Research the Topic from the Inside Out

1. Explore Autocomplete Suggestions and “People Also Ask” in Google
2. Uncover the Questions that Arise Around Your Topic on Forums and Social Media
3. Use Tools to Automate Your Research

Evergreen Content & Content Hub Strategy

Evergreen content is content that drives & sustains traffic initially, & retains relevance over time. These are the topics that are constantly searched for. Сontent hub is an increasingly important concept that supports evergreen content creation - they are destinations on your website containing pages around a certain topic.

Take the Best from Your Competitors

Looking at SERP can help you understand search intent, & discover which content formats & headlines are used by your top rivals.

Always Map Out the Blog Structure First

> ½ of the posts with a complex structure are high-performing in terms of traffic & engagement. Posts containing at least one list per 500 words of plain text get 70% more traffic than those without.

• Add skimmable headlines.
• Break up long paragraphs with bullet points, numbered lists, or graphics.
• Make sure there’s enough white space in your copy.
• Use Topic Research to map out the structure.

Use Keywords to Your Advantage

1. Make Sure Your Copy has a Good TF-IDF (term frequency — inverse document frequency). It is a way of determining the quality of a piece of content based on an established expectation of what an in-depth piece of content contains.
2. Gather a Set of Semantically Related Words. To keep the TF-IDF balance mentioned in the section above, you need to map out the semantically related keywords for each blog post. They can help the search engines understand what the content is focusing on and how deeply it goes into the topic.
3. Keep Mobile-Specific Keywords in Mind.

Optimize Your Content to Earn a Featured Snippet

• Pick already high-ranking pages to optimize.
• Find a question-based keyword & give a clear, concise answer.
• Use lists & “step-by-step” blog writing formats.
• Pay careful attention to schema markup.

Optimize Your Headline for Conversion

Longer headlines (10 - 13 words) can better uncover the idea of what the copy is about, & drive twice as much traffic & X1.5 more shares than shorter ones (< 7 words).

Listicles get 80% more traffic than other types of articles. Craft your headline to convey that the content is laid out in a listicle format.

Check & Optimize On-Page SEO

• Create a clear structure of H1 and H2 tags
• Internal linking 
• Incorporate keywords in URL
• Strong title tag
• Compelling meta description (140-160 characters)(1-2 sentences)
• Schema Markup
• Load time best practices
• Core Web Vitals 
• Google’s PageSpeed Insights

Add Visuals to Your Strategy

Posts with one image get twice as much traffic as posts containing text only; they also get 30% more shares and 25% more backlinks. Posts that don’t contain a video get 92% less traffic and 24% fewer shares than posts with at least one video.

• Reduce load times
• Write alt tags

Add Conversion Paths

Decide

• What's the goal?
• Which funnel stage does this content belong to?
• What would be the next desirable action?
• What is the CTA?

Think about Your Backlinking and Sharing Strategy

You need to think about the hook to attract leaders in your field, e.g.: 

• Unique stats
• Trending topics
• Quotes from influencers
• Ultimate guides

Your content must resonate to help you get new backlinks. Researching backlink opportunities in advance is crucial, so you can adjust the content for the right websites and influencers.

Create a Process for Tracking the Blog Post’s Performance

1. Edit your post, implement the recommendations of the SEO Writing Assistant, optimize it and publish! 
2. Analyze whether you’ve achieved your content marketing goals with this piece of content, and how well the copy works as a part of your funnel. 
3. Add the article to your content audit process — identify the content that needs to be updated — and keep it updated.