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20 Actionable Blogging Tips for Beginners

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Started a blog but can’t get any readers? Let’s fix that.

I started blogging in 2015. From a blog about breakdancing to being a professional content marketer, I’ve learned a lot along the way. 

In this post, I’ll share the 20 blogging tips I wish I had known when I started.

Let’s get to it.

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1. Focus on a profitable niche that you’re passionate about

Don’t mess around on the blogosphere on things you don’t care about. You won’t stick with it. 

Plus, your content will likely also be the same as everyone else’s, which makes competing hard. So choose something you love

If the top-ranking articles consistently grind your gears because they’re wrong or give bad advice, this is a sign of a good niche. Make it your task to set the record straight. 

Ideally, the niche should be profitable. By that, I mean that there are actual people paying for products and services. 

Google your niche (or relevant keywords) and see if the ranking sites are monetizing. It can be from ads, affiliate marketing, products (courses, e-commerce, books, etc.), software, and services (consulting, actual execution, speaking, etc.). If they are monetizing, it probably means there is a market. 

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For example, if your niche is teaching Korean, you’ll find sites on Google selling books, courses, apps, tutoring, and educational subscriptions. 

A site selling educational books and courses about learning Korean

2. Make sure your website’s technical fundamentals are solid

Imagine spending all your time and effort creating tons of useful content, yet no one can ever find it. Does it feel like it already hurts somewhere? I feel you. 

But it can happen. It can be as simple as a rogue noindex tag on your website, and you won’t even show up in search engines. 

Technical issues can wreak havoc on your site. So make sure you fix them.

The simplest way to do this is to sign up for our free Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT) and run a crawl of your site. If there are any technical issues, the tool will flag them out for you. 

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It’ll also explain why something is an issue and how you can fix it:

An issue, with advice on how to fix, via Ahrefs' Site Audit

3. Target topics people are searching for

If you want consistent, passive traffic coming to your site, the best way is to rank high on Google. To do that, you’ll need to target topics people are searching for. 

Here’s how to find these topics:

  1. Enter one or a few relevant keywords into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer
  2. Go to the Matching terms report
  3. Switch the tab to Questions
Matching terms report, via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

Ideally, you’d want to tackle topics that are:

  1. High in Traffic Potential (TP) – TP is the estimated amount of search traffic you can potentially gain if you rank #1 for that topic. We calculate it by estimating the amount of search traffic the #1 page currently gets.
  2. Low in Keyword Difficulty (KD)KD is how difficult it is to rank for the keyword in the top 10 organic search results. 

You can narrow down the list by using the filters. For example, you can set a KD filter to a maximum of 10 and a TP filter to a minimum of 500. 

Keyword filters, via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

Then pick out those keywords that are relevant to your site. 

Recommended reading: Keyword Research: The Beginner’s Guide by Ahrefs 

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4. Tackle your competitors’ topics too

Imagine if you had a crystal ball that could see exactly which of your competitors’ articles got the most traffic. You’d be able to tackle the same topics and (hopefully) replicate their success. 

Well, you can. 

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Enter your competitor’s domain into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
  2. Go to the Top pages report
Top pages report, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer

This report shows you which articles send your competitor the most organic search traffic. 

For example, we can see that Beardbrand’s article on beard styles gets an estimated 35,373 organic visits per month in the U.S. And out of the 4,349 keywords it ranks for, “beard styles” sends it the most traffic. 

If you’re competing with Beardbrand, this is a great way to find topics to write about. 

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Sidenote.

Some of these keywords will be difficult to rank for. But if they’re important to you, you should target them anyway. It just may not be now. Keep them in mind and target them when your site has grown.

5. Find “easy to rank” topics

Links are an important Google ranking factor. Generally speaking, the more high-quality links you have, the higher your page will rank. 

Let’s extrapolate from that idea. If a page doesn’t have many backlinks but still ranks high on Google, it means it’s a low-competition topic. And we can find these topics using Ahrefs’ Content Explorer:

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  1. Enter a relevant keyword
  2. Set a Referring domains filter to max. 10
  3. Set a Page traffic filter to min. 500
Filtered results, via Ahrefs' Content Explorer

Click Details and then the Organic keywords tab to see which keywords those pages are ranking for.

