Here's 1 simple strategy to writing killer SEO web content for your blog. You can be sure that you're post will be the best result in the SERPs when you rank.
Copy and Dominate in the SERPs
Don't enter the SERPs blindly, look at who's already there.
Analyze the first page of results, specifically the top 3, and take advantage of their strengths and weaknesses. There are two main parts to analyze and improve upon: Titles & Content
The Why
If your title is more appealing than the current results in the SERPs you will actually increase your ranking naturally. This happens because a better title will get a better click-through rate. You will also have an easier time holding the top result because of this.
If your content is more appealing and useful this will help your rankings because you will have a lower bounce rate. Also, having a higher quality of content has tons of other benefits as well… increased opt-ins, more shares, sales, etc.
Better Titles
Take a look at the top 3 titles and gauge how targeted they are. Are they promising to have exactly what the searcher is looking for?
Take a minute to understand the strengths of each title and also how they might be lacking.
A live example: a search for the keyword “how to rank higher” produces a first result with the title “10 Tactics to Rank Higher in Search Results”. This title is straight forward and takes advantage of a common yet effective tactic – the list title (10 steps, 8 ways, 3 reasons, etc.).
How could your post title be better?
Easy, there are no added benefits or buzz words in that post. A better title would be “9 Easy Ways to Rank Higher in Google” or “Rank Higher in 3 Fast Steps”. A stronger result would have apparent benefits in the title.
There are a lot of ways to create great titles for your content, but usually you can simply add a benefit that implies your result is…
- Easier
- Faster
- New
- More Comprehensive
- Smarter/Better
Tip: Number #5 would be like a post that claims “how to build 500 links” VS a post that teaches “how to build 100 links”. It's a very competitive tactic, but there's no reason to ignore opportunity for advantage in the SERPs. It's a dog eat dog world out there 😉
For Better Content
The next step is to take notes on the actual content appearing in the SERPs and develop your content strategy. Click through to each of the first couple results and see what they've got to offer. Some might be comprehensive, others might be lacking. You might even pick up a tip or two or remember a point you might have forgotten.
Figure out the strengths and weaknesses of each post or result in order to come up with your plan for the ideal blog post for this keyword.
A couple examples of how this improves your blog content:
- If one result has a cool chart the others don't, include that chart, but makes yours even more complete with extra metrics or other relevant data.
Posts with useful resources likes charts or lists are very easy to link to (for you and others). I made a post with a list of niche social sites on my blog – since it's a very basic resource it's relevant ALL the time.
- Use some similar info and also unique information the other results don't have.
If a visitor has already looked at another result they'll still find something new on your page this way. If they visit another result after yours they might not find anything new and leave quickly. Guess who has the better bounce rate?
- Organize your post in a better way.
Confusing organization of a post or an unclear message will drive visitors away. Keep your post organized and…
- Get to the point right away
Keep people interested by telling them exactly what you're offering right away. If your research is done right, you're offering exactly what they're looking for.
Not only does the analysis you conduct insure your result will be better, it also helps you define your post itself and give you direction before you write it. You can be completely confident that your post deserves to be the first result and you'll have a new, very shareable and useful post on your blog/site.
In essence, you're taking your original idea for your post and fusing it with the best parts of the current ranking content. How could you not end up with an awesome post?
Is this a new web content strategy for you? Do you try to rank every blog post you write?