The Content Strategy We Employed

1. Selecting keyword categories 

Before we could dive into individual keywords, we knew we needed to select the keyword categories we’d focus on.

We worked closely with EarlyBird to understand their market and how they fit into it. We also learned about their core business priorities, and then took a look at what their competitors were ranking for.

Based on this information, we used Ahrefs’ keyword research tool to take a look at what types of topics presented the most opportunity for ranking well and driving traffic to the site. 

We determined that the categories of content (in which our topics would be sourced) were the following:

• Financial gifting
• Cryptocurrency
• UGMA/UTMA accounts
• General investing

2. Pull a list of keywords for each category 

Once we had defined keyword categories, we focused on the individual keywords.

We pulled a list of keywords for each individual category, and we did so based on monthly search volume (MV), keyword difficulty (KD), and search intent. We tried avoiding any keywords with a monthly search volume of 250 or less unless it was an exceptionally high-intent keyword (something more likely to convert visitors).

Pro tip: If a client has a lower domain authority, we’ll only target keywords with immediately attainable keyword difficulty. This depends on the individual domain authority, but we usually start with keywords with a KD of 30 or less. 

3. Set pillar pieces for each category

The creation of pillar pieces — higher-investment, in-depth guides for core topics that you can link to and reference in other content — is a core content strategy we used for EarlyBird. 

We identified 2-4 pillar pieces within each keyword category. And while they were often more difficult to rank for, they also can come with high intent, high customer relevancy, and/or high monthly search volume. This meant that they were good topics to invest time and resources into expanding.

4. Identify supporting topics

If each category of content has 2-4 pillars, it should also has 10-15 support topics. These target more attainable keyphrases (long-tail or niche, usually) which we believe we’ll be able to rank for more readily.

These articles act as support for the pillar pieces we mentioned above. That works in two ways:

1. Internal links from ranking content increase the chance of the content linked to (the pillars) ranking
2. Having articles within a certain category rank increases your domain’s topical authority and domain authority, which makes it easier to rank for related content (the more competitive pillars) down the line.

5. Create the content plan

When creating a content plan, we took EarlyBird’s monthly word count into consideration.

We dedicated the necessary words to the pillar pieces first, and then accounted for the support content in each category that would link back to the pillar post upon publication. 

6. Bring in and educate writers

Alongside expertise in the financial vertical, we were also looking for writers capable of creating non-generic content (something that would stand out against the ranking competition).

In order to avoid writing generic content that won’t really help a specific client, we make sure that all of our writers are well educated on each client that they’ll be working with. We have a systemized approach to inform all of our collaborating writers on the following:

• Notes from the client
• Brand style guides
• Working titles
• Specific angles to take 

7. Scope out individual pieces 

Assigning word count correctly is an important part of the content strategy. We usually start with our standard word count of 2,000 words per article, but an individual post’s word count may be more or less depending on factors like keyword difficulty, subject matter, and topic type. 

It’s not uncommon for pillar pieces to be higher in word count, and to have supporting content ranging from 1000-2500 words in length. 

8. Assign topics to a specific writer 

Once we have target word counts attached to different keywords, we assign out the keywords to specific writers within our highly-trained, experienced team. If there are additional notes or instructions we need to provide, including about a specific angle or what client products to feature, we’ll mention it here. 

9: Review category performance after 6 months 

After 6 months — enough time for content from all the categories to be indexed, the support to be effective, and rankings to start coming in — we take a step back and look at the analytics.

Essentially, if the support and pillars within a given category are outperforming the support and pillars in another, we double down on that category’s content in months 7-12.

The Result

Within 30 days after the launch, Sendlane experienced an uptick in everything from trial conversions to demo sign-ups, compared to the old website.

We continue to work closely with Sendlane on growing and optimising their website, and are proud to be a part of their journey towards a $100M valuation.

What EarlyBird had to say 

Caleb Frankel, the COO and Co-Founder of EarlyBird, shared the following about their experience with us:

We decided to work with Codeless because they really provided full-spectrum support on content marketing. They looked at the strategy, they looked at our resources, our goals. They put together an entire plan behind that strategy and then knew that they were able to execute within the means that we needed them to, and within the time constraints that we had.

Caleb Frankel, COO and Co-Founder of EarlyBird

Final thoughts

We believe that a customized approach for each client combined with a systemized approach for thorough, strategic content creation is the key to generating momentum with content marketing long-term. 

We were able to take EarlyBird from 0 monthly site visitors all the way to 70,000. Get in touch to see what we can do for you.

Interested in working with us? Book a call to learn more about how we can help you here.