Organic keywords tab in Ahrefs' Content Explorer

These are potential keywords you can target. 

6. Be mindful of search intent

Google aims to provide its users with the most relevant results for their queries. So if you want to rank high on Google, you need to be the most relevant result. 

In the real world, that means creating content that matches search intent.

What is search intent? Search intent is basically the why behind a query. And since Google works to show the most relevant results, we can look at the top-ranking pages to figure out the three Cs of search intent:

  1. Content type – Is there a dominant type of content on the SERP, such as blog posts, product pages, videos, or landing pages?
  2. Content format – Is there a dominant content format on the SERP, such as guides, listicles, news articles, opinion pieces, or reviews?
  3. Content angle – Is there a dominant angle on the SERP, such as freshly updated content or content aimed at beginners?

For example, let’s analyze the three Cs for the topic, “best wireless headphones.”

SERP for "best wireless headphones"
  1. Content type – They’re all blog posts.
  2. Content format – They’re mostly listicles.
  3. Content angle – They’re mostly fresh, i.e., updated to the latest year.

So if you’re targeting this keyword, you’ll likely have to create something similar—a listicle updated to the latest year.

Recommended reading: What Is Search Intent? A Complete Guide for Beginners 

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7. Create content that attracts amplifiers

In theory, every reader will share your content with at least one or two friends, thereby creating a “viral sensation.” 

In reality, virality rarely works this way. Instead, most “viral” content is kickstarted by amplifiers: Individuals who have the ability to get many people to see and share. 

Typically, these amplifiers are people who have a large audience. Examples of amplifiers include journalists, influencers, YouTubers, podcasters, and more. 

The four content audience groups

To create content that amplifiers want to share, it has to be unique—unique data, perspectives, tips, etc.

A story from our chief marketing officer, Tim Soulo, perfectly illustrates this. Years ago, he reached out to marketing influencer Rand Fishkin about his epic 5,000-word guide to strategic writing. Rand said no to sharing it. 

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Email from Rand Fishkin

A few years later, Rand shared our post on podcast advertising even though we didn’t ask. Most recently, he tweeted about our GSC study:

The difference: Our content is unique. 

How do you create unique content? Here are some ideas:

  1. Do you have personal experience with something? Write about it. If you don’t, can you experience or test it somehow?
  2. Do you have access to data, or can you work with someone who has? Analyze the data and present your findings.
  3. Can you interview experts? It’s OK if you don’t have the prerequisite knowledge—you can always talk to thought leaders in your field. 

8. Write like how you talk

Forget your schooling days. Blogging on the web is not like writing an academic paper. Nothing sends people off to dreamland faster than having to read an abstract, an introduction, a methodology, results, and a conclusion. 

You don’t have to be stiff and formal. Good web copy is casual. Write as if you’re talking to a friend. 

Don’t be afraid to disappoint your English teacher, for even grammar rules can sometimes be bent—just like how it is in real life. 

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9. Make your posts easy to read

Let’s be real. No one is clamoring to read your article. They’d rather be on Netflix.

Therefore, it’s your job as a blogger to get them to start reading. As famous copywriter Bond Halbert said, “Good writing creates effortless reading.”

Here’s how you can transform your user’s reading experience:

  • Use short paragraphs – Huge chunks of text daunt readers, but short ones invite them in. Use Hemingway to fix this.
  • Break up long sentences – Long sentences are hard to follow. Break them up by finding instances where you used words like “and,” “because,” and “that.”
  • Insert multimedia – Videos, images, GIFs, etc., can help illustrate your points without adding more words.
  • Use formatting – Bold, italics, quotes, and lists break up chunks of copy and add extra emphasis.
  • Read your copy out loud – This pinpoints areas where your content doesn’t flow smoothly. 
Messy vs. neat content

10. Craft eye-catching headlines with the ABC formula

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On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy.

