![keyword target](//images.ctfassets.net/vwq10xzbe6iz/7HEA3vbcmPKhrOiQ2nYt61/be2249e4d1d5223a3ad6e3d997e7b171/keyword_target.png)
SEO content marketing is a powerful strategy startups can use to capture sales leads and new customers from people researching solutions to their problems. 

The universe of people searching for an answer to a use-case that a product can help solve far exceeds those searching for the features or benefits of the product itself.

However, one of the most difficult parts of finding good SEO content topics to write about is knowing what to write about and where to start. This is where SEO keyword research can assist.

Keyword research is used to find out within the Google search engine what questions people are asking and how many people are asking it on a given monthly basis.

Here are 5 tactics for picking topics that drive demand generation:
1. [Brainstorm](#brainstorm):  How to brainstorm use-cases
2. [Pick Keywords](#pick-keywords): SEO Keyword Planner tool tips
3. [Assess Competition](#assess-competition): Competitor content assessment framework
4. [Frame Content](#frame-content): What to write about
5. [Measure & Track](#measure-and-track): Topic goal tracking template

Imagine we are a B2B startup with a product that helps customers perform food safety checks in the manufacturing sector.

### <a name="brainstorm"></a>1. How to brainstorm use-cases
Bad SEO content strategies often focus on highly competitive or low volume search topics related to product features and benefits. Good SEO content strategies focus on the use-cases and struggle of the user leading up to the need to use the product or service.

| 👎 Bad SEO Content Topics     | 👍 Good SEO Content Topics     |
| ---------- | ---------- |
| The Best Food Safety Software       | HACCP Food Safety Hazards       |
| How Food Safety Software Saves you Money       | GMP Food Safety Audits   |
| Food Safety Photo Sharing and Digital Tracking Features | Template Food Safety Logs |

Start by brainstorming a list of specific use-cases and tasks that your customers would use either your product or their existing solution for (e.g. even if it’s paper or spreadsheets). Pull out general keyword ideas.

| Use-case     | Keywords     |
| ------------ | ---------- |
| Spotting and recording food safety hazards       | Food safety hazard, contamination, hazard types, salmonella, thawing, violations       |
| Preparing for food safety regulatory audits       | HACCP, GMP, CCP, ISO22000       |
| Managing food product recalls       | Food recall, food outbreak       |
| Food safety prevention       | Food safety control measures, food safety program and training       |

### <a name="pick-keywords"></a>2. SEO Keyword Planner tool tips
Enter your list of brainstorm use-case keywords in [Google Keyword Planner](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7337243?hl=en-AU) and record the monthly search volume. Keyword Planner is a free tool built by Google to assist marketers with conducting paid google search campaigns. You can get free access to it by signing up for a free [Google Ads account](https://ads.google.com/intl/en_AU/home/#!/). 

![keyword planner](//images.ctfassets.net/vwq10xzbe6iz/3W21OY8PVYFnz72hcCgdKn/05fdc98c3f88cb549d0648a847daff24/keyword_planner.png)

The important properties and metrics include:
- __Keyword (by relevance)__: list of exact keyword searches that broadly match the term you searched including other keyword ideas that Google identified based on people’s search patterns
- __Avg. monthly searches__: Google’s estimate of the total average monthly searches for that specific term based on the selected location. Very low search volume is likely to yield low results even if your content ranks whilst high search volume is likely to be highly competitive and will be difficult to rank for
- __Competition__: how competitive a term is in terms of paid search. High competition keywords will likely be dominated by paid search ads at the top of the search results, meaning even if you rank you will likely achieve low click through rates
- __Locations__: country and region for the search volume. Narrow this down for your core regions where you are targeting potential customers or a specific topic 

[Google Trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/) can also be a helpful tool as a leading indicator as to whether a keyword term is trending higher or has recently broken out. In the example below we can see that kinder salmonella has been a breakout term and could be a case study topic for customers to learn about. 

![google trends](//images.ctfassets.net/vwq10xzbe6iz/7xAIsakmODo3zx9IXyEVrU/79748b017194a175fc200b12db88f0d0/google_trends.png)

In a spreadsheet, create a list of your keywords including the avg. monthly searches, competition and general trend.

