content creation strategy. If you’re launching a new product, you’ll want to understand its potential positioning in the space. If you’re considering a brand redesign, you’ll want to consider existing and future brand conceptions.

All of these are examples of good reasons to conduct a SWOT analysis. By identifying your objective, you’ll be able to tailor your evaluation to get more actionable insights.

4. Identify your strengths.

“Strengths” refers to what you are currently doing well. Think about the factors that are going in your favor as well as the things you offer that your competitors just can’t beat.

For example, let’s say you want to use a SWOT analysis to evaluate your new social media strategy.

If you’re looking at a new social media program, perhaps you want to evaluate how your brand is perceived by the public. Is it easily recognizable and well-known? Even if it’s not popular with a widespread group, is it well-received by a specific audience?

Next, think about your process: Is it effective or innovative? Is there good communication between marketing and sales?

Finally, evaluate your social media message, and in particular, how it differs from the rest of the industry. I’m willing to bet you can make a lengthy list of some major strengths of your social media strategy over your competitors, so try to dive into your strengths from there.

5. Identify your weaknesses.

In contrast to your strengths, what are the roadblocks hindering you from reaching your goals? What do your competitors offer that continues to be a thorn in your side?

This section isn’t about dwelling on negative aspects. Rather, it’s critical to foresee any potential obstacles that could mitigate your success.

When identifying weaknesses, consider what areas of your business are the least profitable, where you lack certain resources, or what costs you the most time and money. Take input from employees in different departments, as they’ll likely see weaknesses you hadn’t considered.

If you’re examining a new social media strategy, you might start by asking yourself these questions: First, if I were a consumer, what would prevent me from buying this product, or engaging with this business? What would make me click away from the screen?

Second, what do I foresee as the biggest hindrance to my employees’ productivity, or their ability to get the job done efficiently? What derails their social media efforts?

6. Consider your opportunities.

This is your chance to dream big. What are some opportunities for your social media strategy you hope, but don’t necessarily expect, to reach?

For instance, maybe you’re hoping your Facebook ads will attract a new, larger demographic. Maybe you’re hoping your YouTube video gets 10,000 views and increases sales by 10%.

Whatever the case, it’s important to include potential opportunities in your SWOT analysis. Ask yourself these questions:

• What technologies do I want my business to use to make it more effective?
• What new target audience do I want to reach?
• How can the business stand out more in the current industry?
• Is there something our customers complain about that we could fix?

The opportunities category goes hand-in-hand with the weaknesses category. Once you’ve made a list of weaknesses, it should be easy to create a list of potential opportunities that could arise if you eliminate your weaknesses.

7. Contemplate your threats.

It’s likely, especially if you’re prone to worry, you already have a good list of threats in your head.

If not, gather your employees and brainstorm. Start with these questions:

• What obstacles might prevent us from reaching our goals?
• What’s going on in the industry, or with our competitors, that might mitigate our success?
• Is there new technology out there that could conflict with our product?

Writing down your threats helps you evaluate them objectively.

For instance, maybe you list your threats in terms of least and most likely to occur and divide and conquer each. If one of your biggest threats is your competitor’s popular Instagram account, you could work with your marketing department to create content that showcases your product’s unique features.

SWOT Analysis Chart

Download a free SWOT analysis chart included in HubSpot’s free market research kit.

A SWOT analysis doesn’t have to be fancy. Our SWOT analysis chart provides a clear and structured framework for capturing and organizing your internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats. It’s the perfect visual aid to make sense of the wealth of information gathered during your analysis.

(Plus, you can always customize and paste it into a document you plan to share with stakeholders.)

But remember: Filling out the SWOT chart is just one step in the process. Combine it with our entire market research kit, and you’ll have all the tools necessary to help your organization navigate new opportunities and threats.

SWOT Analysis Examples

The template above helps get you started on your own SWOT analysis.

But, if you’re anything like me, it’s not enough to see a template. To fully understand a concept, you need to see how it plays out in the real world.

These SWOT examples are not exhaustive. However, they are a great starting point to inspire you as you do your own SWOT analysis.

Apple’s SWOT analysis

Here’s how we’d conduct a SWOT analysis on Apple.

Strengths

First off, strengths. While Apple has many strengths, let’s identify the top three:

• Brand recognition.
• Innovative products.
• Ease of use.

Apple’s brand is undeniably strong, and its business is considered the most valuable in the world. Since it’s easily recognized, Apple can produce new products and almost ensure a certain degree of success by virtue of the brand name itself.

Apple’s highly innovative products are often at the forefront of the industry. One thing that sets Apple apart from the competition is its product inter-connectivity.

For instance, an Apple user can easily sync their iPhone and iPad together. They can access all of their photos, contacts, apps, and more no matter which device they are using.

Lastly, customers enjoy how easy it is to use Apple’s products. With a sleek and simple design, each product is developed so that most people can quickly learn how to use them.

Weaknesses

Next, let’s look at three of Apple’s weaknesses.

• High prices
• Closed ecosystem
• Lack of experimentation

While the high prices don’t deter Apple’s middle- and upper-class customer base, they do hinder Apple’s ability to reach a lower-class demographic.

Apple also suffers from its own exclusivity. Apple controls all its services and products in-house, and while many customers become loyal brand advocates for this reason, it means all burdens fall on Apple employees.

Ultimately, Apple’s tight control over who distributes its products limits its market reach.

Lastly, Apple is held to a high standard when it comes to creating and distributing products. Apple’s brand carries a high level of prestige. That level of recognition inhibits Apple from taking risks and experimenting freely with new products that could fail.

Opportunities

Now, let’s take a look at opportunities for Apple.

It’s easy to recognize opportunities for improvement, once you consider Apple’s weaknesses. Here’s a list of three we came up with:

• Expand distribution options.
• Create new product lines.
• Technological advancement.

One of Apple’s biggest weaknesses is its distribution network, which, in the name of exclusivity, remains relatively small. If Apple expanded its network and enabled third-party businesses to sell its products, it could reach more people globally, while alleviating some of the stress currently put on in-house employees.

There are also plenty of opportunities for Apple to create new products. Apple could consider creating more affordable products to reach a larger demographic, or spreading out into new industries — Apple self-driving cars, perhaps?

Finally, Apple could continue advancing its products’ technology. Apple can take existing products and refine them, ensuring each product offers as many unique features as possible.

Threats

Finally, let’s look at threats to Apple.

Believe it or not, they do exist.

Here are three of Apple’s biggest threats:

• Tough competition.
• Lawsuits.
• International issues.

Apple isn’t the only innovative tech company out there, and it continues to face tough competition from Samsung, Google, and other major forces. In fact, Samsung sold more smartphones than Apple did in Q1 of 2022, shipping 17 million more units than Apple and holding 24% of the market share.

Many of Apple’s weaknesses hinder Apple’s ability to compete with the tech corporations that have more freedom to experiment, or that don’t operate in a closed ecosystem.

A second threat to Apple is lawsuits. Apple has faced plenty of lawsuits, particularly between Apple and Samsung. These lawsuits interfere with Apple’s reputable image and could steer some customers to purchase elsewhere.

Finally, Apple needs to improve its reach internationally. The company isn’t number one in China and doesn’t have a very positive relationship with the Chinese government. In India, which has one of the largest consumer markets in the world, Apple’s market share is low, and the company has trouble bringing stores to India’s market.

If Apple can’t compete globally the way Samsung or Google can, it risks falling behind in the industry.

Starbucks SWOT Analysis

Now that we’ve explored the nuances involved with a SWOT analysis, let’s fill out a SWOT template using Starbucks as an example.

Here’s how we’d fill out a SWOT template if we were Starbucks:

Download this Template for Free

Restaurant Small Business SWOT Analysis

Some small business marketers may have difficulty relating to the SWOTs of big brands like Apple and Starbucks. Here’s an example of how a dine-in Thai restaurant might visualize each element.

Small restaurants can lean into their culinary expertise and service skills to find opportunities for growth and brand awareness. A SWOT analysis can also help identify weaknesses that can be improved, such as menu variation and pricing.

While a restaurant might not be as worried about high-level lawsuits, a small business might be more concerned about competitors or disruptors that might enter the playing field.

Local Boutique SWOT Analysis

In another small business example, let’s take a look at a SWOT analysis for a local boutique.

 

This shop might be well known in its neighborhood, but it also might take time to build an online presence or get its products in an online store.

Because of this, some of its strengths and opportunities might relate to physical factors while weaknesses and threats might relate to online situations.

How to Act on a SWOT Analysis

After conducting a SWOT analysis, you may be asking yourself: What’s next?

Putting together a SWOT analysis is only one step. Executing the findings identified by the analysis is just as important — if not more.

Put your insights into action using the following steps.

Take advantage of your strengths.

Use your strengths to pursue opportunities from your analysis.

For example, if we look at the local boutique example above, the strength of having affordable prices can be a value proposition. You can emphasize your affordable prices on social media or launch an online store.

Address your weaknesses.

