3 Powerful On-Page Optimizations to Power Up Your Content

What is on-page SEO?

On-page SEO is when you blend the art of writing with the science of SEO to rank individual pages for specific keywords. On-page SEO includes everything from meta tags, content format, and keyword optimization to get your content found by search engines and move your audience to convert with you.

While it’s only one part of the equation, on-page SEO guides your content to match customer intent, user engagement, and tactics to increase conversions.

You need to have a map on you before you head out to the forest if you don't want to get lost. Just like hiking, you need to have a good idea of where you're going if you want to stay on track to your destination.

The same line of thinking can be applied to content production, because you should know how to structure content on your site to help sculpt search results and meet the needs of your customers to drive more conversions.

It’s not easy to write content that ranks in Google and drives conversions, but if you follow a few simple steps, you’ll be on your way to ranking, driving more clicks, and appealing to customers on all types of devices. Let’s take a look at three on-page optimization tactics that you can use to get the right message to the right people at the right time.

1. Format content for readers & robots

An SEO strategy has to be built around the needs of your customers to hit ranking factors and get your readers to engage with your content.

It’s tough to serve these two goals, but you can get the best of both worlds by formatting your content in a way that helps robots and readers scan content and focus on information on different devices.

While you can spend time with “SEO hacks,” the best way to improve your online visibility and increase conversions is to format content for readers and robots. Let’s take a look at how breaking up text, keeping paragraphs short, and bullet lists will make your content easier to read and boost rankings today!

Break up text with H2 tags

One of the first things you can do to improve on-page SEO is to break up text with H2 subheaders. These headers allow you to insert keywords to fuel the technical side of SEO, and these headers also help your readers scan through your content when they first reach your site.

Here are a few quick notes to make the most out of your subheadings:

• I like to add H2 subheadings every 300 words or so.

• Insert H3 headers with an additional 50 words of content for each section when appropriate.

• Use target keywords and exact-match questions in subheadings whenever possible.

I have found a lot of success with Google Search Console (GSC) when optimizing existing on-page content. You can open up a page in GSC to find first-party data on what Google is ranking your content for and then add keywords in the H2 and H3 sections of your site to see a good boost in rankings.

Make your content easier to read for humans and search engines by breaking up your content with H2 and H3 subheadings. Don’t forget to get the most out of this on-page SEO tactic by including keywords and exact-match questions in the section headings for maximum results!

Keep paragraphs short

If you want to engage your readers and drive more conversions, then you have to optimize every inch of your content based on the needs of your target audience. Large blocks of text are difficult to read, and this is especially true on a phone or tablet.

I like to limit paragraphs to only 2-3 sentences each to ensure content looks good on mobile devices and does not overwhelm a reader as they read through my content.

Use bullet points

Bullet points are a powerful copywriting tool because they allow you to summarize information in a concise manner while also drawing attention to important data in a punchy format. Here are a few reasons to use bullet points in your content to boost on-page SEO:

• Break content up and make blocks of text easier to read on mobile devices.

• Highlight valuable points to increase conversions on service web pages and product pages.

• Add internal links to bullet points to help guide customers through the buyer's journey.

• Try to keep bullet point lists between 3-7 bullets each. Shorter lists look goofy, and long lists are difficult to read.

I like to include a bullet list in the first paragraph of each blog post to help readers understand my content, plus this bullet list can help secure a featured snippet (more on tha later). I also like to add a bullet list near CTAs to draw the attention of readers to drive more conversions.

Bullet points are just one example of how you can format content to help your readers and search engines- they are the perfect balance between content marketing and technical SEO tactics.

2. Optimize for featured snippets

As online search changes, Google is constantly updating its algorithms to provide the right information to searchers as quickly as possible. A featured snippet is a bite-sized snippet of information that Google places above organic listings based on specific search queries.

Featured snippets are your best friend if you want to establish your brand's authority and drive more organic traffic to your site. Here are a few reasons to format new content and optimize existing content to trigger featured snippets:

• Dominate "position zero" above paid ads and other organic search results.

• Build your brand authority by ranking at the top of the Search Engine Results page for target keywords.

• Drive more qualified traffic to your site.

• Build more backlinks as more people click on and link to your content.

• Push your competitor's online listings down in SERPs.

There are several types of featured snippets that Google can display based on search intent, search query, and search history. Let’s take a look at how you can format your content in specific ways to help secure the three major types of featured images.

Paragraph featured snippet

Paragraph featured snippets show 40-50 word explanations based on a search query with a link to the source content. This type of featured snippets can be secured with proper on-page SEO and content formatting.

I like to summarize the answer and main point of my content in the first paragraph of my blog posts and online content to secure more paragraph featured snippets. I also like to create a concise summary of different sections to help trigger more featured snippets throughout my content.

List featured snippet

You will notice that most types of “how-to” search queries will trigger a list featured snippet. This information is presented in either a numbered list or a bulleted list, and is a powerful way to generate more traffic for recipe sites or process-oriented content.

I like to add a bullet list or numbered list before I list out detailed sections to secure more featured snippets.

Table featured snippet

Google may include a table at the top of SERPs for search queries about pricing options, comparisons, and data. Most table featured snippets are 3-4 columns wide and 6-7 rows long.

I like to add a HTML table to my blog posts to summarize a process, show price comparisons, or just to provide a summary of different types of data. I’ve noticed that Google prefers HTML tables compared to tables made in CSS or other languages.

