Recently, over at our new Copyblogger Facebook page , I asked a question: What's your biggest challenge when creating compelling online content? I didn't treat it as a poll with various challenges. I wanted pure unfiltered responses. And the number one answer was: Keeping it original and interesting. So let's talk about that today. Meaning + Fascination The two elements that lead to reader engagement, that fantastic social media sharing,

A landing page is a place you send traffic when you really want some action. And no, this has nothing to do with Craig's List personals. It can be a sales page, an email opt-in page, a video landing page, or even a content landing page designed to rank well in search engines. As you might have guessed, there are a lot of ways to screw these up. Here are five of the most common mistakes people make with their landing pages. More importantly,

Everyone's creating all this online content, but does it matter? More importantly, are you accomplishing your goals with the content you deliver, or are you simply spinning your wheels? Well, if you're doing it right, your content is highly effective and tightly tied to your ultimate objectives. Otherwise, you're just filling up space on an ignored web page. Content marketing is the most effective and lucrative form of online marketing, because it not only works,

Yep, it's time to put on the big boy pants ' Copyblogger is five years old today. A lot has happened in those quick five years, but as with any 5-year-old, we're just getting started. Most of all, we want to thank each and every one of you for "raising" us to this point " it truly could not have happened without you. So thanks for that, and also for sticking with us for the cool stuff we've got for you as we head toward age six.

If you'd like to figure out exactly how to start reaping the benefits of more traffic, better search rankings, and the free social media word-of-mouth that blogging brings, consider taking the fast track with Blogging Success Summit 2011 . And you won't need to spend money on travel, hotel rooms, or even leave the house. This is a completely virtual event and it's currently 50% off )a limited-time early bird rate(.

Every year on the 24th of December, we tell you we're taking the rest of the year off. And every year, we instead slip in a "Best of Copyblogger" post before New Year's just in case you missed something from the past year. Sneaky, huh? So here are the best Copyblogger articles from 2010, based on your enthusiasm via comments, links, retweets,

How many times have your heard them say that? They said it in 2007 . They said it in 2008 , 2009 , and 2010 . Maybe they're right. When you're promoting a business, or a cause, or an idea with regular content ' It's content marketing . Blogging? That's just a hobby, right? So go ahead and ramp up your WordPress-powered content marketing in 2011. Just don't say you're blogging, okay? That'll shut them up.

You weighed in on our proposed Copyblogger t-shirt slogans . You picked the ones you liked best. And you demanded we offer both men's and women's cuts. Now, you can do a good deed as well. We're donating 100% of the profit from your purchase of a Copyblogger t-shirt to the outstanding child literacy organization Reading is Fundamental . Click here to get the details and to get your shirt .

You know Tim Ferriss as the best-selling author of The 4-Hour Work Week , the man behind the popular Experiments in Lifestyle Design blog, and now as the author of his new book, The 4-Hour Body . But it obviously wasn't always the case. What does Tim credit for his rapid emergence into the public eye? His blog and his blogger outreach strategy , which took him from unknown to successful author, angel investor, and social media celebrity is a few short years.

What makes one website highly persuasive and engaging, while others are ignored or quickly abandoned? If you took a poll asking your site visitors what's missing from your site, they might not even be able to articulate it. And that's exactly the point. What influences us isn't necessarily at our conscious level of experience. Today, we'll discuss the 6 elements of a web experience that make a difference at a deep psychological level. My guest is Dr. Susan Weinschenk,

You're telling a story. Whether you know it or not, or intend to or not ' you absolutely are. Everything you do to market your business is another paragraph, page, or chapter in the story people hear from you. And the story people hear is the one they act )or don't act( on, and repeat )or don't repeat( to others. Now, it's not necessarily fatal if you're not aware you're telling a story, and you'll never completely control your story anyway.

It's that time of year again ' turkey, football, and those ridiculous shopping events known as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It's like a tradition or something. Okay, we'll play along. Through the end of next Tuesday, November 30, you'll save 25% off any of our StudioPress products, including the Genesis Theme Framework , the Prose Theme with point-and-click design controls, every turn-key design ,