Research Strategies for SEO Content Creation

After managing hundreds (maybe thousands) of SEO campaigns… I've distilled content creation down to a science. Here are 6 core pillars that actually move the needle: 1. Smart Keyword Selection Search volume is a vanity metric. Focus on these factors instead: • Relevance to your business goals • Commercial intent signals • Click-through rate potential Pro tip: 60% of Google searches end without a click. Pick keywords where people actually click through to websites. 2. The Uniqueness Factor Google's drowning in AI-generated content. Your advantage? Being genuinely different. Here's how: • Conduct original research (even small studies work) • Share first-hand experience and opinions • Create fresh data sets • Build user-generated content around polarizing topics AI can't replicate human experience. Use that. 3. Perfect Intent Matching Want to rank? Match the format that's already working (while adding your unique spin). Simple process: • Search your target keyword • Study the top 3 results • Note the content format (list, guide, comparison) • Create something similar but better If Google shows informational content, don't try to rank commercial pages. Work with the algorithm, not against it. 4. Content Quality Standards Great content isn't about word count. It's about clarity and engagement: • Write like you're talking to one person • Use simple language (no jargon) • Break up text with headings and bullets • Add visuals that actually add value • Edit ruthlessly 5. Topic Authority Building One great page isn't enough. Build supporting content around your main topic: • Start with branded keywords (easiest wins) • Target competitor comparisons • Create problem-aware content • Build educational resources Each piece should link to others, creating a content hub that Google loves. 6. Technical Foundation All the great content in the world won't rank if your technical SEO is broken: • Page speed under 3 seconds • Mobile-first design • Proper URL structure • Internal linking strategy • Schema markup where relevant Stop pumping out random blog posts. Start building strategic content assets that serve your business goals. Every piece should either educate your audience or move them closer to becoming customers.

Topic chosen. Now what? Research is the secret sauce that turns good content into great content. Here's my battle-tested process for deep diving into any topic: 1. Start with the basics Read Wikipedia articles, industry reports, and academic papers. Build a solid foundation. 2. Go beyond Google Use academic databases, industry journals, and niche forums. That's where the gold is. 3. Leverage "Answer the People" At Writesonic, we've built an AI-powered "Answer the People" tool. It identifies real queries people are searching for about your topic. Game-changer for understanding user intent. 4. Interview experts Nothing beats first-hand knowledge. Reach out to thought leaders in your space. 5. Analyze top-ranking content What are they doing right? More importantly, what are they missing? 6. Look for data and statistics Fresh, relevant data can make your content stand out. Tools like Statista or government databases are goldmines. 7. Check social media conversations What's the buzz on Twitter, LinkedIn, or relevant subreddits? Social listening tools can help here. 8. Use AI research assistants AI can help summarize long articles or extract key points. But always fact-check and verify. 9. Set up Google Alerts Stay updated on new developments in your topic area. 10. Don't forget about visuals Look for relevant infographics, charts, or images. They can help explain complex concepts. Pro tip: Use our "Answer the People" tool to find questions you haven't thought of. It's like having a direct line to your audience's curiosity. Remember: The goal isn't just to gather information. It's to find unique insights that others have missed. That's how you create content that truly stands out. What's your go-to research technique? Share in the comments!

Here are data-driven insights from 12+ years of content-led SEO that I recently shared at brightonSEO San Diego: 1. Content Section Web Design: Sticky top nav = 39% more conversions and 12% more page sessions. Smaller hero images? 7.6% longer time on site. Don’t overlook internal linking - sites with 2%+ of their internal links pointing to content sections perform best. 2. Keyword Research: Start with a keyword research tool and you’ll find high difficulty terms that don’t convert. Start with audience research and you’ll find low difficulty terms that do. Adjust traffic value to fit your brand using a relevancy score refinement (i.e. times by 3 if hyper-relevant, 2 if less so, 1 if a stretch), and remember: refresh content using the average update date of page one results as a guidepost. 3. Content Creation: First-party data is gold, driving 83% more traffic value and 34% more backlinks across all content, not just the original data story. And Google shows images 24.4% of the time, so use custom, high-quality graphics at least every 4 posts to match SERP intent. 4. Content Distribution: Your site architecture can do the heavy lifting. Strategic placement in navigation and content hubs helps assets perform without constant outreach. Stay tuned: Next month, I’ll share a full video of my presentation for those interested in a deep dive. Thank you to everyone who attended my session at #brightonSEO. Meeting with fellow SEOs in sunny San Diego was a highlight, and I loved all the questions and conversations that followed. If we haven't connected yet on LinkedIn, let’s please stay in touch.

