7. SEO & Keyword Research
If you have already done some work on your website’s SEO, you have probably done some keyword and competitor research to help you come up with a blogging strategy and a list of themes or keywords that you could target to get you in front of your target audience.
Why is keyword research important?
Keyword and competitor research are important to make sure you are creating content that your audience actually wants to read.
When it comes to creating quality content that’s going to rank well in search engines, the key is to write with your reader in mind. That means understanding what they are searching for, and what questions they want answered, and delivering that information to them in a well-thought-out article.
The great news is that there’s a high chance that a lot of the content that you’ll be creating is also great content to use affiliate links in.
You can also use your skills in content & keyword research to plan and optimize your affiliate blog posts. Doing thorough keyword research on a topic will help you find the best headings and subheadings to use in your content to increase your chances of the post being discovered in an organic search as well as being a resource for your existing clients (more on this in the next lesson).
For example, if you are writing a blog post on “outdoor wedding signs”, keyword research will help you discover that some other frequently searched terms are:
- DIY Wedding Signs
- Vintage wedding signs
- Wedding welcome signs
- Acrylic wedding signs
- Rustic wedding signs
- Personalised wedding signs
These can make up your subheadings in a blog post all about wedding signs, giving it a higher chance of ranking in organic search results.
Top Tools for Keyword Research:
If you want to learn more about SEO that’s specific to the needs of photographers, I highly recommend the course from Fuel Your Photos (yes, this is an affiliate link). I’ve purchased this course and often go back to it for updates, as these guys are two of the most up-to-date and knowledgeable people in the industry, and they make sure their content always stays relevant to the changes happening in the SEO world.
In the next lesson, we’re going to use your keyword research to start writing your first affiliate blog post (even before you’ve joined any affiliate programs).