SEO Content: A Beginner’s Guide to Creating Content for SEO

SEO content – that magical combination of words and phrases that helps your website rank higher in search engines like Google. 

But what exactly is it and why should marketers care?

Well, buckle up, because we’re about to dive into the world of SEO content and explore its main benefits, such as driving more traffic and revenue to your precious website. 

TL:DR

• SEO content drives more traffic and revenue to your website.

• Engaging and informative content keeps your audience hooked, turning them into loyal customers.

• Mastering SEO helps you stay ahead of your competition and dominate your niche.

• The key to creating great SEO content is to understand your audience and their needs.

• Use keyword research to identify the topics that your audience is searching for and create content that answers their questions.

What is SEO content?

SEO content is online content specifically designed to rank in search engines like Google. It’s a delicate balance of keyword research, understanding search intent and crafting the perfect content type, format and angle to satisfy both users and the almighty search engines.

But don’t just take our word for it – let’s look at some numbers and case studies that show the impact of SEO content on organic traffic and conversions. 

For instance, did you know that 53% of all trackable website traffic comes from organic search? 

That’s right, over half of your potential customers are just waiting to be wooed by your SEO skills!

Types of SEO Content

Now, let’s dive into the ocean of SEO content and explore the different types of content.

1. Product Pages

The bread and butter of any eCommerce website. 

These pages showcase your products or services, serving as both SEO content and PPC landing pages. 

To make them shine, you’ll want to include:

• Clear and descriptive titles 
• Eye-catching images 
• Features and benefits that make your product/service 
• Irresistible Prices that don’t scare away potential customers 
• Calls to action that encourage conversions

2. Blog Posts

Blog posts are your opportunity to flex your knowledge muscles and share valuable insights, tips and opinions with your audience. 

These babies help you establish authority, build trust and drive organic traffic.

To create blog posts that are worth reading, make sure to include:

• Catchy and keyword-rich titles (because first impressions matter) 
• Engaging introductions that hook your readers 
• Informative and well-structured body paragraphs 
• Strong conclusions that leave a lasting impact Internal and external links to provide further information and boost SEO

3. Infographics

When it comes to capturing attention and increasing engagement, infographics are your go-to. 

These visual representations of data, facts, or concepts make complex information easy to digest and share. 

To create infographics that people can’t help but share, ensure they have:

• Relevant and accurate information (because nobody likes fake news) 
• Appealing and consistent design (to keep those eyeballs glued) 
• Clear and concise text (less is more, folks) 
• Sources or citations to give credit where it’s due

4. Podcasts

Podcasts are an excellent way to showcase your expertise, build relationships and reach new audiences.

These audio recordings of conversations or interviews on topics related to your niche are like a virtual coffee chat with your audience. 

To create podcast episodes that people can’t stop listening to, make sure they include:

• Catchy and descriptive titles (so people know what they’re getting into)
  
  
• Engaging and informative content (nobody wants to listen to a snoozefest) 
  
  
• Clear and professional audio quality (because who has time for scratchy recordings?) 
  
  
• Calls to action or links, so your audience knows where to find more information

5. Videos

Last but certainly not least, we have videos. 

These moving images with sound are a powerful way to convey a message or tell a story related to your niche. 

Videos can help capture interest, increase retention and even improve conversions. 

To create videos that your audience will love, make sure you include:

• Captivating and keyword-rich titles, thumbnails and descriptions (to entice viewers) 
  
  
• Engaging and valuable content (because nobody wants to waste their time) 
  
  
• Clear and high-quality video and audio (to keep your viewers happy) 
  
  
• Calls to action or links (so your audience knows where to go next)

How to Develop an SEO Content Strategy

But why should you care about having one?