3. Add an FAQ section & FAQ schema

Structured data are bits of code that you can add to your blog posts and web pages to help Google understand your content. You can format your content along with markup language to spoon-feed search engines information about your content and shape your appearance in SERPs.

Once you add an FAQ section to the bottom of your content, you can get even more bang for your buck by adding FAQ schema to the backend of the content. FAQ schema offers a number of benefits for your SEO strategy like:

• Boost impressions: FAQ schema will help drive more organic impressions, which can lead to a higher Click Through Rate (CTR).

• More website clicks: As your pages get more impressions you will start to see more clicks to your web pages and blog posts.

• Interlinking: You can add a link to each answer in your FAQ schema. Only point internal linking to non-sales content (like a blog post) to help drive more engagement.

• Improve online visibility: FAQ schema makes your content more visible because it pushes your competitors lower on SERPs.

I like adding 3-4 common questions and answers at the bottom of each blog post and web page to help customers and search engines. I’ve found that FAQ sections at the end of my content helps with keyword rankings and allows me to implement FAQ schema to get found in search engines.

Supercharge your on-page SEO game today!

A winning SEO strategy is rooted in getting your message to the right people at the right time, and on-page SEO tactics can help you get found online and drive more conversions.

Use the tips in the above sections to make your content easier to read, easier to scan, and even sculpt your content in SERPs today!

How to Use SERP Features to Inform Your Content Strategy

Many marketers approach Search Engine Result Page (SERP) features from the wrong angle. Instead of asking what you can do to rank for SERP features, ask what SERP features can do to inform your content strategy. By flipping this thought process, you can build a successful content strategy that speaks to your audience at every stage of the buyer’s journey, using the most efficacious language and content format.

SERP features are designed to provide users with the most relevant answers to their questions, and they’re formatted to package this information in the best way possible. In other words, the exact language and format of each SERP feature is the most accurate representation of the type of language and content format that your audience seeks (at least according to Google). As a digital marketer, this is gold. With a little digging, you can now mimic the keyword topics, style, and format of the SERP features present for your target keywords, creating content that engages your audience exactly where they are in the buyer’s journey, and in the format they desire. 

Top organic SERP features

While chasing the sought-after SERP features, many marketers fall short because they overlook the most important clue: the SERP feature itself. SERP features contain meaningful knowledge about your audience and how they prefer to consume information. Here are a few of the most popular organic SERP features used on Google:

1. Knowledge Graph

2. Featured Snippet

3. Related Questions

4. Image Pack

5. Reviews 

6. Video

7. In-Depth Article

In this next section, I’ll break down these features into stages of the buyer’s journey and explain how they can inform your SEO content strategy.

Aligning SERP features with stages of the buyer’s journey  

Awareness stage

The top of the buyer’s journey is the awareness stage, where your audience is aware that they have a problem and will begin to conduct research to better understand and define this problem. At this stage, your audience is seeking a concise explanation of the problem and is not ready for a solution yet. SERP features that indicate an awareness stage audience include:

• Knowledge Graph: often illustrates high-level biographical information and keyword cluster definitions. This feature is a staple of the awareness stage.

• Featured Snippet: often provides concise keyword definitions and explanations of concepts or problems. This feature is also a staple of the awareness stage when it provides definitions or answers “what is” questions. 

• Related Questions: when the inquiries begin with “what is” and “how to” they align perfectly with the educational aspect of the awareness stage. 

• Videos: FAQ videos and how-to videos indicate the high-level thinking of the awareness stage.

• Images: often indicate a one-word or short-tail keyword query, in line with the awareness stage. 

Tips for content strategy

When creating content for an awareness stage audience, it’s important to remember that they have very little understanding about who you are, what you do, and why you do it. By addressing these high-level questions, you can introduce yourself in a way that frames your company as a thought leader in the industry. When doing so, pay close attention to the type of language you are using.

SERP features in the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey take advantage of clear and concise language, so make sure you do the same. Avoid flowery descriptions or rambling explanations, and keep your definitions short and to the point (ranging from 40-50 words). 

Likewise, this is your chance to develop trust with this new awareness audience. Keeping your content informative and easy to understand helps build trust, illustrating that you care about educating your audience without bogging them down with complex industry jargon or heavy handed branding.

Questions abound at this stage in the buyer’s journey, and it’s a good idea to include a question and answer format when you observe it in the SERP feature. Use headers, bullet points, and/or numbered lists when possible, and make it easy for your audience to scan the content without committing a chunk of their time. Images are especially useful at this stage, but make sure to include an image alt tag. 

Consideration stage

The middle of the buyer’s journey is the consideration stage. At this point, your audience can identify and understand their problem (with the help of your educational awareness content), but they still don’t know the best way to solve it. They’re seeking information about various solutions, and want to learn more about how your solution can solve their problem. SERP features that indicate a consideration stage audience include:

• Featured Snippet: when the snippet is formatted for lists or comparisons instead of clear cut definitions, it indicates the consideration stage. 

• Related Questions: “why” and technical questions belong in the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey.

• Reviews: service or product reviews indicate that your audience is actively searching for and comparing solutions, which aligns with the consideration stage.

• Videos: service and product videos belong in the consideration stage, as they explain why a specific service or product is a viable solution to your audience’s problem.

