SEO: Is it the Beginning or the End of Your Content Research

If you work with an SEO specialist, they'll tell you that you shouldn't write a single word without SEO in mind. If you work with a "regular" content writer, they'll tell you that SEO should be no more than an afterthought. It's thought leadership that matters.

As always, the middle ground is the healthier approach. I've seen great results with both flows. Here's what each of them should look like.

You Want to Start Your Research with SEO

Totally doable!

1. Find a keyword that has a decent volume and is related to your industry. I always advise using long-tail keywords. They are easier to match with user intent and, of course, easier to rank for.
2. Does that keyword align with your readers' interests? If not, it doesn't matter if you rank for it or not, you'll get a low CTR and zero conversions.
3. Does that keyword align with your business goals? This is a big one: can you tie everything together: ranking opportunity, user interest, and your own business goals? If not, go back to 1. again.

A personal example: for my agency, I wanted to rank for "hire SEO copywriters". Let's go through the checklist:

1. It's fairly easy to rank for, especially if you've got the domain authority to back you up -- check!
2. It does align with our readers' interests; they are looking to hire SEO copywriters -- check!
3. It does align with our business goals; we are looking for people who are looking for SEO copywriters -- check!

This is how 6 Mistakes to Avoid at all Costs When You Hire SEO Copywriters came to be. It's an article we published back in 2017. It still ranks 6th for "hire SEO copywriters" and it still brings in leads five years later.

Mission accomplished. Let's look at the other approach now.

You Want to Focus on User Intent and Leave SEO Last

Surprise, surprise! This flow looks exactly like the first one, only it's in reverse. So, you'd start by putting your users' goals first:

1. What are your users interested in? Find a topic that's a high priority for them, that solves a need or answers a question.
2. Does that topic align with your business goals? For instance, can you sell them a product or a service that solves their problem?
3. Find a keyword that's related to that topic, has a decent volume and it's fairly easy to rank for.

Example time: a few years ago, we started getting a lot of inquiries for conversion copywriting. So the user need identified itself -- we didn't need to do extra research for it.

The match with our business goals was also obvious: we sell CRO copywriting services.

The keyword was also fairly easy to identify: CRO copywriting is one of those rare gems: it's short, but also easy to rank for (or, it was at that time). The result? CRO Copywriting: Your Guide to Copy that Converts Like Mad is an article that ranks #2 for CRO copywriting and #1 (!) for CRO copy.

User Intent Always Beats SEO

You probably saw that what these two approaches have in common is the user intent, followed closely by your business goals. When these two boxes are ticked, SEO falls right into place.

And it's the best kind of SEO -- the kind that doesn't just bring traffic and 1-second visits; the kind that brings users that are ready to move to the next step aka relevant, ROI-bringing traffic.

So, whatever approach you choose, make sure you focus on these two things. The keyword research and your subheadings are far less important.