David Ogilvy

People will decide whether to read your content based on your headline. This makes the headline the most crucial part. 

Use the ABC formula to craft compelling headlines that reel readers in:

  • A – Adjective
  • B – Benefit
  • C – Confidence booster

Here’s how it works in the real world:

Example of compelling headline

11. Hook your readers with a PAS intro

Your headline has done its job. The reader has arrived at your post. Now, it’s the introduction’s time to shine—it has to hook them in and get them to actually read the post. 

How do you do that? Consider using the PAS formula: 

PAS formula

Here’s an example on how to use it:

PAS formula in action

12. Reach out to people you mention

As you’re creating your content, it’s inevitable that you’ll mention someone or link to one of their content pieces. You should reach out and let them know after you’ve published it.

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Twitter DM conversation

Most of them will be delighted to hear they’ve been featured. They may even share it on social media or link to it. 

Regardless of whether they do, what’s more important is that you start building a relationship with them. This is how you create a network of like-minded friends in the industry. 

To do this, just go through your blog post and make a note whenever you link elsewhere. Then, find their emails (or their social media accounts) and reach out to let them know.

If you’re building your following on third-party platforms like Twitter or YouTube, don’t be surprised if they suddenly ban you, delete your account, or limit your reach. 

They have their own policies, and control is out of your hands. 

The best way to combat this is to build an email list. For as long as your fans are subscribed to you, you can communicate with them anytime.

Building an email list requires two ingredients: traffic and something of value. 

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Following the blogging tips in this post will get you the traffic. This means what you need is something of value to persuade your readers to join your list. At Ahrefs, we keep it simple by offering to deliver more of the content they loved to their inbox.

Ahrefs' subscribe box

But the world’s your oyster. You can offer a free ebook, the PDF version of the post, an email course, whatever. All you need is a bit of creativity.

14. Get feedback on your content

If you’re writing alone, it’s easy to make mistakes and miss things. So it’s worth getting a second pair of eyes on your content before you hit “publish.” 

We do this all the time. We take turns to read each other’s content and offer feedback. We identify areas that can be added or removed, points that can be clarified, and sentences that can be worded better. 

We’ve even reflected that in each of our blog posts.

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Ahrefs blog's author box

Most blog posts follow a common structure. For example, we use this template for listicles:

Listicle template

It’s the exact same template we’re using for this post too. Did you spot it? 

Using templates saves you time and keeps your content quality consistent. So you don’t need to reinvent the wheel on this front. Your readers won’t mind at all. 

Recommended reading: 4 Simple Blog Post Templates (And When to Use Them) 

16. Promote your content by repurposing it

In all, 4.4 million new blog posts are published every day across all platforms. So don’t expect people to “magically” find your content. You have to promote it and let them know. 

One way to do this is to repurpose your published content into different formats. For example, you can turn content pieces into videos, which was what we did for the earlier version of this post

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You can also turn them into Twitter threads:

Or Reddit posts, Quora answers, IG stories, LinkedIn posts—you’re only limited by your creativity. 

Recommended reading: 13 Content Promotion Tactics to Get More Eyeballs on Your Content 

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17. Refresh older content

As you progress along your blogging journey, your thoughts, opinions, knowledge, and even writing style will improve. You’ll be doing your audience a disservice if you do not update your older content to reflect your newfound knowledge and ideas. 

Plus, refreshing your content has an SEO benefit too. We’ve seen many times that an update or rewrite improves our rankings and gets us more search traffic. 

For example, we recently updated our post on free SEO tools, and organic traffic spiked:

Spike in organic traffic after an update

How do you know which content to refresh? The simplest way is to install our free WordPress SEO plugin and run a content audit

Once you’ve identified the posts, then it’s a matter of figuring out what you need to update. You can do this by analyzing the top-ranking pages to see what they’re doing better than you.

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Sometimes, it’s because certain sections are outdated. Sometimes, it’s because you didn’t include certain subsections or cover certain subtopics. And occasionally, you got the whole thing wrong and need to do a full rewrite (fret not, we do this often too!). 

