Friday Focus #83

Hi there, Reader,

Happy Friday!

Time and money are limited when you’re building a business. Let’s talk about how to get the best return on your website content. 👇

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How to Produce SEO Content that Drives Sales

Most SEO consultants will tell you to go after high-volume keywords in your content marketing and SEO efforts because of the traffic potential.

That's a great way to waste your marketing budget. Don't get sucked in!

The simple truth is that you should prioritize lower-volume, high-buying-intent keywords because the conversion potential is much greater than going after high volume keywords. Here's a great article explaining

​Grow & Convert call this the Pain Point SEO strategy. They generally work for big software companies, but it's even more effective for the local service businesses you and I are building. You won't get 10,000 visits from Google next week, but you'll be answering the exact questions your ideal clients are asking.

Pain Point SEO builds the trust that wins new clients.

See those green areas? Those are the types of Pain Point SEO keywords you should be writing blog posts for:

1. Category Keywords – These search terms are directly relate to your service industry. For example: “best commercial attorney”, “demolition contractor”, or “landscape design”. These are the most obvious keywords for your brand – they’re just different ways to phrase what you sell.
2. Comparisons & Alternatives – These are keywords that indicate the searcher is comparing your or your competitors’ services. They include terms like “greiner buildings vs wilson construction”. This strategy only works if you and your competitors are fairly well known. Make sure to keep it civil (don't be a jerk).
3. Jobs to be Done – Finally, most of what Pain Point SEO will unveil for you are Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) keywords. These include all the keywords that indicate the searcher has a problem your product or service solves without them explicitly searching for the solution, like in frameworks #1 and #2 above. How-to queries like “how to remove an in-ground pool”, “how to manage payroll for a dental office”, and others are a great first step. For these keywords you should provide helpful advice but also present your product or service as the possible solution.

More Pain Point SEO keywords for service providers:

1. Location – Geographic terms are searched for every type of service. You can target these keywords with service pages, like "covington residential painter" or "flooring contractor in jackson". Or, you might even go hyper-local to focus on what neighborhoods or venues you serve (in bigger cities).
2. Pricing – Everyone wants to know how much stuff costs—and they ask Google. Thankfully, there are ways to rank for these keywords (even without revealing exact costs for your service). I recommend building a blog post that answers a question similar to this "how much does a new roof cost in atlanta". Right now, Colony Roofers ranks #1 with this article (by paying $0 on ads)! Everything on the page (except the video and graphics) is easily replicable in your local market.
3. How to hire the best _______ – Most people don’t know how to find and hire the best attorney, painter, or landscaper. They want to make the best decision, so write a helpful blog post that shows them what to look for. Include a handful of questions they should ask, details they need to provide for an accurate quote, and show them how to identify the skills/processes that help you stand out from others. Then, be bold and explain why you're the obvious choice.

Here's an example I wrote last year:

​Read this Before You Hire an SEO Consultant​

Want to know which keywords aren't a good fit for your business? Keep reading...

15 Things to Remove from Your Website Immediately

Orbit Media

Although you can put everything on your website, you shouldn't. As an entrepreneur, you know it's important that you say no to the wrong things—so you can focus on the right things. Here are 15 things that should never go on a website, under any circumstances.

​Watch it all on video here if you prefer Youtube.

How Google's Ranking System is Trained: E-E-A-T

Ahrefs

E-E-A-T (or Double-E-A-T) is a concept used by human quality raters to evaluate Google’s search ranking systems. Originally, it consisted of only three factors (E-A-T). But in December 2022, Google added the criterion of “experience” to the concept. Even in a world of AI (like ChatGPT and Bard), Google knows that people are the best raters of quality content on the internet.

So according to Google, some types of content need to be produced with firsthand experience to be trustworthy. Click here to find out what Ahrefs says that means for your SEO strategy.​

How to Decide if You Should Target a Certain Keyword (or Not)

Ahrefs

If you’re choosing keywords based on search volume alone, you’re making a mistake. You also need to make sure the keyword makes sense for your business and find out if you can realistically rank for it.

Joshua Hardwick outlined a simple process to help you make those decisions. This one is worth bookmarking (twice)! 👍 👍

Content Chemistry

Andy Crestodina

This practical book compiles effective lessons and advice about the power of content marketing (SEO, social media, email marketing, etc.). He goes all-in and you'll learn a ton about how it all fits together.

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My Toolkit 🛠

Keywords Everywhere

This browser add-on is my favorite low-cost SEO research tool, because it's easy and cheap. It's only $10 for 100,000 credits! You can view monthly search volume, CPC and competition data of keywords on multiple websites.

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Thanks for reading this week!

Send me your keyword and blog post ideas if you want feedback! What topics are you wanting to tackle next on your site?

John