Procedure for Creating a Keyword Topics List in Content Marketing

1. Understand Your Target Audience

• Buyer Personas: Start with your client avatars to understand their needs, interests, and problems.
• Audience Questions: Identify common questions your audience asks related to your industry.

2. Brainstorm Initial Topics

• Core Topics: List broad topics relevant to your business (e.g., for a digital marketing agency, topics might include SEO, social media marketing, content creation).
• Subtopics: Break down core topics into smaller, more specific subtopics (e.g., for SEO, subtopics might include keyword research, on-page SEO, link building).

3. Generate Seed Keywords

• Initial Keywords: Come up with basic keywords related to each subtopic (e.g., for link building, initial keywords might include “backlinks,” “guest posting,” “link building strategies”).

4. Use Keyword Research Tools

• Google Keyword Planner: Offers keyword ideas and traffic estimates based on actual Google search data.
• Ubersuggest: Provides keyword suggestions, search volume, and competition data.
• Ahrefs Keyword Explorer: Offers in-depth keyword analysis, including search volume, keyword difficulty, and related keywords.
• SEMrush: Comprehensive tool for keyword research, including competitor analysis and keyword difficulty.
• AnswerThePublic: Generates keyword ideas based on common questions and queries related to your seed keywords.

5. Analyze Competitors

• Competitor Websites: Analyze the keywords your competitors are ranking for by using tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush.
• Content Gap Analysis: Identify keywords your competitors rank for but you don’t, helping you find opportunities.

6. Expand Your List

• Long-Tail Keywords: Use keyword tools to find long-tail keywords (specific phrases that are longer and more targeted).
• Related Searches: Check the “People also ask” and “Related searches” sections on Google’s search results for additional keyword ideas.

7. Evaluate Keyword Metrics

• Search Volume: Check how often a keyword is searched each month.
• Keyword Difficulty: Assess how hard it will be to rank for a keyword.
• Relevance: Ensure the keyword is relevant to your content and audience.
• Intent: Understand the search intent behind the keyword (informational, navigational, transactional, commercial).

8. Organize and Prioritize Keywords

• Topic Clusters: Group keywords into clusters based on related topics.
• Priority: Prioritize keywords based on relevance, search volume, and keyword difficulty.

9. Create a Keyword Strategy Document

• Keyword List: Document your keywords in a spreadsheet, including metrics like search volume, difficulty, and intent.
• Content Plan: Develop a content plan that outlines how and where each keyword will be used (e.g., blog posts, landing pages, FAQs).

10. Monitor and Update

• Performance Tracking: Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to monitor the performance of your keywords.
• Regular Updates: Regularly update your keyword list based on new trends, changes in search behavior, and performance data.

By following this procedure, you can create a comprehensive keyword topics list that drives targeted traffic and supports your content marketing goals.