Well, my friend, here are some juicy benefits:

• It helps you target topics and keywords that your potential customers are searching for
• It helps you align your content with the search intent and needs of your audience
• It helps you create high-quality and relevant content that ranks well and converts
• It helps you measure and improve your content performance and ROI

Follow this step-by-step process to develop a kickin’ SEO content strategy:

1. Define your goals

Start by asking yourself some deep, soul-searching questions about your content:

• What do you want to achieve with your content? (increase brand awareness, generate leads, drive sales)
• How will you measure your success? (traffic, rankings, conversions, revenue)
• How will you align your content goals with your business goals? (how will your content support your product or service offering, value proposition)

Mull it over, jot it down and let’s move on to the next step.

2. Consider your audience

Ah, the age-old advice: know your audience. 

But it’s still as relevant as ever, especially when it comes to crafting an SEO content strategy that will drive traffic and revenue. 

Who are they?

We’re talking about demographics, psychographics, personas and the whole shebang. 

Are they young professionals or retired folks? 

Tech-savvy or technophobes? 

Let’s get a clear picture of who we’re trying to reach here. 

Remember, the more you understand them, the better you can tailor your content to their preferences and needs.

What are their pain points, challenges, questions and desires?

In other words, what keeps them up at night? 

What problems are they trying to solve or goals are they attempting to achieve? 

By understanding their struggles and desires, you can create content that speaks directly to them, offers solutions and positions your brand as the go-to source.

How do they search for information or solutions online?

This is where the magic happens. 

Figure out what keywords they use, their search intent and the type of content they prefer (articles, videos, podcasts). 

To do this, you might need to do some keyword research and audience analysis (hello, Google Analytics!). 

Once you know how they search, you can optimize your content accordingly and make sure it gets in front of the right eyeballs.

3. Create an Editorial Calendar

Here’s how to go about it:

1. Find topics with search traffic potential:
   Use tools like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer or Ubersuggest to find keywords with good search volume and low competition. This will help you discover topics that are just waiting to be explored.
   
   
2. Check their business value:
   Now that you’ve got a list of potential topics, score the keywords based on how easy it will be to pitch your product or service while covering them. This will help you focus on the most valuable topics for your business.
   
   
3. Analyze ranking potential:
   Use tools like Ahrefs’ Site Explorer or Moz’s Link Explorer to check the difficulty and competition of ranking for the keywords. This will help you determine if it’s worth investing time and effort into creating content around these keywords.
   
   
4. Build pages for each topic:
   Once you’ve narrowed down your topic list, it’s time to create content! Use a variety of content formats, such as blog posts, product pages, infographics, podcasts, videos to cover each topic. This will keep things fresh and interesting for your audience.
   
   
5. Integrate keywords on your content pages:
   Now that you’ve got your content, it’s time to optimize it for SEO factors. Be sure to include your keywords in the title, meta tags, URL, headings, images, links. This will help search engines understand what your content is about and rank it accordingly.
   
   
6. Plan and schedule your content creation and publication dates:
   Finally, use a tool like Google Calendar or Trello to plan and schedule your content creation and publication dates. This will help you stay organized and ensure that you’re consistently putting out high-quality content for your audience.
   
   

4. Analyze and Re-assess

Finally, it’s time to analyze and re-assess your SEO content strategy regularly. 

You know what they say, “adapt or perish.” 

So here’s your game plan:

1. Use tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Ahrefs to track traffic, rankings, conversions, backlinks and more for your content pages. After all, data is your best friend in the world of SEO.
   
   
2. Identify what’s working well and what’s not working well for your SEO content strategy. Are some blog posts driving more traffic than others? Are certain keywords ranking higher? Time to put on your detective hat and find the patterns.
   
   
3. Make adjustments and improvements based on data and feedback. Nobody’s perfect, so don’t be afraid to tweak your SEO strategy as needed. Remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Keep experimenting and learning from your successes and failures.

By regularly analyzing and re-assessing your SEO content strategy, you’ll stay ahead of the game.

Keyword Research

It’s the process of finding and analyzing the words and phrases that people use to search for information on the internet.