Back to the boutique example, one of its weaknesses is having a poor social media presence. To mitigate this, the boutique could hire a social media consultant to improve its strategy. They may even tap into the expertise of a social-savvy employee.

Make note of the threats.

Threats are often external factors that can’t be controlled, so it’s best to monitor the threats outlined in your SWOT analysis to be aware of their impacts on your business.

When to Use a SWOT Analysis

While the examples above focus on business strategy in general, you can also use a SWOT analysis to evaluate and predict how a singular product will play out in the market.

Ultimately, a SWOT analysis can measure and tackle both big and small challenges, from deciding whether or not to launch a new product to refining your social media strategy.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

 

Here’s a cliche among digital marketers: search engine optimization (SEO) isn’t what it used to be.

Here’s a true statement you don’t hear as often: your SEO strategy shouldn’t focus on keywords.

These days, most businesses understand the basic concepts of SEO and why it’s important.

However, when it comes to developing and executing a sound SEO strategy for your business, just creating content for the keywords your customers are searching for is both arduous and, well, wrong.

In this post, we’ll explain what an SEO strategy is, and how you create your own to help you meet your content marketing goals.

Know exactly what you need? Jump to one of the following sections:

• What is an SEO Strategy?
• SEO Content Strategy
• Best SEO Examples
• SEO Process
• SEO Monthly Plan

 

Having an SEO strategy is important because it helps you stay on track when creating content. Instead of just creating what you think people are looking for, your strategy will ensure that you’re creating content that people are searching for.

For content marketing, an SEO strategy is a critical piece of the puzzle because it is how your content will come to be seen in the first place, especially in search engine result pages (SERPs). If your content is scattered and unorganized, search engine bots will have a harder time indexing your site, identifying your area of authority, and ranking your site pages.

Mobile SEO Strategy

Mobile SEO is an important factor to keep in mind when creating your overall strategy. Mobile optimization involves ensuring your site and site content is available and accessible to visitors on mobile devices, so they can have the same experience and receive the same value as desktop browsers.

Mobile optimization is incredibly important, as Google practices mobile-first indexing. This means instead of crawling a desktop site, the algorithm will use the mobile version of your site when indexing and ranking pages for SERPs. In addition, 61% of Google search queries in the U.S. occur on mobile devices. So, all things considered, your SEO strategy would be ineffective without prioritizing mobile optimization.

While it’s not an entirely separate process, there are distinct considerations for mobile SEO like monitoring page speed, responsive site design, local SEO, and creating content that is high-quality, regardless of device it’s viewed on.

What is an SEO?

Search engine optimizers (SEOs) are people who optimize websites to help them rank higher on SERPs and gain more organic traffic. In essence, an SEO is a highly specialized content strategist that helps a business discover opportunities to answer questions people have about their respective industries.

There are three types of SEO that an SEO strategist can focus on:

• On-page SEO: This SEO focuses on the content that’s actually on site pages, and how to optimize it to boost the website’s ranking for specific keywords.
• Off-page SEO: This SEO focuses on links directed to the website from elsewhere on the internet. The number of backlinks a site has from reputable sources helps you build trust with search algorithms.
• Technical SEO: This SEO focuses on a website’s backend architecture, like site code. Google cares just as much about technical set-up as it does content, so this position is important for rankings.

Bear in mind that every business has different objectives, so it is an SEO’s job to examine their industry, determine what their audiences care about, and develop a strategy that gives them what they’re looking for.

Below we’ll go over some steps you can take to ensure your SEO strategy sets you up for success.

SEO Strategy for Beginners

I’ve been an SEO for the greater part of the past decade, and I can tell you: Our industry has never, ever seen anything like this before.

The search landscape is no longer the same in 2023. With the advent of search AI and AI-generated content, we need to implement new approaches to keep our sites ahead of unprecedented competitive challenges.

The good news is that the basics of SEO remain the same. Focus on the user first, always. Focus on helping them, always, and not just gaming the algorithm. Your goal isn’t just to rank highly — it’s to get the right content in front of the right people.

I’m going to walk you through a basic SEO strategy I would use if I were starting a site in 2023 for the first time. Later down below, I’ll cover a more sophisticated SEO content strategy that has generated millions of organic traffic visits for the HubSpot blog.

Let’s get started.

1. Search For Your Company’s Head Term on Google

If I were trying to start an SEO strategy in 2023, my first step would be to look for my company’s head term on Google.

“Head term” refers to the general word or phrase you’d use to describe your product or service, or even the topic you’d like to write about. If I were trying to launch HubSpot for the first time, I would look up “marketing software,” our product’s head term.

And if I were trying to start a blog about publishing, then I’d look up “publishing blog.”

Head terms are usually high-volume, meaning that many people search for the terms on a monthly basis. That makes them more difficult to rank for.

What we’re trying to do with this step is not find keywords, but rather build our awareness of the search landscape. Take note of everything you see, including the terms suggested after you type in your head term.

We don’t need to use any fancy tools yet, though you’re welcome to if you’re familiar with SEO tools. With Semrush, for instance, you can look at the exact number of searches a term receives, and an estimation for how difficult it’d be to rank on the first page.

But I’d caution against using tools just yet. It’s really important to live directly in the SERPs as you create an SEO strategy because Google comes up with new SERP features every day.

I’m not just talking about AI-generated results. Featured snippets, local packs, image packs, knowledge packs, and “People Also Ask” boxes can be valuable sources of information that can help you optimize your website later.

2. Look at Google’s Suggested Searches and Filters

The most important step after looking up your head term is to look at Google’s generated filters, highlighted below.

Don’t look at the standard filters, such as “Images, “Shopping,” “Maps,” and so on. You’re looking for the unique filters that Google generated for your head term.

These filters are invaluable for answering several questions:

• What are people looking for that’s related to your head term?
• What would they find most useful?
• Does your service or product match what people are looking for?
• Can you offer a product page or article that people would find useful?

If I were building a product page for Marketing Hub, I would be able to answer these questions favorably. Marketing Hub is free, small businesses can use it, and it’s useful for digital marketing.

That means I could probably address a person’s goal when they’re looking for this term. This is good strategic information to have. I wouldn’t execute on it just yet, because I haven’t looked at how difficult it is to rank for this term.

Remember: Head terms are more difficult to rank for, so you’ll want to aim for longer keywords (also called “long-tail keywords”) in your actual SEO strategy. You can begin getting ideas on long-tail terms by clicking on the filters below your head term.

Now, for my publishing blog, I see that I could focus on the publishing industry or self-publishing, as seen by the filters below.

That’s good news — but later down below, I see that Google has included a “What to read” search feature.

That tells me that a blog could be a good fit for this term, but that people are also looking for books on publishing. I would then revise my initial head term, or revise my blog strategy to slant toward thought leadership.

3. Examine the SERPs

Once you’ve found a good head term and perused the filters, take a look at the SERPs. I’d recommend going several filters deep so you can get an approximation of a long-tail keyword.

We’re looking for several pieces of information here:

• How many people are trying to rank for this term?
• What kinds of publishers and companies are ranking? Well-known publishers like New York Times or Nerdwallet, or niche publishers and companies?
• What is located “above the fold” (the area in the upper part of the page, before the user scrolls)?
• What SERP features is Google including?
• What kinds of pages and articles are ranking?

For “marketing software for small business,” a relatively long-tail keyword, I saw that Google delivered 850M+ results.

Yikes. That’s a lot of competition.

But the truth is, Google has excellent crawlers. It will find just about any website related to a term and rank it in a bid to answer a searcher’s query. Don’t be discouraged by large search results.

What you should pay close attention to is what’s happening in the results themselves. For instance, “marketing software for small business” has multiple SERP features:

• Sponsored ads
• “From sources across the web” product panels
• A “People Also Ask” box

Yikes again. All of these conspire to give us fewer chances for ranking for this keyword, because the SERP features push us down and we’re already competing against publishers like G2.

Even if we managed to rank on the first page, our click-through-rates will probably be lower because this is such a competitive term. Click-through rate refers to the number of people who see your search result compared to the number of people who actually click on it.

I would do two things here:

• Search for an even longer long-tail keyword to try rank for
• Or: Continue examining the SERPs for opportunities related to the same search intent, like related searches and FAQs

Search intent refers to what the user wants to do when they input a keyword in Google.

If I search, “how to bake kale chips,” then my intent is not only to bake kale chips but to stay “healthy.” Google, as smart as it is, would deliver both recipes and related questions about kale chips’ “health value.”

The SERP features for “marketing software for small business” are all supposed to serve a single intent: A searcher who wants to market their small business using software.

Therefore, every SERP feature you see is an additional opportunity to serve content to the very same searcher.

The “People also ask” box is a gold mine for finding related questions that the same user probably has, giving us an opportunity to answer those questions.

With SEO, what matters most is not just that your page ranks — but that the right user finds you and ends up becoming a customer (or signing up for your newsletter, subscribing to your YouTube channel, etc).