In our food safety example above, we follow the systematic approach and come to the following conclusion: “__HACCP Plan__” will be the target keyword we should research and write content on:

| Exact Keyword     | Avg. Monthly Searches     | Comments     |
| ---------- | ---------- | ---------- |
| Food safety       | 60,500       | 👎 Broad term covering restaurants, at home, manufacturing. Google may only pick 1 or 2 manufacturing specific results for page 1 given how broad the term is       |
| Food safety manufacturing       | 70       | 👎 Relevant to manufacturing food safety standards but search volume is too low       |
| HACCP       | 246,000       | 👎 Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is certification of a food safety management system that food manufacturers follow. However, it is quite competitive with lots of great regulatory content on it already. Will need to write lots of amazing content to outrank       |
| HACCP Plan       | 8,100       | 👍 Bingo. The specific plan that is written to implement HACCP certification. Medium competition, not amazing content on a HACCP Plan.       |

### <a name="assess-competition"></a>3. Competitor content assessment framework
Google has one job: 
> “To match a person’s question being searched for with the best possible answer”

After you have determined the keyword is worth chasing after (e.g. sufficient volume, the right audience and where your product could offer a solution related to that use-case) you will need to evaluate the current ranking content to determine what content you will be competing with.

#### How to view competitor pages in the relevant region
Google tailors its search results to individual browsing history and specific localised region. You will need to use Google’s free [Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool](https://ads.google.com/aw/diagnostic/AdPreview?ocid=97975120&__c=7032476880&__u=2081691172&authuser=1&__o=kp&lang=en&loc=9060914&device=30001) to preview competitor search results as it would most likely appear to your target customers.

![adnetwork](//images.ctfassets.net/vwq10xzbe6iz/1Qs3FWJsvp6ataujgFVh5y/7303672f510529687a187e5c4b6aa2f2/adnetwork.png)

Go through each page and assess for the following:
- __Audience__: is this audience right for our solution? 
- __Authority__: is the writer a high authority figure on the topic? Regulatory agencies will be more difficult to beat, however not impossible if the content is of low value
- __Relevance__: is the answer relevant to the question being asked? Is it still timely or has not been updated in a long time?

In assessing the top search result for our keyword example: HACCP Plan

| Category     | Competitor Assessment     | Good Fit     |
| ---------- | ---------- | ---------- |
| __Audience__       | Good fit audience likely food safety officers       | 👍       |
| __Authority__       | US FDA ultimate authority hard to beat       | 👎       |
| __Relevance__       | Long set of legal regulatory guidelines, difficult for people to digest and understand.        | 👍       |

The audience is a good fit with a relevance to our solution but the competing authority is very high. However, given the highly technical nature of the page there exists an opportunity for us to create better content summarising the key aspects of the HACCP Plan that would be more digestible for a non-regulatory audience. 

Following the competitor assessment and before framing a topic, ask yourself: 
*“Can we write a piece of content within the time constraints that would be better than these pages”? *

### <a name="frame-content"></a>4. What to write about
Frame your content to ask the who, what and why of your customer’s struggle related to the keyword. In our example for the keyword: "__HACCP Plan__"

| Question     | Answer     |
| ---------- | ---------- |
| Who is the target audience?       | Food safety officers working in food manufacturing       |
| What questions would they ask?       | How to develop a HACCP Plan       |
| Why are they asking this question?       | Preparing information and processes to provide to food safety auditor to comply with HACCP       |

With the target customer, struggle and intent established we can propose a title and meta and see how it would compare against the first page results (in essence our book cover).

Proposed title and meta for our content:

__How to Develop a HACCP Plan - Preparing for Audit__
*What is a HACCP Plan? What information to provide to HACCP auditors? Choosing the right food safety management software to document your records.*

This can then be added to the content management plan for further detailed research and content drafting. [See my previous article for a detailed guide on how to write SEO content](https://mannhowie.com/how-to-rank-without-backlinks).

### <a name="measure-and-track"></a>5. Topic goal tracking template
After publishing your content (via your web CMS), request for the page to be indexed via Google Search Console ([click here to learn how](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/crawling/ask-google-to-recrawl)). 

