6 Tactics to Write Posts You KNOW People Want to Read

Ben Sibley 3678 Views, ,
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Don’t waste your time writing the wrong blog posts. I’m about to show you 6 different ways you can write the exact content people are looking for.  Not only will this help you come up with all the ideas you need for new content, but it will also ensure that every post you write is a hit.

Lastly, these tactics will lead you to create content made to perform.  Each of these ideas will help you create posts that will perform well in the search engines as well as in the eyes of your readers. Now let’s get to business…

1. Search Meter

Search Meter is a WordPress plug-in that records all the search terms your visitors are using.  These are all of the queries that people search for with your site’s internal search bar. This is golden information because it’s the exact content that people visiting your site want to know more about. Watch for any common trends or popular topics being searched for and use this for your next blog post topic.  If you already have  content that people are searching for then make it more visible on your blog e.g. link to it more internally.

2. Google Analytics

Google AnalyticsUsing Google Analyics you can see the search terms that are sending people to your site and how much each term is sending. Did you Know: The search volume in Google’s keyword tool is usually wrong.  I have found Google to over-report search volume by up to 75%.  Are you willing to trust Google enough to pursue a keyword that will only deliver 25% of the traffic promised? (You can use SEMRush for free to get different search volume data, and if you have the $, I’ve heard good things about WordTracker) My point: Instead of trusting it, rely on real data that you are getting.  Those terms that give you 2 hits a month you never optimized for will get you more when you create a post optimized for them. The other perk to targeting these keywords is that you can often rank highly (even #1) without a single backlink needed.  Talk about strong ROI! You can milk this data for new post ideas and rankings over and over again.  As you add new posts targeting long-tail keywords you can use internal links with keyword-rich anchor text to increase rankings for other pages on your blog.

3. Tynt

Tynt’s main functionality is that it turns people who copy and paste your content into link builders.  It does this by automatically adding a link to the pasted content and a short, customizable attribution text. Mine just says: “[copied text] -SEO Discovery: http:posturl.com” For the purpose of this post, I want to point out the analytics that it provides.  Like Google Analytics, Tynt gives you a list of queries that sent search engine users to your site.  There are a lot fewer terms, but it helps to get more variation and another source of data. More importantly though, Tynt also shows you keywords that visitors are using to leave your site.  This is very useful data because like with Search Meter, you can figure out the content that your site is missing and then fill in that void.

4. Forum searches

Many VBulletin sites have a section at the bottom of each page that has the following phrase on it:

“visitors found this page by searching for”

This lets you know the various other search queries that landed visitors on each particular page on the forum. You can use the footprint in a search query along with your keyword to find a list of other relevant search terms to target in blog posts. Another way to approach this is to find a forum in your niche using this footprint and then do a Google search for that site in particular like this:

site:forum.com Your Keyword

5. SEO Search Terms Tagging 2 Plugin

First off, SEO Search Terms Tagging 2 is yet another way to discover search terms being used to reach your blog.  Once again, it’s useful to have numerous sources of data. The plugin will also add a list of the 10 most recent searches that landed visitors on your site at the end of each post.  I recommend disabling this part of the plugin.  Because a lot of people do NOT disable this part of the plugin, we can use the footprint. A lot of people who allow the plugin to show the most recent search terms sending them traffic leave the default title that appears above the keywords.  This title is “Incoming search terms”. You can use this search string to find more long-tail keywords:

“Incoming search terms” Your Keyword

When you use this footprint along with your keyword you will find blog posts that got traffic with your keyword or similar keywords.  This will help you find yet more ideas for new posts not to mention additional phrases to include and optimize your post with.

6. Question Targeting

question targetingThis last tactic has three parts:

Part I: Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest will automatically extract Google Suggest terms for you. In case you’re not familiar, Google Suggest terms are the ones that show up below the Google search bar while you type.  The terms that appear are heavily influenced by search volume so they are often decent keywords to target. Go to Ubersuggest and instead of just entering your keyword, use a similar keyword and use it like the beginning of a question. For instance, if your keyword is “blogging tips” then you might use a phrase like “how to blog”. This query reveals keywords that people are actively searching for such as “how to blog for money” and “how to blog on tumblr”.  Both of these examples would make for great blog posts.

Part II: Boardreader

Take these question-like keywords and enter them one-at-a-time into boardreader.com, a search engine for forums. By entering in these queries you can find people discussing these same questions. This will provide further insight into the kind of information people are looking for and will give you many new ideas for blog posts as well.  Also, you can always join the forums and link to a post after you write it for some quick traffic.

Part III: Topsy

Topsy is a social search engine. You can use it to find more instances of people Tweeting and discussing your search terms gathered from Ubersuggest. Using Topsy will provide you with a whole host of new, relevant sources of content. Besides helping you better understand what info people are looking for, you may also find some relevant pages to drop a link with a comment or other link building opportunities.

