Ditch the Keyword
Based Content
Strategy
Topics, Search Intent, and Users!

Nicole Hess
Director of Strategy
Greenlane Search Marketing
Demographic Research
Digital Marketing
SEO
Co-organizer, Content Strategy Philly
Meetup
Digital Marketing Office Hours
University of Arts, Philadelphia
@nicolecherieh

What We’re Covering
➔Faults of Traditional Keyword
Strategies
➔How To: Find Topics (New and
Competitor)
➔How To: Uncover Search Intent
➔How To: Other Data for SEO Content
➔Resources

But first, you.

Good Riddance
Keyword Planner
@maddiegoodie

Why do You use
Keyword Planner?
Use of Google’s Keyword Planner
9/10 respondents said “search
volume” was primary use of
Google’s Keyword Planner.

The devil is in
the details
^
keyword

70% of all
searches are
for long-tail
keywords.

@aaronfriedman
70% of all
searches
are for
long-tail
keywords.
skirts
skirts with pockets
cheap skirts
long skirts with pockets
pleated skirts with pockets
cotton pleated skirts with pockets

Topics Rule the
SERPs
● 2 of the top 5 didn’t include
“infant” in any content
(onpage or metadata)
● 3 of the top 5 didn’t include
“infant” in metadata
# of instances of “infant” in page copy

Scenario 1.
Our site offers products tailored to specific
dog breeds.
We didn’t have content for different dog
breeds and how our products relate to
them.
#topicsnotkeywords

Use Google Suggest
Find out what people are searching for about their breeds
But how long will it take to find all Google suggests?

Visualizes
Google
suggestions by
question
words.
Answerthepublic.com

Google
Suggestions by
prepositions.
Use the tool
to get MSV data.

Map the topic
opportunities
to # of
keywords and
monthly search
volume.

Action:
- Aggregate topics and search volume per breed
- Develop per breed outline of the topics to cover and in what order

Don’t leave 70% of potential
searches untapped.
Do topic based research to
uncover these long-tail
keywords.

Scenario 2.
Need new content for a client who already
has half a million pieces of content.
They knew competitor sites ranked above
them for a lot of keywords.
How to find them all?
And deliver actionable writing prompts?
#topicsnotkeywords

80 / 20 Rule
20% of your content likely drives 80% of engagement.
Probably even less than 20%, like these 3 clients:
Analysis of 3
client’s
content and
organic traffic
patterns.

“The quality of your content
has an exponentially
greater impact than
quantity.”
@janessalantz

Find Competitor
Keywords Topics

SEMrush
Domain vs. Domain analysis
Oldsckullskateboards ranks
for 5,705 keywords that
Zumiez doesn’t.
But what to write about?

Raw Competitor
Ranking Data
Sorting the data, we’ve
found some keyword
themes.
How can we aggregate
all the topics together?

Topic Opportunity
Finder
Automates finding ranking topics
of competitors by providing:
Competitor ranking topic
Total search volume for topic
Best ranking competitor URL for topic
Keywords competition ranks for
Search volume by keyword
Ranking URL @seanmalseed

How to use
1. Make a copy
2. Export competitor rankings
from SEMrush (yes, one by one)
3. Paste into worksheet
4. Input API key
5. Wait.
6. Enjoy!
Topic Opportunity Finder
(Link)

581,000 monthly searches
We identified 4 topics representing over 600 keywords and 581,000
monthly searches.

Onpage
Optimization
Template

Target topics not keywords.
Find out the variations people are
searching for.

Scenario 3.
Page moved from pos. 1 to 3 for the targeted head term.
And stayed there for a year.
This caused the company to lose a lot of $$$ in revenue.
We helped them get back to #1.
#searchintent

Search Intent
Top 5 results for
“plan trip with infant”
● 2 of the top 5 didn’t include
“infant” in any content (onpage
or metadata)
● Only 2 of the top 5 included
“infant” in metadata

Search Intent
Top results for “childcare”
● Day care centers local results
● Day care center PPC
● Only 1 result for a page
about “child care” without
meaning “day care”

How to Identify Search Intent
1. Look at the SERPs for specific and different intents
2. Find the long-tail keywords that align to the intent
E.g. “buy dress with pockets” vs “reviews of dresses with pockets” vs “cheap
designer dresses”
3. If trying to outrank competitor, see what long-tail intent
keywords your competitor’s target page(s) rank for.
4. Compare competitor long-tail intent keywords to your own

SEMrush
Competitor Long-Tail Intent Keywords

Search Intent Tables
in Google Sheets

How to Identify Search Intent
1. Look at the SERPs for specific and different intents
2. Find the long-tail keywords that align to the intent
E.g. “buy dress with pockets” vs “reviews of dresses with pockets” vs “cheap
designer dresses”
3. If trying to outrank competitor, see what long-tail intent
keywords your competitor’s target page(s) rank for.
4. Compare competitor long-tail intent keywords to your own

Compare Our Site to Competition
Both competitors rank for
nearly double the search
volume for "buy" related
searches.
We overperformed for
“reviews” - a search intent
more for information than
purchasing.
Us Ranking #1 Ranking #2
All Related Pages

Optimization Plan
Reviewed competitor content and intent keywords
used
Changed the order of copy on page to showcase buying
information before additional reviews.
Included “buy” in H2 and first paragraph of content.

#1
Target keyword moved up from position 3 to position 1 within 2 months,
after 1 year of its drop to position 3.

Google is matching head-term
searches to intent.
Use long-tail keywords to
discover different search intent.

Other Data Sources

Adwords + Search Console
Connect the Accounts
Get the Data

Mapping PPC to Organic Rankings
Steps:
1. Review successful PPC keywords
2. Identify relevant organic keyword
3. Note if organic keyword ranks
4. Note if organic landing page for keyword
has conversions

SEO from PPC Data
Noted if organic keyword ranked
Identified other relevant organic keywords
Identified content that the keyword relates to
Optimized page + conversion element

70%
70% increase in conversions for targeted service “cookie delivery”

Don’t let PPC data go to waste.
Find out how your target keywords
perform ($) and find other
opportunities you hadn’t
considered.

More Data? Yes.

Your Audience
1.Who is your audience for the
particular thing you are
promoting?
2.Who are the extremes in the
audience?
1.What are the needs (not
wants) of the audience?

Brand to
Audience Survey
http://www.greenlaneseo.com/
blog/2016/08/write-content-
clients-voice/

Ask Them What They Need

12%
12% lift in on-site leads YoY

Listen to your audience.
Really listen.
Create the content + experience
they need.

1 Min Wrap-Up

See. Learn. Do.
Don’t be the generic yet
widely familiar SEO guy.
See what other’s are doing.
Learn why it worked for
them.
Do your own strategy based
on your client’s needs.

It’s time we move past
simple keyword research.
We can research topics
and search intent.

Resources
➔ Good Riddance Keyword Planner
➔ Answer the Public
➔ Keywords Everywhere
➔ SEMrush Keyword Magic (Beta)
➔ Topic Opportunity Finder (Beta)
➔ Search Intent Tables
➔ Onpage Optimization Template
➔ Brand to Audience Survey
➔ 80/20 Content Marketing Power Law
@nicolecherieh