Semrush SEO Crash Course | Lesson 3 | Create Amazing Content

Hey, what's up everybody. Brian Dean here.

And welcome to lesson 3 of this SEO crash course.

In the last lesson you learned all about keyword research.

Specifically, I showed you step-by-step how to find at least 5 keywords that makes sense for your business based on factors like search volume and keyword competition.

And in this lesson you are going to learn how to create amazing content, and optimize that content around the keywords that you just found.

So, without further ado, let's dive right in. So you've probably heard things like "content is king", and the key to SEO is publishing great content.

And it is true. Content is really the foundation of SEO.

Well the secret to SEO at a high level is having a website that people love.

Search engines are designed to measure different signals across the web so they can find the websites that people like most.

And you can play right into their hands by making those signals real and not artificial.

And the best way to that -- publish a great content.

The question is : "What is great content?"

And how do you actually create it.

Especillay is you are not a world class writer.

The key is to stick to proving content templates that are designed specifically for ranking in Google.

In fact, when I first get started with SEO I found a keyword open up blank Google doc and start typing.

Now only did this take forever but my content didn't consistently rank.

Facepalm.

Flash forward to today and I only write using content templates.

Templates speed up the content creation process by 5 to 10x.

They also help ensure that your content is primed to rank in Google.

Which leads us to the first content template that I want to share with you today The Expended List Post.

So what is it? An expanded list?

Post is like a regular list post.

But better. Now list posts are our content main state. And for good reason, there are collection of bite-sized tips that people can use to get a specific result.

Which is exactly the type of content that Google searchers want.

The issue is traditional list posts usually leave out key details, like how to actually put each tip or piece of advice.

Into practice, but the expanded list post is completely different.

With the expanded list post you give lots of detail about each item on your list.

For example, take a look at this expanded list post from my site.

As you can see, unlike traditional list posts, I give people detailed steps for each and every tip, including real life examples.

So why is this important?

Most traditional list posts make people do a ton of extra work.

For example, let's say that first tip from a traditional list post is Eat eggs at breakfast.

Well, that leaves out a lot of important information.

Like what time should I eat? How do I cook the eggs?

What about organic and free range eggs?

And can I eat anything with the eggs?

Well, the expanded list, post answers, all those questions and more.

That way your reader doesn't have to fill in the blanks or go back to the search results, which makes Google and users happy.

Our next content template is the ultimate guide.

As the name suggests, this is a complete resource that covers everything.

For example, here's a guide from my blog.

That's racked up tens of thousands of visitors from Google and because my guide is super thorough, other SEO and content marketing blogs are happy to link.

And share it on social media.

So why has this guide performed so well, what my guide gives someone everything they need to know about a topic in one place.

So there's no need for someone to read 18 different posts, to put all the pieces together.

Once they find your guide they have everything they have everything they need to know right in front of them.

This template is also great for getting backlinks, something we'll cover in the next lesson.

That's because like I just mentioned, bloggers will link to your guide when they write about your topic, which leads us to our third content template.

The tools of the trade, uh, tools of the trade post is a list of tools that you recommend.

Now, to be clear, these tools don't have to be software.

A tool can be a morning routine, your favorite foam rollers, or even a supplement.

As long as the tool helps your reader solve the problem, you're good.

For example, a few years ago, I published a blog post called how to learn SEO in record time.

It was a list of tools, AKA resources to help people learn SEO.

Now the post didn't go viral or anything, but it got over 2000 social shares in brings in a steady stream of visitors to my site.

So why is this content template so effective?

Well, if you look at it, strategies are hard.

Approaches can be tricky, but tools are easy.

In fact, the number one question I get is "Brian, what SEO tools do you recommend?"

That said finding the right tool for the job can be really hard sometimes.

That's where your tools of the trade post comes in.

It's a handpicked list of the best tools.

All in one place.

So now that you have your content written, it's time to optimize it for SEO also known as on-page SEO.

On-page SEO is making sure that Google can find your web pages so they can show them in the search results.

It also involves having relevant, detailed, and useful content to the search phrases you're trying to show up for.

