Model for Winning SEO

SEO starts with user intent.

Essentially, everyone who types a query 

into Google’s search bar looking for something.

Regardless of the keywords they use, they have a specific intent. 

But that intent exists within the context of what they’re doing and what they want or need. Both the intent and the context are critically important for you to understand.

For example:-

If you’re targeting a keyword, you must understand the user intent and the context that’s behind the search. Ask yourself: What is the prospect searching for? Why do they likely want this information?

For example, if they’re typing in “historic bed and breakfast,” here’s what may be going on:

Intent = find a B&B

Context = anniversary is coming up 

The context is vital information, and you need to ferret it out because it will help you know what information to provide in your content.

Fortunately, the best research tool on the planet is easily accessible. It’s your brain. Think about your customers. What searches are they performing when looking for or using your product? Why are they searching for that information? Identify the keywords they’re likely using, then try to understand the intent and context around those searches. The idea is to anticipate their needs.

To help, do a quick Google search. Begin typing the keyword into Google and look at the autosuggestions Google provides. These suggestions are the most common searches related to the words you’re typing in, and from them, you can guess what people are looking for.

Asset and Channel

Once you know the information people are looking for and why they likely want that information, you need to build a unique asset for each of those needs.

This stage of the process is all about content creation. Before you start, ask yourself these questions:

● What keyword/intent am I targeting?

● What asset will satisfy that search?

● Where should the asset live?

Let’s say the query is, “start a vegetable garden.” The asset could be a blog post. Since people search for blog posts in Google, that’s the channel you’ll optimize for.

Optimization & Ascension

At this point, you’ve created the assets to address specific search queries, and you’re ready to upload them to their appropriate channels. 

Now it’s time to optimize it for each channel’s search algorithm and develop your customer ascension plan. For this, you’ll need to answer these questions: 

How will the prospect find this asset? What is the next step in the customer journey?

Traffic isn’t your end goal. Your ultimate goal is to create leads and sales. So you always need to tell visitors what their next step is, and those directions need to be built into the asset.

Most SEO training focuses solely on traffic. The goal is primarily to rank at the top of Google.

But as you can see, people are searching for information on multiple channels, so there’s no reason to limit yourself. If ranking on Page 1 for Google isn’t possible, ranking #1 on YouTube might be a better option.

And traffic isn’t the end goal. Conversions are. So think beyond traffic. Promote your ascension path within your assets, spelling out what they should do after consuming your content.