Recommended reading: Republishing Content: How to Update Old Blog Posts for SEO 

18. Read at least 30 minutes a day

Here are two quotes from the bestselling author, Morgan Housel:

  1. Most good writing is a byproduct of good reading. You’ll never meet a good writer who doesn’t spend most of their time reading.”
  2. Good ideas are easy to write, bad ideas are hard. Difficulty is a quality signal, and writer’s block usually indicates more about your ideas than your writing.”

If you’re stuck in your writing or can’t seem to create something unique, it means you’re not exposing yourself to new ideas. 

Reading is a cure to that. 

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I recommend building a habit of reading at least 30 minutes a day. As for what books to read, you can always look toward the thought leaders in your industry and see what they’re recommending. 

19. Keep a commonplace book

According to Ryan Holiday, a commonplace book is:

A central resource or depository for ideas, quotes, anecdotes, observations and information you come across during your life and didactic pursuits. The purpose of the book is to record and organize these gems for later use in your life, in your business, in your writing, speaking or whatever it is that you do.

As you’re reading and consuming, you need a place to store your notes so you can access and remind yourself of what you’ve already read. 

Creating one is simple. For me, I store all my notes on Notion:

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An example of a commonplace book on Notion

As I’m reading a book, I make tons of highlights. After I’m done, I transfer them to a new page in the appropriate category.

If I need something, I can easily navigate to any category or search for the things I’m looking for.

20. Create a “Do 100” project

David Bayles and Ted Orland write in “Art & Fear”:

[A] ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class, he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pounds of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot — albeit a perfect one — to get an “A”. Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of the highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work – and learning from their mistakes — the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

Quantity leads to quality. The more you create, the better you become. 

In fact, my biggest jump in improvement came when I committed to sending five emails a week to my breakdance blog subscribers. I eventually wrote over a hundred emails.

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Daily emails sent to a breakdance blog's subscribers

So if you want to become a better blogger, I recommend creating a “Do 100” project. Basically, this is a project where you do something 100 times. In this case, you should be aiming to write 100 blog posts

This will keep you accountable and force you to “practice.”

Final thoughts

Blogging is hard work. But the good news is that you’re not alone. 

Plenty of bloggers have gone through the ups and downs. With that hard-won experience, they’ve charted the path for you.

All that’s left for you to do is to implement these blogging tips and get to work. 

Any questions? Let me know on Twitter

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How To Write ChatGPT Prompts To Get The Best Results

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How To Write ChatGPT Prompts To Get The Best Results

ChatGPT is a game changer in the field of SEO. This powerful language model can generate human-like content, making it an invaluable tool for SEO professionals.

However, the prompts you provide largely determine the quality of the output.

To unlock the full potential of ChatGPT and create content that resonates with your audience and search engines, writing effective prompts is crucial.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the art of writing prompts for ChatGPT, covering everything from basic techniques to advanced strategies for layering prompts and generating high-quality, SEO-friendly content.

Writing Prompts For ChatGPT

What Is A ChatGPT Prompt?

A ChatGPT prompt is an instruction or discussion topic a user provides for the ChatGPT AI model to respond to.

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The prompt can be a question, statement, or any other stimulus to spark creativity, reflection, or engagement.

Users can use the prompt to generate ideas, share their thoughts, or start a conversation.

ChatGPT prompts are designed to be open-ended and can be customized based on the user’s preferences and interests.

How To Write Prompts For ChatGPT

Start by giving ChatGPT a writing prompt, such as, “Write a short story about a person who discovers they have a superpower.”

ChatGPT will then generate a response based on your prompt. Depending on the prompt’s complexity and the level of detail you requested, the answer may be a few sentences or several paragraphs long.

Use the ChatGPT-generated response as a starting point for your writing. You can take the ideas and concepts presented in the answer and expand upon them, adding your own unique spin to the story.

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If you want to generate additional ideas, try asking ChatGPT follow-up questions related to your original prompt.

For example, you could ask, “What challenges might the person face in exploring their newfound superpower?” Or, “How might the person’s relationships with others be affected by their superpower?”