Tips for content strategy 

When creating content for a consideration stage audience, it’s important to focus on building a comprehensive and compelling argument. By using specific examples to frame your service as the most valuable solution to your audience’s problem, you can illustrate how and why they should consider investing in your solution. 

SERP features in the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey allow for content that is longer than in the awareness stage, and the language also employs more descriptors. Technical language is appropriate at this point, and this is your chance to explain what makes your solution stand out. 

However, staying true to your solution’s capabilities is critical here, because you don’t want to over promise results that aren’t actually possible. Instead, use this moment as a chance to build trust with your audience. Keep your reasoning authentic and your examples specific to the value that your solution can deliver. 

Comparative language is also more prevalent in the SERP features at this stage, so include detailed reviews that demonstrate why your service or product is the best. When using video, make sure your content is also searchable on YouTube. 

Decision phase

The end of the buyer’s journey is the decision phase, where your audience has already identified their problem, compared different solutions, and is now ready to commit to a final decision. At this point, your audience knows how to talk about the solution they’re looking for, and now they want to know exactly why they should commit to you. They want content that proves that other customers have had a positive experience with your solution, and are willing to commit more of their time to confirming their final choice. 

• People Also Ask: questions leveraging phrases like “the best solution’” or “most advanced solution” indicate users transitioning from the consideration to the decision phase of the buyer’s journey. Customers want to confirm that they’re making the right decision, and are looking for hard proof. 

• Videos: customer testimonial videos align with the decision phase, providing your audience with proof about whether they should commit to your solution or not. 

• Long-Form Content: long-form pieces of content range from 2,000-5,000 words.These pieces of content can appear as organic site links, scholarly articles, or in-depth articles. They tend to position themselves as thought leaders in the industry, and explain the overall problem and solution. Quite often they take the form of buyer’s guides, providing in-depth information about each solution and answering questions with long-tail keywords.

Tips for content strategy

When creating content for a decision stage audience, make sure to address any questions that haven’t already been answered in your previous pieces of content. While this may sound intuitive, it’s an essential part of the process seeing as an unanswered question can trigger your prospect to leave your site and go to a competitor’s site to find the answers they’re looking for. At this point in time, don’t underestimate the depth and detail of information your audience is seeking.

SERP features in the decision phase of the buyer’s journey address the audience as pseudo-experts in the subject matter, as should you. At this stage your audience is able to string together long-tail keywords that include modifiers, and your content should provide detailed answers to these highly specific inquiries that address your audience as knowledgeable members of the industry. 

Leverage compelling statistics and results-oriented examples that explicitly frame the value that your solution provides. By using clear data points and specifications, your audience can easily see for themselves how your solution can benefit them.

Technical language is widely understood, and the audience wants to hear the nitty-gritty details of your solution. Long-form content is encouraged at this point, so don’t shy away from a high word count. Cite your customers when possible, and consider using video to break up the heavy reading.

Content strategy takeaways 

Google SERPs are designed to anticipate user needs, and the SERP features present for your target keywords are some of the most telling clues about the type of audience associated with your keywords. By taking note of the SERP features present for your target keywords and paying attention to the style and format of the content, you can leverage Google’s search engine algorithms to your own advantage. 

Once you’ve identified the types of SERP features present for your keyword, you have also discovered your audience’s stage of the buyer’s journey and the keywords, style, and format of content they prefer. As a digital marketer, you can use this information to craft a content strategy that perfectly aligns with your audience’s desires. This takes the guesswork out of your content strategy and ensures that your content resonates with your audience exactly where they are in the buyer’s journey. 

3 Powerful On-Page Optimizations to Power Up Your Content

What is on-page SEO?

On-page SEO is when you blend the art of writing with the science of SEO to rank individual pages for specific keywords. On-page SEO includes everything from meta tags, content format, and keyword optimization to get your content found by search engines and move your audience to convert with you.

While it’s only one part of the equation, on-page SEO guides your content to match customer intent, user engagement, and tactics to increase conversions.

You need to have a map on you before you head out to the forest if you don't want to get lost. Just like hiking, you need to have a good idea of where you're going if you want to stay on track to your destination.

The same line of thinking can be applied to content production, because you should know how to structure content on your site to help sculpt search results and meet the needs of your customers to drive more conversions.

It’s not easy to write content that ranks in Google and drives conversions, but if you follow a few simple steps, you’ll be on your way to ranking, driving more clicks, and appealing to customers on all types of devices. Let’s take a look at three on-page optimization tactics that you can use to get the right message to the right people at the right time.

1. Format content for readers & robots

An SEO strategy has to be built around the needs of your customers to hit ranking factors and get your readers to engage with your content.

It’s tough to serve these two goals, but you can get the best of both worlds by formatting your content in a way that helps robots and readers scan content and focus on information on different devices.

While you can spend time with “SEO hacks,” the best way to improve your online visibility and increase conversions is to format content for readers and robots. Let’s take a look at how breaking up text, keeping paragraphs short, and bullet lists will make your content easier to read and boost rankings today!

Break up text with H2 tags

One of the first things you can do to improve on-page SEO is to break up text with H2 subheaders. These headers allow you to insert keywords to fuel the technical side of SEO, and these headers also help your readers scan through your content when they first reach your site.

Here are a few quick notes to make the most out of your subheadings:

• I like to add H2 subheadings every 300 words or so.

