How To write content for your website

  Content is just information. And whatever you want to write about,chances are, you're not the first. Demand for content is surging. And with information accessible literallyat the tip of our fingers, there's an excess supply, making it more challenging to getnoticed and produce profitable results. So in order to do that, you need a systemthat will lead to predictable results so that your content can stand out from the rest. So if you're a blogger, freelance writer, or doany type of content writing, keep watching because I'm going to walk you through a step-by-step framework to engage your audience, satisfy search engines, and as a result, driveconsistent traffic and hopefully revenue. Stay tuned. [music]

 Alright, so first, let's set the record straight. Whether you're writing for your own site orfor a client, you should have two objectives for your content. #1. The content should drive traffic to the site. And #2. The content should engage those peopleso that they'll turn into customers or be pushed further down the sales funnel. So with those objectives in mind, let's gothrough a simple 4-step process to achieve both of these goals. The first step is to write about topicspeople are actually searching for. 

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Most people like to write about topicsthat excite them. And while that's all well and good, theseposts often have a short shelf life. For example, a few months ago wepublished an article on how to start a link building campaign fast. We talk about systematizing, automating, scalingand all sorts of exciting things… at least for us. And immediately after publishing, wepromoted the post to our social media followers, email list, and spent a few hundreddollars on ads to amplify the content. As a result, we had a huge spike in traffic withthousands of visits over the first few days. But soon after, the traffic faded fast. And today, it gets next to no trafficcompared to our other posts.

 And while this post wasn't created with searchtraffic in mind, we knew that it would create a textbook "spike of hope" and "flatline of nope." And that's what happens when you createcontent that no one's searching for. Now, when you create content around topicsthat people are searching for, then you get the opposite effect: free, passive, and consistenttraffic that usually grows over time. To find topics worth creating content on,you'll need a keyword research tool to a) identify search demand, and b) understandtraffic potential of the topic, which is the total amount of monthly search traffic you couldget if you were to rank high for that query. So let's say we have a site on DIYhome improvement tutorials. To find keywords to target, I'll go to Ahrefs'Keywords Explorer and search for some keywords broadly related to the topic, like "homeimprovement," "kitchen," and "living room." Next, I'll go to the Questions report. And as you can see, there's quite a bit ofsearch demand around these topics as you can see from their search volumes. And this topic on "how to paint kitchencabinets" seems like a promising topic for our DIY home improvement site.

 Now, to find the traffic potential of the topic, hitthe SERP button and look at the Traffic column. As you can see, the top-ranking pagegets over 37,000 monthly visits from Google every single month. So this topic checks both boxes. Now, it's important to note that I've skippeda few steps here in the topic selection process, the main one being assessing ranking difficulty. But this tutorial is on content writing, soinstead of expanding, I'll add some links to our keyword research tutorialsin the description.

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  Alright, so at this point, we have a topic totackle, but just because you have a topic, it doesn't mean you should writewhatever you want. Remember, our goal is to rank at the top ofGoogle so that you can get consistent traffic. And this leads us nicely into the second step,which is to assess the "type" of content Google wants you to create. Google's job is to deliver the mostrelevant results for any given query. And they do a pretty good job at this. So naturally, if you want to rank for yourtarget topic, then you need to know the type of content Google will rank for that query. This is called search intent, which tells usabout what searchers are looking for when they key in a query. 

The easiest way to do this is to just searchfor the query you want to rank for and look at the top-ranking results. And the three things you're looking for are: Сontent type, which can be blog posts, productpages, category pages, or landing pages. Content format, which can be how-to guides,step-by-step tutorials, list posts, opinion editorials, reviews, or comparisons. And the last one is content angle, which isbasically the unique selling point of the top- ranking pages. So looking at the top 10 results for our query"how to paint kitchen cabinets," you'll see that all of the pages are blog posts, so that wouldbe the content type you should use too. 

As for format, the top two ranking pages are"how-tos," which will be step-by-step tutorials. And for content angle, there isn't reallya definitive one. From my experience, matching content type andformat are critical to rank at the top of Google, but angle usually isn't as important unless there'sa clear theme among the top-ranking pages. Alright, the next step is to createa data-driven outline. Content is like a puzzle. There are a lot of different pieces and it's toughto assemble without some kind of framework. Outlines are like the edge pieces of the puzzle. 

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They help to form the base and all youneed to do is fill in the missing pieces. They also help make sure you're includingall critical points worth communicating on the topic. And from an SEO perspective, it can helpyou satisfy the algorithm and the audience. The way Google determines a page's placementin the search results is algorithmic. Meaning, you can't pay to rank at the topof Google and your friend that works there can't move your site to the top. Their technology is able to understandwords and the context they're in. And the more context you give to search engines,the better your chances of ranking high. The easiest way to find critical talking pointsis to look at some of the top-ranking pages and see if there are similar subtopics. 

