Demand Curve - The Growth Newsletter #168

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The Growth Newsletter #168

Actionable ways to get more out of your SEO articles

I hope you all survived the various April Fool's campaigns this year.

My favorite was definitely Häggis-Dazs by Aldi. If you can top it, reply and let me know.

But let's dive into how to revamp and get more from your SEO articles.

– Neal

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Actionable ways to get more out of your SEO articles

Insight from Tim Hanson of penfriend.ai

SEO articles are not “one and done.” It’s an iterative process that depends on how well the article is ranking and its trajectory.

First, evidence of WHY you should consider this:

SEO expert Tim Hanson updated some stale articles when he discovered they were trending downwards. You can see the difference they made (blue arrows indicate when he updated):

Tim’s process:

1. Pop up Search Console every quarter.
2. Go through all your articles that are at least a few months old. Find articles that are trending downward and add them to a list.
3. For each page on the list, apply the below changes depending on their current rank.

Ranking 1-7 and getting traffic

These are the articles doing well. They rank for their target keywords and get a decent number of eyes and clicks. Once an article gets 100+ visitors a week, change your goal from SEO increases (views) to conversion increases (sign-ups, purchases).

Consider things like:

• Adding CTA’s/signups/relevant next blogs
• Adding videos to go deeper
• Creating lead magnets and content upgrades
• Potentially adding more context to the article
• Do not fundamentally change the concept of the content.

Google has placed it high for a reason. It's usually the “feel of the whole blog.” Don’t change that. Changing that often results in losing rank.

Position 8-25

Content ranking here is on the right track, but needs a little something extra.

Often, the article does not address the actual search intent.

Why are people searching for what they’re searching for? Are you actually answering that question or just addressing it? Are you answering their next question?

You’ll want to add things like:

• Core keyword in the H1/H2’s. You’re likely missing it
• Shorter paragraphs and bullet lists to making skimming easier (improve readability)
• More internal links
• More focus on the key search intent
• Expanding further to answer their “next question”

Pos 25+

Assuming the blog is at least a few months old, it’s likely stuck.

The most common reason it’s stuck is that it doesn’t match the search at all—it’s not even close. Take a deeper look at the page's ranking for the keyword you’re going for. See what patterns they all follow.

How do they talk about the keyword/keyphrase you’re trying to rank for? You’re likely missing something obvious that 5+ pages on the SERPs are doing well.

The second most common reason you’re not ranking is likely word count. Check the average word count and make sure you’re matching that average. Unfortunately, shorter is not usually considered better in SEO.

Pos 50+

If you’ve held this position for your core keyword for 6-12 months. You likely need to rewrite the whole thing. No one is ever going to see this page otherwise.

Quick note

The problem with content marketing is that every time you publish something, you're giving yourself future homework to edit and update it in the future—especially if it's about topics that shift and update frequently. This can become quite unwieldy quickly.

It's one of many reasons we recommend less, but better content.

Some SEO resources

• Our past and future tactics about SEO and Content Marketing.
• Newsletters/blogs from SEO creators like Kevin Indig, Eli Schwartz, Backlinko, and Marie Haynes
• Some of our fave SEO tools: ahrefs, Semrush, Exploding Topics, and Surfer.

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Something fun

A great (fake) ad by George Mack (aka the Ad Professor). It's also a cool content strategy for someone running an ads agency :)

How we can help you grow

• Read our free playbooks, blog articles, growth guide, and teardowns—we break down the strategies and tactics that fast-growing startups use to grow.
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Thanks, everyone! We'll be back this Friday <3

Neal O'Grady

Justin Setzer