How to Succeeding in Your Content Strategy of SEO

Content is the first pillar of SEO, as it's the main element that search engines analyze. Their goal is to understand what your site offers and decide whether or not it's relevant to display in user search results.

To do this, the indexing robots will crawl through all the pages of your site, including articles, images, and videos, to assess their quality and relevance.

Optimizing content for SEO primarily ensures that the content of a website's pages meets the needs and expectations of visitors. This, therefore, requires a detailed understanding of their search intentions.

Furthermore, the use of relevant keywords is essential in this optimization process. It's not about merely saturating the text with keywords, but it’s about rather integrating them naturally and contextually into the content. The keywords should reflect the terms that users are likely to enter during their searches, and they should be relevant to the topic discussed on the page.

You also cannot hope to attract several thousand qualified visitors to your site by simply having a homepage and a few pages presenting your services.

Moreover, the structure of the content also plays a crucial role in SEO. Clear titles and sub-headings, the use of bullet lists, short paragraphs, and relevant internal links can enhance the user experience and allow search engines to better understand the hierarchy and importance of your content.

Well-structured content, coupled with a good keyword strategy, increases your chances of achieving a higher ranking in search results.

In this chapter, we’ll cover all these criteria to understand and master a successful content strategy for your brand.

Criterion No. 1: The stages of the buying process

To succeed in SEO, you must understand that the needs of your target audience vary depending on their maturity of thought. This is about producing specific content based on the decision-making stage (and therefore the need) of your target audience.

These needs can be broken down into 4 stages that are associated with the term "buyer's journey" in the field of marketing:

• Discovery
• Interest
• Consideration
• Conversion

At each stage, internet users express different needs. This means that they’ll search for different information. Your goal is to identify which stages interest you the most, and then create content accordingly.

To illustrate this particularly important concept, let's take the example of a company selling an online CRM software intended for small businesses.

Here's how our content might break down at each stage of the purchase journey.

1. Discovery phase

The internet user has a more or less defined need, but does not yet have the solution to meet it.

Example: Jack, a young entrepreneur with big ambitions, wants to do things right when setting up his business. He's starting from 0 on this subject, and at this stage, there's no question of him acquiring CRM software.

Content strategy: Here, you need to take a step back from your product and focus on the fundamental needs of your target audience. In our case, you’ll prioritize fairly generic blog articles such as "10 Tips for Starting Your Own Business". Among these 10 tips, you’ll mention the importance of effectively managing customer relationships through the use of a CRM software. Avoid self-promotion as much as possible. Your goal is to establish the foundation of a trust-based relationship.

2. Interest phase

The internet user believes they have found a solution to their problem and seeks to learn more about it.

Example: Jack knows that he’ll have lots of clients to manage, and the advanced functionality of a CRM software has sparked his interest.

Content strategy: Like a funnel, this time you’ll offer content that is closer to your product, but still quite general.

Blog posts should still be prioritized at this stage. An example of a post could be, "4 arguments that will convince you to use a CRM".

Somewhere between interest and consideration, you can also create content that presents your service without being too directly promotional. For example, you could write a blog presenting "The 5 Best CRM Software for Small Businesses" with your solution being mentioned among the five options.

3. Consideration phase

The internet user is seriously considering adopting the solution to their problem.

Example: Jack is now convinced that a CRM software will help with running his company. He starts researching to find out which software will best meet his needs.

Content strategy: This phase is the most important, but also the hardest from an SEO perspective. The search intentions are much more precise because they're close to conversion, and logically, the competition becomes fierce.

In our example, we have several options.

The first and most complex task is to target the "CRM Software for SMEs" query with a product page or an optimized homepage. If you're well-positioned for a query of this nature, then you've hit the jackpot.

The second option is to create comparison pages such as "Alternative to [Competitor]". The competition is usually much less fierce, and you should have a fair shot. However, make sure these pages are fair and objective without attacking your competitors to maintain credibility.

4. Conversion phase

The user has chosen your solution to meet their needs and is preparing to take action.