Remember that ChatGPT’s answers are generated by artificial intelligence and may not always be perfect or exactly what you want.

However, they can still be a great source of inspiration and help you start writing.

Must-Have GPTs Assistant

I recommend installing the WebBrowser Assistant created by the OpenAI Team. This tool allows you to add relevant Bing results to your ChatGPT prompts.

This assistant adds the first web results to your ChatGPT prompts for more accurate and up-to-date conversations.

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It is very easy to install in only two clicks. (Click on Start Chat.)

Screenshot from ChatGPT, April 2024

For example, if I ask, “Who is Vincent Terrasi?,” ChatGPT has no answer.

With WebBrower Assistant, the assistant creates a new prompt with the first Bing results, and now ChatGPT knows who Vincent Terrasi is.

Enabling reverse prompt engineeringScreenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

You can test other GPT assistants available in the GPTs search engine if you want to use Google results.

Master Reverse Prompt Engineering

ChatGPT can be an excellent tool for reverse engineering prompts because it generates natural and engaging responses to any given input.

By analyzing the prompts generated by ChatGPT, it is possible to gain insight into the model’s underlying thought processes and decision-making strategies.

One key benefit of using ChatGPT to reverse engineer prompts is that the model is highly transparent in its decision-making.

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This means that the reasoning and logic behind each response can be traced, making it easier to understand how the model arrives at its conclusions.

Once you’ve done this a few times for different types of content, you’ll gain insight into crafting more effective prompts.

Prepare Your ChatGPT For Generating Prompts

First, activate the reverse prompt engineering.

  • Type the following prompt: “Enable Reverse Prompt Engineering? By Reverse Prompt Engineering I mean creating a prompt from a given text.”
Enabling reverse prompt engineeringScreenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

ChatGPT is now ready to generate your prompt. You can test the product description in a new chatbot session and evaluate the generated prompt.

  • Type: “Create a very technical reverse prompt engineering template for a product description about iPhone 11.”
Reverse Prompt engineering via WebChatGPTScreenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

The result is amazing. You can test with a full text that you want to reproduce. Here is an example of a prompt for selling a Kindle on Amazon.

  • Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {product), capture the writing style and the length of the text :
    product =”
Reverse prompt engineering: Amazon productScreenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

I tested it on an SEJ blog post. Enjoy the analysis – it is excellent.

  • Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {text}, capture the tone and writing style of the {text} to include in the prompt :
    text = all text coming from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-bard-training-data/478941/”
Reverse prompt engineering an SEJ blog postScreenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

But be careful not to use ChatGPT to generate your texts. It is just a personal assistant.

Go Deeper

Prompts and examples for SEO:

  • Keyword research and content ideas prompt: “Provide a list of 20 long-tail keyword ideas related to ‘local SEO strategies’ along with brief content topic descriptions for each keyword.”
  • Optimizing content for featured snippets prompt: “Write a 40-50 word paragraph optimized for the query ‘what is the featured snippet in Google search’ that could potentially earn the featured snippet.”
  • Creating meta descriptions prompt: “Draft a compelling meta description for the following blog post title: ’10 Technical SEO Factors You Can’t Ignore in 2024′.”

Important Considerations:

  • Always Fact-Check: While ChatGPT can be a helpful tool, it’s crucial to remember that it may generate inaccurate or fabricated information. Always verify any facts, statistics, or quotes generated by ChatGPT before incorporating them into your content.
  • Maintain Control and Creativity: Use ChatGPT as a tool to assist your writing, not replace it. Don’t rely on it to do your thinking or create content from scratch. Your unique perspective and creativity are essential for producing high-quality, engaging content.
  • Iteration is Key: Refine and revise the outputs generated by ChatGPT to ensure they align with your voice, style, and intended message.

Additional Prompts for Rewording and SEO:
– Rewrite this sentence to be more concise and impactful.
– Suggest alternative phrasing for this section to improve clarity.
– Identify opportunities to incorporate relevant internal and external links.
– Analyze the keyword density and suggest improvements for better SEO.