But why is keyword research important for content SEO, you ask? Well, my friend, it helps you:

1. Understand what your potential customers are looking for and how they express their needs.
   
   
2. Target topics and keywords that have traffic potential, business potential and ranking potential.
   
   
3. Create high-quality and relevant content that matches the search intent and expectations of your audience.
   
   
4. Measure and improve your content performance and ROI based on data and feedback.

Tools

To make the most of keyword research, you’ll need to use some nifty tools to your advantage.

Features like keyword difficulty, click-through rate, return rate, or parent topic help evaluate the potential and value of each keyword. 

Wondering how to use these features to filter and prioritize your keywords based on your goals and resources? 

Let me give you a few examples:

• Look for keywords with low difficulty but high search volume to find opportunities with less competition.
  
  
• Keywords with a high return rate indicate that users keep coming back to the same search, which means your content could become a go-to resource.
  
  
• A parent topic can help you identify broader themes to create comprehensive content that covers multiple related keywords.

Analyzing search intent

Once you have a list of keywords, it’s essential to analyze the search intent for each one.

This is where the three Cs come in handy: content type, content format and content angle.

Here’s what they mean:

1. Content type: The general category of content that matches the search intent, such as blog posts, product pages, landing pages, videos.
   
   
2. Content format: The specific way of presenting the content within its type, like how-to guides, listicles, reviews, comparisons.
   
   
3. Content angle: The unique perspective or value proposition of the content within its format, e.g., best practices, tips and tricks, case studies, expert opinions.

To figure out the search intent and the three Cs for your keywords, take a look at the top-ranking pages. 

Analyze their titles, URLs, meta descriptions, headings, images and other elements to infer what kind of content resonates with the audience. 

This way, you’ll create content that’s not only engaging but also tailored to your target audience’s needs.

Site Structure

Site structure refers to how you organize and link your website’s content, such as pages and posts. 

Why does this matter? 

Well, site structure is crucial for content SEO because it helps you:

1. Show Google which pages of your site are most important and relevant for your keywords
   
   
2. Create a clear and logical navigation for your visitors and guide them to your desired actions
   
   
3. Avoid duplicate or thin content that can harm your rankings and user experience

Now, let’s dive into a step-by-step process for creating a site structure for content SEO.

Plan out your site hierarchy

Start by planning out your site hierarchy, which is a system that organizes your web pages and content into different levels and categories. Here’s what you should do:

• Use an inverted pyramid model, where the homepage sits on top, followed by a few top-level service or product pages and then more specific subpages under each category
  
  
• Use taxonomies, such as categories and tags, to group your content by topic and make it easier to find and browse
  
  
• Keep your site hierarchy simple and shallow, with no more than three or four levels of depth

Optimize your URLs

Next, optimize your URLs for each page and post based on your site hierarchy and keywords. Keep these pointers in mind:

• Use descriptive and keyword-rich words that reflect the content and purpose of each page
  
  
• Use hyphens to separate words and avoid using spaces, underscores, or other symbols
  
  
• Use lowercase letters and avoid using uppercase letters or special characters
  
  
• Keep your URLs short and concise, with no more than three or four words per subfolder

Create a shallow depth navigation structure

Then, create a shallow depth navigation structure that allows your visitors and Google to access any page on your site with no more than three clicks from the homepage.

Here’s how:

• Use a clear and consistent menu that links to your main pages and categories across all pages of your site
  
  
• Use breadcrumbs to show the current location and path of each page within your site hierarchy
  
  
• Use internal links to connect related pages and posts within your content and provide additional value to your visitors

Writing and Optimizing SEO Content

Ah, the holy grail of digital marketing: writing and optimizing SEO content.

This process is all about creating and improving content that helps your web pages rank high in search engines and attract your target audience.

1) Choosing a Proven Topic

Start by choosing a topic that is relevant to your niche, audience and goals.

But how do you find these elusive gems?

Enter the world of tools like BuzzSumo, Ahrefs’ Content Explorer, or good ol’ Google Trends.