If I were creating an SEO strategy for Marketing Hub in today’s search landscape, the “People also ask” box is probably where I’d start for keyword and content ideas, and not the head term itself.

The questions, after all, serve the same user and are much less competitive.

You could also use a tool such as Answer the Public to find questions and related terms.

Of course, don’t forget a classic: Looking at suggested searches at the bottom of the SERPs. These will not only give you alternative terms you could try to rank for, but additional long-tails and even hints about your top competition.

4. Analyze Your Competition

When you find a keyword you’re happy with, it’s time to start looking at your competition.

I would say that with SEO, it’s less about what we do and more about what they do, then beating them. The thing is, though, that how we beat competitors has changed. It’s no longer about who has the longest blog post or the most backlinks (although these are still important).

The Google search algorithm has gotten more complicated than ever. It’s important to take into account a wide variety of factors like website age, authority, user experience, and even website structure.

Looking at these elements can help you decide what you should put on your website and learn what Google is currently favoring.

When trying to rank for the term “publishing blog,” I found three top competitors: Selfpublishing.com, thatpublishingblog.wordpress.com, and janefriedman.com.

I would look at several things when trying to beat these competitors.

• What kind of content do they publish?
• What kinds of categories do they address?
• What’s the publishers’ or owners’ personal and professional history? Jane Friedman, for instance, is a known industry veteran.

The first question in particular is essential for mapping out my SEO content strategy.

For instance, selfpublishing.com has the following categories:

Image Source

If you’d asked me years ago how I would approach beating this publisher, I would say that I would copy all of their categories and add three more just for kicks.

But Google is no longer the same. It values authority and expertise. It wants to know that you know what you’re talking about and that you’re not just gaming the system.

Therefore, based on my personal expertise, which is in children’s fiction, I’d probably choose two to three categories where I feel I could create a wealth of content: Writing, Children’s Fiction, and Publishing.

If I were trying to rank for “marketing software for small business,” I would ask:

• What kinds of articles or pages are ranking?
• Because this is such a competitive term, what kind of authority or history do I need to rank?
• Could I create something similar?

Look at your competitors’ pages, and keep their qualitative attributes, such as their history in the industry, in mind. But don’t be discouraged by long-time industry players.

When I was an SEO at a transportation startup, we were competing against transportation companies that had been in the industry for 30+ years.

But with a strong content SEO and backlink building strategy, we managed to get one of our transportation partners to the top of the SERPs.

Once you’ve scanned your competitors, it’s time to dive into a simple three-pronged strategy:

Authority, content, and backlinks.

I like to keep it simple.

5. Generate Online Authority

If content is queen and backlinking is king, authority is the kingdom.

Authority, in fact, is everything.

SEO these days isn’t just about writing SEO-optimized content and hoping the algorithm will discover you.

Once upon a time, you used to be able to include the keyword in the title, headings, and text, and rank well.

Now, there are a wide variety of content quality factors that Google takes into account, such as:

• Expertise
• Experience
• Authority
• Trustworthiness

Collectively, these are called E-E-A-T, and they’re part of Google’s Search Quality Rater guidelines. Google wants to know that you’re qualified to deliver information to searchers. And if you’re selling a product, it wants to know that you’re legitimate.

Let’s go back to the publishing blog example. Jane Friedman, who ranks #3 for the term “publishing blog,” is a well-documented industry veteran. Her site ranks for 30K+ keywords and she has more than two-hundred-thousand backlinks.

Her blog post, “How to Find a Literary Agent,” ranks #1 for the highly competitive head term “literary agent,” above top publishers such as Reedsy and even Wikipedia.

Why?

Because Friedman has plenty of E-E-A-T — she’s an expert with experience, and therefore she’s authoritative and trustworthy.

There are several ways to build your authority when creating an SEO strategy for a new site or company:

• Include your credentials across several sources in the web: LinkedIn, Facebook, your personal website, etc
• Interview experts and include their insights in your pages and blog posts
• Hire freelance writers who specialize in your niche, and use their name, content, and insights on your website
• Publish guest blog posts in authoritative blogs and websites to slowly build a digital footprint

The Google algorithm is smart. It can cross-reference hundreds of thousands of sources to determine whether you’re an authority in the field.

And to make it a bit easier for the algorithm: You should also make your authority clear, as Jane Friedman does below in her biography.

If I were launching Marketing Hub for the first time, I would:

• Cite my six to seven years of marketing experience in the “About” page
• Publish guest blog posts on marketing blogs and websites
• Start another media outlet, such as a podcast or blog, to publish my marketing opinions and insights
• Publish an ebook with my marketing expertise
• Hire software developers who’ve created proven products before — and publicize that Marketing Hub was made by the developers who made X

As you foster authority, you should concurrently create content on your website, which I cover next.

6. Create Search Engine Optimized Content

This step is probably what you thought of when I first started talking about an SEO strategy.

Remember all that research we did at the beginning? It finally comes into play, because it’s time to create content that’s optimized for those long-tail keywords.

I recommend using a tool to help you find potential keywords, such as Ahrefs or Semrush.

Here’s a guide on keyword research to help you out.

I follow one simple rule when creating content I want to rank: Write for humans first, search engines second.

I like to think of it this way. I’m writing an article or page to help a person, but also to hold the algorithm’s hand a little bit. Google is smart, but not so smart to rank your page unless you give it a few hints.

Therefore, I like to stick to the basics.

Include the Keyword in the Page Title, H1, Text, Meta Description, and URL

You generally want to include the keyword a few times on and off your page to give Google a hand.

As an example, our product marketing team optimized Marketing Hub’s page to a T.

They include the keyword in the page title (which is the text that appears in search results, pictured above), the H1, and the very first line of text at the top of the page.

And it works: We rank #3 for the highly competitive term “marketing software.”

You’ll also want to include your keyword in the meta description and the URL.

Be Helpful

Be helpful with your content. Ask yourself: When a person lands on this page, what would they be looking for?

You can answer this question by examining the SERPs and your competition. You can also think through your reader’s thought process and their search intent.

For Marketing Hub, we included commonly asked questions, even those related to one of our competitors.

And Jane Friedman includes information on what to expect from a good literary agent.

Notice that this content is not necessarily beautifully formatted, nor does it target a specific keyword. It’s supposed to help the reader first and foremost — and by helping the reader, you help yourself.

After all, Google only wants to rank content that genuinely helps someone do or learn something.

Include Alt Text and Compress Images

Image alt text still remains one of the most underrated ways to optimize your page.

Not only does it improve web accessibility, but it gives you a chance to rank in Google’s image pack and image results. That ultimately means more traffic to your website.

And if you don’t believe me: Here’s a traffic snapshot from HubSpot’s image pack rankings (look under the column titled “Traffic”).

Just from our position for “resignation letter example,” we’ve received more than 6K organic visits.

Not surprisingly, the image that ranks has the alt text “gracious resignation letter sample.”

In addition to describing what the image contains, you should include your keyword in the alt text to give you a better chance for ranking.

Lastly, don’t forget to compress your images so that your page loads more quickly.

Build Internal Links

After creating content, internal linking is paramount.

It creates a network for Google to follow. Remember, the Google algorithm is smart, but it still needs a hand here and there. How will it know certain pages are topically related unless you tell it?

So by internally linking from one page to another, you’re giving the algorithm a pattern to follow.

At the HubSpot blog, we call this the pillar-cluster model, which helped us overcome a year-long traffic plateau.

By internally linking, you’re telling the algorithm that a number of your pages are interrelated. You’re also signaling that you cover specific topics at length, and that you’re therefore an authoritative resource.

And authority is everything.

7. Build Backlinks

Content is still queen — but she has to be accompanied by her king: Backlinks.

You could have the most beautiful, SEO-optimized website, but Google won’t rank it unless you receive “votes” from other sites.

We cover backlinks again for your SEO content strategy below, but I can’t underemphasize how important they are, so I’m going to repeat it again.

Backlinks are the most quantitative way to build authority in your industry. The more backlinks you have, the more authoritative you seem to the Google algorithm.

Why? Because a site wouldn’t link to you unless you were a legitimate, trustworthy source of information.

Here’s a selection of my favorite backlink strategies:

• Publish guest blog posts on other publishers’ websites and link back to your site
• Write helpful content that other sites will want to link to
• Publish original research that other publishers will want to link to
• Partner with companies on co-marketing campaigns
• Join industry membership organizations with public profiles
• Sponsor events and conferences

Next up, I’m going to dive a little more deeply into the SEO content strategy that’s driven millions of visits for the HubSpot blog.

1. Make a list of topics.

To get your SEO content strategy off the ground, make a list of topics you’d like your content to address.

To start, compile a list of about 10 words and terms associated with your product or service. Use an SEO tool (Google’s Keyword Tool, SE Ranking, Ahrefs , SEMRush or GrowthBar just to name a few) to research these words, identify their search volume, and come up with variations that make sense for your business.

