How to Write Killer Content that Ranks (11 Tips to Make You a Hit)

Today I’d like to discuss how to write killer content that ranks for you. These 11 steps will

help you to write an article that has the highest chance of ranking quickly and getting you traffic.

There is nothing secret about writing content but it is how you do your research for a topic and what you write about that makes the difference in ranking.

11 Steps to Write a Killer Post for Your Website:

1. Research your keyword and topic
2. Check out your competition
3. Decide who you are writing for
4. Write a list of subheadings
5. Start with an introduction, include your title in it
6. Fill out each subheading on your list with 2 paragraphs
7. Make sure you answered the question!
8. Write a conclusion and ask for comments, likes, and shares
9. Go back and check spelling and grammar
10. Add 3 external links and 7 internal links
11. Add optimized images, graphs, or charts

1. Research your Keywords and Topic

I’m going to show you an unorthodox method of finding if your title will work. Once you have an idea for a post first open an incognito page (type in Google.com) to start your research. Now type your title into the incognito page and see what is listed.

2. Check out your competition

Look at the first 5 listings on Google page one!

• If they are adverts, move on!
• Who wrote the post, are they a large company with authority?

If they are companies who probably employ a thousand people to write 50 posts per day, then forget writing about that title, you can’t compete. But if most of the competition is from Wiki or Reddit or Quora or smaller non-authority companies, then you have found your title and it’s time to do your research.

What you specifically want to see on page one of Google are “non-authority” sites. Page One inundated with community-based websites and forums and these you can compete with and even use for some research.

A practical example:

• Choose a keyword that fits your niche (let’s say you’re a gardening website) type ‘Why Roses’ into your incognito page.
• Look down the first page on Google, stop at ‘People Also Ask or scroll down to Related Searches’ Look closely at the questions, can you answer one of these questions better?
• Another way is to put your Keyword into the search bar and work through the alphabet. (Rosesa, Rosesb, Rosesc, Etc.)
• ‘Why is it important to prune roses?’
• Google this title and see if only small companies or forums have listed posts
• Are any that are listed in the top five written by Reddit, Quora, or a Forum? (Perfect!!)
• Keep looking until you find a question that has little competition.

Now that you have found your title it’s time to do your research.

Research By Reading Your competition

Try and read the first few articles in Google’s list and write down any ideas that you get, and any other questions asked about how to cut roses, when to cut roses, etc.

This will make up your list of subheadings. Your answer post needs to have the most details, so including other questions from highly ranked posts means all this information is in one post, yours.

You can even quote (5 extra tips to rank)what they said and put a link into your post to their article (Google loves this, these are your external links.)

3. Decide Who You are Writing For

Just stop for a minute and consider what answer the reader is looking for. How can you answer the question in just two paragraphs or even one?

Can you put in a video or graph to give a better answer or links to authority site articles that have some extra information?

Think about how you like your answers structured.

4. Write a List of Subheadings

Take one or two points from each forum or ideas from authority articles and make them your subheadings. You want to cover every aspect of the questions in your post.

If a reader can find all the information in one place, then you can be higher on page one of Google and will draw more traffic to you.

5. Start with an Introduction Paragraph, include Your Title

This is just good writing. Don’t waffle on at the beginning of your blog. Cut to the chase! Just use 2 – 3 sentences to explain what you are going to answer and include your title keywords. You need to do this on every post as Google takes note.

Create a box to put your answer in so that it stands out. Google may even use it as a snippet.

List what will be covered in your article (also may be used by Google as the snippet or quick answer.)

6. Fill Out the Subheadings with Two Paragraphs Maximum

New writers always wonder how they will ever write 1300 – 2000 words but using this system you will be astonished at how quickly your post grows.

By only writing two paragraphs per subheading, you will find that your style needs to be clear and simple. This will teach you to be concise.

Use humor!

7. Make Sure that You Answer the Question

Look at your box answer at the beginning of your post. Did you answer the question in just a few lines?

Now check down your subheadings did you expand on this answer and clearly give as much extra information to cover any other questions.

8. Write a Conclusion

You don’t need to belabor the point but wrap up in a conversational way making sure that the reader will feel that they received all the necessary information.

Then ask for comments and likes, ask people to share your post, and make it easy with icons that they can click.

9. Check Spelling and Grammar

You have probably heard this too many times but it is worth repeating. No one enjoys reading a post that is full of spelling and grammar mistakes, it is hard to read and annoying.

Your goal is to want people to come to you as an authority site, make it such a pleasure that they keep coming back often.

Make use of free tools such as Grammarly and Yoast, they can be your best friends.

10. Add 3 External and 7 Internal links

Links are your highway to gaining more traffic. So, it is crucial that you take the time to include a wiki link and two other external links to those top articles that you used for reference on Google’s first page.

7 Internal links will keep people on your website for longer and will help you rank higher because you are offering quality knowledge and Google takes note of how long people stay on your website reading and their click-through rate (this all shows in your bounce rate.)

11. Add Optimized Images, Graphs and Videos

We are all visual beings and some of us prefer to learn through video. 3 – 4 small images in a 1500-word post will break up the text nicely.

A graph as an illustration really helps or screenshots to highlight a point or a video specific to the problem can be perfect. All this is noticed by Google and affects your ranking.

Make sure you condense or reduce your images for fast page speed.

Conclusion

When we are new to the internet world it is easy to be intimidated by all the high-powered authority websites. But it doesn’t take long to understand that these companies have big teams of people writing for them (hopefully one day you will too.)

So, at the beginning of your business journey, you need to choose who you will compete with for the first page listing in Google. These 11 tips will help you to use the tricks of SEO that have been proven to work with the added gem of checking and using posts by these authority and forum sites.

Wishing you great success on your journey.

Please leave a comment and like so that we can discuss any questions that you may have.

Warm regards,

Lily