• Insert H3 headers with an additional 50 words of content for each section when appropriate.

• Use target keywords and exact-match questions in subheadings whenever possible.

I have found a lot of success with Google Search Console (GSC) when optimizing existing on-page content. You can open up a page in GSC to find first-party data on what Google is ranking your content for and then add keywords in the H2 and H3 sections of your site to see a good boost in rankings.

Make your content easier to read for humans and search engines by breaking up your content with H2 and H3 subheadings. Don’t forget to get the most out of this on-page SEO tactic by including keywords and exact-match questions in the section headings for maximum results!

Keep paragraphs short

If you want to engage your readers and drive more conversions, then you have to optimize every inch of your content based on the needs of your target audience. Large blocks of text are difficult to read, and this is especially true on a phone or tablet.

I like to limit paragraphs to only 2-3 sentences each to ensure content looks good on mobile devices and does not overwhelm a reader as they read through my content.

Use bullet points

Bullet points are a powerful copywriting tool because they allow you to summarize information in a concise manner while also drawing attention to important data in a punchy format. Here are a few reasons to use bullet points in your content to boost on-page SEO:

• Break content up and make blocks of text easier to read on mobile devices.

• Highlight valuable points to increase conversions on service web pages and product pages.

• Add internal links to bullet points to help guide customers through the buyer's journey.

• Try to keep bullet point lists between 3-7 bullets each. Shorter lists look goofy, and long lists are difficult to read.

I like to include a bullet list in the first paragraph of each blog post to help readers understand my content, plus this bullet list can help secure a featured snippet (more on tha later). I also like to add a bullet list near CTAs to draw the attention of readers to drive more conversions.

Bullet points are just one example of how you can format content to help your readers and search engines- they are the perfect balance between content marketing and technical SEO tactics.

2. Optimize for featured snippets

As online search changes, Google is constantly updating its algorithms to provide the right information to searchers as quickly as possible. A featured snippet is a bite-sized snippet of information that Google places above organic listings based on specific search queries.

Featured snippets are your best friend if you want to establish your brand's authority and drive more organic traffic to your site. Here are a few reasons to format new content and optimize existing content to trigger featured snippets:

• Dominate "position zero" above paid ads and other organic search results.

• Build your brand authority by ranking at the top of the Search Engine Results page for target keywords.

• Drive more qualified traffic to your site.

• Build more backlinks as more people click on and link to your content.

• Push your competitor's online listings down in SERPs.

There are several types of featured snippets that Google can display based on search intent, search query, and search history. Let’s take a look at how you can format your content in specific ways to help secure the three major types of featured images.

Paragraph featured snippet

Paragraph featured snippets show 40-50 word explanations based on a search query with a link to the source content. This type of featured snippets can be secured with proper on-page SEO and content formatting.

I like to summarize the answer and main point of my content in the first paragraph of my blog posts and online content to secure more paragraph featured snippets. I also like to create a concise summary of different sections to help trigger more featured snippets throughout my content.

List featured snippet

You will notice that most types of “how-to” search queries will trigger a list featured snippet. This information is presented in either a numbered list or a bulleted list, and is a powerful way to generate more traffic for recipe sites or process-oriented content.

I like to add a bullet list or numbered list before I list out detailed sections to secure more featured snippets.

Table featured snippet

Google may include a table at the top of SERPs for search queries about pricing options, comparisons, and data. Most table featured snippets are 3-4 columns wide and 6-7 rows long.

I like to add a HTML table to my blog posts to summarize a process, show price comparisons, or just to provide a summary of different types of data. I’ve noticed that Google prefers HTML tables compared to tables made in CSS or other languages.

3. Add an FAQ section & FAQ schema

Structured data are bits of code that you can add to your blog posts and web pages to help Google understand your content. You can format your content along with markup language to spoon-feed search engines information about your content and shape your appearance in SERPs.

Once you add an FAQ section to the bottom of your content, you can get even more bang for your buck by adding FAQ schema to the backend of the content. FAQ schema offers a number of benefits for your SEO strategy like:

• Boost impressions: FAQ schema will help drive more organic impressions, which can lead to a higher Click Through Rate (CTR).

• More website clicks: As your pages get more impressions you will start to see more clicks to your web pages and blog posts.

• Interlinking: You can add a link to each answer in your FAQ schema. Only point internal linking to non-sales content (like a blog post) to help drive more engagement.

• Improve online visibility: FAQ schema makes your content more visible because it pushes your competitors lower on SERPs.

I like adding 3-4 common questions and answers at the bottom of each blog post and web page to help customers and search engines. I’ve found that FAQ sections at the end of my content helps with keyword rankings and allows me to implement FAQ schema to get found in search engines.

Supercharge your on-page SEO game today!

A winning SEO strategy is rooted in getting your message to the right people at the right time, and on-page SEO tactics can help you get found online and drive more conversions.

Use the tips in the above sections to make your content easier to read, easier to scan, and even sculpt your content in SERPs today!

How to Use SERP Features to Inform Your Content Strategy

Many marketers approach Search Engine Result Page (SERP) features from the wrong angle. Instead of asking what you can do to rank for SERP features, ask what SERP features can do to inform your content strategy. By flipping this thought process, you can build a successful content strategy that speaks to your audience at every stage of the buyer’s journey, using the most efficacious language and content format.