By doing this, you are associating these topics with popular head terms (or short-tail keywords, if you’d prefer), but you’re not dedicating individual blog posts to these keywords. Let’s go over an example of this process using the image below.

Let’s say a swimming pool business is trying to rank for “fiberglass pools,” which receives 110,000 searches per month. This short-tail keyword can represent the overarching topic for creating their content, but the business will also need to identify a series of related keywords to include in their content. For example, they could opt to use the “fiberglass pool prices,” or “fiberglass pool cost,” to achieve additional rankings for the overall keyword of fiberglass pools.

Using search volume and competition as your measurement, you can create a list of 10-15 short-tail keywords that are relevant to your business and are being searched for by your target audiences. Then, rank this list based on monthly search volume.

Each of the keywords that you’ve identified are called pillars, and they serve as the primary support for a larger cluster of long-tail keywords, which we’ll discuss below.

2. Make a list of long-tail keywords based on these topics.

During this step you’ll begin optimizing your pages for specific keywords. For each pillar you’ve identified, use your keyword tool to identify five to 10 long-tail keywords that dig deeper into the original topic keyword.

For example, we regularly create content about SEO, but it’s difficult to rank well on Google for such a popular topic with this acronym alone. We also risk competing with our own content by creating multiple pages that are all targeting the exact same keyword — and potentially the same SERPs.

Therefore, we also create content on conducting keyword research, optimizing images for search engines, creating an SEO strategy (which you’re reading right now), and other subtopics within the SEO umbrella.

This helps businesses attract people who have varying interests and concerns — and ultimately create more entry points for people interested in what you have to offer.

Use your long-tail keywords to create blog posts or web pages that explain the specific topics within the pillars you’ve selected. Together, all of your long-tail keywords create a cluster around a pillar topic. Search engine algorithms depend on the relationships between clusters to connect users with the information they’re looking for.

Here’s a short video on this concept:

Think of it this way: the more specific your content, the more specific the needs of your audience can be, and the more likely you’ll convert this traffic into leads. This is how Google finds value in the websites it crawls — the pages that dig into the inner workings of a general topic are seen as the best answer to a person’s query, and will rank higher.

3. Build pages for each topic.

When it comes to websites and ranking in search engines, trying to get one page to rank for a handful of keywords can be next to impossible. But, here’s where the rubber meets the road.

Use the pillar topics you came up with to create a page or post that gives a high-level overview of the topic using the long-tail keywords you came up with for each cluster in step two. These pillar pages can essentially be a table of contents, where you’re giving a description of the main topic, and briefing readers on subtopics you’ll elaborate on in other posts.

Ultimately, the number of topics for which you create pillar pages should coincide with your business needs, like the number of products and offerings you have. This will make it much easier for your prospects and customers to find you in search engines no matter what keywords they use.

4. Set up a blog.

Blogging can be an incredible way to rank for keywords and engage your website’s users. After all, every blog post is a new web page and an additional opportunity to rank in SERPs. If your business does not already have a blog, consider creating one.

As you write each blog post and expand on your clusters, you should do three things:

1. Don’t include your long-tail keyword more than three or four times throughout the page as Google doesn’t consider exact keyword matches as often as it used to. In fact, too many instances of your keyword can be a red flag to search engines that you’re keyword stuffing to gain rankings, and they’ll penalize you for this.
2. Second, always link out to the pillar page you created for your topics. You can do this in the form of tags in your content management system (CMS), or as basic anchor text in the body of the article.
3. Once you publish each blog post, link to it within the parent pillar page that supports the subtopic. By connecting both the pillar and the cluster in this way, you’re telling Google that there’s a relationship between the long-tail keyword and the overarching topic you’re trying to rank for.

5. Create a consistent blogging schedule.

Every blog post or web page you create doesn’t necessarily need to belong to a topic cluster. There’s also value in writing about tangential topics your customers care about to build authority with the Google algorithms.

With that in mind, make it a point to blog at least once a week. Remember, you are blogging primarily for your audience, not search engines, so study your target market and write about things that they are interested in.

It may be helpful to create a content strategy to remain consistent and focused on your goals.

6. Create a link-building plan.

The topic cluster model is your way forward in SEO, but it’s not the only way to get your website content to rank higher once it’s been created.

While our first five steps were dedicated to on-page SEO, link-building is the primary objective of off-page SEO. Link-building is the process of attracting inbound links (also called backlinks) to your website from other sources on the internet. As a general rule, sites with more authority that link back to your content have a more significant impact on your rankings.

Dedicate some time to brainstorming all the various ways you can attract inbound links. Maybe you’ll start by sharing links with local businesses in exchange for links to their own sites, or you’ll write a few blog posts and share them on different social media platforms. You can also approach other blogs for guest blogging opportunities through which you can link back to your website.

7. Compress media files before uploading them to your site.

This is a small but important step in the SEO process, especially for mobile optimization.

As your blog or website grows, you’ll undoubtedly have more images, videos, and related media to support your content. These visual assets help retain your visitors’ attention, but it’s easy to forget that these files can be very large. Since page speed is a crucial ranking factor, it’s important to monitor the size of the media files you upload to your site.

The bigger the file size, the more difficult it is for an internet browser to render your website. It’s also harder for mobile browsers to load these images, as the bandwidth on their devices is significantly smaller. So, the smaller the file size, the faster your website will load. But, how do you compress images and still retain quality?

It’s worth considering the use of a compression tool to reduce file sizes before uploading images, videos, and gifs. Sites like TinyPNG compress images in bulk, while Google’s Squoosh can shrink image files to microscopic sizes. However you choose to compress your media, keeping files in the kilobytes (KB) range is a good rule of thumb.

8. Stay up-to-date on SEO news and best practices.

Just like marketing, the search engine landscape is ever-evolving. Staying on top of current trends and best practices is an important strategy, and there are multiple online resources that can help you do so. Here are a few resources to check out:

• Moz
• SEOBook
• Search Engine Roundtable
• Search Engine Land
• Diggity Marketing
• This Blog!

9. Measure and track your content’s success.

SEO can take a lot of time and effort, and, because of this, you’ll want to know if your strategy works. It’s important to track your metrics to understand the success of your overall process, and identify possible areas for improvement.

You can monitor organic traffic using your preferred web analytics tool or create your own dashboard using Excel or Google Sheets. Also, tracking indexed pages, conversions, ROI, and your rankings on SERPs can help you recognize your success as well as identify areas of opportunity.

SEO Report

An SEO report is an overview of the SEO efforts you’ve enacted over a specific period of time. It essentially shows how successful you’ve been, as well as any areas that need improvement. Having a consolidated report also helps you present the data to relevant stakeholders to display why your SEO activities are important, and how they drive growth for your business.

Your SEO report can contain metrics like organic traffic results, the SEO health of your website, inbound link generation, and also address any areas where growth has declined that need to be addressed for future improvement.

The image below is an example of an SEO report from Ahrefs, where it has given an overview of the link building progress of the SEO efforts.

Image Source

In order to fuel your SEO report, you’ll actually need to have completed some SEO activities, and below we’ll give some high-quality examples of successful SEO.

Best SEO Examples

As mentioned above, there are a variety of different things you can do for your business to enact your SEO strategy. Below we’ll go over some examples of what this looks like in practice that you can use as inspiration for your own processes.

There are a variety of different things you can include in your SEO strategy, like:

1. Writing compelling meta descriptions.

A meta description is the snippet of text below a title and link in search results. The description, well, describes the content of the page to the person conducting the queries so they know what to expect.

The image below is the result of a search query for market research.

This is a high-quality meta description because it lets Google know exactly what the page contains, helping your content surface in the correct search results and helping audiences understand exactly what they’re about to click on.

2. Getting content backlinks and inbound links.

A backlink, also called an inbound link, is when another website links back to your website or blog content. It’s usually placed as a hyperlink on a string of text that relates to your content and, when clicked, they’re taken to your site.

 

Backlinks are an effective SEO tool because they show search engines that your content is authoritative and relevant, helping you rank higher in SERPs. The image below is an example of a blog post from Kicksta that has a backlink to a HubSpot Blog post.

Image Source

3. Optimizing your site pages for page speed.

Page speed is how quickly the content on your website loads when someone visits a specific page on your website. Google began taking page speed into account for SERP rankings in 2018, making it a critical area of focus when you enact your strategy.

 

4. Local SEO

Local SEO is improving search engine visibility for your business’s location. An effective local SEO strategy will surface your content in search queries from customers in your local area, letting them know your business is there to meet their needs.

The image below is a SERP result for “best restaurants Brooklyn.” The three businesses that appear in results have an optimized Google My Business profile that contains information that helps it surface in results for Brooklyn-area restaurants.

Image Source

SEO Process

Once you’ve created your SEO strategy, you should also build a process to continue optimizing for new keywords and evolving search intent. Here are a few steps you can take.

1. Historically optimize your content.

Devote some time each month to updating old blog posts with new and up-to-date information to continue ranking in SERPs. You can also use this time to add any SEO best-practices that weren’t initially addressed, like missing image alt text.