Example: Jack believes he has found the CRM software he needs—yours! All that's left is to convince him to subscribe.

Content strategy: In a certain way, SEO per se is no longer the priority.

Content strategy: This phase is the most important, but also the hardest from an SEO perspective. The search intentions are much more precise because they're close to conversion, and logically, the competition becomes fierce.

In our example, we have several options.

The first and most complex task is to target the "CRM Software for SMEs" query with a product page or an optimized homepage. If you're well-positioned for a query of this nature, then you've hit the jackpot.

The second option is to create comparison pages such as "Alternative to [Competitor]". The competition is usually much less fierce, and you should have a fair shot. However, make sure these pages are fair and objective without attacking your competitors to maintain credibility.

4. Conversion phase

The user has chosen your solution to meet their needs and is preparing to take action.

Example: Jack believes he has found the CRM software he needs—yours! All that's left is to convince him to subscribe.

Content strategy: In a certain way, SEO per se is no longer the priority.

However, be careful, as your site must appear first when someone searches for your brand name or a product that only you sell. (Jack won't go looking for your website on page 4 of Google.)

But on the whole, it's more a question of copywriting (writing to sell) and CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) that you're going to prioritize. This means focusing on clear, digestible information, speed of loading, fluidity of navigation, attractive call-to-action (CTA) buttons, and so on.

Your goal is to ensure that the pages users visit before converting offer the best possible experience.

With this in mind, you should pay particular attention to the following pages: home, products, and pricing.

For example, here’s a content hierarchy you could use for each step of the purchase process:

• Discovery: How to [solve one of the problems your target audience encounters]
• Interest: Best [product/tool/service] for [solving the need you answer]
• Consideration: Alternatives to [one of your competitors]
• Conversion: [Your solution]

To attract your prospects, you need to be present at every stage of their buying journey.

For this, you’ll need to understand the keywords they use when they search for information or solutions online.

We’ll explore how to do this in the following sections.

Which step of the journey should I prioritize?

You can certainly tackle all 4 stages, but it takes a lot of effort. It's better to prioritize the stage that most matches your needs.

For example, if you already have a good volume of qualified traffic, focus on optimizing the end of the purchase journey with compelling pages designed for conversion. Do you seriously lack traffic? Start setting up a blog now to position yourself around the stages of discovery and interest.

Criterion No. 2: Search intentions

Search intention refers to the question a user has in mind when conducting a search on Google. To answer this question, Google tries to identify the angle and content format that best matches this intention.

If Google has identified a clear search intent, then it will only promote content that meets this intent to the top positions. This means that if you create content that does not respond to this search intent, it stands little chance of ranking well.

For example, attempting to rank a blog post for the search query "iPhone 14" makes no sense. Google only displays commercial results because it knows that the intent behind this query is to purchase an iPhone 14.

So how can you determine search intent?

To determine if Google has identified a search intent, you simply need to observe the results of the said search. If the top results vary greatly from each other, it signifies that Google has not identified a clear search intent. Conversely, if the top results are similar, it means that Google has identified a search intent.

To qualify search intent, we’ll consider three elements.

1. The type of content

Search results can display various types of content such as blog articles, product pages, videos, infographics, and so on. For example, if the majority of results show guides or tutorials for a specific query, then we can assume that the search intent is probably educational or informative.

2. Content formats

Google often prioritizes certain content formats based on the user's search intent. These formats can include lists (for example, "top 10..."), questions and answers (FAQ sections), comparisons (for example, "iPhone 15 vs Samsung Galaxy S23"), reviews or feedback, and case studies.

By observing the type of format that prevails in search results, we can better understand what the user is looking for. For example, if the majority of results for a query come in the form of lists, this could indicate that users are seeking organized and easily browsable information on that topic.

3. The approach taken

The angle is the unique way a subject is approached. For example, for the topic "healthy eating", one angle might focus on "healthy eating for athletes", while another could explore "healthy eating for vegetarians".

