Note: This is part three of a series of short blogs related to our Content Planning Workbook read Part 1 and Part 2.
Does SEO ever leave you confused and frustrated?
Don’t worry, I know exactly how you feel…
It seems like Google is always changing their algorithm and ranking our content on the back of a whole bunch of factors that no one really understands.
You think you figure it out, and then bam… the rug is pulled out from underneath you.
But we don’t have a choice. As website owners, we need to understand how search engines are going to deliver us traffic.
So we succumb to their demands.
Here’s the thing: Once you cut out the clutter, SEO is actually pretty simple.
The calmer and simpler you make it, the better your results, and the less stress you will feel.
All Google wants from you, as a website owner, is a fulfilling experience for their users – so that these users will come back to search again, again, and again, and they can continue to show them ads.
But how do you ensure a user is fulfilled from their experience on your website?
It’s all about matchmaking…
Between the content on your website and the intent and phrasing of the user’s search.
Basically, you need to create content that answers the user’s query in full so they don’t need to go anywhere else.
Could it really be that easy?
Ok, so I’m simplifying things… because there are a complex array of other factors that influence whether or not your website will show up in a user’s search. But, if you move forward with this simple, yet sophisticated, way of thinking about content on your website, you will build a series of assets that answer your customers’ questions and talk in a language that Google understands.
Over time, they will start to take notice.
So, how do you become a matchmaker?
Once you have a list of potential content topics – based on your Ideal Customer Profile – you then need to organize this information into a digestible structure so that your messaging is crystal clear. This is your Content Spider.
The Content Spider represents the architecture and structure for the content on a website.
Whether your website is brand new or well-established, this concept will help give your content strategy both direction and focus – resulting in a clear and compelling message for your prospective customers.
The basic idea of the Content Spider starts with Basecamp. Your Basecamp is the content hub of your website that acts as the structure for the rest of your strategy. It acts as an index of sorts for all of the other content you create and is given website prominence on your primary navigation menu.
Stemming from your Basecamp are Content Anchors. These anchors are long pieces of highly useful content that dominate a specific topic and are optimized for an SEO-focused keyword term that relates to your business and Ideal Customer Profile. All of the anchor topics are mentioned on your Basecamp page and subsequently linked to after their creation.
Once you have a set of Content Anchors, the rest of your content strategy is tailored accordingly. Blog post ideas and their associated keywords complement these anchor topics and link back to them internally. Over time you build a strategically architectured Spider’s Web of internal, and external links that support themselves using these anchor points.
Like this:
Essentially what you are doing is taking your content ideas and keyword research from Step 2 of this process and assigning them positions on the Content Spider diagram.
Then, you’re all set. You have just designed the entire content architecture of your website, and all that is left is to start creating the content!
Want us to design and create your Content Spider? Send an email to [email protected] with the subject line “SPIDER”.