2. Look out for changing keywords and new search intent.

After a few months, track how your blog posts are ranking, and which keywords they’re ranking for. This can help you adjust subheadings and copy to leverage new search intent that your audience may be interested in.

3. Add more editorial value to your old content.

Sometimes, you’ll find that a post is completely out of date. In this scenario, you should go beyond the average historical SEO update and give it a full refresh. You can do this by updating out of date information and statistics, incorporating new sections for added depth, and adding quotes or original data to give the post more referral traffic.

4. Create a monthly content plan.

To keep up with your SEO strategy, it can be helpful to create and refine a monthly content plan. You can place it into a spreadsheet, and your teams can track accordingly. The list below is an example of a content monthly content plan that takes the above steps into account.

 

With a monthly SEO plan like the one above, plus a tracking document like a search insights report, you can build out and execute on an efficient SEO strategy. You can also identify and leverage low-hanging-fruit topics to discuss related to your industry.

Create A Strategy That Supports Your Business Goals

Ranking in search pages can be difficult. While it may seem enticing to create content that is centered around high-traffic keywords, that strategy may not help you meet your business goals.

Instead, opt to create an SEO strategy that helps you address your individual business needs, like increasing customer acquisition, for greater marketing success.

Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published in April 2019 but was updated in February 2022 for consistency and freshness.

Internet slang spreads like wildfire and sometimes seems to come out of nowhere. Some are short-lived, some are used in niche communities, but some go so far as to be included in dictionaries.

Whether you spend time online as a casual user or a marketer enacting a social media strategy, you want to know what different slang and abbreviations mean.

In this post, we’ll discuss how internet slang originates and spreads, define 81 slang words you might come across, and outline what it takes for slang to be added to our dictionaries.

Table of Contents

• Is the internet to Blame?
• How Slang Spreads on the Internet
• Internet Slang Around the World
• Internet Slang Words
• How New Words Make It Into the Dictionary

Is the Internet to Blame?

As we spend less time listening to the radio or watching TV and more time online, the latter has the most influence on our day-to-day dialogue.

The fast pace of the internet also means we adopt words much faster than ever before. “Language itself changes slowly, but the internet has sped up the process of those changes so you notice them more quickly,” David Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Bangor, told BBC News. You can imagine how much longer it took new words to spread through word-of-mouth than it does today with the internet.

How Slang Spreads on the Internet

Linguistics and anthropologists have studied how slang spreads for decades, but it was only possible to measure with precision once public social media networks emerged.

Platforms help linguists accurately and easily search and record language exchanges. For example, Jacob Eisenstein and his colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology examined 30 million tweets from the U.S. to pinpoint the origin of popular slang words and their spread. The image below is the resulting map that shows how terms migrated and their direction of influence.

Slang now moves around within weeks and months instead of years, says Julia Coleman, author of The Life of Slang. “It’s not necessarily that language is changing more quickly, but technologies have developed and they allow the transmission of slang terms to pass from one group to another much more quickly.”

Internet Slang Around the World

The internet impacts the development of language all across the world.

In Ukraine, Svitlana Pyrkalo says the force-quit process of pressing control+alt+delete is known as Дуля (dulya). A dulya is a Ukranian gesture using two fingers and a thumb, used in the same situations in which we‘d give “the finger.” “And you need three fingers to press the buttons,” says Pyrkalo. “So it’s like telling somebody, a computer in this case, to get lost.”

Other countries have their own versions of “LOL.” In France, “mdr” stands for “mort de rire,” meaning dying of laughter. The Swedish write “asg” as an abbreviation of Asgarv, meaning intense laughter. The number 5 in Thailand signifies the letter “h,” so 555 is “hahaha.”

It’s important to note that a lot of popular internet slang comes from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), a form of English spoken by Black Americans. Often, Black people have conversations online, other people use the words, and they become part of everyday internet speak.

With all of this in mind, let’s review some of the most popular internet slang words, many of which are acronyms and others full words and phrases.

Internet Slang Words

General Internet Slang

1. Acct

Acct is short for account.

2. BC

BC stands for because.

3. Bet

Bet has multiple meanings, one being a simple “yes” or a response of agreement, but it can also mean “It’s on” as a response to something you don’t believe is true.

For example, someone says, “I can do this better than you,” and someone responds, “Alright, bet.”

4. BRB

BRB stands for be right back.

5. BTW

BTW stands for by the way.

6. Down

Down means “yes,” or a response demonstrating that you’re up for or interested in something.

For example, “Who wants to go to the movies?” “Down.”

7. Flex

Flex means showing off. Occasionally people say, “Weird flex but ok,” to react to someone showing off or bragging about something in poor taste.

8. FOMO

FOMO stands for fear of missing out, and i’ts used when someone is worried about not being invited somewhere or isn’t part of an experience.

It’s also used as an active verb, like “Everyone’s at the concert, and I’m having FOMO.”

9. FYI

FYI stands for your information.

10. Goat

Goat means greatest of all time. People also say goated to mean the same thing. For example, “Messi is the goat,” or “Messi is goated.”

11. GTG or G2G

GTG and G2G stand for got to go.

12. Highkey

Highkey describes something glaringly obvious and true that doesn’t need to be hidden. It’s the opposite of lowkey.

For example, “That was highkey the best meal I’ve ever had,” or “I highkey need tickets to the show.”

13. IKR

IKR stands for I know, right?

14. IMHO

IMHO stands for in my honest opinion or in my humble opinion.

15. IRL

IRL stands for in real life.

16. Iykyk

Iykyk stands for “If you know, you know,” and it’s a descriptor for an inside joke or something niche that applies to a specific group of people.

17. JK

JK stands for just kidding.

18. JOMO

JOMO stands for joy of missing out, and it’s used when someone is unbothered by not being invited somewhere/missing an experience or is happy because they weren’t interested to begin with. The opposite of FOMO.

19. K

K means okay, but is also used when someone is frustrated and is putting an end to a conversation.

20. L

L means loss or loser, and it’s usually said when someone has failed at something or a situation hasn’t gone their way, like “I took an L last night.”

If people don’t agree with something they see online, they might comment “L” to convey their point.

21. LMK

LMK stands for let me know.

22. LOL

LOL stands for laugh out loud.

23. Lowkey

Lowkey has multiple meanings.

• When someone is slightly or moderately bothered by something, but it isn’t a big deal: “I’m lowkey sad I missed the show, but there’s always next time.”
• When something should be kept secret, discreet, and not shared outside of the conversation: “Lowkey, I might quit.”
• To describe a mellow or low-stakes situation: “It was a lowkey party with my closest friends.”

24. Mid

Mid means average or below average. It’s usually a dig at someone or something, like, “That movie was mid.”

25. NBD

NBD stands for no big deal.

26. OOTD

OOTD stands for outfit of the day.

27. Photobomb

Photobomb means entering someone’s picture or video uninvited, usually on purpose.

28. Prolly

Prolly is slang for probably.

29. Salty

Salty means upset or bothered.

30. TFW

TFW stands for that feeling when.

31. TBH

TBH stands for to be honest.

32. TL;DR

People use it before giving a summary when telling a story or sharing information. People also comment TL;DR to say they won’t read something because it’s too long.

33. TGIF

TGIF stands for thank god it’s Friday.

34. TMI

TMI stands for too much information.

35. Troll

A troll is someone who purposely sparks controversy on the internet. Someone might say, “Ignore that comment; he’s just a troll.”

36. W

W stands for win, and it’s used when someone has won something, or something good has happened, like “How was your game last night?” “It was great we got the W!”

The opposite of L.

Social Media Internet Slang

1. AMA

AMA stands for asking me anything. It originated on Reddit, where someone well-known has an AMA session where forum audiences can submit questions for them to answer.

2. Anon

Anon is short for anonymous.

3. ASMR

ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response, and it’s any video or audio content that provides a relaxing and satisfying feeling to viewers.

4. Bot

A bot is an account that shares spammy and unwanted content or a person who shares unwanted content or is bad at something.

5. Bump

Someone says “Bump” to push a comment or post back to the forefront of a thread or comment section.

6. Caught in 4K

Caught in 4K means to catch someone red-handed.

7. DM

DM stands for direct message.

8. Doomscrolling

Doomscrolling describes spending endless time scrolling through your social media feeds, usually through grim news stories.

It can also mean getting stuck scrolling through content for a significant amount of time.

9. FB

FB stands for Facebook.

10. Handle

A handle is a username on any social media.

11. Hashtag

Hashtag (#) is a way that people find content on social media. Sometimes people say hashtag out loud in an ironic manner, like “Hashtag yummy” while eating.

12. Icon

An icon is a picture on social media, usually a profile picture.

13. IG

IG stands for Instagram.

15. Lurker

A lurker is active on social media or specific channels but never comments or participates in the conversation.

16. N00b

N00b is slang for newbie, and it’s a descriptor for someone who is a beginner or new to something. People call themselves a n00b, and saying it to someone else means they’re ignorant or bad at something.