Remember, while ChatGPT can be a valuable tool, it’s essential to use it responsibly and maintain control over your content creation process.

Experiment And Refine Your Prompting Techniques

Writing effective prompts for ChatGPT is an essential skill for any SEO professional who wants to harness the power of AI-generated content.

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Hopefully, the insights and examples shared in this article can inspire you and help guide you to crafting stronger prompts that yield high-quality content.

Remember to experiment with layering prompts, iterating on the output, and continually refining your prompting techniques.

This will help you stay ahead of the curve in the ever-changing world of SEO.

More resources: 


Featured Image: Tapati Rinchumrus/Shutterstock

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Measuring Content Impact Across The Customer Journey

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Measuring Content Impact Across The Customer Journey

Understanding the impact of your content at every touchpoint of the customer journey is essential – but that’s easier said than done. From attracting potential leads to nurturing them into loyal customers, there are many touchpoints to look into.

So how do you identify and take advantage of these opportunities for growth?

Watch this on-demand webinar and learn a comprehensive approach for measuring the value of your content initiatives, so you can optimize resource allocation for maximum impact.

You’ll learn:

  • Fresh methods for measuring your content’s impact.
  • Fascinating insights using first-touch attribution, and how it differs from the usual last-touch perspective.
  • Ways to persuade decision-makers to invest in more content by showcasing its value convincingly.

With Bill Franklin and Oliver Tani of DAC Group, we unravel the nuances of attribution modeling, emphasizing the significance of layering first-touch and last-touch attribution within your measurement strategy. 

Check out these insights to help you craft compelling content tailored to each stage, using an approach rooted in first-hand experience to ensure your content resonates.

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Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or new to content measurement, this webinar promises valuable insights and actionable tactics to elevate your SEO game and optimize your content initiatives for success. 

View the slides below or check out the full webinar for all the details.

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How to Find and Use Competitor Keywords

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How to Find and Use Competitor Keywords

Competitor keywords are the keywords your rivals rank for in Google’s search results. They may rank organically or pay for Google Ads to rank in the paid results.

Knowing your competitors’ keywords is the easiest form of keyword research. If your competitors rank for or target particular keywords, it might be worth it for you to target them, too.

There is no way to see your competitors’ keywords without a tool like Ahrefs, which has a database of keywords and the sites that rank for them. As far as we know, Ahrefs has the biggest database of these keywords.

How to find all the keywords your competitor ranks for

  1. Go to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
  2. Enter your competitor’s domain
  3. Go to the Organic keywords report

The report is sorted by traffic to show you the keywords sending your competitor the most visits. For example, Mailchimp gets most of its organic traffic from the keyword “mailchimp.”

Mailchimp gets most of its organic traffic from the keyword, “mailchimp”.Mailchimp gets most of its organic traffic from the keyword, “mailchimp”.

Since you’re unlikely to rank for your competitor’s brand, you might want to exclude branded keywords from the report. You can do this by adding a Keyword > Doesn’t contain filter. In this example, we’ll filter out keywords containing “mailchimp” or any potential misspellings:

Filtering out branded keywords in Organic keywords reportFiltering out branded keywords in Organic keywords report

If you’re a new brand competing with one that’s established, you might also want to look for popular low-difficulty keywords. You can do this by setting the Volume filter to a minimum of 500 and the KD filter to a maximum of 10.

Finding popular, low-difficulty keywords in Organic keywordsFinding popular, low-difficulty keywords in Organic keywords

How to find keywords your competitor ranks for, but you don’t

  1. Go to Competitive Analysis
  2. Enter your domain in the This target doesn’t rank for section
  3. Enter your competitor’s domain in the But these competitors do section
Competitive analysis reportCompetitive analysis report

Hit “Show keyword opportunities,” and you’ll see all the keywords your competitor ranks for, but you don’t.

Content gap reportContent gap report

You can also add a Volume and KD filter to find popular, low-difficulty keywords in this report.

