Let me tell you one thing about good SEO content writers. They know why they are doing what they are doing. And I mean they know it every day. Those guys and gals realize that Google loves great content and clings to it as one of the most important ranking factors.
And I’m sure you already know this catchphrase – CONTENT IS KING (long live the king!).
Once you have your purpose, the mere knowledge of it fuels your work every day (alongside a killer content marketing strategy). It’s as simple as that. I like to think about what comes next as a form of art. Let’s face it – what else do we call trying to find practicality, beauty, and uniqueness in the mundane?
Do Research
You don’t say! I know what you’re thinking – research, how original. Well, this unoriginal notion still rules, and always will. Without research, it’s like trying to bake a cake and not knowing the ingredients. You know, flour, eggs, chocolate, some strawberries, stuff like that. Not really going anywhere, is it?
If you want to be able to blog about anything, anywhere, at any time, here’s what you should do.
Keyword Research
SEO used to be all about keywords. Even worse, it used to be about keyword stuffing. Luckily, ever since Google ruled that out as a mortal sin, content writers can be clever about the way they use keywords. These words and phrases are where you start.
It’s simple, really. Keywords tell you what your potential clients/customers are typing in search to obtain certain information. Once you have a considerable number of keywords, you select those that have the biggest search volume and continue from there.
Let’s say you have a generic keyword like ‘’mobile phone’’. Your goal is to write something meaningful about mobile phones. Topics such as ‘’how to buy the mobile phone with the best camera’’, ‘’trendiest mobile phone applications’’, ‘’cheap mobile phones that are good value for money’’ are just a few of tons that you can spin around.
The choice of a particular topic will, in turn, depend on your audience, the services you offer, the time of year (khm khm Christmas equals shopping, shopping equals new mobile phone – you get the idea), and a great many other factors. Can’t really tell you everything.
Research the Competition
This one is pretty straightforward. It certainly doesn’t mean that you copy-paste your competitors’ content, but try and see what works for them. That’s the real trick. Start by looking at what they are blogging about and whether that content gets shared or commented on.
Once you see what your competition is blogging about, think about how you can make it better. The easiest thing you can do is make it longer. Then you can add more practical advice, insert a joke or two, or make it more visually appealing. Mind you, this is not exactly news, but it works like a charm.
Narrow It Down
In other words – think locally. Put your keywords in a meaningful, relatable context.
Here’s how.
If you’re blogging about wedding photography and you’re trying to lure people to hire your client or yourself, a.k.a. the best wedding photographer in town, reach out to people who are planning their wedding. The bride is searching for the right dress, the perfect hairdo, the amazing venue, the most embarrassing dresses for her bridesmaids – all of these topics are relatable. Show the bride the what, the where, and the how-to-get-it-without-spending-her-whole-dowry. And just when she thinks she’s got everything covered, boom! She remembers she hasn’t hired the photographer to capture the perfect dress, the perfect guy, the perfect venue and the embarrassing bridesmaids’ dresses. Who do you think she will choose?
Tell Stories
My good friend Carrie and her husband recently found the perfect house. They had searched for months, spent a great deal of time (and money on therapy, since he wanted a pre-war mansion, while she was fishing for a hipster condo – let’s just say the money was well spent), until they finally met Miranda, an amazing real-estate agent who really knew how to get them the best of both worlds.
Want to know what house they chose?
I know I do. In fact, I would read on to find out. Try telling a story instead of shamelessly promoting your company’s services. People already need those services; otherwise, they wouldn’t be searching for them. Potential customers don’t need to know how great your services are. They want to know how they helped other people resolve their problems. And it’s not just about that. It’s about people they can relate to.
The bottom line is this: describe the problems, the struggles, devise a plot, and give the story a happy ending. You might just singlehandedly win your client a customer.
Give Advice
Some people read stuff online to kill time. Some just want to look at pictures of cats. Others want to read a joke to tell their friends later. But everyone, without exception, is trying to find some useful piece of information. If you manage to give practical, easy-to-apply-right-now kind of advice, you nailed it.
There’s too much noise out there. Don’t add to it. Add value.
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