It’s also spelled noob or newb.

17. OP

OP stands for original poster, and it’s the person who started a conversation on social media or was the first to share something.

18. QRT

QRT stands for quote retweet, and it’s when someone reshares a Tweet to their profile and adds their commentary above it.

19. Ratio/Ratioed

Ratio and ratioed are used as a dig when someone doesn’t agree with what someone has said. They might comment “Ratio” with full confidence that they’ll get more likes than the original post because more people agree with them.

20. RT

RT stands for retweet, and it’s when you reshare someone else’s Tweet to your timeline.

21. @me

@me is typically used when someone sees something someone has said, assumes it’s about them, and tells the original poster to tag them directly.

22. Shook

Shook means to be extremely shocked by something or an experience you’ve had.

23. Spam

Spam is content shared on social media that is annoying and unwelcome.

24. Stan/stanning

Stan means fiercely supporting someone or something

25. TBT

TBT stands for throwback Thursday.

26. Tea

Tea is gossip. When people share it, it’s called “Spilling the tea,” or people may say, “What’s the tea?”

27. TW

TW stands for Twitter.

28. Vibe

Vibe has multiple meanings. It can describe chilling (relaxing), or how a situation might feel.

Someone might say, “What’s the vibe?” or “This gives me a good vibe,” or “I’m vibing right now.”

29. Vibe check

Vibe check is a question people ask to see how someone is feeling or how a current situation is going.

Business Internet Slang

1. ASAP

ASAP stands for as soon as possible.

2. YT

YT stands for YouTube.

3. B2B

B2B stands for business to business.

4. B2C

B2C stands for business to consumer.

5. CTA

CTA stands for call to action.

6. DNB

DNB stands for do not book, meant to specify a timeframe when you aren’t available for meetings.

7. EOD

EOD stands for end of day.

8. EOW

EOW stands for end of week.

9. FAQ

FAQ stands for frequently asked questions.

10. MOM

MOM stands for month over month.

11. OOO

OOO stands for out of office.

12. TBA

TBA stands for to be announced.

13. WFH

WFH stands for work from home.

14. WOM

WOM stands for word of mouth.

15. YOY

YOY stands for year over year.

16. Zoombomb/Zoombombing

Zoomboming is a disruption to a Zoom meeting by someone who hasn’t been invited to the meeting.

How New Words Make It Into the Dictionary

Once new words have grown and become part of the general lexicon, how do acronyms like “LOL” make it to the dictionary? Longevity.

To make it into the dictionary, the general population must use it and keep using it. Fiona McPherson, Senior Editor, Oxford English Dictionary, says five years is a good length to become eligible for a spot in the big book.

Dictionary editors also look to us when voting on whether a word should have a place in their dictionary. “Dictionaries are fantastic resources, but they are human and they are not timeless,” Language Historian Anne Curzan reminds us. “If you ask dictionary editors, what they‘ll tell you is they’re just trying to keep up with us as we change the language. They‘re watching what we say and what we write and trying to figure out what’s going to stick and what’s not going to stick.”

So, no matter whether you think internet slang vitalizes or destroys language, there’s no denying how revealing it is of the culture that invents and uses it — and the ease with which we adapt our language to new technologies and concepts.

A great graphic design portfolio can’t move mountains, but it can change your life with a new job or opportunity. AI and other factors are impacting graphic design hiring, making your portfolio more important than ever before.

While some designers still carry a physical book of printed design examples, most portfolios are graphic designer websites. These sites show audiences much more than design skills like logo design or typography.

Whether you’re a full-time graphic designer or dabbling in design as a freelancer, it’s critical you create a sleek graphic design portfolio to showcase your work to potential clients.

Fortunately, we’ve created a list of over 20 impressive graphic design portfolios, followed by instructions on how you can create your own. Keep reading to get all the tips you need to curate the perfect space to showcase your work.

What is a graphic design portfolio, and why does a graphic designer need one?

A graphic design portfolio is one of the most important elements a client or employer needs to see when choosing a graphic designer. A portfolio should include a selection of a graphic designer’s best work, as well as professional samples from client projects.

If you’re a graphic designer a portfolio is essential for proving your design skills. It’s also a chance to:

• Share your design process
• Talk about design or industry specialties
• Showcase your unique style

A graphic design portfolio, like a resume, will also include contact information. It may also feature case studies from past employers.

Most portfolios today are graphic designer websites. This means that they’re not only a way to connect with clients. They also help graphic designers build communities and share their work with potential fans around the world.

So what does a graphic design portfolio website need to include to stand out? Your portfolio is much more than proving you know how to use Photoshop. Many graphic designers will include logos, typography, print design, or web design in their portfolios.

And, some of the best graphic design portfolios today may also include:

• Motion graphics
• Video
• Original illustrations
• Animation
• Product design
• UX design
• Ad campaigns
• Storyboards
• Brand identity

As you’ll see below, the most powerful graphic designer portfolios balance personal vision with standout client samples.

Let’s look at some graphic design portfolio website examples to inspire and motivate your portfolio development. You could be a traditional graphic designer or experimenting with new media. There’s something here for everyone.

1. Jessica Walsh

The design industry is competitive. It takes eye-catching imagery and typographic finesse to create a portfolio that draws top clients like Apple, Benefit, and Levis.

This portfolio comes from a designer who’s been named one of Ad Age’s “Top 10 Visual Creatives,” among many other accolades. Currently a design professor, creative director, and head of creative agency &Walsh, this designer’s portfolio on Behance makes great design the focus.

Why we love this graphic designer’s website: Walsh’s approach to type is bright, graphic, and complex. Her style also favors lush colorful photography and illustrations. This could get overwhelming, but this graphic designer is an expert with negative space, using careful visual composition to draw the eye and make a statement.

2. Morag Myerscough

Bright graphics, animations, and clean design make this an exceptional graphic design portfolio. This approach is great for designers who lean into the art of design. It also works for designers who take on more experimental or site-specific projects.

Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: Myerscough’s aesthetic is unique and this image-focused site quickly communicates her style.

Short sections of copy connect her visual brand to her background, professional experience, and personal philosophy. The combination makes the site feel like it shows the whole designer, not just a visualization of the work she does for clients.

3. Heather Shaw

This graphic design portfolio website includes samples of book and website designs, branding, and more. It’s good for designers who work in many different media but want to present a cohesive portfolio.

Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: Heather Shaw’s portfolio is super clear and easy to navigate. It shows a wide range of skills and approaches to solving client problems, but it’s also visually consistent.

The designer also uses text effectively to explain each project and to encourage further engagement with the work.

4. Mike Mills

Mike Mills is a talented designer, artist, and filmmaker, known for his punk aesthetic and original style. His portfolio is a reflection of his diverse interests and skills. The website offers a quick lesson in clean design, with easy-to-understand headers, professional photography, and crisp layout.

Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website: When you’re a design beginner, creating your first graphic design portfolio, you quickly learn the importance of editing.

For example, a logo for your first-year graphic design class might have been your best work then. It shows that you know how to use Illustrator or other design software alternatives. But five years later, you have to ask — does that logo belong in a professional portfolio?

As your body of graphic design work grows, you’ll find yourself making tough decisions about what to include, and just as important, what to leave out of your portfolio.

This portfolio example stands out because Mills has found a way to include samples of design that span from the 90s to today. This could easily feel disjointed or overwhelming. Instead, it’s a beautiful and cohesive portfolio with exceptional attention to detail.

5. Mohamed Samir

Samir’s work includes branding, typography, posters, and print design. So, this graphic design portfolio zeros in on a tight collection of award-winning designs.

This graphic design portfolio is on Behance. This makes it a good fit for graphic designers who want an online presence without designing their own website.

Why we love this graphic designer’s website: Besides the high quality of the design work, this portfolio shows a diverse range of approaches to typography and style. At the same time, it shows a consistent vision and passion for visual communication.

The printed design work is also well-photographed. While the designer could have added a digital file instead, the photographs give you a better sense of the final polished design.

6. Gail Anderson

Image quality matters. And if your portfolio pieces include a lot of detail, you may get stumped with your online portfolio design. This graphic design portfolio website has a simple left-hand navigation. So, with each click, you have a chance to see detailed posters, book covers, and more at a scale that shows how they look for print while also being easy to scroll on a mobile phone.

Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: Anderson’s work is smart and timeless. Each piece shows her dedication to the depth and value of design thinking, technical skill, and passion for design.

7. Gleb Kuznetsov

Kuznetsov’s portfolio combines product design, user experience, and graphic design to create something entirely new. This Dribble-hosted portfolio has over 50 images, which could be overwhelming. But they’re split into seven easy-to-understand projects.

This makes it a great graphic design portfolio example for designers who want to show long-term or complex projects.

Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website: From the images to his brief “About” statement, this designer makes his unique vision and personality part of the work and its presentation.

8. Stefan Sagmeister

Sagmeister is a legend in the design world, and his website reflects the curiosity and power of the designer. The home page features a grid of images with text that appears as you scroll over each image. With a click, you’re presented with images and/or videos that show the details of each project.

