I do a piss-poor job of tracking results, but a former client recently shared this with me.
A content piece I wrote for them is ranking for the keyword of "intranet"
Take a look at that search volume and y'all, it's massive!
A thread about what I got right👇
1. Optimize for search intent on a granular level
I cannot overstate why this is so important. It is the sum that makes up the whole, not the other way around.
For every subheading, I include a list of questions or bullet points to cover based on the intent of that question.
It ensures I'm not just rambling or writing for search, but centering the user by answering the questions they've asked and follow-up questions they might have
The pain of:
➡ Working from 2am to 8pm to write 100,000 words for an exploitative content mill disguised as an agency ➡ Constantly undervaluing my worth because I lived inside...
this tiny world where everyone was underpaid
➡ Eating scraps from the master's table because I didn't know there was more out there
Mentorship can turn the tide. When you mentor a BIPOC marketer, four things happen:
What are the first steps to take when planning a content strategy or building briefs?
On a fundamental level, I believe the first parts of building a successful content strategy and by extension content briefs include:
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✅ Knowing the definition of success for the buyer. In other words, how does your buyer define success? Getting this answer right ensures you're optimizing for the user's intent and providing useful content.
✅ I try to answer this question in the overview.
Read a couple of content pieces ranking on SERP. Then, read some threads on Quora and Reddit around the search query.
I've created 63 content briefs in 2022. The biggest dilemmas I face when creating them include:
What to cover as subheadings?
What goes in H2 and H3?
Should I add an FAQ?
When do we need video or infographics?
Where is the gap and how do we make this content stand out?
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1. Deciding what to cover as a subheading
Look through the top 15 content pieces on SERP. What are the recurring questions everyone is answering? That's usually a good idea of what to cover as subheadings.
I prioritize subheadings that offer an opportunity to discuss the client's use case or those I think are the biggest problems and flow down from there.