In other words, you need to let Google know what your page is about and deliver content that makes Google searchers happy.

Specifically, Google scans your page for specific words and phrases.

And when it sees the same term over and over again, Google says this page must be about this keyword.

That's why it's important to use your target keyword on your page.

Without going overboard, more on that later.

For example, let's say that you just wrote a piece of content about organic dog treats.

If you follow the template above you probably naturally optimize your content quite a bit anyway.

Which helps Google understand that your page is really about that topic.

That's because all the templates that I just share with you focus on writing super in-depth thorough content.

Which means you probably included your target keyword and related terms a few times already.

And created content that provides a ton of value all in one place.

But to double check that your content is optimized for SEO Here are the top three steps for SEO optimized content.

So first when it comes to on-page SEO, you're a title tag is key.

Google has even said that it's important to use high quality titles So here's how to get the most out of your pages Title tag.

First, you want to front load your main keyword.

Front-load simply means that your start your title tag off with your target keyword. So why is this important?

Search engines pay close attention to the terms that you use and your title tag.

And this is why you want your keyword in your page title in the first place.

But what you may not know is that Google also puts more emphasis on words and phrases that show up earlier in your title tag.

So if it makes sense, start your title off with the keyword that you want to rank for.

For example, let's say that you're writing an ultimate guide to yoga stretching.

Your ideal title will be something like yoga stretching, the ultimate guide. Sometimes it's not possible to use your keyword that early on, because it will make your title tag look weird.

Yes, SEO is obviously important, but your title tag also needs to be useful for users to.

More on that later.

So if you're not able to start off your title tag with a keyword, no big deal.

Just include your keyword as early on as you can.

Your next step is to use internal linking.

Now this step couldn't be any simpler.

All you need to do is add a link from one page on your site.

To another page on your site.

Now that said you don't just want to add a bunch of random internal links.

Yeah. Random internal linking is probably better than not internal linking at all, but if you want to get the most out of your internal links, I recommend linking to other pages on your site that are closely related to your main topic.

For example, listen to you just published a tools of the trade post.

That lists the best productivity apps on the market.

Well, you'd want to link to other pages on your site about productivity like blog posts, and maybe even services pages if you offer that.

Finally optimize your page for user experience.

Improving our site's user experience can directly and indirectly help with your SEO.

UX can directly help with SEO because Google knows when people start Pogo sticking after landing on your site from the search results.

And if enough people bounce from your site to the search engine results, this tells Google that your result didn't give that searcher what they were looking for.

On the other hand, when people stick to your page on superglue, Google thinks this is a great page.

Which'll probably give it a rankings boost to make it easier to find.

User experience can indirectly help with SEO because people are more likely to share in link to user-friendly sites.

So if your site is hard to use uses intrusive popups and ads, and has a bunch of broken links, people probably aren't going to link to it, even if you have great content.

So once you're done with those three steps, I recommend running your content through the SEMrush SEO writing assistant.

This SEMrush feature analyzes your content and provides detailed recommendations on how you can optimize it even better.

So let's get into the details with a real life example.

Here's a piece of content that I'm currently working on.

Because I follow the ultimate guide template that we talked about earlier, my target keyword already appears on the page a few time.

And in my page title, but I'm still not a hundred percent sure if I'm checking off all of the on-page SEO boxes.

So I copy and paste my draft into the tool, specify my target keywords, and it'll start scanning my content for SEO improvements.

You can also import content from Google docs or import texts from a live webpage.

If your content is already published.

And as you can see, the tool gave me a number of suggestions that I could pretty easily implement to make my page better SEO optimized.

So go ahead and put any suggestions that make sense for you into practice.

And you're good to go.

In fact, that just about wraps up this lesson.

To quickly recap, you learn that publishing great content is ultimately the foundation of SEO.

But it's not enough on its own.

To succeed with SEO your content needs to be the type of content that gives users that answer to the question or a solution to their problem.

You also need to optimize that content so Google understands what your page is all about.

Looking ahead to the next lesson, lesson four, we're going to cover a super important part of SEO Link-building. See you then.

Link-building. See you then.