BONUS TOOL: I have one last tool to share with you, it’s called Soovle.  It’s a lot like Ubersuggest except it also checks the top ten suggest phrases for Amazon, Bing, Yahoo, Google, Wikipedia, and Answers.com.

Ben Sibley

Ben Sibley is the founder of www.seodiscovery.org. Ben shares actionable SEO content to help bloggers rank higher. You can download his link building ebook for free to learn how to get top rankings in Google and other search engines.

21 thoughts on “6 Tactics to Write Posts You KNOW People Want to Read”

  • Hy Ben,

    You just share an awesome article with us and plugins like Search Meter is really a dream product. I am already using analytic’s but this plugin can give me extra information which can help me write content that my blog visitors want.

    Thanks

    • Thanks Zeeshan, Search Meter is one of my new favorites.

  • There are certainly a lot of tactics out there to write creative, informative, and especially eye-catching posts. Google Analytics is a great resource! It reminds me of what Facebook has: Facebook Insights. Through Facebook Insights you can track the viewership of your page and study how and why fans interact with your page.

  • An amazing way to figure out what your readers want to read is with a little gem called KissInsights. I remember finding it nearly two years ago, and loving it ever since. With options such as directly asking viewers what they’d like you to write about next, it effectively tells you – without any doubt – what to write about next.

    Will have to check out the other plugin you mentioned. I think the ability to have complete control over my search bar on my website will be pretty nifty.

    • Joe,

      I’ve never used Kissinsights but it sounds like it would be a perfect fit to my list of tools here. I’ll have to try it out soon.

  • I vehemently hate Tynt’s services. It treats a site’s readers like criminals by automatically inserting the “read more” text with the URL attached, which I always have to go back and delete. So let’s use Business Insider, a Tynt subscriber, as an example. I want to tweet a link to one of their articles, so I go into Bit.ly and copy and paste the link into the shortener, and then I go to copy and paste the headline. But guess what? Since Business Insider considers me a criminal who’s trying to steal its content, it adds a redundant “read more” link into my Twitter/Bit.ly toolbar, which I then have to go and erase since I had already added the URL. This gets incredibly ANNOYING when you’re constantly using copy and paste all day to quote online articles. Sometimes I get so annoyed that I don’t even bother tweeting a link to the article. Tynt is essentially the DRM of the open web.

    • I don’t think they consider you a criminal, they just want to remind visitors who copy content where they got it. You are using the content responsibly, but other people may not originally plan on linking to the source (which doesn’t mean it’s with bad intent either).

  • This is a article is of great value to me as usual Ben.
    You’ve supplied me with a few new practical approachs to try.
    I am most interested in “Search Meter” and will spend more time with this.
    Soovie looks to be of immeasurable value too.
    Thanks a million for for the tips, keep it up please!

    • Thanks for the feedback Duffie, glad you enjoyed the post!

  • Hello Ben,

    Thanks for suggesting these tools or sites for getting the favorite hot topic that is rocking the earth. It always feels great when we are writing that content which you will be appreciated for or liked for. This is a great tactic to remain in the loop of important discussions.

  • Another valuable blogging tips that i believe would yield great results. Thanks Ben! If you want exposure, your key is the keyword!:) I didn’t know that Google’s keyword tool is inaccurate, now i know. Although, i am into SEMRush, great tool i can attest! Question targeting is an effective tactic by the way, usually when people type in what they want to find in search engines, most often than not, they would type it in a query form. Another great source where to find hot topics is Facebook.

  • Hi Ben,
    This is a great article, you have almost covered every aspect of writing post. Yet still I’m worried about keyword stuffing within articles, can you shed some light on that?

  • Thanks for the WordPress Search Meter plugin. I hadn’t heard of it before. Definitely going to check that one out when I get a chance. Hopefully it don’t use too many resources, but none the less I’ll have to take a peak.

    • Sure thanks for commenting Ray. It seems like Search Meter was the break-out hit from this article 🙂

  • I just like Search Meter. I think it is one of the great plug-in that will surely help me to target specific audience for my blog.. Though Tynt is not a better option..

  • Quite informative article – How to find keywords and choose a topic in demand.

    Thanks for various tools you have mentioned 🙂

  • Hey Ben
    Thanks for sharing this informative post. Search meter is something that looks very appealing to me. All the tactics you mentioned above are helpful and easy to use.

  • Hi Ben,

    You mentioned these are writing tactics, but I could say that these are SEO tactics also. Tynt is a tool that every writer should have to protect their content or spreading their word to out of your site..

  • Hi Ben . Indeed an informative share . Search Meter is undeniably a great plug-in that can attract target specific audience for my blog . Question targeting is an interesting tactic as people usually type what they are looking for it in a query form. This share of yours has answered so many questions I had in mind . Thanks .

  • Great article and advice, Search Meter is a tool that will be used by just about everybody that has read this article I believe. Obviously you want to know what people coming to your site are looking for or more importantly, how they got to your site.

  • Hey..
    wonderful artical..
    it will defiantly help me and other in writing post..
    thanx.. n keep going..

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