on 01/04/2022
Intro Page
Keyword research is at the top of the list when you’re trying to rank an article. Of course, next to the optimization and creation of valuable content that won’t only provide value to the reader, but is better than other pages competing for the same keyword.
With so many niches, industries, topics, and things to write about, marketing is not always as competitive as people think.
However, you should still do your best to not only write a great post but ensure that it has the chance of ranking even before you write it!
And how do you do that? You’ll learn that in this course and here’s what awaits you:
- Start with Jaaxy
- Going Beyond Jaaxy (SERPs)
- Who are your competitors
- Analyze Your Competition
- Get ideas and improve
- Work on your brand and social proof
Page 2: Start with Jaaxy
Jaaxy is a really great tool for a couple of reasons. It is very simple to use (no learning curve), it is quick, and it has plenty of tools to get ideas (if you don’t have any).
It provides a couple of stats on the keywords that are super important so it’s the perfect place to get started.
Therefore, go into Jaaxy and start doing your research. If you don’t know how to do your own research or you need any help, Kyle has a couple of great videos on how to take advantage of Jaaxy.
You want to find ideas and then find keywords for these ideas/categories.
This is where most people stop, but in this training, I’ll teach you how to take things further and really ensure that your website will be able to get on page 1 in Google (if not in top 3) – because, that’s what counts the most, right?
The best results come from being on the first page and near the top of the first page and that’s what we’re aiming for!
Some keywords can look really great in Jaaxy (such as the example keyword from the screenshot), yet there’s no possible way a smaller niche site can rank for it in the top 10 results.
Page 3: Going Beyond Jaaxy (SERPs)
Now when you have your ideas and possible keywords that looked great inside the Jaaxy, it’s time to check out the SERPs.
SERPs stand for Search Engine Results Pages so all you have to do is input your keyword into Google and see what pops up.
Even though most people focus on competitors, nowadays, that’s not enough.
Why?
Google has its own features such as the questions tab (known as People Also Ask), quick answers, ads, and even the video section.
These things are very useful for people who are in a rush and want quick answers. Some marketers are running away from keywords that feature these additions to the SERPs since it distracts users from visiting websites.
However, others don’t run away from it as long as they’re confident that they can end up in the top box, answers, or in the top story.
It all depends on the keyword’s competition and that’s why it’s important to check this up-front and then continue researching the keyword in question.
Ideally, you can write down keywords that feature these additions so you can reconsider the use of keywords after the in-depth keyword research we do in the next two steps.
Page 4: Who are Your Competitors
Now that you’ve already checked your keyword and you’re on the SERPs, the next thing you should do is to check your competitors.
Who are your competitors that are ranking for the same keyword you’re interested in? Are these websites just like yours or they’re anything from commercial websites, stores, info pages, to forums?
It’s no secret that official brand pages and shopping pages coming from eCommerce stores are really hard to outrank in some situations.
However, if you see similar niche sites to yours, this is a great sign! If they’re ranking, so can you without having any issues outranking “the bigger players”.
For the keyword, I used as an example: “What is a MacBook Pro” the things are not looking good. After all Google additions, the results are either the official Apple pages, or the pages coming from the “big players” such as MacWorld, PCMag, MacRumors, LaptopMag, and NYTimes.
Even though it’s not impossible, these pages are harder to outrank and it will take a lot longer time. Until you build out a website that can compete with these “big players” on the same playing field, you should focus on ranking for low-competitive long-tail keywords that you won’t have any problems ranking for.
But this is a perfect example of how you should always re-check the results you get from Jaaxy. Jaaxy says the QSR is only 22 but you will have a hard time trying to rank in the top 10 results.
Page 5: Analyze Your Competition
If you find a keyword that looks good in SERPs and you think you would have a decent chance of ranking high for the keyword, the work doesn’t stop there!
In fact, you should go on and analyze your competition further. Why?
If they appear in the top 10 results, they must be doing something right. Therefore, check their posts to see how good did they cover the topic, how many words did they have to use, how well did they optimize the post for the main keyword, how many comments do they have, what is their social proof like, and even how many backlinks they have to this page.
For example, if your competitor has a fairly new website, they didn’t really optimize the post for the keyword well (there’s room to improve), they don’t have any comments, they don’t have much social proof, and they didn’t get any backlinks to the post – you’ll have a high chance of ranking for the keyword.
I always try to find at least 3-4 websites (out of 10) that didn’t really optimize their post for the main keyword, that could’ve covered the topic better, and that don’t have many backlinks/comments.
This ensures an even playing field and a higher chance of ranking the keyword rather than just writing a post and going against some of the biggest competitors in your niche.
For example, the keyword I used as an example wouldn’t really be the keyword I’d want to try and rank for at this time.
Page 6: Get Ideas and Then Improve
If you like what you found doing your research and you really believe you have the chance to rank high in the SERPs for the keyword and you can easily outrank your competitors – it’s time to get down to work!
The research doesn’t stop here!
You can get ideas from Google by checking what people also search for and what questions people frequently search for. This will give you ideas of what you can cover and include in your article.
It’s also a good idea to get ideas from your competitors but never copy and always try to improve the article or cover it from your own angle so your post is the most valuable post on the topic, no matter how big or small the topic is.
Page 7: Get Social Proof
No one knows exactly how search engines work and what’s the algorithm behind them like. Even though we can’t tell how search engines such as Google rank pages, everyone knows that they’re doing their best job to rank the highest quality websites and posts at the top.
Therefore, other than having quality content, you must have social proof too. Comments are the easiest way to get started and Wealthy Affiliate has a great way to exchange comments with other Wealthy Affiliate members.
On top of that, adding a call to action and ask people to share your post or comment on your post (inside the post) is also a great way to get people to help boost the credibility of your post.
If search engines notice that your post is being shared across social media, it is getting comments, and even other websites are linking to your post from their websites – this is definitely going to leave a good impression and help you rank higher.
Of course, you don’t need to spend a lot of time only getting social proof. Focus on producing quality posts and people who find it valuable will take a minute of their day to spread the good word about your website or your post. It’s as simple as that!
Conclusion Page
Jaaxy is a great keyword research tool, but you shouldn’t put all your eggs into one basket and only rely on one tool.
Just the way people make mistakes, tools can also be inaccurate or “tell” a different story about a keyword. Therefore, you should always take time to do in-depth research of the ranking results, your competitors, and even come up with ways to create even more valuable results.
From there, work on promoting your post and see how search engines and readers react to it and improve from there!
How often do you do in-depth research before writing and how much time do you spend doing it?
