Content Creation Strategy: Creating Content That Performs Well

Last Updated on August 2, 2020 by ellduclos

Do you struggle when it comes to creating new content for your blog? Maybe you have tons of blog post ideas but you aren’t sure which ones are worth creating? Or maybe you struggle with coming up with blog post ideas that actually perform well and bring blog traffic. In this post I am sharing 10 easy ways to create new content that your audience wants. This is my content creation strategy, step by step!

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Disclaimer: Affiliate links are used and you can read my full disclosure here.

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Google Analytics

When it comes to a content creation strategy google analytics plays a HUGE part. I love to use google analytics to see which content performed well in the past. This let’s me know that my audience enjoys content related to those topics. When I am considering new content to create I make sure to create content related to the posts that performed well.

You can find your top blog posts for the month by going to behavior > site content > all pages 

Here is a screenshot of my top performing blog posts for the month of July on my lifestyle blog.

You can see that my top blog post is questions I created to find your best self. This is no surprise as this is usually my number one performing post most months. I also have a lot of money and success habits posts that perform well. In August I might create more motivation and finance related content.

Pinterest Trends

Another tool I love to use for my content creation strategy is the Pinterest Trends Tool. If you have been a reader of my blog for awhile now then you know Pinterest is my number one source of blog traffic and brings my lifestyle blog over 100,000 monthly blog views.

When it comes to creating new content for my blog I make sure to search what’s trending on Pinterest. Usually if I create content that is related to trending topics on Pinterest, I can immediately get tons of link clicks on those specific pins. The Pinterest Trends Tool will show you what topics are trending and you can also search a specific keyword to see when that keyword is likely to trend on Pinterest.

You should also create seasonal content to promote on Pinterest. During the holiday season and fall Pinterest is usually busy. It’s currently August which means you should start pinning your fall related content and even holiday related content! I have tons of fall blog post ideas here and lots of winter related blog post ideas here. 

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Keyword Research

You can’t have a good content creation strategy without keyword research. This is an important step in my content creation process. I am not an SEO pro by any means, I learned a lot of my SEO knowledge from the Stupid Simple SEO course by Mike. It’s an incredible course with so much info. He also has a free webmaster class you can check out here if you aren’t sure you want to purchase his course yet.

A huge part of SEO is keyword research. You want to find keywords that are easy to rank for but also have a higher search volume.

When it comes to keyword research I use the Keysearch Tool. One thing I like to do is look at other bloggers in my niche to see what keywords they are ranking for. This gives me an idea of content that I can create and potentially rank for.

I know you might be thinking, “isn’t that copying?” and in my opinion, no it’s not. At least for me when I do my keyword research and research other blogs in my niche I try to switch up the title and I don’t actually click in and read the blog post they create. I just search to see what keywords they rank for and come up with my own ideas that can use similar keywords. OBVIOUSLY You don’t want to copy other bloggers. Use it as inspiration and make your own content.

How To Use Keysearch To Find Keywords To Rank For

My lifestyle blog doesn’t get a lot of organic traffic currently because I put my SEO on the back burner. However, I am trying to fix that. I am going to use my lifestyle blog in this example. When you are on Keysearch you want to go to “explorer” and type in the website you want to look up.

Here you can see my top performing keywords that my lifestyle blog ranks for. 

Like I said, it’s quite awful and not great. I get an estimated 155 blog views a month from organic search which really stinks right now. Part of my new strategy is finding keywords I can try and rank for that ACTUALLY get searched.

In this example I will put in a site that is popular. In this screenshot you can see their top ranking keywords and estimated monthly organic traffic is 51 million, WOW. 

You can look into the keywords of the website you are searching and look to see what keywords they are ranking for that actually brings them blog traffic and try to rank for that keyword too.

I’ll go ahead and click into “view keywords” and it will break down the 2 million keywords they rank for.

You can see that 21st birthday gifts gets them almost 2,000 views monthly and some of the other keywords don’t get them traffic at all. The key is to find keywords that you know have the potential to bring you blog traffic.

PLUS, the more keywords you are able to rank for the more potential you have for blog traffic too! You’ll most likely end up ranking for random keywords that bring 10-15 page views a month which still can add up.

You can also click into “view top pages” and it will show you which blog posts gets the most organic traffic.

Using this keyword research method helps you find content ideas related to your niche that you KNOW brings a targeted audience if you are able to actually rank for those specific keywords. I like to keep a list in my phone of keywords that have potential to bring me blog traffic and I use that when creating my content.

This is a new content creation strategy I have been using and I still have work to do when it comes to updating my old content BUT, hopefully in the long run it will pay off.

Buzz Sumo

Buzz Sumo is an AWESOME content creation tool but, sadly it’s so dang expensive. I recommend trying the free trial anyway. They have a content research tool that allows you to search specific websites to see their top engaged content.

You can also search specific keywords to see popular content ideas that relate to that keyword. The content creation tool will also show you how many saves each blog post gets on Pinterest. This is helpful when creating content that you want to perform well on Pinterest. If the blog post has tons of saves on Pinterest then you know that blog post title will most likely get link clicks and saves which leads to more blog traffic from Pinterest!

The free trial only lasts 7 days so I recommend grabbing a notebook, searching like crazy and writing down as much high performing content ideas as you can.

Answer The Public

I absolutely LOVE this content creation tool. This is a free tool that allows you to search a topic and it will give you the most asked questions related to this topic.Then you can create content that ANSWERS those questions.

In this example I searched “beauty” and it gave me 80 questions people ask that relates to beauty.

Grab A Free List Of 600 Blog Post Ideas

If you really struggle with finding topics to blog about then I recommend you grab this free list of over 600 blog post ideas. I have ideas for all different niches!

Survey Your Audience

What better way to come up with content that performs well than actually asking your audience what they struggle with and want to read from you next!

I like to ask my FB group what they need help with. I also create polls on social media and through email marketing. When you know what problems your audience has you can create content that solves that problem and your audience will be ALL OVER IT. 

Make Your Content Scannable

Creating content that your audience actually wants to read is important but, let’s talk about how to make sure it performs well. Creating scannable content is important. As humans sometimes we have short attention spans.

I don’t know about you but I like to scan articles until I find the specific solution. Break your blog posts up by using headings so that your viewer can easily scan your article. Big chunks of text can overwhelm a reader which might lead to your reader clicking off right away.

Monetize Your Content

Another tip for creating content that performs well is to monetize your content! I try to add at least one affiliate link to each blog post or mention my digital product. There is nothing wrong with trying to monetize your content. I highly recommend it.

You should also check to see which blog posts perform the best and make sure you have monetized that post to it’s full potential. If you have a blog post that gets you tons of blog views each month make sure you add some affiliate links if you can, a freebie opt-in and mention a digital product if you have one that relates to the topic. 

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Market Your Content Properly

Lastly, if you want to create content that performs well you need to make sure you are taking the time to market your content. It’s important to get your content in front of the eyes of your target audience if you want it to perform well.

If you struggle with content marketing then you need to read this post. I share all the ways to grow your blog traffic.

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I hope you found these tips helpful! Would love to hear from you in the comments!