Most don't use ChatGPT and AI for SEO. Here's what you're missing: 1/ Keyword Research AI can expand your seed terms into hundreds of variations. Prompt: “List 20 long-tail keywords similar to ‘ecommerce SEO’ with traffic potential.” 2/ Keyword Clustering Group related keywords into themes for one piece of content. Prompt: “Cluster these 30 keywords into 5 groups based on search intent.” 3/ Search Intent Labeling Label keywords as Informational, Commercial, or Transactional. Prompt: “Categorize these 25 keywords into intent types with reasoning.” 4/ Content Ideation Generate blog, landing page, or resource ideas around core keywords. Prompt: “Give me 10 blog ideas for ‘AI in SEO’ targeting SaaS founders.” 5/ Blog Title Creation Come up with attention-grabbing, SEO-friendly titles. Prompt: “Create 10 engaging listicle titles for ‘SEO content strategy’.” 6/ Outline & Subtopics Map H1s, H2s, and FAQs before writing. Prompt: “Build a content outline for the keyword ‘best SEO tools 2025’.” 7/ First Draft Writing Spin up a draft in minutes that you then refine. Prompt: “Write a 1,000-word blog post for ‘technical SEO checklist’ with bullets and examples.” 8/ Metadata Generation Create SEO titles and meta descriptions at scale. Prompt: “Write 5 meta descriptions under 155 characters for ‘AI SEO tools’.” 9/ Content Optimization Improve readability, add entities, and boost on-page SEO. Prompt: “Rewrite this blog section to be shorter, clearer, and optimized for ‘E-E-A-T SEO’.” 10/ E-E-A-T Enhancement Layer in experience, authority, and trust signals. Prompt: “Suggest ways to add first-hand experience to this article about link building.” 11/ Internal Linking Suggestions Build smart interlinks between related posts. Prompt: “Suggest 5 internal linking opportunities between these blog URLs.” 12/ Competitor Content Gap Analysis Compare your site against a competitor’s top pages. Prompt: “Analyze competitor.com/blog and find 10 content gaps we can cover.” 13/ Repurposing Blog Content Turn articles into LinkedIn posts, threads, and videos. Prompt: “Rewrite this blog intro into a 7-post LinkedIn carousel script.” 14/ Featured Snippet Optimization Rewrite answers for conciseness and snippet capture. Prompt: “Write a 45-word answer for ‘What is technical SEO?’” 15/ Backlink Outreach Drafting Generate outreach email drafts for link building. Prompt: “Write a polite email asking to add our guide to their resources page.” AI is not here to replace SEOs. It’s here to speed us up and systemize tasks. The key is adding strategy, human judgment, and brand voice. SEOs who mix AI + expertise will always win. Find this useful? Repost ♻️ to help others learn too. P.S. Want SEO to drive leads to your business? Let's chat: https://lnkd.in/gYccSVY8

This playbook took our blog traffic from 10k to 120k/month (Stuck in SEO limbo? Read this before your next post) I used to chase SEO trends blindly: ↳ Followed outdated hacks ↳ Ignored user intent ↳ Wrote content just to “rank” None of it worked. Rankings stalled. Traffic flatlined. Then I embraced this 9-strategy SEO framework: 1. Authority Hub 2. Intent Focus 3. Snippet Optimization 4. EEAT Signals 5. Refresh Game 6. Visual SEO 7. Voice Boosting 8. Data-Driven Moves 9. Consistency Let’s break it down👇 🔗 Authority Hub Create interconnected blog clusters. Show Google you're the expert in your niche. 🎯 Intent Focus Match every post to search intent — informational, transactional, or navigational. ✨ Snippets Win Use bullet points, tables, and Q&A formats to own that precious “position zero.” ⚡ EEAT Power Highlight real experience and expertise. Especially crucial for YMYL (Your Money Your Life) content. 🔁 Refresh Game Don’t let old content die. Update stats, improve structure, and re-optimize keywords. 🖼️ Visual SEO Google Lens is growing fast. Use alt text, clear filenames, and image schema to stand out. 🎙️ Voice Boost Long-tail, natural questions = smart speaker gold. Think how people ask, not just how they type. 📊 Data-Driven Strategy Use surveys, analytics, and search behavior to craft content users actually want. 💡 Bottom line? Google rewards relevance, consistency, and value. These 9 tactics? They’re what’s working right now. — P.S. Which of these are you using already? Let’s compare strategies in the comments 👇 Or hit me up — always open to SEO chats!