The site is a mix of collaborations, art projects, and more traditional design, like the corporate identity for the Jewish museum.

Why this is one of the best graphic design portfolio websites we’ve ever seen: This portfolio site doesn’t just show the quality and technical ability of the designer. It also gives any client working with Sagmeister a sense of what the design process might be like.

Quick note: The “answers” section of the site is full of useful advice no matter where you are in your designer journey.

9. Lotte Niemenen

Great designers often let the work do the talking. That’s certainly true here, with a streamlined graphic design portfolio that calls attention to client deliverables. When text is present, it adds to the value of the work, like sharing what parts of the design process their team completed. This is a great portfolio format for designers doing graphic design work like:

• Logo design
• Branding
• Packaging
• Product design

Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: This group of work is simple and to the point. It also shows off a wide range of skills and tactics with a consistent vision. Be sure to take a closer look at the website navigation — it’s clean and exciting while adding to the functionality of the site.

10. Luke Choice (Velvet Spectrum)

3D animation is an exciting design form that’s growing in popularity. But if you’re a client who’s not in the market for an animated billboard, it may be difficult to figure out how you might use this creative form for your business.

This site is a great example of a portfolio that educates with simple text, graphics, and video. It gives both a quick look and a deep dive into how this designer approaches his art form.

Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: If you’re doing something interesting and new, it may be a selling point. But truly new ideas can also challenge or frustrate people who don’t feel “in the know.” This means that your portfolio can’t just sell your designs. It also needs to teach viewers about the new format you’re using and why you think it’s important.

11. Sophia Yeshi

A clear header and tile design emphasize work samples from this powerful graphic designer.

While the tiles emphasize the designer’s unique style, you can click on each tile to get the full details about each project. This is a great approach for designers who want to share the deeper story behind each project while still making the site easy to navigate.

Why we love this graphic designer’s website: A distinct style is important in graphic design. That said, it can be tough to show how many ways you can apply that distinct style in a business context. Major brands, including Google, Nike, and Comcast, use Yeshi’s unique illustrative voice to speak for their brands.

This website portfolio makes that point clear, while still making graphic design the focus.

12. Eduardo Nunes

Designers often have a muse — someone or something that inspires and motivates them when the designing gets tough. Sometimes that inspiration can serve as a starting point for your portfolio design, as it did for this design portfolio example.

The landing page starts with a quote from Ansel Adams, “There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.” Then, using clean motion graphics and fresh design, Nunes points to a central theme, a philosophy that guides his design approach. This leads every site visitor on a journey through his portfolio.

Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: This portfolio shows intense work, focus, practice, and care. It’s an excellent model for anyone who wants to show the world what they’re creating and why.

13. Stefanie Brüeckler

This portfolio includes packaging design, illustration, and web design as well as graphic design and branding work. It’s one of our favorite graphic designer websites because it’s clean and easy to navigate.

It also shows a lot of different examples of work at a glance. This makes it a great example for designers who aren’t sure how to organize all the work they want to include in their portfolio.

Why we love this graphic designer website example: Brückler’s graphic design portfolio focuses on the tiniest of details to create an excellent user experience. From the simple page-loading animation to the thoughtful use of motion graphics, this designer hones in on the stunning details.

14. Chip Kidd

Book cover designer Chip Kidd’s graphic design portfolio website uses lightbox-style pop-ups. Popups make it easier to focus on each book cover. This is a smart way to narrow in on the visuals with a graphic design site while still making it easy to see all the work in one place.

Kidd uses a range of different styles for book covers, and it’s edited in a way that makes this range look natural and exciting instead of chaotic.

Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website: The dark background makes this graphic designer’s style pop. And the simple side navigation gives users a quick path to learn more about the designer and his work.

15. Ryan Dean Sprague (Pavlov)

This Texas designer’s style is heavily influenced by music. So, this portfolio features illustration and design work that’s bright, evocative, and fun. This portfolio website shines because it keeps the UX and site structure super simple. This puts the focus on a tight curation of exciting design samples.

Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website: If you have a distinct illustration or design style, the tough sell for your portfolio may not be how good your work is. Instead, you may need to focus on showing the client how you can do your best work for their needs.

This graphic design portfolio is a vivid display of individuality that also shows clients how this designer can help them sell their product or brand.

16. MDZ Design

Concise and exciting images on this graphic designer website example give site visitors a peek at execution and strategy.

MDZ Design also offers product design and strategy to clients. This makes their graphic design portfolio a useful example for strategy-focused designers.

Why we love this graphic designer website example: The range of services this portfolio shows could be overwhelming or confusing. Instead, it’s a chance to see their approach to problem-solving. They also make it easy to see how their process leads to results for their clients.

17. Alex Trochut

This graphic design portfolio is also a home for Trochut’s product design, animations, music, and NFTs. It’s a great example for multimedia artists who want to present their work on a single website. It also works for creators with a big collection of work to show.

Why we love this graphic designer website example: The four-column layout of this site shows image thumbnails of varying sizes. Each column moves at a different pace as you scroll down the page.

This motion feels dynamic and exciting and reinforces this designer’s original takes on color, type, and layouts.

18. Leandro Assis

Sometimes a graphic design portfolio isn’t just about a style — it’s about a vibe. This exceptional portfolio comes from designer Leandro Assis.

From brand identity to hand lettering to package design, this portfolio displays a wide range of design skills and original style.

Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website: It’s not like this portfolio isn’t enticing to the eyes. It’s fun, bright, and a little wild. But what makes this portfolio excellent isn’t just the quality of the work, it’s the experience.

Fun icons, engaging UX, and lots of white space make this bold and playful site a pleasure to peruse.

19. Peter Tarka

If you’re a self-taught graphic designer, you might have less guidance on where to start with your portfolio website. Look no further for inspiration than the interactive design portfolio for Peter Tarka.

Best known for captivating 3D motion graphics like the ones featured in the video below, Tarka started with a love of architecture and vector graphics that’s grown to a career working with top brands like Spotify, Google, and LG.

Why we love this designer’s website: The fewer clicks it takes to show people what you’re doing the better. This site isn’t just low-click, it’s no-click.

A simple scroll shows you the work, client, and completion date for 15 exceptional portfolio pieces. If you want to see more, a quick click at the top-right brings you to more work samples, links to other portfolio sites, and contact information.

20. Tobias van Schneider

This graphic design portfolio website uses a range of type sizes and contrasts to emphasize the ideas it communicates. This is a great approach for entrepreneurial designers. It’s also smart for anyone who collaborates in their design work.

Why we love this graphic designer’s website: A sticky header and big blocks of color and text make this graphic designer website interesting to explore. This site also uses scale well. It combines big images with both big and small text to emphasize each client project.

21. Aries Moross

LingK’s portfolio features their latest project while also showing other industry niches. The structure of the website helps prospective clients quickly decide if they want to work with this designer.

Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website: It can be tough to convey how campaign materials for a complex event, like a wedding or conference, work together. This designer effectively shows the breadth and depth of work for each project and makes it easy to see the value of each deliverable.

23. Nisha K. Sethi

Sethi’s portfolio is simple and straightforward. It puts the spotlight on each design project. The “About” section also tells a clear story that encourages further questions and conversation.

It can be tempting to tell an audience everything on your website. But a great portfolio should offer enough samples to entice clients to reach out and learn more, but not so much that it overwhelms. This website is a great example of offering just enough.

Why we love this graphic designer website example: This graphic design example combines hand-lettering, printmaking, and other media with digital design. While this designer works in a range of media, their portfolio shows a strong voice that is effective across many channels.

Looking for more design portfolio inspo? These designers and design studios may not be a model for your personal portfolio website, but they’re great design resources:

• Paula Scher
• Michael Bierut
• Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv
• Wolff Olins
• Milton Glaser
• David Carson

If you’ve finished your portfolio pieces and want to get more website design ideas, check out this free lookbook with over 70 examples of incredible websites.

1. Curate your best work, and show a wide breadth of skill.

Lindsay Burke, a HubSpot Product Designer, emphasizes the importance of quality over quantity when it comes to curating a graphic design portfolio. She says, “I recommend selecting your strongest projects and making these the primary focus of your portfolio website.”

Ideally, your portfolio will feature your sharpest, most impressive 10-20 designs — undoubtedly, someone pursuing your portfolio won’t have the time to look at more, and if your first couple projects are impressive enough, they shouldn’t need to.

But it’s equally critical you show potential clients your versatility. If you’ve dabbled in logo design as well as video animation, it’s good to include both kinds of projects in your portfolio.

2. Choose the right platform to showcase your work.

Investing in a quality website with a custom domain URL will pay off in the long run by demonstrating your professionalism to potential clients.

Having your own website helps you organize your portfolio to suit all your business needs — for instance, perhaps you’ll include ‘Projects’, ‘About Me’, and ‘Contact Me’ sections, so visitors can peruse your content and then contact you without ever leaving the site.

