How to Nail Keyword Research in 15 Minutes [Skiing Niche]

Summary

In this video, Bo, the Director of SEO and Product Manager for Cluster AI, shares proven strategies for successful keyword research and SEO growth. Emphasizing the importance of quality content and a high publishing velocity, Bo explains how Cluster AI is used to group keywords effectively, streamline content planning, and enhance organic traffic. He details the process of creating informational content silos, leveraging keyword clustering to form topic groups, and avoiding tactics like backlinks, paid ads, and social signals. This approach has led to significant organic growth for several projects, including a project reaching half a million organic visits per month.

Takeaways

• 😀 The importance of publishing high-quality, informative content at a higher velocity to drive organic traffic, without relying on traditional methods like backlinks or paid ads.
• 😀 Cluster AI is a key tool for grouping related keywords and simplifying keyword research for SEO, ensuring better content structure and ranking opportunities.
• 😀 The speaker emphasizes the need to focus on informational content, such as 'how-to' guides, rather than product-based keywords, when conducting keyword research in a niche like skiing.
• 😀 Using keyword modifiers like 'who', 'what', 'how', 'when', 'could', and 'should' helps to narrow down keyword lists to just informational content.
• 😀 Excluding irrelevant keywords like 'jet ski' and 'near me' ensures that the keyword list is focused on the correct target audience, especially for informational content in the skiing niche.
• 😀 Cluster AI groups keywords based on search engine results, organizing them by relevance and volume, so marketers can create content pages that cover multiple related topics at once.
• 😀 By streamlining keyword research, it's possible to create large volumes of content quickly and efficiently, even with a website in a competitive niche with low domain authority.
• 😀 Every keyword grouping in Cluster AI corresponds to a page of content that needs to be created, helping SEO professionals plan their content strategy effectively.
• 😀 Topic clusters, or internal linking strategies, help to organize content and boost SEO performance by creating a network of interlinked pages covering related topics.
• 😀 The strategy of creating content silos—focused on specific verticals or subtopics—helps to organize the content and increase the chances of ranking higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Q & A

What is Cluster AI, and how long has it been used by the team?

Cluster AI is an in-house tool used for grouping and analyzing keywords. The team has been using it for over 15 months to enhance their SEO strategy, particularly for generating organic traffic from scratch without relying on traditional methods like backlinks, paid ads, or social media campaigns.

What is meant by 'publishing velocity' in the context of SEO?

Publishing velocity refers to the speed at which content is published on a website. In the case described in the script, the team published 200 pages over a six-month period. This high volume of targeted content contributed significantly to their SEO success.

What is the importance of focusing on informational content in keyword research?

Focusing on informational content allows the team to create content that answers specific user queries without focusing on products or services. This strategy was key in generating a list of keywords for a skiing niche project, which avoids the complexities of product-based searches.

What is the purpose of using keyword modifiers like 'who,' 'what,' 'when,' 'how,' 'could,' and 'should' in keyword research?

These keyword modifiers help to generate more specific, question-based keywords that are informational in nature. They guide the creation of content that answers common user questions, which is valuable for SEO as it aligns with the type of content people search for.

Why did the team decide to exclude certain keywords, such as 'jet ski' and 'near me'?

The team excluded keywords like 'jet ski' because they were unrelated to the skiing niche, and 'near me' because they wanted to avoid focusing on local search traffic, which wasn’t relevant for their broader informational content strategy.

How did Cluster AI help in narrowing down the keyword list for the skiing niche?

Cluster AI helped by grouping related keywords together based on search engine results. The tool then filtered and presented a refined list, enabling the team to focus on keywords with sufficient search volume and eliminating irrelevant ones, thus optimizing the keyword research process.

What was the outcome after importing 2,000 keywords into Cluster AI?

After importing 2,000 keywords, Cluster AI grouped them into clusters based on relevance and search intent. The team was able to identify the best possible keyword variations to target, reducing the effort needed for manual research and content planning.

What is the significance of grouping keywords into clusters, and how does it impact content creation?

Keyword clustering is crucial because it organizes related terms into groups that can be used to create specific content pages. Each cluster corresponds to a content piece that focuses on a main keyword and incorporates its variations, improving the chances of ranking well in search results.

How does Cluster AI determine which keywords should be grouped together?

Cluster AI analyzes the search engine results pages (SERPs) for each keyword, comparing the similarities and search intent behind the results. It then groups keywords together based on this analysis to form clusters that maximize SEO potential.

What advantage does the internal linking strategy offer when using Cluster AI's topic clusters?

The internal linking strategy takes advantage of topic clusters by ensuring that related content is interconnected. This enhances SEO by improving the flow of link equity within the site and helps search engines understand the site's structure and relevance of content.