SEO | 5 minute read
A step-by-step guide on how to plan your content for the upcoming year
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When preparing your SEO strategy for the upcoming year, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of creating fresh, new content. However, not all of your SEO efforts need to focus on new content. Before diving into creating new blog posts or pages, take a step back and review the performance of your existing content. Optimizing and refreshing what you already have can provide substantial returns. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to plan content for the upcoming year – starting with your current assets.
Step 1: Gather your existing content into a spreadsheet
The first step in optimizing your existing content is to gather all your blog URLs in one place. This allows you to analyze them effectively and track progress as you work through the next steps.
Tip: Screaming Frog is a powerful website crawler that can help you export all your URLs into a spreadsheet. It also provides other important details, such as page titles and meta descriptions, which are crucial for SEO auditing.
Step 2: Identify the best-ranking keywords for each URL
After exporting your URLs into a spreadsheet and connecting your data sources, the next step is to analyze the performance of each page and its target keywords. You’ll want to determine which keywords are currently driving traffic and ranking for each piece of content. Here’s how you can proceed:
Google Search Console: Enter each URL into Google Search Console to review which keywords the page is ranking for. Look for the queries that have high impressions but are not yet in top positions (positions 4-20).
Ahrefs: You can also use Ahrefs to find out which keywords are performing best for each page. This tool will help you identify primary and secondary keywords that are driving organic traffic to your content.
For each URL, ensure you add these key pieces of information to your spreadsheet:
Primary Keyword: The main keyword you want each page to rank for.
Secondary Keywords: Additional variations, long-tail keywords, or related terms.
Current Position: The current ranking position of your target keyword(s) in the search results.
Step 3: Audit each page and assign actions
Once you’ve gathered keyword data and performance insights, it’s time to audit each of your blog posts and decide on the best course of action. Assigning actions based on the audit findings will help you improve the overall quality of your content and SEO efforts. Here are the actions you should consider for each blog post:
Leave: Content that’s already performing well and has reached its full potential. These pages don’t need much attention but should still be monitored for any future opportunities.
Merge: If you have multiple pieces of content covering similar topics, it’s best to merge them into a single, stronger page. This avoids keyword cannibalization and creates a more authoritative, in-depth resource.
Delete: If a piece of content is outdated or no longer provides value to users, it’s time to delete it. Removing underperforming content will help improve your site’s overall quality.
Update: For content that’s outdated or underperforming slightly, make small changes to improve its ranking potential. Updating metadata, adding fresh information, or revising sections for clarity can yield significant improvements.
Rewrite: For pages that are underperforming drastically or that cover outdated topics, consider rewriting the content completely. A comprehensive rewrite with an improved structure, new information, and optimized keywords can dramatically boost performance.
Step 4: Prioritize and implement actions
In the first quarter of the year, focus on implementing these actions. Spending a few weeks refining and optimizing your existing content can help you get more out of your current assets and set the foundation for more content creation in the coming months. When prioritizing which content to focus on, aim to:
Target keywords in positions 4-20: These pages are in a good spot to move up with some tweaks. Focus on optimizing these pages first, as small improvements could move them to the top positions.
Look for high conversion potential: Identify pages that already drive traffic but have high conversion potential (such as leads, sales, or sign-ups). Updating these pages will help maximize ROI from existing content.
Easy improvement opportunities: Some pages may only require small adjustments to make a big impact. Look for low-hanging fruit—content that can be optimized with a little extra work, such as updating images, improving page load speed, or tweaking meta descriptions for better click-through rates.
What's next?
Planning your content for the next year doesn’t have to start with a blank slate. By optimizing your existing content, you can gain valuable traffic and increase your search rankings with minimal effort. Conducting a thorough audit of your existing pages, identifying areas of improvement, and implementing changes will help ensure that your content performs at its best, driving more organic traffic and supporting your goals. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you improve your search strategy.
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