– Prices (of your products or services).
– Problems (which can be generated when buying from you).
– Comparisons (between your company and the competition).
– Reviews (from your customers).
– Rankings (which determine the best brands in the market or the most outstanding products in the industry).
After reading this guide, you will master the methodology we use at Pencil Speech to rank first with very, very competitive terms within an industry that is already difficult: digital marketing.
Below we leave you the video version of this text, in case you do not feel like reading:
What is an SEO content strategy?
An SEO content strategy consists of publishing educational articles on your blog with the aim of appearing first in Google every time a potential client wants to:
a) Solve a problem related to your products or services.
b) Answer a question that has to do with your market niche.
The intention with these texts will be to turn your website into an authoritative voice within the industry, to obtain:
- visitors.
- Prospects.
- Customers.
How to make the SEO content strategy for a blog? 5 steps
The best SEO content strategy was described by Marcus Sheridan in his book They Ask, You Answer (#1 marketing book of 2017, according to Mashable ) and consists of the following:
- Grab a pencil and paper.
- Write down every single question your prospects and customers have asked you since you’ve been working in your current business.
- Answer these questions in the simplest and clearest way possible (you can do it yourself, have the support of your team or hire an SEO agency ).
- Find out with keyword research and competitor analysis how users search for those questions on Google.
- Write SEO content (1,800-word articles) that responds to these concerns and upload them to your website’s blog.
What is an SEO content plan?
If the strategy paints the map, the content plan points out the exact route you will take to dominate the first page of Google.
You already know that you should write about questions and problems that your clients may have, now: what exactly will the articles be? Based on what structure will you write them?
The content plan is essential because, as Allan Dib says in The 1-Page Marketing Plan , companies that stand out for the way they promote their products and services do not do random marketing acts. That is to say, they do not throw it to hit, nor do they play with luck.
Companies that excel at promoting what they sell do so because they have a structure and planning behind it.
This content plan is precisely that: a to-do list based on knowledge, preparation and analysis.
How to create an SEO content plan for your website?
With his experience in the field, Marcus Sheridan determined that users always google about 5 big topics before making a purchase decision.
If you dedicate yourself to covering those edges in your blog, your success in Google will be assured.
Marcus Sheridan’s Big 5: Topics You Should Always Address
There is a paradox with the following clichés: potential buyers are obsessed with them, while businesses often go to great lengths not to mention them in their communications.
If you dare to write about these topics, you will get several bodies ahead of your competition.
Next, we will evaluate each of them:
Prices
When you are in the position of buyer, the first thing you want to know is how much the product you want to buy costs.
However, business owners are often afraid to talk about this topic for three main reasons:
a) “I will scare my clients”
Fake. Placing your prices on your website will save you a thousand unnecessary emails and calls.
By making your rates clear, you will attract only the qualified audience.
If you are afraid to place your costs, you may not be sure of the value of what you offer.
b) “My competition will know how much I charge”
Any company could find out your prices with an invented email or through a fake call.
Furthermore, in the Internet age, businesses are increasingly exposed: there is nothing to hide and secrecy breeds mistrust.
c) “It’s just that I can’t tell you exactly: it depends”
If you are unable to give an exact price, a good alternative is to write articles that explain why the costs of your products and services fluctuate.
What are the variables? How to build a budget? How to charge those items?
As long as there is fabric to cut, it will be good news for your SEO content plan.
Main problems of your products or services
What are the disadvantages related to what you sell?
In our case, as an SEO agency, we know that the time it takes to see results can annoy our clients.
Instead of sweeping the topic under the rug, it is one of the first points we touch on in meetings and is part of our SEO content plan.
Does your product have a short shelf life? Are your services much more expensive than those of the competition? Are there any questions you would like to avoid?
Attack what you would like to avoid and you will see how you build empathy with your potential consumers.
Comparison between your offer and that of your competition
From respect, you could explain what are the benefits that the buyer will acquire by deciding for you instead of other companies.
Is your customer service superior to the market? Why? Are your services of a higher level? How would you show it?
When buying a phone, for example, the user usually compares brands (iPhone vs. Samsung). How would you translate that to your industry?
To demonstrate why they are the best option among remote work platforms, Basecamp explains that by purchasing their software the user saves more than a thousand dollars:
On the other hand, if you recognize that your competition is better in aspects A, B and C, you will be applying the disarming technique , which consists of communicating to the prospect that perhaps you are not the best option.
Paradoxically, by putting yourself below your rivals you will be getting closer to the sale, because honesty always generates trust. And trust is what seals agreements.
Reviews and ratings of your products and services
If you allow users to comment on what they thought of your products or services on your own website, you will gain authority both on Google and in your industry.
As we have mentioned before, the confidence that closes sales is generated by transparency.
Open spaces for consumers to express their opinion and you will be getting the best of the tactics applied by the big e-commerce.
Reviews. Testimonials. Critics. That is the key.
Rankings
With your experience in the field, are you able to assemble a top-10 of the best companies in your niche? What criteria would you use?
If you are faithful to these variables and implement them as if you were applying the scientific method, you could perfectly talk about your competition with a friendly, coherent and specialist tone.
We have published several articles in the style “The best SEO agencies in [country]”. As a result, dozens of companies have written to us to be included in our rankings.
Again: being an authoritative voice should be your great north at Google. And writing this type of content will bring you closer to it.
What is the relationship between SEO and content marketing?
It is a mistake to see SEO as an industry full of hackers and codes.
Although there are certain technical aspects that you must take care of so that your website is easily read by Google spiders and by your potential clients, the essence of organic positioning has a first and last name: content marketing.
There is no good SEO if it is not accompanied by a text production strategy (like this one you are reading).
And when we talk about content marketing we must deny another misconception:
A good content strategy is not based on creating useless articles loaded with words or phrases with which you want to position yourself on the web.
That’s called keyword stuffing and, beyond being penalized by Google, it’s not going to get you anywhere.
We are rapidly advancing towards a marketing where things well done, designed for users, will end up winning no matter what.
If you dedicate yourself to being an expert in your field and translate that knowledge into content, you will dominate Google and you will be the main reference within your market.
Conclution
Gone are the days when you could ‘trick’ the search engine into putting you first.
Today the great market leaders, the number one in the different industries, are precisely those who best answer the questions and solve the problems of their potential customers .
Thanks to the texts and videos you produce, you will no longer have to repeat the same thing over and over again: the content will work for you .
The greatest thing about all this is that if you are a small company , if you are just starting out, you will be able to compete against the Goliaths of the market .
