Thread by @danielkcheung

How to rank for a head term keyword via long tail keywords, without link-building, for new niche websites, service-based businesses, and any type of website.

🎁Plus a bonus FREE @googledocs content brief template.

🧵👇

First of all, head terms are popular searches.

For example:
▪️ wedding dress
▪️ bitcoin
▪️ credit card
▪️ iPhone
▪️ SEO freelancer
▪️ dentist near me
▪️ jeans

But here's the thing: ranking for head terms are f*cking competitive. Like seriously 💀😅

Eg, using @semrush, "wedding dresses" has a global search volume of 1.2 million PER MONTH and the regional breakdowns are *very* respectable.

Using @semrush again, "bitcoin" gets a tonne of searches on Google - 12.5 million per month 👀

🤌100% keyword difficulty *ouch*

And when you look at the SERPs you'll recognise established brands.

What this means is that these sites have a sh*t tonne of links pointing to them.

There is ❌ chance in hell that you as new entrant will rank for the head term any time soon.

Is the answer to build links? 😏

No.
Links are NOT the answer🚩🚩🚩

*cue flood of 🤬 DMs from link sellers*

Yes, backlinks correlate with top-ranked results but right now what YOU need is topical👏relevance👏and👏topical👏domination.

Here's how to get started:
▪️ publish useful and solutions-focused content
▪️ reduce crawling and indexing issues (#techseo).

For the latter, use my #TechnicalSEO checklist👇

https://twitter.com/danielkcheung/status/1523218006578401282?s=20&t=yOx7C4sUVx_NyxvK-XNEUg

Once you have removed barriers for Google to crawl, render and index your webpages now we can talk about content and long tail keywords and how you'll use this strategy to dominate head terms (eventually).

In a 🥜🐚 this is the exact strategy I used to achieve consistent 🚀

How to rank for head terms:
🔺Establish E-A-T
🔺Convert head terms > long tail kws
🔺Incl. long tail kws into writing
⚠️Publish
🔺Add internal links from other URLs to new URLs
🔺Monitor keyword impressions via GSC
🔺Add/improve content based on above step
🔺Build links
⚠️Repeat

1. Establish E-A-T using a few must-have pages on your website

👉about page
👉clear services/products in navigation
👉tell users WHERE you are
👉easy-to-find contact info

Follow the steps in the attached guide👇

danielkcheung.com.au/e-a-t-for-prof…

2. Convert your head terms into long tail keywords:

Eg,
wedding dresses > what underwear to wear under wedding dress
bitcoin > all the times bitcoin dipped under X

You can do this via Semrush or AlsoAsked👇

💡Get a list of long tail keywords via @semrush

Plug in your head term into Keyword Overview then view all "Questions".

This will give you endless informational opportunities.

💡Get a list of long tail keywords via @AlsoAsked

Essentially, mine all People Also Ask for any given keyword for any given localised SERP (eg, UK, AU, US).

Bonus💡: extract questions from your existing Google Search Console data

Search results → +query → Custom (regex) → Matches regex → "what|how|why|when" 👇

This will show you all the queries for your website that either got a click of impression.

Instant #winning 🤓

3. Now incorporate your long tail keywords by WRITING!

Tips:
▪️ use questions as direct <h2> in your body content
▪️ get to the answer as quick as possible
▪️ use short sentences

Read🧵by @I___DEREKflint 👇

https://twitter.com/patientpublish/status/1521091495264149505?s=20&t=9abxN_3XdX2D8EBvOc-UdQ

4. Publish👏the👏content👏

Your worst enemy is striving for perfection and when it comes to building out topical relevance and topical dominance, publishing new material is critical.

Therefore, write → publish → write → publish → repeat♻️

5. Add internal links to existing URLs to new URLs and from new URLs to existing URLs using DESCRIPTIVE anchor text (read: ❌"click here")

Recommended reading via @Kevin_Indig 👇
kevin-indig.com/internal-linki…

6. Monitor progress every 3 months in Google Search Console

For every new URL you have published, look at:
▪️ what queries have gotten clicks?
▪️ what queries have high impressions but zero clicks?
▪️ are your targeted long tail keywords showing up in GSC?

7. Add/improve content based on the previous step

In the above example, "how much does a wedding cost at bendooley cost" has 181 impressions but 2 clicks.

This question can be added to the content with a corresponding answer.

The reason why you're doing this is to cover the topic as much as possible. Doing so will help Google understand the context of your content in relation to other existing URLs and more importantly.

This is why we add internal links.
This is why we update/improve content.

Essentially, your'e building and refining one or more topic clusters and the QUEEN of topic clusters is @chimammeje.

She literally has an entire course dedicated to building topic clusters 👇
zenithcopy.com/topic-cluster-…

Follow these steps and you will start to see new opportunities show up on GSC. Then as you refine the quality and depth and phrasing of your content, you will start seeing increases in keyword rankings for your long tail keywords.

But what about the head terms?

Recall the internal linking you've been adding to new content and existing content?

This is how you will start to see your pillar/money pages begin to gain keyword rankings incrementally.

PS - follow @NicheSiteLady for nuggets like:

https://twitter.com/NicheSiteLady/status/1523742865922224130?s=20&t=OrZSFPjyVe_sd3D5FMFB6w

And when you start seeing head terms begin to rank in positions 50+, consider acquiring page-level links to your pillar/money/supporting pages.

Here is @BibiBuzzCom sharing some gems👇

https://twitter.com/Majestic/status/1522571130934108160?s=20&t=OrZSFPjyVe_sd3D5FMFB6w

Last of all, I promised a free content brief template.

It is broken down into 2 sections:
🧠for planning
✏️for writing

✨Grab your copy here (all you will need is gDocs)👇

docs.google.com/document/d/1xL…

For more threads on #SEO #contentmarketing #TechnicalSEO and strategic thinking, feel free to give me a follow @danielkcheung

And RT/Share this thread if this resonated with you and you think it will with others.