• Understanding the hierarchy of titles
  • H1, H1, H3, H4, H5, H6, and p (body) text.
• Do general research, keyword research, identify your subheadings, tee up and answer targets
  • This breaks it down to where you’re writing more like 4 smaller blog posts rather than one big one
  • We don’t want to just regurgitate everything else out there. If possible, we want to create new and authentic content
• Subheadings
  • Imagine they are little mini-articles in and of themselves.
  • Each subheading should be keyword rich
  • It should fit the overall outline and structure of the article.
    • Don't just throw together a bunch of keywords into subheadlines and write an article. It all needs to fit and make sense.
  • Do the subheadlines right after you do your keyword research. This is the part where you're really working to build out the outline.

• The answer target is ultimately how we get ranked for a "featured snippet"
• Example: It is the answer that pops up when you ask a question

• The Answer Target:
  • A short and concise answer that really nails the title's question or gets to the heart of what the article is about. It should be clearly stated within the very first sentence of the answer target. Ideally, within the first five words of the sentence.
    • Example:
      • Title: "Do fish sleep upside down?"
        • Wrong Answer Target: "While many fish have different sleeping habits, most fish sleep upside down." - this is NOT the way we want it because it doesn't answer the question within the first 5 words.
        • Right Answer Target: "Most fish sleep upside down. Many fish have different sleeping habits that vary based on size or type of water they are in."
  • Many times, your answer will come with caveats and "it depends," but, we still need to build the answer target to answer a direct question.
  • Google doesn't feature the "it depends" type language in the snippets. They show definitive answers. That's what we need.
  • Needs to be 300 characters in length. It's okay to have it just slightly shorter, say, 250 characters, but it cannot be over 300 characters.
  • Never put a yes or a no in the answer target
  • It should sound like an encyclopedia
• Secret words to use:
  • "As a general rule"
    • Example Answer Target (292 Characters) : "As a general rule, a serving of stuffing is about 1/2 of a cup per person. The average box of store-bought stuffing consists of about 6 servings. For every six family members or guests, be sure to buy one box of stuffing. Some guests might eat more, so prepare extra.
  • "X is"
    • Example Answer Target (260 Characters): "The average pancake is 4-inches in diameter and the serving size is four pancakes per person. When making pancakes for a crowd, it is important to make extra pancakes. It is also critical to know how many are planning to attend to have the correct measurements."
  • "There are"
    • Example Answer Target (260 Characters): "There are two major styles of pepperoni today. The regular one that is also known as the American style pepperoni and the traditional or better known as old world pepperoni."
  • Additional secret words:
    • In total
    • As a whole
  • Words to NOT Use: This would signal to Google that there are words before the term, so it won't use it as a featured snippet.
    • In conclusion
    • In summary

Biggest problem for many blog writers:

• They don't just spit out the answer. Don't do this. Get to the point, answer the questions at hand, and make it direct.

Finishing and rounding out your subheadlines:

• Keep the post recipe next to you and review it multiple times.
• Capitalize the first letter of each subheading
• Download Grammarly > Be sure to have your punctuation and grammar fixed as you go
• You should have your subheadings done at this point. But now, we’re going to perfect them before we start body content. 
  • Can the subheadings stand alone? Meaning, if Google decided to feature the subheading on a snippet, does it make sense?  
  • 1st Subheading: Ensure that this is dialed in to expound upon your answer target. 
    • Remember, we don’t necessarily need to have the answer target the exact way we want it yet, but you should at least know what it’s about and what it generally will say. 
    • If you need to make a change to the subheading because it doesn’t directly correlate to the answer target, that’s okay! Keep the original subheading, but maybe move it to a subheadine 2, 3, 4, etc… 
  • Subheadings 2-5:
    • Does the order of the subheadings make sense? Does it flow? 
    • Your subheadings should feel like baby articles in and of themselves
    • Now is the time we may want to rearrange these in order to fit the article flow
    • Does the wording make sense? Do we have keywords present where applicable? 
    • Now is the time to get these subheadings really dialed in so that we feel good about the overall outline of the article

• At this point, your subheadings should be dialed in enough to where filling in a couple of paragraphs per subheading should flow nicely. 
• If you’re having a hard time writing the descriptions, it’s possible that you may need to add additional subheadings. Remember, these should function as little baby articles. If you can’t come up with any description for it, you may also need to change the subheading entirely. 
• Our goal is to have at least a couple of paragraphs per subheading.
  • If you have more than 2 paragraphs, create a new subheadline to break up the content.