Take a look at this list of the best website builders if you need help choosing a platform for your portfolio.

3. Include a professional case study or client recommendations.

Lindsay Burke told me it’s incredibly valuable to write out a case study to complement any website visuals — “Through a written case study, your site visitors can get a sense of your project’s background, the problem you were aiming to solve through design, and the process you took to arrive at a final deliverable. A lot of time, effort, and iteration goes into design solutions, and a written case study will help communicate your unique process.”

To cultivate a strong case study, consider including the background of the project, the problem, the process, your deliverable, and any next steps.

In the process section of your case study, Burke suggests including research, experience mapping, persona development, wire-framing, sketching, usability testing, and iteration.

Plus it will impress future clients if you can include recommendations from prior employers, which allows you to display a level of professionalism.

4. Integrate your personality.

As you can see in the examples above, each portfolio is drastically different depending on the artist’s unique style. Someone checking out Tobias van Schneider’s portfolio will expect something vastly different from someone looking at Ling K’s site. Make sure your portfolio — including layout, background, and website title — reflects who you are as a designer.

5. Describe the creative process.

Each designer has a unique process when working with clients — and the sooner a potential client can learn about your process, the better. It’s important you include context, so visitors can get a sense of how you handle challenges, and how your designs solve real-world problems.

Plus, including a description of your creative process can help a potential client figure out whether you’re capable of handling the scope of their project.

For instance, they might be unsure of your ability to handle graphic designs for mobile until they read how you single-handedly brainstormed and created the designs for another client’s mobile site. In this case, context is critical.

6. Show non-client work, or side projects.

Amanda Chong, a former HubSpot Designer, says, “Side projects are a great way to demonstrate your will to take initiative and your ability to balance multiple things at once. They’re also a great way to show some of the more experimental, creative ideas that you might not be able to show through your day-to-day work.”

If you’re just starting out, it’s acceptable to include side projects or non-client work so potential customers can get a sense of your ability and style.

Consider incorporating school work, a logo you designed for your aunt’s company, or an internal design you created for your current company — ideally, your designs will negate any concerns potential clients have over your lack of career experience.

1. Help a local business or start-up with its design and brand.

One of the easiest ways to begin building your client base is by contacting nonprofits or local businesses in your area. Think about creating mock-ups or sketches in advance, These can help you give businesses a sense of your skill and vision.

Perhaps you think a local restaurant needs a new menu logo, or want to help a gift shop with their online marketing materials.

Projects like these will help you better understand local marketing challenges, and give you time to develop your skills in those areas. You never know what a pro-bono project could lead to next.

2. Create content for your own personal brand.

As you build personal brand content, take the time to make sure your marketing materials are cohesive and sleek.

Design a unique logo for your brand. Next, start building your website, and add that same design across various materials, including your business card and resume. This is also a great time to start a branded social media account, and to create posts that show off your design skills and interests.

Clients are more likely to work with you if they can see the type of high-quality work you’re able to create for yourself.

3. Redesign an existing website.

Don’t wait for your dream client to give you a call. Instead, create a complete website redesign for a well-known brand to prove your skills to future clients.

This is a well-known strategy already used by plenty of designers — just take a look at some of the impressive Behance mock-ups for brands like RyanAir.

Additionally, Amanda Chong told me, “If you’re creating mockups for established brands to use as part of your portfolio, it’s important to pair this with a case study or description of the process that helped you arrive at your proposed design. Talk about what you think wasn’t working with the existing design, some of the constraints that you think the designers were working with, and why you made the decisions that you did.”

Chong added, “Mockups are great at showing your visual design skills, but don’t necessarily demonstrate your ability to work in a real-world context, so you’ll want to take the time to explain how you would have approached it in a true business setting.”

4. Create graphic design materials for a made-up company.

If your designs are impressive enough, potential clients won’t care that you created them for a fictitious company. In fact, you could impress them with your innovation and creativity.

Consider showing your skills by putting together a creative brief for a fake company, complete with wireframes and sketches. Other projects you can create for imaginary companies include:

• Branding
• Style guides
• Posters
• Billboards
• Social media ads
• Apparel graphics
• Wrapping paper
• Brochures and email newsletters
• Simple GIFs
• Animated infographics
• Trade show booths
• Branded wall art
• Pitch decks
• Book covers
• Packaging

In due time, real companies will take notice.

5. Design a logo for a brand you love.

Stick to the type of content you enjoy designing. If you’re particularly adept at making logos, and are often inspired by the logos used by real brands, consider designing an alternative logo for a brand you like.

Then take a look at these inspiring reimagined NFL logos. While these NFL teams probably won’t make a shift, they’re great examples of the designers’ skills and creativity.

6. Create a stock theme for WordPress.

WordPress, a popular content management system, allows users to develop stock themes for WP. Best of all, if your theme is approved, you can sell it as a premium theme for extra cash.

Begin by studying WordPress’s most popular themes, and considering how you can create an impressive alternative. Take a look at WordPress’s Theme Review Requirements and this overview of how to create a child theme to learn more.

7. Take part in a design challenge.

To get inspired, practice your skills, or interact with other designers in a community and build your portfolio at the same time, think about participating in a design challenge.

Design challenges can also help you uncover skills you didn’t know you had by forcing you to step outside your design comfort zone.

There are various daily, weekly, or monthly challenges that will send you prompts on things to design — for instance, try checking out the Daily UI Design Challenge or The Daily Logo Challenge.

You’ve done the work, and now you’re pulling together your graphic design portfolio. Try these tips to make your graphic design portfolio stand out.

1. Show your versatility.

A portfolio should show a range of different works, so you want to highlight what you can do. Some clients prefer a more streamlined look, while others are looking for more experimentation.

If you have clients from different industries, include some work from each industry. Then, edit your portfolio based on the kind of client you’re showing your portfolio to.

For example, if you’re meeting with a client in real estate, show work samples from similar industries.

You’ll also want to show anyone who sees your portfolio what you can do. So, if you create design logos, books, and motion graphics, include a little bit of everything in your portfolio.

2. Display your best work.

That said, try to limit your portfolio to your best work. Don’t include a piece in your portfolio just to show that you can do it. The way that you edit your portfolio shows that you understand your strengths and know how to play them up. So, edit your portfolio to include only your best work.

If you’re great with one skill set but not as good with another, edit your portfolio to spotlight that skill. If possible, create portfolio pieces that show many skill sets at the same time.

For example, if you love hand lettering, a poster could emphasize your graphic design skills alongside this unique ability.

3. Include case studies.

Every client is unique, and each will teach you something new. As you continue to work with different clients, build up a collection of these stories.

Try not to throw anything away without documenting it. That page of thumbnails might not be much to look at on its own, but this kind of work in progress is a great way to show prospective clients how you solve problems.

When you present case studies in your portfolio, start with the initial problem your client approached you with. Next, show what the conversation and ideation process looked like over time. As you pull your case study together, don’t forget to include the final solution you delivered.

4. Make it clean and easy to navigate.

Design is about more than visual skills, it’s about communicating. So the format of your portfolio, whether it’s printed or online, should be clear and simple to scan.

This point is especially important for graphic designer websites. It can be tempting to build a website that shows off the latest trends or to add Easter eggs that people need to hunt for. There’s a fine line between art and design, and those approaches can be super inspiring.

But building a complex site can also mean that clients in a hurry could miss some of your best work.

For example, a graphic designer once sent his portfolio to a creative director friend of mine. They liked the designer’s drawing but didn’t see much of the graphic design or web work that he talked about in his resume. With a little digging, they found a URL in one of the sketchbook drawings, and that URL led to his website.

This hide-and-seek process was cool, but it wasn’t clear or easy to navigate. This scenario could have been a missed opportunity for that designer.

5. Prominently display contact information.

If someone wants to talk to you, there are many places they can find you online. But you want to make it easy for them, and for you. You don’t want to miss out on an important meeting because a client reached out to you with an email you don’t check anymore.

Most graphic designer websites have a contact page that has your contact information. Once you add this to your site, be sure to check that the links and forms are working.

6. Display your unique personality.

There are thousands of successful graphic designers out there, and you might be competing against some of them for your next client. So, the best tip for a great portfolio is to be yourself.

Whether you have a feel for typography or are talented with color, show off the way that you see the world in your graphic design portfolio. Think about every detail, and then execute to the best of your ability.

Whether it’s the first version of your portfolio or the 200th, make it feel like something only you could create.

The best graphic design portfolios aren’t ever finished.

You’ve learned about the value of a graphic design portfolio and checked out some of the best portfolio examples. You read about how to create your portfolio, then you scanned some smart ideas to build on the graphic design work you’ve already completed.

So what’s next?

Even the best graphic design portfolios need constant updates. Keep in mind that while your first graphic design portfolio may be complete, portfolio building won’t ever really end.

What do you want to tackle for your next project? Social media to promote your new portfolio? A new resume or professional bio to attract clients? The possibilities are endless.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in March 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.