How to level up your keyword strategy

How to level up your keyword strategy

If users are closer to conversion or come with much pre-existing knowledge (like in B2B SaaS or specialized industries), start with middle-of-funnel and bottom-of-funnel content.

High-potential pages

Identify existing pages with high impressions but low rankings (often beginner or broad topics). 

Building intermediate and advanced content that links back to these pages can increase their authority and rankings while guiding users through the knowledge funnel.

A balance of news-y and evergreen content

Keep your content strategy flexible to build a base that will keep paying off and capitalize on shorter-term interest spikes.

Start with evergreen beginner and intermediate content that will continuously bring in traffic over time and will serve users at all stages.

Monitor any trending or emerging topics in your industry (particularly for advanced content) and prioritize those to capture short-term traffic and establish your brand as a thought leader.

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3. Guide beginners through the full knowledge spectrum 

Top-of-funnel queries for beginners are a great source of traffic. 

The next challenge is to educate those users to guide them through the stages of awareness, knowledge, consideration and, ultimately, purchase intent. 

Create a clear content hierarchy, organized by knowledge level (beginner, intermediate and advanced) to identify content gaps to address, from introductory material to more in-depth content. 

Start simple with something like this:

One structure that’s been effective, site-UX-wise, is using broader top-of-funnel topics as pillar pages, with links to more detailed middle- and bottom-funnel pages that provide more specific insights and advanced knowledge. 

From there, use contextual links to guide users through this natural flow. 

Place links with clear, action-oriented anchor text that tells the user what they’re getting with a new page. 

Link from broad introductory content to more specific areas as users’ knowledge grows. 

Add a “Recommended for You” or “Related Articles” section at the end of every resource article. The recommended content should either expand on the current topic in more depth or introduce the next logical step in the user’s journey.

4. Build an SEO strategy to cover all decision-makers

Along with user sophistication (how much they know), it can be incredibly impactful to build a strategy to cover all decision-makers who all need to know something different. 

For instance, for a marketing automation tool:

CMOs need to know how it helps their team perform better.

CTOs need to know how it integrates with an existing tech stack.

CFOs need to know how the tool’s fees and integration costs compare with the revenue it will drive and/or the ultimate operational costs saved.

I recommend structuring a content matrix to address all people involved in the decision by taking the following steps.

Identify stakeholders and their roles

Each stakeholder has different pain points, motivations and concerns. Understanding these is crucial for tailoring content to each group.

Map stakeholder needs to content topics

Create a list of questions, concerns and priorities for each stakeholder. 

Organize these topics

Build a matrix by stakeholder role and content type based on their stage in the buying process (awareness, consideration, decision).

Identify and leverage cross-linking between roles

Influencers, end-users, and decision-makers will have overlap in concerns. Use internal linking to guide users between pieces of content relevant to different stakeholders.

5. Convince clients (or managers) to trade volume for purchase intent

Spending more time on middle- and bottom-funnel queries likely means less time gobbling up traffic at the top of the funnel. This also means your traffic growth may slow or even flat-line when you adopt this strategy. 

Shifting to high-knowledge terms improves traffic quality and intent because users searching for these terms are usually further along in their research or decision-making process. 

As a result, they’re more likely to engage with your content, convert or become long-term customers. 

However, it’s essential to communicate the expected short- and long-term effects to your team and management and set up reporting to support your approach.

Make it clear from the beginning that high traffic doesn’t always mean actual business impact. 

Broad/high-volume keywords bring in more clicks.

While high-knowledge keywords bring fewer users, they also bring better engagement metrics like time on page, engagement rate and conversions. 

Segment your reporting to echo how you segment your content and UX, and you’ll start to see clear patterns you can share with your stakeholders.

Building a sophisticated SEO strategy

This is no small task. It requires adding multiple layers to your approach, which can be both time-consuming and complex. 

However, the payoff is significant. As you refine your strategy, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of your business, industry, and users, ultimately improving your SEO efforts and every aspect of your work.

Contributing authors are invited to create content for Search Engine Land and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the search community. Our contributors work under the oversight of the editorial staff and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. The opinions they express are their own.

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