This is the most important lesson I got from manually reviewing over 400 blog posts
Your ultimate goal is not just to rank, but to enter Google's circle of trust
That's because ranking is easier in the circle of trust
Let's dig deeper👇
You can rank for crazy competitive topics by adding one h2 around each keyword
OR
And this is the one that blows my mind
Google gives you a bunch of rankings for keywords you weren't even targeting because they are part of the cluster
Remember the keyword example from yesterday?
HubSpot is also ranking for that keyword
They rank for a total of 57 keywords with 37 of those keywords on page one
The content was written in 2018 and it's not that good (I know because I saw better content on page 1)
In my opinion, it doesn't even serve the intent
So, why is it ranking, and for so many keywords?
They added a generic marketing plan template and Google ranks them for "lead generation plan template" which is far from what the searcher wants.
The answers are simple
1. HubSpot is in the circle of trust
2. The content has been updated regularly to maintain freshness
3. HubSpot understands that once they ranked for the most competitive keyword, it was open game to optimize and rank for other associated and even non-related keywords
4. HubSpot is in the circle of trust
5. They offered an asset to increase the number of keywords they could rank for. The asset, while not relevant to the intent was enough to rank for the keyword because...
6. HubSpot is in the circle of trust!
So, this is your goal
As you write content, think long term about
- Topical authority
- Content assets that can support a plethora of topics
- A strategy for updating content and maintaining freshness
- A strategy to greedily amass more SERPs the moment you rank for a competitive keyword
- Entering the circle of trust and staying there forever
It's fucking expensive, but it's worth it
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Most times, the competitive edge you need with blog content is to write every H3 like a mini-article
- Define the concept
- Explain the problem
- Use a stat or quote to back up words
- Throw in an example with screenshots
- Add a bullet list of solution
- End with recommended further reading on the h3
Obviously, not every H3 will follow this exact format and you'll have to switch it up or leave out a few steps, but where possible, this is how I write h3 subheadings
How do you choose which keywords go into the cluster when working on a competitive topic with a ton of searches?
A big ass thread😎
A bit of a background information
The client is an agency. They hired me to build four clusters for some of the services they offer such as paid ads, SEO, lead generation and content marketing
These are massive keywords and the cluster they paid for only had space for ten topics each