Make a SEO content calendar is one of the fundamental pillars of the work in the organic positioning. In order to do so, there are some preliminary steps that we are going to see briefly and an in-depth analysis that we have to carry out while doing so.
In this article, I have decided to explain how to create a detailed SEO content calendar. Let it be for SEO content is important, because if we were talking about content for social networks, branding, etc., many of the things I am going to talk about would not apply.
In this case, we are talking about a process that would fall under the SEO content strategywhich is somewhat broader. Once the strategy is in place, it is time to make the timetable, which, in short, is about place the contents on a specific date and with a specific periodicity.
SEO VS business: the start of it all
First of all, more related to the strategyis to be clear about what we want to do and what we do not want to do. objectivesDo we want to positioning a new productAre we looking for improving a company's online presenceDo we want direct sales, visits, we are looking for leads that can subsequently convert the sales team into customers?
Depending on the final objective, the content strategy will be one or the other. This is important in relation to the timetable, because it will also determine the length of the timetable. Generally speaking, a good SEO content calendar should not last more than three months, as if we go further out, there may be significant changes in search volumes and trends.
However, it is worth considering that, if we start from scratch, we will need several quarterly calendars in order to meet certain objectives. After all, SEO takes time and we cannot expect to position content from one day to the next.
This is not precise to 100%, because it can be achieved, but to get there requires extensive prior work, either by you or by the people who have previously taken charge of the content.
In any case, it is first necessary to think in terms of a strategic point of view. As in any science, first comes the conceptualisation and then the discipline, the practice or the technique.
Keyword research, unravelling search volumes
And the beginning of the practice comes with the keyword research. By means of this technique we will select the main keywords that we will use in our content calendar.
Ideally select a main keyword for each contentas well as a list of secondary keywords. At least, that is the theory. In practice, most of these secondary words should come out organically in the elaboration of the content.
One of my favourite points of the SEO work is that the optimisation techniques are, to some extent, shortcuts. However, creating good content, even by using Creative SEOshould lead you to the same destination, even if you don't intend it to. And with every update of the Google algorithm This is more like it.
Although in the linked article, I talked at length about how to make the keyword researchI will add three fundamental points related to the SEO content calendar.
Keyword difficulty
The keyword difficulty o keyword difficulty is a metric that tells you how complicated it is to positioning a keyword. It is a score from 0 to 100The closer you are to 0, the easier it is to achieve a high position in the SERPs.
My recommendation is do not try to position keywords with difficulties higher than 30 unless we are a recognised website, with high domain authority and with the possibility of getting backlinks easily.
Also consider that there are times when a keyword for Local SEO is more complicated than its general version, especially when it comes to commercial services. For example, physiotherapy Madrid may be more difficult to position than physiotherapy in general, as there is more competition in the former.
If we are going to start from scratch, my recommendation is to first place the main keywords with the least difficulty that we have selected in the keyword research.
This will reduce the time it will take to position and we will go from gaining visits and collecting user experience datawhich will be another metric that will also help us to position the most complicated contents. As long as there is a good job in that field, of course.
Average volume
The other key metric for the SEO content calendar is the average keyword volume. My recommendation is to balance the volumes over time, always taking into consideration the difficulty.
Of course, within the same difficulty, there will be a need to prioritise keywords with the highest search volume. Once we have traffic and a constant volume, we can alternate based on other criteria.
Of course, all of this also has to intersect strategically with the phases of the conversion funnel. We can use the reverse funnel strategyBut if we want quality leads, it is best to go stage by stage in the same order as the potential customer.
On the other hand, it is important to go beyond the SEO evergreen. Many SEOs only work with this type of keywords. The reason is obvious, it is going to be a constant volume and maintained over time.
However, the seasonal keywords can lead to periodic peaks in traffic (and leads) on an annual basis, and there is usually less competition. So don't rule them out. Of course, you have to work on them with enough time in advance to be able to position them when the time comes.
Primary and secondary keywords
I have already told you that there are times when no need to select secondary keywordsbut that will depend on your writing skills. As more and more people are also creating content with ChatGPTsecondary keywords are becoming more and more precious, even if it is only as a prompt.
Thus, until the AI bubbleIf you're going to use artificial intelligence to generate content, or if writing is simply not your strong suit, get yourself a list of secondary keywords to enrich the semantic field (you have to search for them during the keyword research).
Introduce the secondary keywords in your sub-header structure, either in the sub-header itself or within the body text. In many cases, also when the person who prepares the SEO content calendar is not the same as the one who is going to write it, add the structure of the content in the calendarwith all its headings and secondary keywords, gives very good results.
