SEO Tips & Tricks Podcast: How To Determine What Type of Content To produce

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Search Engine Optimization Tips and Tricks Podcast with Tim Jennings. I am your host; Tim and I have been the Head of SEO at Soulheart for almost 9 years now. Over the last 9 years I have helped businesses and nonprofits dominate the search results for their products and services.

On today’s episode we will be discussing how to know what type of content you should be producing for your keywords. Nothing is worse than spending valuable time producing content that you think will delight your users only to find out it never has a chance at ranking on the search results pages. Other than not having enough backlinks from other high-authority websites, the most common reason I see this happen is because search engines are rewarding content with different search intent and different types of content than what your page has.

In fact, far too often, when I audit a new client’s website, I see a lot of content targeting keywords with the wrong user intent also known as search intent. I really like the way Yoast explains Search Intent. Yoast says “Search intent (or user intent) is the term used to describe the purpose of an online search. It’s the reason why someone conducts a specific search. After all, everyone who does an online search is hoping to find something. But is someone looking for an answer to a question they have? Are they looking to visit a specific website? Or are they searching online because they want to buy something? Many of these types of searches are part of the user journey online, but oftentimes they represent different stages.”

Understanding search intent is vital for SEO. And the bad news is Google and the other search engines will never directly tell you what type of content your search term needs. But the good news is that whether or not they directly tell you, they give you some fairly obvious clues as to what type content to produce. And all you need is your eyes and some basic logic skills. Here is a basic yet very effective strategy that I use to help my clients dominate in the search results pages.

Find The Intent For Your Keyword

The first thing you’re going to need to do if you want to have a successful SEO campaign is to find out where the search engine thinks your user is in the buyers journey.

Side note: To understand more about the buyers journey you can head over to Soulheart.co/blog and find this podcast. On that page I will post my resources for this episode. But let’s get back into it.

Understanding where the keyword places the user in the buyers journey will allow you to know whether the keyword you are trying to rank for is more informational, transactional, or commercial. Once you know that, you can then start tailoring your content for where they are in the buyers journey. That will not only help you rank because you’re producing the type of content that Google is already showing that they are rewarding but it will also help you bring a higher ROI on your investment into the content. There’s nothing worse than dedicating a lot of time in order to produce the best content you possibly can only for it to sit in Google’s graveyard with no hopes of raising from the dead because you wrote the wrong type of content for your keywords. It’s a nightmare!

Looking For Different Content Types

Once you know your keyword search intent you can begin producing content. But what should that content look like? Should it be long-form written content? Should it have a video? How many pictures should it have? What type of sites are they looking out to? If any? The possibilities are seemingly endless.

So, I like to start by googling my keyword. From there I take the Top 3 results and I begin to dissect them with my own eyes. There are tools out there that will do this for you like SEMrush, but I think you’ll find they are lacking. I open each of the three results and I take notes.

I notate how many pictures the page has. I notate if there are any videos or other unique forms of content on the page. I notate all of the external links the site has and dissect what types of sites those are. I notate how many words the page has. Honestly, I notate anything I find that stands out to me. And then I repeat that process for all three sites in the top 3 of the search results for my keyword.

Look for patterns. Be sure to notate those patterns. Patterns are as close to a guarantee that Google loves that type of content for that particular keyword as you can get!

They paint a beautiful picture of what Google thinks will delight its users best. And that’s ALL Google cares about. Because if they cannot delight their users then those users will go to a different search engine. And if those users are no longer on their search engine, then those users cannot be served ads. If those users aren’t served ads nobody can click on those ads. And as you may have guessed it, if users are clicking ads, then advertisers stop sending their money to Google in the form of PPC. So, as you can see, Google cares a LOT about delighting their users.

After I take my notes and look for patterns in the top 3 ranking sites for my keyword, I repeat the same process for the rest of the results on the first page. But to be honest I place more value in the top 3.

In my experience, positions 1-3 are more stable and shows that the algorithm thinks these are the BEST possible results for the keyword. Positions 4-10 are more unstable as if Google is second guessing itself more often. It’s experimenting more trying to improve its own algorithm in my experience.

The Blueprint For Your Content

Now that you know what types of content that Google likes you can use that as your blueprint as you plan out your content creation.

Now I do want to point out, you may have to get a little uncomfortable or creative when it comes to your content creation. If it’s clear as day that Google LOVES video but you hate being on camera, you may have to get creative on how to create a video but you absolutely need to make a video if you want to even have a chance at ranking in the top 3. If you’re not willing to do it then you might as well not even create the content. It’s just a waste of time.

I also want to point out that while yes, quality content is important, perfect content isn’t. Don’t waste time not publishing your content because you think it isn’t polished enough or you don’t have the best equipment. Let’s be honest, if you have a smart phone with a working camera then you have enough equipment to produce good enough pictures, videos, etc. And to be honest, in some cases, especially in certain types of transactional pages, non-professional video content is KING! Take ads for instance. If you have an ad where someone just uses their phone in their house and records them demonstrating, using, or even just talking about the item then the odds are you will get more retention for the ad. People are mentally trained to ignore commercials and ads with professional quality video can come off like a commercial. But if they see an ad shot at home with a phone it can feel more trustworthy. Not only that but people tend to watch longer because it feels like their friends posted it. So again, it doesn’t have to be perfect.

You should follow the patterns you noted and add the different types of content that the top 3 and top 10 have. You should link to the types of sites that they are linking to. You should write generally the same amount of words that they wrote.

Don’t Be A Copycat

Now, there’s a difference between using other people’s content as a guide for yours and becoming a copycat. You cannot just regurgitate the same stuff that is already out there. You must have a unique spin or be able to answer what your audience is looking for better than your competition. If you aren’t doing that, be honest with yourself when you ask “why should Google rank my content?” If it’s all the same as what’s already out there then honestly, there is no reason!

So instead, what you need to do is use your notes as a guide or an outline. Be sure to include the necessary elements but use your own thoughts, explanations, experiences, and examples. And if you want to enhance your content and take it to the next level, use your own images and videos when possible. Leaving stock images behind has more benefits than just making your content more unique. There are whole SEO strategies that just rank for images.

Final Thoughts

So as you can see, understanding search intent and producing the right type of content is crucial for a successful SEO campaign. Targeting keywords with the wrong user intent can result in wasted time and effort. By determining where the search engine places the user in the buyer’s journey, you can tailor your content to match their needs and preferences.

And once you have gathered the information on what to include in your content, use it as a blueprint for your own content creation. Be prepared to step out of your comfort zone and get creative if necessary.

Remember, the goal is to provide value to your audience and stand out from the competition. By understanding search intent, analyzing top-ranking pages, and adding your unique touch, you can create compelling content that has a better chance of ranking well in search engine results pages and attracting your target audience.

Get SEO And Marketing Help

That’s all for today’s episode of the Search Engine Optimization Tips and Tricks Podcast with Tim Jennings. I know that if you use todays tip to guide your content cheating then you will be all on your way to ranking in the search results pages!

If you thought this episode was useful then I really think you would love the Soulheart Circle. The Soulheart Circle gives you the opportunity to get trained by Soulheart’s marketing experts on the exact same techniques and SOPs that we use to bring our clients success. These are all tested strategies and procedures that have brought actual results! We are merely days away from launching so join the wait list now at Soulheart.co/seo. Thanks for tuning in! Now get to work! Go dominate the search results.