Volume and KD filter in Content gapVolume and KD filter in Content gap

How to find keywords multiple competitors rank for, but you don’t

  1. Go to Competitive Analysis
  2. Enter your domain in the This target doesn’t rank for section
  3. Enter the domains of multiple competitors in the But these competitors do section
Competitive analysis report with multiple competitorsCompetitive analysis report with multiple competitors

You’ll see all the keywords that at least one of these competitors ranks for, but you don’t.

Content gap report with multiple competitorsContent gap report with multiple competitors

You can also narrow the list down to keywords that all competitors rank for. Click on the Competitors’ positions filter and choose All 3 competitors:

Selecting all 3 competitors to see keywords all 3 competitors rank forSelecting all 3 competitors to see keywords all 3 competitors rank for
  1. Go to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
  2. Enter your competitor’s domain
  3. Go to the Paid keywords report
Paid keywords reportPaid keywords report

This report shows you the keywords your competitors are targeting via Google Ads.

Since your competitor is paying for traffic from these keywords, it may indicate that they’re profitable for them—and could be for you, too.

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You know what keywords your competitors are ranking for or bidding on. But what do you do with them? There are basically three options.

1. Create pages to target these keywords

You can only rank for keywords if you have content about them. So, the most straightforward thing you can do for competitors’ keywords you want to rank for is to create pages to target them.

However, before you do this, it’s worth clustering your competitor’s keywords by Parent Topic. This will group keywords that mean the same or similar things so you can target them all with one page.

Here’s how to do that:

  1. Export your competitor’s keywords, either from the Organic Keywords or Content Gap report
  2. Paste them into Keywords Explorer
  3. Click the “Clusters by Parent Topic” tab
Clustering keywords by Parent TopicClustering keywords by Parent Topic

For example, MailChimp ranks for keywords like “what is digital marketing” and “digital marketing definition.” These and many others get clustered under the Parent Topic of “digital marketing” because people searching for them are all looking for the same thing: a definition of digital marketing. You only need to create one page to potentially rank for all these keywords.

Keywords under the cluster of "digital marketing"Keywords under the cluster of "digital marketing"

2. Optimize existing content by filling subtopics

You don’t always need to create new content to rank for competitors’ keywords. Sometimes, you can optimize the content you already have to rank for them.

How do you know which keywords you can do this for? Try this:

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  1. Export your competitor’s keywords
  2. Paste them into Keywords Explorer
  3. Click the “Clusters by Parent Topic” tab
  4. Look for Parent Topics you already have content about

For example, if we analyze our competitor, we can see that seven keywords they rank for fall under the Parent Topic of “press release template.”

Our competitor ranks for seven keywords that fall under the "press release template" clusterOur competitor ranks for seven keywords that fall under the "press release template" cluster

If we search our site, we see that we already have a page about this topic.

Site search finds that we already have a blog post on press release templatesSite search finds that we already have a blog post on press release templates

If we click the caret and check the keywords in the cluster, we see keywords like “press release example” and “press release format.”

Keywords under the cluster of "press release template"Keywords under the cluster of "press release template"

To rank for the keywords in the cluster, we can probably optimize the page we already have by adding sections about the subtopics of “press release examples” and “press release format.”

3. Target these keywords with Google Ads

Paid keywords are the simplest—look through the report and see if there are any relevant keywords you might want to target, too.

For example, Mailchimp is bidding for the keyword “how to create a newsletter.”

Mailchimp is bidding for the keyword “how to create a newsletter”Mailchimp is bidding for the keyword “how to create a newsletter”

If you’re ConvertKit, you may also want to target this keyword since it’s relevant.

If you decide to target the same keyword via Google Ads, you can hover over the magnifying glass to see the ads your competitor is using.

Mailchimp's Google Ad for the keyword “how to create a newsletter”Mailchimp's Google Ad for the keyword “how to create a newsletter”

You can also see the landing page your competitor directs ad traffic to under the URL column.

The landing page Mailchimp is directing traffic to for “how to create a newsletter”The landing page Mailchimp is directing traffic to for “how to create a newsletter”

Learn more

Check out more tutorials on how to do competitor keyword analysis:

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