For our topic on how to paint kitchen cabinets,the top 2 pages both talk about choosing the right paint, preparation, priming thecabinets, painting the cabinets, and so on. So add these commonalities to youroutline as subheadings. Another thing you can do is use Ahrefs' ContentGap tool to find common keyword rankings between the top-ranking pages. This can help you find more subtopics as wellas jargon that might be relevant in adding context to your post. Just enter the top 2 or 3 relevant ranking resultsin the top section and then run the search. As you can see, people are looking for thebest paint for cabinets, they want to know how to refinish them, some are specificallylooking for white cabinets, and so on. 

Don't worry about stuffing these keywordsin your post, but if you see something that could act as a subheading, it might beworth adding to your outline. Just focus on writing something that'ssuccinct and actionable. This will humanize the post and help you tofocus on what matters most: helping readers. Alright, the next step is to createa click-worthy headline. A headline is important because it'swhat stands between you and a visitor. Its main job is to convince people toactually click on your result. Then it's your content's job tokeep them reading. Now, if you struggle with writing good headlines,here are a few simple formulas you can use. 

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Take a screenshot before I start fillingin the blanks for our home decor site. "How to Professionally Paint KitchenCabinets in Under an Hour" "7 Proven Ways to Decorate YourHome on a Tiny Budget" "10 Simple Ways to Renovate yourHome on a Shoestring Budget" "10 Reasons You're Unhappy withYour Home Decor" Now, it's important to note that while clickbaitheadlines might produce more clicks, keep in mind that if your content can't deliver onthe headline's promise, then it'll do more harm than good. Alright, the next step is to write a killerintro using the AIDA formula. 

The introduction is arguably the mostimportant part of your content. Its job is to hook your reader, tell themthey're in the right place, and convince them to keep reading. Fortunately, there's a tried and tested formulayou can use called AIDA, which stands for attention, interest, desire, and action. Let's write a sample intro for our articleon how to paint kitchen cabinets. The first line should be dedicatedto grab your audience's attention. So something like… "You don't have to be a professionalto paint beautiful kitchen cabinets." This breaks a common belief the readermight have and thus, grabs their attention. The next part is to pique their interest. 

You can do this with stories, interestingfacts, or anything else that might help connect with your audience in a personal way. So let's add to our intro. "But the surprising thing is that 99% ofhomeowners still choose contractors, which can cost up to 20 timesthe price of a DIY solution." This line adds an interesting fact that alsocommunicates that a) they'll be unique by doing it themselves, and b) they'llsave a ton of money. Alright, next up is desire. This part is meant to show the reader howyour content can solve their problem. And one of the best ways to do thatis by showing them proof. So let's add on. "In fact, we spent just $100 on materialsand we now have our dream kitchen." Finally is action.

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 This can be done in the form of a "let's getstarted" type of line or you can enhance the user's experience using somethinglike a table of contents. So if I were to add on to ourintro, I might say: "Let's walk through the simple 5-step processto get your kitchen looking like a million bucks." Alright, let's move on to the next step, whichis to make your content actionable and easy to digest. So your outline should act as a niceskeleton for your post. And to add meat to those bones,you need to do two things. #1.

 You want to make it as helpful as possible. Meaning, if someone searches for "how topaint kitchen cabinets," then they should be able successfully do that withthe help of your content. This will all come down to your knowledgeand expertise on the subject. And #2. You want to make it easyto digest and read. And this comes down to yourcommunication and writing skills. The best tip to make your content digestible isto keep your thoughts as succinct as possible. For example, if you're writing a step on choosingthe right paint for your cabinets, you might say something like…

 "The color you choose is up to you. However, there are 5 things you need to considerdepending on the type of cabinets you have." Then add a list of 5 bullet points. Compare that to something like… "Color is a powerful thing. It can affect your emotions so choosingthe right paint is a critical step. According to a 2018 study, red isa very emotionally intense color. Think about fire and blood. Intense…" This doesn't really help the usersolve their problem. It just sounds like you're trying to convincethem to paint their cabinets red. As for readability, you can do things like… Use headings and subheadings, avoid wallsof text by writing in short sentences and short paragraphs, add images if it helps clarifyor visualize a point, and use transitional sentences like "as you know," "however",and "also," which can help improve flow. Now, after you've written your content,I highly recommend getting someone to give you unfiltered feedback. 

This is something we do at Ahrefs for everysingle piece of content we publish whether that be a blog post, landing page, or video. It helps us to always put our best foot forwardand deliver no-fluff content that we hope will help our readers and viewers. Now, the content aspect is a very importantpart when it comes to SEO. Meaning, if you can't get your content right,then you probably aren't going to rank high for any meaningful keywords. Also, there are times when you'll nailyour content, but you still can't rank. This often comes down to the level ofcompetition, which usually boils down to quality backlinks. Now, I won't go into assessing the rankingdifficulty of a topic or how to build backlinks to your pages because we have quite a fewtutorials that go deep into these topics. So I highly recommend watching those andif you enjoyed this tutorial, then make sure to like, share, and subscribe for moreactionable marketing tutorials. And if you have any questions,leave one in the comments below. I'll see you in the next tutorial.