How to scale your SEO? — 3 examples and 5 steps.
Learn 100% actionable strategies to scale your SEO results in ~ 6 minutes.
Hey, Rafiqul here. Welcome to the #101st episode of Content Marketing VIP, which delivers actionable insights, SEO case studies & free resources every other Monday.
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Over the past 2 years, I have analyzed 60+ successful websites to break down their SEO strategies.
Here’s the common pattern I found:
Most of these websites scaled their SEO results by creating repeatable content templates.
That means you use the same content outline template to create hundreds of pages targeting different yet similar keywords.
An example from a travel website’s standpoint:
Content Template: Best places to visit in {location}
Best places to visit in {London}
Best places to visit in {New York}
Best places to visit in {Los Angeles}
The same content template can be used to target hundreds of similar keywords like this.
Why does it make a difference in SEO?
You can build your topical coverage by covering dozens of pages under a similar topic
It’s easy to train your writer to become master of one template
You don’t need to create a content outline from scratch for every article- saves time and effort
More published content –> higher chances to target more keywords —> higher traffic —> more leads (when done strategically).
Super easy to scale as the structure and outline will be the same (in fact, you can turn mediocre writers produce great articles by training for one template at a time)
Here are some real-world examples of creating repeatable content templates:
Before I get started with all these strategies and steps, consider sharing this post with your friends and colleagues on social media.
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1. IIDE.co (Service business)
IIDE.co is a digital marketing training institute that gets almost ~ 200k organic visits per month (from Ahrefs) across ~ 7,000+ pages (according to site: feature).
Here’s what they do 👇
One of their key traffic sources is listicle blog articles targeting the following keyword template: Digital marketing courses in {location}
Some examples:
Digital marketing courses in {Bangalore} (1st position; 4.4k organic visits/ month)
Digital marketing courses in {Pune} (1st position; 2.5k organic visits/ month)
Digital marketing courses in {India} (1st position; 2.5k organic visits/ month)
In fact, they have published 1,100+ pages under the same content template.
Here’s their listicle post elements for this content type:
Introduction
Quick read (where they promote their course)
Comparison table for all courses
Course 1 (IIDE)
Course 2, and so on…
FAQs
Conclusion
You can check out these pages here: Bangalore | Rourkela | Jetpur
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
On a similar structure to this, I have trained my writer to write articles on a single template. This helped us to produce more content than ever (From 2/3 articles → 5/6 articles per week).
This is because the process and guidelines are almost the same for every article the writer produces. This also ensures the quality of each article as I created a detailed content template to follow.
2. BetterTeam (SaaS)
Betterteam.com is a hiring software that connects recruits and employees. Their website gets almost ~ 2M monthly organic visits across ~ 6,396 pages.
Here’s what they do 👇
Two types of content that BetterTeam(.com) focuses on primarily:
1/ {Job_role} interview questions
Page examples:
{Data science} interview questions
{Architect} Interview Questions
2/ {Job_role} job description
Page examples:
{Machine learning} job description
{Reporter} job description
In fact, they have targeted around 2,363 job profiles and created both ‘interview questions’ and ‘job description’ pages for each job profile.
Almost every article under these templates has the exact same page structure, content outline, and internal linking strategy.
{Job description} page template structure:
Introduction
CTA for free trial
Job description template for the position
Internal links (related job description pages)
{Interview questions} page template structure:
Introduction
CTA for free trial
4-12 interview questions for the position with answers
Internal links (related interview question pages)
Instead of writing 2,000+ word articles on these search queries, BetterTeam focuses on matching the search intent and delivering value as quickly as possible (low time-to-value).
3. AppSumo (app marketplace)
AppSumo is an app marketplace where you get discounted lifetime deals.
Here’s what they do 👇
Two types of blog content templates that help AppSumo drive leads and traffic are:
1/ {Product_name} alternatives
Page examples:
{Canva} alternatives
{Zoom} alternatives
Alternatives page structure
Introduction
Alternative 1 (best features, limitations, free trial, pricing)
Conclusion
2/ Best {Product_category} software
Page examples:
XX Best {Graphic Design} Software
XX Best {Animation} Software
Best software page structure:
Introduction
Software 1 (description, features, cost, best for:)
Software 2 (description, features, cost, best for:)
And so on…
Conclusion
So, almost all published under these two templates have the same content structure.
5 Steps to Implement Content Template
Now, let’s understand how you can execute a repeatable content template that drives traffic and leads (most importantly) for your brand.
Step 1. Understand business model
The first step is to really understand the business offerings, buyers’ journey and sales cycle. This will allow you to align your keyword research process with business value— so you can rank for high-buying intent keywords.
Step 2. Audience research
The more you spend time where your audience hangs out, the more you'll identify real challenges and questions. Start using Reddit, Quora, and even niche communities such as:
Hashnode (programmers)
IndieHackers (Startups)
Niche LinkedIn groups, etc.
Your idea is to find a common question pattern out of the conversations.
For example, I am running a tech career blog. And, one of the most common question types I found was: Is {field} a good career option in 2023?
This helped me to find 100+ keyword ideas with the same query type: Is {field} a good career in {location}?
Also, try other traditional keyword research strategies such as competitors’ keywords, and identify keywords using keyword modifiers (best, in, how to, etc.)
Step 3. Prioritize content templates
Your goal is not just to find keywords that bring the most traffic. Instead, your goal should be to target content plates targeting the bottom-of-the-funnel stage.
For example, check out the following two query types from an IT training institute standpoint:
How to become a data science engineer (Low-med business value)
Best data science courses (High business value)
In fact, I go deep with the prioritization of search query templates using multiple factors.
Here’s the sheet I’ve used for one of my clients (data and keywords are just for sample):
Step 4. Create a content outline for templates
Create the standard outline template that will be used for all of your pages. Also, I’d suggest taking your time and creating the content brief analyzing SERP, top ranking pages, and including headings/questions that solve their challenges.
Step 5. Group pages and build a hub
Once you've published 10-15+ pages under the query template, you should group them together and build a customized hub page.
For example, if one of your query templates is Best online {topic} courses, display all of these pages on the hub page.
This way, Google can understand and find all pages together and it improves the user experience.
That’s all, folks.
I hope this will answer most of your questions regarding how to scale your SEO using content templates. Still, have any doubts?
Reply back to this email. I will respond to your message.
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