In this blog, we share our process:
Now, let’s get started!
“It’s a goldmine of consumer insight you can use to create fresh, ultra-useful content, products and services.” – I agree.
Let’s say you are a tour operator specialising in trips to Namibia. You want to get more traffic to your site and need to write some informational content. So, repeat the process (above) and type in Namibia and see what comes up…
Once again, you are presented with hundreds of ideas, now not all will be relevant but you’re bound to be inspired. I can see several questions which would be relevant such as ‘Namibia what to see’ and ‘Namibia what to pack’.
Now, you have an article idea ‘what to pack for Namibia’.
Google Suggest or autocomplete is a Google search engine function that provides suggestions as you enter a search query into the search box.
Head to Google and start typing words relevant to your business. Let’s stay with travel and Namibia.
Typing ‘Namibia what to pack’ gives more specific suggestions relating to the subject. Each of these could be a blog post.
Using this information you could write an article titled ‘what to pack for a trip to Namibia’.
Using a keyword data tool such as Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs Keywords Explorer you can get hundreds of content ideas.
Enter one or two terms relating to your business or an idea you may already have and see what comes up.
I used Google Keyword Planner and searched ‘travel Nambia’ and selected the UK as the location I wanted results for.
Here are a handful of the results:
This is a snapshot of the 168 keyword ideas available. Many of which could be an article.
Besides keywords, there is the average monthly search volume and the competition level.
“Competition” regards ad placement – so, not organic ranking.
Monthly search volume is important but don’t be discouraged if it is low. A well-ranked article can rank for various terms.
According to Ahrefs, a page that ranks for one term will likely rank for hundreds of others.
“The average #1 ranking page will also rank in the top10 for nearly 1,000 other relevant keywords”
Which means one post that ranks well can generate a tonne of traffic!
At this point, you will likely have a few article ideas or at least an awareness of what topic to write about.
In the previous step, we identified the broad topic ‘Namibia’ we then used AnswerThePublic, Google autocomplete and Google Keyword Planner to find keywords relating to Namibia.
Let’s look at a few results from our research so far:
Each one of these can be the subject of a great piece of content.
If you have several ideas, pick one to write about first and then select another topic the following week. It is important to consistently produce content for your blog. This way you become the authority in your niche and the go-to resource for information!
For this exercise, we will pick ‘what to pack for Namibia’.
By now, you should have your topic.
Our topic is ‘what to pack for Namibia’. The next step is to Google the term and see what ranks.
This is a very important step and integral to producing a piece of content that ranks on page 1 of Google. What you want to do here is analyse the competition.
In establishing what already ranks you have an idea of what it will take to get your content on page 1 of Google.
What do we want to find out?
For example, a search engine results page (SERP) shows 9 recipes in the top 10 results. This indicates Google thinks a recipe is best to answer the query. So, you should present your content as a recipe to give it the best chance of ranking.
If every result is a how-to guide then you should format your post as a ‘how-to’ guide too. If every result is tips and tricks then, you guessed it, produce something in that format.
When searching ‘what to pack for Namibia’, the top 10 results are articles by either tour operators, travel bloggers or travel specific publications such as Travel Africa.
The previous step provides an overview of the type of content that ranks. Next, you need to view the results, scrutinise them and consider how you can produce something better!
What’s ‘best’ can be subjective but when analysing what ranks on page 1 of Google there are several factors to consider.
Firstly, the content:
Look at the page titles to understand more about the type of person searching for this. Are they an experienced traveller or a first-time traveller? What do they value? Are they looking for a quick read or something more in-depth?
For example, many of the pages ranking for “what to pack for Namibia” pitch a packing list, which may suggest people are looking for a quick read:
To rank on page 1, or even better position 1, your article must be better than the thousands of other results.
You can write the most in-depth article, answering every possible question and still not gain the coveted position 1 ranking.
Disheartening, I know, but it’s a reality.
When ranking a web page, search engines don’t consider the “body text” (the main written content on the page) alone – oh no! They look to other factors…
200+ ranking factors to be precise. You cannot consider all 200+ ranking factors. A good SEO has a deep understanding of these ranking factors and is able to optimise a site accordingly.
In our analysis of the SERP, we will analyse 4 of these factors.
Analysing these metrics gives an idea of how strong your URL & domain needs to be to compete with the results on page 1.
Below is the “what to pack for Namibia” SERP. Data provided by Ahrefs*
We hope you find this process helpful in ranking your content better in organic search! 🚀
If you try our process, we’d love to hear your feedback.
Have your own tips or process? Let us know below.
Helpful? Share with a friend (or two)! 😊
