After my first 12 months of KEYWORD RESEARCH trial and error, here are my top 3 favorite STRATEGIES:

1️⃣ Forum hacking
2️⃣ Low DR hacking
3️⃣ Turning over stones

🧵👇 1️⃣ Forum hacking

https://twitter.com/patientpublish/status/1527305885885911040

If you’re having keyword research paralysis, here’s my “turning over stones” method that always works for me:

1️⃣ Google the top 100 “terms” or “lingo” in your niche.
2️⃣ Search each term using SEMRush Keyword Magic Tool.
3️⃣ Filter for KD of 0-29 and Intent: Informational. The beauty of this method is it’s all about simplicity and methodically leaving no stone unturned.

In the gardening niche example above, the term “crabgrass” just may not have occurred to me if I hadn’t seen it on a “100 Gardening Vocabulary Terms” list.

November chart is BRUTAL. 🙃

Site is now under 14k monthly Pageviews and earned just over $300 before I disabled ads on the site.

Some strange observations and current thinking on the path forward…

🧵👇 About 85-90% of primary target KWs remain entirely lost from the SERPs (not page 9 - gone entirely).

BUT here’s what’s strange…

On a recommendation from @shwnhll, I tried searching these same KWs organically with a modifier that removed the #1 SERP from the returned results.

Google spam update resulted in loss of all featured snippets site wide yesterday.

Today 100+ primary keywords disappeared, same as last time. 🤦🏻‍♂️

All indexed, just went from top 3 positions to not existing in search results at all anymore. So 2,400 pageviews and $125 day on Monday, to virtually 0 on both fronts again today. 😂

The thing about it is either Google’s algo updates are “working” in their eyes or they aren’t.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), is 1 of the 3 major components of your Google Core Web Vitals, but it’s not often talked about.

I personally had no idea what it was, until it started to single handedly tank my mobile scores.

Here’s the details of my specific issue and fix. 🧵👇 A few weeks back, my mobile Core Web Vitals started a steady march from about 90 to 58.

Every day during that period, the score dropped a point or two like clockwork, despite no changes to my site.

My LCP and FID scores remained relatively stable.

CLS score…not so much.

In September, my site landed just shy of 60,000 pageviews and earned $2,316 with @ezoic. 💰

Here’s EXACTLY how I’m using my earnings data analytics to inform my CONTENT STRATEGY moving forward. 📊

🧵👇 #SEO #blog First within my Ezoic dashboard I navigated to Analytics > Content > Pages. 📑

I then exported all my page-level specs for the month into Excel so that I could more easily manipulate the data.

I’d say my last few months of exploratory link-building 🔗 have been ‘dipping my toes in’ level at best.

In that time I’ve tried:

🟢 Link-bait article (.edu targeted)
🟢 Reclaiming image attribution
🟢 Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
🟢 Twitter

Here’s what I’ve learned…

🧵👇 First, what hasn’t yielded any results…

Reclaiming image attribution and HARO have been complete strikeouts (see related post below).

During my image attribution outreach, I identified about 10 sites that had ‘stolen’ a unique infographic from my site.

https://twitter.com/patientpublish/status/1539967193978327042

Way too soon to say I’m back, but I’m about to post one of the highest Sunday traffic days EVER for my site.

After crushing me in the May Core Update, I woke up this morning and it was like Google had rediscovered my site again.

Check out these keyword stats… 🧵👇 #SEO #blog Of my main target keywords, I went from JUST 27 keywords in the top 100 SERP positions since the update, to 105 overnight! 😮

It’s like a switch was flicked…

Here’s a new backlink 🔗 outreach strategy I’m trying that’s likely to have an extremely high failure rate.

BUT, even if 1 of the 200 emails I send converts, it will be worth it.

The campaign is targeted at .edu’s and it’s inspired by @BrianEDean.

🧵👇#SEO #blog When you’re looking for a specific data point, and you discover it in the SERPs, what’s more likely?

1️⃣ You spend time to reproduce that same data
2️⃣ You link to the article

…#2 for most.

That’s why generating original, high quality research can serve as great link-bait. 🎣

I’ve built my current site traffic in 7 months without ever going out of my way to build backlinks. 🔗

BUT, in response to the May core update and as part of my ‘kitchen sink’ strategy, I’m having a go. 🫡

These are the EXACT link building strategies I’m using.

🧵👇 #SEO #blog First, it’s worth noting that my site has picked up over 400 backlinks organically to date.

The problem is, none of these links are coming from high authority sites in highly relevant niches. 👊🏼

As a result these links pass hardly any juice and my DA is a 0.4!

You spend hours researching 🔬 and writing ✍️ your posts.

SO, why don’t you spend even a minute on your TITLE TAG?

It will be the first thing searchers see, and it can have a HUGE impact on CTR. 🎯

Here’s EXACTLY how I approach Title Tags.

