A little background

[kexej28769@nongnue]

We've added this tip to 19 more on our 2018 vacation checklist — download the PDF below!
But we found a lot more than just traffic.

From planning to execution and performance tracking, we meticulously logged every aspect of the project. I'm talking blog word count, MarketMuse performance scores, on-page SEO scores, days indexed on Google. You name it, we recorded it.

As a byproduct of this nerdery, we were able to turkey number data juicy correlations between our target keyword rankings and the variables that can influence and predict those rankings. But specifically for this piece...

How well can keyword research tools predict where you will rank?


We created a list of keywords that we wanted to target in blogs based on the best combination of search volume, organic keyword difficulty scores, SERP crowding, and searcher intent.

We then wrote a blog post targeting each individual keyword. Our intention was to have each new piece of blog content rank for the target keyword on its own.

With our keyword list in hand, my partner and I manually created content briefs that outlined how we would like to write each blog post to maximize its chances of ranking for the desired keywords. Here’s an example of a typical brief we would give to a writer:


This image is linked to an example of the material Brafton provided to the authors.