• Break up the text with line breaks. This is NOT an essay. Don’t ever have more than 3 sentences before a line break. 
• Things to help you fill out content:
  • Include data within the description
  • Include reasoning, definitions, quotes from experts (be sure to provide a source if so), nuances and anecdotes
• Make content skimmable
  • Use bullet points, line breaks, lists, tables, graphs, etc…
• Add relevant stock images
  • Don’t use copyrighted material from a google search.
  • You can pull images from these free websites:
    • Vecteezy
    • Freepik
    • Morguefile
    • Pixabay
    • Stockvault
    • Pexels
    • Picjumbo
    • Rawpixel
    • Reshot
• Add relevant videos from youtube
  • If you’re trying to explain something, a video might help! You can pull from any youtube account, but just be sure you’re maintaining a degree of professionalism within the post. 
  • Don’t embed an unprofessional video. 
  • Don't use a client competitors video.
• Dont fill with fluff
  • If you end up feeling the need to fluff it up, you likely need to do more research in order to come up with legitimate content.
• DO NOT PLAGIARIZE 
  • Here is an article on how to reference a source appropriately.

• Every article needs 3 links pointing to other places on our client's website
  • You will need to know your client's website and product/service.
  • Links to their service or location pages are ideal, but links to other blog posts are good too.
• Every article needs at least 1 link point to another website
  • You can have up to 5 links pointing to other articles/websites, but NO more than 5.

Updated Training for Interlinking

• All interlinks need to utilize keywords within the anchor text
• Anchor text is the text housed within a hyperlink. For example, the anchor text below is "best SEO company in Kansas city."
  • Ex: Best SEO Company in Kansas City
• When you're building interlinks within client websites, be sure to use keyword-heavy text that is correlated to the page's title tag.
  • For example, if you were creating a blog post for Modtub and needed to get in a location landing page link, you might utilize at the bottom of the blog a way to work in: "Take it from the best hot tub company in McKinney Texas - it’s worth it! If all you need is a hot tub to complete your backyard oasis, call Modtub today."
  • SEO how the anchor text utilizes the title tag info from that page and bakes in the keywords.
• Keywords within the anchor text for interlinks can help the website create more powerful authority.
• Note: You do NOT need to use anchor text when doing your exterior links to other websites.

• This isn’t a college essay. Write in a conversational but professional tone. 
• Speak to an individual reader, not a group of people
• Try to create stories and pictures in people’s minds as they read. But don’t overdo it, this isn’t a novel. 
  • Ex of what NOT to do: “Once upon a time…,” 
• Make your content simple - people are busy and just want answers. Give it to them. 
• Don’t be a perfectionist. We are shooting for an A-, not an A+

• Blog strategy 

• • We write for national search traffic, not to the client’s specific customers

• Blog post recipe

• • Download it, print it, know it like the back of your hand

• Building good subheadlines

• • Make them keyword rich
  • Make sure they flow with the article
  • Make sure each word is capitalized, except for prepositions (in, of, and…)
  • Understand the hierarchy structure of h1, h2, h3
    • In general:
      • Article header is an H1
      • Subheadings should be H2
      • Sub-subheadings should be h3
      • Body content should be “p”

• Answer Target

• • Revisit the answer target at the very end to make sure it’s simple, direct, and answers the overall thesis of the article. Make sure the answer is in the first sentence of the answer target.
  • Needs ot be 250-300 characters in length. Do not go over this.
  • Remember, we’re trying to get a featured snippet picked up
  • Utilize lists and numbered lists if needed
  • Remember your secret words:
    • As a general rule
    • X is
    • There are
    • In total
    • As a whole

• Body Content

• • Format it properly by using line breaks, images, videos, lists, tables, graphs, etc…
  • If you feel like you have to fill with fluff, change the subheading
  • Infuse with keywords when appropriate, but don’t keyword stuff just for the sake of it.

• Interlinking

• • 3 links pointing to other parts of the client’s website. 
    • Service pages
    • Home page
    • Other blog articles
  • At least 1 link pointing to another website
    • Don’t link to a direct competitor! 
    • An embedded youtube video is NOT a link to another website
    • You can have up to 5 links pointing to other articles/websites, but NO more than 5.
• Plagiarism 
  • Do not under any circumstance plagiarise. 
  • Your editor will use a very sophisticated tool to check for plagiarism. 
  • When you want to reference something, put it in quotation marks and give credit. Here is an article on how to do that
    • This is actually one of the best ways to get our external links

• Repetition produces skill

• • The more you do this, the more you’ll get it
  • Don’t feel discouraged if you don’t write a great first few articles. Keep at it. It will get better the more you do it. 
  • Writing ability is learned, not genetic. Anyone can be a good writer with good practice.