How can you use SERP analysis to improve your content strategy?

SERP analysis is the process of examining the results that appear on search engines for a given query, keyword, or topic. It can help you understand what your target audience is looking for, what kind of content they prefer, and how you can optimize your own content to rank higher and attract more clicks. In this article, you will learn how to use SERP analysis to improve your content strategy in four steps.

1 Step 1: Identify your target keywords and topics

The first step is to identify the keywords and topics that are relevant to your niche, audience, and goals. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Moz Keyword Explorer, or SEMrush to find out the search volume, difficulty, and competition of different keywords and topics. You can also use tools like AnswerThePublic, BuzzSumo, or Quora to discover the questions, trends, and pain points of your audience. Once you have a list of potential keywords and topics, you can prioritize them based on their relevance, demand, and opportunity.

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Kevinson Libama

Local SEO Specialist | Copywriting | Helping you wake up to hot leads from GBP & website | Helped a local service business scale to 17 calls/day from GBP and get +1800 paying customers from a service page within 2 years.
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Here are some tips we use to rank for keywords on page 1 almost all the time: 1. Enable the MozBar Chrome extension and type your longtail keyword on Google. If the results on the first page have most URLs with a DA of 1-40, write content on that keyword, as it's easy to rank for it. 2. Use Reddit to uncover low-competition keywords. In the Google search bar, type this: site:URL of the subreddit "How do I". 3. Use the zero search volume technique. When using keyword research tools, you'll come across keywords with 0-10 search volume. Do most people ignore these keywords? Yes. And that means low competition. But are more people searching these keywords? Yes. Remember 15% of all Google search results have never been searched before.

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2 Step 2: Analyze the SERPs for each keyword and topic

The next step is to analyze the search engine results pages (SERPs) for each keyword and topic that you have selected. You can use tools like Ahrefs, Moz, or SERPWatcher to get a detailed overview of the SERPs, including the ranking positions, snippets, features, and domains of the top results. You can also manually search for each keyword and topic on Google and observe the SERPs yourself. The goal is to understand the search intent, content type, content format, and content quality of the top results, and how they match the expectations and needs of the users.

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Malte Landwehr

Vice President of SEO at idealo
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I like to use tools like SEMrush or Sistrix to analyse large amounts of keywords at scale. I primarily look at SERP features. Do all my keywords have a video box and an image box on page one in Google? I probably need to create those as well. Are there a lot of Featured Snippets? Then I might want to go with in-dept text content written by a known export for this topic. Are Google Shopping ads on every SERP? Then, I am in a niche with commercial intent. The best page to rank might be a PDP (product details page) or PLP (product listing page) - not a blog article.

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3 Step 3: Evaluate your content gaps and opportunities

The third step is to evaluate your content gaps and opportunities based on the SERP analysis. You can compare your existing content with the top results and see how well you are satisfying the search intent, content type, content format, and content quality of the users. You can also identify the keywords and topics that you are not targeting yet, or that you are targeting poorly, and see how you can create or improve your content to fill those gaps. You can also look for the SERP features, such as featured snippets, people also ask, or videos, that you can leverage to increase your visibility and click-through rate.

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Kevinson Libama

Local SEO Specialist | Copywriting | Helping you wake up to hot leads from GBP & website | Helped a local service business scale to 17 calls/day from GBP and get +1800 paying customers from a service page within 2 years.
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The best way to find keywords you're targeting poorly is to use Google Search Console. Click performance > search results > pages. Click on a specific page and tap queries to see all the keywords on that page. Enable the average position to see the ranking of each keyword on Google. Next, look for keywords with more impressions, less clicks and ranking on page 2-4. Go to your page and update the content around this keyword. You can also write an entire post around the keyword if there's room for that.

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4 Step 4: Create or update your content based on the SERP analysis

The final step is to create or update your content based on the SERP analysis. You can use the insights that you have gained from the previous steps to craft your content strategy and optimize your content for the search engines and the users. You can use tools like Yoast SEO, Hemingway Editor, or Grammarly to improve your content readability, SEO, and grammar. You can also use tools like Canva, Lumen5, or Animoto to create engaging visuals, videos, or infographics for your content. The key is to provide value, relevance, and quality to your audience and stand out from the competition.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you use SERP analysis to improve your content strategy?

1

2

3

4

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1 Step 1: Identify your target keywords and topics

2 Step 2: Analyze the SERPs for each keyword and topic

3 Step 3: Evaluate your content gaps and opportunities

4 Step 4: Create or update your content based on the SERP analysis

5 Here’s what else to consider

Search Engines

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How can you use SERP analysis to improve your content strategy?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Step 1: Identify your target keywords and topics

2 Step 2: Analyze the SERPs for each keyword and topic

3 Step 3: Evaluate your content gaps and opportunities

4 Step 4: Create or update your content based on the SERP analysis

5 Here’s what else to consider

Search Engines

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