Track the content published in a spreadsheet with the following columns:
- __Exact Keyword__: the name of the main keyword we are targeting (e.g. HACCP Plan)
- __Avg. Monthly Searches__: from Keyword Planner above (e.g. 8,100)
- __Date Published__: date article was published and google search index request made
- __URL__: url of the content page

It will take a few weeks for Google to start gathering search performance data on your newly published page. Use Google Search Console to track the organic performance of your pages by entering the specific URL.  
![search console](//images.ctfassets.net/vwq10xzbe6iz/1VSax2eXPQT4BoofYrZ5vC/277c852f990ce053e518dc2a3364dddc/search_console.png)

The important properties and metrics to understand are:
- __Clicks__: organic unique SEO visits to your page during the date range
- __Impressions__: number of times your page has come up in search query results
- __CTR__: % Click Through Rate being Clicks / Impressions (i.e. the % of people who clicked on your result upon seeing it on the page against other results)
- __Position__: the average position ranking of your page across all queries

Track these results in your same spreadsheet and follow the discipline of benchmarking and measuring the results of your content pages against your original keyword targets. Review your results at the end of each quarter to identify whether further content optimisation is needed to improve the relevance of your pages, or optimisation to the title and description may increase your CTR, or whether further content improvement is required to reflect change in competing pages.   

#### How long does it take to rank
Established websites with high quality pages should begin to rank on page 1 globally within a month and achieve top 3 ranking within 3 months. You can expect this to take longer if you have a newer website that has not published much content.

__Organic weekly traffic of pages published in December (redacted private data)__
![Screen Shot 2019-05-01 at 9.50.46 pm](//images.ctfassets.net/vwq10xzbe6iz/2jbNMVJbLPFob5wK2s7o4c/bfe8e57a46a652465520213df77392f3/Screen_Shot_2019-05-01_at_9.50.46_pm.png)


5 tactics for picking topics that drive demand generation. 1) How to Brainstorm Use-Cases; 2) SEO Keyword Planner Tool Tips; 3) Competitor Content Assessment Framework; 4) What to Write About; 5) Keyword Goal Tracking Template 

How to Target SEO Keywords for Demand Generation - A Content Marketing Playbook

> *TLDR; Google’s job is to match the best content to the relevant question. If an answer is better, then it should outrank. Backlinks should be a reflection of, not a source of ranking.*

Do you need SEO backlinks to rank? The answer is no. Here is an SEO Content Template and framework to show you how. Without creating backlinks, we built SEO to be our largest acquisition channel for a world class B2B SaaS company.

By the end of this article you will learn:
- 👈[What are Backlinks?](#what-are-backlinks)
- 🚀[How we Built Huge SEO Traffic Without Backlinks](#how-we-built)
- ✔️[3 Simple Steps to Follow](#3-simple)
- 📥[Download SEO Content Template](#framework)
- ⌛[How Long Does it Take to Rank?](#how-long)
- 🤔[Do Backlinks Still Matter?](#do-backlinks-matter)

📥<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yq7iLrVDq5oWBLXzLw4ZftvnMHFrqYhzJ7amuK87is4/edit" target="_blank">Skip the article and download the SEO Content Template we use to write SEO content that ranks.</a>

## 👈<a name="what-are-backlinks"></a> What are Backlinks?
Let’s start with some background. Backlinks are external websites that link back to your webpages. They occur when others cite you or refer to you as something of interest to their readers through a hyperlink. 

Backlinks formed the basis of Google’s patented [PageRank algorithm](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/37/a9/18/d7c46ea42c4b05/US6285999.pdf) (named after founder Larry Page). The invention ranked the importance of a webpage not just on the number of citations it had, but on the importance of those citing pages.

#### Google PageRank Patent Filed 9 Jan 1998
[![Google PageRank patent](//images.ctfassets.net/vwq10xzbe6iz/4fep3mpwZl6DRj1fZGtXNT/25e1f20de062f2c0d279811248c80056/unnamed.png?h=300)
](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/37/a9/18/d7c46ea42c4b05/US6285999.pdf)
> The rank assigned to a document is calculated from the ranks of documents citing it. This implies a recursive definition of rank. In addition, the rank of a document is calculated from a constant representing the probability that a browser through the database will randomly jump to the document. 

Then the world changed forever. Fast forward 20 years and today Google answers over [3.5 billion](http://www.internetlivestats.com/google-search-statistics/) questions daily and has become the information portal for the human race (minus China). People globally are actively using Google to find information and make important decisions.