These platforms will help you find popular and trending topics in your industry.

Keep an eye out for topics that have high social shares, backlinks, comments, or search volume.

It’s like hunting for treasure, but instead of gold, you’re looking for irresistible content ideas.

Avoid topics that are too broad, too narrow, or too competitive.

It’s a delicate balance, but with the right tools and a keen eye, you’ll soon be a pro at picking winning topics.

2) Finding and using keywords effectively

Next, find the words and phrases that your potential customers use to search for information on your topic.

Use tools like Google Suggest, Ubersuggest, or Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer to find keywords with good search volume and low competition.

Choose one primary keyword and a few secondary keywords to target in your content.

Use your primary keyword in your title, URL, meta tags, introduction, conclusion and headings.

Use your secondary keywords in your body paragraphs, subheadings, image alt texts and internal links.

3) Analyzing search intent

Then, analyze the search intent of your target keyword by looking at the type, format and angle of the top-ranking pages for your keyword.

Search intent is the goal or purpose of the searcher behind a query.

There are four main types of search intent: informational, navigational, transactional and commercial investigation.

Your content should match the search intent and expectations of your audience.

4) Creating comprehensive, evergreen content

Next, create comprehensive and evergreen content that covers your topic in depth and provides value to your audience.

Comprehensive content is content that answers all the questions and queries that your audience may have about your topic.

Evergreen content is content that stays relevant and useful over time and doesn’t become outdated or obsolete.

Use tools like AnswerThePublic, AlsoAsked.com, or Ahrefs’ Questions report to find common questions and subtopics related to your topic.

Use tools like Grammarly, Hemingway Editor, or Yoast SEO to check and improve your writing quality.

5) Ensuring content is unique and user-friendly

Then, ensure that your content is unique and user-friendly by avoiding duplicate or thin content and following best practices for readability and usability.

Duplicate content is content that appears on more than one URL or website and can harm your rankings and user experience.

Thin content is content that has little or no value to the user and can result in penalties from Google.

Use tools like Copyscape, Siteliner, or Ahrefs’ Site Audit to check and fix duplicate or thin content issues on your site.

Use tools like Readable.com, WebFX’s Readability Test Tool, or Yoast SEO’s Readability analysis to check and improve your readability score.

6) Sharing on social media and building links

Next, share your content on social media platforms and build links from other websites to increase your visibility and authority.

Social media platforms are channels where you can promote your content to your followers and potential customers.

Links from other websites are signals that indicate the popularity and credibility of your content to Google and users.

Use tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, or CoSchedule to schedule and manage your social media posts.

Use tools like Ahrefs’ Link Intersect Tool or Moz’s Link Explorer to find link opportunities from relevant and authoritative websites.

7) Analyzing your results

Finally, analyze your results by tracking and measuring your content performance and ROI based on data and feedback.

Content performance is how well your content achieves its desired goal in terms of traffic, rankings, conversions and revenue.

Content ROI is the return on investment of your content in terms of profit or value generated from your content efforts.

Use tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker, or Site Explorer to track and measure your content performance and ROI.

Transform Your Marketing Strategy with SEO Content

So, let’s recap the main points and see how SEO content can work wonders for marketers like you:

1. SEO content drives more traffic and revenue to your website.
   
   
2. Engaging and informative content keeps your audience hooked, turning them into loyal customers.
   
   
3. Mastering SEO helps you stay ahead of your competition and dominate your niche.

Now that you’re equipped with all this knowledge, it’s time to take action and apply these golden nuggets of wisdom to your marketing strategy. 

But hey, we know it can be challenging to go at it alone.

That’s where we come in! 

At Traffv, our expertise lies in helping CMOs, head of marketings and founders like you drive more traffic and revenue to their websites through top-notch SEO practices. 

Contact our SEO agency today and let us help you skyrocket your digital marketing game. Trust us; you won’t regret it.