The 4 Step Keyword Research Process For Ranking Your Blog Content
Joel Widmer
Content Marketer, CEO & Blogger. I make it easy for business leaders to turn their experience into targeted content
Writing a piece of content is difficult enough. But ranking, promoting and sharing that content? That's?incredibly?demanding.
Promoting your content is a big ask, yet it's precisely what's expected. If you're working feverishly towards your conversion (i.e. financial) goals it's time to bite the bullet.?
You'll need to?promote your content.
Why Most People Neglect Their Content
So,?exactly how much promotion is required? Here’s a good rule of thumb:
You'll want to spend?50 percent?of your time?creating content?and?50 percent?of your time?promoting it.
I know, it seems?a bit?unreasonable, and if you're like most people, you?simply?don't have the time. You have a business to run, payroll to meet and customers to serve.
Which is why you outsource a significant chunk of your content promotion...
To search engines.
Exactly how much promotion?is required??Here’s a good rule of thumb: You'll want to spend 50 percent of your time creating content and 50 percent of your time promoting it.
This isn't news. Most business owners understand the importance of promoting and ranking their content on search engines (Google). So why aren't more businesses taking the time to do this properly? Four simple reasons:
4 Simple Steps For Ranking Your Blog Content
Today we're going to share a simple plan you can use to create a consistent keyword strategy. The best part? We’ll show you how to do it for cheap (or even free!) and it takes under five minutes.
This plan is crucial.
Your keyword research process will dictate?a.)?who sees your content,?b.)?whether they take the time to read and digest your content, and?c.)?whether your content moves them to the next step in your conversion funnel.
Let's get started!
Step #1: Choose high-value content topics.
Readers come to your site for one specific thing:
Value.
They arrive with a very specific set of questions and a problem to solve.
But content marketers have their own problem - one they’ve created for themselves.
They start with a list of keywords, pick one with the greatest amount of potential, and then attempt to write content around that keyword.
Which usually fails to produce results.
Content marketers spend their time bouncing from one keyword to the next, furiously writing content with the hope that they'll rank for their selected keyword.
So, why doesn't it work?
Because keyword driven content tends to be one dimensional and narrow. This content fails to convert readers into customers because it fails to answer the important questions.
Let's look at the keyword "best investment accounts" as an example. Google states this keyword:
Now let's look at how most content marketers approach this.
Option A:
Content marketers write a blog post about the "best investment accounts"?online. They create a list or review post, outlining businesses with the best rates, terms, incentives, etc. They create a helpful post, and they bust their butt to get their piece ranked.
The issue?
Their content isn't actually?serving their audience. It's a cheap money grab, at least that's how most readers see it.
Sounds harsh, I know, but hear me out.
Keywords are angles. A topic is broad. General. A topic needs filters like sub-topics to further refine your content.
They focus on this keyword but they're not entirely sure how or what their readers want (eg. search intent), or even who they're speaking to (their?target buyer persona ).?If they're lucky, they win the battle but they lose the war.
Yikes.
How do conversion-oriented content marketers approach this issue? Let's take a?look at our next option.
Option B:?
These marketers focus their attention on the overall topic.
How's that strategy different? Aren't keywords simply?topics?
Nope.
Keywords are angles. A topic is broad. General. A topic needs filters like sub-topics to further refine your content.
Keyword research is a helpful way to flush out key subtopics. If we dig a little more we find there are many?subtopics we can use here.
See the difference in goals and interest? That's a mountain of content for just one topic! Is it possible to cover all of this in a?single?blog post?
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Not a chance.
Most readers wouldn't bother to read through it?anyway. This is why you choose your topic and subtopics?first. Choosing your topics first gives you the opportunity to:
Choose your topic?first.
Doing things this way gives you the chance to rank for more of your target keywords.
Step #2: Make a list of keywords and competitors.
Once you have a shortlist of the topics you'll cover you're ready to move on to step two. The keyword research you've done in step one is an idea generator. It's designed to flush out subtopics and angles. Using our list above, we see we'll need content for the following segments.
Start by making a list of keywords for each segment. Next, you'll want to segment/sort your keywords?by searcher intent . Here are the four choices:
You'll want to choose the keywords that are most relevant to?(a.)?your topic and?(b.)?your readers' query. Your ideal keywords should have appropriate?search volume, from100 to 1k searches per month(this varies by industry).
Your keywords should also have moderate competition for head keywords and low competition for longtail keywords, which are easier to rank for.
Don't overuse your keywords!?Avoid stuffing them into as many places as you can. Instead, use content styles (e.g. stories, data, and how-to) to make your content compelling.
Competition is crucial.
You'll want to look at the search results for each of your queries to gauge your competition. You'll also want to check the sites listed on the first page of Google. Then, ask yourself the following questions.
You're looking for a crack.
Anything you can use to overtake content that's already ranking well in the search results. Give readers the value they're looking for. Find simple ways to share that value and you have everything you need to overtake competitors in the search results.
You'll want to look for an opportunity to provide more value. Take notes and write down?any ideas that come to mind.
At this point, you should be ready to...
Step #3: Write your post.
Select a single, high-value keyword for your post. You'll want to provide your readers with actionable or practical content by focusing your attention on a few distinct areas.
You'll also want to weave your keyword into your content naturally and avoid keyword stuffing and unnatural phrasing in your content. Here’s what I mean:
A bad example:?We sell custom cigar humidors. Our custom cigar humidors are handmade. If you’re thinking of buying a custom cigar humidor, please contact our custom cigar humidor specialists at [email protected]
You'll want your content to be compelling for people first, search engines last.
Why?
Because people are the ones with the money! They're the ones who are willing to pay you for your product, service or expertise. Search engines, not so much.
Outsourcing your content and promotion?to the right team gives you the leverage and support you need. It's a surefire way to produce conversions and secure revenue.
Include your keywords in:
A word of warning... Don't overuse your keywords! Avoid stuffing them into as many places as you can. Instead, use content styles (e.g. stories, data, and how-to) to make your content compelling.
Step 4: Ranking content with promotion.
Remember our formula?
Spend?50 percent?of your time producing content,?50 percent?of your time promoting it. There's a reason for this post. If you'd like to outrank competitors for your post you must put in the work. This means you'll need to build links to your content.
How do you do that? Here are a few strategies to help you get started:
There are?thousands ?of?strategies ,?tactics , tips, and tricks you can use to improve your content's rank in Google. You'll want to spend a significant amount of time promoting your piece.
Make it a priority.
Writing is Only Half the Picture
Like I mentioned earlier, writing is difficult on its own, but ranking, promoting and sharing that content is incredibly?difficult.?
Unless you have help.
Outsourcing your content and promotion to the right team gives you the leverage and support you need. It's a surefire way to produce conversions and secure revenue.
Can you do it on your own?
Sure you can. Content marketing comes with hefty requirements. You can do it – if you're prepared for the steep learning curve and the necessary?work you need to do. If you'd like to convert readers into customers faster, you're going to need help.
Start with the right process and you'll have the step-by-step details you need to rank your blog content effectively.