How well you rank on Google can be a determining factor in your audience reach and success.

## 🚀<a name="how-we-built"></a> How we Built Huge SEO traffic Without Backlinks
I had the privilege and joy to build and lead the SEO team for [SafetyCulture](http://safetyculture.com/), a global B2B SaaS startup with a mission to improve safety and quality in the global workplace. 

Within 12 months we turned a virtually non-existent SEO presence into our largest and fastest growing customer acquisition channel and cut dependency on costly paid advertising to fuel growth. All without link building.

#### SEMrush organic US traffic for safetyculture.com (public)
![SEMrush organic traffic chart](//images.ctfassets.net/vwq10xzbe6iz/3sKDGJ1avIOLWzWonddpWY/8d09c396809791ac12afc250fb7b428f/Screen_Shot_2019-05-01_at_11.32.41_am.png?h=300)

With zero experience in marketing or SEO, I was overwhelmed by the countless guides, tools, hacks, tips and must-dos to rank in Google. I tried many link building strategies, but after  sending hundreds of spam emails only to get a handful of backlinks, I felt there must be a better way and went back to basics.

Google’s [stated mission](https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/mission/) is to: 

> organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Today, people around the world turn to Search to find information, learn about topics of interest, and make important decisions.

Google makes public the factors that determine its search quality ranking in this [164 page document](https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//insidesearch/howsearchworks/assets/searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf). Google contracts with over 10,000 search quality evaluators worldwide who use this document to rank the quality ranking of webpages to help power Google’s machine learning search algorithms.

Here are the 4 most important factors that Google uses to determine page quality ranking:
- __Purpose__ - how well does the page achieve its stated purpose vs the user intent
- __Quality of the content__ - is it factually accurate, well researched, clearly written and provides value
- __Authority__ - does the author and website have expertise and are they trustworthy
- __Functionality__ - is it mobile responsive, good UX, functionality and widgets all working

[PageRank](https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/algorithms/) remains an important factor, but namely from backlinks to high quality content that naturally gain popularity. 

[Google](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66356?hl=en) has this to say about backlinks:

> The best way to get other sites to create high-quality, relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can naturally gain popularity in the Internet community. Creating good content pays off: Links are usually editorial votes given by choice, and the more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it.

The next section will provide a framework for how you can create unique, relevant content that readers want.

## ✔️<a name="3-simple"></a> 3 Simple Steps to Rank
Here are the 3 simple steps our SEO team still uses to write targeted and high quality content
1. Find the Right Keyword to Target - Know Your Audience
2. Competition - What Have Others Already Said on the Topic
3. Write Great Content

💡To illustrate how to apply these steps, we will use the preparation and writing of this article itself as an example.

### 1. Find the Right Keyword to Target - Know Your Audience
This is the most important step. In order to write high quality content that achieves its stated purpose we need to understand who we are writing for and their intent.

- __Who - is the target audience?__ For this article, our audience is online and growth marketers and people working in tech startups
- __What - questions would they ask?__ How to create backlinks
- __Why - are they asking this question?__ What is the intent behind the question? What is the [Job To Be Done](https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be-done) from creating backlinks? In this case, it is to have content that ranks and drives traffic

From here we use Google’s [free keyword planner tool](https://ads.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/) to select the right keywords (questions) to target. In our case we know that users mostly search for `backlinks`, `seo backlinks`, `what are backlinks` etc. as opposed to `link building`. 

#### Google Keyword Planner Tool Snapshot
![Screen Shot 2019-05-01 at 4.44.47 pm](//images.ctfassets.net/vwq10xzbe6iz/34zMMRwzeV90S7ZydJks1I/f5dcd5ac29cba9fac639c273710db78c/Screen_Shot_2019-05-01_at_4.44.47_pm.png?h=300)
> ☝️General Rule of Thumb: Top ranking search results on average capture 30% of average monthly search volume (known as the Click Through Rate - __CTR__). So over time if this article were able to achieve a #1 ranking for the `backlinks` keyword that would represent a potential 15,000 global visits a month. The CTR falls exponentially as rankings drop. Very few visitors go beyond page 1 search results.