Content titles: maintaining the brand essence
Once we know where to place each main keywordNow it is time to write the titles. First and foremost, it is essential that the titles have the keyword in full, as close as possible to the beginning of the sentence.
It is possible to rank without using the entire keyword or without even using the keyword at all, especially by using synonymsfor example, but this complicates our lives unnecessarily.
You can be original, but it is better to create a original SEO content in the body of the text than in the headline. You can also put a specific SEO title and a completely different and more creative H1 header, but would also be wasting positioning possibilities.
It is best to test different formulas and see which ones work bestnot only in terms of positioning, but also in terms of meeting targets. To give an example, with our clients who are tour operatorsThere is one specific formula, with one type of keyword, that generates far more leads than any other, even if it is the one that generates the most leads. main keyword has a much lower search volume.
Thus, whenever possible and while maintaining the essence of the brandwe will use this formula.
In any case, and within the brand style guideA bit of variety is also important. It gives the user more confidence and allows us to do different tests and try out different options.
Internal linking: strengthening content
The internal structure of the contents should also be taken into account when carrying out the calendar. The hierarchical relationships within the contents should be reflected by links to the key or most important content.
Parallel relations can also be created, as well as generating a mother content from which its various secondary aspects derive. I only want to give a brief overview of this because it is a complex concept that requires its own post.
The important thing here is that you take this into account when making the content calendar. Particularly if the content is to be developed externally, it is the task of the content manager Explain what internal linking structure needs.
External links: yes or no?
On the other hand, it is time to deciding which posts we will direct our efforts to for them to get external links. Care must be taken here. Buy external links is a technique of Black Hat SEO penalised by Google, even if it is a widespread practice in the sector.
The problem is that strong linking and high domain authority is the only way to be able to compete on high difficulty keywords. It's up to you to take the risk or wait to get those links naturally (and you may never get them).
If you are going to make a purchase or link exchangeIf you have a website, focus on those pages that are most relevant to you. If you have a mother contentfor example, may be the best destination. It is also useful to simply link to the homepage because you will be strengthening the authority of the site.
Make sure that the links you receive are on non-toxic sites related to your topic, otherwise you may end up suffering the adverse effect you were looking for. And, again, always be aware that you are cheating and, if you get caught, you will have to pay the consequences.
If you are linking from toxic sites, don't hesitate to use the tool disavow.
Calculate the periodicity
One of the SEO errors most common for beginners in disregarding deadlines to position something. For example, if we want to position an article about the end of the year, it is possible that you schedule it for November, when you should at least place it in September.
Beyond this, which is fairly basic, it is important to establish a stable periodicity. It doesn't matter if you upload twice a week or once a month, but try to always do it on the same date. For example, Tuesdays and Thursdays, or the last Sunday of the month.
Having a prescribed periodicity makes it easier for Google to crawl, and allows the writer a better time management. If you can't deliver, that's fine, but it will be much more effective than improvising.
Extra content: stay up to date
There may be new needs and content to be published. What do we do? Is it the SEO content calendar an immovable entity? The answer is no.
It's good to be organised, but the flexibility is also interesting. If you need to add content, add it. Delay another from the calendar and that's it.
Of course, if we are going to make extra content, let it not be thin content. In other words, work it hard enough to make it interesting for the search engine. Even if it doesn't seem to have any searches at the moment.
I give you a example real. Recently a client told us that a competitor had disappeared. It had ended its activity without explanation. We decided to make a content for the blog titled <>, although the tools did not give us any searches.
The idea was to try to to capture all these customers who had run out of their service, which was quite recurrent. The idea worked very well for us and we started positioning by competitor name in just a couple of days.. As the competitor was stronger than us, even that post has become one of the ten most viewed posts of the last month.
In other words, if you have a chance, let the SEO content calendar do not prevent you from taking advantage of it.
Content updates
In your SEO content calendar you can also include content updates. My recommendation is not to update content that is performing well and is in the first position of the SERPs, but you can do it when it starts to lose positions.
But give yourself some leeway, because the oscillations in the search results are not at all uncommon. Especially after changes to the algorithmThe temperature is always two or three days with quite a lot of oscillations.
Afterwards, you can updating and improving content. Add some EEAT SEO if it was old and the personal part was missing, update outdated data or simply modify or add more relevant information.
If you make enough changes, you can include it in your calendar as new content, with the advantage that since it is already indexed, it will be easier to move up in the search results. Don't forget to change the datewhich lately has also been working as a positioning factor.