SERP features are designed to provide users with the most relevant answers to their questions, and they’re formatted to package this information in the best way possible. In other words, the exact language and format of each SERP feature is the most accurate representation of the type of language and content format that your audience seeks (at least according to Google). As a digital marketer, this is gold. With a little digging, you can now mimic the keyword topics, style, and format of the SERP features present for your target keywords, creating content that engages your audience exactly where they are in the buyer’s journey, and in the format they desire. 

Top organic SERP features

While chasing the sought-after SERP features, many marketers fall short because they overlook the most important clue: the SERP feature itself. SERP features contain meaningful knowledge about your audience and how they prefer to consume information. Here are a few of the most popular organic SERP features used on Google:

1. Knowledge Graph

2. Featured Snippet

3. Related Questions

4. Image Pack

5. Reviews 

6. Video

7. In-Depth Article

In this next section, I’ll break down these features into stages of the buyer’s journey and explain how they can inform your SEO content strategy.

Aligning SERP features with stages of the buyer’s journey  

Awareness stage

The top of the buyer’s journey is the awareness stage, where your audience is aware that they have a problem and will begin to conduct research to better understand and define this problem. At this stage, your audience is seeking a concise explanation of the problem and is not ready for a solution yet. SERP features that indicate an awareness stage audience include:

• Knowledge Graph: often illustrates high-level biographical information and keyword cluster definitions. This feature is a staple of the awareness stage.

• Featured Snippet: often provides concise keyword definitions and explanations of concepts or problems. This feature is also a staple of the awareness stage when it provides definitions or answers “what is” questions. 

• Related Questions: when the inquiries begin with “what is” and “how to” they align perfectly with the educational aspect of the awareness stage. 

• Videos: FAQ videos and how-to videos indicate the high-level thinking of the awareness stage.

• Images: often indicate a one-word or short-tail keyword query, in line with the awareness stage. 

Tips for content strategy

When creating content for an awareness stage audience, it’s important to remember that they have very little understanding about who you are, what you do, and why you do it. By addressing these high-level questions, you can introduce yourself in a way that frames your company as a thought leader in the industry. When doing so, pay close attention to the type of language you are using.

SERP features in the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey take advantage of clear and concise language, so make sure you do the same. Avoid flowery descriptions or rambling explanations, and keep your definitions short and to the point (ranging from 40-50 words). 

Likewise, this is your chance to develop trust with this new awareness audience. Keeping your content informative and easy to understand helps build trust, illustrating that you care about educating your audience without bogging them down with complex industry jargon or heavy handed branding.

Questions abound at this stage in the buyer’s journey, and it’s a good idea to include a question and answer format when you observe it in the SERP feature. Use headers, bullet points, and/or numbered lists when possible, and make it easy for your audience to scan the content without committing a chunk of their time. Images are especially useful at this stage, but make sure to include an image alt tag. 

Consideration stage

The middle of the buyer’s journey is the consideration stage. At this point, your audience can identify and understand their problem (with the help of your educational awareness content), but they still don’t know the best way to solve it. They’re seeking information about various solutions, and want to learn more about how your solution can solve their problem. SERP features that indicate a consideration stage audience include:

• Featured Snippet: when the snippet is formatted for lists or comparisons instead of clear cut definitions, it indicates the consideration stage. 

• Related Questions: “why” and technical questions belong in the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey.

• Reviews: service or product reviews indicate that your audience is actively searching for and comparing solutions, which aligns with the consideration stage.

• Videos: service and product videos belong in the consideration stage, as they explain why a specific service or product is a viable solution to your audience’s problem.

Tips for content strategy 

When creating content for a consideration stage audience, it’s important to focus on building a comprehensive and compelling argument. By using specific examples to frame your service as the most valuable solution to your audience’s problem, you can illustrate how and why they should consider investing in your solution. 

SERP features in the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey allow for content that is longer than in the awareness stage, and the language also employs more descriptors. Technical language is appropriate at this point, and this is your chance to explain what makes your solution stand out. 

However, staying true to your solution’s capabilities is critical here, because you don’t want to over promise results that aren’t actually possible. Instead, use this moment as a chance to build trust with your audience. Keep your reasoning authentic and your examples specific to the value that your solution can deliver. 

Comparative language is also more prevalent in the SERP features at this stage, so include detailed reviews that demonstrate why your service or product is the best. When using video, make sure your content is also searchable on YouTube. 

Decision phase

The end of the buyer’s journey is the decision phase, where your audience has already identified their problem, compared different solutions, and is now ready to commit to a final decision. At this point, your audience knows how to talk about the solution they’re looking for, and now they want to know exactly why they should commit to you. They want content that proves that other customers have had a positive experience with your solution, and are willing to commit more of their time to confirming their final choice. 

• People Also Ask: questions leveraging phrases like “the best solution’” or “most advanced solution” indicate users transitioning from the consideration to the decision phase of the buyer’s journey. Customers want to confirm that they’re making the right decision, and are looking for hard proof. 

• Videos: customer testimonial videos align with the decision phase, providing your audience with proof about whether they should commit to your solution or not. 

• Long-Form Content: long-form pieces of content range from 2,000-5,000 words.These pieces of content can appear as organic site links, scholarly articles, or in-depth articles. They tend to position themselves as thought leaders in the industry, and explain the overall problem and solution. Quite often they take the form of buyer’s guides, providing in-depth information about each solution and answering questions with long-tail keywords.