### 2. Competition - What Have Others Already Said on the Topic
To create a quality piece of content, we need to know what others have already said on the topic and determine if we can write something better. This is where many fall short and end up paraphrasing or writing content that is inferior to existing pages that rank. 

For our target keyword of `backlinks`, we must google and review the first page results to evaluate what has been said.

#### First Page Search Results for Target Keyword
![Google result for keyword backlinks](//images.ctfassets.net/vwq10xzbe6iz/QgLsTaayCrmL9bADStT1y/94796327e61195875a8dfe31ec6ad49b/Screen_Shot_2019-05-01_at_5.20.42_pm.png?h=300)

We see many definitive strategy guides on how to backlink and the importance of backlinking. As I have nothing more insightful to add to this topic I have opted for a contrarian response to the same question:

👉 *__How to Rank Without Backlinks: 3 Simple Steps [Free Framework]__*

### 3. Write Great Content
Now that we have a topic based on a target audience, intent and question, we can get to work. While it is still possible to write high quality content without being an authoritative expert (in fact it’s often easier) finding an author with expertise on the topic would rank content higher.

For this article I felt I have both the authority and experience to discuss this topic. There are basic online writing tips you can follow but never forget to empathize with the user. Don’t be selfish with your writing. Write for your user, deliver value, solve their problem.

## 📥<a name="framework"></a> Free SEO Content Template
On the topic of giving value to your users. I have created a Framework Template you can view, download and customize for your content. Our team uses this framework before researching and writing any piece of SEO content.

#### Download SEO Content Template
[![SEO Content Framework Template Screenshot](//images.ctfassets.net/vwq10xzbe6iz/5H9VRaQTV6pZrU1RCBVAj4/e9b849b2d8462a7bd5728d338b87219f/Screen_Shot_2019-05-01_at_6.26.34_pm.png?h=300)
](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yq7iLrVDq5oWBLXzLw4ZftvnMHFrqYhzJ7amuK87is4/edit)

## ⌛<a name="how-long"></a> How Long Does it Take to Rank Without Backlinks?
The ability to rank for keywords will depend on the relative competitiveness of your content. A piece of content that is better researched, articulated and solves the user's problem should rank well even without backlinks.

Our experience was that high quality pages would begin to rank on page 1 globally within a month and achieve top 3 ranking within 3 months. If we didn’t rank page 1 within a month then we would revisit the content, competition and user problem.

#### Organic weekly traffic of pages published in December (redacted private data)
![Amplitude chart](//images.ctfassets.net/vwq10xzbe6iz/2jbNMVJbLPFob5wK2s7o4c/bfe8e57a46a652465520213df77392f3/Screen_Shot_2019-05-01_at_9.50.46_pm.png?h=300)

However, if the competing content is of higher quality and has greater backlinks and authority ([use a free tool to check](https://moz.com/products/pro/seo-toolbar)), then you are unlikely to outrank others.

## 🤔<a name="do-backlinks-matter"></a> Do Backlinks Still Matter?
Yes, while not the deciding factor, the PageRank algorithm remains an indicator of a page’s authority. It should be used as an outreach tool to amplify high quality content you have already written.

Remember, time spent understanding your user and solving their problems is always time better spent. 

---
*Final note: Thank you to the amazing SafetyCulture SEO team for giving me the opportunity to lead, teach and work alongside all you beautiful humans 💖.*
#### SafetyCulture SEO Team Photo

![SEO Team Photo](//images.ctfassets.net/vwq10xzbe6iz/6XoDFOg6jR7SPmHsRiLHWC/e11229b0e3b39b59184e08ffcd2aadd0/IMG_20190308_160804.jpg?h=300)


What are backlinks? Do you need SEO backlinks to rank? The answer is no. Here is a framework to show you how. Without creating backlinks, we built SEO to be our largest acquisition channel for a world class SaaS company.

Howie Mann
Startup & Investing Advice
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Articles > seo (2)

How to Target SEO Keywords for Demand Generation - A Content Marketing Playbook

How to Rank Without Backlinks [Free Template]

Howie MannStartup & Investing AdviceAboutArticlesStocks

Articles > seo (2)

How to Target SEO Keywords for Demand Generation - A Content Marketing Playbook

How to Rank Without Backlinks [Free Template]

Howie Mann
Startup & Investing Advice
About Articles Stocks