Developing a Plan

In seeking to improve on-page SEO and produce content that enhances the ability to rank against queries – consider best practices. While learning about the other areas of SEO is important, content can truly drive a website from the bottom to the top. Here are the essential practices to incorporate into the content creation process. 

Content Strategy and Research

Search engine optimization must be strategic. Throwing darts at a wall and hoping they stick is no way to optimize a site and generate revenue. Instead, everything you do should be intentional and measurable, with a specific goal.

Content research answers questions about how the content works for those who use it. It helps build a deeper understanding of who uses the content and its place in their world. Content research looks at the hierarchy of content, tagging, and other internal processes. 

Authoritative and informative content requires research. So if the goal is to answer the right questions and have the right content for the audience, then some research will be involved.  

The Process of Content Research

To begin your content research, try to get an idea of the number of online articles or pieces of content for a specific topic or keyword phrase. This includes your content and the top content generated by a web search. Then, check SEO tools for traction, social engagement, and other traction statistics. 

List the topics in those articles and identify any gaps in the information provided. Always answer frequently asked questions in your content. As you evaluate the pieces, consider their angles, length, keyword targets, slug structures, visuals, and anything else relevant before starting.

Create a List of Topics

The first step is to get a general idea of what you want to write about. For instance, a company selling shooting targets could also write about guns, ammunition, new policies affecting shooting hobbyists, gun safety, etc. 

A dentist can write about routine checkups, dental bridges and implants, emergency procedures, root canals, crowns, Invisalign  (or other brands), braces, etc. 

Fully flesh out everything in your space that could attract relevant traffic and leads. 

Know Your Market

Knowing the market is incredibly important. Each facet of the market has different customers with different habits. Understanding the market thus allows for products to be sold that have a better chance of aligning with your audience.

Know Your Audience 

While this may seem obvious, many people make mistakes when writing content for their audience. Content should address questions, concerns, or specific intricacies of the industry. Articles shouldn’t just be used as a selling tool for products or services offered by a business. Rather, they should encompass a specific audience’s broader area of interest. For instance, a pool company might have blogs on swimming and common pool issues, not just about their products. It all comes back to taking a value-first approach, trying to help people, providing answers to questions, and even facilitating them learning something new. Trust me, they’ll remember you for it.

Remember that a top priority for search engines is “search intent.” Therefore, work to provide content that matches up against the intent behind a query.

This is one way a company can present itself in a positive, empowered light. Don’t be afraid to assert authority and topical leadership. The content should propel a company to the point of industry-leading authority and not just focus on their products and services. 

Informative articles that consider the target audience’s knowledge base will often be successful. Because people who are into or looking for something are often eager to learn more about it. 

Do not overcomplicate the subject matter or make it too abstract. You don’t want to come off as sounding smart unless you are in a niche field. You want your audience to feel smarter after reading your content. Therefore, convey your thoughts as clearly and concisely as possible. Always try to write conversationally, and keep it as close to your authentic self as possible. People enjoy reading posts that come across naturally. When you start to sound stuffy, impersonal, or overly dry, you risk people tuning out and disengaging.  

Quality content includes having good grammar, punctuation, spelling, and correct information. However, it also needs to be engaging and easy to read. Producing content like this should result in better SERP positioning and Google deciding to share it more often because users find it valuable.

In digital marketing, quality content is content people want or need because it is informative, entertaining, or authoritative. The content answers people’s questions accurately, and the information can be shared, liked, or quoted, giving a website perceived or measurable “authority” on the subject. 

Know Your Competitors

Do you know who is competing for a share of the market? What do they bring to the table, and how does the market react to them? It is possible to learn a lot about what to do and what not to do by doing content research on competitors, AKA gap analysis. Plus, the more information available, the more superior choices you can make about your approach.  

Identify the Networks Where Your Audience Shares Content

Where does the audience being reached by the content visit first before they share this content? Which social media platforms do they use? With this information, you can learn which platforms are best and focus your time and attention on the channels that will drive the highest ROI and impact.  

Identify Social Influencers and Digital PR Opportunities

Find out what social influencers are popular within your target location and demographic on the networks used by the audience. Each area of a network has its hierarchy and trusted influencers. Therefore, becoming familiar with these market professionals and subsequent opportunities is essential.

Keyword Research

Conduct the research. Analyze the competition. Ensure you use the same terms people use to search for their needs. Don’t use technical language if your target audience is the layman who needs your services but doesn’t know much about them. Don’t use layman’s terms if your target audience is fellow professionals who expect authoritative content. 

Track the Competition’s Keywords

Whether a small-town restaurant or a national retailer, knowing your rival’s keywords is important. Just like you analyze their prices and operational strengths and weaknesses, you should also monitor their keywords.

Tools like Answerthepublic, BuzzSumo, SEMRush, AHREFS, Google Keyword Planner, and SpyFu can help you conduct a competitive analysis of the sites you want to emulate. These tools will give you an idea of which keywords they’re attacking. You can then take that information and look for opportunities to beat them at their own game. 

Tracking Your Success

Google Search Console (accessed via Looker Studio) is one of the most valuable and accessible SEO keyword tools. The Search Console performance report tells you which of your pages generates the most impressions and clicks, along with the average position in the SERPs and the click-through rate. 

The performance report also tells you which pages are most valuable and those which need to be beefed up with additional content or optimized to improve their ranking. If you’re like us, you look at this data daily or have this information piping into a larger report in Google Analytics, Looker Studio, Amplitude, or Tableau. 

Build Pages for Each Topic (Keyword Cloud)

Build a primary page for each topic you want to rank for. Make sure the pages aren’t competing with each other by keeping them in scope. Optimize the pages through URLs, headers, metadata, images, and videos that utilize the target keyword/keyword cloud.