Now that you have a plan, it’s time to get a bit more specific when it comes to what you’ll actually be writing about.
The first place to start?... keywords!
What do keywords have to do with figuring out what to write about? It may not be what you think. Some people think you need to find keywords that you want to rank for and stuff them all over your text in an attempt to rank for these terms in the search engines. This is not the reason why you should be researching keywords before you write. Remember… we’re writing for humans, not search engines here. Give humans what they want, and the search engines will follow. Do humans want to read a bunch of fluff with a bunch of keywords awkwardly mixed in?
Keywords Reveal People’s Interests!
The real reason you should be looking for keywords is because they represent what people are interested in! By figuring out which keywords people are typing in to search engines, you gain insight into what people might want to read about. In other words, why would you write about a topic that no one is even interested enough in to search for it?
How to Find the Best Keywords
There are many keyword researching tools on the market you can use. Here’s a list of a few of my favorites:
Usually it’s as simple as typing in a keyword and hitting submit. They aggregate search data to reveal each variation of a keyword, along with how many times each word is being searched.
Choosing the RIGHT Keywords
The best keywords are definitely not always the ones getting the most searches. Targeting the top searched keywords is a newbie mistake that will only cost you time and resources, without producing results. Top searched keywords are not only the most competitive, but they are also the least likely to produce targeted traffic anyways. Someone searching for “dvd” may be searching to buy a dvd, rent a dvd, read about latest movie ratings, etc. These people need to refine their search down further.
At the other end of the spectrum is choosing words that get too little traffic. No sense in writing about these since no one obviously is interested enough in those topics.
These Keywords are Just Right
What you want are the “middle spectrum” keywords. Not too broad and competitive, but enough search volume to warrant spending your time and energy writing about them.
Converting Keywords Into Writing Topics
Now that you have your list of keywords, you’re ready to come up with some interesting topics to write about. Now we know there are real people out there searching for these keywords, but not all these people simply want to plop down a credit card and immediately buy. Many of them are looking for more INFORMATION about these keywords. Give them in-depth, relevant info, and you’ll help gain their trust… and a conversion won’t be too far away down the road.
Try to think of some broad topics you could cover using these keywords and jot them down. These are not your actual titles quite yet, just some basic ideas to give you some general direction. Consider this a pre-title development brainstorming exercise. Once you have some good broad topics to cover, its time to develop your actual titles.
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