Tips for content strategy

When creating content for a decision stage audience, make sure to address any questions that haven’t already been answered in your previous pieces of content. While this may sound intuitive, it’s an essential part of the process seeing as an unanswered question can trigger your prospect to leave your site and go to a competitor’s site to find the answers they’re looking for. At this point in time, don’t underestimate the depth and detail of information your audience is seeking.

SERP features in the decision phase of the buyer’s journey address the audience as pseudo-experts in the subject matter, as should you. At this stage your audience is able to string together long-tail keywords that include modifiers, and your content should provide detailed answers to these highly specific inquiries that address your audience as knowledgeable members of the industry. 

Leverage compelling statistics and results-oriented examples that explicitly frame the value that your solution provides. By using clear data points and specifications, your audience can easily see for themselves how your solution can benefit them.

Technical language is widely understood, and the audience wants to hear the nitty-gritty details of your solution. Long-form content is encouraged at this point, so don’t shy away from a high word count. Cite your customers when possible, and consider using video to break up the heavy reading.

Content strategy takeaways 

Google SERPs are designed to anticipate user needs, and the SERP features present for your target keywords are some of the most telling clues about the type of audience associated with your keywords. By taking note of the SERP features present for your target keywords and paying attention to the style and format of the content, you can leverage Google’s search engine algorithms to your own advantage. 

Once you’ve identified the types of SERP features present for your keyword, you have also discovered your audience’s stage of the buyer’s journey and the keywords, style, and format of content they prefer. As a digital marketer, you can use this information to craft a content strategy that perfectly aligns with your audience’s desires. This takes the guesswork out of your content strategy and ensures that your content resonates with your audience exactly where they are in the buyer’s journey. 

3 Powerful On-Page Optimizations to Power Up Your Content

What is on-page SEO?

On-page SEO is when you blend the art of writing with the science of SEO to rank individual pages for specific keywords. On-page SEO includes everything from meta tags, content format, and keyword optimization to get your content found by search engines and move your audience to convert with you.

While it’s only one part of the equation, on-page SEO guides your content to match customer intent, user engagement, and tactics to increase conversions.

You need to have a map on you before you head out to the forest if you don't want to get lost. Just like hiking, you need to have a good idea of where you're going if you want to stay on track to your destination.

The same line of thinking can be applied to content production, because you should know how to structure content on your site to help sculpt search results and meet the needs of your customers to drive more conversions.

It’s not easy to write content that ranks in Google and drives conversions, but if you follow a few simple steps, you’ll be on your way to ranking, driving more clicks, and appealing to customers on all types of devices. Let’s take a look at three on-page optimization tactics that you can use to get the right message to the right people at the right time.

1. Format content for readers & robots

An SEO strategy has to be built around the needs of your customers to hit ranking factors and get your readers to engage with your content.

It’s tough to serve these two goals, but you can get the best of both worlds by formatting your content in a way that helps robots and readers scan content and focus on information on different devices.

While you can spend time with “SEO hacks,” the best way to improve your online visibility and increase conversions is to format content for readers and robots. Let’s take a look at how breaking up text, keeping paragraphs short, and bullet lists will make your content easier to read and boost rankings today!

Break up text with H2 tags

One of the first things you can do to improve on-page SEO is to break up text with H2 subheaders. These headers allow you to insert keywords to fuel the technical side of SEO, and these headers also help your readers scan through your content when they first reach your site.

Here are a few quick notes to make the most out of your subheadings:

• I like to add H2 subheadings every 300 words or so.

• Insert H3 headers with an additional 50 words of content for each section when appropriate.

• Use target keywords and exact-match questions in subheadings whenever possible.

I have found a lot of success with Google Search Console (GSC) when optimizing existing on-page content. You can open up a page in GSC to find first-party data on what Google is ranking your content for and then add keywords in the H2 and H3 sections of your site to see a good boost in rankings.

Make your content easier to read for humans and search engines by breaking up your content with H2 and H3 subheadings. Don’t forget to get the most out of this on-page SEO tactic by including keywords and exact-match questions in the section headings for maximum results!

Keep paragraphs short

If you want to engage your readers and drive more conversions, then you have to optimize every inch of your content based on the needs of your target audience. Large blocks of text are difficult to read, and this is especially true on a phone or tablet.

I like to limit paragraphs to only 2-3 sentences each to ensure content looks good on mobile devices and does not overwhelm a reader as they read through my content.

Use bullet points

Bullet points are a powerful copywriting tool because they allow you to summarize information in a concise manner while also drawing attention to important data in a punchy format. Here are a few reasons to use bullet points in your content to boost on-page SEO:

• Break content up and make blocks of text easier to read on mobile devices.

• Highlight valuable points to increase conversions on service web pages and product pages.

• Add internal links to bullet points to help guide customers through the buyer's journey.

• Try to keep bullet point lists between 3-7 bullets each. Shorter lists look goofy, and long lists are difficult to read.

I like to include a bullet list in the first paragraph of each blog post to help readers understand my content, plus this bullet list can help secure a featured snippet (more on tha later). I also like to add a bullet list near CTAs to draw the attention of readers to drive more conversions.

Bullet points are just one example of how you can format content to help your readers and search engines- they are the perfect balance between content marketing and technical SEO tactics.