If you want your SEO to have an impact, don't start with keyword research. Keyword research is a crucial part of SEO, but only if it's done in the right order. Instead take your SEO to the next level by doing these steps first: 1. Understand what's important for the business: - What products and or services are most important to grow?  2. Customer pain points: - Know your ideal customer and pain points. Leverage customer service, surveys, sales teams, customer research etc. 3. Your product strengths: Take note what your product does well. What pain points does it fulfill better than most? - Take the above findings and start keyword research. - Finally, create content ----------------------- This process works great for a few reasons: - It ensures your marketing efforts and money are working towards something the business values - Aligns your content with customer pain points they want addressed before buying your product - Helps you build content that highlights your product strengths - Finally, keyword research helps validate the number of people that will reach your content.

A single keyword focus isn’t enough if you want to get seen at the top. Google’s used semantic analysis to get better and better at returning relevant search results. And marketers who have embraced semantic search for their clients have leapfrogged over competitors by focusing on consumer language and understanding the power of context in driving organic traffic. Smart content goes beyond just matching keywords. It aims to understand user intent and real meaning. Rather than fixating on a keyword, semantic SEO looks for the bigger picture or concept behind the search query. Search engines are getting better at recognizing related terms and phrases. By naturally incorporating synonyms and related phrases in your content, you can boost your rankings for a wide range of relevant queries. Success takes research, though. You must be comfortable inside your ideal prospect’s mind. Understand their language, pain points, and how they express their needs. We do traditional keyword research, but we aren’t shy about social listening and client surveys. We comb through content looking for the words and phrases that will resonate. We optimize content for humans first by prioritizing prospect needs over strict keyword matches. You can’t lose when you create content that genuinely addresses what your audience is looking for. Don’t be afraid to write with style – in fact, you should be more afraid to NOT write with your voice front and center in every piece. More robot content means authentic human voices will capture loyal attention quicker. If you have the skills to get technical, look at structured data and schema markup. Both these give search engines better context about your content and can even earn you coveted SERP features. And with everything, you’ve got to keep an eye on your rankings and user engagement. Measure what matters. Build authority. Dominate your market. #seo #digitalmarketing #marketing

After 7 years of building SEO and content strategies for B2B brands (including one that grew organic traffic value by $682K per month) I can tell you this: the best SEO strategies don’t start with keywords. They start with revenue. Your SEO strategy should mirror your sales funnel. Each content cluster should move people closer to the pipeline: awareness → interest → conversion → loyalty Start with your highest-value product or service. Identify the pain points it solves. Then build content and keywords that bridge pain to product. Your SEO shouldn’t just attract traffic. It should attract intent. SEO isn’t about chasing algorithms. It’s about connecting purpose to profit. 

SEO content briefs go beyond just keywords. They offer writers a clear, comprehensive guide, ensuring the content aligns with both SEO goals and user needs. Here’s why they are indispensable: -Context and Clarity: Writers receive more than just keywords; they get a full picture of what they need to achieve. -Aligned Goals: Ensures everyone, from content creators to SEO strategists, is on the same page about the objectives. -Efficiency and Effectiveness: Streamlines the content creation process, making it more efficient and targeted. 🔍 Our Process for Crafting SEO Content Briefs Creating an impactful SEO content brief involves several key steps. Here’s our approach: 1. Keyword Research: We begin with thorough keyword research, identifying the primary keywords that the content should focus on. 2. Semantic Keyword Research: Next, we delve into semantic keyword research, identifying related topics and phrases. This ensures the content covers a topic comprehensively and contextually. 3. Search Intent Analysis: Understanding the ‘why’ behind searches is crucial. We analyze search intent to ensure that the content meets the users' needs and search engine expectations. 4. Goal & CTA: Understanding what the goal of creating this content is will help you measure the impact and analyze how it ends up performing. Not every piece of content will have the same goal or purpose, so it's important to understand the purpose of this content before it gets created. This helps us analyze and report on performance and avoid using the same templated metrics for each piece of content. 5. Outline Building: Finally, we construct a detailed outline, structuring the content to flow logically while incorporating all the SEO insights we’ve gathered. 🎁 Get A Copy Of Our Content Brief Template This template is a culmination of our experience in SEO and content strategy, designed to guide you in creating content that ranks and resonates. Sign up for our newsletter and the content brief template will be sent to you. Remember, the strength of your SEO content starts with the brief you create. A well-crafted brief is not just a document; it's a tool that shapes engaging, relevant, and search-optimized content.