🧵👇 #SEO #blog To set the stage, your Title Tag dictates the DISPLAY title that will be seen in Google SERPs.

An effective Title Tag can lead to a higher CTR, which in turn can lead to higher RANKINGS. 📈

…once you get to page 1, it can help you eventually secure that #1 spot. 🥇

We’ve talked about how to establish topical authority by targeting specific content verticals.

But, exactly how do you DISCOVER the LONG TAIL KEYWORDS to fill these content verticals up? 🧐

Here’s my FAVORITE long tail keyword research technique using @semrush.

🧵👇#SEO #blog To set the stage, our mechanically inclined niche site builder chose a broad domain name to allow her room to grow:

“GearheadAuthority(dot)com” 💪

She’s also identified 5 main topic clusters to initially pursue:

🟢 Jet skis
🟢 Boats
🟢 ATVs
🟢 Motorcycles
🟢 Snowmobiles

In just over 6 months, I’ve published 120 long-form informational posts, and surpassed 38,000 pageviews/mo. 🚀

I’ve been able to achieve this, with a demanding full-time job, due in large part to a single strategy…

BRAND SWAPPING. 🔄

🧵👇 #SEO #blog @NicheDown detailed this process on his recent @nichepursuits podcast.

I’m going to keep beating the hell out of this drum, because I think it’s a game changer for niche site content creators. 🤝

It’s allowed me to scale at a nice pace, WITHOUT the need to outsource.

https://twitter.com/NicheDown/status/1512877689149005828

Establishing TOPICAL AUTHORITY doesn’t happen by accident. 📣

You should be INTENTIONAL about how you attack content clusters.

I achieve this with the help of 2 primary documents:

1️⃣ Content strategy plan
2️⃣ Keyword ‘hit-list’

Here’s my EXACT process.

🧵👇 #SEO #blog First, some important points. 👊🏼

🟢 These are LIVING documents.

They are constantly changing and evolving.

🟢 My content strategy plan informs my keyword hit-list…

…AND my keyword hit-list informs my content strategy. 🔄

Today my niche site is exactly 6 months old and just surpassed 33,000 pageviews/month. 📈

All this time, I’ve been learning and iterating on how to write the best INFORMATIONAL POST 📝 possible.

Here’s 6 MONTHS of learning, distilled down to 10 MINUTES. ⏳

🧵👇 #SEO #blog 1️⃣ OPENING SECTION.

https://twitter.com/patientpublish/status/1519288201139081216

The CONCLUSION section of informational posts 📝 often gets rushed and overlooked.

I try to ensure my concluding statements are SURPRISINGLY HELPFUL 🤝 to my readers and help enhance my ON-PAGE SEO.

Here are the key elements I like to include.

🧵👇#SEO #blog 1. Topic sentence(s) opening. ✏️

Immediately following the H2 ‘Conclusion’ header, I like to open with a topic sentence that restates the issue I am addressing, using the EXACT target key phrase.

Sticking with the “Volkswagen Jetta won’t start” keyword example…

Let’s talk about the MAIN BODY of an informational post. 📝

Having a repeatable PROCESS and knowing how to effectively STRUCTURE your post is critical.

Here’s the EXACT process and structure I use.

🧵👇 #SEO #blog I am specifically referring to the content between your OPENING SECTION and your CONCLUSION.

Nailing 🔨the opening section (see thread below), only to come up short in the main body of your post, is a losing formula.

So, make it GREAT.

https://twitter.com/patientpublish/status/1519288201139081216

Let’s talk about the OPENING SECTION of an informational post. 📝

My thinking and process has evolved a TON in this area over the past few months.

Here’s the EXACT structure I use.

🧵👇 #SEO #blog I am specifically referring to long-form informational posts.

Let’s use the following long tail keyword as an example we can build on:

“Volkswagen Jetta Won’t Start”

No disrespect to Jettas. My wife’s ran perfectly for a decade. 😂

Web speed optimization and plugin trial and error are NOT my strong suit.

BUT, 3 months later and Mobile Core Web Vitals are finally coming up green. ✅

Here are 3 key steps I’ve taken to get here.

🧵👇 1. Image optimization. 📸

When I first started out, I was chucking images onto the site without even resizing them first!

We’re talking HEAVY image file sizes…like 2-5MB 😬

But I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I was LEARNING by DOING.

I’m under 6 months into my first niche website and just surpassed 20,000 Pageviews in the last 30 days. 📈

Here’s some of the LESSONS I’ve learned and STRATEGIES I’ve deployed along the way.

🧵👇 First, to be clear, 6 month ago I had no idea what a niche site was.

There’s a TON to learn and I suspect the learning in this space never ends.

I hope some of the tricks and tips I’ve picked up along the way helps you see results that much quicker.