2. Optimize for featured snippets

As online search changes, Google is constantly updating its algorithms to provide the right information to searchers as quickly as possible. A featured snippet is a bite-sized snippet of information that Google places above organic listings based on specific search queries.

Featured snippets are your best friend if you want to establish your brand's authority and drive more organic traffic to your site. Here are a few reasons to format new content and optimize existing content to trigger featured snippets:

• Dominate "position zero" above paid ads and other organic search results.

• Build your brand authority by ranking at the top of the Search Engine Results page for target keywords.

• Drive more qualified traffic to your site.

• Build more backlinks as more people click on and link to your content.

• Push your competitor's online listings down in SERPs.

There are several types of featured snippets that Google can display based on search intent, search query, and search history. Let’s take a look at how you can format your content in specific ways to help secure the three major types of featured images.

Paragraph featured snippet

Paragraph featured snippets show 40-50 word explanations based on a search query with a link to the source content. This type of featured snippets can be secured with proper on-page SEO and content formatting.

I like to summarize the answer and main point of my content in the first paragraph of my blog posts and online content to secure more paragraph featured snippets. I also like to create a concise summary of different sections to help trigger more featured snippets throughout my content.

List featured snippet

You will notice that most types of “how-to” search queries will trigger a list featured snippet. This information is presented in either a numbered list or a bulleted list, and is a powerful way to generate more traffic for recipe sites or process-oriented content.

I like to add a bullet list or numbered list before I list out detailed sections to secure more featured snippets.

Table featured snippet

Google may include a table at the top of SERPs for search queries about pricing options, comparisons, and data. Most table featured snippets are 3-4 columns wide and 6-7 rows long.

I like to add a HTML table to my blog posts to summarize a process, show price comparisons, or just to provide a summary of different types of data. I’ve noticed that Google prefers HTML tables compared to tables made in CSS or other languages.

3. Add an FAQ section & FAQ schema

Structured data are bits of code that you can add to your blog posts and web pages to help Google understand your content. You can format your content along with markup language to spoon-feed search engines information about your content and shape your appearance in SERPs.

Once you add an FAQ section to the bottom of your content, you can get even more bang for your buck by adding FAQ schema to the backend of the content. FAQ schema offers a number of benefits for your SEO strategy like:

• Boost impressions: FAQ schema will help drive more organic impressions, which can lead to a higher Click Through Rate (CTR).

• More website clicks: As your pages get more impressions you will start to see more clicks to your web pages and blog posts.

• Interlinking: You can add a link to each answer in your FAQ schema. Only point internal linking to non-sales content (like a blog post) to help drive more engagement.

• Improve online visibility: FAQ schema makes your content more visible because it pushes your competitors lower on SERPs.

I like adding 3-4 common questions and answers at the bottom of each blog post and web page to help customers and search engines. I’ve found that FAQ sections at the end of my content helps with keyword rankings and allows me to implement FAQ schema to get found in search engines.

Supercharge your on-page SEO game today!

A winning SEO strategy is rooted in getting your message to the right people at the right time, and on-page SEO tactics can help you get found online and drive more conversions.

Use the tips in the above sections to make your content easier to read, easier to scan, and even sculpt your content in SERPs today!

How to Use SERP Features to Inform Your Content Strategy

Many marketers approach Search Engine Result Page (SERP) features from the wrong angle. Instead of asking what you can do to rank for SERP features, ask what SERP features can do to inform your content strategy. By flipping this thought process, you can build a successful content strategy that speaks to your audience at every stage of the buyer’s journey, using the most efficacious language and content format.

SERP features are designed to provide users with the most relevant answers to their questions, and they’re formatted to package this information in the best way possible. In other words, the exact language and format of each SERP feature is the most accurate representation of the type of language and content format that your audience seeks (at least according to Google). As a digital marketer, this is gold. With a little digging, you can now mimic the keyword topics, style, and format of the SERP features present for your target keywords, creating content that engages your audience exactly where they are in the buyer’s journey, and in the format they desire. 

Top organic SERP features

While chasing the sought-after SERP features, many marketers fall short because they overlook the most important clue: the SERP feature itself. SERP features contain meaningful knowledge about your audience and how they prefer to consume information. Here are a few of the most popular organic SERP features used on Google:

1. Knowledge Graph

2. Featured Snippet

3. Related Questions

4. Image Pack

5. Reviews 

6. Video

7. In-Depth Article

In this next section, I’ll break down these features into stages of the buyer’s journey and explain how they can inform your SEO content strategy.

Aligning SERP features with stages of the buyer’s journey  

Awareness stage

The top of the buyer’s journey is the awareness stage, where your audience is aware that they have a problem and will begin to conduct research to better understand and define this problem. At this stage, your audience is seeking a concise explanation of the problem and is not ready for a solution yet. SERP features that indicate an awareness stage audience include:

• Knowledge Graph: often illustrates high-level biographical information and keyword cluster definitions. This feature is a staple of the awareness stage.

• Featured Snippet: often provides concise keyword definitions and explanations of concepts or problems. This feature is also a staple of the awareness stage when it provides definitions or answers “what is” questions. 

• Related Questions: when the inquiries begin with “what is” and “how to” they align perfectly with the educational aspect of the awareness stage. 

• Videos: FAQ videos and how-to videos indicate the high-level thinking of the awareness stage.