In SEO, choosing a specific angle not only helps you to target a particular audience, but also allows you to stand out in search results by offering specific value and relevance.

By understanding the search intent behind each query, you can better align your content with what users actually want to find. This not only increases the chances of a higher ranking, but also provides a better user experience, leading to higher click-through rates and improved user satisfaction.

A quick example to understand search intent

Let's use the query "how to learn a language quickly" as a common thread to illustrate the concept of search intent.

The first thing to do is to analyze the search results for the keyword.

By analyzing the first 5 search results, we can deduce the following information:

Content type: All results are blog-type articles, therefore primarily informational.

Content format: Blog articles come in various forms, including guides, tips, tutorials, and advice lists.

Approach taken: Most of the content provides practical tips for learning a language faster, such as using mobile applications, practising the language daily, taking online courses, etc.

By analyzing these elements, we can conclude that to rank for this keyword, it’s wise to create informational content in the form of a blog post, with practical tips for learning a language quickly.

Criterion No.3: The 10x content method

This criterion follows directly from the previous one. The goal now is to understand how to do better than the existing. Because in most cases, there will already be content on the keywords you are going to target.

The 10x content method was popularized by Rand Fishkin of Moz. The concept is simple: instead of creating content that's just slightly better than your competitors', aim to produce content that is at least 10 times better. This is a response to a content-saturated market where simple improvements no longer suffice to stand out.

Here are the main elements to consider when creating 10x content.

1. Quality

The content must be well-written, thoroughly researched, and professionally presented.

2. Usefulness

It must be radically more useful than the competition. This could mean providing more detailed instructions, more relevant examples, or anything else that adds value.

3. User experience

Navigation should be intuitive, the design should be pleasant, and the content should be easily consumable. This also means that the site should load quickly, be responsive, and not be cluttered with intrusive advertisements.

4. Understandability

The content must be understandable to the target audience, even if it's complex.

5. Credibility

Use reliable sources, cite them correctly, and present your information transparently.

6. Uniqueness

Your content must offer something that others do not. This could be a unique perspective, exclusive data, striking visuals, etc.

More specifically, here’s a checklist to implement the 10x method:

• Analyze in detail the top 5 results on page 1 for the query you are targeting.
• Identify the approaches adopted by these results.
• Identify the missing elements in these results.
• Imagine content with a distinguishing perspective.

By following this method, you can create 10x content that stands out from the competition by offering a unique and innovative approach.

This is particularly powerful for highly competitive content.

Should I create longer content?

To determine what content length to aim for, look at what your competitors are doing. This will give you a good idea of the average article length in your industry.

Many adopt the strategy of producing articles about 25% longer than existing pieces. The important thing is to maintain high quality in your content.

To give you an idea, today, it's not uncommon to see competitive articles exceeding 3000 words.

Here’s an example of applying the 10x method for the query, "how to learn a language quickly".

Based on the first 5 results (see previous screenshot), we can:

1. Identify the approaches taken:

Tips

Speed

Efficiency

Learning a language in a limited time (3 months)

2. Identify the missing elements:

Customized approach

Practical and concrete examples

Innovative learning techniques

3. Suggest differentiating perspectives:

Idea #1: "Learning a Language Quickly: Techniques Used by Footballers"

In this article, we could highlight the learning techniques that footballers use to quickly learn a foreign language to communicate with their teammates or local media.

Idea #2: "10 Mistakes to Avoid for Learning a Language Quickly"

In this article, we would highlight common mistakes people make when learning a language and propose concrete solutions to avoid these mistakes.

Criterion No. 4: Authority on the targeted theme

What we haven't specified until now is that covering a single theme with quality content will be extremely beneficial for what is known as your "authority" in the eyes of Google.

Search engines have a preference for in-depth and specialized content. They tend to favor websites that discuss a subject thoroughly. In other words, if two websites talk about the same topic, the search engine will usually highlight the one that has developed the subject more extensively.

To easily identify these pieces of content, search engines need you to organize your content by theme.