• Images: often indicate a one-word or short-tail keyword query, in line with the awareness stage. 

Tips for content strategy

When creating content for an awareness stage audience, it’s important to remember that they have very little understanding about who you are, what you do, and why you do it. By addressing these high-level questions, you can introduce yourself in a way that frames your company as a thought leader in the industry. When doing so, pay close attention to the type of language you are using.

SERP features in the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey take advantage of clear and concise language, so make sure you do the same. Avoid flowery descriptions or rambling explanations, and keep your definitions short and to the point (ranging from 40-50 words). 

Likewise, this is your chance to develop trust with this new awareness audience. Keeping your content informative and easy to understand helps build trust, illustrating that you care about educating your audience without bogging them down with complex industry jargon or heavy handed branding.

Questions abound at this stage in the buyer’s journey, and it’s a good idea to include a question and answer format when you observe it in the SERP feature. Use headers, bullet points, and/or numbered lists when possible, and make it easy for your audience to scan the content without committing a chunk of their time. Images are especially useful at this stage, but make sure to include an image alt tag. 

Consideration stage

The middle of the buyer’s journey is the consideration stage. At this point, your audience can identify and understand their problem (with the help of your educational awareness content), but they still don’t know the best way to solve it. They’re seeking information about various solutions, and want to learn more about how your solution can solve their problem. SERP features that indicate a consideration stage audience include:

• Featured Snippet: when the snippet is formatted for lists or comparisons instead of clear cut definitions, it indicates the consideration stage. 

• Related Questions: “why” and technical questions belong in the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey.

• Reviews: service or product reviews indicate that your audience is actively searching for and comparing solutions, which aligns with the consideration stage.

• Videos: service and product videos belong in the consideration stage, as they explain why a specific service or product is a viable solution to your audience’s problem.

Tips for content strategy 

When creating content for a consideration stage audience, it’s important to focus on building a comprehensive and compelling argument. By using specific examples to frame your service as the most valuable solution to your audience’s problem, you can illustrate how and why they should consider investing in your solution. 

SERP features in the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey allow for content that is longer than in the awareness stage, and the language also employs more descriptors. Technical language is appropriate at this point, and this is your chance to explain what makes your solution stand out. 

However, staying true to your solution’s capabilities is critical here, because you don’t want to over promise results that aren’t actually possible. Instead, use this moment as a chance to build trust with your audience. Keep your reasoning authentic and your examples specific to the value that your solution can deliver. 

Comparative language is also more prevalent in the SERP features at this stage, so include detailed reviews that demonstrate why your service or product is the best. When using video, make sure your content is also searchable on YouTube. 

Decision phase

The end of the buyer’s journey is the decision phase, where your audience has already identified their problem, compared different solutions, and is now ready to commit to a final decision. At this point, your audience knows how to talk about the solution they’re looking for, and now they want to know exactly why they should commit to you. They want content that proves that other customers have had a positive experience with your solution, and are willing to commit more of their time to confirming their final choice. 

• People Also Ask: questions leveraging phrases like “the best solution’” or “most advanced solution” indicate users transitioning from the consideration to the decision phase of the buyer’s journey. Customers want to confirm that they’re making the right decision, and are looking for hard proof. 

• Videos: customer testimonial videos align with the decision phase, providing your audience with proof about whether they should commit to your solution or not. 

• Long-Form Content: long-form pieces of content range from 2,000-5,000 words.These pieces of content can appear as organic site links, scholarly articles, or in-depth articles. They tend to position themselves as thought leaders in the industry, and explain the overall problem and solution. Quite often they take the form of buyer’s guides, providing in-depth information about each solution and answering questions with long-tail keywords.

Tips for content strategy

When creating content for a decision stage audience, make sure to address any questions that haven’t already been answered in your previous pieces of content. While this may sound intuitive, it’s an essential part of the process seeing as an unanswered question can trigger your prospect to leave your site and go to a competitor’s site to find the answers they’re looking for. At this point in time, don’t underestimate the depth and detail of information your audience is seeking.

SERP features in the decision phase of the buyer’s journey address the audience as pseudo-experts in the subject matter, as should you. At this stage your audience is able to string together long-tail keywords that include modifiers, and your content should provide detailed answers to these highly specific inquiries that address your audience as knowledgeable members of the industry. 

Leverage compelling statistics and results-oriented examples that explicitly frame the value that your solution provides. By using clear data points and specifications, your audience can easily see for themselves how your solution can benefit them.

Technical language is widely understood, and the audience wants to hear the nitty-gritty details of your solution. Long-form content is encouraged at this point, so don’t shy away from a high word count. Cite your customers when possible, and consider using video to break up the heavy reading.

Content strategy takeaways 

Google SERPs are designed to anticipate user needs, and the SERP features present for your target keywords are some of the most telling clues about the type of audience associated with your keywords. By taking note of the SERP features present for your target keywords and paying attention to the style and format of the content, you can leverage Google’s search engine algorithms to your own advantage. 

Once you’ve identified the types of SERP features present for your keyword, you have also discovered your audience’s stage of the buyer’s journey and the keywords, style, and format of content they prefer. As a digital marketer, you can use this information to craft a content strategy that perfectly aligns with your audience’s desires. This takes the guesswork out of your content strategy and ensures that your content resonates with your audience exactly where they are in the buyer’s journey.