This approach was theorized by Hubspot under the name of "pillar pages". In France, Laurent Bourelly calls this concept a "semantic cocoon".

1. Create a parent page that deals with the topic

For example, HubSpot has a parent page that deals with SEO: https://blog.hubspot.com/resources/seo

2. Create links to subpages

The parent page should reference the sub-pages that discuss the subject from different angles or in a more in-depth manner.

Examples of sub-pages (articles) for HubSpot on SEO:

• The Essential Guide to SEO in 2024
• 30 SEO tips to improve the ranking of your articles in 2024
• Technical SEO: The essentials for optimizing your website

3. The pages must be linked to each other

Sub-pages should contain internal links to other sub-pages of the same theme as well as to the parent page. This is referred to as internal linking.

For instance, the article "The Essential Guide to SEO in 2024" could suggest a link to a supplemental article such as "Technical SEO: The Basics for Optimizing Your Website."

This method helps search engines better understand the organization of your website and identify high-quality content. This can significantly improve your ranking in search results for queries related to your theme.

Hubspot does it very well, particularly with the following pillar pages:

• blog.hubspot.com/resources/seo
• blog.hubspot.com/resources/content-marketing
• blog.hubspot.com/resources/lead-generation
• blog.hubspot.com/resources/social-media

The connection between purchase journey and authority

Let's revisit our purchase journey stages. Many companies still make the mistake of focusing their SEO efforts on the Consideration stages, or even on Conversion. In short, the end of the purchase journey. This is tempting because that's where the return on investment can seem most evident.

Except that there is logically more search volume at the Discovery and Interest stages (top of the funnel). By focusing on top-of-the-funnel content, you’ll logically have more potential to develop your authority on a particular theme.

And ultimately, you’ll succeed in positioning content on highly competitive queries.

Zapier's "Backdoor SEO" Technique

Despite its definite popularity, Zapier is still relatively unknown outside the tech community. Keywords specific to their product, such as "automation platform," are seldom searched for.

In hopes of achieving its growth objectives, Zapier had to reconsider its approach from an SEO standpoint. The "Backdoor SEO" technique was therefore adopted.

The principle is simple:

1. Identify high-search-volume keywords that are either closely or loosely related to your product.

For Zapier: "to-do list apps", "time boxing", etc.

2. Write quality articles targeting these keywords.

For example, Zapier wrote: "The 8 best to-do list apps in 2023."

3. Incorporate links to content located further down the conversion funnel.

The Zapier article includes gateways to use-cases of its product and product pages.

This approach offers two major advantages for content closer to the conversion:

Redirect a portion of the traffic to this content

Convey the SEO authority

The "Backdoor SEO" strategy is particularly useful for companies offering innovative and versatile solutions, like Airtable and Notion, whose product-related searches are low but use cases are numerous.

Another way to understand the principle of authority

Let's imagine that you're a phone repair service. The first instinct for many would be to talk on their website about the high level of quality they offer, about the expertise they've accumulated over X years...

Wrong! Start by identifying the problem your clients might have.

In our case, they’ll start by searching, "My iPhone 15 is broken, how do I fix it?"

Wonderful! You now have the opportunity to showcase a combination of articles and YouTube tutorial videos for every model of iPhone that you repair.

With this approach, you’re positioning yourself as a relevant player in Google's eyes on the "iPhone repair" theme, and as a trustworthy business for the internet user who will then be much more likely to become your customer.

Measuring your site's authority with the concept of "Domain Authority" (DA)?

The concept of authority is often considered vague and difficult to measure.

To address this, the company Moz developed the 'Domain Authority' (DA) score. This score is evaluated on a scale of 1 to 100, where 100 represents the highest score. The higher the score, the more the site is considered relevant and authoritative in its field.

You can check your site's DA score using tools provided by Moz, such as the MozBar (a Chrome/Firefox extension).

The factors that influence this score include the quality of your content, the relevance of the keywords used, and the number of quality links pointing to your site (incoming links). We will explain in more detail how to optimize these various factors throughout this guide.